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
Betaed by : Fantasia di Tempesta
Dragon Tales Book Two
Part 12
Masamune had this dream often, especially when he was feverish and delirious. He had it once before a decisive battle. The experience felt like the very core of his mind was trying to destabilize his own self. It made him believe that every single word uttered in his dreams were the absolute truth, thus second-guessing his own judgement.
He never got used to it. Then again, anyone could never get accustomed to dreams like these.
In the end, he could do nothing but to hold out until it was all over.
It always started and ended the same way. He would woke up with a start and all sweaty, instinctively seeking a weapon that should have been at his size. Then, he would always pant and panic before realizing that it was only a bad memory - a ghost of the past he had overcome long ago.
The beginning was always the same.
Once again, Masamune returned to his younger self. Both of his eyes, one blue and one gold with the slit pupil of the dragon race, opened to the hazy but colorful dream conjured inside his dreams. He was running, smiling and full of energy, in the familiar corridors of his childhood castle. His quick steps and contained laughter rang in his ears. And as usual, when he opened a sliding door, he always found a woman with long dark hair, turning her back to him.
She was humming a song, the lullaby of his childhood. The woman never turned to face him when he entered, so he always yelled to attract her attention: "Mother! Mother, look! I am healed! I feel much better."
In the particularly harsh winter, the disease should have been fatal to small, weak and sickly Masamune - it should have taken this skinny child in his fever. Even the doctors had lost hope after the young prince spent ten laborious days refusing to eat and vomiting the little amount of food he managed to swallow, more and more crippled within every hour.
"It's the effects of a poison," suggested one of the doctors who tended to him, yet Masamune firmly clung to life - clinging to the idea that his mother would finally see what a fighter he was... and that she would finally show him some love.
The woman's humming suddenly stopped. And that was the point where his dreams varied. Either she would turn sharply toward him, becoming a colorful flurry, or the time would slow, fully allowing time for the anguish of what was about to happen insinuate itself in Masamune's flesh.
The distorted expression on her face made her look like a thirsty monster as she clutched the frightened child by the throat, shaking him and screaming after him.
"You little worm! Why aren't you dead?! Why are you still living? I had placed so much hope in you, my child. You disappoint me again! You're so weak, yet you refuse to die. Monster, I hate you! How can I love something like you?"
She repeated it again and again, screaming and releasing all her hatred and anger on the child, paralyzed by his mother's sudden madness. She would stop as abrupt as the moment she had thrown herself at him, catching his fearful look. She would specifically stare at his right eye and pierced through that single, golden brown eye.
"Who are you trying to fool with this eye!? You'll never be a dragon! You're too lame, pathetic, weak!" She would keep screaming at him.
At that moment Masamune would weakly try to open his mouth to defend himself, to reply how she was wrong. But he never managed to get a single word out.
His mother grabbed a hairpin and stabbed that offending eye with it, destroying it forever. She had probably hoped to kill him, because she finally took him in her arms, cajoling him, trying to silence him with reassuring words while Masamune was screaming in pain, feeling the warm blood flowing freely down his child face.
"You can die now, let yourself go." she said in a soft voice.
And when she squeezed her hands around his little fragile neck, the dream, the cruel memory usually came to an end.
This time shouldn't have been different. However, Masamune's twisted mind had decided to continue torturing him. Refusing to release the dragon, his minds added new images, hazy and distant, letting him feel the emotions and sensations.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he watched the castle in flames on the hill, Kojuuro holding him, stifling his cries in his kimono's folds. Then Kojuuro would hide Masamune and left, leaving the young dragon alone with his fears and broken heart. It felt like his heart was snatched, gripped by some demon who was now laughing at him. He had been given something that looked like a home. A sincere friend who he had loved and who had loved him back. Yet it was brutally stolen.
This child didn't deserve to be punished for liking a monster like him... and yet... he could only cry even more when Kojuuro returned with his head down, his skin blackened by soot, and that he had simply taken his hand to continue their journey without saying a word.
A dark laugh resonated in his dream abyss.
"Monster. It's all your fault, you couldn't protect him, you know." a disembodied voice said. Masamune recognized only too well the voice distorted by his mother's madness
The dream continued while Masamune denied everything she said, trying to cling to the few sweet memories he had. For a moment, he heard his own laughter, laughter he had unleashed, the hilarity when facing the barely concealed idiocy of a pirate and a vagabond.
He found back the warmth of the moments when Kojuuro comforted him, where he was there for him. When the black dragon would hold him close against him to sleep when it was cold outside and they could only found a meager shelter. He protected Masamune with his whole soul, wrapping the child in a loving cocoon. Masamune could imagine what it felt to have a father affection in those moments. That his existence mattered for someone. That someone would be sad if he disappeared.
The pitter-patter of the rain and felt its tepidness on his skin. He wasn't a child anymore, but a teenager forged in an adult by a long and difficult journey.
His fingers gripped his sword firmly as he watched a man felled by it.
He had been feverish with the idea to finally have a chance to prove his worth, to shine in battle. It had seemed so easy to take away a life at first.
And yet he was not, even if he would do it time and time again if it mean saving those he held dear.
His father wanted them to retreat, yet Masamune stood here before the bodies of those who will never know the love of their families again. He refused to leave, refused to admit that their death had been in vain ... he would win this battle.
"You won because you're a monster. You've slain them without mercy. You can fool them all with your angelic face, but I've always knew what you were. Admit it." the voice echoed, plunging Masamune into turmoil.
Yukimura's benevolent face appeared before him, a comforting hand landed on Masamune's shoulder, the other hand rose to touch his cheek in a loving caress.
"What are you afraid of?" the young tiger asked.
Masamune couldn't answer him, he didn't control anything in this dream.
Yukimura faded, giving way to the purple form seen on his visions, letting it slowly take Mitsunari Ishida's appearance. The man had an even crazier expression than he remembered. With a violent kick in his stomach, he forced Masamune on the ground.
"Maggot. A low life like you doesn't deserve to tarnish this earth." his cold and distant voice made Masamune shudder involuntary while the other raised his nodachi.
Masamune was trying to struggle, to fight back, he even tried to wake up. But the battle began when he found the will in him to rise. It was fierce and greedy, as brutal as it was in reality. Time had no control and all this was only the fruit of Masamune's tortured soul. There was no way to tell if it lasted for hours or seconds.
The result fell anyway, as cruel as it had been when they first met. Masamune could even feel the blade burn as it fell upon him, destroying him body and mind, winning over him.
Yukimura returned to him. Masamune relieved at first felt himself agonize when he saw the pity in those burning eyes.
"I didn't know you were this weak Masamune. My rival can only be the best."
Then Mitsunari smirked at Masamune when Yukimura joined him, casting a last glance full of disdain to the dragon.
The dream's cruelty lost its grip on Masamune suddenly, as darkness gradually took hold of his heart, troubling his thoughts as he was filled with rage and bitterness. He forgot everything else, vowing to inflict the worst kind of death to Mitsunari.
A few drops of dark and poisonous animosity turned against Yukimura because of the sense of betrayal that vision inspired him, even if Masamune knew deep down that the tiger wasn't so vain...
Yukimura won't leave him from such a puny reason. He won't turn his back to him like this.
Even so, there had to be a reason for his mind to show him such an image. He just refused to admit it. But… the tiger had already made him feel such pain, right? What could prevent him from betraying him again?
Yukimura's spear was then pointed at him. At least in this dream, Yukimura seemed to grant him the ultimate favor of letting him die by his blade.
"I prefer to see the fighting spirit in your eyes," Yukimura said.
This Yukimura was a fake, Masamune told himself. But when he raised his spear just above Masamune's heart, it felt too real.
"Show us the monster you really are," the fake Yukimura went on.
Masamune awoke with a start. He always did with those tortuous dreams, just like the time when Yukimura perforated his heart, stealing his life. Instinctively, he put his hand on his chest like he was trying to stop an imaginary pain.
In truth, he was sore all over. The wounds from his fight against Mitsunari were still fresh, some of them surely had reopened because of his sudden movement. Panting slightly, he struggled to catch his breath for a few seconds, trying to regain a foothold in reality.
"Ishida…," Masamune hissed between his teeth.
The residual resentment was still vibrating in the blue dragon's body. How long would he suffer those nightmares? Masamune even came to curse his traitorous body that wouldn't heal fast enough while he was dying to sink his fangs into this fucking lunatic kin flesh. Oshu's lord would only be satisfied when Mitsunari's blood would be spilled. It wasn't only that, Masamune rejected his own weakness and prohibited himself from being sick or injured. He was much stronger than that, he couldn't understand why the other had had the beat him... whatever, Masamune would make Mitsunari pay a hundredfold.
"Captain?" A thin voice asked from the other side of the closed door.
The blue dragon recognized the voice of a member of his personal guard. He invited the man in with a grunt because he was too thirsty to talk properly.
Yoshinao, the guard with spiked hair and small sunglasses opened the door.
"I didn't know you would be awake so soon, they asked me to come and change your bandages," he said.
Masamune agreed with a nod and the other didn't wait for him to tell him twice to enter. He dropped a tray at his lord's bedside. The tray, to Masamune's relief, in addition to fresh dressing, included a cup of clear water. He quickly drank from the cup, spilling half of its contents on himself due to the trembling on his sore body. As a blue dragon, thirst was always what he prioritized when injured. He needed fluid to recover.
Every movement hurt him, every gesture became a torture that pulled a grimace on his face.
"Where is Kojuuro?" The one-eyed dragon asked.
The soldier flinched slightly, stopping momentarily in his bandage preparation. He didn't raise his eyes directly on Masamune but to a door at his right. Masamune followed his gaze and noticed they weren't his usual chambers. However, he could guess where it was when he noticed the more modern design on the wall. Masamune's memories were still a little fuzzy, he couldn't remember exactly why and how they get to Aoba castle, since it was considerably far from Odawara.
"His injuries are much more severe than yours," Yoshinao said as he started to undo all the soiled and moist bandages on Masamune's sweat-covered body.
Masamune frowned, memories of his fight against Mitsunari resurfacing. The desire for revenge was seeking to break out of him like an explosive volcano. Kojuuro had to be avenged.
The one-eyed dragon pushed his guard away. "Leave it to me." he ordered, withdrawing the others hands, but the sudden movement hurt him more than he thought it would. "That doesn't tell me where Kojuuro is."
Yoshinao watched for a moment as his master took off the bandages with shaking and uncertain hands. Preferring to act rather than respond directly to Masamune he rose up, heading for the sliding door on the right wall. He opened the door, slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Kojuuro was lying in the next room, pale and quiet on his futon and it almost relieved Masamune to see him so peaceful.
"We put him next to you. Still, it had been a close call for him...if Itsuki ... if the girl and the other kid had found you both few minutes later..."
"No need to whisper Yoshinao... I'm awake." Kojuuro interjected.
Masamune would never have thought that hearing Kojuuro's voice would be this comforting. But his anger grew again and made him grit his teeth when he noticed that the other dragon didn't have the strength to sit down to talk to them.
"Lord Katakura," Yoshinao exclaimed, not knowing if I were to take care of the other man too.
"Don't let Masamune-sama change his bandages alone," Kojuuro reprimanded, answering the man inner question.
At the firm tone used by the samurai, the soldier panicked a bit before returning to Masamune's side.
Kojuuro was right.
There were times where he had to ignore Masamune's order. It wasn't good to let him change his bandages alone while he was obviously in pain. Usually, the dragon knew how to hide his pain from his men, and it somehow saddened him to be able to see it.
"Glad you're finally awake, Masamune-sama," said the black dragon sincerely.
For a moment, Masamune tried to push Yoshinao away while the man continued to remove many layers of bandages on his body, Masamune finally gave up, preferring a conversation with his right eye.
"Its not the time to dig my grave yet. But believe me... Ishida will pay." Masamune grumbled the end of his sentence, not wanting for Kojuuro to hear it.
But even separated from one room to another, the black dragon always had a good hearing, the youngest of the dragons heard him too when he sighed.
"Not in this state, Masamune-sama," he replied. "You must rest," he went on, his own fatigue showing through in his voice.
"Tch," Masamune hissed.
He knew Kojuuro was right, that his injuries were too important for him to go and confront Mitsunari so soon. That didn't prevent him from boiling inside, his hands clenching as if wanting to catch his six claws, the dragon in him wanted eye for eye and tooth for tooth.
"Hum... uh," Yoshinao began, not knowing if it was his place to join in the conversation or not.
Masamune's attention fell on him. He saw his lord arch an eyebrow questioningly, so he jumped in, addressing the sensitive subject.
"Lord Shigezane is recovering too... but the healer doesn't know if he will be able to hold a katana again." The soldier felt bad for tarnishing his good news with a bad one. He knew that avoiding the matter wouldn't work with his lord, so it was better to be frank with him.
Masamune suddenly growled, his teeth chewing on his lips, drawing blood. He seemed to have great difficulty to restrain himself not to scream all his resentment. But out of consideration for his right eye, he remained in a semblance of calm. He remembered now... what happened to Shigezane's squad.
Ishida's words had been vulgar allegations that were so indecipherable that Masamune wasn't able to understand. And yet, they had met the Toyotomi general before him. He should have known that the lunatic was speaking of his men. He sent half of his army alone on the battlefield. His mistakes had cost him the end of his men's lives as they cross paths with the King of Misfortune.
Never again.
Yoshinao felt the dragon's heart beat faster while he was changing the bandages on his chest. He was forced to quickly remove his finger when the skin covered at some places with fine, blue scales as sharp as glass.
"I don't care what you may think, Kojuuro, but by the time these fingers will have the strength to hold a sword, it will be to go stab it in this bastard," the blue dragon roared, clenching his fist towards his right eye.
The intensity of Masamune's eye was so strong and so captivating that it inspired the motivation to fight deep within Yoshinao's soul. He was ready to follow his master more than ever, even to the depths of hell because he knew they were going to come back from it.
"I didn't say anything, Masamune-sama."
Kojuuro was resigned. Even he had his own demons to fight.
There was nothing more dangerous than a wounded wild animal, especially if it was a dragon. Ishida Mitsunari had made a serious mistake when he didn't finish the blue dragon off after he had cut his wings. This kind of error was fatal in this world of conflict.
"We will avenge them!" Yoshinao enthusiastically replied.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Keiji couldn't help but let his gaze enjoy the graceful female gunner's curves as she moved towards Motochika. Also, because his blood had suddenly concentrated in the wrong part of his body, he took some time for him to react before getting up to prevent the woman to come closer to his friend.
"You destroyed a good part of the ship and now you talk with the captain like you are old friends?" He asked, confused.
The way Magoichi looked at him was more than freezing. No, it was scalding. However, it returned to neutral almost as quickly when she realized that the vagabond's protective gesture was normal for someone who seemed as stupid as him.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Sayaka. He is right, you know." Motochika intervened, still rubbing his temples to try to alleviate his headache. "You got me pretty bad."
"A contract is a contract, old friend or not. And will you stop calling me with that name?" The woman stated.
Keiji blinked in confusion, looking at both of them as they exchanged small talk. Obviously, the woman knew the pirate for a long time. He felt somewhat annoyed at the fact that he was not presented to such beauty since the very beginning. Wild and strong, just the woman he needed without knowing it. Besides, his heart skipped a beat every time she looked in his direction.
It meant something, right?
"So you're Maeda Keiji?" She finally asked, cutting short his reverie.
"Uh? Yes! Yes, Maeda Keiji to serve you, my lady," he recovered quickly. A burst of pride shone in his eyes because she knew his name, which in itself was logical since Motochika had just presented him and he just wasn't listening.
Presenting himself with some sort of reverence, he held out his hand to take Magoichi's and placed a kiss on it until a barrel of a gun deposited itself in between his eyes, abruptly stopping his movements.
Seeing Keiji retreated back, looking like a beaten puppy, Motochika couldn't restrain his laughter.
"I don't like such familiarity, Maeda," she stated.
"It's nothing. I would take all the time it takes to tame a beautiful bird like you," Keiji said, the prospect of imminent death didn't seem to have frightened him.
Magoichi rolled her eyes, completely turning her back to the wanderer, speaking only to Motochika. With a hand on her hips, she took a more serious expression.
"Get back to the point, Pirate. You should know that I wouldn't have come up here just to talk about a vagabond you've picked up on the road."
Keiji pouted, feeling the burn, he nervously scratched his neck to make the other think that he was indifferent.
"Toyotomi was killed and the country's situation will soon change. I would much rather be preparing my clan to that," she went on, beginning to walk thoughtfully before Motochika's bed.
The vagabond was confused for a moment, and he forgot all contemplation of Magoichi's pacing. Hideyoshi was killed. It was inevitable to happen one day. however, Nothing could have prepared Keiji to have to face this so early. It had been a long time since their paths were separated... He certainly hoped to be granted a chance to pardon him before the other was definitely...
Keiji felt his heart beat again.
A woman reminded him of the reality of what Hideyoshi had deprived him. Could someone really forgive his best friend if he was responsible for the death of your first love?
He gently touched the pendant around his neck in silence. Yumekichi was unusually quiet as he stared at him with concern.
"You didn't come to apologize for breaking my ship. Not to warn me either, I guess. It's a good thing for me that that gorilla fell. Should I remind you that he hired you to have my head?" Motochika stated, bringing Keiji back to the present.
Magoichi stopped her pacing, planting her heels in front Motochika. Her impassive face took a slightly annoyed look.
"I met someone who was looking for you during our little chase. This person insistence to be brought in front of you has been the most remarkable."
Motochika seemed perplexed. There was a possibility that she found Motonari and that he had claimed to visit him before returning to Aki, which would explain the woman's annoyance because the little fox could be really irritating and heavy to bear. The pirate was well placed to know that.
The spark of hope which took birth in his eye was quickly extinguished when the woman began to speak again, "She says she refuses to get into the cabin of a dripping boorish and uncivilized pirate."
The fact that the girl in question spoke exactly the same way as the object of his attention could almost drew a smile from Motochika. Instead it was a sigh of weariness that crosses his lips.
"Tsuruhime?" He asked, disappointment showing on his face.
Magoichi nodded, understanding the pirate's sudden energy loss. Motochika didn't waste more time and tried to get up. With a wave of his hand, he weakly asked Keiji for help.
Anxious to be at his best in front of the beautiful woman, Keiji got down to the task with great enthusiasm. He practically lifted Motochika in his arms. The pirate had no choice but to calm him with a good strike on his head.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"I'm not disabled, idiot!"
It was useless for Keiji to show his good side since Magoichi, who felt that she had nothing left to do with those two, had already left the cabin.
"Yuck, what is this smell? An octopus? Was it fresh, at least? No, I don't want it. If you could stop spinning around me I'd be more at ease. I want nothing, thank you!" The little shrill voice of a young girl rang in their ears before they could come out in the open.
On deck, a small group of pirates revolved around a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old. A look of disgust was plastered on her sweet childish face while one of the pirate handed her a fried squid on a skewer. One of her hands was holding a large bow and the other was tied in her brown hair, cut into a short bob. She wore a very special version of the Miko traditional wear. Her hakama was more pink than red and went up to her knees. The wide sleeves of his white kimono didn't exceed her wrist and were embroidered with pink ribbon on the edges. She wore a piece of braided feminine armor in blue, white and red on top and knee-high white socks on her legs. On the other hand, she was wearing platform shoes, which shouldn't be a very comfortable thing.
"Chosokabe Motochika," she immediately pointed her finger at the pirate when she spotted him out of the cabin.
Seeming relieved that the pirate cohort had finally loses interest in her, Tsuruhime walked with a firm step towards Magoichi. "Thanks to big sister Magoichi, I finally found you!"
"You never have any trouble to do it whenever you want to pester me." Motochika scowled.
Posing with hands on hips, the girl stuck out her tongue. "For once, you are not trying to tread my waters with your pirate ways and your disgusting dirty tricks!"
Again, Keiji grimaced, realizing with what kind of person his Oni friend seemed to like associating with. This sweet little girl him think of a more toned-down female version of Motonari. He looked at them for a moment as the railed against each other and bickered, Motochika seemingly forgetting how to be an adult.
They were about to start a catfight, but Magoichi intervened, shooting with her gun in the air and effectively stopping the two who were starting to act like spoiled rotten children.
"Come to the facts, Tsuruhime. Time is a precious thing," the woman scolded.
The miko scowled.
"I'm not sure if he deserve my clairvoyance anymore…," She stared intently at Motochika - who crossed his arms over his chest arrogantly - and seemed to come up with a decision, "...but the poor people working under your responsibility don't deserve this."
With these words, she immediately got the whole group's attention.
"Your people are in grave danger. My vision showed me the sun falling on Shikoku's shores. Some rivers turned red and were flowing into the sea. You have to reach them quickly and protect them, Chosokabe Motochika."
Eyes went on the pirate. The apparent lack of clarity in the girl's prediction clearly does nothing to alleviate the threat in her words. Motochika knew the Seto Sea Oracle's reputation... he knew that her most persistent visions were those most likely to occur first. Concern drove his cheerfulness and his usual joviality away.
"Motochika…," Keiji began, questioning his friend's lack of answer.
"Spot right there, Maeda Keiji," Tsuruhime suddenly exclaimed. Keiji pointed at himself, surprised that the oracle spoke directly to him.
"I saw you too, and I'll accompany you to Kaga," she stated.
This time, the pirate and the gunner joined to provide compassionate pats on the wanderer's back.
Keiji couldn't suppress a shudder while Yumekichi rejoiced over his shoulder.
"Oh! What a cute little animal! Is it a cat?"
TBC