Bold Italics in " "/speech are Engrish words
Italics without speech are thoughts.
A gong rang out into the approaching nightfall, breaking the cold silence that seemed to blanket the forest and the base of Mount Osore as villagers hurried themselves to get to safety as night steadily approached. Though things seemed to be a lot calmer than before, the small village and its people couldn't afford to take any chances with what crept beyond the walls of their little safe haven. Stories that spoke of spirits and demons seemed to linger about the village, frightening the inhabitants as they wondered if all of this was a myth or the actual truth. Things changed when a woman clad in shades of blues and aqua approached them with a few of other females in matching tones, promising them their safety and they gave her the reins to lead them to that safety. She delivered that promise, their minds temporarily at ease as the walls stood against the nightly threats.
That woman was Megohime, now the proud leader of an all-female army with her attendant Junko by her side.
Upon her arrival, she wore her hair in a black wig but had later discarded the troublesome article and in exchange revealed her natural, reddish tone. A sign of rebellion against her father who ever so desired to see her completely dissolved from existence, and lost in loneliness forever. Though she continued to wear a porcelain mask, she would take it off once she was in her private quarters so only a selected few would see her face. Now leading the villagers and her army to safety and prosperity, Megohime was left to contemplate her fate once other warlords found out about their existence. A fact that she could barely think about as her thoughts often danced towards a particular one-eyed dragon.
Leaning back, the young lady-leader looked out of a nearby window to see the still setting sun, and peering closely she could faintly make out the outline of Mutsu's capital, Oshu. She could feel her heart twist in her chest and her eyes sting from preventing falling tears. Breathing in a heavy sigh, she forced herself to look away and turned her attention to the papers before her.
"Is something wrong My Lady?" a man with long brown hair and glasses said as he looked at Megohime with some worry. A travelling foreigner who had recently taken shelter within his lady's ranks as he was eager to learn more of others while he silently practiced his Christian religion. Mego and her girls only identified him as Tsuge Frois, the son of Louis Frois – A Jesuit.
"Hm? It's nothing, Tsuge. What's up?" Mego replied, tilting her head as she looked at him. Junko silently moved beside her lady as she bowed and then sat up, stopping the young man from responding.
"Pardon my intrusion, Lady Mego, but it's come to my attention that we have an unwanted guest." The flaxen haired kunoichi said, narrowing her aqua eyes to the ground. Megohime nodded, and then waved her hand to excuse Tsuge.
"We'll continue this later Tsuge, alright?" The Jesuit male merely nodded and excused himself.
Mego turned back to Junko, raising her eyebrow in curiosity at who the uninvited guest was.
Could it be...? No, that would be absurd and a waste of his time to come all the way up here.
Stop dreaming Mego, there's no doubt that he's moved on, why even try to think that he still remembers you?
Shaking away her thoughts, she listened to Junko's answer.
"Your cousin, Yoshitane Souma is here to see you..." She said quietly, locking eyes with her leader. Mego's eyes narrowed as her hands balled into fists and her hair began to twitch without the aid of wind. Her temper was slowly climbing.
"Souma..." Mego said through gritted teeth, hatred burned in her chest as she stood up, gripped her sword in one hand and turned towards the door.
Him! That wretched bastard, how DARE he make his presence known around here? Even so, how did he even find this place?
Her heart began to thud in her chest, her walking was becoming faster and heavier, her eyes locked onto where her 'cousin' was placed. Gripping her sword more, she began to further recall the events that revolved around the Souma and the Date. A battle that nearly cost the lives of many, but it still went in Masamune's favour.
Stopping in front of the door, Mego looked to her top retainers Hisoka and Chieko and nodded, signalling them to stand aside and only take action when demanded. They nodded in response; Hisoka pushed the door back as both women kneeled to allow their leader to continue through.
Yoshitane Souma looked up to see his enraged cousin storm through and remained standing before him. He smirked up at her, which only fuelled her anger further.
"Cousin...You look well." He said with slight sarcasm and lifted a cup of tea to his lips. Mego kicked the small cup out of his hands as the hot liquid splattered off to the side and its holder shattered against the floor. He let out a 'tsk' and looked back up at her.
"I wasn't finished with that. Why act like such a barbarian? Don't you know how to treat –"
"You are not my guest, you are an unwelcome visitor. An intruder. How dare you show yourself after all of the chaos you caused between the Date and your pitiful self?"
"You dare to insult me, Mego?"
"Yes, I do. I have no desire to neither listen nor see you at all; get out willing before I force you to do so. Make your choice with haste Souma, I'm a very impatient woman." Mego said, her patience running thin and her temper climbing the more she stayed in the same room as he.
"You have become rather gutsy since you ran from home, Mego. You do realize that your father has branded you as a traitor? He seeks death to the Date, as we all would..." Yoshitane muttered, eyeing the shattered pieces from the teacup on the floor.
"Masamune Date is a loose cannon, he needs to be dealt with and should you work with us Mego, Lord Tamura said he would lift your brand and would welcome you back to Miharu." He said, leaning forward to urge his cousin to think otherwise.
The demoness began to laugh, then broke into hysterical laughter as she hugged herself and kicked at the air. Yoshitane looked at her with a mixture of shock and anger, how dare she laugh at this? He continued to watch her with his mixed emotions as she slowed her laughter. Her mood quickly changed to disgust as she pointed her index finger at him.
"Souma, you're a fool, a puppet dangling on the strings of the Tamura and Souma. Little do you realize that Kiyoaki has no desire to be merciful to friends or family. We are mere pawns on his little chessboard; can you not see how obvious his manipulations move about within the two clans?"
Yoshitane moved back, surprised by how Mego interpreted their family; everything that she had said sounded vile and only words that a traitor would ever think of speaking. Closing his eyes for a second, he smirked and then mimicked her finger pointing.
"Mego, you're fooling no one with your supposed over-confidence. You think this will catch the attention of Date? Think this will stop Lord Tamura from consuming the land? This land is rightfully ours, and your actions speak of nothing but of a scared little girl playing dress-up. You're inexperienced, naive and you believe that that dragon bastard actually wants to be with you."
Mego stared at him in bewilderment and remained frozen in her seat as her breathing came to a stop.
"Bulls eye. Mego, Date is a brothel regular, a misogynist prick and only cares for himself. You would be nothing more than a little snack for his nightly pleasures, and only for just one night considering just how you carry yourself. To him, you would be just another girl."
Her breathing was short and could barely fill her lungs. For the first time in a long time, Megohime began to feel fear and resentment. Not just from Souma, but from her father, from Masamune and from her brother who left her.
Why do men do the evils that they do...?
It's a fact of life.
You cannot trust them. Ever.
What about Tsuge? He's been nothing but very kind to us...
He's from a place far from Japan, he promised himself to God. Untouchable.
Her thoughts were cut short as Yoshitane moved closer to Mego, resting his hands on her shoulders and causing her to jolt out of his grasp with wide, frightened eyes.
"All of you do this to me. The evils that you men do to us women. What have we ever done to you?" she cried and began twisting her body and arms around, her hands balled into fists as she pounded at Yoshitane in a blind fury.
Curse these men! CURSE THEM!
Everything seemed to move in a dull blur; Megohime could only faintly hear herself cry out for Junko, hear Yoshitane protest angrily and her retainers defending their lady. Soon all sounds were tuned out by the sound of her own heart beating.
Or was it breaking?
And then everything went black.
Things seemed off for the One-Eyed Dragon; Goemon had already left to carry out his mission, but something had still seemed strange in his mindset.
Something just wasn't right.
Standing in the middle of the field, Masamune stared in the direction of Mount Osore, thunder rolled on in the opposite direction with a few flashes of lightning. Looking down, the young daimyo stared at a small necklace in his hand. On a simple, beaded chain, the pendant was a golden dragon, clinging onto a small blue gem with one word engraved in it. Love.
"Mego..." he said quietly, gripping the piece of jewellery as he looked back up.
"Lord Masamune..." Kojuro approached Masamune, looking between his lord and then towards the direction of Mount Osore.
"Kojuro, do you feel that?" the One-Eyed Dragon asked, turning his head ever so slightly to see his Right Eye. The older man nodded and out of habit began to grip the hilt of his sword.
"The air feels heavy, but dark. Something is happening, but I can't seem to make any sense of it My Lord." He replied. Masamune nodded and looked back.
"I just hope Goemon doesn't screw things up this time."
"Pardon my sarcasm, but that's putting too much faith into him Lord Masamune. " Kojuro replied dryly, causing the dragon to let out a small laugh.
"Yeah,but he's been trying. Gotta give him that at least."
Moments after, Shigezane along with the Four Elites ran over to meet up with the One-Eyed Dragon and his Right Eye. Both men turned to see faces of concern.
"Big problems, cousin, Goemon sent me a message. Yoshitane Souma went into the Forest of Souls, possibly looking for the hidden village and its leader. He was successful, and it turns out..." Shigezane stopped, looking away from them to recollect himself. Yoshinao placed a hand on his shoulder to give the young man encouragement to continue.
Masamune turned around to directly face his cousin, now fighting his own body from nervousness. Kojuro stared at the Dragon's Shield – Now something was definitely not right.
Taking a deep breath, Shigezane turned back to Masamune and Kojuro, his expression remained serious.
"The leader has been confirmed. She is the leader." He quietly finished. The One-Eyed Dragon's eye widened then went back to its normal size as he turned to Kojuro and gave him a nod. He then nodded to Yoshinao, Samanosuke, Bunshichi and Magobei, signalling them all to leave. They obliged.
Once alone, Masamune looked back at Shigezane as Kojuro returned from locking the gate. The wind began to pick up as more lightning and thunder became present. The atmosphere gave off an eerie feel.
"Are you sure?" the daimyo asked. The Shield nodded.
Masamune stepped away from them for a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. Kojuro turned to look at Shigezane.
"What do you mean by 'She', Lord Shigezane?" he asked, suddenly concerned of his lord's odd behaviour at the mentioning of a woman.
Shigezane looked back at the Right Eye, his expression remained serious but now solemn.
"Megohime."
Kojuro nodded. Both men turned to watch Masamune, making sure that he wouldn't lose his cool. It wasn't time.
"Goemon better hurry..." was all the One-Eyed Dragon said.
At the same time, Megohime woke up with Junko and her Elites all in the room. Each of them showing concern for their leader.
Sitting up, she looked over at her Keeper, raising an eyebrow. Junko nodded and Mego sighed.
"Sorry for...Collapsing like that." She said quietly, embarrassed by her weakness.
"No need to worry M'Lady," Hisoka said, fixing her tinted eyeglasses as she leaned against the wall, "Souma's been dealt with, but apparently he wasn't alone..."
"Meaning?"
Chieko stepped forward, "It appears that there was another that has been sighted lurking about the area. We caught him thankfully, but he insists that he isn't associated with Souma."
Mego nodded, "Did he say who he was with?"
"Masamune Date." Junko replied with no expression on her face. Mego felt her stomach knot, but simply nodded again.
"I see... What does Date's ninja want with us? Did he say?" she asked.
"An audience with you to speak to you about something, but never specified." Hisoka answered and then shrugged her shoulders. Again, Mego nodded her head.
"Then I'll speak to him. But see to it that he is weaponless and bound." She said and all nodded their heads and took their leave. Mego was left alone to sort herself out, and to properly prepare herself for this Goemon fellow.
Goemon Ishikawa sat in the centre of the room on the floor, his hands and ankles bound, his weapons removed and his hair messed up from being thrown about by angry women. Shigezane had an odd way of predicting things. Sighing, he looked up to see the same group of girls who attacked and tied him down; followed by the fair haired woman they called 'Junko'. And then a fiery redhead came close behind, walked towards the platform where the leader would usually sit and then seated herself.
The Kabuki-ninja caught his breath; this woman with red hair must have been Megohime. Rumored to have been a faceless demon, Goemon studied her and already debunked that theory.
Well that rumour is false. She is definitely not faceless.
Red eyes, pale skin and a face resembling a doll's; this was the description that his lord Masamune had briefly given him, and aside from her hair being different from before everything fitted.
"State your business, ninja." She said, her voice sounding strong but calm.
Goemon cleared his throat, "I come here by request of my lord, Masamune Date of Oshu. He wishes to speak with you revolving around your land and mines." He replied, looking up at her. Mego shifted in her seat.
"My land and mines? Why, the land you see here barely feeds my people and the mines are all we have for our trades. What good would that be for us?" she asked, resting her head on her right hand as she stared down at him. He began to feel uncomfortable.
"Well, My Lady... Lord Masamune wishes to also speak to you about an alliance of sorts. He's heard of your minor skirmishes with mountain bandits and the like, and how you have saved many from restless demons and souls of Mount Osore. He is quite fond of you, if I do say so myself." He said with a smile. She didn't return the expression.
"Mr. Ishikawa, moments ago I already had a disagreement with Souma about your lord. Aside from saying he wants my lands and mines and apparently fancies me because I'm some sort of saviour doesn't quite convince me to welcome him with open arms." Mego replied, a few of her girls giggled with Junko quietly hushing them.
Goemon nervously laughed, "Ah yes, pardon me for trying to turn up the romances. But I do speak of the truth, Lord Masamune does wish to speak to you to make up for lost time and also regarding the previous. Unfortunately, my words won't be enough to sway you; you will have to see for yourself."
"That may be, but will he actually come up here? Or, like a 'gentleman' would he have me and my girls go to him? Pardon my rudeness , but we don't move for anyone. If he wants to speak to me, he comes here." She said, standing up and waving her hand to signal Hisoka to grab the flamboyant man who began to squirm in protest.
"And to make him come here, I will need to bait him through you. I hope you forgive me in the future. Hisoka, make out guest comfortable and prepare for upcoming guests my girls." Mego added as they all began to move about and Hisoka escorted Goemon to his 'room'.
Moving back up to her room, Mego quietly sent Junko off for the night to be left to her own thoughts, but instructed the older woman to take a letter to Masamune and hurry back soon afterwards.
The storm began to pick up, but no rain fell.
Looking towards the balcony's doorway, Mego felt her heart sink as she thought more about him. A few tears began to fell as she quickly wiped them away
Please forgive me, but I have to act this way for the sake of my people...
You would do the same...Right?
The more she wiped away her tears, the more they fell before she crumpled towards the ground, gripping the sides of the doorway still staring towards the direction of Oshu, careful to not let a sound out as she broke down.
I'm just another girl...Nothing personal...
Baby, I'm so lonely...
Author's Note: So sorry I took forever to get this chapter up. A lot of personal problems offline happened and I was needed there as well as having a huge major writer's block. I'm hoping this eases up along with everything else so I can finish this!
Megohime's appearance has indeed changed, instead of going for black hair, she now has reddish-brown hair to counter-balance Masamune's chestnut hair. Her personality will also be slightly different, but not by much so no worries. I promise that she still loves him all the same and I'll be aiming to write some steamier scenes in the near future. Until then, hang tight! :D