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
XVI
---
"BANZAI!" a thousand years!
Kentaro screamed his battle cry as he waved his sword high in the air, charging his horse furiously down into the Mongolian light cavalry and behind him were thousands of samurai horsemen.
The shogunate army has arrived.
---
The Mongols swerved hard to the left to prevent the charging shogunate horsemen from rushing into their exposed flanks. The right-most Mongol horsemen quickly gathered themselves into a loose line of two horses deep to stop or atleast slow down the oncoming rush and give the main cavalry time to regroup.
They screamed their defiance.
They stretched their arrows and waited for the inevitable carnage.
---
"Shogunate samurais!" Ryoma shouted her disgust as she jumped down from her horse and watched the emerging battle on the plains.
The Aoyomas have reached the safety of the hill.
Tsuruko was called shortly after her arrival to formally meet the shogunate generals who came with Kentaro Sakata. They were all waiting at a nearby clearing while the rest of the shogunate foot soldiers were all gathered on the village awaiting orders. The timing of their arrival couldn't have been better.
---
Kentaro swayed to the left and dodged an arrow that came whistling a hairline away from his head.
Arrows suddenly came pouring into the charging shogunate horsemen as they closed in towards the first line of Mongolian light cavalry. Several shogunate samurais were killed and most were dragged away from their saddles. The air was filled with hissing sound of death as one after another men screamed both with blood lust and with dying pain.
And in less than three arrow shots the shogunate horsemen crashed into the Mongolians.
"KILL THEM ALL!" Kentaro screamed as he slashed his sword in a perfect arc, killing two Mongols in one blow.
The samurais followed Kentaro's lead and annihilated the small force that challenged them as Mongols died one by one, their bows and arrows completely useless in close combat against samurai swords.
---
"The runt's impressive…" Hol Don whispered.
A Korean warrior stood next to him, bowed and said, "My lord… we are ready and waiting for your command,"
"Good," Hol Don replied without looking at the Korean. He scanned the battle at the plains before him. He sighed then added, "Tell the generals that I will give the signal soon,"
"Very well my lord," the Korean bowed and left.
---
Soon after, the arrows started raining on them again.
Kentaro quickly scanned the plains and found that the main Mongolian light cavalry has assembled themselves in a battle line a few paces away, killing them at a distance; the main advantage of light cavalry.
We have to keep them separated, Kentaro thought as he slashed his sword upward to deflect arrows dropping down on him; if we don't… we're no match at those arrows! We will all die!
"TO ME! TO ME! TO ME!" Kentaro shouted and pointed his sword towards the Mongolians.
The shogunate horsemen understood the call; they cheered, shouted their fury and began rushing towards the new threat.
The Mongolians saw the samurais coming and feverishly started shooting at them. But the speed and excellent horsemanship of the samurais proved far better than the Mongolians expected as they managed to close the wide gap between them and effectively eliminated the arrows long distance killing range.
Kentaro was the first to breach the first line as he savagely beheaded the first Mongolian his sword could reach. He quickly swung his sword around to kill another Mongolian who tried to stab him with a short sword.
The carnage began.
Samurai swords flashed in the heat of the afternoon. Blood sprayed in every direction as men grunted and screamed. Horses whined and died.
The shogunate horsemen carved their way deeper into the Mongolian battalion line. They scattered their prey and quickly massacred them in every direction. The Mongolians light cavalry, ill-equipped for close combat fought back ferociously for survival with nothing more than knives and short swords.
The Mongolian light cavalry began to fall.
Then a booming sound echoed through out the plains.
---
The Mongolian side of the plains was suddenly filled with thousands and thousands of warriors that stretched from one end of the plain's entrance to another.
The first battalion line was consisted of well armoured warriors carrying human size metal shields with pikes protruding on the side. The battalion was five warriors deep, marching with slow deadly rhythm.
And behind this massive line was a battalion of menacing stocky swordsmen and pikemen.
And at the rear of this army were the lightly dressed long range archers equipped with long bows and arrows.
The Korean army has arrived.
---
"Tsuruko…" Amalla whispered. Her voice was lazed with concern.
By Kami! There's so many of them!
"Here they come, Amalla… here they come…" Tsuruko replied.
---
Kentaro swore.
When the booming sound echoed on the plains, the Mongolian light cavalry withdrew and disappeared beyond the Mongolian side. This unexpected action from the enemy made the samurais cheer their triumph thinking that the enemy has finally been defeated.
They thought wrong.
For after a few moments a long line of warriors emerged from the beach head. They appeared from one end of the plains to the other and covered the whole entrance. And when they marched forward, their numbers became apparent as they poured slowly into the entrance of the plain.
We won't last long, Kentaro thought as he watched the swarm of enemy soldiers marching their way towards them.
Kentaro swore again.
He made a decision.
"TO THE HILLS!" Kentaro ordered and trotted his way towards Aoyomas' defensive line.
---
"We're outnumbered ten to one…" One of the shogunate generals commented as he watched the seemingly long line of human wall marching in the middle of the plains towards the hill.
"Those shields will be very hard to breach… even with horses… it will be very difficult to force our way through that pikes," An Aoyoma samurai added.
Tsuruko nodded but kept silent. Beside her was Kentaro. They both tried to assess the predicament of their situation. They both hid their concern. Staring at the vast numbers of enemy foot soldiers neatly lined for battle, their stand to defend the village all seemed futile.
They don't stand a chance.
Then suddenly the air was filled with arrows.
"COVER!" One of the Aoyoma samurai shouted as the arrows started raining on them.
Several samurais were killed on the spot and a few more were wounded. The generals were forced to hide behind the trees and hill rocks.
"Long range arrows…" Tsuruko whispered as an arrow whistled passed her.
Kentaro nodded, crouching behind a boulder and said, "We cannot shoot back not until they reach the foot of the hill…"
"If they keep this up we won't be able to defend ourselves properly…"
"We'll have to wait for them to come closer… we'll have to fight up close,"
"That's right… we just need to push them back away from this hill… regroup and try to push them back again,"
Kentaro nodded grimly, "That's all we can do…"
---
The Korean army reached the foot of the hill.
The first line began their slow ascend towards the top, keeping themselves in line, shouting and screaming their foreign language to dishearten the defenders at the top. The long range archers ceased firing.
Then the defenders at the hill emerged and began shooting at the swarm of enemy soldiers at the foot of the hill.
But the enemy were also carrying metal shields and was able to minimize their casualty. Lifting their shields over their heads they managed to deflect arrows that came raining down on them. Then after a few moments the defenders stopped shooting.
The first enemy line was now only a few paces away from the top. Their human size thick metal shields at the front and pikes protruding on the side menacingly moved like a deadly impenetrable high wall ready to crush the defenders and push them back down to the village.
Then the Aoyomas began pouring down on them.
"AIR SPLITTING SWORD!"
Explosions after explosions tore through out the first enemy battalion line. Hundreds and hundreds of men, shields and pike were thrown into the air and into the swarm of enemy foot soldiers.
But this devastating power did not slow the enemy's advance. It merely rippled. And the advance began again. For every Korean thrown into the sky, he was quickly replaced by two more. And it seemed they have limitless numbers as they began throwing pikes at the closest Aoyomas, killing them in close range.
The Aoyomas retreated.
The samurais at the hill unsheathed their swords and prepared themselves to fight. They have already decided that they would fight every step of the way and they won't stop. They would fight to the last man.
The enemy's human wall was only five paces away and closing.
Then suddenly, a collective scream rang into the rising noise of the advancing Korean army.
Tsuruko looked behind her.
And smiled.
"CHARGE!" Seta shouted at the top of his lungs.
Then thousands and thousands of armoured samurais jumped over the hill and into the human wall.
The imperial army has arrived.
---
"Seta…" A cloaked figure appeared behind the shadow of a tree at the top of an opposite hill with a sufficient view of the plains and the Aoyomas defensive line.
There was a sudden glint of metal, a flash of white and then nothing.
"I never thought I'd see you again Seta-kun…" You will suffer the way I suffered… YOU WILL ALL SUFFER!
The figure disappeared behind the shadows.
---
Seta's battle rage flowed through out his body.
He moved with incredible speed as he led his samurais deeper in to the enemy's battalion, killing swiftly and ferociously. He has a long sword on his right hand and a short sword on his left, hacking his way in all direction. Even the enemy's shields were no match as he could slash it in half in a single blow followed by a quick stab of the short sword to kill the enemy in one successive motion.
He moved and killed and soon enough the enemy dared not to block his way.
The samurais fought ferociously as the first enemy line collapsed and the whole Korean army stepped back from the sudden emergence of thousands of samurais from the hill. But more and more enemy soldiers joined the melee of the first battalion as the pikemen withdrew and was replaced by enemy swordsmen.
And so the battle waged through the whole afternoon.
Then an explosion tore at the front as tens of enemy warriors flew in to the sky.
Seta smiled looking at the front, expecting to see Tsuruko.
But what he saw made him smile even wider.
He saw Motoko slashing her way into the melee.
She unleashed one secret technique after another sending any enemy swordsman who challenged her into the air. And behind her was a young man with rags as his clothing, slashed his short sword expertly, killing anybody who dared move behind Motoko. They were an effective pair.
Motoko and Keitaro have joined the battle.
---
"Who's that young man?" Amalla asked as she watched Tsuruko's younger sister join the battle.
Naru walked beside Amalla and replied, "We call him Keitaro…"
"Keitaro… who?"
Naru shrugged her shoulders, although there was a soft look on her face, an evident affection towards the young man, "He doesn't have a last name… although he is slightly related to the emperor… but he would not admit it…"
"Related to the emperor?" Amalla was very confused and intrigued.
Naru shook her head, "I'm sorry... It is not my place to speak of such matter. You would have to talk to him about it,"
Amalla understood and nodded. She turned towards the plains again and whispered, "There is something very familiar about that young man…"
---
Motoko and her group arrived shortly after Seta charged into the closing Korean army.
They instructed Shinobu, Kaolla and Moe to stay at the village while Naru, Mitsune and Mutsumi joined Amalla's camp at the top of the highest hill. Motoko quickly joined the battle and Keitaro followed her.
Tsuruko formally accepted the new arrivals and although she was quite unsure of Mutsumi's purpose they kept her away from the battlefield. They gave her a lot of watermelons to keep her occupied.
Mitsune supported the fighting Konno samurais. Flashing them her famous smile that sent the Konnos onto fits of battle frenzy. They cheered her and then rushed into the battle.
Naru on the other hand kept her eyes on Motoko and Keitaro as they slash their way deeper into the battlefield. She would occasionally gasp in extreme anxiety whenever she would glimpse Keitaro tripping and falling into the ground only to jump up again and slash at any enemy who dared step close to him.
And the battle waged on.
---
Hol Don cursed.
"When will the last fleet arrive?" his anger growing, he unsheathed his sword and cut his wooden table in half.
The aide trembled and replied shakily, "This… this… af… afternoon... my lord…"
Hol Don gritted his teeth and said, "They better get here soon… or else… I'll behead that damn Korean emissary myself!"
---
"Keitaro look out!" Motoko shouted as she slashed her sword at an enemy warrior about to stab Keitaro at the back.
"Thank you Motoko-chan!" Keitaro smiled and swung his short sword upward at a Korean who advanced before him.
Motoko blushed and felt infuriated with Keitaro's weird but somewhat comforting behaviour towards her. She could not understand why Keitaro joined the battle with her although she felt extremely at ease knowing that he was fighting beside her. She felt safe when he was around. And even if there were thousand more enemy soldiers swarming around them she would never be afraid because… because her Keitaro was here.
My Keitaro? Motoko shook her head, this is not the appropriate time to think about these trivial things! She scolded herself for being such a little girl and savagely deflected an enemy sword.
Then something changed.
She felt evil.
A menacing presence blew around her.
Motoko looked up and found a cloaked figure standing just a few paces away from her.
There was something very unusual about the figure. It seemed the figure was untouched by the carnage of the surrounding. The fighting men seemed to ignore the figure's presence. As if the figure does not exist at all, as if the figure was not standing in the middle of the battlefield.
Then the figure raised its hands and slowly unveiled itself.
Motoko found herself staring at a woman.
A woman with incredibly cold eyes.
Her short hair was of brown hue, her skin was pale.
And there was something very familiar about her face.
"Motoko, what's wrong?" Keitaro stood next to Motoko as he scanned the surrounding for any advancing enemy soldiers.
"Keitaro… look at that," Motoko pointed.
Keitaro turned his head at the direction and stared at the figure.
Then he froze.
The woman smiled.
And she said, "How are you my dear nephew?"
---
"SHE'S HERE!" Amalla shouted an alarm and ran towards Tsuruko who was busy lining the shogunate samurais behind the hill's boulder to counter attack any enemy soldiers who might decide to swarm the hill.
Tsuruko turned to find a very distressed Amalla, "What's wrong?"
"Haruka…" Amalla replied breathlessly, "Haruka… she's here!"
Tsuruko's eyes widened. She quickly ran at the top of the hill and scanned the battlefield.
And she saw her.
She saw Haruka standing in the middle of the raging battle.
"We don't have much time…" Tsuruko unsheathed her sword and charged, followed closely by Amalla.
---
Seta wiped his eyes.
He thought he was seeing ghosts or apparitions because for some odd reason he thought he saw someone.
Someone he thought he would never see again.
And yet, that someone was standing in the middle of the battlefield.
"Haruka?"
---
"It's time Keitaro…" the woman said.
Her voice was small but amazingly clear despite the noise of the battle around them.
Keitaro shook violently.
He dropped to the ground.
He threw his short sword aside and grabbed his head.
There were voices.
He felt so cold.
Motoko knelt next to him. She was absolutely terrified of what was happening. She saw this happen before and she doesn't know what to do, "Keitaro… are you alright?"
Keitaro shook his head violently and pushed Motoko savagely away, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
---
"What's going on out there?" Hol Don asked.
A disturbing aura suddenly grew in the middle of the battlefield. Dark clouds were forming above a particular place. And for some reason soldiers – Korean and Japanese warriors alike were avoiding the same area, as if they don't want to be in that place.
Hol Don could feel tremendous fear in the air.
Something terrible was about to be unleashed amidst the blood bath of the battle.
"Give me my horse," Hol Don ordered to a nearby aide.
But the aide was staring at the plains with absolute terror in his eyes. He shook his head and spoke with desperation, "My lord… I don't think it is a good idea to go there… we must leave!"
Hol Don stared at his aide with curiosity, what could have scared this peasant of mine this much? What is out there? "I will not ask you again. I command you to get me my horse!"
The aide shook, bowed and left.
Hol Don stared at the plains again. His hands began to tremble, "Evil. There is so much evil. What is going on?"
---
"KEITARO NO!" Naru shouted her concern.
"What's going on Naru?" Mitsune asked. She felt heaviness in her chest. She found her hand uncontrollably trembling with fear. And she was afraid. But afraid of what? Mitsune does not know.
"We have to get down there Mitsune! We have to get down there NOW!" Naru pleaded to her friend. Her eyes were on the verge of tears.
Mitsune scanned the battlefield and indeed she saw a wide space in the middle of the plains. This in itself was very odd. Because now, she could see that the warring soldiers has stopped fighting. They were now looking at something… at someone in the middle of that empty space.
Mitsune made a decision, "We better carry swords then… I have a very bad feeling about this… something is not right…"
"Don't go..."
"Huh?" Naru turned to see Mutsumi staring at the plains with a very dark and somewhat serious expression etched on her face.
"Don't go down there..." Mutsumi repeated. Her hands clutched tightly together pressed on her chest as if she was praying.
Mitsune glanced from Naru to Mutsumi. Then she said, "We have to know what's going on down there Mutsumi..."
Then suddenly the wind picked up speed.
"It's not safe to go down there. Something terrible is about to happen..." Mutsumi stepped before Naru.
But Naru would not give in. She would not leave Keitaro.
"I know… and I'm afraid… I'm afraid that…" Naru glanced at the plains, "I'm afraid that something terrible is happening to Keitaro,"
---
"Keitaro Urashima… I present you…" the woman parted her cloak and raised a black glowing sword, "the Urashima Blade!"
Lightning suddenly snaked into the darkening skies. Thunder rolled above the suddenly quiet plains.
The eerily glowing black sword held by the woman's rotting right hand began to glow even brighter as if it sensed its rightful owner, as if it longed to return to its master's hands. A moaning sound echoed through out the surrounding. A sad lonely sound.
Suddenly, a short sword appeared just below the woman's head, aimed directly at her throat. But the woman was able to block it with her left hand. The woman turned to her would-be killer and coldly said, "Do not interfere, Kanako,"
Kanako turned to Motoko and shouted, "GET HIM AWAY FROM HERE MOTOKO! GET ONI-CHAN AWAY FROM HER!"
The woman smirked and threw Kanako away.
Motoko was watching all this with a horrified look in her face. She was staring at the woman and then at the kneeling, violently trembling Keitaro. And she could not move her body. She was shocked with the way Keitaro pushed her. It was as if… as if he doesn't want her to be there. And that tore her both heart and soul. Keitaro doesn't want her to be anywhere near him.
It broke her heart.
Then slowly, the woman released the sword.
It hovered in the air.
Keitaro looked up.
And the sword shot directly into Keitaro's chest.
Motoko eyes widened. And then she screamed, "KEITARO NO!"
Keitaro's surrounding exploded and clouds of black dust covered his whole body. The cloud rose high into the sky as lightning flashed around it. Samurais and Korean warriors ran away from the battlefield as wind picked up speed and began blowing everything in all direction. It was like a powerful typhoon, like a killer storm.
Then a terrible low voice boomed into the plains and it was heard all over Japan.
"SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"
Hei there everyone! I am absolutely sorry for the delay of this chapter. Because I only update every Friday to Monday, fanfiction was closed due to repairs last week and unable to view the page. I have been busy. And to make up with my readers who waited for this chapter I would upload another chapter in three to four days time. Well… it would depend whether fanfiction is operational or not. I loathe to upload whenever fanfiction is updating their website because of somewhat accidents – accidents that some fictions get erased from their list for no apparent reason at all. Although I'm very happy that fanfiction is updating their website, so please don't get me wrong (I don't want this fiction to be erased! So please do not be offended with what I said, it's just a minor observation… that's all) because the uploads are becoming much faster and there are very nice features added on the site which are very useful for all fanfiction writers (wink, wink). Fanfiction is doing a very good job.
Thanks again to all those kind enough to leave a note on what they think of the story. And now I am begging you to let me know what you think. I also ask you my dear readers to please stay with me a little while longer as this story is about to close. There are only a couple of chapters left.
I would reveal everything in the end. And I hope you will all be satisfied with it.
Catch u all later! Cheers!
nivremous