*Ambient blizzard sounds

**The Mind of Izuka (FE10 OST)

***Know Thy Enemy (Shogun 2: Total War OST)

****Prince of Darkness (FE15 OST)

*****Stables (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild OST)

******Vow (FE9 OST)

*How on earth did they manage this, the savages, wondered Lothar, swearing he could scarcely feel his fingers as they circled like vultures. Of course, for the seventy or so Nohrian survivors of the engagement, he was perhaps among the fortunate to have kept all his extremities. Not that it was going to help them, given their tattered-to-nonexistent weaponry and complete, utter encirclement.

"And here he comes now," muttered his war buddy Luca. "the head-buck-in-charge."

Their commander dismounting his stallion and removing the strange, demonic-looking helmet from his head, the accumulated frost on his stubble only making his stony appearance somehow more inhuman, he scanned the line of their humbled, pitiful "betters" for any hint of defiance. "So, I suppose you still think you're SUCH big men, right?" scolded Takeshi, one hand locked on his blade. "Well, let me tell you; there's a HUGE difference between killing defenseless old men, women, and children and motivated, trained warriors. But you know that now, right?"

Half of the prisoners shot the young lord expressions of impotent rage or contempt, while the rest looked around the inhospitable taiga aimlessly, as if it would grant their wish to be anywhere else on the planet. Except for one outlier about ten paces down from Lothar and Luca. "Fuck you, savages! Long live King Leonard! Long live Nohr!"

Naturally responding to such provocation, Takeshi seemed to somehow glide over to the soldier with more than a whiff of alcohol on his breath. "Something you want to say?"

The man swallowed, as though some part of him was aware of what a horrible idea this was. "Yeah, I got somthin' to say." he slurred. "Fuck you and fuck this whole godsdamned country! You bucks are all worthless fuckin' pigs who exist to -hic- prey on our womenfolk. Your wives, mothers, sisters, daughters- whatevers, are only good for-"

Already incensed enough by the cold and his unit's material situation (to say nothing of the Nohrians' previous conduct), Takeshi required little further provocation to drive the hilt of his blade into the man's mouth with every ounce of his strength, sending the drunk tumbling to the frozen ground, shortly feeling around for his missing teeth.

"Hm, what's this?" inquired one of Takeshi's adjutants, picking up the rucksack the drunk was clutching. Upon showing the contents to his superior, both vocalized their disgust to find a collection of severed human ears, quite obviously taken from their butchered countrymen.

"You think this is fucking funny?!" Takeshi bellowed, prowling up and down the line, unconsciously picking out his blade's next target. "You think this is fucking cute?! The great and valorous, civilized Nohrians cutting trophies from the innocents you've butchered?! Everyone knows you're a bunch of arrogant bastards, but this?! This is-"

Perhaps unwisely turning his back to the pack of prisoners, Takeshi sighed in exasperation and rage, turning to his adjutants once again. "You want to do this, Kanemasa?" he inquired, well-aware they were of the same mind. "I mean, it's your family's lands, after all."

"It'd be my pleasure." answered the senior lord, drawing his own weapon as he descended on the line of terrified Nohrians.

His late uncle had drilled it into his own and his sister's heads that war was not a pleasant experience by any means at all. Nonetheless, he'd largely become inured to the sights and sounds of the bloodshed required to fight an asymmetrical war on one's own soil, be it from previous atrocities, outright battles, or retaliation for said atrocities, there were times when it was just advantageous to let their enemy's screams, pleas, and curses fall into the background, to be paid no more mind than the sound of the wind blowing, pulling his adjutant off to the side as if nothing were amiss.

"I swear, this material situation will be the death of us, Kuramoto." he groused.

"Figuratively or literally?" asked Kuramoto.

"Same difference. I can't really sharpen my blade with rocks and dirt, now can I? We managed to salvage all we could from Kubota- that was pretty fucked up what they did to those people, huh?"

"No, I concur completely. I thank the gods we didn't have any of the enemy in our hands. I wouldn't have been able to control myself after seeing that."

Leaning against a bare tree, Kuramoto sighed wistfully. "Perhaps once this is all over, Prince Ryoma's son will lead us to a brighter future?" he opined.

Whether from the cold or genuine displeasure, Takeshi's expression was frozen in an expression of extreme irritation. "I do hope that's your famous sense of humor at work, Kuramoto." he growled. "Because that's not fucking funny and you know-"

Kuramoto appeared genuinely offended. "Commander, I assure you that I jest not. Have you not heard the stories spreading like wildfire among the commoners?"

"What stories?"

"About the courageous, daring princess, still but a girl, really, who slips into enemy territory, not only to rescue her nephew and his grandmother from certain death, but gives Nohr a massive black eye in the process."

True, over the past several months, Takeshi had been too occupied with all the concerns and intricacies of commanding a guerilla campaign, often with little or no help from their fellow fighters. But at this, even his increasingly-cold heart and colder body were warmed by the folktales spread by the commoners, knowing that if the princess was alive and well, a certain individual would be right by her side. "That baby sister of mine." he thought, a nostalgic smile curling on his lips.*

While he may have been a mere company commander, Pepin had big dreams for someone of his status. He'd killed more savages during his last few deployments than a lot of guys did their entire careers, but he never seemed to get any recognition for said zealous application of his work. But could that be set to change? **At first, he doubted it, Pepin considering it some sort of convoluted practical joke him being sent out to this wretched hellhole of a fortress out in the backwoods of savage country. But the establishment's rather disconcerting master seemed to have a genuine proposal for him.

"Ah, welcome, welcome, Sir Pepin." greeted Konrad. "I trust the ride out here was smooth?"

"As smooth as it could be," the surly knight answered. "seeing as the savages have been sniping at us for the past two weeks and just sink back into the godsdamned forest."

"Of course, I have it on good authority that the king will approve a large-scale movement of troops to finally put this wretched lot in their place, once and for all. I simply have minor request for you and your unit, Sir Pepin."

"What's that?"

Konrad smirked wickedly. "I simply require your momentary help with a little experiment of mine. I assure you, once it succeeds, you will share in the glory."

"Sounds good to me!" Pepin exclaimed. "What is it?"

Ushering the knight to the center of the room, Konrad removed the black tarp covering a small cage, its occupant, a man with flame-red hair, looking none too pleased with the situation. In fact, his expression carried a hint of madness. "Is this...your experiment?" Pepin inquired dully, unwisely poking the cage's occupant. "What is it? A savage or something?"

"Why don't you touch me again and see what happens?" Kali snarled, his expression communicating perfectly the murderous hatred he felt. "Go on, I dare you. Do it."

Konrad's expression however, communicated his very particular sort of sick, sadistic glee. "One could say that, I suppose..." he teased.

"So what do you need me to do?"

Apparently, it was possible for Konrad's expression to become even uglier than its default state, his joy almost orgasmic in its malevolence. "Oh, I simply need you and your men to take him along during your duties." he said as innocently as a wicked soul like he could possibly muster.

"So, what?" resumed Pepin. "I have to feed it, right?"

From his workstation, Konrad slid a small chest over to the unscrupulous knight. "Only this serum injected once a week. It shall be the only nourishment required."

"Alright!"

Lowering his head to face his new charge, Pepin wore a smug grin. "Well, whatever the hell you are, look's like you're gonna be my ticket to all the gold, girls, and glory I can stand!"

"Fuck you!" Kali snarled. "I swear, you're the VERY first thing I'm going to kill the second I get out of here."

"Ah, save it for the savages."**

***For, Taira, general of Mokushu, his path in service of his daimyo had been set well before his own birth, that of his father, that of his father, and so on. He belonged to a family whose members had served the ruling house from time immemorial. Most had been unremarkable, some flawed but otherwise decent men, and a few complete and utter reprobates (who were generally restrained either by the other nobles or their own vices and ambitions on occasion) and his clan had served them all for ages, any complaints only made with the closest of intimates and never in public. And while he nonetheless swelled with pride at the his beloved (figurative) sons forming up in steady, disciplined rows, as he inspected the troops alongside his liege from a balcony, the sheer audacity and incoherence of the young lord's intended course of action made him seriously consider breaking this tradition.

"Milord, once again I must inquire," he said urgently, almost pleading with the younger man. "Are you absolutely positive about this course of action?"

The young, ambitious daimyo scowled at his servant as if to ask are you utterly stupid? "I have never been more certain of such a course in my entire life." insisted Kentaro.

"But sire; for centuries- millennia even, Izumo has scarcely even raised a weapon to any other power, particularly our own land. Why spoil centuries of neighborly relations now?"

Watching his hosts march off to their camps and ultimately into battle, Kentaro, placing his hands behind his back began to pace about the balcony. "Because the world is changing, Taira." he said hungrily. "King Leonard, the great king of Nohr is seeing to that. No longer will the weaklings of the world be given free reign to strut about as if they were worth something. They will either submit to the strong- or be destroyed."

"But milord! Where could the honor in that possibly be?"

"As I said, the world is fundamentally changing. In this world, there will be peoples who eat, or are eaten. You would see Mokushu swallowed up by its enemies? Thrown into anarchy like how the tribals live?"

"Of course not! But-"

The younger man raised a dismissive hand. "You have my orders; away with you! By the by, Taira, you'd best get used to some of our Nohrian friends' ways becoming more popular in the coming years."

Departing to join his men on the front, partially due to his orders and his increasing frustration with his liege, silently, Taira fumed. Not so much from the disgraceful order, but the sheer obsequiousness Lord Kentaro was showing towards Leonard. "Friends?" he thought angrily. He'd always been somewhat of an arrogant child, but this was becoming insufferable; everyone knew that those people- that kingdom, did not see the world in terms of its allies, equals, and partners- he was not particularly well-traveled compared to most other nobles, but he had been around more than enough to know that the Nohrian mindset divided the world into two categories and two categories only; slaves and enemies. It had only been a passing thought every now and again, but Taira was becoming increasingly concerned that his lord was leading his people down the path of becoming the former to Nohr.***

"What?!" Corrine exclaimed incredulously. "No, I don't believe you, Kaze! That kind of cruelty- and Leo would never let-"

"I'm afraid it's all true, milady." reported Kaze guiltily, his gaze downcast. "I believe 'ranches,' they're called. The higher nobility particularly, seem to see them as a convenient method of filling their own pockets while technically fulfilling their duties to the crown."

"No- that can't be-"

While always kind of a cold individual and having witnessed a distinct change in his demeanor in recent months and not for the better, Corrine could simply not process the notion of her beloved brother actually, truly giving his explicit assent to such atrocities, grotesque even by the standards of this war.

"It seems we lack any other option." said Azura grimly. "I will discuss the matter with him on your behalf."

The princess smiled wistfully at the azure maiden, cupping her cheek before taking Azura's lips in her own. "I won't be long, I promise. Ira won't be a problem, and I think Armin and I will be a good influence on Rose."

In contrast to it's usual gentleness, Corrine's expression turned to one of steely determination when turning to Kaze. "Protect her with your life, Kaze."

"Your wish is my command, milady."

As the princess departed with at the head of the army's caravan to join Rose and Armin, both of her intimates shared an inexplicable sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs, the ninja's wound only exacerbated by the sight of the lovers kissing. "So what exactly ARE we going to do about the- you know, issue?"

"I...I wish I could tell you, Kaze." Azura answered blankly. I really do."

While any day was a day enhanced by the absence of Duke Toscana, and his original collaborators were increasingly fewer, he still possessed enough hangers-on and sycophants to make life difficult around the castle without Corrine to shield them from the worst of the subterfuge and backstabbing. Azura's liking to the castle's library had created a refuge of sorts for the exiled ninja as well.

"Do you enjoy folklore, Kaze?" she inquired, turning her face up from a hefty tome.

"Erm, not particularly, Lady Azura," he prefaced. "but I can definitely see why people hold onto these tales."

"Any from your region stick out in your mind?"

Furrowing his brow in contemplation, the green ninja tapped his chin. "Hm, my father actually had a story he was quite fond of; about our family actually. Of course, I'm certain it's not true but-"

"Would you mind telling me?"

"Truthfully, I don't remember much of it. The basic idea is that long ago, the original ancestor of the ninja clans pledged his allegiance to the sun and fought in a great battle to save the world from eternal night. I told you, it wasn't much-"

"That's actually very interesting. Thank you, Kaze."

With her suspicions in mind, Azura nonetheless, before the day was out, had to confront the elephant in the room. Granted, as a rule, physicians are generally not forthcoming with their patients' maladies, particularly the personal physicians of kings. However, Azura's relationships gave her just enough influence to, if done just right, to pry some information from the doctor which he would usually be less-than-forthcoming, particularly in the main hall of the castle. "Excuse me, Sir Fedor?" began the songstress. "I realize that this is not usually done, but Co- Lady Corrine requested it of me."

"Hm, Lady Azura." Fedor responded with mild surprise. "What troubles you?"

"You're his physician, are you not? Have you noticed anything... amiss about the king's health as of late?"

Scratching his balding head in contemplation, the doctor pondered it a moment. "It's funny you should ask, milady. Princess Camilla actually made the exact same inquiry before departing on her holiday."

Azura raised an irritated eyebrow. "And?"

"Exactly what I told her, milady. His Majesty is actually the picture of health. It's really quite a miracle, seeing the extent of his injuries after he was attacked by that...thing. I've seen stronger men crippled for life from less."

"I see...thank you, Sir Fedor."

Nonetheless, relatively healthy individuals, particularly those of mostly-sound mind, do not generally spend minutes glaring daggers- as if wishing it possible to hate them to death, at another party for minutes on end. Especially in the presence of a host of sycophants and one of his women with a meal fit for a king before him. Truth be told, at dinner that night, Azura actually hesitated to partake, half-expecting some sort of poison or another. Kaze, while perhaps naive, was by no means stupid, took notice of this as well. "What exactly did you do to him, again?" he inquired gingerly, glancing sideways at the angry monarch.

Azura put off answering for a second or two. "Exist." she responded half-facetiously. "But there is something which I must do, immediately after this."

Kaze grimaced. "And you're sure you'll be alright?"

"No, I'm not."

"Because Lady Corrine did explicitly instruct me to protect you with my life."

Truth be told, it was simply an empty expression of solidarity on Kaze's part; his standing in this kingdom fragile enough as it was, he knew damned well should the worst-case scenario occur, he would be, quite literally, signing his death warrant by carrying out his lady's orders. And even then, that was assuming it was actually possible to even wound or impede Leonard; if even a fraction of the rumors were true about his powers, even raising a hand (let alone a weapon) against him would likely lead to his very violent and painful end.

Nonetheless, the green ninja steeled himself for what was to come, dutifully tailing Azura as she awaited the dissipation of crowd of nobles and servants (and Charlotte) to whatever the hell concerned them. Azura, having said knowledge from leaked from one of said blonde's more inebriated moments, knew that Leonard had taken a liking to meditating in the throne room before retiring to his study or bed.

Despite her stealthy guardian, Azura inhaled deeply, anxiously pushing open those grand, ancient doors to the cavernous throne room. Surely enough, there sat Leonard, legs crossed in front of his ancestral throne, facing the entrance with a blank expression, shortly turning to one of irritation. "What do you want?" he said crossly as he rose to a natural stance.

Perhaps against her better judgement, Azura decided to close the distance between them and leave the relative safety of the doorway; after all, the king was far more perceptive than most and an air of even-false confidence could not harm her case. "Erm- King Leonard," she began. "Leo- Corrine wished me to discuss something with you- she tasked me with it before her departure."

The monarch rolled his eyes. "What? What are you bothering me about now?"

"Well...Corrine has it on good authority that the ar- some nobles and segments of the army have constructed these facilities across Hoshido- ranches, I believe they're called."

"And?"

"She also has it on good authority that the people there are subject to all sorts of horrible, horrible cruelties-"

"Once more, what do you expect me to do about it? Duke Guillaume insisted it was the best way to maximize resource yield and he kind of dragged Matteo along too."

Noticing that very-apparent sinking feeling in her chest, Azura was cautious in her word choice. "You don't sound surprised by this, sire. Surely, you cannot approve of such butchery-"

However, Leonard scowled at this entreaty, whether from the patronizing nature or the familiar tone, Azura was unsure. "Yes, that is how the system works." he snarled. "I receive proposals from my peons and I approve or reject them. Why would you THINK I'd be surprised or disapproving of the ranches?"

"But Corrine was so distraught by-"

"Corrine ought not to concern herself with matters she knows nothing about. And you, 'dear sister,' ought to concern yourself with keeping your lies from my court!"

"But-"

"Away, away with you!"

"I see...Well, by your leave, sire."

Turning away from the king (again, against her better judgement), Azura could very nearly feel Corrine's heart shattering for her; she'd known Leo- Leonard had changed considerably in the past several months, but this? Actively receiving (literally!) atrocious proposals from his nobles and generals AND signing off on them, knowing the human consequences fully well? Perhaps it was time, Azura thought to herself. Perhaps she had a chance after all to save him?

"Yoooou...are the ocean's gray waves..."

His expression contorting to suggest an explosion of rage was imminent, Leonard was not pleased at all, having (somehow) closed much of this distance between them. "WHAT did you say?" he demanded, physically turning the woman to face him.

"N-nothing, milord." Azura fibbed poorly.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO ME!"

****A sickly purple flame enveloping his entire right arm, Leonard grasped Azura's neck, literally lifting her a ways off the floor. As Azura struggled in vain to breathe, the complete, utter hatred and rage in the normally distant eyes shook her to her very soul. "WHAT did I tell you about lying?! I have had it UP TO HERE with your coy attempts to undermine me and my reign- and to poison Corrine against me!"

Azura's attempts to struggle and protest her innocence only seemed to infuriate the king even further. "I am not threatening- I am PROMISING you- If I ever, EVER, learn about any more of your little intrigues, I will choke the life from you with my bare hand!"

The azure maiden now starting to become somewhat lightheaded, she found her legs kicking in a vain attempt to escape Leonard's death grip, only to harden his fury.

"WITH MY BARE HAND!"

Releasing her after what seemed like an age, the songstress dropped to her hands and knees, sputtering and gasping for air as the king stomped from the throne room.**** The second he was satisfied of his absence, Kaze began attending to Azura, searching for any wounds in need of treatment. "Lady Azura, are you alright?" he demanded contritely. "We must get you-"

Her vocal cords still a bit sore, Azura held up a dainty hand to the ninja. "I'm fine, I'm fine." she insisted hoarsely.

"By the gods, what was that?!"

"I don't know- I just know it's bad- even worse than I thought."

This time, it was not simply Hana's insistence upon tracking and backtracking to throw off potential pursuers that had cost the group a week and a half, but Rinkah's. Although she was somewhat more nonchalant about the Nohrians' prospects of tracking them ("It's really easy to get lost if you didn't grow up around here."), the loss of speed caused by the country's utter unsuitability for wagon travel and Tristan parting ways with the group to take the fight back to his homeland was more than compensated for.

Still, the boy and his grandmother for whom to all this trouble they had gone, scarcely seemed to mind; indeed, Sakura herself, never a particularly jovial young lady (and even less so these days), absolutely adored the opportunity to enjoy her nephew's company, to say nothing of her tales of her eldest brother's daring romance with the equally-daring knight. Every time her princess' lips curled into a smile or hearing her gentle, dainty laughter only brightened Hana's day each time she'd experienced them. And even apart from that, she couldn't complain; while the terrain was becoming more and more rugged as they neared some of the range's foothills, at least it was not insufferably hot.

By sunset on their tenth day in the Flame Tribe's lands, with a watchtower manned by some of Amagi's men in sight, Rinkah sent up a flare over their direction to signal their return. "Oh, Lady Rinkah!" exclaimed their commander. "It's a genuine miracle you're alive!"

"Luck only has a bit to do with it." she bragged, throwing a gaze of acknowledgement at Hana. "We got through this on pure skill."

The commander bowed his head dutifully. "Of course, you all must be exhausted; we've prepared accommodations for you at the lodge just up the road."

Victoria smiled. "Thank you, young man. To be sure, the little one is grateful as well."

"And finally, Princess Sakura," resumed the commander. "the chief insists there's someone you'll be very interested to meet by the lodge; it's an urgent matter."

Sakura held her hand to her chest in mild surprise as Hana glared at the commander suspiciously. "Th-thank you, sir."

*****The women continuing up the path for a good half hour, off to the roadside was a great structure which was essentially a great tent, the grounds attended to by a small, mixed group of Flame Tribesmen and Tribeswomen, one of the former setting her club on her belt in respect. "Ah, Lady Rinkah!" she exclaimed. "We've been expecting you."

"So Unzen's already filled you lot in, of course." said Rinkah presumptuously, gesturing to Victoria and her grandson. "Just help me get these two settled in."

"Right away, ma'am. Any preference for supper?"

"Let me think about it- I mean, we've got a pretty diverse group, after all."

As Rinkah and the tribeswoman departed for the short walk to the lodging, Sakura sighed. "It seems so peaceful around here." she remarked guiltily. "I-it almost makes me feel like-"

*****Hana could definitely sympathize, but was somehow still slightly unnerved- as if she were being watched. "But what did the guard commander mean by Chief Kikai wanting us to meet someone?"

"Princess, Milady." sounded a rather neutral-sounding, feminine voice.

Immediately looking over her shoulder, Hana felt her heart leap into her throat at the woman whom had (apparently) simply materialized behind her. "Oh, Kagero!" Sakura squealed, throwing herself into the older woman's arms. "Y-you're alright!"

"Well, I have had better days, but also worse." she reported.

"Hey, what am I? Diced kelp?"

With a small puff of solid white smoke, the fifth head of the Saizo clan materialized at Hana's side, considerably less impressed after the second time. "Saizo." the swordswoman acknowledged neutrally. "Well met."

"Not doing too bad yourself. I guess it is true what they say about northerners, after all."

******Now nearly on the brink of tears of joy, Sakura nonetheless held firm. "Oh, gods," she sniffled. "you're alright! W-when I heard about the capital, I-I'd feared the worst-"

Perhaps unprofessionally, as if a surrogate older sister, Kagero gave the princess a couple of affectionate pats on the head before releasing her as her counterpart scowled at the memory that continued to sting him. "It...has been quite a journey, to put it lightly. But yes, we live and breathe still."

"Of course, I've got to give that wily old goat Kikai his due as well." Saizo admitted. "I hate council nonsense, but he knows a good lure when he hears it; otherwise, I'd have never left Hoshido proper while those vile 'ranches' still-"

Emerging from the massive tent, Victoria, Shiro in arm still, gave a puzzled expression at the commotion audible from the interior. "Hm, what's going on?" she inquired. "Are they friends of yours?"

Sakura smiled lightly. "M-miss Victoria. I'd like you to meet Saizo and Kagero." she introduced shakily. "This is Shiro; m-my nephew."

Already having studied the child's face and eyes, the angry ninja was astonished, yet on some level, not surprised. "Well, I'll be damned- the rumors were true."

At once falling to bended knee before both the young aunt and nephew, Kagero was the first to speak. "Young Lord Shiro, Princess Sakura. As long as I draw breath, my blade is yours to command as you see fit. Even should it cost me my life."

Saizo scoffed. "Same; however, I don't plan on doing any dying anytime soon, princess. Not until every last Nohrian butcher is expelled from Hoshido; even if I have to burn their whole godsdamned country to the ground to do it."

Of course, it was an exceptionally emotional moment for all parties concerned, even if the surly ninja would never admit it, even under torture. Even young Shiro expressed his (appropriately) childlike approval with a smile, grasping for the cowlick protruding from Saizo's head, succeeding after his fourth attempt, at least momentarily.

Victoria smiled fondly. "He likes you two, I can tell."