Chapter 3: The Red Clad Samurai

Edited: 29/06/2016

Takeko silently watched the wounded man as he slept taking note of his complexion, most of its colour had returned but his stitches were yet to fully join his cuts and wounds. When he arrived he had more wounds than she when she first arrived in this world, Takeko thought that he was a dead man already but Oda reassured her that he had a faint pulse. A miracle Takeko thought, however he had been asleep for several days without any signs of waking up. She looked to her left where Oda sat there quietly, he was studying their new visitor and by the looks of it he did not know him.

Takeko returned her attention back towards the wounded man, his face was contorted in pain. A bad dream perhaps Takeko thought; she continued to mend the man's clothes. So many holes and rips; sewing the ripped fabric was already a tedious task but washing she did before was more laborious. When washing she had to be extra careful so she wouldn't damage the clothing any further. Thankfully the cloth was already dyed red so the stains she couldn't remove blended in well enough. What had this man had done in the other world to inflict so much damage on himself?

"Toyohisa! Toyohisa! You got a warrior's head in your very first battle?! You are great! A great youngster indeed!" His father laughed and grinned ear to ear shaking his hands with the young man. The young man had never looked so pleased, getting praised by his father was all he really needed. His father's approval was something that every single son would yearn for and he was no different, he was simpleton after all.

"Toyohisa!" His father called out to him again with a warm smile. Toyohisa focused on his father's face, no. Something was not right. His father was smiling, but his father already long gone.

"DAD!" Toyohisa suddenly shouted in shock, he jolted upwards and almost winced in pain. Where was this?! Who hand mended his wounds?! He looked around the dimly lit stone room seeing two black figures within the shadows, he narrowed his eyes at the larger figure. He felt like a cornered animal, and he didn't like that feeling. He bared his teeth as he shifted away from the figure. He looked around for his stuff, where was his gun and sword?

"Oh, so you did wake up. Rather tough man. You wounds have just been stitched up. Better not to move, or else you'll die", the largest of the shadows said. The flickering of the flames light revealed the man's form but not his face. Out of instinct Toyohisa went for his sword which he found was conveniently right next to him. He quickly unsheathed his blade and pointed the tip right at the man's collar-bone. Oda clicked his tongue, this man was much like Takeko, but a little more violent.

"Who are you?! Who the hell are you?!" Toyohisa angrily yelled at the figure, his muscles were tense and any given moment he was prepared to take the man's head off. He was in an unknown territory with unknown people and he didn't like the odds of it. If he were to fight in this space he could see himself winning but at what cost? The mysterious man leaned forward revealing his face, it was time worn and he was unshaven. The eye-patch as well did not make him look anymore sincere or welcoming.

"Who am I? I'm asking the same question. Who are you?" The old man said mocking, his lips upturned in a sort of jeering grin. Toyohisa looked upwards a little to see a matchlock barrel aimed right at his head. He narrowed his eyes, so the old man wasn't senile. How sharp. Toyohisa felt from the years of experience that the man before him was not someone to be trifled of, there was the smell of gunpowder all over him and that sinister grin the old man was something he had seen before. Only madmen would grin such a way.

"Answer me. Who are you and where are you from?" The old man continued, his grin still in place but his eyebrows had furrowed little creating wrinkles and giving him a more menacing look. Oda had a faint idea of where he may come from now by hearing his accent, each region had their own dialect but it was still a little hard for him to tell. Toyohisa widened his eyes, noticing a proudly hung cloth that hung from one of the walls behind the old man.

"That 'mokko' family crest…are you a man from the house of the Oda?" Toyohisa said while gritting his teeth, he still had the sword pointed at the old man's neck. The house of Oda was sparse and few now considering what happened almost eighteen years ago. All men who were left was killed by the betrayers, and they were no longer in the position of power. His eyebrows knitted up in frustration, who on earth was the old man?!

"A man from the house of the Oda?!" The old man said, his lips upturned into a mocking smirk. The brat was a idiot, as if anyone could claim the man. He was the one who raised his clan from the ashes of the battlefield, he crafted the finest soldiers and took the battlefield with a storm. His name used to leave trembles within the hearts of men. He looked down upon the brat who dared to point his blade at him. "Are you an oaf? I am Oda and Oda is me", he said with a wide grin. He cocked up his gun, and pushed the gun closer to his head. He was no-one else that himself, and he would not be looked down upon by some samurai.

Takeko got up slowly, slinking around from the shadows as she tried to put down the now patched up shirt next to the rest of his stuff. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself but she had a feeling she would get caught, and so she did. Toyohisa caught his eyes on her, his sword also rapidly pointed in her way. She gave him a strained smile as she dropped his clothes next to him and scurried back to Oda's side. That man was much to scary for her liking, his eyes was of a warrior's but not as a soldier, but more a true samurai. Something she hadn't seen in years.

"Who the hell are both of you?!" He shouted at the two of them. He did not expect a woman to appear out of nowhere and give him such an awkward smile, if he didn't know any better that girl was asking a death wish. Beads of sweat travelled from his forehead. Never in his life had he ever met someone so audacious! And it was as if he didn't even hear him as the old man repeated himself.

"I am Nobunaga. Oda ufu Nobunaga", he declared. The light that came from the flames flickered from a sudden gust of wind that flooded the room, the sudden change in light created long drawn out shadows onto the so-called Oda giving him a sinister image. Toyohisa never felt more outraged, his face was contorted in rage and without any hesitation he swung his sword in a terrifying speed with deathly precision. Oda swung his head back quickly to narrowly dodge the sharp bladel, the flying silver shortening a couple strands of hair. At this point Takeko head her breath for a moment, because she was so close to Oda the blade nicked her own throat. Toyohisa gagged out in his own surprise. Takeko touched her neck, small beads of blood welled up from the cut. Takeko swiped her finger across the cut, staining her finger red.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight of blood, "Blood...", Takeko muttered softly, "It's always so hard to wash out", she felt small beads of blood well up from the cut and slowly dribble down. Using her own sleeve she dabbed the cut for a couple seconds before getting up and leaving to the other side of the room with a small scowl. Toyohisa's eyes followed her for a moment, his words stuck in his throat not too sure what he should say.

"That was dangerous. You really are an oaf", Oda said tauntingly, his face covered by the shadows. "You almost took off my head and you cut her neck", Oda said mockingly as he peered at the girl who was fiddling with some cleans rags to bandage her cut skin.

'You are the oaf! You say you are Nobunaga?! Lord Nobunaga has been dead for so many years now! Henceforth, here must indeed be the Netherworld! And you must be a devil trying to deceive me with your Nobunaga talk!" Toyohisa angrily shouted out at the self-proclaimed war lord. How could any of this be true, even for a joke this was simply to far. Oda was about to yell back right at him but before he could even open his mouth an arrow came flying right in-between them and lodged itself in the stone.

"Stop it", a young voice said. Yoichi could not believe it, he hadn't been gone for too long and he came back to see two angry men pointing their weapons at each other and Takeko already have another wound. Both men turned their attention to the newcomer, his figure was shrouded in the darkness. Takeko looked up to see Yoichi and stood up to give him a helping hand. The boy had left several hours earlier to go hunting. He walked casually past the samurai as if not aware of the high running tension around the room that the two men had created. Takeko following him as she wrapped the torn fabric around her neck.

"Are you awake? That's good news indeed", Yoichi said indifferently to the samurai. He scanned the room for a moment, there was a little bit of commotion but not so bad. Oda was a little ruffled but alright, Takeko had already thought past from the violence. Toyohisa didn't even have an answer to the arrival of this new stranger, all he could do was stare awkwardly while sweat nervously. Who on earth were these people!? Where on earth were these crazy people popping up from?

"Pluck these feathers off", Yoichi said while thrusting the bird by its neck to Oda. It was still squawking pathetically, in its last few minutes of life. "You too Takeko, what happened to your neck?" Yoichi threw her a bird and indicated to his own neck as a reference. Takeko pointed to Toyohisa and didn't say anything else.

"Hmm, I see", Oda said while looking at the pathetic bird still squawking pitifully. He took of the bird and began to pluck its feathers off, while Toyohisa could only watch in annoyance and surprise. Not only that but he felt tad guilty for cutting that girl's neck, even though it was an honest accident but as he watched her it seemed she already didn't care. But honestly what this fuck was he doing, was this man actually senile or something?

"Do you have your hands free?" Yoichi said to Toyohisa. He didn't care who the hell this man was, but if there was work to be done then he was to participate as well. And if it did come down to a fight, then he knew that the wounded warrior was the one to lose.

"Uh…yes", he said indifferently. Why did he need his hands free anyways?

"Pluck the feathers off", the archer casually said while holding out a bird for him to take. Takeko looked at the three men sitting side by side plucking the feathers off a bird, the just awoken samurai was more or less casual about his new situation but his expression said all.

"What the fuck is this?"

When the fire was burning strong and all of the birds had been plucked and cleaned out and was now roasting by the fire; a some-what friendly conversation was struck up by Oda.

"You said that Nobunaga died. So, people do really assume that I died then", Oda said with brows furrowed. He already knew he was meant to be a dead person, but he didn't get much information from Takeko who kept much of the future to herself. He cursed her and her whimsical ways, that girl was the so strange sometimes. It was hard to think of her as a female with the way she acted.

"Right! He is dead! He was betrayed and killed by his servant Akechi and his hosts in the Honnouji Temple in Kyoto. That was eighteen years ago!" Toyohisa said angrily, he gritted his teeth frustration. He knew because his very own father went to the funeral, he was still a child when Oda had passed on but he knew for sure that he was a dead man. Oda Nobunaga was already dead! There was no way he could come back to life!

"Wha…" Oda widened his eye, he stood up abruptly. "Do not say nonsense! Eighteen years ago?! Less than six months have passed since that kumquat head assaulted Honnouji and I was sent to this world!" Oda yelled out loud pointing an accusing finger at the wounded samurai. But now that he thought about it perhaps time moved differently here, Takeko herself was from a different century.

"Feh. That's what I'm saying, that you are a devil from the other world or a wandering ghost. Or perhaps you are simply an ordinary folk gone mad", Toyohisa said blandly, his dry tone infuriated Oda who was on the verge of thrashing the brat. Takeko and Yoichi looked at each before they both burst out into laughter, how silly was this man. They may had also been like that at first but they were more rational to think it through first at least.

"Heh heh heh. Hahahahaha!" Yoichi laughing uncontrollably was ticking off Toyohisa and it was pissing him off. He felt that he was left out from knowing something. But Yoichi soon stopped and he leaned towards Takeko to whisper something in her ear. She nodded furiously in agreement as she pointed to her own neck. Toyohisa eyed the young boy and the young female; the boy had a some-what gleeful and sneering expression on his face and the woman next to him had a rather pleasant expression of happiness or was it content? "For me, it is just too funny to see you making such a big deal for an insignificant matter like ten or fifteen years", Yoichi said gleefully as he stood up and walked towards the open doorway.

"And…who are you…?" Toyohisa while narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. He had enough of games and little secrets, if there was something to be known then he wanted to know. Because right now nothing made sense and all he wanted right now was to return the that blood stained field so he could continue with his battle.

"Tell him. Tell him", Oda said impatiently letting out a frustrated sigh. Takeko hummed in agreement.

"I am Yoichi. Nasu no Suketaka Yoichi. That is my name", the archer said with a mocking smile on his face. Toyohisa's eyes broadened substantially, he now began to question his sanity.

"Don't lie to me! He's a man of the war between the Genji and Heike clans! That was some four hundred years ago! It's just too absurd a story to believe!" Toyohisa screamed out loud, he panted as he was short of breath but the absurdity and audacity of these two men shocked and infuriated him all at the same time. He clenched his fists tightly to relieve some tension from his body. Although there were no documented descriptions of the man, he was generally thought to be a middle aged man in his thirties or forties who died valiantly in a war. Not a brat kid with long hair who looked more of a girl than a guy!

"Hmm…as absurd as it may seem, I am I. And you yourself should be dead, you said yourself you came from a time eighteen years ahead of Nobu right?" Yoichi said casually.

"Yes and what of it?" Toyohisa said irritably, what more could there be?

"Well, it is our lady over there that should be more shocked. For in her eyes, all of us should be dead", Yoichi said while pointing to Takeko. She looked up from her daze, before tilting her head and blinking owlishly.

"Who is he again?", Takeko said absentmindedly, her eyes glazed as her mind began to wonder far and beyond. She wasn't quite sure what she was thinking of, but she knew it was taking most of her thought processes.

"Who are you?" Toyohisa asked once more, his patience was wearing thin.

"Her name is Nakano Takeko, she's from a far distant future. More specifically 1868", Oda muttered, Takeko threw a small bone at his head.

"I didn't need you to say that Nobu", Takeko said as she leaned back against the cold wall.

"That's…that's…impossible! How are you even…?" Toyohisa couldn't even finish off what he wanted to say, he could only stare at the lithe woman who sat still who returned his stare with a stare of her own. Before sticking out her tongue like a child and turning away.

"This is a dream! A bad dream for sure!" Toyohisa said furiously, he was sweating profusely. This could not be happening!

"And you? Who are you?" Oda said while sitting back down on the stone ledge, he was getting bored of this little charade. He already had enough of this, Takeko was tolerable at least and she was well-mannered.

"Shimazu Toyohisa! Son of Shimazu Iehisa!" Toyohisa proclaimed loudly, it was a name he was extremely proud of, his heritage was something that he could hold his head high to.

"Shimazu…? Who…? Oh I see! That clan from Kyushu? That edge of Japan?" Oda seemed to have a makeshift map of Japan appear behind him, he pointed the very outmost islands of Japan, "Those incredibly provincial guys? Have to admit that they never came into my attention", he said blandly.

"I'll kill you!" Toyohisa shouted angrily, oh how badly he wanted to punch the old man in his face.

"I have also heard about Lord Shimazu. They were already present in my era as well", Yoichi said casually with a fond smile. Toyohisa turned his head to the young archer. "If I am not mistaken, he was a person from the outer rim of Kyushu. Oh that means that the Shimazu are provincial generation after generation", Yoichi said in surprise. He let himself ponder over his words for a moment, as Toyohisa drew out his sword in an attempt to cut the archer in half.

"I! Will! Kill you! All!" Toyohisa cried out, he held out his sword menacingly.

Suddenly Takeko exclaimed out loud in revelation frightening the three men, "Ah! I know who you are". She pointed a finger at his clothes, "I thought that cross was all too familiar. Aren't you the guy who tried to fend off an entire army with only a vanguard?" Takeko exclaimed excitedly as she clapped her hands in accomplishment. "I read about that it in one of my books, at that time I thought it was extremely heroic but also really dumb. So I had the impression that you were an idiot! And I was right!" Takeko said proudly.

Yoichi and Oda burst out in laughter, especially Oda who repeatedly slapped his knee as his bellows of laughter were leaving him short of breath.

"I WILL KILL YOU ESPECIALLY!" Slashing his sword in the air threateningly, Takeko swiftly moved to hind behind Oda. She had angered a wild dog, her eyes never leaving his sword.

Yoichi scoffed for a moment, "You will die if you move so vigorously, may I remind you that you have just been stitched". Toyohisa at that moment finally felt his body give him a tearing pain trembling through his flesh and bone. Blood seeping through his bandages, dripping from the over-soaked fabric. He clicked his tongue irritably.

"A tough man…well, sit down", Oda said while gesturing for the samurai to sit down. He looked at the old man in annoyance but complied and sat back down on the cold stone.

"Nobunaga…right?" Toyohisa said hesitantly, still not sure if he should believe what these people said.

"Indeed", Oda answered.

"Weren't you killed in the Honnouji Temple? You were supposed to be dead!" Toyohisa said still in disbelief that this legendary war lord could be still alive.

"Hah. Do you think that I would allow myself to be killed by that bald idiot? I was running from the temple with Ranmaru, in order to flee from the temple. And then I came up to a weird 'place'. It was a weird corridor, paved with stones and the walls were full of doors. And in the midst of the corridor, there was that strange man", Oda said distantly. His eyes half-lidded as if trying to remember what the strange man looked like.

"The same happened to me. I also met that man", Yoichi said deciding to stand up and see how dark it was outside.

"A foreigner who sits by a desk, he is the one who send us to this world", Takeko said absentmindedly, her fingers twining around the strands of her hair.

"I have also met that man too! In the middle of retreating from the crucial battle in Sekigahara!" Toyohisa cried out in surprise, he was now certain that these people could be trusted. They had all met that strange man of the corridor, and they had all been taken away from a battle.

"Sekigahara? You mean that place in Mino?" Oda questioned.

"Yeah. A huge battle between the Tokugawa forces and the Ishida forces", Toyohisa said plainly as if it was common knowledge, forgetting that Oda had already left the world eighteen years prior so he wouldn't have any idea what he was talking about.

"HUH?! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Why would Tokugawa battle in such a place?" Oda shouted out, holding out a hand. Who was Ishida Oda thought for a moment, that tea guy?

"Why…? Because after the death of the Kanpaku, the world has gone back to the Sengoku era!" Toyohisa stated. Takeko coughed a little ad tried to indicate that Toyohisa should stop talking, but Toyohisa didn't get the gist.

"'Kanpaku'? Why on earth would a Kanpaku rule the world?!" Oda yelled aloud, still not understanding what Toyohisa said.

"Because the Kanpaku has taken over the world. The Kanpaku named Hideyoshi", Toyohisa said plainly getting a little tired of explaining everything to the old man.

"Wait a damn freaking second! Why would that bald mouse be able to take over the world?!" Oda suddenly roared aloud, he had no fucking clue on what happened in the other world since he came to this world.

"To hell with you! I'm fed up with explaining! He killed Akechi, exterminated Shibata and yes too over the world! Yes, he, Hideyoshi!" Toyohisa bellowed back, he had enough with the shitty old man and his ignorance!

"Ka…Katsuie was killed?! And what about Oichi?!"

"How the hell should I know?!"

"And what about Niwa and Kazumasu?! And Toshii?!"

"Who are you talking about?! The Oda clan is a lowly servant of the Tokugawa now! Nobody remembers that 'Tenka Fubu' stuff anymore!" Toyohisa proclaimed loudly.

"WHAT!?" Oda yelled, "And Nobutada…? What happened to…my son…?" Oda said hesitantly, despite asking he already had a feeling that he knew the answer.

"…He is dead! His Nijo castle was sieged by Mitsuhide! He thought you were dead, so he fought 'till the bitter end!" Toyohisa said, most people would spare another's feelings but he was not one of them. The truth was something that people had to accept, hiding the truth would only hurt the person even more.

"Takeko, you knew of this didn't you", Oda called out to Takeko. She sat by the flames, she looked up to see the war lord.

"Yes", she said with a straight face, she did not avert her eyes but stared right back at Oda.

"And you did not tell me…?" Oda said, casting a dark look down on the woman. "Is this the reason why you avoided talking about this subject the last six months?"

"If that is what you to believe so", she said. Neither did she sound guilty but in the first place she had no obligation to tell him anything. She averted her gaze and let out a sigh.

"Hahaha! Hahaha! What a foolish son! That fool…that fool…" Oda said, if one saw him they would describe only as regretful. Not pitiful, no. Oda was much too proud, even to laugh off his own son's death, but what a bland and tasteless laugh it was. "He should have ran away sooner! Hahaha, they said that a man lives for fifty years. But my fifty years…were all in vain, it seems", he looked downwards as if trying to remember a distinct memory. But it was a fleeting memory.

"Nothing lasts forever. I was also surprised to hear from Lord Nobunaga that the Genji clan has been exterminated and the Kamakura Shogunate was over", Yoichi said with a sad smile. He certainly had his good times when he was still in the other world but now it seemed like a far distant past which they would never be able to return to.

"…Since you said that you were Nobunaga, when I saw this other man…I thought he was that famous Mori Ranmaru", Toyohisa said hesitantly, not really sure if he should be saying this. "More than that, I thought he was a woman…" Takeko spluttered out some water from her mouth, she was coughing heavily that Yoichi had to come over and hit her back.

"Don't jinx him..." Takeko said as she regained her breath, she gave Toyohisa a astounded expression.

"It would be great if he was Ranmaru", Oda said with a cheeky smile on his face.

Takeko reached for more bandages and threw them in Toyohisa's direction, he caught them in reflex. When he turned to thank her, she had already retreated into another stone room.

Toyohisa threw his sheets off and made a grab for his sword, he could probably sleep through anything but if there was one smell he could never ignore, it was the smell of smoke tainted with the smell of blood and the call of a fight.

"You noticed?" Yoichi said while standing by the door, he looked beyond the forest.

"What's this 'smell'?" Toyohisa said whilst holding onto his katana. It was a tantalising smell, drawing him in, calling out to him.

"It's the smell of battle", Oda said. He furrowed his eyebrows, where could there be a battle? Unless,"Smoke is rising. It's from the village of them 'elves', beyond the forest", Oda said curling his lips into a grimace. He went over to Takeko nudging her rib lightly. "Time to wake up", Oda cooed as he watched her slowly get into a sitting position.

"Can't you let me sleep?" Takeko muttered irritably, letting out a large teary yawn.

Edited: 30/06/2016