Part 3 – Resistance
The next day, Sasuke had set up a makeshift command-post in his father's study, complete with a map of Orlais and everything.
"Ok," Sasuke said as he looked down at the map, and placed a gold flag over his family's castle and Val Firmin, "What are we dealing with?"
"The surrounding villages of Velun and Monstimmard have offered their support," Naruto said, "As of right now the forge-master in Val Firmin has agreed to use his available supplies to make weapons."
"What about your family's private guard?" Sasuke asked.
"They've already begun to set up a perimeter around the towns," Naruto said, "But there's still aren't enough knights to qualify to be Commanders."
"We don't need them," Sasuke said as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and then Shino's, "I've got the best Commanders right here."
Naruto and Shino looked at Sasuke, "You want us to be your generals?" Naruto asked.
"There's no two people I trust more," Sasuke said, "And you two know your way around your weapons."
"I accept." Naruto said.
"I'm in." Shino said.
"What about the Qunari front?" Sasuke asked.
"After taking Val Royeaux, they tried to sneak through the Nahashin Marshes to take Adamant Fortress but failed," Shino said, "They lost a good fourth of their forces."
"So let's consider that neutral," Sasuke said as he placed a white flag on the marker for Adamant Fortress, "What about Verchiel, Lydes, and Halamshiral?"
"Marquise Mai Terumī has prepared the forces of the villages to the east to defend against the Qunari," Shino said, "A message arrived yesterday saying that she will pledge her support on the condition that you help her in a small non-trivial pursuit."
"What is that?" Sasuke asked.
Shino then snapped at the messenger, and signaled him to come toward him.
"Yes M' lord?" The messenger asked.
"Take a horse and ride to see the Marquise," Sasuke said, "Deliver her this message. I will meet with her on the condition that she comes to Val Firmin, and see me in person."
"Yes M' lord." The messenger said.
The messenger left, leaving Sasuke, Naruto, and Shino to their work.
"So what do we do as we wait for word from the Marquise?" Shino asked.
"We've got work to do ourselves," Sasuke said as he pointed at Val Firmin, "I want the forge-master brought to me. I need him to undertake a special project."
Shino walked out to the village, and found Might Guy's Forge.
"Knock knock," Shino said as he walked into the forge, and saw the forge-master Might Guy working.
"You must be Shino," Guy said as he went back to work on the sword he was making, "That order you put in for your army will be ready in a week."
"You might want to put that on hold," Shino said, "The Emissary would like to see you."
Guy shot into attention so fast, he brought his hammer down on the blade that was red hot, and bent top forth of his blade downwards.
"W-w-why?" Guy asked.
"He said he has a special project for you," Shino said, "He might want you to craft him a sword."
"Well what are we waiting for," Guy asked as he grabbed his vest, and put it on as he was walking out the door.
Shino and Guy arrived back at the castle to see Sasuke standing in front of his father's throne, his great-grandfather's crown in his hands.
Sasuke's great-grandfather was the late ex-emperor of Orlais Florian's late father.
That Emperor had Florian and a bastard-daughter who married Sasuke's grandfather who gave birth to Fugaku.
The crown that Sasuke was twirling in-between his hands was very simple, it was perfectly circular and was comprised of looping rings that were perfectly stationary, and at the front was the coat of arms for the Uchiha house that stuck upright like the fin of a shark.
"M' lord." Guy said as he bowed in front of Sasuke.
"Don't bow," Sasuke said as he raised his hands, "You are the forge-master of Val Firmin right?"
"Yes." Guy said.
"I need you to craft something for me." Sasuke said.
"What?" Guy asked.
"This crown," Sasuke said as he held out the crown to Guy, "I want this to be a symbol of the revolution. I want you to make me a very powerful set of armor, the strongest you've ever made, and when you make the helmet, mold this crown onto the top."
"Yes sir," Guy said, "Thank you for this opportunity."
"That's not all," Sasuke said as he snapped his fingers, pointed at a small elf girl standing in the corner, and singled her to walk over.
The elf girl was five foot two, her eyes were a deep shade of brown just like her hair which was tied up at two points in a double-bun hairstyle.
"This is Tenten," Sasuke said, "My family's resident weapons keeper," Guy bowed his head toward Tenten who bowed back, "You're going to teach her."
"Teach her what?" Guy asked.
Sasuke exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I want you to teach her how to be a black smith," Sasuke said, "Teach her everything you know."
"Yes M'lord." Guy said.
"Tenten," Sasuke said as he held out a key to the elf, "Show him the ore."
"Yes M'lord," Tenten said as she took the key with an excited expression.
"You have the diagram?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Tenten said, "We'll forge the sword, and bring it to you."
Tenten and Guy walked to the Uchiha family vault, and they opened a chest that contained a piece of meteorite ore, "Star metal," Guy said as he held the ore in his hands, "It's beautiful!"
"We're going to forge a longsword with it," Tenten said, "Sasuke was very particular about the specifics about how the sword should be forged, and should look."
"We'll make it perfect," Guy said, "Let's get started."
Tenten and Guy left with the ore, and set to work the second they reached the forge.
After they set to work, Sasuke walked out to his family's garden, and found his mother working.
"Mom," Sasuke said as he walked up behind Mikoto, and placed a hand on her back.
"Hello Sasuke," Mikoto said as she continued working.
"You're still thinking about Fugaku and Itachi?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Mikoto said, "They're probably being tortured at Andoral's Reach."
"We'll rescue them," Sasuke said as he moved his hand from his mother's back to her shoulder, "You know we will."
"Yes I know," Mikoto said, "I'm still scared."
"Don't worry." Sasuke said.
That evening…
Later that night Sasuke was standing on the edge of town, right on the edge of the Deauvin Flats, he still remembered one time when he saw an entire heard of horses running across the flats, but ever since the Orlesian Civil War the horses had retreated to The Arbor Wilds.
He then had a brief flashback to when he was a child…
He stood on the same hill with his father, and watched as the horses grazed in the plains in front of them.
He remembered one of them looked like she was in pain, and Sasuke approached, when he did, the horse seemed to calm down.
Fugaku approached Sasuke from behind, and watched as his son touch the horse's mane.
The horse responded well, but you could still tell the horse was in pain.
The reason she was in pain came out not half an hour later, a pair of horse foal, one very small and white, one the same size and brown with white spots.
The brown and white horse walked up to its mother, and nuzzled her, the white horse struggled, but made it up to its mother, and did the same.
"Well I'll be son," Fugaku said as he put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "You have a gift."
Sasuke looked up at the white horse who looked back at him, "Equus," he said, you couldn't see it, but you just knew by looking at it that he was smiling.
End of Flashback…
"You have a gift," Sasuke thought as he looked at the cross on his palm.
There must have been some magic flying around because Sasuke just thought Equus, he heard whinnying, he then looked up, and saw running across the field toward him was a white horse.
The horse stopped not twenty yards from Sasuke who approached the horse, and stroked it across the side of its neck, "It's you isn't it," Sasuke asked, "Equus. You've grown into a fine young horse."
Equus whinnied, and put his head in Sasuke's palm, and pushed it upwards, "It's the mark you're interested in," Sasuke said before the mark on his palm glowed gold.
The mark from Sasuke's palm left an imprint of the same cross on Equus's neck, "Let's get you saddled up," Sasuke said as he jumped onto Equus's back, and patted the side of the horse's neck twice.
Equus started forward, and Sasuke could feel the wind whipping at his face which felt surprisingly good.
Once he arrived back in Val Firmin the people saw him ridding that majestic white horse down the streets, and it looked like the people had just seen the Maker himself.
When he arrived back at the palace, he saw that Hinata and Naruto were preparing their forces, "Troops," Naruto said as he turned toward the fifty men gathered in the courtyard, "This is no ordinary enemy we're facing, we're not just facing banished Qunari…"
"No," Sasuke said as he dismounted Equus, and walked over to Naruto and Hinata's sides, "We're facing a plague, something monstrous."
"Troops," Naruto said, "Might I introduce, the Emissary."
"Oh sir," one of the troops said as he went to one knee in front of Sasuke, "I didn't recognize you."
"And how do we know you're the Emissary?" One asked.
"Because," Sasuke said as he raised his hand which had the cross on it, and placed it against the soldier's chest-plate, and branded the cross onto the soldier's silver metallic chest plate.
"My apologizes M'lord," the soldier said as he bowed in front of Sasuke, "I did not mean to offend."
"Rise," Sasuke said as he placed his hand on the man's head, then turned his face to him, showing off the purple tattoos on his face, "What is your name?"
"Kankurō," the man said, "My name is Kankurō."
"Welcome to the Free-Orlesian Army Kankurō," Sasuke said, "What's your background?"
"I was a Lieutenant in the Orlesian Army," Kankurō said, "Before that I attended the University of Orlais."
"What was your focus?" Sasuke asked.
"Justice," Kankurō said, "I wanted to be Royal Orlesian Guard."
"Good, congratulations you've been promoted to Captain," Sasuke said, "I need good Criminal-Hunters," Sasuke slapped Kankurō on the shoulder, "You're now head of the Free-Orlesian Army Military Police."
"Thank you M'lord," Kankurō said.
"Good," Sasuke said as he then ushered the soldiers kneeling in front of him to stand, "You may begin your march to the Qunari lines tomorrow, for now I want you to raise your spirits, go into town, eat, drink, and be merry."
"Thank you sir," Kankurō said as he ushered his men toward the town.
Five hours later, a horn sounded, and Sasuke came running down the stairs of his castle into the courtyard of his family's castle to see Mai Terumī and her servants following her, the Marquise wore her long auburn red hair up partly up in a ponytail while the rest hung over her shoulders halfway toward her waist, she had on a long blue dress that was split along the sides showing her silky white legs that were covered in fish-net stockings, she wore very high class high-heel royal blue shoes with a special metallic red bow on the crest.
She rode a graceful black horse with a golden mane and tail, the horse's saddle was adorned with gold stitching and white leather.
Sasuke and Naruto walked up to the side of the Marquise's horse, and held out their hands.
Mai gripped Sasuke and Naruto's hands, and slid off her saddle with them helping her.
"Emissary," Mai said as she looked over at Sasuke, and bowed.
"Do not bow to me," Sasuke said then looked at Shino, "Shino, escort her entourage to the guest's quarters."
"Yes Emissary." Shino said.
Sasuke escorted Mai to the section of the castle his grandfather had built to accommodate royalty, "I believe you should be quite comfortable in here," Sasuke said as he opened the door revealing the large room with an adjacent bathroom.
"It's lovely." Mai said.
"Thank you Marquise," Sasuke said, "I hope you will join me, my mother, and my Generals tonight for dinner."
"Of course." Mai said.
Sasuke walked down the stairs to the kitchen where Hinata was working with his family's cook, "M'lord," the cook said as Sasuke approached.
"Hello Ru," Sasuke said, "Marquise Mai Terumī is here."
"I-i-i-i-is s-s-she?" Ru asked.
"Ru," Sasuke said, "I need you to chill the fuck out. Right now we need to impress her so we can get her support in the war. I want you to make your absolute best dish."
"Y-yes m'lord." Ru said.
That night Mai sat across the table from Mikoto while Naruto and Shino sat closer to Sasuke who sat at the head of the table.
"So Marquise Terumī," Mikoto said as she looked up at Mai, "I heard you're planning to lend some support to Sasuke's cause."
"Yes," Mai said, "If I can get his help I think my elite bodyguards can be a very valuable training asset, plus I have a small circle of mages, a few hundred personal guards that can double what he had right now. And the support of the villages all the way to the Fereldan border."
"Speaking of which," Sasuke said, "This little non-trivial task of yours. What is it?"
"It's my lady-in-waiting," Mai said, "It seems she's gone missing."
"You want us to bring her back?" Sasuke asked.
"Putting it simply, yes." Mai said.
"Where is she?" Shino asked.
"That's the thing," Mai said, "I don't know exactly."
"Exactly?" Sasuke asked.
"She said that with the Qunari on the approach she needed to return to her people and help them defend themselves." Mai said.
"Her people?" Naruto asked.
"I didn't mention really," Mai said, "She's an elf."
"An elf," Sasuke said, "You don't see many elven ladies-in-waiting. Let me guess, we have to head for The Dales?"
"Yes." Mai said.
"Maybe we can convince the elves to join us," Shino said, "That'd add a small number of archers to our company."
"I will not force them to join our movement," Sasuke said, "If they wish they can. Tomorrow, you me, Naruto, and Hinata ride for The Dales," he looked at Mai, "I hope though you'll stay till we return with her."
"Of course." Mai said.
Off to the Dales…