Samurai and Ninjas Chap. 26
I do not own Persona or the character's likenesses, sorry everyone. Atlus does. Blame my lack of creativity.
This story takes place towards the middle of the Heian period of Japan. I am not going to be completely historically accurate with this, so do not get all over my back about it. I could, but I am not going to be. How much Personas will play a part in it, I do not know about that one.
A note, I will mainly use first names first, then last names. I know this is the one glaring difference that I am using in respect of their culture, but since I am writing in English… I will write as such.
P.S.: I am switching to the Metric System for distances from now on.
I'm extremely busy right now. My final papers for a while are overwhelming me. Shinto papers and what not… Oh… field research when I can not access the libraries in Japan. I am also contemplating whether to apply for either a field school in Malta over the summer or to volunteer in Bosnia and Herzegovina doing Archaeology in July or August. Any suggestions?
Minamoto Camp- Fuuka's Tent
Late Morning
Lord Minato Arisato had returned to his prophetess's tent to check both on the battle progress and troop movements. Fuuka was an invaluable asset for Minato as she was the army's eyes; she could see the whole army and the opposition's troops with her spirit. That was why Minato had returned to her tent.
Minato had entered her tent after moving past Fuuka's priestess-in-training, Natsuki. That trainee was a real annoyance. The girl with the light green hair had a cup of tea in her hands when Minato entered.
"Lord Arisato," Fuuka bowed when he entered.
"I need to use your sight, Fuuka," Minato stated.
"Yes, Lord Minato," Fuuka nodded, placing down the teacup.
"If you would…?" Minato waved his hand to the cushions before him.
As the priestess and lord sat down, Minato took Fuuka's smaller hands in his own larger ones. Fuuka closed her eyes and tried to focus on every intricacy that Nara held. She wanted to find every person in Nara and what they were doing at that exact moment.
"What do you see?" Minato asked. He really did care about Fuuka. He needed her.
Fuuka focused her mind and then said, "I see that our men have advanced far into the Mercantile District. Lord Sanada, Aragaki, and Amada have all made inroads into Nara."
"Are they okay?" Minato asked.
"They are unharmed," Fuuka answered. She continued, "Lord Iori has cleared most of the gate. It is now safe for any of the troops to pass through the North Gate."
"What about Aigis?" Minato questioned.
"Aigis is…" Fuuka searched for the elusive female, "She is searching for a Fujiwara samurai named Souji Seta."
"Why?" Minato asked. He knew who Souji Seta was… the supposed strongest samurai of the Fujiwaras and a personal guard of Lord Tatsumi.
"I can not say," Fuuka said.
Minato asked, "How are the Tairas doing in their advance? Are we likely to encounter them soon?"
"The Tairas have started through the South Gate, making a straight line through the Residential District. They are making steady progress, led by Lady Amano and Lord Katsuya Suou," Fuuka answered. She finished, "It is possible that we would meet them at the entrance of the Residential District from the Mercantile District."
"I will have a messenger inform Lord Aragaki and Lord Amada to be wary of the Tairas then," Minato said. He said, "Are there any Fujiwaras we should worry about on the field?"
Fuuka's breathing became labored, as if all this work was becoming difficult, but she still steeled herself and said, "Souji Seta, and two other warriors of some skill have left the palace. Lord Dojima is attempting to lead these people. Also, it seems that Lady Satonaka did not flee like the other lords and ladies."
"I see…" Minato nodded. He added, "Thank you, Fuuka… that will be all."
As Minato released his grip on Fuuka's hands, she opened her eyes, and then promptly collapsed into Minato's arms.
"I overused her this time," Minato thought.
Minato sighed as he held the priestess in his arms. He would call for Natsuki to watch over Fuuka in a moment. If only he could stay complacent forever…
Minato laid Fuuka's head on the cushion he was resting on as he stood up. He adjusted his navy robes as he opened the tent flap. Minato turned towards the trainee and explained to Natsuki that Fuuka was tired and needed her rest. Though Natsuki was shaking her head in disdain, Minato walked forward towards his own tent. He had a battle to fight.
500 meters past the gate of the Nara Palace
Present- Late Morning
Souji Seta, Raidou, and Nagi, the only three people who were brave enough to leave the palace to fight against the Tairas and Minamotos, had not yet encountered any of the attacking men or women. It was somewhat eerie, walking down an abandoned road/path that was on the way to the Mercantile District, waiting for someone to come out and attack. By the way, there was also a cat that had come with them.
"This is creepy," Souji muttered, looking above at the ominous clouds that were threatening to cover their city.
"It's your fault, Souji," Nagi responded, "You led us out of here."
Souji turned his head and looked towards Nagi. He said to her, "You were foolish enough to listen to me."
Raidou said nothing in response as the three continued to walk, the road turning from stone to dust. They were leaving the Palace District and moving towards the Mercantile District.
Souji's right hand twitched. It was always ready to move to the left side of his body where his sword lay hitched on his torso. Looking to his right and left, both Raidou and Nagi were just as nervous.
"Don't accidently draw your sword on me," Nagi told Souji.
Souji answered, "Likewise."
They were passing by empty stalls and broken goods. It made Souji wonder if the battle had already reached them… Then this… this was a trap.
The wind was picking up around the city of Nara. Souji could tell by the fact that Nagi's long black hair was being blown around by the gusts. The blustery weather might have been the only thing that saved Souji's life from the throwing stars that ripped through the right shoulder cloth of his hakama instead of his neck.
"Souji!" Nagi yelled as a young woman jumped from behind one of the stalls in a graceful back to front flip.
She was clad in tightly woven thin white armor. It was made to be flexible to allow maximum mobility. The young woman had across her chest… two belts of at least fifty throwing stars and paralyzing needles each. Her short ruffled blond hair barely reached her ears that were covered by a gold-laced headband.
Souji winced slightly. The sharp edge of the shuriken had cut into his right shoulder blade, but it was not the first injury he had suffered today.
"Be careful," Raidou warned, "She's extremely dangerous."
Souji was not sure if Raidou had any way to prove this, but he had to take him at his word.
Aigis had found him; she had found Souji Seta. Only this weather had stopped her from killing him in a single blow. She drew two needles out from her weapons' belt as she started sprinting at high speeds, circling around the three.
"Holy shit…" Nagi muttered, "She's fast."
Nagi started to draw her sword, but before the blade got halfway out of her scabbard, Souji had placed his left hand on her sword arm.
"What are you doing!" Nagi exclaimed.
Nagi's eyes widened as she saw a needle in Souji's right thigh. Souji commanded, "She's after me… I want you two to go ahead."
"What about you?" Nagi asked.
"Don't worry about me," Souji responded, releasing his grip on Nagi's arm.
Nagi sighed. Aigis had stopped circling, seeing that her needles had hit both Souji's right thigh and under his fifth rib. She was now standing right behind Souji.
Souji grimaced as he said, "Go…"
Nagi ran ahead, ashamed as Raidou followed at a slower pace. Raidou turned to say, "If you die before telling Naoto you love her… I will kill you myself."
Watching Raidou leave him behind, Souji turned around to see Aigis holding a shuriken. The pain was increasing in his shoulder, while his torso and left leg was going numb. His opponent was so fast… would it even be worthwhile to draw his samurai sword?
Souji could barely see the shuriken, slicing through the wind. His mind was focused on the one thing that kept the pain from being unbearable; the deep pools of that was Naoto's dark blue eyes.
Aigis knew she had killed him. She had adjusted for the wind so that Souji would have a big gash into his throat this time around. When she opened her eyes… Souji was still standing, and there was no blood running from his throat. Instead, in his right hand was a small blade with no hilt right in front of his neck.
"Hmm?" Aigis thought.
Souji let out a deep breath. It took a great amount of energy for Souji to pull out his nodachi at such a great speed. He felt his blade deflect the whirling weapon. It had been thrown at such a high velocity that the recoil had almost sent his blade back into his throat. Souji pulled out the needles that had lodged themselves in his body.
"Who are you?" Souji asked.
"I am Aigis…" Aigis answered in a monotone voice.
"Aigis?" Souji looked confused, but had no time to contemplate her words because Aigis had charged him. It seemed that she was planning to put a needle in Souji's throat without throwing it.
Both of the fighters were holding the weapons in a reverse position as Aigis lowered her body position as she ran towards Souji. She was about thirty to thirty-five degrees lower than usual when the needle swiped at Souji's labrum. Finding it blocked by a hurried parry, she back flipped, nearly catching Souji's chin in the process and drawing another needle in the process.
"Shit…" Souji muttered.
The girl in white again ran at the boy in silver and white, stabbing and slashing with the needles. Souji was doing his best to duck and weave out of the way; even his nodachi was unwieldy when maneuvering against such small weapons. The problem was that… he could not move very well because of the paralytic effects the first two needles had inflicted when they entered his ribs and thigh.
The needle in Aigis's right hand made a small cut across Souji's right cheek. She was advancing closer. The closer she moved towards Souji; the less effective his weapon was. Aigis had gotten so close that she was swinging her needles anymore, but instead; she intertwined her right leg around Souji's left ankle and tripped him.
Souji had the wind knocked out of him as he fell backwards and hit the dusty ground hard. His small blade was just outside his grasp. His eyes stared straight up and made contact with the shorter girl with short blond hair. It was almost if there was a small smile on her face as she lowered herself down and stuck the two needles, one above each leg to paralyze them. She drew two more and stuck one below each of his shoulders.
Souji tried to move, escape. He could roll away and run away, but… he could not move his arms or legs. The needles had immobilized him.
Aigis was crouching over Souji when he asked, "Who… are… you? Are you a Minamoto or are you a Taira?"
Aigis said nothing at first, but she eventually she responded, "I serve my master, Lord Arisato."
"At least I know she's a Minamoto," Souji thought. He continued to question, "Why did you only try to kill me? Was it an order?"
"I decided to," Aigis answered.
As Aigis drew a final shuriken, Souji asked one more question, "But why?"
"Our prophetess told me to," Aigis explained simply.
Souji closed his eyes. He defeated assassins aiming to kill both his lord, and women trying to take his life because they believed he was in love. Now, he was going to die because he had encountered a real ninja. He had encountered a real ninja… wearing white, who had incapacitated him.
Bracing for the impending slash that would kill him, Souji's windpipes clenched. The only noise that came forth was not blood spurting or a samurai yelling in pain. It was the words of Aigis saying, "Damage sustained…" as she hit the ground.
Souji opened his eyes, looking past Aigis, and saw a woman wearing not vibrant blue robes, but taut woven blue armor. Lady Margaret was holding part of a jug that had to have come from one of the stalls. The rest of it was lying around Aigis's body that had landed… on top of Souji.
"Lady Margaret…" Souji said with relief plastered on his face.
Margaret smiled, "Glad to see me?"
"You don't know how glad," Souji smiled.
Margaret said, "It looked like you needed some help."
Margaret rolled Aigis off of Souji and smiled as the women of divinity removed each needle from his body. Every time a needle was removed, it was as if all the pain in the world was released from Souji's body.
Taking Margaret's hand, Souji was pulled to his feet, albeit his knees were shaky. Souji looked from Margaret in her tight blue clothes, to Aigis in white, and back to Margaret. They were both extremely beautiful, with their blond hair and blue eyes. It was just something that made Lady Margaret more regal. Yet, neither of them held a candle to Naoto.
"What should we do with her?" Margaret asked Souji, looking at Aigis and pushing her slightly with a reinforced cloth and leather shoe.
"Give me one of those needles, if you would please?" Souji asked.
Margaret understood that on the battlefield, Souji was the one in control. She bent her back and took one of the needles from the belts criss-crossing her chest and gave it to Souji. Souji bent his legs and placed the needle in Aigis's neck. He would not know if she would wake up any time soon, but he knew that she would not be able to move. Souji was unsure if anybody would be coming in the near future to kill her.
Margaret and Souji looked at each other as Aigis lay in the middle of the road. She asked, "So… other than the fact that you were a Fujiwara; she seemed a little keen on killing you. Why?"
"I asked… but I still don't know," Souji responded.
Margaret shook her head and placed her hand on Souji's shoulder. He felt the warmth of someone blessed of Amaterasu flowing through him. It was a feeling that almost made him want to get hurt more often as the cut on his cheek smoothed over. The only drawback as the small amount of sleep he had gotten resting with Naoto had left him.
"I think we can move on," Margaret told Souji.
"If that is your wish, Lady Margaret," Souji responded, stifling a yawn.
"I am not commanding you in this situation, Souji," Margaret smiled at him. She continued, "When we are fighting, I want you to lead me."
"I could never tell you what to do, Lady Margaret," If Souji could blush at Margaret's words, now would be the time. "You are the granddaughter of the Emperor."
"But… I am not a warrior," Margaret retorted.
"I am not even a lord," Souji countered.
Margaret's smile did not waver, "Don't worry about it."
She started walking and Souji had to run to keep up with her after grabbing his nodachi. He was chasing after a woman with slightly curly not quite shoulder length blond hair in nearly skin tight blue armor. He had a new objective now… to protect a member of the royal family. She was a member of the royal family that normally should not be seen by the public, but this… this was a time of great need.
5 minutes after they left Souji
Nagi and Raidou had left Souji only at his request. Nagi might have stayed there and fought this mysterious young woman who attacked him, but Raidou agreed with Souji. This young woman who attacked Souji was too fast for Nagi to engage, and she would only have gotten hurt. What was odd was Raidou's statement… if Souji died… that Raidou would kill Souji again for disappointing Naoto. How? No one knows.
The pair of brother and sister that was from the same village that Naoto was from had been walking for nearly 500 meters when they encountered another man and woman pair. Immediately, they knew this was not a pair of guards, or just some kind of mistake. These had to be the real deal lord and lady warriors.
Raidou walked forwards and with his monotone voice, asked, "And… who are you?"
The lady was wearing light brown and blue armor, just slightly thicker than what Aigis was wearing. Her black hair curled on each side as it reached her neck. The lord had gray armor that was covering his red hakama. The red tint over his irises was somewhat creepy to the pair of Fujiwaras.
The lady gave the smallest smile as she said, "My name is Lady Amano."
The lord scowled at the fact that she answered so freely, but he said, "My name is Lord Katsuya Suou."
Both Raidou and Nagi knew who those two were. They were two of the five leaders of the Taira family. Four of the five were currently in or around Nara.
Raidou gave a sideways glance at Nagi and said, "Nagi… go ahead… I will take these two."
Nagi looked astounded, "Are you crazy? These are the leaders of Taira."
"Nagi…" Raidou had the smallest amounts of caring in his voice, "I want you to survive these battles. You should go on ahead."
"Raidou…" Nagi shook her head, "Brother, I don't want for you to throw your life away."
"I won't… Trust me," Raidou said.
Nagi could almost see a grin on her brother's face. She had to trust what Raidou was saying. He was not planning on dying; he was planning on surviving no matter what, somehow.
"I trust you, brother," Nagi responded.
Nagi took a deep breath and started sprinting to her right. She did not pay attention to the single kunai that flew her way, courtesy of Katsuya. Luckily, it missed as she jumped up inside an empty merchant's stall that had been cleared of all of its goods. When Nagi landed, she pushed herself up and started running. She needed to get as far away from these two as possible, if that's what her brother wanted. A single tear dropped from her eyes. She had to pray that he would be okay.
Katsuya silently cursed at missing his target. The girl in green and beige was faster than he expected. He would have to focus on the man that stayed behind… foolishly.
"Who are you?" Maya always was cheerful when she asked the stoic Raidou his name.
The man with the black cape said, "Raidou…" The black cat that was always at his side walked around his legs.
"Well… I'm sorry, but we need to get to the palace," Maya told him.
"That means… you're in the way," Katsuya said.
"Well… I suppose, if you leave; we don't have to kill you," Maya smiled.
"I don't have any intention in doing that," Raidou replied.
Maya shook her head as she slowly drew two blades with hilts. The weapons were slightly longer than kunai, but shorter than a nodachi. They were like knives or something like that.
Katsuya, on the other hand, had a kunai in his hand. He looked like he was actually grinning as he flipped it up in the air and caught it. He seemed prepared to throw another one at Raidou this time.
"I'm disappointed," Maya shook her head, "I didn't really want to fight."
Raidou said nothing except drew his long, but thin blade from his scabbard. He placed one hand above the other as he held in front of him. If he could survive the fights with Souji and Lord Tatsumi; he could defeat these two. Then again, if Souji could defeat Nagi; he was not fighting the real Souji.
Raidou took in a deep breath and exhaled before he said, "Let us begin."
"There is nothing else that I would like to hear but that," Katsuya smiled as the first kunai flew.
Same time
Lady Chie Satonaka had not fled with the others when Lord Dojima had made his travels among the residences to evacuate to the palace. She was wondering if that was a mistake. Her three guards had been slaughtered by advanced troops, and the only reason she had survived was her own martial arts.
Chie sighed. She had begun to head back towards the palace after she lost her guard. She was not even sure if she would see her newlywed husband again, Lord Daisuke Nagase, unless she returned expediently.
If only Chie had moved faster…
She had barely gotten a kilometer into the Mercantile District when the young woman in tight green armor encountered a man with red armor over a white hakama.
"Fujiwara?" the man with the red armor and white and silver-haired buzz cut asked.
"If I am?" Chie retorted. She noticed that he had no weapons on-hand.
"If you surrender, no harm will come to you," the man told her.
Chie said, "I don't plan on it."
The man chuckled, "Well… your choice."
Chie watched as the man disconnected and removed his red armor. He did not really look the part of a samurai, like Souji Seta. As Chie watched the man crack his knuckles and take a few practice punches… she knew what she was dealing with.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," the man told Chie, staring her down.
As the first punch came Akihiko's clenched left fist, Chie flipped… her feet connecting with Akihiko's chin.
When Chie landed, she nodded and said, "Likewise."
Okay… A lot of fights are left for me to finish. I started using the metric system because really? Who uses it outside of the 350 million out of the 6 billion in the USA? Well… I'm busy, so sorry that it took so long for me to finish. Happy writing from wherever I am and wherever you are.