Warning: This is based off a manga called Sengoku Strays. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you do! I don't own anything but my OC, and I will probably end up using artistic license to butcher Japanese history, so I would just like to apologize in advance, and I don't mean to offend anyone!

[Narration]

{setting/stage directions}

"Speech."

'Thoughts.'

"English speech."

—¡–!–¡–!–¡— Scene shift/passage of time.

A whole line of text like this without quotes is a written letter or something similar.

WORDS IN ALL CAPS AND NO QUOTATION MARKS ARE SOUND EFFECTS.

Flashbacks and changes in POV will be labeled.

Unless stated otherwise, the POV will be third person omniscient.

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Previously:

CRASH!

A huge section of the bridge had finally and completely collapsed.

"The... The bridge... has fallen!" They all yelled. "Yeah! Kiyosu's route is cut off!"

"Alright! Everyone did great!" Mori Sanza said, grinning as he rubbed two of his soldiers affectionately on the head, pleased with their hard work.

"Good work." Kawajiri told his men, smiling.

"It was nothing!" One of them said humbly.

"Does that mean we're good here, now?" Kasane asked.

"Yes." Gorouza said, smiling. "Since they have to take another route, we can now choose and prepare favorable terrain to meet Kiyosu on."

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

CLOP.

"Lord Nobutomo! Lord Nobuyasu!" One of the Kiyosu soldiers said in surprise when the two lords arrived on the scene, just moments after the bridge had fallen.

"It's fallen...?" Nobutomo asked.

"My deepest apologies!" The soldier yelled, prostrating himself before them, hoping he wouldn't be punished for his failure.

"Call our engineers at once! We will meet up with Yoshitatsu's troops by another route!" Nobuyasu said.

"Yes, Sir!" the soldier said and left to carry out his orders. The two lords shared a knowing look.

'... But... now—' They thought, remembering what they had planned with Yoshitatsu.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"... Hey, those guys are closely related to you, right...?" Ayako asked as she cupped her hands around her eyes, forming 'hand binoculars.'

"... Yes." Nobunaga said, wondering where she was going with this. "Why are you holding your hands like that...?"

"It helps me focus better on using my eyes to 'zoom in' on stuff that's far away, since it blocks out the unnecessary stuff in the background." Ayako explained. "I bet you take after your mother." Ayako said, lowering her 'binoculars.'

"I do, actually... how did you know? You have never met her." Nobunaga asked. Ayako sweat dropped and smiled wryly.

"It's just that... you look nothing like them. One of them even looks like an Easter Island head. You're too good-looking to be related to them." Ayako said frankly. Nobunaga smirked.

"Oh?" Nobunaga asked slyly, amused when Ayako finally realized that she had basically admitted she thought he was hot, and blushed cherry red. It's not like Ayako didn't think Nobunaga was handsome, she was just too shy to say it out loud... and she didn't want to over-inflate his ego and give him another thing to tease her about.

"Hmph, well at least you have good taste." Nobunaga teased her as he started leading the troops back to their base, so they could run through the next part of his plan and set it into motion. Ayako sweat dropped.

"Wow, you're so modest." Ayako deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, hurry it up!" Kuranosuke yelled at Kasane, who was lagging behind. She had unintentionally been staring at Nobunaga and Ayako as they talked. Kasane was amazed at how much more normal Nobunaga seemed when he was with Ayako. He didn't look as evil.

"Y-Yeah!" Kasane said, running to catch up with them. Inuchiyo was behind her, but he stopped when he heard a rustling sound from the reeds nearby. "What is it, Inuchiyo?" Kasane asked when she noticed he was staring at the tall and dense reeds suspiciously.

"There's something there." Inuchiyo said ominously. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling it wasn't good.

"Huh...? Something...?" Kasane asked, wondering if he could be more specific.

RUSTLE!

All of a sudden several armored soldiers wearing faceplates jumped up out of the reeds they'd been hiding in, waiting for the opportunity to ambush them.

"What—?" Kasane cried in surprise.

"!?" The men shouted in surprise as the enemy soldiers charged forward. They were heading straight for Ayako and Nobunaga.

"An ambush...!?" Ayako said, startled. She never should have dropped her guard like that. She could tell just from looking at the way they moved that these guys were no pushovers. Ayako switched her hanbo into 'oni clubs' mode and took up a defensive position as she watched her opponents for any signs of weakness. Two other soldiers, who had been the closest to Nobunaga other than Ayako, ran in front of her, hoping to stop them before they could get any closer. There were far too many of them for Ayako to fight on her own.

"My Lord...!" They cried in alarm, hoping Nobunaga would understand their warning and leave. Nobunaga had had his back to his attackers, since they had come up from behind them, but he had already turned, alarmed when he heard Ayako's comment, and realized she was planning on trying to stop them on her own, since the poor soldiers who had tried to warn him had been instantly cut down. Before anyone could even blink, Nobunaga had instinctively reached down and pulled Ayako up off the ground and shielded her.

CLANG!

"!?" Ayako yelled, surprised and relieved. For a moment, she had feared the worst, but Kasane had somehow managed to reach them and block the blow from the two enemy soldiers that had been aiming for Nobunaga—just in the nick of time. "Kasane!"

"Uhh—!" Kasane grunted from the strain of having to hold back two trained fighters who were nearly twice her size. "I-I'm fine! We have to protect the lord!" Kasane said. "Are you alright, Ayako?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Ayako said, glancing at Nobunaga. 'Why did he pull me out of the way like that? What if they had gotten him!? I could've stopped them just as well as Kasane...' She thought. Whatever the reason, she thought Nobunaga deserved a slap upside the head for endangering himself like that. Ayako didn't know what she would do if she lost him... "Nobunaga, let me down so I can help Kasane." Ayako said, determined to do what she could to protect the people she cared about.

"Be careful! That armor is for Yoshitatsu's personal troops! Their skills are supposed to be invincible!" Mori Sanza shouted. Nobunaga had been about to let Ayako down, but he tightened his grip on her when he heard that. Nobunaga knew that Ayako could handle herself, and he needed all the fighters he could get—but he just couldn't let her go. Ayako had become an irreplaceable existence to him, and Nobunaga couldn't stand the though of losing her.

'I should've made her stay behind with Nouhime...' Nobunaga thought.

"Tch! Doesn't mater who the opponent is." Kuranosuke said as he reloaded his gun. "You think I'll let you lay a finger on him...!?" He yelled as he aimed his guns and fired at the enemy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Look out!" Ayako yelled as another enemy soldier tried to sneak up on Nobunaga.

"Got you!" The enemy soldier yelled as he swung his sword.

CLANG!

"Tch!" The enemy clicked his tongue in irritation when Ikeda used his own swords to block the attack.

"Gorouza!" Nobunaga shouted, gripping his horse's reigns. He had to move. This was obviously planned to distract him and buy his enemies time to regroup.

"We're fine. Please go!" Gorouza said as he held back another enemy soldier with his zanbato.

"Catch up soon!" Nobunaga said as he started to leave.

"Yes, Sir!" Gorouza said.

"Wait, Nobunaga, I can—!" Ayako said, trying to get down so she could help the others.

"Nobuyuki! I'll leave the elite troops to you. Hold the line for now!" Nobunaga ordered.

"Yes, Sir!" Nobuyuki said.

WHAM!

Gorouza knocked his opponent's sword from his hands, disarming them, as Nobunaga and part of his army left, following their leader to the next point of engagement.

"Nobunaga!" Ayako said, starting to feel frustrated after being ignored and manhandled like that. "I can't fight for you if you don't let me down!"

"Stay close to me for now. Gorouza and the others will be fine—I know you can take care of yourself, but if I can't keep an eye on you, I won't be able to focus." Nobunaga said, as he rode ahead, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the enemy. Ayako bit her lip to silence herself. No matter how much she didn't like that Nobunaga was babysitting her, Ayako knew he was only doing it because he cared—and this was not the time to argue. It was clear that their enemies had planned more thoroughly than they originally thought that they had. Nobunaga needed to be able to focus so he could lead them all safely to victory.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"With Nobunaga's troops ambushed, and the bridge, his only escape route already fallen, he will have no choice but to move his lines back." Yoshitatsu said as he lay in wait for Nobunaga. He could see the young lord of Owari approaching. "And now... The real battle begins." Yoshitatsu said, raising his hand to signal his troops.

CLOMP. CLOMP. CLOMP.

Nobunaga and his troops charged forward, hoping to unnerve the front line soldiers of Yoshitatsu's large army and scatter them, but they were all calmly watching them charge, not the least bit concerned.

'Something isn't right... their horses don't even look nervous...' Ayako thought. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the sun glint off of a certain metallic object. 'No way...!?'

There was a loud echo of the combined clicking sounds as the entire front line of Yoshitatsu's soldiers raised their high-powered rifles and took aim. Nobunaga's eyes widened in surprise as he tried to turn his horse, and get Ayako, who was sitting in front of him, out the direct line of fire. Even if the enemy soldiers were only aiming for him, the rifles of the day weren't exactly known for their accuracy.

"Nobu—!" Ayako started to cry out, but the flash of a familiar raven mane rushing past them, made Ayako's voice catch in her throat. "Ei—!?"

"Fire!" Yoshitatsu roared. The bang of all the rifles was deafening as they fired, and the bullets pierced their targets.

CRUNCH. NIEGH!

Nobunaga's horse slid to a halt as he reined his horse back under control. He narrowed his eyes as he observed the scene before him. Yoshitatsu and his riflemen had just wasted his entire front line in a matter of seconds... not only that, but...

"E-Eishi... Eishi!?" Ayako screamed when she saw the faithful and stubborn horse lying on the ground in front of them, dead. Somehow, the tenacious horse had managed to break out of the stables and follow his master into battle, despite her wish to keep him safe. When Eishi saw that Ayako was in danger, he had thrown himself in front of Nobunaga's own horse, shielding them from the spray of bullets at the cost of his own life. Nobunaga furrowed his brow and frowned as he closed his eyes, taking a brief moment of silence out of respect for the brave horse as he held the trembling Ayako.

"!?" One of Nobunaga's remaining soldiers yelled, startled.

"What's... that...!?" Another yelled. "I've never seen a heavy cavalry unit using guns... All those troops crossed the river...!?"

"That's..." Nobuyuki said, startled when he arrived to see what had happened. "Saito Yoshitatsu...!"

"... I don't care who he is—Nobody hurts my horse!" Ayako said, glaring at Yoshitatsu. "I won't be satisfied till I've beaten him into the dust." She said darkly, her eyes cast in shadow.

Nobuyuki paled slightly. He had never seen Ayako with such a scary look on her face before. Nobuyuki wasn't sure whom he was more afraid of right now—the man with a deadly army armed with high-powered rifles, or a short girl in a demon mask. Nobunaga was relieved that Ayako had pulled herself together instead of falling to pieces. He knew how much Eishi had meant to her, and if she was that set on beating Yoshitatsu into a bloody pulp, he wouldn't really mind holding him down for her while she did. Nobunaga stared at Yoshitatsu, trying to decipher his enemy's next move.

"—My Lord! The Kiyosu forces cut off by the bridge... will soon be here by an alternate route!" One of Nobunaga's soldiers ran up and reported to him. "At this rate... the enemy will encircle us...!" He said as the rest of their army rejoined them.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"Lord Yoshitatsu's troops are our strongest forces, equipped with the most modern guns and armor. They won't be well enough prepared to hold out against them...!" Nobutomo said as he and Nobuyasu lead the Kiyosu army to meet up with Yoshitatsu's troops. "—We're winning! Finally, We're going to beat Nobunaga!"