Aaand after one (1) whole year and a few extra months of planning this... Wow. It's... finally up? And almost entirely different from what it was originally planned to be. It was originally heavily inspired from Noragami but now it all changed since I've been writing a whole ton of lore and related stuff for Ransei. So... entirely different thing now.

I had begun working around readjusting the first chapter (that had been written around... September of 2016? Or August. Don't remember exactly) but then I realised I'd probably have to rewrite all of it since... well, as I mentioned before, almost everything has changed. And at the same time I have written this chapter (the one you're about to read) as the prologue of my distraction story, Wings of a Warrior, that was originally planned to be very similar to the gameplay itself. But then I thought 'wait, I have this. With a few modifications, it might fit, since this one also starts off with Nobunaga wanting to conquer Rasnei'. So, Wings of a Warrior was entirely scrapped (what point would it be writing the whole gameplay, even as a distraction, when there's this one?) and its first chapters have been incorporated to the first chapters of what this fic was planned to be.

So... basically, the main back of the plot is the one that's been in working and constant reforming since last May. But they've now been fused with the first few (like... 2 or 3) chapters of Wings of a Warrior, on what includes the 'Nobunaga wants to conquer the whole land' stuff.

Confusing, I know, but I couldn't just throw the chapter here, while it's almost identical to the one I posted previously (with the exception that I've added many more details, and fixed many stuff, made it more elaborate, etc) without an explanation.

So yeah. That's all I have to say for now. Again, even though it's been so long since this fic started, I'm not entirely comfortable with my writing skills. But I am going to do my best, and I am glad that I'm finally getting down to actually write this, since it's been really important and dear to my heart.

And... this is 3022 words. Good for a first chapter? ^^; I'll try to make the rest of the chapters a little shorter.

Anyway... Enjoy? :D

Chapter 1:

"Come on, Kanetsugu." Aya stopped and, turning on her heel, she glanced over her shoulder towards her student, as her loyal Froslass levitated by her side. "What's taking you so long?"

Quite a short distance behind from her, Kanetsugu was stumbling on his feet while trying to keep up with her moderately swift pace, still rubbing sleep off his eyes, and being able to remain on his feet mostly thanks to Kirlia's telepathic abilities rather than thanks to his own strength. The Emotion Pokemon cooed towards her partner in an almost motherly way, and Kanetsugu gave her a reassuring nod before stumbling a little, finally managing to keep his head up and his shoulders straight.

Observing the scene, Aya covered her mouth with her hand, half-stifling a giggle. Next to her, Froslass mimicked her actions, purring softly in a manner that clearly showcased her amusement.

"Someone's being a little clumsy today." Aya teased her student lightly as he finally caught up and stopped in front of her, panting as if he'd been running a mile while being chased by a pack of wild Mightyena.

"Well, m'Lady..." he managed numbly while trying his hardest to stifle a yawn, "yesterday's training was unusually harsh... and it's still so early in the morning...". He blurted that part out in a complaining sort of tone, almost sounding like a disappointed young child -and once more, Aya couldn't hold back a soft laugh. Under normal circumstances, she would have reprimanded him for his lack of discipline, but seeing she had indeed been pushing him to his limits these past few days –and not without good reason, as she was sure he'd soon figure out- she decided that allowing him a tiny bit of complaining wouldn't really hurt anybody.

"Oh, it seems like my dear student is getting tired..." She shook her head, humoured, before leaning a little closer to him, her clear blue eyes boring directly into his golden ones. "But a warrior of Illusio –even more so one of Kenshin's own army- must train hard every day, and constantly strive for perfection, even if such a concept is unattainable by our mortal standards." As she spoke, her expression grew all the more concerned. She paused for the duration of a heartbeat, unsure. But he should know how grave the situation was, not to mention there was high chance he could have already picked up bits and pieces of the news –and so she went on. "Especially at a time like this, with Nobunaga and his army practically at our doorstep..." She trailed off reluctantly at this point, and Kanetsugu picked up that something, something unpleasant must have occurred. His expression betrayed he didn't know much of what was happening just a little further away from their borders, what storm was threatening to break out upon them, and how soon.

"My lady..." He started hesitantly. "Is something wrong... I am aware of Lord Nobunaga's ambition to conquer all of the land, and that he's steadily making his way towards us. But...?" His voice faded off, as he was expecting an answer, the sudden change of his mentor's mood unnerving him.

Silence befell them after he'd finished voicing his question -and as a matter of fact, their Pokemon remained quiet as well, as they stared at their trainers in worry, sensing the tension- until Aya, not meeting Kanetsugu's gaze, turned her back at him and slowly walked to one of the classes vast windows, her eyes scanning the still-asleep, for the most part, city below. There were a few more moments of plucking silence, before she finally gave the much-anticipated answer.

"Cragspur fell overnight." she murmured, her voice bleak and barely louder than a whisper, and she realised she hadn't measured up the crushing reality of the situation up until now. It only made the tightness in her chest grow heavier. "The messenger reached us a few hours ago. He was gravely injured and... and so he could inform us of very little before he finally succumbed to his wounds."

Her words settling in, Kanetsugu felt an intimate, overwhelming sense of dread and upcoming destruction washing over him, and he finally snapped out of sleep for good, every cell of his body jolting awake. A man had died. Many warriors and Pokemon had died. As the images of the dead and wounded, the blood, the calamity flashed across his mind, he involuntarily reached for the hilt of his sword strapped across his left hip, as if Lord Nobunaga himself was about to pounce right at him. He barely managed to stop himself from going into battle stance and remind himself that they were in the castle. They were in no danger. For now.

But then again… Cragspur falling was really, really bad news. The kingdom's defensive measures were famed for their endurance and efficiency –as much as Kanetsugu could recall from his history lessons, there had never been a time when they had actually been breached or surpassed. The outer walls might have been brought down, but the city had always held. The various assailants ambitious –and foolish- enough to try and take it had never set foot into the cavernous corridors of the castle, built into the mountains themselves.

Yet Nobunaga had managed to conquer Cragspur, despite it all. And with that last obstacle out of the way, nothing stood between Nobunaga and the kingdoms of Illusio and Terrera, the behemoth domains of not only central Ransei, but of the land itself. And if the two of them were to fall to the hands of the Dragon King... then there would be nothing else to stop him from simply taking a stroll through the rest of Ransei, all the way down to the South, and slaughtering, enslaving and destroying everything and everyone that stood in his path.

Oh, but there was something else, too. Something that even by crossing the young warrior's mind, caused his stomach to tighten into a knot.

"And..." Kanetsugu swallowed, steeling himself as he fought to keep his voice steady, trying to bring himself to ask the forbidden, dreaded question. "And lord Ujiyasu...?"

Aya's expression fell -if possible- even more after processing his words, and Kanetsugu immediately regretted asking. It was no secret that the Rock-type Warlord's relationship with her was almost like that of blood-related siblings. Lord Ujiyasu, Lord Kenshin and Lady Aya, along with Lords Shingen and Masayuki, had been close friends since their early childhoods, and for Aya to take on an almost desperate frown, news couldn't be good. Kanetsugu didn't want to imagine what could have happened to the famed Lion of Cragspur.

"... They have not found a body." The white-clad woman eventually spoke, angling her head in a way so that the shadows cast by her hood would conceal most of her face and obscure her eyes almost completely, granting her an almost threatening, otherworldly aura. "At least we can still hold the hope of him having survived, although it's no secret Lord Nobunaga is rarely merciful towards those that refuse to obey him. That's still something, however. There's still hope of him having made it out of this alive, and prior to his passing, the messenger was able to tell us that Nobunaga had arranged for Lady Hayakawa to be transported to Yaksha, as a hostage under Lord Kotaro. Kenshin thinks this is because Ujiyasu is still alive, and Nobunaga wants to make sure he will be kept under control, if he knows his daughter's life depended on it."

Kanetsugu found the strength to nod, despite a strange coldness had started to creep up his spine, numbing his senses.

"I... I see." He looked down at Kirlia, that twirled around him twice, as if trying to comfort him, and he shook his head. He had to be brave –if there was one time during which he could not afford to show the slightest sign of cowardice, it was now. He had to focus, not only for his own good, but for the good of those depending on him. "And... what are we to do now, my Lady? Is Lord Kenshin planning to device a scheme of attacking Lord Nobunaga, before he has the chance to march towards our kingdom?"

To his slight disappointment, Aya shook her head in a manner that did not leave room for more questions.

"No. For now, Kenshin has deemed it wiser that we stay on the defensive. Even though it's quite possible that, should both ours and lord Shingen's army move against him, we could defeat Nobunaga. But regardless, we should not take any unnecessary risks -not with our kingdoms being the final bulwark against him conquering all of Ransei." Aya explained, before finally turning to face him, and making sure her face was a little brighter now. Kanetsugu realised this was her way of showing that the conversation on the matter was over. "As for the two of us... I thought about it overnight. We need to enhance and hone your skills to the limit -in case our armies clash, it has been decided that you will be fighting in the front lines, by mine and Kenshin's side."

Kanetsugu couldn't help but let his face brighten up as well. He almost beamed, all the blood rushing to his cheeks and his eyes widening impossibly, as if he had just witnessed Diancie descend down from the skies to bless him –which may have as well happened.

"L-Lady Aya!" He gasped, still unable to fully believe in her words. "Y-You can't be serious...!" He trailed off, at a loss of what to say. Fighting alongside her and Lord Kenshin in battle! This would exceed his wildest expectation -there could be no greater honour granted to him. This had to be a joke. There was no way the Guardians could have blessed him in such a way.

Seeing his excitement, Aya chuckled, as if she had expected that much of a reaction, and her laugh did sound very much real and not like a forced gesture.

"Try to contain yourself, dear." She cooed gently, shaking her head at her student's youthful excitement. "Someone could almost say you'd almost wish for Lord Nobunaga to charge upon us."

This time Kanetsugu lowered his head, his blush being one of shame, as he stammered a few shaky apologies.

"M-My Lady, I'm sorry, I-I won't-"

"I'm only jesting, Kanetsugu." Aya smiled, waving her hand as if to dismiss his apologies. "And anyway, it's not as if you're absolutely ready yet. As I was about to say, there are some of your skills that still need to be worked upon. Today it's your sensory and targeting abilities I want us to practice upon."

Kanetsugu blinked a little, in slight confusion. Much to his dismay, the words did not ring a familiar bell, and he was fairly certain she had never mentioned any of these before. He surely would be able to recall them clearly, had she done so.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Aya proceeded on explaining, without seeming the least angry that she'd have to do so. That was probably a sign that she had not expected him to know about the aforementioned abilities beforehand.

"As a Psychic-type trainer, you should be able to link in your Pokemon in a certain level and, with the boost from Illusio's Power Veins, utilise your partner's inborn Psychic powers to a satisfactory extend. Sensing your enemies without seeing them and predicting their moves into a time-lapse of a few seconds are skills that can be developed through that technique. And, most importantly, it may very well save yours and your comrades' lives on the battlefield."

"...Oh." Kanetsugu had to admit that it sounded rather interesting –much more so, as he recalled Lady Aya herself using such techniques often during their training. Well, now it made perfect sense, how she seemed to be able to guess his next move before he could even share the thought with Kirlia. "So we're off to... where?"

"We'll need a wide, open space to practice. Normally we'd use the castle's roof or the battlefield platforms, as usual, but I want to see how you'll fair when the influence from the Power Veins will be fainter than that of the kingdom's very core. This is why I was going to ask Kenshin about letting us use the castle's portals to teleport towards the south-eastern plains of Illusio. The Power Veins run a little bit weaker there, and I want to see how well you can fare on your own, without their support and only by linking with Kirlia." At the sound of her name, the small Psychic-type jumped over the air, her rose-coloured eyes shining excitedly. She was as excited as her partner to try this new technique, and Kanetsugu felt a slight, electrified chill pass his spine, the physical manifestation of his Pokemon's anticipation. Meanwhile, Froslass inherited an expression shockingly similar to that of her town partner, and cooed towards Kirlia in a friendly manner, levitating around the smaller Pokemon.

Kanetsugu bowed his head slightly, acknowledging Aya's words.

"Alright, my Lady! I promise not to disappoint you!" He exclaimed, eyes gleaming with determination.

Trying to conceal another smile, Aya nodded back, and turned around, expecting him to follow, as she started towards Kenshin's chambers.

"Well then?" She asked over her shoulder. "Let's go find my dear Kenshin, if you're so eager to start your training for the day. Besides, we've already wasted enough time chatting, wouldn't you agree? Nobunaga is not going to be beaten by us boring him to death with small talk."

Kenshin furrowed his brow, steel grey eyes flickering between his sister and his -admittedly quite impatient, as his gaze was darting back and forth while waiting for an answer- retainer.

"... You're saying that you want my permission to train towards the outskirts of Illusio? Near the borders?" He asked carefully, already running Aya's words over his mind.

"Yes, that was my request." Aya angled her head to the side, smiling gently. "I don't need a permission, per se, my dear brother, but I would like to keep you informed, in case something comes up and you need us back."

Kenshin let out a tired sigh, drawing his gaze away from Aya and instead staring out of the window into the far horizon, that was growing darker with clouds swirling over from the northern mountain range of the kingdom. It was early spring, but the cold had barely subsided -enough to only let the snow melt, but the snowclouds, having travelled over to the mainland from Nixtorm's peninsula, had turned into ones carrying showers of heavy rain. There was high possibility they'd have go through another week-long storm, which would only be good news if it was enough to keep Nobunaga grounded for a little while longer. But Kenshin was uncertain about the Dragon King being held back by something as trivial as a storm.

Still, that was no reason to refuse his sister's request. It wasn't if she hadn't dealt with similar or even worse weather conditions before, and even if Kanetsugu wouldn't know how to face a thunderstorm and some high winds, Aya would be able to find shelter for them and their Pokemon, or even teleport them back to the city.

Finally, he let out the air that he had been keeping in his lungs through the process of thinking, and turned back to the two warriors waiting for his judgement.

"Alright. You're free to go, but" He put up a hand as Aya immediately nodded, a sign that she'd be unwilling to listen to anything else he'd have to add. This, however, was not something that he could leave unsaid. "But do not stray too far away. I..." He pondered his next choice of words carefully. "I would want you two to be able to come back shortly if something occurs. Have I made myself clear?"

Secretly, he had wanted to warn her about not straying too close to the borders with Cragspur. While it was unlikely that Nobunaga would mobilize any of his forces so shortly after having gone through the difficult act of conquering Ujiyasu's kingdom, he did not want to risk anything. But there was no need to worry the two without reason. Aya was strong, and wise. She could certainly take good care of both of them and their Pokemon. He trusted her to do that much, and a great deal more.

Aya inched her head to show that yes, she understood, and less than a second later Kanetsugu did the same, although he added to the gesture with a bow -one that Kirlia, next to him, mimicked awkwardly, causing Gallade, next to Kenshin, to purr in a humoured way.

"Now that this is settled, we'll be on our way." Aya motioned to Froslass, Kirlia and Kanetsugu to start for the door as she delayed herself for a few extra seconds. "If anything calls for it..." She trailed off, knowing that she didn't need to explain herself -in case of emergency, she and Kenshin could always reach for each other's minds. Through their inseparable bond they could form a channel of communication that could not be passed down through mere training. It was an ability only the nobility of Illusio possessed –to be specific, only siblings belonging to the kingdom's royal bloodline, having descended directly from the kingdom's Guardians themselves.

Kenshin gave a slow nod as well, detecting Aya's hidden words with ease, as he had always done. As they had always done for each other.

"Yes, sister."

As he watched them go, he closed his eyes, reaching for Aya's mind, as if to make sure he could initiate contact -he felt the presence of her aura strong and clear now, alike a bright, pristine white flame unfurling in front of him, but he knew that the further she got, the dimmer this light would grow, the more the effort they'd have to put into reaching each other.

'... Be careful.'

'I will, brother. I promise you there is nothing for you to worry about.'

[TO BE CONTINUED]

And this wraps up the first chapter. I know it's a little bit disappointing, since it's the same chapter as the other one (as I said above) but I promise things get new and exciting in the next chapter, that I will probably write and put up during the week if everything goes well. I have yet to figure out a solid update plan, especially since I have other stories (one-shots, mostly) in mind, so there's that too, I guess.

Again, my writing ain't that great, and English isn't my first language so there are probably tons of stupid mistakes up there. Please feel free to point them out! Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Thanks for reading it, and I hope you enjoyed! 'Till next time~