Years ago in the introduction of this chapter I said: no matter how long I will take, at some point I will probably try to continue my work. I was right after all. Honestly, I expected to just leave this story for what it is, but I have found new motivation and rewriting the chapters seemed to be fine, even after twelve years. I hope that I can keep continuing to write for the coming period.

Note: I found an interesting fact. I already read about it years ago, but I had totally forgotten about it. In actual history, one of Masamune's concubines was called 'Neko Gozen'. I think she also conceived Masamune's eldest son.

In one of the mobile games of KOEI called, Hyakuman-nin no sengoku musou, she is featured. I think she acts as Masamune's supposed duplicate. Anyhow, Neko gozen actually has some cat-like traits, or at least she was portrayed as such by KOEI. I found this funny, because my OC Shiorin also has cat-like traits (not to mention the japanese word for cat is neko) and I created her when I was a teenager. In any case, I think this makes Rin kind of fit into the picture somewhat. Of course, my story is still only fanfiction, so nothing within it is canon, but, I think Rin could unironically be my personal portrayal of Neko Gozen. Of course, if you look her up on wikipedia or search in other records, you can find that Masamune's concubines all had families and were a part of different clans, so I doubt any of them would be a peasant that Masamune would've picked off the streets. Nonetheless, I thought this whole thing was a funny coincidence and I wanted to share it.

That is all for the introduction. Remember, everything I mentioned in previous intro's goes for every chapter: if you have any pointers or advice, critique, whatever it may be, feel free to tell me in whatever way you prefer. If you just want to ask any questions about me or my story please go ahead.

Chapter 6

It was a quiet day in Oshu. The night ended and a new morning broke through. The sunrays entered the castle, illuminating its rooms in all its glory. Mego was convinced that she had a wonderful home.

Lady Mego was the proud wife of Masamune Date and she was truly happy to have become an important part of the Date clan.

She stood outside within the castle's garden and she admired its beauty. The flowers and different kinds of plants the gardeners grew by her request had bloomed completely, which marked the close end of spring.

A soft sigh escaped Lady Mego's lips and she plucked a flower from the garden, grasping its stem carefully in between both her hands. She thought of her husband, who was still out there on his journey to make the land prosperous. She missed him, especially once she received a message that his return would be delayed because he was determined to recruit another member to the Date army. Mego's messenger had arrived mere moments before to tell her the unfortunate news.

The woman was curious at first about who this strong samurai could possibly be. If her husband was that hard headed to convince someone, this said warrior must have possessed remarkable prowess. However, the opposite was true. Apparently, this new warrior appeared to be a woman who was slightly older than Mego herself. This made the dragon's wife a little uncomfortable. Of course she trusted her husband, but she couldn't help but find it hard to shake off any uneasiness. Why would her husband be in need of a woman to fight for him? Let alone a peasant from a fisherman's village. Perhaps this woman was indeed a formidable fighter, but there were many warriors out there that were worthy of their attention. Why did it have to be her?

Mego looked up and a few cherry blossom petals floated down onto her soft features.

'Come home soon…Masamune.'

"I demand you, join me."

Shiorin had no choice. There were no other options for her.

Masamune would never leave without her and his ice cold words still made her shiver. She only had little time left to think about his offer– not that she had any choice to begin with.

Officially, the one eyed dragon gave her time to think until morning and since the sun was slowly coming through, it was about time she gave him her answer.

Meanwhile, the dragon in question had already demanded his soldiers to pack their belongings and break off the camp to prepare their departure.

Magoichi watched the young lord impatiently pace back and forth past the gates. He smiled and lightly shook his head. His lord sure was determined.

"You think she will eventually agree?" He asked Masamune about Shiorin's eventual decision.

That earned him a scowl and an annoyed grunt. "What do you mean, do I think? She has no choice, Magoichi."

The said man just laughed and smiled. "You're really planning on not leaving without her, are you?"

"Did I stutter?" Masamune shook his head.

Magoichi once again smiled at his lord's witty response. "No, but I mean, is she really worth all that trouble? There are more warriors out there besides this little woman, you know."

The one eyed dragon scoffed and shook his head once again. "None out there possess the ability she possesses. Just wait until you witness it for yourself and you'll know what I mean."

The gunslinger just rubbed his chin between his thumb and index finger as he continued to think.

"And don't think I'm interested in anything else but her abilities, Magoichi. I'm nothing like you." Masamune scowled harder as irritation was evident in his tone.

Said man gasped. "Wow, we only met shortly, my lord. Yet you already seem to know me very well." Magoichi laughed because apparently, the rumor that he was a womanizer was well known, more so than he expected. Was it really a rumor though, or was it a fact?

"You do realize this is not a positive thing, right?" The dragon cocked an eyebrow.

Magoichi laughed once again before making a gesture at Masamune, then nodded his head towards the young woman who walked her way towards them humbly.

She could feel the men's stares making her burn up, her cheeks flushed and her legs suddenly becoming heavier with each step she took. Once she stood in front of them, she did not look them in the eye but kept staring at the ground. Honestly, she would like to say she had made up her mind, but she was just utterly defeated.

"I'll oblige my assistance to you…" Shiorin spoke softly and as politely as possible, almost as if she was afraid to get into any trouble. However, she just did not want last night to repeat. The warlord's words still hurt her a lot and at the same time, she was still afraid, but what else could she do?

Masamune looked at the woman in front of him. He blinked a few times, then moments after he smirked triumphantly. He knew she would eventually realize that declining his offer was not an option. After all, this would only benefit her in the future. The fisherman's village would now be spared and as he had promised, he would still help protect and rebuild this place. The one eyed dragon never goes back on his word.

"A wise decision, Rin. Your village will be under my soldiers' protection from now on."

Said woman looked up at him but her expression didn't change. Was he speaking the truth? Shiorin did believe that he had no reason to lie to her, but she just couldn't believe that a small village such as this would receive privileges such as a warlord's protection. If people without any political importance did not care for them, why would he?

A hand on her shoulder made her interrupt her thoughts. "Do you think I would lie to you Rin? If I was not telling the truth, do you think I would have bothered to save your village the first time?"

That made her gasp in realization. This was very true. When the pirates had come to raid the village, she didn't fight alone. He fought by her side. In fact, he was already fighting them before she even got there.

However, this raised another question: Why did Masamune come to her village in the first place? Why did he save it? It was such a small and practically non existent place to outsiders.

"Greatness comes from small beginnings, am I right?" And yet again, Masamune spoke up as if he could read her mind.

Shiorin's eyes widened. What exactly was his intention? Did he truly believe that saving her village would actually help in his conquest somehow?

Whatever the case, even if he had good intentions, that would not make her new situation any less dangerous. From now on, she would be fighting battles that could mean either life or death. There was no return, no way out. She would leave her home and possibly, this would be the last time she'd ever be here.

In all honesty, Shiorin wanted to hate this man for blindly forcing her to fight for his beliefs just because he thought he was right. She wanted to hate him for forcing her to leave her home. She wanted to hate him for ruining her life and quite possibly, making it end very soon.

However, she couldn't hate him, because in the end, it would forever remain a fact that he protected the place where she had lived all of her life.

The woman sighed deeply. If she had the guts to do so, she would probably have ended her own life immediately, just to escape all of this. Unfortunately, she was too much of a coward to even attempt it.

She embraced her fate.

Magoichi chuckled at the scene. So, after all the trouble, she eventually did agree. He would almost commend her for not trying to run away. Maybe this girl was more brave than she or Masamune realized. After all, agreeing to put your life on the line despite not wanting to do so, also takes courage.

The one eyed dragon smiled and nodded at his new ally. "You're actually very lucky, do you know that? Not only do I favor you and your village, once I have conquered this land you will be part of this endeavor, you do realize that do you? Your name will not be erased from the pages of history, even after your death."

Horrified blue eyes stared at him. See? He didn't care at all if she would die. He probably would let her rot on the battlefield.

Masamune blinked. "You know, it's futile to be scared." He said in response to her fearful expression. "You know why?"

The young woman watched the man climb upon his horse's saddle, her eyes shimmering as they formed hot tears.

"No one can save you. Only you can save yourself. After all, you've done so for many years already, haven't you?"

She looked up at him, confused by his words. He had a point, but still, she did not think you could compare a trained warrior with a bandit. Did he just try to stop her from being scared to fight, or did he mean to say he truly believed in her abilities? Whatever the case, she was not sure how to feel.

"Your life lies within your own hands, Rin." The one eyed dragon tugged his horse's bridles and made it turn around as he dashed off towards his next destination.

Shiorin just stood there dumbfounded. "My life…" What life? Her life was over.

His words made her heart beat numbly against her chest and she could feel her mind going completely blank. Magoichi, who was standing behind her, just sighed and put a hand on her shoulder to make her immediately snap out of it. He could see that she was afraid and it was absolutely destroying her on the inside, which he totally understood for a young woman like her. The gunslinger figured that he too should aid her in some way, considering that he would most likely be fighting alongside her in the future.

"Masamune's right ,you know. Only you can keep yourself alive. If you want to keep on living on, you need to keep fighting. Just remember that it is normal to be afraid. Hell, even I still get uneasy every now and then. My stomach gets upset whenever I think about war and the destruction left in its wake."

The woman's shoulders slightly eased under his grip. Blue eyes stared up at him.

Magoichi sent her a genuine smile. "But that's why I keep on fighting. Only we, who still fight, can put an end to this war."

His words earned him a small nod, but other than that, the girl didn't even budge which made the gunslinger sigh. He helped her climb his horse, then got on it himself.

"Make sure you hold on tight." Magoichi gave her a final warning, before he took off and the two started following Masamune towards the place he was headed.

Shiorin turned her head over her shoulder, glimpsing a final time at her home, for she would never be able to see it ever again.