Chapter 8: The Fox's Beliefs.
It had only been a day since that night but Lu Xun and Masamune met up regular every night there on after. Neither Zhen Shao or Tiger seemed too bothered about their lords. They believed that as long as they were happy, they would be too. Both Zhen and Tiger had sworn an oath of sisterhood, vowing to help each other protect their lords. Despite the fact that the four disappeared from their locations every night, no-one seemed to pick up on it.
Apart from one.
Whenever Da Ji locked herself away, the snake soldiers knew that something was up. The demon fox had not come out of her room for two weeks which worried a lot of the soldiers. She had been heard screaming about something, talking loudly and pacing her room feverishly. It had been left to Sima Yi, much to his happiness, to order the troops to battle. He often sent them to different places to fight the rebels. Sima Yi however often left out Masamune, claiming that the boy had become sloppy. The dragon himself, although annoyed at Sima Yi's attitude, said nothing in his defence.
Da Ji cursed to herself and rubbed her forehead. All this thinking had finally given her a headache. The Fox know that something was going on with Masamune. He seemed to day-dream more then usual, a feat that did not sit well with the dragon. Da Ji could only come up with theories as to why the boy was acting the way he was. But there was a snag. Her theories and plans meant nothing without some type of evidence. A thought struck Da Ji and the fox grinned to herself.
--
"I'm starting to worry about Lady Da Ji. She hasn't come out of her room for two weeks now."
"Hmm."
Tiger repositioned herself on the window sill of her lord's chamber. She continued to watch some of the other soldiers training in the courtyard. The ninja was ansty to say the least. The fact that Sima Yi had not allowed Masamune to leave for battle was playing on her mind. "You don't think she knows anything about where you go, do you my Lord?" Tiger inquried. She hoped that Da Ji had no idea what was going on.
"Hmm."
Tiger glanced over to Masamune, her eyebrow raised slightly. It was clear he was not pay attention to her but it didn't hurt to ask, she supposed. "My Lord? Have you heard a word I said?" she inquried.
"Hmm."
Masamune made no movemt after that. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling. He seemed lost in his own dream-world. Tiger smiled a little. She couldn't blame her lord for his slightly strange behaviour. Before she could snap him out of his day-dream, Tiger's attention was turned to the door. Hanzo's on the move. Strange. Tiger frowned.
Masamune sat up suddenly, smoothing down his hair. "Perhaps I should see how my unit is holding up. We haven't been out to battle in sometime." Masamune muttered to himself. Tiger nodded her head and jumped up from the window sill. Masamune turned to look at his bodyguard, eyeing her closely. "Azumi? Is something wrong?" he asked. His sudden concern for her caused Tiger to gasp a little. She regain herself quickly and shook her head.
"I'm fine my lord. Really." she smiled. It had been a long time since he had called her Azumi.
--
Da Ji was still pacing as she waited for her chosen warrior to make himself known. She growled a little to herself, a pearl white fang dipping over her lip. Suddenly her chamber door was knocked lightly. "About time! Get in here!" The demon barked, her arms crossed over her chest. The door did not open but Da Ji knew that the warrior was already in the room. Hattori Hanzo dropped to one knee and bowed his head in front of the demon fox.
"You requested my preseance my lady?" The ninja asked. Da Ji smirked and nodded her head.
"Yes. I have a little task befitting someone of your talent." Da Ji paused, twirling a strand of her violet purple hair round her finger. Hanzo rasied his head slightly but remained still. "I want you to do a little spying for me." Da Ji finished a laugh heared in her voice. Hanzo bowed his head again, hoping the fox did not see the look of disgust in his eyes. If she wanted him to spy on his lord, she could forget ever mentioning it.
"Forgive me my lady but I do not spy for the likes of you." Hanzo growled. Da Ji's smile turned sore and she kicked Hanzo hard. The ninja slid against the polished floor and crashed into the far wall. Hanzo shook the impact off, angry at himself for not seeing the attack. Da Ji made her way towards him.
"Excuse me! I don't recall saying you could pick and chose what missions you had. You will do this task otherwise..." The smirk returned. "...Your Lord is as good as dead." she laughed. Hanzo swallowed his pride. He knew he had no choice, he could not allow his lord to suffer for his actions. Da Ji watched in glee as Hanzo bowed again.
"Very well my lady. I accept. Who is the traget?" He replied.
--
It was fair to say that Cao Pi and Mitsunari had started a rocky friendship. The two saw each other as rivals more then anything but could rely on each other when needed. Cao Pi was fairly certain that if Da Ji had not forced them together, they would never had become the friends they were now. If you could call them friends. At the current moment they had spent most of their time in the courtyard, training against each other. To most it seemed a pointless task. They knew each other's moves. As Mitsunari blocked another attack from Cao Pi, he signalled for a break. Cao Pi smirked as he backed away from his friend. "What's a matter? Giving up?" He taunted. Mitsunari rolled his eyes.
"Have you noticed anything strange with Masamune lately?" He inquried. Cao Pi raised an eyebrow, watching Mitsunari find a suitable place to sit. The other male chose a pile of logs. The pile didn't look stable but it held under Mitsunari's weight. Cao Pi quickly joined him and shook his head.
"Masamune? The little kid with one eye?" he replied. Mitsunari nodded his head. Cao Pi snorted. "Can't say that I have. I tend to steer clear of hot-headed idiots." he muttered. He rested his weapon against the stone wall of the castle before crossing his arms over his chest. Mitsunari muttered something under his breath before spotting Masamune. Trailing before the dragon was his bodyguard. Mitsunari pointed the dragon out.
"You keep your eyes on him. Something is going on. He's not himself." Mitsunari whispered. Cao Pi glared at the other warrior.
"And why should I care? I don't even know the boy. Are we going to finish our match or what?" The Wei leader snapped. Mitsunari frowned before nodding his head. The pair reclaimed their weapons and stood ready. "Why should you care about some brat Mitsunari?" Cao Pi sneered. Mitsunari tapped his fan against the palm of his hand.
"Masamune is a dangerous ally to have. He's a lose cannon." Mitsunari paused as he parred an attack from Cao Pi. "Orochi should watch him carefully." Mitsunari muttered. He ducked from another attack before leaping in to attack Cao Pi head on. The Wei leader smirked.
"And here I thought you hated him after everything you said from the start." He joked. Mitsunari felt a burning hate for the man that stood before him. He would have liked to be serving Hideyoshi again but fate delt him a bad hand. For now Mitsunari knew he was have to ride it out. Even if it meant rebelling with the man he hated.
--
Even from where he was perched, deep in the shadows, Hanzo could tell that something was different about Masamune. The ninja hated the fact Da Ji had use his lord against him, but he knew he had no choice. He served Lord Ieyasu, he could not risk his lord's life for a foolish action. Hanzo pushed the thoughts from his mind. He returned his focus to Masamune as he inspected his unit.
Despite having command of some of Orochi's snake soldiers, Masamune preferred to have his own human unit. The Date force had been with Masamune from the beginning and were faithfull to their young lord to the end. But even though the dragon was trying to hide his feelings, His only good eye betrayed him greatly. There seemed to be a far-off look in his eye that just didn't sit with Masamune at all. Hanzo knew Masamune well. He had fought against him many times to protect his lord. Lady Da Ji was right after all. Hanzo mused.
Meanwhile, out in the light, Masamune turned his attention to the sky. It was clouding over, a sign that rain was on the way. The head General paused in his rambles when he realised that Masamune was not listening. "My Lord?" The question had jolted Masamune from his thoughts. "Is everything all right?" The Head general inquried. Masamune cursed himself for letting his mind wonder.
"I'm fine. It's none of your concern anyway." Masamune snapped. Tiger smiled to herself. She was thankful that Masamune was a good actor in difficult times. A shift of energy caught her attention. Tiger turned her head a little to look over her shoulder but she could not see past the shadows. Whatever had been watching them was gone for the time being. Tiger frowned as her eyebrows dipped low in thought.
That energy...It felt like Hanzo. Tiger dismissed the thought and returned her attention to Masamune. I have to be on high alert. Something is not right.
--
The rain began to fall on the Oda troops as they made their way to Odawara Castle. Zhen sniffed a little as she wiped a raindrop from her nose. Looking up at the sky, she hoped it would stop raining by nightfall. Zhen returned her attention to the front as she kept in line with Lu Xun. So far Lord Mitsuhide's plan has worked. Or perhaps Da Ji is too busy with the other rebels to even notice we're left Fan Castle. Zhen thought.
Hideyoshi urged his horse on a little faster as he rode up along side Lu Xun. He did not say anything, instead he watched Lu Xun as the young boy appeared to be deep in thought. The Monkey took a deep breath. "Lu Xun?"
"Yes Master Hideyoshi?" Lu Xun asked, breaking away from his thoughts. Zhen cocked her head to one side, looking up at Hideyoshi. There was something in his voice that gave Zhen a dark feeling.
"You are happy serving Lord Nobunaga, aren't you?" Hideyoshi asked. The rain splashed on his armor as it got worst. The unit's march got faster as Nobunaga urged his troops to the castle before there was a complete downpour. Lu Xun raised an eyebrow at Hideyoshi. What sort of question was that? The former Wu officer bent down, took hold of Zhen's arm and helped his bodyguard onto his horse. He was afraid she would get lost within the troop. Her height had always been a slight disadvantage for her.
Once Zhen was settled in front of him, Lu Xun looked back at Hideyoshi. "Of course. Why do you ask Master Hideyoshi?" Lu Xun responded. Zhen kept her sight on the unit in front but her ears remained on the conversation. The dark feeling was getting worst and Zhen was beginning to feel a little sick. Hideyoshi was suddenly asking strange questions and it was starting to scare the little girl somewhat.
Hideyoshi smiled and shook his head. "It doesn't matter Lu Xun. As long as your happy." He nudged his horse in the ribs and quickly caught up with Nobunaga and Mitsuhide. Lu Xun frowned again. Zhen sighed deeply to herself.
"Lord Lu Xun. Something is not right." she whispered. Lu Xun said nothing. "You don't think...they know something, do you my lord?" Zhen pressed keeping her voice low. Lu Xun continued to watch the back of Hideyoshi's head.
I wonder what he meant by that. I'll have to be on high alert. I can't afford anyone finding out about me and Masamune. Lu Xun thought grimly. Another horse trotted up beside the pair. The old eyes of Huang Zong smiled at both warriors.
"Come along little ones. We must hurry before the rain gets worst." he chuckled. Lu Xun returned the old man's smile and urged his horse on.
I wonder what Hideyoshi meant by that...
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