Isolation-A state of separation between persons or groups

Sorry this one took so long, I kept getting stuck.

Ranmaru slightly moaned as he came to. "My lord?" He held his head as he looked around. There was nobody. He tried to remember the series of events that led him here.

He and the rest of the army had been locked in heated battle against men from the Takada army. They had been ambushed on their way back to Nagoya Castle. It was a good strategic move on Takada's part. The forest was on the left and the right side just dropped off to a forest down below and the road was barley big enough for all of them.

Ranmaru had run ahead of Nobunaga as to keep the fight as far away from him as possible. Sure Nobunaga loved a good fight, but if he engaged in battle, there was a possibility, though very, very slime, that he could get hurt or worse...die. If that were to happen, Ranmaru wouldn't know what to do...he'd probably follow suit.

None of that mattered though, Ranmaru wasn't going to let him get hurt.

Everything had been going smoothly, until it started raining. Nobunaga had predicted the rain earlier that day, but he had not predicted the ambush. To Ranmaru, it was no fault of Nobunaga's, the spies and look outs should have seen this, they had failed their lord.

The ground beneath them turned to mud and one false step was all that was needed to meet a fatal end and it was that one false step that Ranmaru took.

His leg slipped out from under him and he fell to his knee. The surrounding opponents were not going to let this opportunity pass.

Their blades swung down on him. There was only one option.

Ranmaru rolled out of the way just as the swords made contact with the ground. He scrambled to regain his footing, but this wasn't going to work. The mud was so slick. He slipped again and the more he tried to regain his balance, the harder it seemed to get.

"Damn it." Ranmaru ditched the idea of getting back to his feet on the mud and lunged forward tackling the nearest guy.

Ranmaru used the other man's body to stand up making sure his opponent wasn't getting up after him.

The moment he was up, a sword was swung down on him.

Ranmaru held up his sword to defend himself. One hand braced the blade to keep it steady.

Someone was coming from the side.

He swivaled to meet the new enemy. Their swords clashed and the impact coupled with the mud sent them flying backwards.

Ranmaru could feel himself slipping and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he fell. He reached out and grabbed whatever he could of his opponents. If he was going over, he was damn sure he'd take as many as he could with him.

It happened all so fast.

Ranmaru tried to push himself to his feet, but a sharp pain shot through his leg. "Oh God." He clutched his left leg. It wasn't the worse pain he'd ever felt, but it was pretty damn close. "Great." He gritted his teeth. "I broke it." He looked up to see where he fell. It was pretty high up so he should consider himself lucky he only had a broken leg...and scratches...and bruises. The men that had fallen with him weren't even groaning, it was safe to assume they were dead.

He sighed heavily. "Where's my sword?" His beloved blade was nowhere to be found. He closed his eyes. No blade and no lord, he was all alone.

'Will they come looking for me?' Crossed his mind. This hurt more then his leg. His lord wouldn't abandon him...right?

"Of course not." He said aloud. "Who would bring him his sake?" He laughed at himself for even thinking such silly things, but it slowly turned hollow.

Ranmaru cleared his throat loudly to try and change his mind's train of thought. "I...ah, should set this. Don't want it to heal funny."

He quickly servaed the area for lose wood. There wasn't much, but he managed to gather enough pieces. The hard part was having to move himself around to get them. That was painful in itself.

He pulled the cords from around his neck and used them to tie the wood around his leg. "This should do until."

Until what?

Lord Nobunaga comes to his rescue?

The ache in his heart dulled the pain in his leg.

Who was he trying to kid? Nobunaga wasn't going to come to his rescue, he was just his page, he was replaceable.

Anyone could learn to properly serve sake to Nobunaga's liking.

Anyone could give their lives to protect him.

Anyone could 'service' him the way Ranmaru did.

Anyone could replace him.

He pulled his good leg up and hugged it. "It was silly to think I actually mattered. He won't."

"Ranmaru!"

Was that?

"Ranmaru!"

It was! "My lord!"

In a matter of seconds, the regal form of Nobunaga appeared before his eyes...followed by some soldiers as a precaution..

For a split moment, relief flashed a crossed Nobunaga's face, but only for a moment. "I figured you were still alive." His eyes fell to his broken leg. "And that, you useless curs, is what puts him above you." He didn't need to yell to freeze the blood in the subordinate's veins. "None of you would have known how to splint your own leg."

Blush crept to Ranmaru's cheeks. This was embarrassing.

Nobunaga crouched down before him and gently lifted him up. The soldiers had to hold in their gasps of surprise. Had their lord really just picked up his page?

"L...lord Nobunaga?" Without thinking, Ranmaru threw his arms around his neck. "You shouldn't, I'm all muddy."

"I can't let any of these morons carry you, they'll make it worse."

Ranmaru's face burned. "My apologize for inconveniencing you, my lord."

Nobunaga snorted. "An inconvenience would be having to train someone to take your place and suffering through it."

Ranmaru wasn't sure if this was a complement or not, but considering who it was coming from, he'd take it.

He smiled softly to himself. So maybe he wasn't alone after all, Nobunaga had come for him personally and that meant the world to him.

So, I made so much of that up. ~_~ Though Nagoya was Nobunaga's castle that he took from his uncle. I feel like such a little kid. I kept giggling over 'service' him. Ah, I'm a dork