Part One: Trouble with Bandits

War, it is everywhere you look on one side the Oda army and their allies, on the other the alliance of Uesugi and Takeda. Where does that leave us, the people? Caught in the middle, that's where. While they go to war, our homes get pillaged and burnt to the ground by bandits. Many of the bandits have sunk to selling girls to the highest bidder. A lot of this is caused by hunger and poverty, though some of these bandits are just sick. As for me, I am the daughter of the man who leads a rebellion against Nobunaga. My name is Tsubaki Hikoshi, and unlike my father I have other plans, I rather fight those causing the real problem within our homes, the bandits. My father claims the problem is Nobunaga, but I can't help but feel there is more to it than that.

The sunrays pierced through the window of my room, grunting I sat up and stretched. Another day was starting and there was a lot of work to be done. Crops needed to be watered and animals to be taken care of. Just as I am ready to start my work an alarm goes off letting us know bandits are within sight. "Just great," I muttered to myself in irritation. Though I had been planning to grab my farming gear, I grabbed my bow instead and opened my window wide enough for my arrows to fly through it. Kneeling under the window so I am not spotted as they come into the village, I wait for the bandits to arrive.

I did not have to wait long, they were soon pouring into view from the nearby forest. There had to be at least ten or twenty of them if not more. I nocked my arrow and waited until one of them was close enough, once they were, I let it fly free. The man had fallen from atop his horse screaming in agony, from the look of it I may have gotten him in the ribs. As his comrades worried over him, a select few of our villagers stole the horses away and hid them. This was the routine we had developed over time in order to survive these bandit attacks.

Having lost a few of their men to our archers, which like me were hiding in houses firing on them from windows, the bandits fled to the forest though there was no saying how long until their return. Putting my bow back against the wall by the window, I walked outside to see the damage that was done and make sure no one was missing. Just as I had begun my checks on the villagers a woman had ran over to me in a panic," Tsubaki, please help me. My daughter is missing," she told me through her weeps. "Don't worry, she can't be far I will search for her," I assured her as I placed my hand on her shoulders. "Thank you, oh thank you," she said through her hugs.

Thinking back, I should have known better then to go alone, but at that time my father was away for a meeting with his rebellion members. He had warned me about being too trusting but there was a girl in danger, so I risked it. I ran back to my room, grabbing things that could be of use to me on a rescue mission. A rope, some smoke bombs my father taught me to make, and anything that could help with survival. Once I felt I was ready, I left for the forest, no one had tried to stop me as they watched me disappear into the forest depths.

As I entered the forest, I creeped around at first looking for a possible trail to follow. To my surprise, there wasn't a trail but an ambush instead. Bandits were waiting for me, they knew I would come. One of the bandits took my bow from me and the other bound my hands. Then the woman who had pleaded for my help walked out from behind a tree. "You?!" I yelled in disbelief. "Yes, me. You have been a thorn in my side for some time now. I thought for sure you would follow your father's footsteps and join his rebellion, but no, you focused on the bandits. MY bandits. This, I had not expected; unlike your father, you looked at the real problem, us. Now, you must disappear," she told me with a smug grin on her face. Before the bandits blindfolded me, I memorized how she looked. She had her black hair, in a tight bun and she wore a red and gold kimono with dragons adorned on it. Her eyes were like water, a deep blue color.

When they had removed my blindfold, I looked around to see where I was. There were several girls with me chained by wrist and ankle to the floor of what seemed to be a barred wagon, though onlookers would not notice it was from a distance, as there was a kind of tarp covering the top of it. This tarp made it hard for me to see where we were, and the onlookers in return could not see us. To anyone else, it was a merchant's wagon delivering goods. As I looked at these other girls, I noticed that each of them was a missing girl from surrounding villages near my own. "This is not good," I mumbled to myself as I realized the situation, we were all in. These bandits planned to sell us to the highest bidder, though where they were taking us, I did not know.

It seemed like days had passed as we traveled through the land, some of the girls cried as the days passed by. They were afraid and had every reason to be, our fate was not known at this point. Unlike these girls, I played scenarios in my head of how to help us escape day in and out as we traveled. After what seemed like a week passed, I heard hooves outside of our wagon, it was then that the driver whipped the reins controlling the horses to make the wagon move faster. "We must be in Azuchi," I mumbled under my breath. Then, I heard a voice call out to the driver," Halt in the name of Lord Nobunaga!" they yelled as the hooves grew closer to the wagon.

I looked to the girls around me and tried to get them fired up enough to want to escape," If you want to be free help me tip this wagon. Nobunaga's men are outside, so this is our last chance to freedom. Unless you WANT to be sold off," I coaxed as the hooves drew closer. Reluctantly they agreed to help me. With my direction, we had synced a rocking motion tilting our weight all on one side and then the other. After a few times of doing this, the wagon tipped onto its side just as I thought it would. With the wagon falling on its side the way it did, it attracted the attention of Nobunaga's men just as I suspected it would.

Seeing the wagon fall, several of Nobunaga's men rushed to the scene; one man cut the strings holding the fabric in place. As they saw us chained to the wagon, their eyes grew wide, this was not what they were expecting to find. Not that it was an unusual thing to go on, but it was rare when they could catch the bandits on route to their destination. One soldier, a man with sandy hair and yellowish-brown eyes wearing a red and green kimono over his armor went to action immediately calling orders on all sides. "Don't let that driver escape, arrest him! The rest of you, help get these girls free from that wagon," he ordered as he went to help subdue the driver.

The soldiers nodded to him and each went in different directions to do as they were ordered. One of the men helping us, had been none other than Masamune Date from Oshu, my birthplace. When I had last seen him, he was maybe a teenager just as I had been. He was wearing a black and blue kimono with his armor and had an eye patch over one of his eyes. The other eye was blue which stood out against his coffee brown hair. "You alright, lass?" he asked as he helped me up from the wagon," Yeah, I'm fine but these girls need to go back to the smaller outlying villages, their parents are worried. These girls have been missing for quite some time now," I told him with a hint of urgency in my voice. Masamune nodded with a serious expression and left to meet with the other man about what I had just told him.

Not long after he left me there, he returned with his companion following behind him. The moment they neared me, the other man asked," Is it true what you say? You all come from the small outlying farming villages?" he asked with urgency in his voice. "I will tell you, but at a price," I told him with a smug expression on my face, the two looked at each other and then the sandy haired man asked," What is your price?" I took in a deep breath and straighten my posture and answered," First, how do you expect me to trust you when you won't even tell me your names?" I asked as I crossed my arms across my chest.

The two men looked taken aback by my response, Masamune laughed for a moment," You are an interesting one, lass; though, you have a fair point. My name is Masamune Date," he responded still laughing. My eyes widened, he was who I thought him to be , I hadn't seen him in person sine he was young, so I hadn't recognized him. "So, it's true, the lord of Oshu has come to Azuchi," I whispered under my breath.

His companion, unlike Masamune was shaking his head in disbelief," You two are similar in a manner of speaking. To answer your question, my name is Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Now, what was your other demand?" he asked as he told me his name. I bowed to each of them in respect," My name is Tsubaki Hikoshi, and I need your help with a bandit problem. I know you will know my last name but for now I ask that you let it be. There are people's lives at risk as we speak a woman feigns victim among the innocent in my village. This woman is why I am here, and she called the bandits there, her bandits," I explained as calm as possible.

The two men looked at me as if deciding what they should do. Here, they had the daughter of the leader of the rebellion against Nobunga. They could get information on his whereabouts but on the other side of the coin, I was asking for help to save lives of innocent citizens. After a moment of thinking they both looked at me," Very well, we will help you but there will be a price and only you can pay it," Hideyoshi began to explain and Masamune finished what he started to say," The fact of the matter is this lass, we have been looking for your father with no leads, we need your help to find him and stop what he is trying to start. It is up to you to help, but if you do not, we won't be helping with those bandits," he explained. At this point I glared at them, rage boiling through my blood," You mean to say, that because I could potentially know something you refuse to help these innocent people without that information as your price?! Are you that cold hearted?!" I nearly shrieked at them in anger. These people did not know much of what was going on with the war, they only wanted to get by. They did not deserve to live in fear as they have been.

Once again, they looked at each other thinking of how to respond to what I had said. They then looked at me and let out a sigh," I suppose you are right, we were being selfish," Hideyoshi admitted and then he bowed in apology to me. I had not expected him to admit his mistake and then to bow to me, it was unheard of for samurai to bow to peasants. I backed up and shook my hands in the air fretting about their bowing to someone like me," I-It's fine," I stammered," I just want to help these people since they have taken care of me since I moved here with my father," I explained to them.

"You mean, you weren't always here in Azuchi?" Hideyoshi asked me curious. I knew he was searching for information for a lead, he wouldn't go back to Oshu unless there was no other choice, so I saw no harm in answering," No, we were originally from Oshu," I responded. Hearing that I was from his home, Masamune got a large smile on his face. "That explains it, I've heard that Oshu women are strong willed and you are my proof to that," Hideyoshi told me with a wry smile. "Well, that aside we need to get these girls home," Masamune said interrupting Hideyoshi. Sighing at being interrupted he nodded," You are right about that, we need to get them home but first I need to send a message to Lord Nobunaga in case this takes more than a day," he informed us.

Hideyoshi called one of the soldiers to him that had accompanied them, he handed a letter he had just written and handed it to him," Take this to Lord Nobunaga, no stops no distractions," he told the man with a serious expression on his face. Swallowing hard, the soldier nodded and ran to his horse and off he went to deliver the message. Hideyoshi then turned to us and the girls that they had wrapped in blankets," Don't worry, we will get you all home. I know you may not like this wagon, but this is the only way we can get you all home at the same time," he told them as he held a concerned expression. The girls nodded to him in understanding, then they bowed as if to thank him. He waved his hands at them," No, no. It is not me you should be thanking. Miss Tsubaki asked us to help and with her quick thinking found a way to get us to notice you all in the wagon. So, it is her that you should be thanking," he told them honestly.

With the help of the remaining soldiers on standby, Hideyoshi and Masamune managed to get the wagon back on its wheels. Masamune checked the wheels to make sure there wasn't any lasting damage from when it was tipped over. Seeing that there was none, Masamune nodded to the girls', guiding them onto the wagon one at a time. He looked to me as if to wait for me to board and I shook my head," I won't board that wagon again," I told him with a serious expression," Just get me a horse and I will follow you," I told them. Masamune let out a small laugh and nodded as he found me a horse," You are an Oshu woman through and through," he told me with a proud smile.

I smiled at him and Hideyoshi shook his head, seeing that Masamune couldn't help but get excited when meeting another person from his home. Once the end of the wagon was secured so none of the girls would fall out of it, I was charged with leading them to the villages. I didn't mind, though I was surprised to find how little they knew about the area outside of the main Owari towns. Due to the wagon, our travel speed was rather slow, it took us at least three days to get back to the village. I had plans of revenge on this woman and I wanted my bow back from her bandits. In my mind, there was no mercy for her or her lackies.

As we arrived, people went silent, it was no secret that the men of Nobunaga were not welcome in these villages; once they saw me and I saw their angry expressions I knew my life here was over. With how much they hated Nobunga, they would list me as a sympathizer and ostracize me from the village. However, they appeared to forget their anger once they saw the missing girls were returned safely. Dismounting my horse, I looked around for that traitor. She was trying to slip into the forest unnoticed. "Masamune, Hideyoshi the woman I told you about she is slipping into the forest for back up," I told them as she tried to sneak away.

Noticing this, Hideyoshi chased after her while Masamune stayed in the village making sure the girls got to their respective homes safely. In the forest, Hideyoshi much like myself had been surrounded. Though, the bandits hadn't expected one of Nobunaga's men to follow the woman. Her eyes grew wide as she saw him staring right at her readying his weapon," You are under arrest," he told her," And what charges do you have against me, mr. samurai?" the woman asked him with a smirk on her face. Walking closer to him she tried to seduce him with her looks and smell, though to her surprise it did not work on Hideyoshi," Human trafficking being one of the charges, trying to seduce a soldier of Lord Nobunaga could possibly be added as well," he warned her as she had touched his arm in a suggestive manner. Hearing the warning, she backed away from him. "You have no proof that I was behind those girls being sold," she snapped.

"No, but you just told me the proof I needed," Masamune told her as he entered the scene as I followed behind the two. The bandits now fearful backed away from the two samurai, though they were too slow, between the two of them none of the bandits were left standing. The woman, however, was taken into custody and brought to the same wagon she had used to sell innocent women. As she was locked away in the wagon, dirty looks once again turned to me. I had brought soldiers of Lord Nobunaga to my home; thus, I was now a traitor in their eyes.

Shocked at the response they received by the villagers, both Masamune and Hideyoshi looked to me and they came to realize the dirty looks weren't directed towards them, they were directed at me. After Masamune thought on it, he took Hideyoshi to the side, "These people will not allow her to stay here after today. If they do it will be a very miserable existence for her," Masamune told Hideyoshi. He too had come to this realization," I believe you're right. She will have nowhere to go after we leave. I think it's best if we take her back to Azuchi Castle and ask Lord Nobunaga for her to stay within the castle town," Hideyoshi told him. The two nodded in agreement and approached me, each placing a hand on one of my shoulders, they were showing me sympathy without making it obvious to the villagers.

Hideyoshi turned to me, looking me squared in the eyes," You have a choice to make now Tsubaki, will you stay here or go to Azuchi castle with us?" Hideyoshi asked as he and Masamune looked at me. I ran my fingers through my crimson red hair in thought. I knew if I accepted their offer, I would have to betray my father. I looked around me, seeing the people that took care of me from a young age, showing so much hate for bringing help with the bandit problem. Sighing, I nodded to myself telling myself what needed to be done. "I will go with you to Azuchi Castle," I told them. I clenched my fists, anger filled my heart. I was only trying to help protect them from the bandits and in response, I get casted out.

Knowing that they would question me about my father, I decided to save them the time and energy," I know you wanted to know more about my father, but I am sorry to say he was always vague with me. The last time he was here, was a couple of years ago. Since then I have not seen him, I just know he told me that he had a meeting with his rebellion members. After that, I have not heard from or seen him," I told them. The two gritted their teeth, their hope for a good lead was gone. If there was one thing my father was good at, it was hiding.

I went to my room and gathered my things before leaving I had gone as far as to search the house, I shared with my father for anything that could be helpful. It was to no avail, he didn't leave a single crumb for them to follow. He knew he was being hunted and he had no plans to be found. Leaving my home behind, I nodded to the two men as I put my belongings in the satchel bags around the horse, they allowed me to use. However, I planned to take my father's horse with me as well so the horse they allowed me to use, was to be used as a storage horse. Checking that we were all ready, Hideyoshi mounted his horse followed by Masamune and myself, we then left the village behind us. I only looked back at the village once, reminding myself that I had to be the one to find my path in the war-torn world.

Much like on the way to the village, heading back to Azuchi Castle was also slow, men surrounded the wagon that held their prisoner. Ever so often, they would rotate positions to be sure she had no means of escape. I had been expecting another ambush by her bandit friends, though it did not happen. I knew they were out there, but I suppose they felt a twinge of fear when they saw Hideyoshi and Masamune guarding her. As we came through the gates leading to the Castletown of Azuchi, I did not expect to see what I did. The people loved Hideyoshi and Masamune. Wide-eyed, I watched as women flocked to Hideyoshi and people greeted Masamune. Some of the people, were so kind that they had even greeted someone they didn't even know, me.

Seeing this side of the story, made me wonder even more so than before, if my father had not been mistaken about Lord Nobunaga and his allies. Perhaps, I thought, he had to do awful things to get his ultimate goal. I have seen evidence that people would defy him to the death, so I couldn't help but wonder if a lot of the rumors were unfounded. Once the two men were finally able to get free, they led me through the town up to the castle which towered above the town we were in. I had never seen a castle up close before, I will admit that I felt a little overwhelmed by its size as we approached it. Seeing my reactions to things, made Masamue chuckle I couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was thinking. I hadn't known him long, but he seemed to be a person that was hard to predict.

Reaching the castle gates, Hideyoshi helped me off my horse and then Masamune showed me where to take both horses I had been using. On the castle grounds, there were several places for horses, I smiled at this knowing that my horse would always be well taken care of. Once I finished securing the two horses into their stalls and feeding them, I caught up with Hideyoshi and Masamune. Together, the three of us entered the castle. I don't think I felt more nervous in my entire life. Walking through the doors, I started to feel tight-chested and my hands began to sweat. I bit down on my lip, not knowing how this would turn out. I have heard a great many rumors about Nobunaga being a tyrant and killing any that did do not serve him to his desire.

As we arrived the main hall, where meetings were often held between Nobunaga and his vassals Hideyoshi lead the way into the room. I looked around as we passed the other men sitting opposite of the dais, one reminded me awfully a lot of a snake with his golden eyes and fox-like grin. Another looked to be unreadable, he looked kind by appearance, but appearances could be deceiving; then there was a man who looked cold outwardly and was cloaked in yellow from head to toe, his kimono he wore almost matched his hair, his eyes stood out since they were a sea-green color. The two in front of me had suddenly stopped moving.

"We have returned from our business in the outlying farming villages, m'Lord," Hideyoshi reported as he bowed to the man sitting on the dais. This must be the infamous Oda Nobunaga I thought to myself. The man my father hated to his very core and I still to this day did not understand why. He looked like death itself, he wore a black kimono and had matching hair to go with it, his eyes were a shade of red; from the distance they seemed to be rather cold. Then, I was taken by surprise, he smiled at his vassals. "Welcome back Hideyoshi and Masamune. I hope that your mission ended in success?" he asked as they returned to their full height. Masamune smiled that same cocky smile he always wore," You could say that, I mean the bandits are dead and the woman that was behind their attacks is behind bars," Masamune explained. Hideyoshi on the other hand, saw it as both a success and failure. "We succeeded in the request to help with the bandit problem, however, we found no leads on the man behind the rebellion," he hung his in shame as he said this.

Masamune shook his head looking to the side at Hideyoshi," That may be, however, we did find his daughter. Though she doesn't seem to know his whereabouts, perhaps she will know where he has been and then we can figure out his pattern of travel," Masamune suggested. Nobunaga sat up in his seat, now interested in who it was that they brought in with them. "Come forward, girl," he ordered as Masamune and Hideyoshi moved on either side of me so that he could see me clearly. Taking a deep breath in and back out, I walked closer to him as he asked. He inclined his head at me as if looking me over from head to toe, then he stood and walked over to me. "Are you aware of the problems your father has started for me?" he asked me as he pierced me with those cold, red eyes. I could only nod," I have heard mention of his hate for you, Lord Nobunaga. However, I do not know much else. He always spoke of his hate for you since before we left Oshu," I informed with a bowed head.

He looked at me for a moment," Raise your head, woman. You have done nothing wrong, if anything you have impressed me. Knowing that we knew your father you still seeked our help to aid the people of your village with a bandit problem, despite knowing how they would treat you, you still made sure they would be safe before you left. Then, to top it off you come here to my castle knowing the potential of being imprisoned by association," he told me with a sly smile on his face. He sat back down on the dais, "You are welcome to stay within Azuchi Castle for as long as you would like. Granted, that you tell me what you know about your father. It can be anything, even the places he has taken you," Nobunaga told me with a smile.

I had to think for a moment, this was the biggest decision of my life. Did I remain loyal to my father and risk certain death, or did I tell them what they wanted to know? I bit lower lip, nervous as I thought this over for a minute. Sighing, I knew what had to be done, though I did not like it, I knew if I didn't give them at least a little information that may or may not help, I would be the one in the real danger. Bowing to Nobunga I told him," I accept your proposal, I will tell you what I know in exchange for a place to stay; I can't promise the information will help you, but it is all I have," I told him as I stood back to my full height. Nobunaga nodded and with the wave of his hand, he dismissed me. As I left the main hall, Masamune had followed me out. "I will show you a spare room with a good view," he told me with a smile, I looked at him for a moment and nodded," Thank you Lord Masamune," I said with a small smile, following him.

When we arrived, I was breathless, across the room was a large garden it was so beautiful. It had a small waterfall the merged with a pond full of koi. Around the pond there were several kinds of flowers that adorned the ground and grass alike. I was more drawn to the lotus flowers that were on the muddy water meant for growing rice. I smiled and turned to look at Masamune and bowed," Thank you for finding me a room with such a view, it is beautiful," I told him with a smile. He smiled at me and nodded in response. "Tomorrow, I will take you on a tour of the market, so be ready bright and early," he told me with a teasing smile. I was not sure what to think of him yet, but I do admit that he was growing on me.