Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Samurai Warriors or the Characters.
Lightning of the Heart Rekindles the Fire of Love
Chapter 3: Siege of Odawara Castle pt. 2: The Siege Begins
The planning had been complete and all of the warriors and retainers had split up to attack the eastern and western fronts of Odawara Castle. Among the officers attacking the eastern front were, Ieyasu Togugawa, Ina, Tadakatsu Honda, Masamune Date, Yoshihiro Shimazu, and Ginchiyo Tachibana. Among those attacking the west were Keiji Maeda, Sakon Shima, Kanetsugu Naoe, Mitsunari Ishida, and Yukimura Sanada. Both Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Nene, had taken a strategic position where they could keep track on both attacks. Hideyoshi ordered the battle to start and the eastern front worked to break through into the gates and stop the cannon fire that was attempting to hold off the advance. Meanwhile on the western front, Mitsunari had figured out a way that they might be able to break into the castle by creating a castle at Mt. Ishigaki. Hideyoshi had ordered that a siege ramp make its way to a strategic area to set it up. Ginchiyo had decided to personally lead her troops to attack the ambush that was sprung to stop the siege ramp from being set up.
"The Hojo think that they can stop us by destroying our siege ramp…I think it's time they saw the power of the Tachibana! Forward! Scatter this pitiful ambush and show the Hojo the power of the Tachibana!" yelled Ginchiyo as she rushed forward her blade ready to strike.
As the Hojo ambush were caught off guard as they were trying to dismantle the Siege ramp with their weapons. Ginchiyo leaped forth and began to cut down many soldiers at a time. After a few cuts she charged her energy through her sword and spun around swinging her sword releasing a circular burst of energy, shocking all enemies that it touched. It did not take long for the ambush party to be routed, as the Siege Ramp was set up, two warriors came by on horse stopping near her one being Tadakatsu Honda the other being Ina.
"Well done, Lady Tachibana." Said Tadakatsu.
"Thank you; you must be the famous Tadakatsu Honda. You remind me a lot of my father."
"I have heard of your father's accomplishments and I am not worthy of such comparison."
"Your humility reminds me of him as well." Said Ginchiyo. 'But Sana…no, Yukimura's eyes his demeanor, they too remind me of my father…but made me feel something that I haven't felt in a long time…truly happy. Yukimura, please survive this, I want to see you again, to get to know you better.'
It was then that Ginchiyo took a look at Tadakatsu's Daughter, Ina.
"So you are the daughter of the famous Tadakatsu Honda. If your going to fight you should make sure not to disappoint your father." Said Ginchiyo.
"You're…your right, Lady Tachibana! Let's go and show the Hojo what we're made of."
It was after this thought that Ginchiyo, Tadakatsu, and Ina charged into Odawara's cannon hold via the Siege Ramp. Meanwhile, Yukimura, Mitsunari, and Kanetsugu were making their way to the summit of Mt. Ishigaki. A small hold was awaiting them, and the hold was quickly taking down by the combined might of the three friends and their soldiers.
"We've secured the location, let us begin building the castle." Said Mitsunari.
"Alright, now that we've captured Mt. Ishigaki, we're going to need to make our way north and south to make sure that this plan isn't discovered." Said Yukimura.
"That's not all, we'll also have to make our way to the southwest garrison, Kanbei Kuroda and his troops are bringing engineers to help build the castle. I just got word that Lord Hideyoshi has just ordered them to be brought. However the Hojo are guarding the area, we'll need to take down that garrison in order to allow them the room they'll need to arrive." Said Mitsunari.
"I'll send word to Keiji and Sakon to attack the fortress in the north full force, which should keep those troops busy; meanwhile, Yukimura, you and I should head south and take the forces from the south Garrisons. I'll handle those unjust soldiers that await us in the south garrison; meanwhile, you should head southwest and pave the way for Kanbei and his men to arrive." Said Kanetsugu.
"Alright, but once I clear out the garrison, I'll double back to help you break through the south garrison. Let's go!" yelled Yukimura to all of his troops, as he mounted his horse and charged with Kanetsugu to the south.
'Lady Tachibana…no, Ginchiyo, please be safe out there, I know you hold a grudge deep inside, please don't let it destroy you. I held a similar grudge a long time ago….but I never thought the source of your anger…would be similar to my source of pain….'
…..Flashback….
It was just before the units were to march off to their assigned locations to start this battle; Nene had looked around the camp looking for one Yukimura Sanada. It didn't take long to find him, that red armor and cross spear were hard to miss. Unknown to Yukimura, Nene and Keiji had planned to talk to both Ginchiyo and Yukimura about each other's past from what they knew. Nene had found Yukimura in his tent making last preparations taking care in prepping his weapon.
"Hi, there Yukimura!" called out Nene.
"Lady Nene, what brings you here? Does Lord Hideyoshi need something of me?" asked Yukimura.
"No not at all, in fact I came here to talk to you about the person you spent time with last night, Ginchiyo." Said Nene.
"We went out and did some training and talked." Said Yukimura. "But she did seem to have something on her mind…and she seemed to fly into a rage as we spared."
"I can illuminate why that might have happened. You have noticed how Ginchiyo never gets along with Yoshihiro or any of the Shimazu for that matter?"
"I have but even I have heard of the rivalry between the Shimazu and the Tachibana."
"Yep but something happened when we made our way to Kyushu and helped settle that fight." Said Nene.
"What happened?" asked Yukimura.
"During our battle, Ginchiyo and her late husband Muneshige charged Tsunuga Castle. Muneshige ended up falling into an ambush, and was struck a fatal blow by Yoshihiro's Hammer. He died in Ginchiyo's arms, she flew into a blind rage and while she did help us win, she almost got herself killed many times. Ever since she's never smiled…and has been nothing but all business. The pain of that death still weighs on her I think."
"So that's why? She must have seen me as Yoshihiro for a time until I took her down." Said Yukimura having that realization come down on him. "Though, I do know what that pain of losing someone dear to you is like."
"You do? What happened?" asked Nene.
Yukimura then went into his painful memory of Nagashino. She had remembered what her darling had told her of Nagashino, herself not being there. Nene then gasped in shock when Yukimura told her how Kunoichi had been killed and how Keiji had guided him to survive Nagashino.
"My darling told me about Nagashino. I'm sorry that happened to you, Yukimura and I apologize for bringing this up."
"It's alright Lady Nene. I do miss her, but I have continued on…somehow. I think now I have something to keep going for. Kanetsugu, Mitsunari, my friends are counting on me…and I'm counting on myself to make it through this, so I can perhaps get to know Ginchiyo better."
"That would be nice; I think you two would make a nice couple!"
"Lady Nene!" Called out Yukimura feeling a bit embarrassed at Nene's sudden jump from implied friends to implied lovers.
"Well, good luck out there and don't go getting yourself scraped up out there." Said Nene as she vanished.
...end of flashback…
'Ginchiyo and I as more than just friends? We just got to know each other, is that even possible? Who knows? Maybe Lady Nene may know something I don't.' Thought Yukimura as he engaged the opponents guarding the gates of the Southeastern Garrison.
Leaping off his horse, Yukimura stabbed through one of the enemies guarding the gate with the end of his cross spear. He slashed through three others as he worked his way through the gate troop. Their shields proved a problem at first but then Yukimura charged his energy and dashed forward fire surrounding his spear as he blazed by the gate captain and four of his troop setting them aflame as his energy sent all five of them flying, the impact of their falls and the fire that burnt them now killing them. Yukimura then held his spear as he ordered his men to open the gate. As this happened, he received word that Kanbei and the engineers had gotten into the fortress but were attacked by the Hojo troops waiting inside. Yukimura helped his soldiers open the gate then dashed forward spinning his spear into battle ready as he leaped up and slashed through the commanding officer guarding this garrison as he rode at him, knocking him from his horse. As he stood up he grabbed his sword and charged Yukimura. Blocking his slash Yukimura pushed him back and then slashed him three times before turning into a string of stabbing strikes going from his legs to his head before performing a leaping slash that not only killed the officer, but seven other soldiers that were charging at Yukimura.
"No enemy shall ever surpass me!" Called out Yukimura as he turned to Kanbei.
"Thank you, you've extended an old man's life just a little longer." Said Kanbei as he looked towards Yukimura. "Don't worry about us now, Sanada-san, you should help your friend Kanetsugu keep the Hojo from making their way to Mt. Ishigaki."
"Consider it done, Kanbei, be careful out there." Said Yukimura as he let out a loud whistle and called for his horse. He leaped onto his horse and charged the field heading west to assist Kanetsugu.
Meanwhile north of them Keiji and Sakon had started to cut down many of the soldiers that were charging the camp. Keiji slashed through a large group as he leapt from Matsukaze.
"Heh, come on now this is too easy. Someone wanna give ol Keiji a challenge?" called out Keiji as he smirked holding his double headed pike behind his back on his shoulder.
"I'll put you away, Keiji." Called out a commanding officer as he held his spear ready to charge Keiji.
"Alright if you think you've got what it takes, come on then, let's draw a crowd!" Yelled Keiji as he prepared himself against the attack. The soldier hurried to attack Keiji but quickly had his attack countered as Keiji knocked his spear away and then cut him down with a powerful swing from his Double Headed pike. "There goes another one, so much for drawing a crowd."
"You're just showing off, Keiji."
"You got that right, Sakon." Said Keiji… 'I maybe showing off but I wonder how Ginchiyo and Yukimura are doing. I couldn't believe what I had heard from Lady Nene about Ginchiyo, but I guess we all end up having to face losses.'
….Flashback….
Keiji had found his way to Ginchiyo's part of the camp as he went to check on her and talk to her like Nene was going to do with Yukimura.
'Geez, I hope Lady Nene knows what she's talking about. This is going to be interesting, to say the least, maybe Ginchiyo here is what Yukimura needs to get his edge back to normal.' Thought Keiji as he went looking for Ginchiyo's tent. As he came towards it, he saw Ginchiyo out side of it practicing before they all got the order to move out.
"Hey there, nice moves." Called out Keiji as he approached her.
"Thank you, Keiji Maeda, isn't it?"
"The one and only, so I heard you and Yukes spent some time together the last night."
Ginchiyo blushed a moment after he said that but not too brightly.
"If by that you mean some practice time then yes I did, and I should say he was quite skillful with his weapon." Said Ginchiyo in her normally serious tone.
"He certainly is…but he's not fighting with all the heart he used to." Said Keiji.
"He isn't? Why not?" asked Ginchiyo.
"Well, it's been awhile but he's never been the same since. Back when the Oda were still around, he faced off with them at Nagashino. Back then he was one of the vanguards of the Takeda clan. When he charged with the Takeda Calvery against the Oda riflemen, he ended up being knocked from his horse when the string of fire came. Many of his comrades died that day, but that's not what hurt the most. It happened when someone he cared about the most was killed right in front of him. See Yukimura was trying to get away before the next round of shots were fired, but then thinking he was dead a woman known as Kunoichi charged out to kill Nobunaga. She and Yukimura were lovers at the time from what I understood, and then he ended up having to watch as a shot was fired off and she was killed."
Ginchiyo's eyes went wide as she listened to the tale.
'Yukimura…his eyes… that would explain why the emptiness was there. What was missing was his heart for love. I never knew there could be anyone else who felt the same pain I had…but instead of falling into hatred and rage as I did back in Kyushu…he fell into despair.'
"I didn't know..." she said.
"He doesn't talk about it much. He's moved on, but he's not the same anymore. He could use someone to help him get back on his feet."
"I see, well hey, I better get going, I better not be late for the start or I'm gonna miss out." Said Keiji as he left.
Ginchiyo looked up to the skies as she thought about what Keiji had said.
…end of flashback…
'Maybe, those two can fill in the gap their losses have made. I hope so, they could sure use it." Thought Keiji as he charged forward.
It was then that everyone on the western front had received messengers that not only had Kanbei and the others made it to Mt. Ishigaki but they and the soliders under Mitsunari had finished constructing a castle at the summit of the mountain. At the summit, Mitsunari called out.
"It's completed, clear away the wood, let us show our work to the Hojo."
It was then that the trees that were infront of the Mt. Ishigaki castle fell and a pathway was created revealing the newly created castle..
Inside from the top floor look out the Hojo leaders Ujimasa and Ujinao Hojo could only stare in awe at the new structure that had appeared.
"When…when did that castle get there?!" said Ujimasa.
"This be the power…of the…ruler…of…the Land." Said Ujinao as they both looked out in complete shock of what they now saw before them. It was then that Mitsunari's large force had begun to charge out from Mt. Ishigaki. Hideyoshi could only jump around in excitement hearing that the castle plan had been a success.
"Everyone on the western side charge Odawara castle Now Now!!" called out Hideyoshi.
"Lord Hideyoshi" called out a man as he approached them.
"Ah Kanbei, what is it?"
"I had a siege ramp made from the left over lumber what shall we do with it. Keiji and Sakon are charging from the north while Yukimura and Kanetsugu were charging from the south." Said Kanbei.
"Go tell them to send it south, Yukimura and Kanetsugu should be able to handle its defense." Said Hideyoshi.
Meanwhile, on the eastern front, all of the forces had now penetrated into Odawara castle's east side. Ginchiyo had avoided the Shimazu as to not start a fight with him yet. Ieyasu, Ina and Tadakatsu were having trouble navigating the bomb corridor in front of Odawara castle. The Date armies were making their way through the north trying to break through the many soldiers that had awaited them. Ginchiyo had fought her way through two ambushes of ninja's and had broken ahead of her army.
"The storage house that Lord Hideyoshi was talking about should be here somewhere." Said Ginchiyo as she ran through the castle keeping an eye out for enemies as she did. 'I've been ambushed twice since I reached this part of the castle surely something important must be here if they took the time to set up elaborate ambushes. '
It was then that she had heard something wooden crash into something wooden nearby. When this happened she was then again surrounded by Ninjas.
"Urgh, more ninja's where do they keep coming from." Said Ginchiyo as she began to fight them all off. As she fought she used her shockwave to send them away and cut down a few more of them. But as she fought one of the ninja's snuck behind Ginchiyo and leaped at her from the roofing. It was then that a familiar samurai in red broke through a set of planks that broke through.
"Ginchiyo behind you!" yelled the samurai as he threw his weapon.
Ginchiyo turned around only to see an enemy ninja leaping at her sword ready to end her life, until a familiar weapon pierced through him and sent him into the wall pinning him to it. Ginchiyo turned again towards the source of the weapon and saw Yukimura standing there his friend Kanetsugu running past him using his talismans to finish the last of the ninjas.
"Yukimura! I see that you've made your way into the castle." She said as she took his cross spear from the body letting it fall to the ground. "Here, I believe you lost this."
She tossed the spear to Yukimura with her free hand. He caught it and walked over to her.
"Thanks, Ginchiyo. Good to see that you're all right."
"Same to you, Yukimura."
"HELP!!" they both heard as they turned towards the small courtyard behind them.
"Ginchiyo, Yukimura that sounded like Norihide. Lord Hideyoshi told us to look for him, once we penetrated the castle." Said Kanetsugu.
"Kanetsugu, can I count on you to continue the battle and get us into the castle."
"I will do my best, Yukimura. You and Ginchiyo should hurry, from that cry he must be in dire straights. Everyone let's move out!" called out Kanetsugu as he led his troops towards the entrance of the castle's main keep.
As Kanetsugu left, Ginchiyo and Yukimura hurried along leaping from the top of the stairs into the small courtyard below. It was then that they had come across a small band of soldiers that were trying desperately to hold off the encroaching enemy.
"Let's go Yukimura, let's show them our power!" called out Ginchiyo as she brought her sword to the ready and charged forward to attack.
"Soldiers of the Hojo! Witness the might of the Sanada!!" called out Yukimura as he charged forth his spear at the ready. Their soldiers followed behind them but Yukimura and Ginchiyo charged ahead and struck first.
Yukimura's initial strike was a spinning strike that took out troops and scattered others. Ginchiyo's attack was a matter of grace as she slashed forward before flipping backwards cutting through five soldiers herself while sending others flying backwards. Once they got out of their attacks, Ginchiyo and Yukimura charged forth and cut through many of the soldiers, blocking many of their attacks before cutting through others. It was then that Yukimura and Ginchiyo began to fight the commander of the troops. Ginchiyo attacked first her serrated blade clashing against the sword of her opponent as Yukimura dispatched the remaining enemies. Just as Yukimura cut down the last of the enemy soldiers, Ginchiyo used her sword to disarm her opponent before running him through his stomach, a blast of lightning energy bursting out from behind him sending him away crashing into the wall closest to them.
"Thank you both, you saved me!" said Norhide as he came up to the two warriors.
"You did well, Ginchiyo." Said Yukimura.
"Of course were you expecting any less of me Yukimura?" asked Ginchiyo as looked him.
"Not really, but come on we should catch up to the rest of the troops. Wait; look at all the supplies here." Said Yukimura as Ginchiyo had ordered her soldiers to move out. Ginchiyo looked back at Yukimura before looking around noticing all the supplies that were around.
"This must be the hidden supply house that our spies had told us about." Said Ginchiyo.
"We were trying to secure this spot for our allies to come and take these supplies, but we were caught and attacked." Said Norhide.
"Secure these supplies; we'll leave some of our troops here to help. Ginchiyo come on let us go and catch up with the others."
"Alright, Yukimura…Look out!" called out Ginchiyo as she channeled her energy and fired bolt of lightning down from the sky and struck a ninja that was coming to kill Yukimura. The fried body slammed into the ground in front of Yukimura. "Now were even, Yukimura."
"Thank you, Ginchiyo." Said Yukimura as he started to run with Ginchiyo making their way towards the castle.
When they made their way to the courtyard near the main keep, they saw Kanetsugu, Ieyasu, Ina, Tadakatsu, and Yoshihiro's troops breaking through the last of the guard and opening the gates to the castle.
'Soon we will defeat the Hojo and Japan will finally be at peace. But will Ginchiyo's inner rage be at peace at last? Killing Yoshihiro wont solve anything for her, perhaps…we can help each other with the losses in our hearts, just as we helped each other now to save Norihide. Honor and Friendship are the things that I am fighting for now. But…is it possible that Love can be something that I need to fight for as well?' Thought Yukimura as the fire in his heart began to spark again giving him the start of a feeling that he hasn't felt in a long time.
'The end will come soon, the Hojo will fall here and the glory of the Tachibana will soar through this battle field…and perhaps with this peace…Yukimura's heart will be at peace at last. But his loss, may need something more. When I'm around him, I begin to feel the rage for Yoshihiro fade…like my darling Muneshige and my father were still alive. Yukimura reminds me of them so much…I feel like I can smile again near him. Yukimura…is it possible I'm starting to feel for him…as I did Muneshige?' thought Ginchiyo as she felt the storm of her heart begin to subside as she looked at Yukimura as they charged forward to infiltrate the castle.
Unbeknownst to all of the forces, one man watched them go inside with an evil smirk on his face.
"Come inside, I'd like to play a game with you all…It's called Eviceration…let the games begin." He said as he then noticed Ginchiyo and Yukimura heading inside. "Hmm, these two broke through most of my ambushes and traps thus far. And they've both had loved one's crushed in battle. Perhaps I should relieve them of their suffering and send them to meet them. Well, no matter what I do…at least I won't be bored. Now then, let the chaos commence!" said this man as he vanished from his standing spot. 'Valiant warriors you may have made it this far, but now you face Kotaro Fuma…hahahaha.'
…………………………………
Well this is the end of chapter 3. I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll be updating as soon as I can. I just got out of school for the summer and I'm feeling good. Until next time, see you later.
Next Chapter: Siege of Odawara Castle pt.3: The Winds of Chaos Threaten the Rekindled Flame