I don't own Love Hina. Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu. The story though is just a work of fiction. For all spelling and grammar mistakes I apologize in advance.
Legends
X
---
"What do we know?" the shogun's voice thundered across the hall.
He walked towards the room where he has gathered all his generals and advisors, followed closely behind by his spies and personal servants. His face taut with seriousness and his stride was both urgent and purposeful.
One of the spies dressed in black kimono answered, "My lord, Seta Norieyasu has joined his men and they are heading towards Aoyoma village,"
The shogun hid his surprise, his features darkened, "That's the village that guards the China Sea. Is it not?"
"Yes my lord,"
"What is the condition of Aoyoma's samurais?"
"My lord, Tsuruko Aoyoma has five hundred retinues… I received reports this afternoon that she has started sending boatmen at a nearby island two days ago… Iki Island, I believe, my lord,"
Very clever and very generous of you to do so Tsuruko… but the question is… how long can you hold the onslaught? Even with the gift of a powerful secret sword arts technique you cannot fully defend your village against the rampage of the barbarians!
"How far is Seta's army from Aoyoma's village?"
"Four to five days travel at the most, my lord,"
She might not hold long enough.
By then… it might all be too late.
The shogun paused momentarily then with a hiss he slammed the doors open, causing everybody inside the room to stare at him curiously. The generals and the advisors were all seated calmly at their cushions that lined the well decorated walls.
"Who amongst you have an army ready for battle?" the shogun started.
For a while nobody spoke.
The cold wind of the night breezed through the shogunate castle.
Then a young man stood.
His face covered with bandages, his right arm on a wooden sling, he struggled not to fall, kept his head high, full of pride. All the other generals turned to look at him and most were frowning at his audacity to blindly accept a responsibility he does not know.
"I have my soldiers ready at the southern villages my lord,"
The shogun nodded, "How long will it take you to reach Aoyoma's village?"
The young man could not hide his astonishment. His mouth opened then closed, stopping himself from retorting a disrespectful reply. There was an extreme disappointment on his face. But he knew he could not draw back now that he has accepted the duty.
"Three… no… four days, my lord…"
"Very well… I want you to be on that village in three days,"
The young man bowed, conceded, choosing honour before personal hatred, "Yes, my lord,"
The shogun proceeded to sit at his cushion as the young man prepared to leave.
The shogun paused and looked up, "By the way… what is your name again?"
The young man turned and bowed, "Kentaro Sakata, my lord,"
"Kentaro Sakata… if you made it in three days… Japan will forever be in your debt… these are grave times... you will assist Aoyoma when the time comes... understand?"
"Yes, my lord,"
The shogun then turned towards his generals and spoke with strained determination, "My lords… Japan… our beloved land… is under a great Mongol invasion,"
---
A lone samurai, wearing full body armour, a small banner attached on a thin bamboo pole at his back, was riding through the procession of marching imperial samurais, his horse covered with dried sweat, its mouth dribbling.
The imperial samurais made way; they parted to let therider through, seeing the urgency and the haste to reach its destination. But what made them stop from inquiring was the fear visible on the rider's eyes. And in his wake, the imperial samurais felt even more determined to reach Aoyoma's village as soon as possible.
And after a few moments the riding samurai finally saw him.
He tore through the collected horsemen and quickly bowed, "My lord, forgive my rudeness…"
Seta looked up, glanced at the banner and said, "A message from Tsuruko, I presume… how is everything in there?"
The samurai bowed again before speaking, "The Mongols have ransacked the villages of Komota Island…"
There was a momentary pause. The samurais close enough to hear the news gasped with astonishment, andsome of themgripped their swords, whispering vengeance to the barbarity of the foreign invaders.
Seta kept his face impassive, "How long has it been?"
"I've been riding for two days, my lord, without sleep or rest," The rider spoke again with controlled breathing, "When I left our village, our daimyo, Tsuruko-sama has sent boatmen to Iki Island in an attempt to save the villagers…"
"That is very kind of Tsuruko to do so..." Seta turned to his samurais and shouted with urgency, "Anyone who's riding will accompany this messenger back to Aoyoma's village," then he turned to the rider again, "Alright… you lead the way… these horsemen will follow you and will join your samurais once you get there… take them to Tsuruko and ride… we will join you as soon as we can..."
The rider bowed again, "We are in your debt, my lord,"
Then without another word, the rider turned and rode his horse away from the marching army, followed closely by samurai horsemen.
Seta shouted, "RIDE… RIDE LIKE THE WIND!"
Just hold on Tsuruko. We'll join you soon enough.
---
"Madam!" a man dripping wet with sea water, his face a mask of fear, shivered, "We… we managed to rescue a number of the Iki villagers ashore but…"
Tsuruko turned towards the man, her face impassive.
"But… I don't think we could return for more… I don't think we could return to the island again…" the man bowed, ashamed at his defeat.
Tsuruko nodded.
"The Mongols… the Mongols burned Iki village to the ground… the whole island is burning… they destroyed everything… I apologize, madam,"
"No… there is nothing you can do… the Mongol ships are faster than our boats… it is by Kami's fortune that we managed to save some of the Iki villagers. We should atleast be grateful with that,"
The boatman bowed again then left the room.
Tsuruko, alone inside the cavernous hall, sighed. She buried her face between her hands and lightly cried. She could not stop the feeling of defeat looming over her mind, that constant trepidation that her village might not survive this attack at all. The weight of her responsibility never felt heavier.
It was so hard to be alone.
The wind seemed colder.
There were three islands between China and Japan, sitting in the middle of the China Sea. The first and second island was ashore of each other, Tsushima at the north and Komota at the south. And not far away was Iki Island.
The Mongols first reached Komota Island four days before and they savagely pillaged the villages. The reports were very alarming. Villagers from the island, who managed to escape, confirmed the overwhelming number of ships the Mongols have. And what worried Tsuruko was the amount of artillery the Mongols has brought with them to invade Japan.
Explosives and tubes of metals, the kind of weapons Tsuruko has only heard of but have never seen before.
And upon hearing this, Tsuruko never wasted time, shebegan sending boatmen to rescue the villagers of Iki Island. It took them two days. But it was not enough. The Mongols has finally arrived at Iki Island.
It was only a matter of time before the Mongols regroup themselves and finally assault Japanese mainland.
And Aoyoma village, her village, would be the first to carry the brunt of the assault.
Then she heard a soft knock.
Tsuruko quickly composed herself.
A tall armoured woman entered the room. Her sword dangling on her side, her face gentle but her eyes were cold. Her eyes spoke of inevitable battle.
"We are awaiting orders, my lady,"
Tsuruko turned towards the woman and smiled.
"Have we evacuated everyone?"
"Yes, my lady… the children and the elders have been taken to a forest nearby…"
Tsuruko nodded.
A momentary pause.
Then Tsuruko smiled again, "How many can fully practise the secret sword arts technique, Ryoma-chan?"
The woman's face remained emotionless, "Twenty at the most… a hundred more are merely apprentices… and ofcourse we have the men… who are nothing more than fodder to the beasts… they could hold the first wave of attack I suppose… assuming that the Mongols would be attacking up front, by the beach,"
Tsuruko looked away and stared at the window, "That's what I'm concerned about… we don't have enough to guard the whole coastline stretch…"
"We just have to do our best, my lady,"
"Quite true… but we need to be very careful… I suggest that we group ourselves tightly together rather than spreading ourselves thin… atleast this way we may hold the attack long enough…"
"Will we receive assistance, my lady?"
Tsuruko faced the woman, "Yes… I have sent a rider two days ago to meet with any army on their way here… I am confident that the emperor would send help… I'm just not sure how long will it take them to reach our village…"
"Then we just have to hold long enough, my lady…"
"Yes… we just have to hold long enough,"
Motoko-chan! Please come back soon!
---
Motoko was annoyed.
It seemed all the samurais were marching to a battle that would forever be part of Japanese history, everybody except her.
And what made it worst was that she was travelling the opposite direction. She was travelling 'away' from the battle. And she sorely wanted to be part of this war, a war that would change their lives.
Because this time they were not fighting one another, for once, they were fighting together as one, fighting a common enemy, a common threat. And such was what a samurai lived for.
Motoko gripped her sword tightly as she remembered that evening the emperor gave her this task. A task, which he impressed to her, that has an equal amount of importance as anyat these troubling times of Mongol invasion.
"Motoko-san… are you familiar with… legends?" the emperor has asked that night.
"Only a few, my lord… only a few…" Motoko has answered, bewildered with the query.
"Legends? Aren't they nothing more than tales for unruly children to behave?" Naru asked.
The emperor smiled and continued, "Quite true… but behind every legend is a story that bears the truth. A life immortalized by the accounts made by people who have seen the extraordinary… and so they exists…"
"They exist?" Mitsune asked, drawn by the mystery of the emperor's comments.
"Yes they do… they do exist… and one of them is being held captive by the shogunate…"
"One of them?" Shinobu started.
"During the older days of the Kamakura shogunate… my family… the imperial family has been threatened by the shogun's admonition that it will replace the imperial rule to a family known as a legend…"
Motoko looked up, "I remember… when I was young… the imperial family and the shogunate scoured Japan for a legend… they destroyed all of these legendary families… all of them… I thought-,"
The emperor nodded, sadness in his eyes, "I admit… my family has been very… very harsh… it was the days of my grandfather… it was the days of great fear… I remember… when I was young… I remember all the hatred it has caused… so many innocent people killed," Haruka…
"Then that means-," Mitsune said with alarm.
"Yes… some of these legends survived. As I said… the shogunate was bent to replace us… it was said that these legendary families have powers equal to the Gods… and therefore has the right to rule as sons of heaven… and so we raced, looking for any rumour or any hint of any ability that is so powerful…"
"A legend has survived?" Naru asked.
"And the shogunate kept the survivors as their own. And I am quite certain that they are using them now as we speak… although the only problem is… their knowledge of these legends are limited. They know the name but they cannot understand what they can do… but we… we understand them… that is why until now… we are trying to save them from the clutches of the shogunate ironclad hands…"
Motoko stood, "These families have all been destroyed… how can we be sure that the shogunate has genuine legend in captivity?"
The emperor stared at Motoko with seriousness, "Spies… I have sent spies to the shogunate halls and we have learned that they are being held at the northern temples…"
"Then that means…"
"Yes Motoko-san… your new task is to rescue a legend... a priestess. She has the power of nature in her hands… and I am sure that the shogunate does not know this… we would need her to aid us against the onslaught of the Mongolian invasion…"
"I understand…"
"I have to warn you that I have already sent countless samurais to rescue the priestess… but no one has returned… it is said that this temple is guarded by another legend… one they say that has the power over death… one who could not die… who could not be killed,"
"I see…"
And so it has been decided.
Motoko would have to do this alone for she would be travelling in complete secrecy. And to her surprise, Naru and Kitsune decided to come along. Naru with her knowledge of the shogunate temples and Mitsune's familiarity with the northern passages, both would be of great use to Motoko. Shinobu joined too, reasoned that she could provide medical assistance to anyone in need. Kaolla didn't bother to ask for she has already attached herself to Motoko, going wherever Motoko decided to go.
And to Motoko's astonishment and relief, Keitaro joined them.
Motoko glanced towards Keitaro who has Kaolla sitting on his shoulders and Shinobu chatting with him happily by his side.
The whole day Motoko has been avoiding Keitaro.
For some reason she felt differently with him. She felt warmth coursing through her body whenever he was around. She found herself unable to look at him. His stare would cause her to tremble. And sometimes she would lightly shiver at the smallest of his touch.
And she knew that others felt the same way with him, if not as strong as hers.
In their eyes, Keitaro has changed.
He may still wear the same rags as clothes. He may still act as clueless as a mindless monkey. He may still be as clumsy as a child. Or he may still speak gibberish like a village idiot.
They still could not deny the fact that he was part of the royal family, or has been, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
And to be with him, they all felt a great sense of privilege.
They all felt safe.
Motoko blushed.
"Are you alright Motoko-chan?" Mitsune asked as she walked beside Motoko.
Motoko gasped with surprise, wide eyed, she said, "Don't surprise me like that Kitsune!"
Mitsune smiled, "Hey… that's new… you just called me Kitsune!"
Motoko blushed again, she bowed, "I apologize for my rudeness… I did not mean anything when I said that…"
"You know… I actually liked it… a fox… cunning… bold… I liked it!" Mitsune mused.
"What's wrong Mitsune?" Naru joined the two.
"Call me Kitsune!" Mitsune replied pointedly.
"What? Why would I call you Kitsune?"
"Because I like it!"
Then a hissing sound.
Without a word, Motoko grabbed Mitsune and Naru and then pushed them to the ground. She looked up and found that Keitaro did the same with Kaolla and Shinobu.
"Are you alright Motoko-san?" Keitaro shouted keeping his head low.
"We're alright in here Keitaro-san…"
Then another hissing sound.
The ground was suddenly pulverised with little arrows.
"To the trees! Everybody! Quick!" Keitaro shouted back as he carried Kaolla and Shinobu towards the closest tree.
Naru, Motoko and Mitsune did the same, running on the opposite direction.
They all stood behind their covering trees and waited for another attack. Motoko was busy scanning the bushes for any signs of their attacker. She deduced that they must be nearing their destination. She turned towards Naru.
"How far are we from the temple Kitsune?"
Kitsunescrewed her eyes in concentration before replying, "Not far… we should be there before nightfall…"
"It must be the legendary guardian the emperor was talking about…"Naru said while slowly edging out of the tree to have a better look at their predator.
She saw nothing.
The road was empty.
The trees swayed with the cold summer wind.
Then out of the bushes appeared a small girl.
"It's a little girl!" Shinobu said with alarm, running out of their tree to warn the new comer.
"Shinobu wait!" Keitaro shouted.
Motoko was also confused when she saw the little girl but her confusion turned to horror when she saw the girl raise her hand and pointed at Shinobu. Two arrows spat out of it.
"Shinobu… NO!"
Fortunately, Keitaro managed to grab Shinobu in the nick of time, missing the arrows by a hairline. The two rolled onto the ground and into the bushes as arrows trailed behind them.
Motoko ran out of their coveringtree and into the road to create a diversion, she shouted, "I'm here!"
The little girl was lightly distracted. She then turned her little hand towards Motoko.
Motoko drew her sword, "Who are you?"
The little girl was wearing a light kimono. There was an eerie smile on her face. Her bluish eyes wide open, her cheeks an eternal blushing colour and her hair brownish and tightly donned into a bun. There were visible marks on her wrists, arm joints and ankles. Marks Motoko could not make out of.
The little girl's eyes were lifeless… empty.
Motoko shivered.
The girl does not look human.
Is this the legend? Is she human at all? "Who are you?"
The girl stepped forward with her hand pointing at Motoko.
There was a low noise, like wooden splinters tapping together, then an inhuman sound, "My name is Moe,"
Hei there guys and gals! I apologize for the delay… it has taken me some time to finish this chapter as I wanted to make it longer than usual for everybody's enjoyment. So anybody has an idea what's this story really about? I sure hope so!
Anyway… I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to those kind enough to leave a review. And I'm telling you now that all of the names in here… the emperor and shogun… even the regency… they are all true names taken from Japanese history. The only ones' fiction is everybody from Love Hina… so if you want to know what timeline I'm working on…research!
Catch u all later! Cheers!
nivremous