Chapter 13: Trapped
Sima Yi watched as Da Ji paced the throne room early the next morning. "Have you thought everything through?" He inquried, gently fanning himself. Although outside was cool, the throne room tended to get a tad warm. The demon fox stopped pacing and tapped her painted nail against her lip.
"Hanzo was not abled to find out where this meeting place is. Maybe we could get the location straight from the horse's mouth so to speak." Da Ji mumbled more to herself. Sima Yi chuckled to himself and moved into Da Ji's eye-sight
"Talking to Masamune would be a waste of time. He's sleeping right now." Sima Yi glanced over to Da Ji who growled. "His bodyguard is too loyal to the dragon to give us details so there is not point in asking her either." he added. Da Ji glared hard at him.
"So what do you suggest?" she snapped. Sima Yi hid his smile behind his fan. Truth was he didn't really have an idea but he was quickly working on it. The sooner he had an idea, the sooner he could have Lu Xun all to himself. The very thought excited Sima Yi to no end.
"What I do suggest is keeping things between us for now. Wouldn't want anyone to over-hear now would we?" Sima Yi smirked. Da Ji raised an eyebrow as he lent closer to her ear. The fox squeaked a little in surprise, un-nerved by the sudden lack of distance between them. Then Sima Yi whispered his plan slowly to her, causing a un-natural grin to appear on Da Ji's face. Sima Yi took a step back when he was finished explaining. "What do you think?"
"I think that you are one of the most wisest men I have ever met."
--
Masamune yawned to himself as he made his way towards the throne room. Da Ji had ordered a meeting to discuss another plan of action. Personally Masamune thought there was no point him being there. The dragon stopped outside the throne room and composed himself. Just keep cool. Don't let them think they've rattled your cage. Keep calm. Masamune reminded himself before entering the throne room.
To Masamune's surprise he was early to the meeting. Only Keiji and a few other of the snake generals were present, while Da Ji and Sima Yi whispered and talked together. Masamune nervously made his way to Keiji who smiled. "Hey Masamune! Why are you here so early? It's not like you." Keiji joked. Masamune lent against the wall next to Kejij and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind." Masamune nodded his head towards the two strategists. "So what's this meeting about anyway? And what are they talking over there?" The dragon quizzed. Keiji glanced over to the said pair and shrugged his shoulders.
"No clue. They've been like that since I arrived." Keiji paused and nodded a greeting to Lu Bu as the chinese warrior entered the throne room. "I'm not too sure on the meeting either. According to some of the other generals, Da Ji has a plan to attack the Oda forces." Keiji filled in. He did not notice the look of worry in Masamune's eye. The dragon bit his lip wondering why Da Ji wanted to attack the Oda Forces again. More Generals appeared and before long the throne room was almost full. Da Ji broke her conversation with Sima Yi and clapped his hands.
"All right. Now that everyone's here, the meeting shall begin." Da Ji raised an eyebrow when one of the Generals coughed. "What?"
"Shouldn't we wait for Lord Orochi?" he questioned. Some of the other generals all agreed. Masamune felt a pang of uneasy when Da Ji smirked a little too cruelly for his liking. Something was seriously wrong.
"Lord Orochi will not be joining. He is resting for now. Our lord has worked so hard." Da Ji responded. Masamune rolled an eye. "Now We will be acting the Oda Forces and the Shu forces. This way we will kill two birds with one stone." Da Ji grinned. Masamune let a low sigh which somehow drawn Da Ji's attention to him. "Aww, I'm sorry Masamune. Without your unit here, you won't be able to join the battle."
Masamune stared at the fox somewhat confused. What the hell is she playing at? Masamune wondered. Even Keiji looked between the dragon and Da Ji. Masamune smirked cockly and shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter to me since I haven't been to battle for sometime. One certain person was too busy holed up in their room and their little helper figured I was too sloppy to join the battle." Masamune could not help but smirk wider when Da Ji turned beetroot red.
"Why you..." Da Ji coughed and regained herself. "Maybe you have become sloppy Masamune. You haven't been yourself lately." Da Ji retorted. Masamune shrugged. He didn't trust himself to speak. The fox let a sly glance towards Sima Yi who smiled back.
--
Masamune was the first to leave the throne room when the meeting was concluded. He was alone at the moment but the dragon didn't seem to care. His mind whirled with too many thoughts and on top of that, he was left uneasy by Da Ji's preformance. Masamune stopped briefly, eyeing a very interesting piece of carpet. Sod it all! We're leaving tonight. I can't stay here anymore. Masamune resolved and continued on to his chamber.
"I suspect something was wrong in the meeting my lord." Tiger called form her perch by the chamber door. Masamune frowned to himself. He motioned for her to enter. Tiger waited untill Masamune was inside first. The ninja glanced up and down the corridor and finally joined her lord. Shutting the door, Tiger waited silently.
"We're leaving tonight. I told Lu Xun to wait at the meeting point at midnight." Masamune yawned again. "It should give us enough time to make it to the castle before early morning." The dragon turned to Tiger. "Is everything packed and ready?" He inquried. Tiger nodded her head.
"Both our items are packed neatly. I hid them in the truck at the foot of your bed. Your horse is ready to depart as you requested." she informed. Masamune smiled and nodded his thanks. Tiger cocked her head to one side, aware of how tired her lord looked. "You hould get some rest my lord. You have a busy night ahead of you." The ninja suggested. Masamune noded his head and lay down on his bed. Tiger smiled when Masamune refused to take his armor. "Do not worry my lord. I shall wake you when the time if right." she whispered to a now sleeping Dragon.
--
Unknown to both Tiger and Masamune, a figure slunk closer to the chamber door. Keeping their face hidden from sight, the figure looked around. Once they were sure the coast was clear, they set out to carry on with the mission given to them.
--
"I wish to speak with Lu Xun little one."
Zhen glanced up quickly from her perch outside the chamber door. Nobunaga and Hideyoshi stood before her. Zhen bowed her head quickly. "I'm sorry to inform you my lords but Lord Lu Xun is sleeping." Zhen replied. Nobunaga raised a bemused eyebrow while a worried look appeared on Hideyoshi's face.
"Is something wrong with him Zhen Shao? Is he ill?" Hideyoshi asked quickly. He had come to think of Lu Xun as a great warrior and friend. Zhen shook her head, a small smile on her face. She felt bad for lying to Hideyoshi but for the sake of her lord, Zhen had no choice.
"No my lord. Lord Lu Xun has had a lot on his mind as of late. He's been having a hard time sleeping which has resulting in him staying awake for long periods of time." Zhen paused a little. Hideyoshi and Nobunaga looked at each other. "I guess all those sleepless nights have finally caught up with him." Nobunaga hummed in acknowledgement.
"Very well then. We will allow him to sleep. Please informed Lu Xun that I wish to talk to him when he wakes." Nobunaga replied. he turned to leave Zhen alone. His cape fluttered slightly as he walked down to his own chamber. Hideyoshi had not yet moved. "Come Hideyoshi." Nobunaga called over his shoulder.
"Are you sure he's fine?" Hideyoshi suddenly asked. Zhen stared in confusion at the monkey warrior and blinked twice. Slowly she nodded her head. Hideyoshi said nothing as he turned to follow Nobunaga. Zhen watched the two disappear, wishing that midnight would come sooner.
--
Masamune streatched and rubbed his eye free from sleep. Tiger had managed to wake him some minutes before midnight and the dragon was greatful for this. He smoothed his hair as best he could and grabbed hold of his helmet. Tiger opened the trunk at the bottom of his bed and pulled out two small bags. Neither said anything for fear of waking the other warriors within the castle. Masamune paused, listening out for any signs of trouble but the night was still. He turned to look at Tiger. "Ready?" he whispered.
"As always my lord." Tiger nodded.
Masamune grinned and headed towards the chamber door. He had tried several different ways of opening the door without making a sound and now had a perfect way of doing it. Tiger had often wondered about her lord's planning but now everything seemed to pay off. Masamune grasp the door handle and took a breath. He pushed the handle down and pulled the door to him...
...only to discover it was lock.
Masamune felt panic rise in his throat. "W-w-what's going on? Why is the door locked?" he asked in a rushed whisper. Tiger gasped to herself, dropping the bags on the floor. Her lord turned to look at her. "Did you lock the door?" he inquried.
"I didn't lock it, I swear to you my lord." Tiger rushed towards the door and tried to open it herself. Masamune pulled his helmet off and tugged at his hair. "This door was unlocked the first time I checked. I don't understand." Tiger added.
"This can't be happening." Masamune whispered fearfully. "This cannot be happening at all."
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