Warning: This is based off a manga called Sengoku Strays. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you do! I don't own anything but my OC, and I will probably end up using artistic license to butcher Japanese history, so I would just like to apologize in advance, and I don't mean to offend anyone!

[Narration]

{setting/stage directions}

"Speech."

'Thoughts.'

"English speech."

—¡–!–¡–!–¡— Scene shift/passage of time.

A whole line of text like this without quotes is a written letter or something similar.

WORDS IN ALL CAPS AND NO QUOTATION MARKS ARE SOUND EFFECTS.

Flashbacks and changes in POV will be labeled.

Unless stated otherwise, the POV will be third person omniscient.

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Previously:

"Personally… true enough, if you don't tell him face to face, he wont understand. To do that, let's head to the battlefield." Gorouza said.

His eyes were shielded by his bangs, so they couldn't see his expression, but Ayako somehow had the feeling he was struggling not to laugh, despite how serious he sounded. He was probably planning something to get back at them for slandering the lord and prove how awesome Nobunaga really was. Gorouza looked back up, his face completely serious again.

"Right now, our lord is facing off at 'Akatsuka'… with Lord Yamaguchi Noryoshi." Gorouza said. Ayako smirked.

'So, that's his plan… let them see for themselves what kind of man the Lord of Owari is.' Ayako thought as they all marched towards the battlefield together.

{Owari, Akatsuka}

"Raaaaah!" Two soldiers cried as their weapons clashed. Many similar war cries could be heard across the battlefield as the two sides battled, fighting for victory and dominance over each other. A new wave of resolute and steadfast soldiers bearing the crest of the Oda clan stepped forward in unison, moving as though they were one.

"Ahhh! D-Don't break formation!" Lord Yamaguchi yelled as his soldiers flinched, and some of them even took a step backwards, loosing their nerve. 'Impossible!' Yamaguchi thought as the lord of Owari's soldiers halted and they all slammed the dull end of their spears into the ground. The sound of the combined thuds echoed across the battlefield, like a rolling wave of thunder. 'Our forces are 1500 strong, and theirs are at best 700…!?' Yamaguchi thought, shocked and breaking out into a nervous, cold sweat. 'With our superior numbers, we should have the advantage! That fool of a lord didn't inherit his family's military genius. Once we knew that, my family chose to gamble on the Imagawas. It was so we could survive in these turbulent times…!' He watched as the lord of Owari's soldiers defeated his soldiers, one after another, and pushed them back. The 'fool of Owari' was drawing closer. Yamaguchi could see him now. "And yet… How…!?" Yamaguchi said out loud, starting to panic. Oda Nobunaga held his arm straight out and raised his hand. 'What's going on!?' Yamaguchi thought, totally loosing it. Nobunaga brought his hand down, signaling his troops to attack. The soldiers raised their spears. 'The soldiers are moving as one, in unison…!?'.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"Something's not right here…" Ayako said as they were all running to meet up with the troops and leave the castle.

"I agree! Don't you think this is strange, Niwa-san?" Kasane said.

"I know… You can call me Gorouza, by the way." Gorouza said. Inuchiyo glanced curiously at him.

"What is…?" Inuchiyo asked excitedly, suddenly coming up behind him, and hovering like a curious puppy.

"Hush, Inuchiyo. Kuranosuke, guard the rear." Gorouza ordered. Kuranosuke nodded and fell back to the back of the group. Inuchiyo was pouting in his own little corner of woe, like a kicked puppy.

"We're getting away so easily…" Kasane said.

"We haven't run into a single guard along the way… it's suspicious." Ayako said. The prisoners were escaping, so you'd think the guards would at least try to get them back.

"Looking from Narumi, the battlefield, Akatsuka, lies east of San no Yama… So, we've passed along the west side of it." Gorouza said. "Once you've exited this forest, there's open coast line. Our opponents letting us come this far… Most likely means they've taken the horses ahead of us—" Gorouza said as they all came to a sudden stop. Standing there before them, was a group of enemy soldiers from the castle.

"Oh, lovely. We've been ambushed…" Ayako deadpanned as they stared at the fully armored and mounted enemy soldiers. Ayako really didn't want to have to hurt their horses. She liked horses, and it wasn't their fault that their riders were idiots.

"Did you truly think you'd escape from the castle so easily?" One of the soldiers asked mockingly.

"This is… not good." Gorouza whispered.

"That's a sound assessment of the situation, but I was hoping you'd have a plan…" Ayako whispered back.

"It seems like that fool's trained up some brats of his own." The soldier said, continuing to speak. He laughed at them and smirked. "But for him to think that he could penetrate the castle with so few of you… Maybe you were left behind when the army marched, and now you're playing a little war game here? Ahahaha!" Inuchiyo flinched and his eyes were veiled in shadow.

"Oh no." Katsumi said, face-palming. Gorouza sighed.

"?" Kasane said, confused.

"That's the worst thing he could've said." Gorouza said, sweat dropping and holding a hand to his forehead, a much more dignified version of a face-palm than Ayako's spastic forehead slap.

"Shut up." Inuchiyo said, trembling. "I… I…, well… I…" Inuchiyo suddenly leapt at the soldiers. "I wanted to go with the master! Idiots!" Inuchiyo cried.

"Ahh!? Who is this guy!?" The soldiers shouted in alarm, sweating, as Inuchiyo flew at them.

"He leaped!?" Kasane shouted, shocked.

"My, My." Gorouza said.

"And he was doing so well bearing with it too…" Ayako said.

'Maybe he should've gone with his master…' Kasane thought, sweat dropping as she watched Inuchiyo take his frustration out on the soldiers.

SLAM! WHAM! BAM! Ayako thought she heard the sound of something important breaking as Inuchiyo knocked the men off of their horses.

"Arrghh!" One of the soldiers cried in agony.

"Rawwwh!" Inuchiyo roared.

"Hold him down!" Another soldier cried.

"Perfect." Gorouza said. "Since Inuchiyo's lost it, we'll join the fray, and buy you some time." Gorouza said as he drew his sword. It was a huge zanbato. It reminded Ayako of the 'zanpakto' one of her favorite anime characters had wielded.

"You guys should escape when you get the chance." Ayako said.

"No… I'll fight too!" Kasane said, taking an offensive stance.

"Kasane!" Sayo said, worried for her strange new friend.

"But…" Gorouza said hesitantly.

"I was the one who first talked about escaping. Everyone wants to go back to their villages." Kasane said. "Don't worry! If you look closely, you can tell that I was raised in a dojo. No matter what happens, I'm sure to win!" Kasane said, smiling confidently.

'Sure too…?' Gorouza thought, surprised. Ayako grinned at Kasane. She already knew Kasane was strong from when she had blocked her blow back at the castle. She clapped Kasane supportively on the back and ran to take up her own offensive position.

"Just a quick tip, I find the best spot to hit them is in the shoulder, were their armor is tied on. There's a small gap in between the chest plate and the shoulder guards." Ayako called back over her shoulder.

'Smiling in a situation like this…' Gorouza thought as he stared at the two strange girls. He had only known Ayako for a few days since Nobunaga introduced them, so he had never seen her in an actual battle before. He could see why their lord had taken to her so quickly. 'I guess there are other strange people in this world besides my 'master'.' "Then… I'll take these guys." Gorouza said, moving into position as well.

"Okay! Leave it to me!" Kasane said.

"Watch out!" Ayako warned Kasane as arrows flew right past her.

"!" Kasane said in surprise as she stared at the arrows that were now embedded in the ground before her.

"Win, you said?" An enemy soldier said as he prepared to draw another arrow.

"More soldiers from the forest…" Sayo said nervously.

"I'm impressed that you made it this far on those girly legs of yours. But don't think we'll let you win so easily. How about you be good and go back to the castle?" The soldier said, mocking them as more enemy soldiers surrounded them. A vein mark popped on Ayako's head. She really wanted to kick that sexist pig's ass.

'Masamune, Kotetsu…!" Kasane thought as she clenched her fist, determined to make it back to her little brothers. She couldn't be defeated here.

—¡–!–¡–!–¡—

"Arrghh!" An enemy soldier cried out as Ayako struck him with her hanbo. He hit the ground, out cold, joining several of his already defeated comrades in la-la land. Suddenly two of the remaining soldiers rushed at her and attacked simultaneously. One of them aimed for her head, and the other aimed for her gut.

"Whoa!" Ayako said.

She leaned to the side and kicked her feet up, aligning her body so that it was now horizontal and parallel to the ground. The force from when Ayako pushed off of the ground spun her body as she managed to roll right between the two spears her attackers had thrust at her. Ayako had only just managed to dodge. The surprised look on her attacker's faces was priceless. Taking advantage of their stunned stupor, Ayako struck one of them on the temple with her hanbo, and she sucker-punched the other. They were both instantly K.O.'d. Ayako froze when she heard the all too familiar click of a pistol being cocked. She had heard it enough times when she was sparring with Kuranosuke to know what it meant.

'Crap…!' Ayako thought, as she spun around to face her attacker. The soldier leered at her and pulled the trigger. "!" Ayako yelled as she somehow managed to block the bullet with her hanbo. Unfortunately, while she had managed to save herself, when the explosive force driving the bullet hit her hanbo, it splintered and snapped it in half. The soldier laughed.

"What are you going to do now, girl? It's just you and me now." The soldier leered at her. Ayako glared defiantly at the man, refusing to show any fear. She scammed the area for something she could use as a weapon.

'Maybe I could get to that guy's spear…' Ayako thought. She doubted she could outrun a bullet, but it was worth a shot. The soldier noticed what she was looking at.

"I don't think so!" The soldier said. He raised his gun, and aimed at her. Ayako took off, sprinting towards the spear.

BANG!

Ayako squeezed her eyes shut. She hadn't made it to the spear. For a moment, she thought maybe she'd actually been hit when she smelled blood, but then she realized she wasn't hurting anywhere. Ayako slowly opened her eyes, and looked up. Her eyes widened in surprise at what she saw. There, laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, was the soldier who had tried to shoot her only seconds ago. Someone had shot him. Ayako realized she could hear the sound of a horse galloping towards her. She quickly grabbed the spear, and looked up to see who was coming. She knew it probably wasn't an enemy since she was alive, and the other guy wasn't, but better safe than sorry, right? It was then that her savior came into view, riding out from the forest. It was Oda Nobunaga, lord of Owari. He was holding a rifle in one hand, and his horse's reigns in the other. Ayako's eyes widened in realization. He had fired that shot while he was not only super far away, but while he was riding a horse, too. It had been a crack shot.

"Good shot." Ayako said, still slightly stunned, as Nobunaga slowed his horse to a stop when he reached her. "How're things at Akatsuka? You're not injured, right?" Ayako asked, concerned. He looked perfectly healthy and uninjured, but it hadn't stopped her from worrying.

"…" Nobunaga said as he stared down at her. Ayako sweat dropped. His stare was so intense, like he was trying to give her an x-ray with his eyes or something. "I should be asking you that. Why are you fighting alone? Where are the others? What happened to the prisoners?" Nobunaga demanded. Ayako heard the rest of the troops coming, catching up to their hurricane of a leader.

"We ended up splitting up… you know, divide and conquer? The prisoners are safe for now, but…" Ayako said. "I didn't think he'd bring a gun into a stick fight… I can't believe I let my guard down like that." She sighed. "But on the plus side, I managed to do an awesome new move earlier! And I think one of the girls, Kasane, has… similar origins to me." Ayako said, glancing cautiously at the soldiers who were now within hearing distance. "She was wearing clothing from my 'homeland.'" Ayako said, smiling excitedly, like a little kid who had just discovered where her parents hid the candy.

"… Is that so?" Nobunaga said, intrigued. "Take me to them."

Author's note:

As many of you anime and manga fans have probably already guessed, Ayako's favorite zanpakto wielding anime character is none other than Ichigo from Bleach. (Which I do not own, so please don't sue me! DX)