Chapter 16: A Voice to Be Heard

His eyes had changed, they were no longer playful but rather serious. His intentions had not changed, and the emotions which bubbled within him had not changed either, it was was merely his expression. It was like there was switch inside of him, clinking on and off inside of him in a moments. His eyes contracted around, in the sight of the soldiers which stormed out of the fortress. They were heavily armoured and they were seasoned soldiers which were not afraid of throwing their lives away. Takeko tugged on his sleeve as a warning, she knew he was not stupid enough to engage in a fight with them. But she could never be too sure.

Toyohisa was no fool, indeed he wasn't. He speculated that his sword would become brittle after a few moment of bashing against the thick metal and inevitably shatter so he could not afford that. His mind raced to think of a solution, time was pushing against him and his heart was beating loudly. "Large armours, large swords, large spear! No arrows no bows and now horses!" That was not a good sign, anyone could tell. These men were used to hand to hand combat, they could not be dealt with on normal circumstances and methods. "Retreat!" The elves dashed away at the order, they had only lingered before, because of their loyalty and awaiting their commander's orders. He signalled Olmine to come closer. She had been lingering near the rear of the elves, she didn't know how to fight, best only at being the support and defence.

"Running away?! You won't leave this place alive!" This man was easily recognised as the leader of the armoured defence corps, and Toyohisa felt some regret that he would not be able to collect his head. But regardless they needed to move forward, he would not be stopped by some tin-canned men.

The armoured men stormed forward, the ground trembled underneath the sheer weight. The clanking of metal and the grating sound of the jointed areas of the armour was rubbing against each other was ear-piercing. It wasn't like the refined sound of two swords clashing against each other, this merely sounded like someone unceremoniously banging two iron pots together and stomping their feet on the ground. She hated it immediately.

Toyohi looped his arm around Takeko's waist and pulled her back, she was not aware of the plan he had so he didn't want her to get caught up by accident. Her eyes followed the path of where his eyes directed at, she saw Olmine and her lips curled into a smile. She knew what he was doing and leapt back along with him. "I know what you're doing", she sang, her eyes dancing in mirth, her lips smiling coyly. "What a dirty move, but very Shimazu-like", she was beaming. Toyohisa merely grinned back.

Small pieces of paper flew past them, coordinated and direct in their path. The talisman soon slamming down onto the floor, making a rough enclosed shape around the armoured men. The stone walls almost immediately burst forth from the ground in a spectacular manner, trapping the men in a walls of stone. Olmine had a rather regretful expression, filled with guilt and question if she should be doing this. But the deed was done. The men were trapped and their fate sealed.

"Throw them in!" Toyohisa shouted out. The elves threw whatever explosives they had, whether it was their explosive arrows or their gunpowder packed parcels. All fuses lit. The elves immediately ducked down, shielding their heads and covering their ears. The following blast of sound was one mixed with screams of pain and the shockwave of sound. The ground trembled at the magnitude of the concentrated force. The walls soon crumbling away at the force and Takeko looked up, slowly opening her eyes. Toyohisa had shielded her from the flying debri, they were both now covered in a fine layer of grey dust. She blinked her eyes in surprise.

"The enemy lines are collapsing!" Shouting, Toyohisa jumped up, "This is our chance! Our golden chance! Let's go!" he was pleased, the results were good. The elves responded quickly and clambered quickly onto their feet, charging towards the drawed gate. Bellowing out their battle cries, there was this sort of unity which made them feel even more empowered as a race.

"The Armoured Corps were annihilated!?"

"Impossible! What was that!"

"The gate! Close the gate!"

Toyohisa jumped down, Takeko following after him. The stone walls had been used to make stairs, she didn't expert that. She looked ahead of her seeing the numerous amount of houses all lined up next to each other only broken up by a few roads and alleyways. The entire place gave off the feeling of constriction and heaviness, a feeling of suppression.

"This citadel is ours!" Toyohisa claimed proudly, they had suffered no casualties at all and he was pleased, he suspected that they wouldn't have any casualties at all. He knew for sure that there were not enough soldiers in the fortress to defend them and they wouldn't have the sufficient supplies to keep them in there for too long. It was done, the battle was over. There wouldn't be much resistance from the remaining soldiers and threw dwarves were now to be freed.

"Toyo, sir. Let us free the dwarves", Shara said. he never imagined that in his entire lifetime that he would say that, but now the circumstances were different and everyone needed to join forces of the world would be destroyed.

"Huh?" He was facing away from them. His attention on the citadel and its structure.

"They are strong warriors. That's what the elves hear since childhood", he said. "The elves do hate the dwarves. Every night our fathers tell is about them, with a voice full of fear and despise", he continued. "But that shows also an envy for the things that the elves don't have. Their strength, their toughness, the sharpness of their axes". A small bit of dust had been brushed away, their reluctant admittance that there was this sort of admiration towards the dwarves, no matter how much they hated each other. There was a change in the air, or perhaps since the every beginning when the Drifters had arrived.

"they must be here, kept as captive. It was unthinkable for the elves to fight side by side with dwarves. Until now!" He made a wild gesture, towards the buildings, his voice pleading and there was the hint of regret.

Toyohisa turned around finally to regard Shara, there was a brazen smile plastered on his face. It was fascinating how people could change so quickly when they faced a greater crisis, enemies become friends, nations bands together and long-hated rivals would forget all pretences to stand together to fight against a force greater than they are. It seemed the fear of something for terrifying would link thousands of people together unwittingly.

"That's my idea from the start. Let's free them".

'The dwarves are crude, violent, dirty barbaric, with a nasty beard. They like to drink a lot and eat a lot. They stink and they are dangerous. With their huge arms they can crumble boulders and strike their steel. With their huge legs, they stand strong on the ground. With their huge axes, they split their enemies in half. And then, they go drinking again, laughing and singing'.

Takeko had separated off from Toyohisa, the elves had all scattered across the compound breaking down the doors and charging in. All intent on freeing the dwarves no matter what animosity they held to one another before. The houses or perhaps a better reference would be warehouses, were overbearing and there were no windows to be seen. The few windows that were on the sides were small and bared with metal and the ones that weren't bared were too high up for anyone to see through. The stench of faeces and coal was thick and smoke constantly billowed out from the tall chimneys of the warehouses protruding from the roofs. Her walk continued along the streets, her feet every now and then stepping onto the tile shingles cracking them underneath her weight.

She stopped in front of one cottage, allowing the elves to break the door down. The door came down in a clattering coach, hinges breaking off and the wood splintering. "A woman?" A voice called out to the young woman, the voice was shaky and out of breath. It sounding hoarse as well, as if it had not been in use for a long time. Takeko drew her gaze downwards as she peered at the dwarf who spoke to her, she nodded absentmindedly. The dwarf was thin and had a stout figure, eyes sunken in and despite his broad shoulders and manly appearance his figure did not radiate any bit of strength or power. It was disappointing at most considering that she heard many magnificent tales of their battles and strength from the elves.

She looked around the room in curiosity but mostly shock; how could so many dwarves live in such a cramped space and have so little hygiene. The stench inside was unbelievable, she was tempted to cover her nose but refrained from doing so in mind to not harm their feelings. But she already knew they were far beyond caring anymore about little things like manners and courtesy.

Toyohisa some houses down the loan was also thinking along the same lines. Men, women and perhaps children but Toyohisa couldn't differentiate between the elders and the young were all cramped into such little bed bunks and tiny living conditions. There was obviously not enough food to go around them all seeing empty bowls scraped clean were scattered across the room.

Takeko took a small step forward, further into the room, her sleeves and hem of her dress rustling against the floor. "My, my. And here I was thinking that dwarves were meant to be such barbaric creatures with the strength to crush boulders. But in the end a caged animal will lose their claws", Takeko said wryly with a forlorn smile.

"Tell me, have your claws dulled. Or have you been patiently sharpening all these years?" Takeko said with a smirk, a predatory gleam in her eyes as she gazed down upon them. They looked up at her in shock, unspeakable emotions flashed before their eyes. Takeko good at reading people expressions and their body actions, but if there was one thing she excelled at, then it was the eyes.

"We…have been sharpening them long enough", the dwarf male said with pale eyes, "Much too long", he managed to say.

"I see…" Takeko said while nodding in acknowledgement.

"Lady Takeko! Toyohisa is calling for you", Shara exclaimed as he skidded to a stop when he caught sight of the black-haired woman. She turned her gaze over her shoulder to see the pointed ear Shara and several more elves gather around her, a small scout group ordered to survey the area and find any leftover soldiers who were hanging around and kill them. She looked around to see more elves kick down the doors and widen their eyes in shock as they saw the once magnificent dwarves reduced to such a state. It seemed that they were liberating the dwarves as well, all past feud between the two races had obviously put aside.

"I will assume everything is fine then?" Takeko said dully with a lilting smile. Shara responded with a short 'yes ma'am'. Takeko turned her attention back to the still shell-shocked dwarves who had not believed what had happened. She lifted her brow and had an amused expression, they still did not do anything, for they were still surprised of the events which were unfolding in front of them.

"Sir Toyo is gathering the dwarves for a meal, he says no soldiers were to march on with an empty stomach. He wants you to cook for several armies", Shara continued. Takeko nodded rolling up her sleeves. There should be plenty of food in this citadel so she would need some elves to help her cook.

Before she left she turned back to the dwarves. "Well then?" Takeko drawled as she looked at the dwarves, her foot tapping impatiently, "What are you waiting for?" She said wryly, she turned away from them before seeing their reactions but she could hear the shuffling of their feet and creaks and groans of the beds being shifted. They were moving and slowly pulling themselves together. She wasn't particularly hungry but hard working soldiers must be fed.

"Gather whatever food you get your hands on, cooking utensils and plenty of water. The dwarves must be fed", she said with a smile, marching towards the heat of the commotion.

"Takeko! Takeko! Oh thank God you're finally here, talk some reason into this buffoon!" Olmine cried out to the woman, her pigtails flailing behind her, "He's cooking the horses, anyone of them no matter what their uses are!" She ran to meet Takeko who looked up from her pot, mirth dancing on her eyes. The smell of cooking meat was thick and wafted around the vicinity. The amount of dwarves gathered around the several huge cooking pots was simply incredible and even before her eyes the food was disappearing much too fast.

"I know! I'm the one who's cooking them!" She laughed as she ladled some stew into a bowl, passing it to a dwarf. She tore some bread and placed it in the bowl as well. Her eyes languid and glazed as she watched at the hustle and bustle. Olmine gaped her mouth in shock.

"You can't be serious girl! Don't just listen to whatever that moron says! That idiot is eating right in front of the enemy! Beat some common sense into that fool, would you!?" A voice shouted out, Takeko looked around in surprise, she was sure she had old man Oda's voice but he was nowhere to be seen, "Did you hear me or not?!" The voice continued to shout, Takeko turned her gaze down to the small jade like ball that Olmine was holding.

"Is this the communicating device that you talked about?" Takeko asked to Olmine, she gave a terse nod as beads of sweat travelled from her forehead. "How nifty", Takeko said casually. She picked up the ball to inspect it for herself, "Nobu you already know that, that fool is Shimuza Toyohisa. The one who charged against a whole army by himself with only a musket rearguard. There's no point trying to persuade him of anything, I'd be better off talking to a rock", Takeko said sarcastically. She heard Oda sigh on the other side, a sigh of defeat that is.

"Tell them to make soup", Oda said abruptly.

"Now you're talking. I was thinking some vegetables would be nice. Although we're running a little low on the flour", Takeko said scratching her head. There was a slight problem with the transportation of the water as well, it was hard to find anything which wasn't covered in coal dust and metal shavings in this compound.

"Shut up you brat! Tell them to chew a lot before swallowing, at the very least", Oda said with a huge sigh, Takeko laughed even more.

"Yes, yes I understand. I'm going now", Takeko said lightly. She chucked the ball back to Olmine who only managed to catch it.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?" She fumbled over the ball as she looked up in shock.

"To make some soup, isn't it obvious?" The black-haired woman without another word walked away from the dumbstruck girl, who couldn't believe these people. Honestly it would take her years before she could even comprehend what was going on in their minds.

"You're eating?" Yoichi said in surprise, the three of them were seated inside one of the houses which had been cleared out for their use. Takeko looked up at him with bored eyes and nodded, she proceeded to tear her bread and dip it in the soup.

"Why do you find that strange?" She replied, swallowing.

"No, I was just sure you would've lost your appetite by now watching the dwarves eat", Yoichi continued, he had certainly lost most of his. She looked up and around them, they were in one of the houses and indeed it was a sight to behold. The dwarves were literally scrambling to eat anything they could get their hands on, gobbling down the soup and tearing away at the bread. They ate so quickly as well, it was astounding.

"I'm surprised myself..." She blinked slowly and set away her bowl. She had finished, although the portion she had eaten was quite small.

"We're storming the castle soon, if they want to put up a fight then you know what to do", Toyohisa said dully chewing on a chicken bone. His teeth were strong enough to snap the bones in his mouth. He knew he wouldn't have resort to violence but just in case...

Takeko hummed as she lay her head on the table, it was warmth from the bowl being on it. It was shooting and she almost feel asleep had it not been Toyohisa jerking her awake.

Edit: 18/10/16 as usual I've changed quite a bit but I think you will be more pleased with the changes.

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