Draco: So, I just realized that my little snark at the end of Chapter 30 about Warrior combat not being limited to the Ranseans vs. the Kartana sounded like I was gonna have them fight Nagamasa's Warriors. I apologize. This is where the battles really get Conquest-esque.
Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.
Ultra Kingdom - Seat of War: Blind Conquest
"Those were the weirdest Exeggutor I've ever seen."
The party of Ranseans had successfully managed to fight off the Coconut Pokémon at the top of the ravine; Oichi had equipped Type: Full with the Ice-type disc to give him the offensive advantage, but the massive length of the Dragon-type versions made it harder than it could have been. Even so, the Pokémon had retreated soon enough, and the Ranseans were sitting around the font of the waterfalls, resting in anticipation.
Gracia glanced towards the sky garden. "It's pretty close," she observed. "We might be able to get on it before the sun goes down."
"That sounds better than making camp and having to keep watch," Ranmaru admitted.
Oichi had removed Full's disc and was contemplating what to replace it with when a familiar four-note cry echoed up from below. Surprised, she glanced down to find the Sea Princess was swimming up the falls with incredible fluidity - and lower down, the Warlord to which she was Linked was following her, dressed in just enough armour to be defended and still agile (it seemed to be the bottom half of a dark chestplate worn over a white tunic, with similar plates on his shoulders and hips, armoured gauntlets over fingerless gloves, a respectable pair of sabatons, and a short red cape) and climbing up as fast as his legs would carry him.
"Nagamasa? Manaphy!"
The Sea Princess surfaced at the edge of the top level as Nagamasa was reaching the peak, and leapt to his arms once they were free. "Oichi!" he called. "Quid tu hic agis?!"
"I hope you're not trying to stop us," Oichi protested as the Warlord circled the font. "We have to see what's on the other side of that thing."
Once they were near enough, Manaphy wrapped her hair-antennae around Nagamasa's hand and prompted for Oichi to do the same; the Ransean let the Sea Princess work, and once her hairtips were alight, Nagamasa looked up to her. "Tell me you do not intend to go through that rift," he pleaded.
"I have to go through," Oichi insisted. "If there's any chance my wife is on the other side of that thing, I have to find her."
"You do not understand," Nagamasa protested. "The world on the other side of that rift is a land of chaos. Every time we have gone through, there has been nothing but disaster going on. And if you do not return very quickly after you go through, the rift will vanish, and you will be stranded there until the time passes once again."
"We're all willing to take the risk!" Oichi retorted. "We've been through nine worlds where we had to survive against beasts, we can handle one more!"
"Lady Oichi!" Okuni's call drew her attention; the sky garden was near enough now for them to leap on - and from so close, it seemed to be moving a good deal faster than most sky gardens with which they were familiar. "It's here!"
"Right!" Oichi extracted her hand from Manaphy's wrap, causing the Sea Princess to cry out in surprise; then she charged towards the edge of the ravine and leapt, finding the distance no greater than a ship without a boarding plank that had been moored carefully at a dock. She landed and took a few steps away as the other Ransean Warriors and Pokémon leapt the gap; Type: Full brought up the rear, landing heavily at the edge.
Nagamasa and Manaphy exchanged worried glances; then the Warlord turned and dashed after it, leaping towards them.
It was clear the last time he had done this, he hadn't been wearing his armour; as little plate as he had, it added enough weight that he almost didn't make it. Panicking, he threw Manaphy up ahead of him as he started to plummet. Full reacted quickly, seizing Nagamasa's cape in his maw as Oichi caught Manaphy in mid-flight; the Synthetic Pokémon dragged the Warlord further up, whereupon Lucario grabbed his arm and pulled him on solidly.
Full only released his cape once he was well away from the edge; Nagamasa, Manaphy, and Oichi all breathed a sigh of relief. "Quod multo propius," the Warlord murmured.
"Why did you come after us?" Oichi demanded.
Manaphy turned to her. "Worry," she insisted. "Place gate, danger."
"I know it's dangerous," Oichi proclaimed. "We know how to handle beasts, we're not going to-"
"Not beast," Manaphy interrupted.
"...What do you mean, not beast?"
+x+x+x+
About three hours later, they reached the gate.
The reason for the limited access became clear; the slight movement of the sky garden made it obvious that the gate was immobile in the air above it. When it appeared, Oichi was concerned; it didn't look quite like the gates the Cosmog had opened, more resembling the seams that they took while they were in the process of doing so.
"You sure this will let us through?" Gracia asked.
Manaphy nodded. "Try."
The Nixtormer warily stepped towards it, one hand holding the Cosmoem's bag, the other reaching forward. As her hand connected with the seam, it was briefly thrown wide - and Gracia vanished into it before it reduced to a seam again. Gothitelle followed suit, stepping into the seam after her Warrior; then Okuni and Volcarona, Masanori and Krookodile, Kiyomasa and Haxorus, Mitsunari and Bisharp, and then Kotarō and Zoroark. Oichi kept her hand on Full as the two of them stepped through, vanishing as well.
Nagamasa glanced down to Manaphy. "Es certus?"
Manaphy nodded. "Cave, Papa."
+x+x+x+
Travelling through this ambient seam was a much different experience than travelling through generated gates. The shining tunnel of before was completely absent; Oichi stepped forward as it opened wide, and abruptly found herself stepping out as it closed back up behind her. The others were watching ahead of her; Oichi lifted her hand from Full and stepped around, trying to get a good view.
They stood on a rocky cliff, with small stone pillars forming accesses between levels - a path that would be easy to descend, but much harder to climb in any sort of timely matter. Below was a devastated plain, barren and lifeless; scattered upon its surface were the ruins of sizeable buildings. And in the distance, Oichi could see a brilliant light - not a sunset on a horizon, but a radiant being at the edge of a cliff. Surrounding that radiance was a border fortress of stone - not high enough to prohibit its light from illuminating the plains, but enough to stop anyone from approaching it directly. The cliff on which the Ranseans stood descended three levels... and there was a battlefield at the bottom level.
And on it, beasts fought beasts - and humans fought humans.
"Kartana?" Okuni realized. "And... Pheromosa?! With Warriors!?"
"Hall of Origin..." Oichi didn't want to believe what she was seeing. "This is..."
Something curled around her hand, earning her attention; Nagamasa and Manaphy had come through the gate as well, and Manaphy's hairtips were glowing. "This is why I did not want you to come," Nagamasa informed her.
Oichi shook her head. "Where did these Warriors come from?" she demanded.
"This battle was ongoing when I had first arrived," Nagamasa replied. "I believe rifts like this one open in several worlds - and through them come these Warriors."
Kotarō's gaze narrowed. "That light, in the distance," he observed. "It doesn't seem... ambient. Ask him what it is."
When Oichi relayed the question, Nagamasa shook his head. "The Warriors call it... the Blinding One. It is a figure from the legends of my home - a convergence of the light of sun and moon. They fight for the right to see the Blinding One - if any try to scale the wall that guards it, their foes will fight to stop them."
Oichi took a deep breath. "I've only seen one Pokémon with a light that strong," she mused. "You don't get the right to see it by winning one fight."
She slipped her hand out of Manaphy's wrap, causing the Sea Princess to turn. "Oichi? What doing?"
"We need to get to that border," Oichi told the others. "Anyone with misgivings, go back with Nagamasa."
"Not happening," Gracia proclaimed.
"Never," Ranmaru agreed.
Everyone started to descend the cliff, causing Nagamasa to start. "Manare!"
"We're going," Oichi proclaimed. "We're willing to risk it."
She and Null leapt down as a final proclamation; after a moment, Nagamasa and Manaphy turned to each other... and with heavy hearts, they turned away, and started back through the gate.
+x+x+x+
When they reached the battlefield, it was clear that it was a much more furious fight than they expected.
From experience with both beasts, Oichi had thought the Pheromosa would have a sizeable type advantage - yet the battle was much closer than that. The Kartana knew that a single hit would be dangerous, and kept their distance from the Pheromosa's Triple Kicks, landing glancing blows with their Leaf Blades as they passed. The fights between the Warriors were similarly even-paced; for every Kartana, there was a man in what looked like kendo gear, brandishing a shinai, and for every Pheromosa, a woman wrapped in cloths that looked designed to hold back the heat, carrying a sickle.
The fight was so intense that the beasts' Warriors barely noticed the Ranseans descending; they were at the level nearest the battlefield without having drawn attention. Oichi was searching through the bag of RKS discs as Ranmaru took note of their numbers. "Three Pheromosa, four Kartana."
"What's our course of action?" Gracia asked.
"Mitsunari, Kiyomasa, Masanori - hold back. You're at a disadvantage. Join us once we clear the battlefield." She found the Fire-type disc and pulled it from its case, slipping it into Full's slot. "The rest of us, go on the offensive. Start with the Pheromosa if you can, but don't feign alliance - they're all our opponents."
"Yes, Lady Oichi!"
Oichi winced when she heard the group address her - a practice she'd long been on the other end of. The Warriors below heard the call, and the battle halted as Full stood upright, closing his RKS slot, his spikes turning red.
"Let's go see what Infinity looks like from here."
Full roared, leaping from the cliff; one of the Kartana whirled towards him, swords shining with Leaf Blade... and barely made contact before Full's flaming claws came down on it. The searing blow slammed into the beast as gravity pulled them both earthward, throwing it to the ground alight and sending it tumbling away; Oichi and Gracia took the short jump down, dashing into the the fray - Oichi with her staff at the ready, Gracia with her hands wrapped in psychic energy. The Pheromosa promptly charged towards Full, converging in time for Gothitelle to loose a pulse without getting him in the crossfire, and Okuni and Ranmaru leapt down after Oichi and Gracia.
Volcarona made a broader leap, landing between the three beasts; they barely had time to react before she twisted into a Fiery Dance. Before the flames had even subsided, they were bombarding Volcarona with Triple Kicks; Null struck one aside, and Zoroark managed to get the attention of the other two with a Night Daze. Ranmaru grabbed his necklace; Lucario leapt from the cliff as the prismatic light wrapped him, and it cracked at the peak of his jump to reveal his changes before he twisted into a flip and hurled an Aura Sphere at the Kartana that though it could intersect him in mid-flight.
One of the kendoka tried to blindside Oichi - but Kotarō stopped his shinai on his claws, grinning at him threateningly. A fierce scissor motion sliced off the top half of his blade, and he twisted into a flurry of slashes, reducing the remainder to the hilt before kicking the Warrior in the chest. A sickle-bearing bandit had her blade stopped on the head of Oichi's staff, and Gracia struck her weapon arm with a psychic-wrapped hand, causing it to go limp at her side before Oichi struck her in the chest; then Okuni up behind her, disarming the bandit with the hook of her parasol before bashing her head with the body.
Zoroark leapt away from the two Pheromosa he'd aggravated, their kicks whiffing on air - and Lucario descended in his place as Gothitelle's Future Sight bombarded all three. He finished one off with a bombardment of Close Combat, and Full struck down the other that had a good reach on him; Volcarona leapt over the remaining Pheromosa as two Kartana twisted close, another Fiery Dance burning all three attackers off the assault.
To Oichi's concern, the remaining two bandits didn't let up even with their beasts unconscious; she met their sickles on her staff, and Ranmaru quickly moved in to beat the weapons away, leaving Oichi to bashed the fingers of a kendoka approaching from the side. As he dropped his shinai, Okuni hooked it with her parasol and hurled it towards the bandits; it struck across the legs of one, leaving her tumbling to the floor, and Ranmaru disarmed the other and knocked her into her ally with a whirling kick.
Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at a Kartana that was closing in on Kotarō; the Yakshan barely noticed the beast tumbling to a rough landing, locked in combat with another kendoka. This one was much more fluid in his movements than the one whose shinai he'd cut apart; Kotarō was left waiting until he was able to pin the weapon beneath his foot, lashing across the Warrior's arms with his claws to get him to release it before sweeping his head forward in a headbutt, the upper form of his mask knocking the kendoka out in short order.
He kicked up the shinai and kicked it towards the remaining Warrior, who was trying to get Okuni from behind; the shinai struck the back of his head, leaving him reeling. Okuni heard the impact and spun around, bashing the kendoka with her parasol as Full charged towards the last Kartana; the beast lashed Full across the face with its Leaf Blade, but he only roared in anger, bringing down blazing claws and knocking the beast to the ground.
Silence washed across the battlefield; beasts and their Warriors had all been defeated.
Oichi set the base of her staff against the ground, turning towards the cliff as Masanori, Mitsunari, Kiyomasa, Krookodile, Bisharp, and Haxorus descended. "Wild beasts made us stronger," she mused. "Now beasts under the command of Warriors get to witness the results."
She turned and made to lead the Ranseans away from the battlefield - advancing towards the shining light in the distance.
+x+x+x+
Nagamasa had come to stop Oichi and her Warriors from going through the rift... but in hindsight, he wasn't sure how safe it would have been to bring them back to the castle even if he had been successful.
He didn't like to keep Manaphy out of the castle's basin for very long - which ruled out the idea of waiting for the sky garden to drift close enough to the snowy mountain for them to dismount, given that it could take a few days. Rather, with the rift being above the castle, the position of the sky garden gave the two of them the ability to dive into the basin from above.
Manaphy was able to make the landing in the water safer than it would have been otherwise. In battle, she was able to manifest whirlpools that battered opponents extensively, even without water to provoke. Diving towards water as deep as this, she was able to amplify that, raising a sizeable turn of water into which she and Nagamasa were able to direct their fall. As they touched the water, it lowered them to the basin; the whirlpool dragged them a little lower than Nagamasa would have liked, but the small amount of plate he wore wasn't enough to keep him from swimming.
Once the water had subsided, he swam to the water's edge and pulled himself out; he sat at the rim of the basin, taking a deep breath. Manaphy surfaced beside him, watching as he turned his attention towards the sky garden.
"Optima fortuna, Oichi."
Draco: Good Distortion, does it feel good to write a fight between Warriors again.
I don't watch the anime, but I do take note of certain happenings in the anime to account for what certain Pokémon are capable of (usually when I discover them completely by accident on my way down the page to check their move lists). I'd like to ask that you not accuse me of pulling anything out of my ass just yet.
