AN: Wrote this story for my English class. Although not a lot of information is given about Megohime, I can't help but adore her. This is somewhat a One-shot. The ending might seem fast paced, and I apologize for that. But please enjoy this story.
Dragons Fall
An Anachronism of Masamune Date and Megohime
Battle cries of anguish are heard across a small village to their local river that had been tainted with crimson water. Bodies of old and young men are scattered across the barren battlefield, all either shot or stabbed, some even hacked to death. Amidst the chaotic battlefield of war, loud thunderous hooves-steps of a dark as night steed raced across the field, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies. A young man, no more than twenty-one, rode on top of that steed killing all those in his way. His sharp eye darts towards a small castle. Inside this castle lies a man filled with lust and greed, the reason why men have died on this barren battle field.
It was mid-afternoon, only the dragon's voice heard amongst the ten political strategists as he speaks his thoughts out loud to them, letting them discuss the best policy for each thought. As the meeting was held, a messenger came in rudely, interrupting the meeting. He bowed lightly, almost trying to mock the dragon. Handing a strategist a scroll, the strategist stood and bowed politely, as if to show that more respect should be given to the dragon. "A message from the lord of the Dewa Province," the dragon raised a visible eyebrow. Dewa, the land which his wife's mother had been born in, already his ties with the lord of the land are sealed. Curious to the message from the lord of Dewa, he let his strategist continue reading. "A seed of Dewa is buried in Oshu," a message written in a poem, "She is buried in soil in which she cannot grow. Return the princess seed of Dewa to be enriched in her natural soil," The meeting room was quiet, silence engulfing and suffocating everyone inside. The dragon's eye widen with rage as he immediately stood up, pointing at the message scroll.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Masamune Date, dragon lord of Oshu, roared at the messenger, whose smug face was wiped cleaned by fear. Masamune stomped towards the messenger, who sat in the middle of the room trembling in fear as he approached. Stretching out an arm, a sword was placed in his hand, quickly, he placed the blade by the messenger's neck, "answer me, you pathetic dog!" The messenger gulped.
"M-My lord," the messenger stuttered, eyeing the blade in paranoia, "wishes to marry Lady Mego," the blade was on his neck now, pressed any farther, and his head will be severed. "H-He also says that if you refuse, he will cut ties with you, Dragon Lord of Oshu," he tried to flatter, still watching the blade, "and will take Lady Mego by force." The blade was spilling his blood now, the messenger whimpered in pain pathetically. Masamune forced the messenger to look at him straight in his visible left eye.
"Tell your so called lord," Masamune began, his left eye piercing more painfully the his blade on the messenger's bloody throat, "that she will be his," he edged dangerously close to the messenger, their faces just barely touching, "over my dead body." Masamune releases the man who immediately scampers off to report to his lord. The room exploded with protests and orders from the strategists to retrieve the messenger before he leaves. Amongst the chaos, a calm General-Strategist, a strategist who fights upon the battlefield, approaches the young dragon lord, his steps approaching Masamune as if he were his father, just about scold his son.
"My liege," he begins after bowing respectfully as it accustomed to do so in respect for their higher-ups, "it is not so wise to become so angry over a woman, my liege." Masamune's left eye glares sharply at his strategist who does not even move a muscle, already used to his lord's always sour face.
"A woman, Master Azai?" Masamune mocked Azai through clenching teeth before releasing his dragon's flame of seething anger. "She is not just a woman, Azai. She is my woman! She belongs to no other man but me! How dare this," Masamune breathes hard and his trembling finger points to a scroll that had been delivered by the messenger, "pig, dare ask to make my wife his?! She is not like all other woman who are given away by their husbands for greed. She is my wife whose beauty surpasses Lady Noh of the Demon Lord Nobunaga Oda and the gracefulness of Lady Oichi of Nagamasa Azai. The beauty of your aunt, Lady Oichi, could not even surpass Mego's beauty!" Azai stands before his lord unfazed as Masamune tries to catch his breath.
"My liege," Azai says carefully, not wanting to see the man younger than he, explode into another tantrum, "you do realize that you will be bringing war upon the country you fought so hard to conquer; as well as sacrificing your wife, whom you have also fought so hard to have her return love, anyways?" Masamune only scoffs, turning his back to his wise strategist.
"Let war come. I have become stronger than the lowly Ashina clan, I am stronger to the point where I have even defeated and taken land from Hideyoshi Toyotomi. I am invincible." Azai glares at his lord, and shakes his head in disappointment. He reaches for Masamune's right eye path and pulls it off, revealing a clear dilated pupil.
"Does this eye blind of you of your sense, my liege?" Azai asks threateningly as Masamune pulls back the eye patch with a grunt. He did not lose his right eye in battle, but as a young boy who had infected with small pox, the disease robbing him of his right eye. Glaring at Azai with his left eye, Masamune walks out of the conference room with Azai whispering to spirit of his lord's inner dragon, "that vanity will be the death of you my liege." Azai calms the nine other strategists.
Masamune roars into the field, scarring off cowardly soldiers and shooting all those brave enough to go against him. He heard a high pitched cry of irritation followed by a low howl of anguish. Masamune turns his head to see a necklace reflecting off a woman's neck. The necklace is a golden dragon upon a mountain. The dragon's eyes were sharp and irritated, as it climbed the mountain. Close to the dragon's chest is a silver heart, almost molded against the dragon's chest but not. Masamune looked then upon the face of the beautiful woman who wore the necklace. Lady Mego, his wife, the one he's fighting in this battle for. He watched her fight with all her might, regret is being sewn into his heart.
Lady Mego chased after Masamune, her long oily black hair trailing behind her. "Masamune!" She calls to him without any honorifics, just as she had always called him since the day they first met. He looks to her and is dismayed to see her attire.
"I will not let you," was Masamune has to say before she throws a tantrum almost identical to his.
"I will go. I will no longer wait for you at home, awaiting your letters!" She screeched at him, a fight materializing between the two.
"I said you are not going, so you are not!" He shouted stubbornly at her, his glare matching hers.
"I will!" She screeched, at him pushing him out of the way and stalks off to the stables to grab her own horse when Masamune stops her abruptly, holding her against him. In that small moment, there were no walls surrounding them, they could not hear the urgent rushes of generals to go to battle, they could not even feel if soldiers were pushing them. All they felt was Masamune holding her and Lady Mego being held. Her body trembled as she wept. Masamune turns her around, letting her cry on his chest, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. He finally, slowly letting go of her, he kissed her on top of her forehead, placing a golden dragon necklace around her neck.
"I am sorry, Mego." She only nods in returns letting him hold her again as if this is their last battle alive.
"I love you, Masamune," She walked into the battlefield.
Masamune noticed his soldiers were tiring, especially Lady Mego, who was by his side, never leaving him unguarded. He turned towards the now open gates of the small castle, hesitant to go inside and leave his wife behind. Lady Mego looks over at the gates, then glares at her husband, "Go!" she screams, slapping the ass of the horse as it neighs in surprise taking off, Masamune almost losing control of the steed. He looked back at his wife in shock, "Go! Finish it!" She screams, "We'll be alright," She smiles at him as her figures disappears into the sea of chaos, each gallop taking him away from her. Masamune forced his head ahead, gritting his teeth as he crashed into the castle paper doors, blade drawn, intended to end the battle as quickly as possible.
Masamune entered his main camp, his blade dripping with blood. His left eye wandered aimlessly at his soldiers, their eyes holding fear and, what he thinks is, pity. He stared at the female servants, their faces stained with heartache for all the soldiers that have died for this battle. Masamune then approached Azai and a lesser soldier after not seeing his wife amongst the crowd. "Where's Mego?" The soldier by Azai gulped and Masamune stared at him strangely. Azai pursed his lips, shaking his head, staring at his lord with regret.
"I'm sorry, my liege," Masamune's eye widens, turning to the soldier, who immediately points to a tent behind them. Masamune pushes them out of the way to see maids mourning over a face covered body. The woman almost shrieked when he appeared, quickly scrambling out of the tent. He approached the body slowly, his heart not beating, as holding his breath. It lay on a table top, a figure a woman. Slowly, scared, he removed the cloth that covered her face to see the fair face of his wife. He took a sharp intake of breath. He shook his head; his lips trembled, and stared at the necklace he gave her only to see it broken. The dragon remained, however the mountain was gone and so was the heart. The dragon's eyes were no longer sour, but now they held pain and sadness. The head of the dragon is bent, as if looking for where its' heart went. It was silent around him, his senses barely responding as he stared at his wife's face.
"Mego," he began, knowing there won't be any sarcastic or screechy remark from her, he shook his head, "you said," he stuttered, and he bowed his head against her ice cold hand, "Mego, no," His left eye widens wanting to be blind as well. The dragon started to tremble ferociously, its' mouth moving erratically. "Mego," he whispered to her corpse, "I love you, I love you," he repeated the taboo words between two people who have been married between an arranged marriage. There was no stir from her; it was there that he knew she will never hear him say the words she would tell him as if the world was coming to an end. Then all at once, the earth seemed to shake as the dragon cried in anguish as it fell.