Chapter 8: Eat Shit Soldiers!

"Fire", Takeko murmured. She felt surprisingly calm, she wasn't as keen as Toyohisa nor did she have any grand plans like Oda. She didn't even like fighting as much as Yoichi as well. So she wondered why she was even here. The elves by her side with their bows drawn suddenly sent a shower of arrow upon on the makeshift campus. "Fire again", she said dully yawning a little whilst eyeing Toyohisa cut down soldier after soldier, a small group of elves were down there as well to aid him. "Alright. I'm off!" She signalled the elves to stop their firing and she soon jumped down from the ledge and skidded down, as she was reaching the bottom she caught sight of a soldier. He attempted to cut her down, but tripped on a stone resulting in his own demise as Takeko kicked him aside letting the elves finish him off.

Takeko let out a small shaky breath before unsheathing her polearm, the cloth unravelled in the wind as she wrapped her arm around the spear, relishing in the familiar sensation of the smooth wood against her skin. She had not even fought for half a year, but as she smelt the burning flesh, the blood drenched earth everything came crashing back to her. Her eyes sharpening, the heavy smog clouding her mind was suddenly cleared. There was the rush which swept her off her feet as she leaped from soldier to soldier, letting the spear guide her rather than her controlling it. Its gleaming silver cutting through the flesh and bone, staining the brilliant silver a crimson. She felt the drips of blood on her skin, it was warm but it quickly cooled in the night air. She let out a misty sigh as she stared up at the sky, it was no longer clear, it was clouded the stars were shrouded.

Toyohisa took a moment to gaze upon the female, it was strange. Normally when a warrior fought their eyes were glazed with the lust of war and the smell of blood. But her eyes were undeniably sharp and clear. There, standing alone amidst the pile of dead men, she somehow looked terribly lonely as she propped the polearm of her shoulders. Her hair tangled, matted with flesh and dried blood but somehow it suited rather the clean white gowns and heavy makeup of a noble. She looked at him, her gaze almost alien as if she wasn't even looked at him but beyond him. She pointed to a direction, Toyohisa turned to where she pointed.

Reinforcements came quickly, they stopped in their tracks in surprise as they saw Takeko and Toyohisa as well as the elves, "D-Drifters!" They cried out in shock.

"Good. Time to flee! Let's go Takeko!" Toyohisa signalled the elves to back off as he burst into a sprint with Takeko by his side. Takeko's hair flailed behind her, the both of them looked like fleeing demons. Adrenaline was running through Toyohisa's veins as he ran, laughing gleefully he sprinted even faster. He edged them on with a chase, and he never once did her feel the fear which the elves felt. He could only feel the wind and the heat of the fire brushing against his face. And the soft beckoning of a battle, which egged him on, making him even more impatient. Only once did he look back to check is she was behind him. And she was, just several steps behind him with a somewhat elated expression.

"D-don't let them escape! After them!" One of the men called out after them, but Toyohisa and Takeko were already out of earshot.

"Haha! The real fun starts now Takeko!" Toyohisa shouted cheerily as he eyed Takeko as she ran by his side, her eyes were steeled forward. Suddenly she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her right, a soldier had hidden himself in the shadows had tried to catch them off guard. Once in Toyohisa's peripheral he quickly swung his sword, slicing the soldier cleanly in half, armour and all. The blood splattering onto the both of them, Takeko smeared the blood off her cheek as she saw Toyohisa'a maniacal expression. It further fuelled her belief that this man was an ogre, it also made her laugh as she imagined him with horns and an severe under-bite.

"I don't know if this if fun!", Takeko yelled over the cries, "But this is thrilling", she laughed as she danced out of his sight, her robes trailed in the wind as she stabbed another man. Toyohisa responded with a loud laugh and a wide grin planted on his face. His hair now too matted with blood but unlike Takeko he simple ruffled his spikey tufts, shaking off the dried blood.

"Good. It had begun. Everyone ready?" Oda hadn't exactly for those two to move in so quickly, but the soldier's attention was diverted so now they could move in. Something roared within him, the same calling which had got so many year ago when he was younger. He was experiencing the same nervousness and anticipation as a young Lord, he didn't know whether it was because of the different circumstances he was fighting in or the thrill of the unknown. But what he did know was that he felt more alive than he ever did.

"Speed. Speed is everything. Move exactly as I told you", Oda said indicating to the horses and wagons. The elves were sweating nervously as they tightened their grip on their bows. Oda realized this and tried to alleviate their worries, but it may have actually worsened it. "Hey don't worry. The worst thing that can happen is your death", Oda said with a smug grin, their morale was much different than the troops he commanded back in the Land of the Rising Sun however their naivete could be manipulated, after all they had only just begun. He jumped onto the back of the wagon and once he had secured himself he shouted aloud, "RUN!"

The elves whipped the horse to a gallop, the elves ran besides the wagon each holding a long piece of wood. They somehow managed to keep up with the horse and wagon, whilst holding onto planks of wood. They were seemingly undeterred by the fact they had a chance of dying but the words of that red clad warrior fuelled a deep hatred for the Empire and the desire for freedom. Even if it meant they were to die for it.

"Feh, to think that I used to command a huge army of two hundred thousand man. And now look what I've become", Oda said to himself. He let out a sinister laugh, who could tell what the future held, but for once he simply could not care. He was caught up upon the moment and letting the tide of fate drag them along was okay for now. But he had an idea of what he wanted to do in this new uncharted world he and the other three had been thrown in. "I must admit that this word is really a lot of fun. And I'm loving it", Oda said with a demonic grin.

Toyohisa took a side-step and grasped the hilt of sword, and with a mighty swing he cleaved another soldier in two. Takeko lured the men closer towards the bloodied samurai with sweet whispers, confusing them and disorienting them in the heat of the fight. They fell one by one, mostly by Toyohisa as Takeko decided that she was already covered in enough blood. However Toyohisa had other ideas, taking full advantage of her light and lithe body he grabbed onto Takeko's hand, and using both hands he swung her around, allowing her to kick the surrounding men with the heel of her foot. The force of her kick and her swinging body was enough to crack the necks back. The soldiers fell dead or fell in severe pain as the whiplash was too strong for them to even see clearly.

With the soldiers momentarily pausing in their following, Toyohisa and Takeko took advantage of this and burst into a sprint away from the soldiers.

"After them!"

"Don't let them escape!"

"Why are you taking so long?! Our target is just two people! Surround them and bring them to me!" The supposed general cried out at his men, they shouted back at him in confirmation. Toyohisa continued to slash through the men who dared to jump in front of them, he laughed in elation as he relished the sensation of his sword cut through the men, one by one. The soldiers realising that the red clad man was more violent than his accomplice started targeted Takeko, but that was their downfall. She had earlier decided instead of wasting her energy on killing them one by one, she use some rather dirty tactics brought from their world. Pulling out a small satchel filled with precious powder she began letting it trail behind her. And when they had followed them for a significant amount of time, she dropped a burnt piece of wood, still smouldering. A resounding explosion, a small one in comparison to what the Drifters had seen in their world but it was good enough. It sent several men flying into the cottages, severely burning them as the flying debris cut them. Toyohisa laughed as Takeko stuck out her tongue egging them further. But the mysterious explosion had frozen them in their spots.

"They're laughing!"

"What the hell?!"

"Who the fuck are they?!"

"Ha! I bet they haven't seen that before", Toyohisa jeered.

Amidst the confusion Oda and the elves began charge through on the other side of the village. The soldiers of the local governor had been so wrapped up in capturing the two Drifters that Oda managed to sneak into the village with the elves with the plan coming all together. A few stray soldiers managed to catch sight of them, but they were quickly silenced with an arrow in their throats.

Oda snapped his fingers, to gain the elves attention, "Where's the guide?!"

"There it is!" One of the elves said pointing at a cart, "It's that cart! We are in front of my house!"

Oda hopped off the wagon and began orchestrating their great come-back, "Stop right beside it! Free the horse! Let's go!" He shouted, pointing at the walls. "Hurry up! Come on, hurry up!" Toyohisa and Takeko could only do so much before the soldiers started realising their presence.

"You will die! Everyone will die if you don't hurry up!" Oda cried out with a devilish grin, he continued to urge them with a rushed yet commanding voice. Piece by piece what they were doing started coming into light. The elves began forming a barrier around themselves using the wood planks, they quickly hammered down the nails and tied the planks in place. They began to unload the bows and arrows from the wagon and unbundle the arrows. And soon they were finished, Oda grinned. They had done it so quickly, more quickly than the dumb soldiers he once commanded.

"Shoot the fire arrows!" Oda commanded, drawing out his arm indicating to the houses. "This is farewell to this village! Steel you resolve! This is your farewell to this village that bound you! And this is farewell to the life you had as serfs!"

"FIRE!" The elves released their arrows and set the thatched roof of the cottages aflame. What a brilliant colour it was, it lit the entire vicinity like a bonfire. They did not cease, the elves continued to fire the arrows until every house was alit much like a torch.

The soldiers stopped in their tracks as they realised the houses were aflame, "What?! What's going on?!"

Toyohisa paused for a moment and admired the flames as it engulfed the houses in its destructive heat. He let out a wicked grin, Takeko looked at the flames dance upon the roofs. The flames seemed to leap from house to house as the wind blew through the village.

"Nobu is really a crazy guy", Toyohisa said with a smirk. But then again who wasn't crazy, they all were in varying degrees. But it was hard to say with their one unknown variable. The woman who came from the future. Takeko scratched at her hair, the blood was stuck at the base of her hair and it wasn't coming out. It felt disgusting with all the gunk in her hair.

"Well no-one is really getting hurt in the fire, so it's alright", Takeko said while looking at the flames whilst trying to untangle her hair.

"Are you sure about that?" Toyohisa said with a dark expression, yet a small smile was tugging at the edges.

"Oh sorry. I meant that no-one is getting directly hurt by the fire. But we all know what will happen anyways", Takeko said as she walked away. She pulled out her braid, letting her hair flow freely in the wind. Toyohisa watched her retreated form as she gave him a half-hearted wave good-bye. She had intentions of joining Oda, rather than standing around and following the samurai. She had done her job, and now all that was left was to sit back and enjoy the show.

"The soldiers of my country Owari were really weak. And that gave me a lot of headaches. So I had to think all the time about ways to cover this weakness up. But who'd think I would use a strategy from that monkey Hideyoshi?" Oda said to himself, letting out a dark chuckle. "Lo and behold, this is my Sunomata castle!"

"Prepare the next round of arrows, remember what I told you to do!" The elves took their arrows and dipped the tips into a bucket, they soon drew the arrows on their bows. "Prepare to fire!"

"Very well! Let's greet them with a refreshing shower!" Oda bellowed aloud, he snapped his fingers to signal for the release of the arrows. The arrows flew the air shooting down the soldiers as they charged forward to their deaths. Without haste they began to redraw their bows for the next barrage.

"This 'Orte' something is a country in war, right? So those men sent here must be lower ranked, less seasoned soldiers from locally stationed garrison", Oda informed to the elves. "Their moral and their combat skills should be lower as well. I doubt that they will fight to death. And I doubt we have to fight them all", Oda continued. In his own twisted way he was trying to give some moral support to the elves as they continued to fire their arrows.

"If we kill some thirty or forty men of theirs, for sure their lines will crumble into masses of fugitives", Oda laughed, with a malicious expression on his face. He was truly the image of the title that he had earned, The Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven. The soldiers continued to cry out in pain, shock and surprise. They scrambled out of the way to save themselves from an impending death. Oda let out another dark chuckle as he kicked a wooden box upright and sat upon it.

"They won't get any recognition if they slay some petty serfs. And for them it will be a dishonour to be killed by them elves. Poor things", he said whilst grinning evilly. "On the other hand, it is enough for us to hit them in any part of their bodies. Isn't this an easy war to be fought or what?" Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders, he jolted in the contact thinking it was a soldier. But he felt something rather soft pressing against his back, letting out a small sigh of relief he turned his head slightly to the see the wide copper eyes of the onna-bugeisha.

"You were scared for a moment weren't you Nobu?" Takeko chortled as she moved around him and sat at his feet.

"Don't be ridiculous, who could be scared of the those luscious breasts", Oda snorted as he looked away. Takeko smiled as she pressed her head against his leg, allowing her eyes to shut, she wanted to sleep. Even if it was just for a moment, amidst this chaos and death she somehow managed to find peace and silence. Allowing her to dose off. Oda spared a glance done at Takeko, she was breathing softly and her lips were parted slightly. It was a sight to behold, a blood drenched woman sleeping so peacefully right in the middle of a fight.

"Gwoh!"

"Gah!"

The cries of the soldiers echoed through the village, oh what a pitiful harmony of voices it was. The desperate cries of help, the small elven village had become the very depiction of hell. And the demons were the elves and strange men from the other world.

"What are you doing?! Get back to you positions! If we go for an all-out attack, that makeshift barricade will be down in a second!" The general ordered, he voice was starting to crack and he was sweating profusely, whether it was the heat of the flames or the imminent worry of his own death, it was something that no-one could even care at that moment.

"It's…it's shit! The arrowheads are full of shit!" A soldier cried out and he struggled to pull the arrow out. He continued to flail around wildly, trying to pull it out.

"What?! Bring water to wash the wounds! Or else you'll die with tetanus!" The general called aloud, signalling one of his men to bring some water. But alas there was none to bring.

"Sir…! We have no water!"

"The well is full of their shit as well! And we have virtually spent all the water we brought!" Another soldier called as he peered down the well.

The general widened his eyes in shock, "So, from the very beginning this was the reason why they threw shit into the well! This whole village was a trap! A trap! They didn't abandon the village to flee!"

Oda although could not hear them properly saw their expressions, it seems that they now understood what was happening. He suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, a manic grin was etched across his face. They had seen their own doom and there was nought they could do, it filled Oda with uncontrollable glee as he signalled the elves. "Get ready! Fire!" Takeko jostled a little shifted her head a little, to get into a more comfortable position.

"N…No way!"

"Hey!"

"Let's get out of here!" The soldiers cried out, they soon began scatter across the village, trying their best the dodge the arrows. The general releasing the men run away tried to regroup his men back but it was a futile effort. "D-don't panic! We outnumber them by far! If we surround them, we can…"

"OOOOOHHHHH!" A sudden bellow reverberated throughout the village startling the soldiers. They cringed at the horrendous sound as it echoed through the landscape, the elf and soldiers alike stopped what they were doing to look at where the sound had come from. A clear pathway emerged from the flames, the fire seemingly parted for Toyohisa. Toyohisa stepped into the peripheral of the soldiers, he had a huge grin on his face.

"What a voice. Sounds like a shrieking monkey. It doesn't seem like a human voice", Oda said in surprise. The elves behind rubbed their ears trying to get rid of the ringing noise inside their heads. Takeko jumped up in surprise, disorientated.

"Who just died?!" Takeko cried out in confusion as she stumbled over her own dress, as she grabbed her weapon. She rubbed her eyes, trying to rub out the sleepiness from her face.

"The head of the commander is mine", Toyohisa proclaimed as he unsheathed his sword and readied it for a direct blow, "Give me this honour". He took mighty bounds towards the general, his feet didn't even seem to touch the ground as he soldiers screamed out in shock, and in fear for their lives scrambled away from his way forming a path for him as he continued to charge forward.

"W…what?! What the…" The general said in shock as he witnessed his own men form a path for their enemy. And suddenly Toyohisa took a hefty jump, and for a moment soared above the tops of the soldiers' heads. As he neared the ground he swung his long sword, he landed down with a heavy thud but now behind him the general's head had been relieved. He had a triumphant grin, the blood seeping through the fabric of his cloths sending chills down his heated skin.

"He's mine!" Toyohisa cheered happily, with the general down there was no reason for these soldiers to be here anymore. His beast was appeased a little but he knew there was so much else to be done as he shook his head wildly, the blood flaying out of his hair. Takeko stood still for a moment as she took a long look around them, they had achieved quite a result. And quite a bit of damage as well, the smell of shit and burning wood was quite overwhelming for her sensitive nose.

Oda looked at Toyohisa as he pondered over his thoughts, 'The timing of his attack and the timing of him beheading the commander were simply perfect to crush the morale of the enemy', a perfect commander for them. He would be the strategist of course, but then there was Takeko and Yoichi. Yoichi was already the leader of the elves, but there was uncertainty about Takeko. Perhaps she could be Toyohisa'a personal guard, her fighting style seemed to suit that and she could keep an eye on him at all times.

In a moment of silence, the elves processed what had happened. They looked at the battle torn village and the still raging fire, but what they focused on were the dead soldiers and the empty battlefield.

"W…We won!"

"We won!"

"Yes we won!"

"WE WON!"

"Hooray!" The elves cheered with ecstatic expressions, it had been a long time since they were so happy. And the feeling of accomplishment was simply indescribable.

"No, not yet! Not yet!" Toyohisa bellowed, his figure illuminated by the flames of the fire. "I said we would go right to the castle of the local governor and kill him, right?!"

Oda looked at him with a deadpanned expression, "Oh really? And do you have any idea of how to do that?" Oda asked having a feeling that he already knew the answer.

"Of course not", Toyohisa said plainly.

"Oh…It figures", Oda said with an exasperated sigh. Takeko slinked by Toyohisa's side peering at Oda as they shared a knowing sigh.

"If we are to strike, then we have to strike 'till the better end. Strike and strike and strike, 'till we crush our enemy and reduce it to nothing. That's what I learned from my father, my uncle, my other uncle, another uncle, my grandfather and my great-grandfather", Toyohisa stated.

"What a nasty family! Your clan is really insane!" Oda proclaimed in a loud voice.

"WHAT?!" Toyohisa yelled, gritting his teeth.

"Hey, calm down, calm down. I have a plan. And besides the soldiers who fled should be seeing hell right now", Oda said with a wicked grin. It should be right about now, Yoichi and the remaining elves should be dealing with the stragglers. He highly doubted that anyone of them would survive.

"Let's play dress up!", Takeko said. She tore off one of the boots from one of the dead and with some struggle she ripped off his helmet and breastplate, she held them up triumphantly with a grin. "Ta-da! We can be like a ninja!" She laughed as she began dragging the dead body closer to her so she could inspect if there was anything else she could wear which didn't have any blood on it.

Toyohisa gave her a long hard stare, trying to find some meaning behind her random moments of craziness. Oda let out an exasperated sigh before ordering the elves to do the same, what she said was right. But to think she caught on so quickly, he had merely glanced at the dead bodies, he hadn't even implied anything.

"What's a ninja?" One of the elves mumbled with a confused expression. A few others murmured in agreement.

"Assassins who sneak up behind their target to slit their throat, without letting the enemy even know they were even there", Toyohisa said. Although he said it in the simplest terms it was enough for the elves to understand what Takeko implied.

Takeko emerged from behind a house wearing the armour however if was a much too loose, even though she was wearing her clothes underneath. And her hair was much too long to be hidden inside the helmet. Her hair was at her shoulders when she first came to this world, but in six months it now reached near her waist. It grew too fast for her liking. "Toyo, can I borrow your short-sword?" Toyohisa raised a brow in question but chucked her the sword wordlessly. Gripping her hair in a bundle, with one swift movement she cut through her hair. Letting the significantly shortened hair fall onto her shoulders. She threw the bundle hair into the fire as she handed the sword back to Toyohisa. The elves were mildly surprised, but it was Oda and Toyohisa who were even more surprised. Hair for women was their indication for status, the longer and more silky smooth it was it meant the more noble they were. Oda's own sister had hair which reached the floor.

"I thought women cared about their hair?" Toyohisa said as he stared at her suddenly cropped hair. She gave him a shrug as she put the helmet on, and covered her mouth with some cloth.

"Who cares here?" Takeko said nonchalantly. Even though he couldn't see her smile, he knew she was smiling. her eyes were twinkling in amusement.

"Very well. Everyone donning your armours?!" Oda said with a sinister grin, looking at the elven men dressed in the armour. It was a little big for them for they had slimmer figures but it fit well enough. Toyohisa scratched his neck every now and then, it was much too heavy and thick for his liking. All this unnecessary layers for what?

"Well then. Let's go!"

I probably won't update the next week or so. Don't know, depends on my mood.

Edit from future me: I'm practically changing everything... My writing style has changed and I want to develop the characters more.