When compared to a corpse-raising ninja and a desert lord, you'd think a man whose only quirk was the pets he kept would be easy to handle. You'd be very wrong.
"I can see them moving!"
Rolling her eyes, Magoichi pulled the spyglass away and brought it to her own eye, humming as she surveyed the fields. "I thought Oda's Blade was a living weapon with no fear."
"Oda's Blade only ever faced men called Tiger, and I don't know if you heard, that was pretty much a failure." I rested a hand on my sword, still watching the movement in the distance that I knew was because of Utsunomiya's pets, swallowing hard, "Besides, I thought we were past the whole Blade thing?"
"We'll see." Passing the spyglass back over, she turned on her heel to review the strategies with her commander, telling me to continue looking for weaknesses.
Shuddering a little, knowing my luck, I raised it again, almost congratulating myself on knowing that I would be pointing the thing at a group of the big cats. "Ooh that's a lot of teeth," I whispered, moving the lens over the rest of them, stopping my roving when Utsunomiya came into view, all of the tigers raising their heads at his approach. For a second, I dared to hope one of them was going to do our job for us, but I was sorely disappointed when they moved to crowd him, seeking his strokes and pats. Like big kittens really.
Folding the spyglass back up, I crept back over to the commander's tent, bending to take something out of my pack while Magoichi ignored me. That seemed to be the bulk of what had been happening since we left Edo, and that suited me fine. It meant she wasn't asking me about Kotone, or trying to push me out into a legion of hungry, oversized cats. Glancing over my shoulder at her, I couldn't help wondering why Ieyasu had thought we'd make a good team. Her various pistols, shotguns and rifles would cause enough damage in the time it took me to reach an enemy, enough that it wasn't entirely sensible I try.
Finally closing my hand around the whetstone, I settled back to drop some water on it, just as one of Magoichi's scouts ran in. "He's agreed to our terms."
"Excellent. We'll have an hour to prepare then."
"Finally getting around to the battle are we?" I butted in, keeping my eyes down on my sword nonetheless. "I was beginning to get bored."
"Not quite a battle. We'll be speaking to Utsunomiya first."
My hands froze mid-movement, the sound making a horrible screech that had everyone wincing, "Eh?"
Before answering, Magoichi snatched the whetstone away, setting it to one side, "I would have thought it was obvious, we ask for an alliance first."
"With all your talk of battle plans, ammunition checking and your penchant for placing traps…"
"Tokugawa told me to try peaceful first. He said nothing about sticking to it." Yep, there it was.
But the thought lay heavy on me, "Kotone could've come. I'm such an idiot."
"No, she couldn't have." Looking up with a 'huh?' I met Magoichi's stern look, letting her hand the whetstone back. "When you pointed your sword, she froze, even though she knew you wouldn't hurt her. There's nowhere near a battlefield I'd feel safe having her, let alone in the fray itself."
Leaving me with that thought, Magoichi attended to her pistols. My mind went to the letter I'd sent, and the giddiness I'd sent it off with. Ready for a real weapon, yes, but a real war? Maybe I'd have to send another letter, to my old tamiya teacher, if only to hear his thoughts.
Now if only I could remember his name.
Opening and closing her fist, Gracia hums to herself, inspecting the skin for herself. The Illusion technique was one she never bothered to master in life, but now she sees its use. Learning it to its full potential took little time, all things considered, but she feels as though she lingered too long on it. The coward Kingo is scared of her, that much is clear.
What was it her father told him? The truth? Or some add-on to that story he spins, reciting sutras like he actually has any faith? Gracia didn't have the chance to ask before she was sent to the land of shadows, to watch over the remnants and 'guide' them if they go wrong. She wishes he hadn't sent her away so soon, she wanted to ask what she missed, and whether it's too late to wring Sayomi's neck.
Because Sayomi has to die, has to feel the sweet embrace of death and feel the searing pain it causes. That is what Gracia told her father, one finger twisting to rest on another like she used to as a child. He was still unable to recognise the gesture from his daughter.
Looking at her hands once more, Gracia lets the illusion fade from them, unresponsive to the sight of her own charred muscles and bones now. She brings them up to her face, almost childishly curious to see them this close, before a soft lullaby brings her back to Earth, her head whipping to address the sound.
The Demon Queen is awake again, and lonely. Without another thought on her father or Sayomi, Gracia goes to her, humming the counter song and trying to avoid looking too pleased when Oichi actually looks glad to see her face, regardless of how far the illusion has fallen.
Unknown Source
The number of ways I was planning Magoichi's murder, from the subtle to the downright bloodthirsty would have been surprising for anyone outside of the position I found myself in once we'd set out to meet with Utsunomiya, and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less about any of their criticism. However, should anyone ever find themselves in my position, I'd happily compare notes with them.
Throwing a quick glower in her general direction, I probably didn't have as much of an effect than I might've had I actually looked her in the eyes. But I didn't dare pull mine away from the yellow pair directly opposite, backing away as slow as I dared. Dipping Magoichi in a vat of oil was starting to sound very appealing.
I could hear the pair of them discussing terms of the alliance, neither of them paying much attention. How did I end up in the garden with one of Utsunomiya's pets again?
Oh yeah, I'd flinched when one of them came to greet us with him. "Magoichi!"
"They're big softies, really." Utsunomiya called over, smothering a laugh as he turned back to the contract. At his master's voice, the tiger turned his attention from me, and I didn't waste the chance to run to the side, squealing when I heard his claws on the ground. If I could just make it to the tree…
Success! I grabbed onto the first branch I saw, barely gripping it for a second before I was on the one above, clinging to it for dear life. Oh it would've been so easy to jab him a million times with my sword from this point, but I knew that would somewhat go against our plan here. The tiger quirked his head, obviously wondering why his new toy was so high up, before raising a paw and batting the tree, looking nonplussed at my squealing as the tree shivered under the blow.
"He only wants to play, he only wants to play-" My breath sped up, and I dashed across the branch to the next tree, "Magoichi!" I wasn't above begging when the circumstances called for it.
There was another round of disbelieving laughter, before Utsunomiya gave a sharp whistle into the yard, distracting his pet again, "Tora, leave the girl alone. Come on, I have a treat for you."
Tora gave a last glance into the branches, yellow eyes showing something I might've called disappointment if he was human. As it was, he finally pulled away from the tree, black and white stripes soon vanishing from my view, and letting me wilt against the trunk safely.
Mizu was never going to let me hear the end of this; that was, if I let her find out about it.
Waiting a good ten minutes before slowly climbing down, I immediately looked around for any remaining tigers before dropping the last foot or so, dusting my skirt off. Dignity restored, I held my head high and took a space next to Magoichi, ignoring her smirk. "Are we in agreement, then?" She asked, returning to the diplomat we were trying to be.
"Making an enemy of the Toyotomi is not a position I would put myself in lightly." Utsunomiya said thoughtfully, "You say you're petitioning others for aid?"
"Yes, if we are to fight Ishida, we'll need help."
"It would also ensure protection for your lands." I nodded along, "Though, with your pets, I can't see that being a major problem."
Thinking hard, Utsunomiya picked up the outlined agreement Magoichi had brought with her, skimming it over carefully. I could almost see the cogs turning in his mind. If he said no, I couldn't blame him, not after the wonderful display I'd just given him. "I'd like extra soldiers, as a sign of good will."
"We can have that arranged." Magoichi promised, glancing across to me, "Anything else?"
I really was going to kill her for asking that question.
After two hours of trying to 'introduce' me to our new, fluffy allies, we were finally allowed to go back to camp, which was already in the process of being packed up when we got there. "I'm covered in fluff, and fur, and if I get fleas from them-"
"Oh hush your whining. At least we got what we came for without bloodshed." I held up my arm in argument, practically shoving the cut at her. "It's not my fault he didn't put his claws away. Now come on, I want to get back to Edo in one piece."
"Famous last words." I muttered, going to help pack up nonetheless.
