Chapter Six: Creature
Regardless of their mounting victories the Oda army had gained everyone in camp was restless. Hiraya and Hideyoshis' absence was felt. Dusk had come. Irritated by the morale of the camp Nobunaga retired to his tent.
It was mostly empty space. A primitive futon, candles and travel desk did little to fill it. On the desk next to ancient scrolls sat a tiny wooden figure hand carved and painted. Nobunaga walked over and picked it up. It was a bear figure baring its fangs in an animalistic smile but in its paws he was holding a honeycomb close to his belly. Hiraya had carved this for him. With a heavy sigh he set down the figure and began to take off his armor. Some pieces were bent and there was blood everywhere.
Plopping down on his futon Nobunaga felt the release of the burden of his armor. He couldn't help but think that if Hiraya was here she'd have a drink with him right now. Staring at an empty chair he could almost see her sitting there…laughing…bringing levity to the heavy atmosphere with her voice.
He missed her.
Masamune stood stoically, an oddity for him Ieyasu noted, and continued to pour over the map at his fingertips. Mitsunari was skimming through rolls of parchment in earnest trying to keep his mind off of his missing friends. Mitsuhide was busy speaking in hushed tones to several soldiers who had just returned.
Hiraya and Hideyoshi had been missing for three days with no word from either.
Standing on the outskirts of the camp several fellow soldiers, soldiers who had fought alongside Hiraya in several conflicts stood watching the horizon in contemplation. Mistress Hiraya must have, seemingly, accomplished her task. No grand march of reinforcements had met them on the battlefield.
Everyone was worried.
If Hiraya had been in camp she would have the men singing war chants, their weapons and armor sharpened and polished and ready. Mitsuhide looked out at the camp. Encouraged by her words and stories they would hunger for tomorrow's victory instead of loping around like lost, sodden pups. But instead they had a lost look in their eyes.
In such a short few years the young girl had overcome resistance and adversity. Taking on the nontraditional role of a female soldier first, a spy and then finally the Lady Tactician. Those who were enemies of such unorthodox changes quickly became allies and often sought her advice, training and company.
Hiraya was an extraordinary woman.
"Lord Mitsuhide! Lord Mitsuhide!"
A gangly boy hurried through the camp, breathless and practically tripping over his own feet, as he attempted not to run over any passing soldiers.
"Lord Mitsuhide! Lord Mitsuhide!"
The soldiers jumped back at his yelling giving him a clear route to his master.
"Yoshin." Mitsuhide regarded the young page.
"Mess-"Yoshin panted, "Message from beyond enemy lines!"
"Lord Nobunaga."
He'd been close to sleep when Mitsunari's' voice called from outside the tent. The warlord opened his groggy eyes.
"Enter."
Quickly all of his vassals filed in and he was abruptly awake. WIDE awake.
Mitsuhide bowed respectfully with a broad smile, "I have a report my lord regarding Hideyoshi and Hiraya."
"Hurry on then." Nobunaga snapped.
Mitsuhide cleared his throat, "Hiraya was successful. The infantry of more than eight-thousand men was destroyed before leaving the valley-"
"My Lucky Charm is amazing." Nobunaga hummed with pride.
"-the shinobi of Iga, all of them, were counted among the casualties as well including Hanzo Hattori during a secondary assault. She brought down the very mountains to their knees to crush the enemies of Oda."
Nobunaga's jaw dropped.
"As to their location…..The situation is direr than I had believed. Both Hiraya and Hideyoshi are located deep within the territories of Kai. There was much blood found downstream from the valley and foot prints. The only footprints that were found are believed to be Hideyoshis' but the blood is believed to be Hirayas'."
Hideyoshi felt like he was on pins and needles. Outside the little hut a nasty storm howled and beat the timber walls with thrashing rain. But he was dry and warm. In a pit, at the center of the hut, a fire contently crackled and popped; the wood in its belly glowed as it was eaten up by the flames.
Cautiously he gazed across the hut at Hiraya and prayed it wasn't an omen. At her bedside was an old woman with spindly red hair, fish-like eyes the color of tree bark and skim wrinkled with time. Hideyoshi could've sworn this woman was a Kijimuna. A creature he'd heard legends about except that they were supposed to be small and child-like. With elegant hands she checked on Hiraya who was fevered and unconscious. The shrunken that she had protected him from had been coated in poison.
Hideyoshi raised a weak voice, "H-How is she?" he asked breaking the silence.
The old woman stood to her full height; she was tall and regal, and made her way over to a cloth piled high with wild herbs.
"She is in a bad way." The woman's voice was riddled with rasp, "That poison is a very nasty kind. A strong dose from an Iga thistle-burn bush."
"What does that mean?"
With skilled hands, pouring, mixing and grinding, she began to make a salve.
"Do not fret, Hideyoshi of the Oda, I will not let the girl die."
Picking up the stone bowl she had been working in she reached over the fire and offered him it, "You need to work this over until I come back. Understood?"
He took the bowl slowly.
"I need a flower."
With that she stepped out into the storm. Hideyoshi stared after her blankly for a long moment until a weak moan pulled his attention. Quickly he got to his feet, setting the stone medicine bowl down, and hurried to her side. Hiraya was pale, whitewashed with fever sweat, so much so that her skin was near translucent. He could see the delicate blue veins radiating up from her chest to slither over muscle and bone up her slender neck, smeared with love marks, to her jaw. There were dark pools beneath her eyes, her breathing was heavily labored, shallow and her lips were cracking from the fever.
This was bad.
Very. Very. Bad.
Picking up a wooden bowl filled with melted snow he gently dabbed at her face and neck with a damp rag. After falling from the mountain, which Hiraya had exploded out from under their feet, they'd managed to survive the fall. They were lucky to have not been crushed by falling debris. Hideyoshi was lucky to have not gone splat at the bottom…..Gingerly he lifted the blanket and peeked at her side. It was swollen, black and blue.
Even now he still didn't understand why…..He dropped the blanket and her face scrunched in pain. Hideyoshi had fully planned to die saving Hiraya-Even if it meant betraying his oath to Nobunaga-but at the last second she'd flipped the tables. Literally. That seemed to be Hiraya's specialty as of late.
Instead of him hitting the ground she'd taken the entire impact of him when they hit the ground.
"Love is a many splendored thing."
Hideyoshi jumped, pulled from his remorseful, confused thoughts, and looked over to find the old woman drying herself by the fire. He hadn't heard her return.
"It is capable of bearing the heaviest burdens, self-sacrificing and forgiving."
He frowned, "Pardon?"
She looked at him, "I am old, young man, but I am not blind." She smirked, "You are a man in love."
"I don't-"
"Hush!"
Hideyoshi zipped his lips. The old woman retrieved the medicine bowl from the floor and added the yellow flowers to it. Humming softly she worked the salve, with its new additions, over; it released a pungent smell. The old woman's words flitted through his mind. Had he become that transparent?
"If she can survive the next two nights she will be fine and able to return to Azuchi."
Suddenly he felt tense. His stomach, already in knots, twisted tighter. They were in enemy territory, Kai, far from any possible help. If this woman found out they were part of the Oda alliance…Fear gripped his heart for Hiraya.
"We are natives of Kai." Hideyoshi lied, "Our home was swept away in the flood."
She snorted, "If you say as much…..Hideyoshi Toyotomi."
A cold chill froze him to the spot.
Everything in him was screaming that Hiraya was in danger.
"If you were not with her when I found you I would have killed you for entering my sacred forest." The old woman's face flickered in the firelight like she was fading away, "If was only by this ethereal creatures presence you were spared." Her physical presence had completely evaporated, "Know this, young warlord, whom ever she exercises such shields over is truly a worthy heart but such a creature should not be vexed. It is venom to them."
Her disembodied voice gave him a stern warning, "The Oda do not know the strength that walks amongst them. Such a shame."
Silence.
"Creature…..?"Hideyoshi breathed looking back at Hiraya.
