Thank you to HydroMaster9910 for their review.
--
Chapter 2: The Snakes embrace
Masamune groaned as he slowly shifted from his dreams. His head hurt like crazy which puzzled the dragon somewhat. Outside the rain was beating down heavily on the dirt ground. As Masamune swung his legs over the side of his bed, a small knock was heard. "What'd ya want?" Masamune called gruffly. The door opened a fraction. Tiger poked her head round the door, watching her lord ruffle up his hair again. She bowed formally.
"My lord. Lady Da Ji wishes me to inform you that Lord Orochi will be holding a meeting this morning, in the throne room. He would like everyone there." The bodyguard informed. Masamune was silent for a moment, letting the information sink in. Tiger bit the side of her lip. "My Lord?"
"I heard ya. Just wait outside. I'll be along in a moment." Masamune snapped. Tiger bowed again, disappeared and closed the door with a soft click. Masamune frowned again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. The dragon mused as he detangled himself from his bed-sheets. He glanced over to the door, watching the space where Tiger's face had been moments ago. Anyone would think she would be fed up of my attitude. Masamune thought before shaking his head.
As the Dragon began to change, he knew he had to be in the right frame of mind for the meeting. No doubt Da Ji would be there to insult him. Masamune growled as he pictured the fox mocking him in front of the other generals. Not only would the fox jeer at him, Sima Yi would also be there, the cocky smirk forever painted on his face.
--
Sima Yi slowly began to fan himself, his mind wondering through different ideas and schemes. He had been awake for several hours reveling in the knowledge of Da Ji's latest defeat. The former Wei strategist smirked coolly to himself as he continued on his way towards the throne room. So far he had passed the mighty Lu Bu and the rather brash Maeda Keiji but had seen no sign of Date Masamune. Probably hiding away, too ashamed to show his face. Sima Yi chuckled when he heard footsteps behind him.
Sima Yi turned to glanced over his shoulder. The smirk grew as he placed his fan over his mouth. Masamune stalked down the corridor, his ever faithful bodyguard trailing behind. The strategist could tell that Masamune was not in the best of moods and this seemed to make his smirk grow even more. "Had a good night sleep Masamune?" Sima Yi called. Tiger looked between her lord and the strategist, almost begging Sima Yi not to annoy Masasmune. Foolish child. Sima Yi hissed in his head.
"What's it to you?" Masamune snapped. The One-eyed Dragon did not stop to converse with Sima Yi, instead increased his pace. Sima Yi however caught up effortlessly with the shorter warrior. "Is it your new hobby in life to stalk me or something?" Masamune inquired, glaring at Sima Yi. The strategist did not look at the dragon. The trio passed several windows, each one over looking the court-yard of Koshi Castle. Despite the heavy rain, many of Orochi's snake warriors were outside training.
"Oh Sima Yi! There you are."
Tiger winced a little at the sound of Da Ji's high-pitched voice. It amazed the young ninja how many sides she had seen of Orochi's little fox. Sima Yi's smirk faded a little as he smiled sincerely at Da Ji. "Lady Da Ji. How beautiful you look this morning." Sima Yi took hold of the blushing Fox's hand and kissed her knuckles. Masamune crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his good eye.
"Oh gag me with a spoon." he muttered under his breath, loud enough only for Tiger to hear. The bodyguard coughed to cover her growing laugh. Da Ji glared at the ninja before turning her sights to Masamune.
"Lord Orochi wishes to see you both. Hurry up now." she ordered, before turning on her heel and walking off. Sima Yi was quick to join her while Masamune stayed behind. He waited until there was some distance between himself and the two annoying strategists. Masamune began his walk, sneering at the pair as they talked lowly to each other. Tiger followed closely behind. She knew she would not be allowed in the meeting but she was a bodyguard after all.
--
Zhen Shao began to pack her belongings quickly before turning her sights to Lu Xun's belongings. Nobunaga had ordered his unit to pack as they were leaving Honn-ji temple early that morning. Lu Xun was already in a meeting with Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, eager to explain the best course to Fan castle. Zhen Shao smiled a little. Both Lu Xun and herself knew the castle well. They were about to fight Shu before Orochi had arrived.
The door to the room was knocked quietly. "Yes?" Zhen Shao called. The door opened slowly as Kanetsugu smiled at Zhen Shao. The little girl bowed formally. "My lord. What can I do to help you?" she questioned.
"Nothing Zhen Shao." Kanetsugu paused, trying to word Zhen's name right. The female smiled a little as she straightened up. It had been hard for both the Japanese warriors and the Chinese warriors to word each other's names. Kanetsugu shook his head. "Instead I came to aid you." he added. Zhen Shao watched as Kanetsugu picked up a light bag containing Lu Xun's belongings.
"My Lord! You do not need to trouble yourself..."
Kanetsugu smiled again at Zhen Shao as she picked up her own belongings. "We must hurry little one. We do not want to keep Lord Nobunaga waiting." he replied. Zhen Shao nodded her head quickly and followed the white samurai.
--
"Do you have anything to say about your defeat Da Ji?" Orochi questioned. Da Ji nodded her head, her eyes locked onto Masamune. The dragon refused to meet her stare, instead focused on the heavy rain outside. Deep down he knew Tiger herself would be outside. Rain or shine, the ninja would be training to be a better warrior.
"The defeat happened because Date Masamune was too reckless. He allowed the Monkey Samurai near the main camp where Hideyoshi placed a few bombs. If Masamune hadn't been solely focused on crushing one enemy at a time, we would have won that match." Da Ji spat. Masamune did not turn away from the window, his mind focused on his own defeat. He had accepted, if only a little bit, that Lu Xun was not going to leave his mind just yet.
Orochi chuckled a little while some of the other generals glanced back and fourth between Masamune and Da Ji. "Failure is a common thing Da Ji. Perhaps Masamune would like to explain his side of the story." The Snake King replied. Masamune was then torn away from his thoughts as he turned to look at Orochi. Da Ji's pale skin began to turn red.
"But My Lord!" she whined only to be silenced by Orochi's ice cold glare. The Fox shut her mouth quickly, not wanting to anger her lord any further. The silence reached the farest corners of the throne room. Lu Bu raised an eyebrow in wonder. Keiji silently urged Masamune to at least say something. Masamune bowed a little.
"My Lord. My version of the story is much different then Lady Da Ji's. I would have stopped Toyotomi Hideyoshi from getting closer to the main camp had it not been for another warrior's interruption. I had managed to make it pass the warrior only to see the explosion. I was too late to stop Hideyoshi." Masamune explained. He didn't feel bad about lying. In his eyes, the fight between him and Lu Xun ended in a draw. Da Ji pouted but it was Sima Yi who had a question.
"I didn't catch the name of the second warrior. Who did you say it was?" he asked smoothly. Masamune gritted his teeth but bit his tongue. He didn't want to cause an up-roar between him and Sima Yi. The former Wei strategist merely tapped his fingers onto his fan, waiting for an answer.
"Lu Xun."
The name caused Sima Yi's eyes to lit up. Normally Masamune wouldn't question a man's interest in another man but this was not normal. Masamune felt a pang of jealousy which quiet frankly scared him. He had never been jealous before so why now? Sima Yi had nothing more to say. Instead he smirked some more, muttering something under his breath. Masamune felt like pouncing on Sima Yi and demanding to know what was so great about Lu Xun. However he kept his emotions in check.
Orochi on the other hand seemed amused by the whole act. He chuckled loudly as he walked down from his throne. The generals bowed but they were not of interest to the Snake King. As Masamune rose, Orochi smirked coldly at the Dragon. "Fear not Masamune. As long as you fight for me, you will get your chance to defeat this Lu Xun." There came a slight pause as Orochi walked over to the windows of the throne room. "Not only will you be able to defeat him, but you can crush his hopes and dreams. You will be able to effortlessly destroy him." Orochi concluded, laughing loudly.
Masamune said nothing as he scratched his left elbow. Something about that sentence had given him a horrid feeling. To him, the Snake's embrace was indeed a cold one.