Author: Nami-chan.
Pairing : :DateSana, MotoMoto, KoSasu, IeMitsu, and some other I won't spoil
Disclaimers : I think we all would like to have the on right Sengoku Basara, but it's not my case
Note beta : Fantasia di Tempesta
Dragon Tales Book Two
Part 10
When Ieyasu decided to stand against Hideyoshi, he had prepared his mind to face all the consequences of this decision. However, now that he was in front of the giant, their soldiers' eyes turned towards them, waiting. Speaking and expressing his true feelings proved to be much more complicated than what Ieyasu expected.
His men's lives were involved... and they were taking huge risks rebelling here with him.
He had always respected Hideyoshi until then, and it hadn't changed, even for one day. It was because of many events, the need to affirm his convictions and to protect the bonds and ties he had developed over time.
One of the bonds was connected to Hideyoshi and he had to alter it in hopes of protecting the bonds he had and those he would forge in the future.
Hideyoshi looked at him, his eyes as hard and expressionless as usual. He didn't make any move to come forward first. A middle-aged man Ieyasu had never seen before was with him. A strange man dressed in black and white remained standing in the background as he watched the scene between the young general and his lord. It wasn't his smile that bothered Ieyasu, but rather the fact that this man had no smell and no perceptible aura.
Ieyasu realized that he had been staring at the man for some time when Hideyoshi eventually became impatient and spoke before him.
"Ieyasu, are you bringing me a victory?" He said.
The young general turned his attention to the giant, forgetting about the other man. His determination was renewed and he clenched his fists, displaying a sullen expression on his usually smiling face.
"Victory is mine, yet I'm not at peace."
Hearing his words, Hideyoshi continued to stare at him with a blank and emotionless expression. He wasn't truly looking at the young man, his eyes were looking back towards Kai. Still, He gave a satisfied grunt. Without further ado, the giant tried to advance, ignoring Ieyasu.
Shocked by his lord's attitude, Ieyasu took some time to act. He returned in front of Hideyoshi. Blocking his way out, he spread his arms to prevent him from advancing further. Preventing the man to go disturb his mentor.
"The Tiger of Kai has fallen, there is no reason to send more troops. I'll take care of the surrender treaty in time." Ieyasu began, "You will never drive the country to peace by doing so."
He had finally let his opinion out, loud and clear.
This time, Hideyoshi listened, looking down to the younger man.
"I knew this moment would come. You want to reign in my stead, isn't it? You can no longer-"
"No, that's where you're wrong."
Hideyoshi seemed to tense up when Ieyasu interrupted him.
"For me, the real strength lies in the relationships between people. Those bonds will bring a lasting peace that will succeed their offsprings. I'm convinced. You... you don't want to see it but your actions, your ambitions, they will plunge the country into an endless war. This era will never know peace if I let you go on. "
Ieyasu had put so much emotion, so much conviction in his words that the Toyotomi men who were at hearing range took a step back. A murmur passed between them and he knew he had at least reached their hearts.
"Move, Ieyasu. I have no time to waste."
Something passed in Hideyoshi's crimson gaze, a red glow that didn't escape Ieyasu. He wondered briefly of this constatation but he was too concerned with Hideyoshi's stubborn refusal to listen. Ieyasu knew too well what he would have to do to stop him if he persisted.
Still blocking the giant, the young general refused to move. He tried again to reason with Hideyoshi.
"Hear me, Lord Hideyoshi." Ieyasu insisted decided to finish his speech, "I don't recognize you. I can't find the Lord Hideyoshi who once inspired me by ordering that all weapons were to be seized in the countryside and reserved for soldiers in you. This compassion in your eyes... I see nothing but the horizon in them now..."
"That's because he's not the same Hideyoshi you've known before. I thought you would have noticed by now. You're an Onmyouji, after all," the voice that interrupted Ieyasu seemed to come from nowhere.
Ieyasu had completely forgotten about the man in black and white. So when he stepped between him and Hideyoshi, saying those words, the young general couldn't fully grasp them yet.
"Hisahide," Hideyoshi protested, turning his anger towards the man.
Hisahide shook his head in disapproval. Hands behind his back, he slowly went to Ieyasu and spoke to Hideyoshi, "How important is it that he knows this now? You have to kill him anyway. An exorcist will hinder your plans sooner or later."
Hideyoshi nodded, apparently in accordance with what the strange man had just said. He merely observed stoically when the man bent down to reach Ieyasu's ear, whispering the truth about what happened to Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi first saw the disbelief on Ieyasu's face, then the solar general eyes lit up when he realized that what he had just heard was the whole truth... that all this time he had been deceived.
Somehow, it was something delectable.
However, Hideyoshi or the thing that lived in his body didn't forget his priority. He stood on guard, ready to crush this little runt who stood between him and his destiny.
"How couldn't I realize it sooner?" Ieyasu stated, standing up for a fight. He shook his head at his own incompetence, adding, "It is my duty to send you back to where you came from, demon."
Fortunately, it wasn't yet too late to stop it ... even if it was maybe too late to save Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi's black armor covered his entire body, protecting him up to his neck and the sleeveless red jacket he wore wasn't offering much opening either. His large black shoulder guards hid his arms and two gauntlets covered his hands.
Yet Ieyasu knew that if he had paid more attention, he could have seen it. Even if he had forgotten the practice of the dark arts, he would have.
No, he should have seen that every inch of skin of this man, except his face, was probably covered with this black mark. The mark of the curse. The mark of Orochi.
Hideyoshi began to let out a sinister and lifeless laugh.
"And to think that this man wanted to make you his successor. You, a puny and weakened exorcist. You have no chance against us."
Without further ado Hideyoshi struck the first blow, his fist sucking the air around him to form a whirlwind about to crush Ieyasu.
More than ever, the young general's determination to stop the giant was unwavering. It was no longer an option to make him see reason. It had been a lost battle from the start and somehow Ieyasu had suspected it. This should have been clear at the same time the idea of standing against Hideyoshi had crossed his mind.
"I'll bring you down!" He answered, jumping back to avoid the attack.
Hideyoshi's blows were powerful, nearly crushing Ieyasu at the slightest impact. The young man was still on alert. He also fought with his fists. They were lacerated with scars made in combat and in training.
He was about to add more of them.
The gold gauntlets he wore most often missed their target, because although Hideyoshi was burly and hard to miss, Ieyasu couldn't approach him. Taking too much risk would bring his premature end.
The two men went blow for blow. One stronger but the other faster, jumping, dodging, trying to find an opening. Ieyasu finally managed to find a small window in Hideyoshi's guard, using his more compact size. The impact of his powerful fist hitting the giant's stomach forced Hideyoshi to step back. The pain was finally seen on the larger man's face.
Ieyasu took a second to breathe and wipe the sweat accumulated on his eyebrow.
He knew that now was his chance. If he allowed time for Hideyoshi to recover, he wouldn't have another one.
Then he struck, his fist falling on the other man's chest. Then he repeatedly hit again, and again, and again. He could only hear the sound of his strikes which resounded into his own flesh, his muscles tending to their limit with his efforts. His eyes could no longer see the shape before him but he had to hit and strike fast and accurate to make that man fall.
Up until everything abruptly stopped.
His arm stopped in full swing when a gigantic hand closed around it. Ieyasu's golden brown eyes met Hideyoshi's for a short time, the time for the young man to register that he had failed, that he had lost his chance.
"Insolent child," Hideyoshi said.
His forearm soon gave in under the pressure, the sound of his bones breaking covered by the cry of pain Ieyasu let out.
But it was nothing.
Ieyasu used his foot to surprise Hideyoshi, touching the back of his knee, destabilizing the giant. Ieyasu then freed himself at the last moment, liberating his arm from the giant's grip.
Ieyasu let his broken arm hang at his side while he resumed his defensive position against Hideyoshi who had been angered by his resistance. The giant didn't know that Ieyasu was ready to do anything if it meant survival. He couldn't afford to die and leave a spawn of Orochi roam freely on the land that was dear to him. He wouldn't let him win. He would destroy this demon even if he was left with no arms nor legs to do it.
Hideyoshi seemed to back away under the heated glare the young man gave him, one giant hand landing on the cracked pieces of his armor. He let the piece fell at his feet.
"I'll crush you to pieces, like this armor," Hideyoshi threatened.
"So, this one strike will be your last." Ieyasu shot back.
The two men didn't lose more seconds in words. When they rushed one over the other, both used their throats to release a battle cry instead. Yet, even before they meet face to face, the strength of the impact expelled the air around them, projecting a thick cloud of dust that hid them from the soldiers' eyes.
The atmosphere froze, silence reigned because not even an atom could carry the sound. It was like an implosion. The cloud of smoke was sucked in before being violently pushed out in every directions, like a violent gust of wind that brought everyone down.
Ieyasu's back hit the ground, which cracked under his weight. Stunned, he rose unsteadily, looking at Hideyoshi's spread-out form ahead of him. He seemed to breathe but it was hard to tell from afar.
Ieyasu knew very well that his fist had never reached Hideyoshi's body. Ieyasu had heard a sigh, then something like a snap of the fingers, and then everything had exploded.
He rushed toward Hideyoshi. Although he had wanted his death, Ieyasu feared the man had breathed his last. This man had been one of his mentors and seeing him like that felt wrong, Ieyasu hoped there was still something to do... Hideyoshi had taken the greatest part of the explosion.
Hisahide forestalled him, joining Hideyoshi before Ieyasu. He had a sort of shiny black pearl in his hand. A big smile on his face, he was playing with the object between his fingers.
"Actually, you were boring. Too predictable," Ieyasu heard the man speak loud and clear to Hideyoshi.
"The little Onmyoji promises more fun, so I'm giving him the chance," he added casually.
He finished a sentence and took the pearl above Hideyoshi's body, who began to convulse. His body writhed in pain as he yelled. Cracking sound came out of the pearl and some sort of blue lightning came to spread within Hideyoshi's core and he screamed louder. Then suddenly Hisahide's hand closed over the pearl, Hideyoshi's body falling back heavily.
"Don't fear for this Orochi, little Onmyoji, I destroyed it. Hum, but there are others. Well, you must already know about that. I want to see if you will be able to stop them," Hisahide talked to a stunned Ieyasu, making him come out of his torpor.
Once again the young man didn't actually manage to hear or see what the man had just told him with a satisfied expression. Instead he fell to his knees, reaching his hand forward trying to touch Hideyoshi's. Two eyes which had regained their light were now staring at the open sky.
"Lord Hideyoshi?" Ieyasu tried.
A heavy sigh heaved the giant's torso.
"Hanbei... what have I done?"
He extended a hand toward the seemed to wish to catch a bird passing over their heads. His mouth moved, "Ah... I don't deserve your forgiveness. Where are you taking me now?"
His voice trailed off in a whisper when his eyes closed.
Ieyasu rose slowly, his eyes never leaving the giant's lifeless body. His eyes finally went down on his good hand as he flexed his fist.
Ieyasu couldn't back down now, never again.
What would become of the country without Hideyoshi?
He was the only one now, his hands stained with blood, who could find the answer.
"I have to use these hands to protect bonds between men..." he whispered.
"IIIIIIEEEEEEYAAAAASSSUUUU!"
A scream tore the silence, resounding like thunder that made Ieyasu turn around.
Something in him seemed to shatter when he saw Mitsunari.
The usually cold and distant expression he could see on his friend and lover's face was now twisted with rage and all sorts of conflicting emotions struggling to dominate the silver haired man's heart. His olive eyes fixed on Ieyasu's, he could only feel the man's destructive impulses now turned on him.
"What did you do?!" The silver haired man screamed again.
The problem was that Ieyasu did precisely nothing.
He hadn't noticed that Hideyoshi was possessed. He hadn't noticed the changes in his comportment. Even worse, not a single time did he anticipate what he had just done could do for the man he loved.
"You killed him!?" Mitsunari questioned, refusing to believe what his eyes showed him.
Stricken with guilt, Ieyasu looked down.
But he was ready, ready to bear all the responsibility.
"I had to, Mitsunari."
Mitsunari stepped back, his body trembling with anger, now predominated by disbelief and betrayal. He grabbed his sword and fell on Ieyasu with a cry of rage.
Refusing to meet his gaze, Ieyasu merely jumped to avoid him. His feet then met the metal surface of Tadakatsu's back who quickly took him out of Mitsunari's sword's reach.
"I can't let you kill me now," He said before allowing his vassal to take him far away.
"IIIIIIEEEEEEYASSSU! Don't you dare to run away, you coward!"
But Ieyasu was already gone.
Remained before him the lifeless body of the defeated Hideyoshi. As Ieyasu had done before him, he knelt beside the giant. He tried to took his hand in his but his hand seemed so small compared to the lord's enormous one. Mitsunari gazed at it for a while, grief and remorse for not having been fast enough to save him from the traitor destroying his body.
Up until the moment he finally found the strength in him to turn to the sky.
"I will destroy you, Ieyasu! You hear me?! I'll kill you! IIIIIIEEEEEEYYYYASSSSU! Ieyasu! IEYASUUUUUU!"
Breathless, he fell back.
Struggling to breathe, his heart broken, emptied of all his strength, destroyed, lots of words could describe the silver general's current state of mind, yet a single word reached his lips. The venom crept into his words.
Mitsunari murmured again and again the name of the person who harvested all his hatred, his face resting on Hideyoshi's still warm shoulder. And for the first time since as long as his memory went back, tears slid down his cheeks.
"I hate you, Ieyasu... I'll kill you." he whispered. "Hideyoshi-sama... Hanbei-sama... I 'll kill him."
Oooooooooooooooooooooo
Keiji had quickly accustomed to the sounds of hammers and saws of the men who were busy repairing the ship. This didn't bother him too much, except that rejection when he was dying to offer some help.
Instead, the pirates had given him the task of watching over their captain. Motochika hadn't regained consciousness since the attack of the Saika. The men quickly had found a safe harbor for repairing the damages. That had reassured the Maeda vagabond, but he would truly be at peace when his friend would finally open his one eye.
However, he had been awake for several hours without any break and he needed some fresh air. Normally, Keiji wouldn't have allowed himself to leave his friend bedside, but he after seeing the oni writhing in a restless sleep for hours before finally calming down and appearing to sleep peacefully had morally exhausted him too.
Keiji wasn't feeling good. It was him who would have to tell to Motochika that they couldn't find Motonari anywhere. Preparing mentally for this moment wasn't an easy task.
Finally finding the sun on deck, he took a deep breath.
Yumekichi climbed on top of his head and imitated him when he stretched his arms. A sudden pain in his heart made the young vagabond flinch.
Instinctively he turned his gaze to the north, far behind the mountains. His hand fell on the charm pendant he wore around his neck. He stroked the little silk purple pouch with his fingertips, tracing the Maeda clan symbol on it.
"What are you doing now, Hideyoshi?" He asked to the sky. Then he stroked his little companion's head when he said, "I hope Motochika wakes up soon. I have a very, very bad feeling, Yumekichi."
The monkey gave a sad little squeak, approving his friend.
Ooooooooooooooooooo
The one-eyed dragon watched his numbed limbs, happy not to find any trace of injury. He quickly realized that he was back here in finding that he had full access to all his faculties.
It was probably because he had wanted to see Yukimura so much at that very moment. He had longed to tell him, to talk to him. Even if deep down he hated the possibility that this moment may be the last.
Masamune had to hurry, he was in the world of dreams but it was impossible to say how much time he was granted.
So,had to act quickly.
His thoughts fixed on the single objective of finding the object of his desires, his steps promptly led him before a pavillion. A house that he - not without difficulty - recognized as Yukimura's childhood home.
When they were children, the house was warm, welcoming, flowery and smell of good food or clothes drying in the sun. However, this one was dull, lifeless and all its doors were closed.
Regardless, the blue dragon had no time to revisit this. He put one foot on the rotten engawa, using his memory to find the sliding door that would led to Yukimura's room. The door creaked open when pulled, overlooking an empty room with neither furniture nor Yukimura.
So Masamune tried to go further into the house. He slid the door that should have led to the hallway but the dragon found himself in the same empty room, the same frescoes painted on the wall. He turned to find that the room he had just crossed was still behind him. He opened another door and still found the same room...
It was starting to get annoying.
He vocalized his thought.
"This is a pain in the ass." he growled out.
Feeling that his unconscious would soon falter, Masamune decided to compel the other to come to him rather than continue this stupid game of hide and seek.
"Yukimura? You there?"
"Masamune?" He heard.
It was inevitably Yukimura's voice. Masamune didn't have time to determine the source of the sound as a door suddenly opened. Yukimura grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, closing the door on the fly.
The room in which Yukimura had pulled him was the only one he had seen different. It was the only thing he had seen since he entered that had a nostalgic in it.
It was as messy as the one in his memories.
Yukimura's bedroll was lying in the center and his favorite card game was spread on the tatamis.
"I'm glad you came. I wanted to dream of you." Yukimura said, his face reflecting its enchantment.
Masamune rubbed his neck, knowing that the message that his unconscious wanted this much to convey could only disturb the young man in front of him.
"I had trouble finding you," he finally said.
Yukimura shrugged as he answered, "A shady guy keeps following me lately, so I had to take precautions."
A genuinely amused smile played on Masamune's lips as he said, "You only had a nightmare. Such a kid." he snickered.
A genuinely amused smile played on Masamune's lips as he said, "You only had a nightmare. Such a kid," he snickered.
The young tiger took an outraged look, then he folded his arms across his chest and said, "My warrior side stayed with Oyakata-sama, so I haven't had the slightest desire to fight with you today, Masamune."
He looked kind of proud of himself.
Masamune arched an eyebrow sceptically, before remembering what the ninja had told him once. About how Yukimura, who couldn't stand the truth of his parent's death, had locked himself in a kind of catatonia, rejected any outside stimuli, stayed silent and let himself to be guided like a doll. With this fact in mind, the fact that his tiger could separate his personality seemed not so extravagant anymore.
"So that's why you're so childish," he thought aloud.
"Masamune?"
The time for him to register that Yukimura had spoke to him, he couldn't help but notice that his face was now inches away from him. Yukimura's hot breath warmed his lips and he licked them instinctively.
"It's no longer a nightmare now," Yukimura whispered, finally joining their bodies that only wanted to meet.
Masamune's eye closed and he let himself dive into the familiar and the oh-so-desired sensations. His hand went in his lover's long hair who was already forcing the passage to impose his dominance over the kiss. As if Masamune was going let him.
He could feel everything and everything was so real. The skin of Yukimura's chest felt divine under his hands. Yukimura's woody scent filled his nostrils while he grabbed the hair in his neck, attracting the other against him. His intoxicating taste, the contact of fingers made callous by the use of spears and the hands that could kill him as much as it could enchant him was now trying to depart from them anything that could be a barrier to the contact of their skins, everything was Yukimura.
The heat was invading his body. The fire that Yukimura ignited within him with the caresses of his tongue against his quickly get rid of the coldness and stiffness that had invaded his body after his fight against Mitsunari.
Masamune quickly felt another kind of stiffness grow and couldn't retrain a pleasured gasp when Yukimura let him know with a pressure that he was in the same state.
That passion, that fire which consumed them, Masamune was about to be swept away by it, eaten by a ferocious tiger. It was not the first time he had let himself be engulfed in the unstoppable firestorm that Yukimura could become. In love like a combat, the tiger was a challenge and never disappointed him.
With the experience, Yukimura had learned to know what he wanted and how to get it. It had never been unpleasant to be invaded, dominated by his senses and his lover... this passion... that flame... it could eat him whole and Masamune would still ask for more.
Yukimura gave a soft groan when Masamune sucked on his tongue, trying to somehow regain a semblance of reason.
The lack of air in his lungs was the boost he needed to remember that all of this wasn't real, that no time had come for that... no matter how much every aspect, including this hungry and energetic side of Yukimura, he could miss.
"Yuki- Yukimura," he whispered.
But Yukimura was too wild, untamed, and he called for Masamune's whole being. Although the dragon was trying to remove his lips to speak, Yukimura caught them back with voraciousness and vivacity, resuming their exchange with greed. He blocked Masamune's escape, taking his head between his hands.
No, he couldn't afford let it happen. Not this time and if he didn't react now it would be too late.
Seizing the young samurai's shoulders with both hands, he pushed him away.
"No, Yukimura, I have something to tell you."
It was quite difficult to find the rights words when facing a Yukimura with blushed cheeks and reddened lips, eyes misty with desire and whispered his name with so much need that sent a spark right to his crotch.
Masamune closed his eye and took a deep breath to calm himself down.
He had to tell the truth to Yukimura. He would probably lose this dream place he just been granted, but it was the price to pay... and if he never woke up again... then at least...
No, he was going to live.
"I'm not a dream, I am the true Masamune," he confessed, "I don't know how, but I'm able to connect our subconscious realms."
Yukimura took a step back, away from Masamune's hands. He looked at him, not finding any traces of lies in the dragon... how come all of this was even possible?
"You... I do believe you... but I'm not ready to see you, I don't want you to be there. Please leave my home."
Masamune hadn't expected this rejection and the hint of anger in Yukimura's voice confused him. He had been so passionate when he believed Masamune to be a dream...
He couldn't understand his tiger.
Masamune winced as he felt a pain in his heart that was not due to his confusion... if he remained unconscious for one more minute...
"Don't do that. I don't have time for this quarrel, Yukimura . "
The young tiger didn't reject him this time when Masamune put his hands on his shoulders.
Encouraged by the young tiger passivity, Masamune rested his forehead on Yukimura's, just like what he used to do in their most intimate moments.
"I want you to know, whatever you will hear, whatever the rumors that arrive in your ears are. I'm alive, and I will live to see another day. I will not let a fucking kid have my head. You'll see, I will return to conquer you back, Yukimura. "
Yukimura didn't answer, merely closing his eyes to escape the dragon's sharp gaze. He bit his lower lip, feeling angered after being thrown away and humiliated but also relieved that Masamune still wanted him after all.
"If my warrior side was there, you would have taken a punch in the face," he simply stated.
This had the effect of relieving Masamune, who let out a chuckle. It was a strange excuse to hit him.
"I look forward to crossing swords again," his whole soul demanded.
It was the last words Masamune remembered having pronounced.
When he began to understand his surroundings anew, Yukimura's warm room was gone, his silky hair was no longer in his hands. His back was against the hard, cold floor and his hand was grasping the handle of his sword. He felt the smell of blood and restrained the urge to throw up. And what his eyes saw first was little Itsuki's chocolate eyes, filled with tears.
"Please, don't die, blue warrior!" She snorted.
"No. I've made a promise." he breathed in the foreign tongue he liked so much.
TBC