Draco: Writer's block has been dealt with. Keyboard difficulties are... manageable (and if they become not-manageable, I can get a wireless keyboard and a work desk and start using my laptop like a desktop). And not only did I get all three of the escort trio recruited and with their Perfect Links, but I also managed to spend the gold cap on travelling merchant goods and top Evia's total number of Eevee to six (and lost her Dratini in the process because she's not Rank III yet and her Capacity is 6, but hey, #GameplayAndStoryIntegration with the twins being Dragnor residents now). Getting those three to Rank II is another matter, but if all else fails I can just give them Guardian Charms and power-Link in the Not Worth Fighting Over stories (that's gonna be a nightmare, so #GodzillaThreshold).

So I wrapped up the story (in year seven), and I've just gotta say, something about Motonari's ending scene and him reclining with a book with Servine curled up on his chest just looks frickin' adorable.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.

Glacial Reaches: Defiance

Evia and Espeon took the watch the night following Hisahide's attack, and did not ask anyone to relieve them. When dawn began to break, they found themselves joined - by Ina and Empoleon.

"You're not the person I expected to wake up first," Evia observed.

"Have you been up all night?" Ina asked. Then; "Look... forgive me for how I acted. I just-"

"No," Evia insisted. "You're right. I'm the one who should apologize." She breathed a sigh, looking into the fire. "You were completely right. I'm the one who wasn't thinking straight when I reacted."

Ina shook her head. "That was no reason for me to speak so callously about things I cannot understand."

"But it was," Evia proclaimed. "What you said, about Hisahide - you're absolutely right. He's a monster of a Warlord, a madman and a tyrant. We can't afford to get hung up if we're going to face him." She reached for the base of one horn. "I don't know if these can heal, when they're damaged the way he was struck... but it's like you said. The wound doesn't handicap us, in any way."

"So we get up - as many times as we can."

The voice from nearby drew their attention; Naomasa had emerged from his tent, with Togekiss at his side. "I heard what you said last night," he told Ina. "And you were right. It hurt - it hurt like nothing I'd ever felt before - but it doesn't stop me from fighting. I can still walk, so I can still evade. I can still hold my weapon, and that means I can still swing it at my enemy."

Ina sighed. "That was no excuse for me to be so cruel... but I am glad to hear that you are willing as well as able."

+x+x+x+

That day's travelling found them approaching a community in the Glacial Reaches - or so they thought. Once they got closer, it became apparent that it had once been a community - and had since suffered abandonment.

"It's just like what he was doing with the Volcano," Naotora spat. "The Dark Storms rage, he does nothing to oppose them, and he prohibits anyone from getting involved."

Kanbei glanced around. "Nixtorm lacks in secure areas of the sort Ignis has," he observed; the party had received the briefing on Hisahide while they travelled. "Where might he station himself?"

"Just because he's not willing to defend anyone else," Hanbei argued, "doesn't mean he won't defend himself. Why don't we check the site of Nixtorm Castle?"

A few hours' travelling later, his theory was proven sound; a collection of structures closer to where the castle would stand was indeed much more intact. As they got near, they found people bustling about - but their mannerisms were fearful, as though dreading at any moment that they would be made to suffer. Some of them took notice of the approaching travellers, and looked most concerned for them, though they said nothing.

"What do we do?" Nobuyuki asked.

"Given how he acted in the Volcano, he'll have a few Warriors under his command," Evia observed. "We need to split up. One party deals with the Warriors - makes it clear to them that they don't need to cower to Hisahide. The other confronts him, and we drive him out - like we did in the Volcano."

"I'm going to face Hisahide," Naomasa proclaimed.

Naotora turned. "No," she insisted, "you don't-"

"I won't make the same mistakes again," Naomasa warned. "I can fight."

Evia nodded. "Then you will fight. I won't deny you that."

Naotora sighed. "I as well, then."

"And I'm not going to leave your wounds be," Oichi added.

"That leaves the rest of us to his army," Ina observed. "What do we do if a Dark Storm brews?"

"Priority goes to the storm," Evia replied. "Keep the Pokémon as far away from the town as possible without getting lost in the blizzard. Fight it if you can, but it's enough to just outlast it until the Dynamax wears off."

"Yes, Lady Evia," the group chorused.

The two parties split up, and Evia led the attackers to what would become Nixtorm battlefield - a broad lake of ice. It wasn't as flawlessly smooth and slippery as she remembered, but it was surrounded by a ring of very dark conifer trees, indicating that it still held some significance in this Ransei. The Zebstrika that had aided Hisahide's escape the previous night were standing on what would be the defenders' side of the lake, going by the location of the town; they were bound to a cart, and wore an impatience that indicated the Links were tenuous, the intentions of the Thunderbolt Pokémon quite separate from Hisahide's.

The cart looked like it could hold an entire company and the driver... but then Evia remembered Hisahide's abode in the Volcano. He was quite fond of having himself a feast when others had nothing - and that extended to his transport as well as his residence. Sure enough, when they stepped through the trees, they found the cruel Warlord on the battlefield - alone. He had his sickle backhand in his grip; his Glalie and Ninetales were fighting before him, in what could be described as a spar if it weren't for the prominent burn across Glalie's side and the ice that frosted Ninetales' tales.

Oichi and Wigglytuff had decided in advance to bring up the rear on support; now Evia began to undo her robe, baring the armor she wore beneath it to make clear to her opponent that she would no longer play around. Once the garment was removed, she handed it to Oichi, who accepted it without a word; then Evia drew her shield and sword, and the scream of blade against sheath echoed across the battlefield, drawing the Warlord's attention.

"Hisahide of the Glacier!"

The Pokémon halted their battle as he turned to face them. "Ruinous Warriors," Hisahide snapped, reaching into a pouch at his hip and drawing something out - berries, that he hurled backwards for his Pokémon to take. "Come after me again, have you?"

"Your abusive rule cannot be allowed to persist," Evia proclaimed. "You do not deserve to rule, if you will not oppose the Dark Storms."

Hisahide grinned. "Why would I oppose all I have ever wanted?" he demanded. "The Dark Storms are a wish come true."

"Then you wll not benefit," Evia snapped. "I will sever your claim to the Glacial Reaches, as I did the Volcanic Wastes."

"I underestimated you in the Volcano," Hisahide reprimanded. "I will not make that mistake again. You face me with only half your number, and expect to be victorious?" He raised his sickle before him. "I will overcome you all upon this ice, and make you suffer."

"You can try."

With a yell, Hisahide swept his weapon to the side, turning it to a forehand grip, and charged forward, with Ninetales and Glalie following suit. Espeon led Togekiss and Lopunny to return the charge, but Evia only began to advance - not with any haste, but a slow, measured pace to let Naotora and Naomasa overtake her. The ice of the lake beneath them wasn't smooth and slick, like it would become as a castle battlefield; in this era, it was rough and coarse, enough perhaps to let something smooth slide across it but not enough to cause the Warriors or Pokémon to fall or stumble before they met in the center of the lake.

Naotora kicked one bladed greave at Hisahide, but the dark Warlord leaned down and aside to evade it before swinging his sickle at her. Naomasa intercepted it in with a thrust of his glaive, halting it before it could connect with his mother, and as the blades locked he shifted it up above Hisahide's head. Glalie loosed an Ice Beam in Togekiss' direction, but the Jubilee Pokémon dove around it with a spin before unleashing a Dazzling Gleam to strike him. Lopunny promptly bounded in while he was still dazed for a one-two Dizzy Punch, and as Ninetales breathed a Flamethrower at Espeon, the Eeveelution leapt clean over it and unleashed a Psybeam down to strike at the Fox Pokémon from above.

There was a moment of struggle before Hisahide broke the lock, turning his sickle to swing it at Naomasa this time; the wounded Warrior halted it upon the shaft of his weapon before bringing the butt of his glaive into Hisahide's chest. The Warlord took the blow with barely a grunt, and when Naotora made to strike him again he stepped back to let the blade pass before him; Evia was in attacking range by now, and the swing of her blade was met on the back of his sickle's curve, allowing him to swiftly push the blade aside before stepping away again.

Ninetales quickly unleashed a Flamethrower between Hisahide and his opponents, her flames searing across Lopunny and causing her to leap away. Glalie aimed another Ice Beam at Togekiss, this one hitting true; Espeon made to unleash another Psybeam at Ninetales, only for her to sidestep it as Hisahide turned his sickle backhand again, holding it before him.

A darkness began to radiate off his weapon, and to Evia's shock it gathered around his Pokémon, easing their wounds. "I thought healing was a power borne of empathy!"

"It is much harder to break down what you do not understand how to build up," Hisahide proclaimed, turning his weapon forehand once more.

With an angry growl, Evia charged forward again; this time he caught her blade in the hook of his sickle, and when she moved to strike him with her shield, he moved her blade into its path. Ninetales struck Espeon with another Flamethrower as Hisahide drove a kick into Evia's ribs, knocking her aside; Naomasa charged at him with his glaive, but he beat the head aside with his weapon and kicked the shaft against his stomach, knocking the wind out of him enough for Hisahide to put distance between them. Glalie managed to evade Togekiss' next Dazzling Gleam, unleashing an Ice Beam that struck Lopunny as Naotora made to charge at him again, swinging one leg at his weapon hand.

His other hand moved forward instead, grabbing her leg in mid-motion and halting its assault.

"What the-?!"

With a sadistic grin, Hisahide brought his sickle up, slamming it into Naotora's leg just past the edge of her greave and earning a yell of pain before he used it to pry the weapon free; as her leg descended, he struck her with the armoured surface, throwing her to the ground. As Evia began to charge at him, Hisahide hurled the greave at her too rapidly for her to defend properly; the attack stuck her shield off-center, causing her to stumble, and the Warlord slammed a kick into its edge that nearly knocked her off her feet as it wrenched the shield from her arm.

The Warlord laughed - a single, disdainful note. "Is that the best you can do?!"

Espeon was struck by another Ice Beam as Evia turned around, moving her sword to meet Hisahide's sickle - but his free hand seized the hilt of her weapon, and he pried it from her grip, throwing the blade aside before swinging his weapon at her head.

She made to move aside a moment too late to stop, the sickle collided with her horns.

A cry of pain escaped her as her attempted evasion left her tumbling to the ice; Hisahide was about to advance before Naomasa charged at him. Togekiss found herself on the receiving end of a Flamethower as Hisahide dove around her Warrior's glaive; the Warlord lashed the back of his sickle's curve across Naomasa stomach, earning a yell as it slashed through his tunic. His grip slacked on the shaft of his weapon, and Hisahide brought one foot up to kick it into the air; then he drove his knee into Naomasa's stomach, striking the fresh wound and knocking the wind out of him.

Naomasa fell to the ground, and his glaive impaled itself in the ice beside him.

Hisahide raised his weapon over his head, and Ninetales unleashed a Flamethrower to wash over its blade.

When the flames subsided, it was glowing hot, and Hisahide brought it down with a yell.

The scream from Naomasa seemed to shake the frozen lake; he fell to the ground, and his remaining horn clattered on the ice before Evia. With a dismissive huff, Hisahide raised his gaze across the lake, to where Oichi and Wigglytuff were standing.

"How long you do think you can keep your distance?" he demanded. "If your allies together cannot overcome me, then you can do no better. It would be best to make it quick, and surrender. It will spare you the pain of my making you succumb, like the rest."

Oichi was about to abandon her staff and draw her rapier when she saw it - movement. Hisahide took notice, as well; his gaze fell to see Naomasa moving on the ice, and he stepped back in shock. His free hand seized the shaft of his glaive, using it as a support to get to his feet.

"I... will never... succumb... to a Warlord... like you!"

Evia watched, amazed, as he stood upon the ice, pulling his weapon free.

"You bastard...!"

Naotora raised her gaze, astonished, as a light began to gather around Naomasa.

"You wanted my best!?"

Naomasa swung his glaive out at his side - and his body and weapon were wrapped in a blinding light. Hisahide raised his sickle before him defensively - but Naomasa's shining hand reached forward, and the Warlord felt metal against his touch as the sickle was wrenched from his grip, with power unlike any he had seen before. The moment his was disarmed, that arm was brought across, and Hisahide was hit by an elbow strike - one that threw him from the ground, sending him reeling across the battlefield.

The sickle was thrown into the ice at Naomasa's feet, its still-hot blade cutting through without resistance until the hilt stopped its advance.

Then the light parted from around Naomasa - to show his transformation. His form was clad in crimson armour; greaves not unlike his mother's covered his legs, and though they lacked blades, his sabatons had threatening spikes on the back of the heels. His arms were guarded by gauntlets with a golden hue; his chestplate was heavy-set, and a cape of azure hung from his back, split in two. His glaive had changed as well, its blade nearly the size of Evia's sword, with a hilt that looked like a hammer; and upon his head sat a weighty helmet.

From which a pair of mighty horns stood proud.

Oichi saw the opportunity, and didn't dare to let it pass. She slammed her staff to the ice, and used it to propel herself towards Naotora as her soft light washed over Espeon, Togekiss, and Lopunny, pulling them from the brink of fainting nearly to full condition. Naomasa advanced on Hisahide, and kicked Evia's sword and shield in her direction; she seized her weapons and drove her sword into the ice, and the sigil of Aurora appeared around Espeon as she unleashed a powerful Psybeam to slam into Ninetales, throwing her to the ice. Glalie tried to evade, but Lopunny stopped him with a Dizzy Punch; he was reeling long enough for Togekiss to unleash a most radiant Dazzling Gleam, sending him spiralling and in no condition to fight.

Hisahide got to his feet, and was immediately knocked back down when Naomasa brought the shaft of his glaive forward, striking him across the face; then, as the cruel Warlord hit the ice again, he turned the weapon in his hand and brought the blade down.

It slammed into the ice, not a millimeter from Hisahide's neck.

"...You do not deserve the Glacial Reaches," Naomasa proclaimed. "Go away!"

The Warlord pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his opponents, and for a moment he looked as though he would try to oppose them - but Evia was on her feet, shield and sword at hand. Oichi was helping Naotora to her feet, and looked ready to strike him herself; and Naomasa pried his glaive from the ice, holding it forward threateningly.

"...Damn you," Hisahide spat. "Damn you all!"

He charged towards the ring of trees, in the direction of his Zebstrika; at five paces he halted, and hurled something across the ice. Naomasa was about to act before he realized they were berries; they landed near Ninetales and Glalie, who weakly consumed them before managing to rise. Enough to let them flee - not enough to let them fight. The two Pokémon dashed weakly after Hisahide; a moment after they crossed the trees, the sound of hooves against the snow told the gathered Warriors that he had no intentions of fighting again.

Draco: Got everyone's story done except Magoichi, Nobunaga, and Two Heroes of Ransei. I want Nobunaga's to be the last one I do before Two Heroes, so I go to Magoichi's story, which is of course a junior Warlord story so I have to account for the randomization. How's my first roll of the dice?

I'm adjacent to Oichi, Hanbei, Kai, and Tadakatsu - everyone with two kingdoms, and a Steel-type user, while my viewpoint character is a Grass-type user. And my starting kingdom is Cragspur, which is (a) one of the easiest battlefields for me to fight on, which robs me of that easy win and (b) surrounded on all sides, which means I can't just take my closest surrounding kingdoms and ride the wave of victory. Cue the #SaveScumming until I get a favourable start in Pugilis.

And then cue the #CurbStompBattle when I crush all of Ransei before the AI is capable of launching attacks on me. No, seriously, victory in May of Year 1. That felt amazing.