The sweat, the blood the tears.
Kanetsugu Naoe was fading.
His conscious fading, his hearing dwindling, his eyesight shortening.
His hours, his minutes were slowing ticking as his body became light as a feather, falling to the wet dirt below him.
"You are alone."
"Alone."
Alone.
The word kept spinning around his ear. In one ear, out the other, Kanetsugu Naoe was surrounded by a bunch of armored soldiers, yet he was all alone.
The sole eye of Masamune Date watched.
The battle of Hasedo was ending, the death of Kanetsugu Naoe would be total victory. And all Masamune Date could do was stare.
His hand was the one that delivered the final blow. Though he had felt something for the priest once before, those feelings dissolved as time passed. He realized Kanetsugu would never return those feelings, so much that he was a "mangy dog who owes no favor"
"You will die alone, Kanetsugu Naoe."
Kanetsugu Naoe held his hand out for help as his body fell to the ground. Yet Masamune Date kept his by his sides. His eye glared down, and he whispered,"Fate will set you free.."
A man of honor, yet a hypocrite. He claimed to hate war, yet sent men towards their deaths as any man of war did. A student, a page of the God of War himself knows no peace, only chaos. To avenge his dead friend, he let go of inhibitions, and attacked at the rear.
Yet Masamune Date was ready.
And so he did what he thought was best, to a hypocrite's mind, he betrayed his friend. Mitsunari Ishida's death broke up the Honor Trio, and Kanetsugu threw away his own, siding with Ieyasu Tokugawa, heading the charge on Osaka Castle, putting up arms against Yukimura Sanada.
The tiger, his flames extinguished, no words spoken, but eyes ablaze, demanding explanation for his actions. For the Uesugi, what would you do? Belittle your own honor, your justice for what right? To betray, to follow the winning side.
Fair Weather Man.
Would you choose what was right? Or who was winning?
Blackness swirled around Kanetsugu, he wasn't dead, but he was close to it. Angered, Masamune Date called on his men to grab the priest, and rip him of his clothing. One by one, each article fell to the ground, until all skin, all vulnerability was exposed.
Now you show your true self.
He ordered his men to stick a golden cross outside Hasedo City. To bear all religion, to bear what is right and just, and expose the liar for who he really was.
Kanetsugu Naoe was nailed to the golden cross, each nail puncturing through his palms and soles of his feet. Blood cascaded down from each wound, and everyone was given the chance to throw whatever they wanted on the righteous man.
"You sicken me, you disgusting dog. To throw everything away, to betray everyone, to uphold your words of justice, and to toss them away to join the devil himself. Now you are alone." Masamune said.
Through Mitsunari Ishida and Yukimura Sanada, they were known throughout Japan as the Honor Trio. Best friends through thick and thin, fighting to create a peaceful and just nation. But one falls, they all fall down. Like the Three Arrows of the Mouri, one breaks, they all break.
To preserve honor, to preserve the glory of the Uesugi, Kanetsugu Naoe sold his soul to the devil, bowing down to Ieyasu Tokugawa, offering his services, even at the cost of slaying his old friend.
What makes you a better man?
What made you turn your back?
To feel loneliness is to suffer alone. Your friends are dead, one taken by fate, the other by your own hand. An unbeatable team, beaten by within.
step aside from the way of a better man than you
so you fall at his feet he's the one who betrays you
it's the servants devotion for the decay
A servant to your own pride, a lap dog for the devil, a disgusting hypocrite. Masamune Date looked on in disgust.
"Kanetsugu Naoe, you will die all alone."
And so he did.
Finally, Kanetsugu Naoe was dead. Years before, Mitsunari Ishida was dead. A year previous, Yukimura Sanada, at the hand of the lap dog himself.
Masamune Date stood at his grave, looking at the empty stone. He was so hated, no one dared leave his name on the stone, but Masamune knew it was his. He could smell the stench of betrayal.
"Fate will set you free.."
An empty gravestone, for a empty man.
No emotion spread on Masamune's face, and yet a wave of despair sent him flying back into an unknown oblivion. He shouldn't feel anything, but he does.
Pity?
No, it couldn't be. What pity should be felt for a hypocrite.
Love?
Kanetsugu Naoe denied his love.
Regret?
He had done the world a favor, purging it of the pretentious priest.
But there was a feeling, something Masamune Date could not put his finger on.
He simply turned and walked away, walking away from the Fair Weather Man and his empty grave.
"You have died alone. Everyone will forget your name."
there are no flowers on your grave
there are no chains
there I keep chanting for the forgotten name
A tiny little one-shot that came into my mind after listening to "Alone" by Amorphis. The song about a God-fearing hypocrite selling his soul to preserve himself, it had Kanetsugu Naoe written all over it. While I like Kanetsugu, the guy's a freakin' hypocratic moron.
He learned his lesson in the end, I made sure of that.