Chapter 14: A note
"Okay. Keep calm. We've gotta figure this out."
Tiger watched as Masamune began to pace. "The door was unlocked when you last checked, right?" Masamune glanced towards Tiger who nodded her head quickly. Masamune scratched the back of his neck. "This could only mean Da Ji knows." Masamune concluded.
Silence past between the two.
Tiger jumped suddenly when Masamune growled and slammed his fist into the nearby wall. "My lord! Please, you must calm down." Tiger urged, grabbing her lord's arm. The dragon clenched his teeth. Blood was seen between his knuckles which put Masamune further into a foul mood. Tiger increased her grip on his arm to gain his attention. The dragon glanced over to her. "Now is not the time to be taking out your anger onto a simple wall. We must think of a way to get out of here." Tiger reasoned.
"You're right." Masamune sighed to himself. Tiger let go of his wrist although she stood ready incase Masamune tried to repeat the action. "You can get out of here, right?" Masamune inquried. Tiger watched as he sat down back at the small desk in the chamber.
"Ninja's were always taught to use the shadows. It should be child's play to get out of here but with Hanzo roaming around..." Tiger trailed off as Masamune waved his hand.
"Don't worry about that Ninja. He'll be too busy guarding Ieyasu. No, I want you to find out who knows and what they're next plans are. I'll stay here and try to find a way for me to get out." Masamune ordered. Tiger bowed her head and was gone. Masamune took in a deep breath. "Right. How the hell are I'm going to get out of here?" he muttered to himself.
--
Whether it was to ease her mind or not, Tiger found herself running towards Ieyasu's chamber. She came to a stop and peeked round only to find Hanzo was no where to be found. "How troubling." Tiger whispered. Shaking her head, the ninja turned and headed towards Da Ji's chamber.
"Have you heard?"
Tiger slammed to a stop. Creeping closer to a chamber door, Tiger lent against the cold wood and listened hard. Two of Orochi's generals were inside the room. Tiger chewed her lip.
"Heard what?"
"Sun Ce has left Orochi's ranks. Ieyasu left with him."
Tiger paused in her actions. So that's why Hanzo was not there. Shaking her heads of any thoughts, Da Ji continued on her way to Da Ji's chamber. The corridor was quiet, perhaps a little too quiet even for Tiger. Without anything to bother her, the ninja made good time as she came to her destination. However at the last minute Tiger was forced to duck out of sight when she spied Sima Yi making his way towards the chamber as well. From the shadows, Tiger watched as Sima Yi knocked three times before Da Ji allowed him in. When Tiger was sure it was safe, she skillfully made her way to the door and listened in.
--
"Well? Did you do it?"
Sima Yi felt a tad hurt from the comment. It was almost as if the little fox had thought he wouldn't have gone through with the plan. "Masamune's locked inside his chamber. I've ordered two guards to be stationed there for tomorrow morning." Sima Yi frowned greatly. "Do you really think I would back out of the plan?" he almost hissed.
"Of course not." Da Ji smiled innocently. Sima Yi's frown was gone and a small sickening smile was on his face. "Its not as if I don't trust you Sima Yi. I know well you would do anything to get rid of Masamune." the fox giggled.
"After all of this I still get to keep Lu Xun. That was the deal." Sima Yi reminded. Da Ji nodded her head, seating herself on the edge of her bed. Sima Yi chuckled behind his fan at the thought of Lu Xun.
"Masamune will be killed as a traitor of Orochi. Lu Xun will be nothing more then a spoil of war and therefore yours to keep." Da Ji's mood suddenly turned sour and she sighed heavily. "Such a pity The unit I sent to capture the Sun Ce and Ieyasu did not win. Doesn't matter..."Da Ji smiled again. "...nothing lifts the spirits then watching a family tear each other apart." she cackled.
--
Masamune looked up when he heard Tiger enter. He frowned over how shaken she had become. The ninja was usual pale but it looked as though she was Death herself. "Tiger?" Masamune called. The ninja said nothing. "Azumi? What's wrong?"
The sound of her real name jolted Tiger from whatever nightmare she had just entered. She cursed herself for letting her emotions show. "My lord..." she paused slightly. Masamune suddenly became worried. "...Sima Yi and Da Ji have joined together to stop you leaving with Lord Lu Xun. It was Sima Yi, under Da Ji's orders, who locked your door. Two guards will be stationed outside your chamber door tomorrow morning." Tiger informed. Masamune growled and pounded his bed. "There's something else as well my lord."
Masamune looked in her direction. "Which is?" Surely it couldn't be worst then being locked in with no way to reach Lu Xun.
"You are to be killed as a traitor of Orochi. Lu Xun is to be Sima Yi's spoil of war." Tiger sighed deeply to herself. She dreaded having to tell Masamune but she knew he had evey right to know. "Sima Yi has been lusting after Lu Xun the very first day you mentioned his name." she finished. Masamune's mouth fell open a little before he regained himself. Masamune chuckled to himself.
"Lu Xun wasn't kidding then."
Tiger cocked her head to one side. "My lord? I'm not sure I follow."
"Lu Xun once told him how he and Sima Yi had met numerous times on the field of battle. He said Sima Yi seemed to have a thing for him as wherever Lu Xun went, Sima Yi was right there." Masamune ran a hand through his hair and tugged a little at a clump. "I didn't think he could this far to get him." Suddenly Masamune shot up. He walked quickly to his desk and pulled out a unuse roll of parchment. "Tiger, I need you to deliver this to Lu Xun."
Tiger watched as Masamune began to scribble away feveriously. The ninja nodded her head. "Of course my lord. Will he be at the meeting point by now?" she inquried. Masamune finished writing and rolled the parchment up. Turning, he quickly handed the parchment to his bodyguard.
"I hope so. Go quickly. Don't let anyone see you." he ordered. Clutching the message tightly, Tiger bowed before her lord and was gone into the night. Masamune walked towards the window and rested his palms on the window sill. Lu Xun...I'm sorry.
--
Lu Xun rubbed his hands together, trying to fend off the cold. Both he and Zhen had arrived early but there was still no sign of Masamune.Lu Xun tried hard not to show how crest-fallen he was, but Zhen could easily tell. "Perhaps he got held up." Zhen offered helpfully. Lu Xun gave her a sad smile and returned his eyes to the fire in front. It was steadily burning now thanks to Zhen's efforts of getting wood.
The trees behind them moved quickly despite there being no wind. Zhen was on her feet, bow aimed at whatever was spying on them. Lu Xun slowly rose to his feet as the trees moved again. Suddenly Zhen let an arrow fly. They waited for a cry of pain.
"Your aim can rival Lady Ina's."
Zhen smiled when Tiger jumped from the trees, holding Zhen's arrow. "Zhen, Lord Lu Xun." The ninja bowed. Lu Xun however was not one to waste time.
"Where is Masamune?" Lu Xun asked suddenly. Zhen turned to Tiger who bit her lip. Both warriors noticed that Tiger's emotions were clearly seen now she was not wearing her scarf. "Something's happened hasn't it?" Lu Xun asked fearfully. The ninja handed Lu Xun's the rolled up parchment she carried.
"Lord Masamune wrote this to explain what has happened." Tiger bowed again as Lu Xun unrolled the parchment. "If you'll excuse me my lord, I must returned to Lord Masamune's side." When Lu Xun nodded his head, Tiger disappeared as quickly as she had came. Zhen watched as Lu Xun silently and quickly read the letter. When he was finished, Lu Xun dropped the parchment and hit the floor.
"My Lord!"
Zhen grabbed the letter, saving it was blowing away and ran to her lord's aid. Lu Xun wrapped his arms around his legs and held them close to his chest. "He's been...captured. They found out somehow and Masamune's been captured." Lu Xun choked back a sob. "Sima Yi and Da Ji are behind it all." he whispered and rested his forehead on his knees. Zhen felt panic rise in her throat as she read the letter. Even she knew how dangerous Sima Yi was when Lu Xun was thrown into the mix.
"It says here he wants us to remain here until he can get out." Zhen read. Lu Xun shuddered a little. "My Lord? What should we do?" the bodyguard questioned. The air was silent before Lu Xun stood. Zhen remained where she was, looking up at her lord.
"We're going to break him out of there." Lu Xun paused to dust himself down. "I refuse to sit by and let Masamune rot in that place." Zhen quickly got to her feet.
--
Sun-light filtered through Masamune's window and hit him full in the face. The dragon groaned and rolled over. He had spent most of the night worrying about Lu Xun and trying to figure out how to get out. He did have a plan of climbing out of his chamber window. However he was so high up that Masamune knew he would break something if he did climb or jump down. The dragon didn't fancy running away with a broken leg or arm.
"My Lord, are you awake?" Tiger called sleepily. Even she had spent most of the time awake. It was unlike the ninja but Masamune knew she would wake up quicker then he ever could. Masamune gave a grunt and sat up. "Shall I check outside for you?" Tiger whispered. Masamune rubbed sleep from his eye and nodded his head. Tiger wrapped her scarf around her mouth and tried to open the door. Taking a deep breath in, Tiger used the shadows to get outside.
Outside Tiger stared in surprise at two large Snake generals guarding the door. "Excuse me but why are you here? Lord Masamune only allows me to guard outside his door. And why is his door locked?" Tiger inquried her hands on her hips. The guard remained silent. "Answer me!" Tiger ordered. A chuckled from her left caught Tiger's attention. Tiger bowed when she saw Sima Yi.
"Since Da Ji never told you Tiger, I guess I should inform you. Masamune had been locked in for he is now our prisoner and a traitor to Orochi. He will be killed within the week." Sima Yi smirked to himself when Tiger growled a little to herself. "I'm not sure what will happen to you however young Tiger. I believe you have a choice whether to live or die." Sima Yi added. Tiger glared at him.
"I will die along with my Lord. I have my duty as a ninja to serve Lord Masamune even in death." she hissed before phasing back into the room. Sima Yi laughed to himself.
As I thought. he mused before a foot soldier ran towards him. Sima Yi sneered at him. "What is it? It had better be good." he snapped.
--
No sooner had Tiger phased into the room, the door was unlocked. Da Ji and Sima Yi entered quickly. Masamune glared at them. "What do you want?" He spat. Tiger noticed the unusal grin on both Da Ji and Sima Yi's faces.
Tiger glared hard at both by remained silent. Da Ji tried to silence her giggles. "We want you to be present at a special meeting. We have managed to capture a rebel." Masamune hid his shock easily and rolled his eyes.
"And why would I want to be present? I'm a traitor after all." she pointed out. Da Ji giggled again and seemingly floated over to the dragon. Masamune yawned lazily as if not to show interest. Da Ji lent close to his ear.
"But the rebel is Lu Xun, your rival. Surely you would like to hear his punishment." she whispered. Masamune clenched his left hand tightly out of sight of the fox. He couldn't afford to show emotion at the moment, they were pretending to know nothing about his relationship to the Wu warrior. Masamune shrugged and slowly got up. Da Ji backed away from.
"Very well then. I will join you just to prove that I was right all along. Wait outside. I need to at least look presentable." The dragon muttered. Da Ji nodded her head and left the room with Sima Yi in tow. The door was shut but not locked. Masamune's face crumbled as he fought hard not to cry. "This wasn't the way it was ment to go!" he hissed to himself. Tiger placed a hand on her lord's shoulder.
"My lord. The best thing you can do to help Lu Xun is play along with them until we think of something. They only mentioned Lu Xun which means Zhen might have gotten away. I will wait here and when you return, I shall try to find her." Tiger suggested. Masamune nodded his head and composed himself.
"You're right Azumi. The first thing they'll do is send him to the prison in the basement. It doesn't matter if he will become Sima Yi's spoil of war, Orochi always sends his prisoners to the prison." Masamune glanced over to his bodyguard. "Try to find Zhen. If not for our sake but for Lu Xun's."
Tiger bowed lowly. "Of course my lord."
Thanks to Angelus98, www.blond-girl & AZNchaos07 for their reviews.