Cold Steel - Inazuma Gaiden

XXII: Wintry Songbirds and Their Frigid Roosts

One hundred and fifty four.

One hundred and fifty four different spots throughout the Western shores of Yashiori Island they had to scourge by the guidance of the Watatsumi's Pearl of Wisdom. One hundred and fifty four spots that included caves, coves, cliffs and sinkholes alike - they had to traverse through in order to clean out every single potential hiding spot used by their current invaders. And to her own amazement, the Divine Priestess of Clan Sangonomiya was able to map out each and every single spot accurately, down to the exact coordinates.

Kamisato Ayaka has heard many, many stories during the Civil War, stories that at first sounded so outlandish that she wouldn't blame anyone who thought they were mere rumors and hearsay, closer to stuff of myths and legends than resembling actual news. When the first batches of conflict started appearing outside of Narukami Island after the enactment of both the Sakoku and Vision Hunt Decrees the general public was expecting some few short skirmishes here and there. The military forces of the Shogunate was the the majorly and overwhelmingly dominating force, and those who opposed them? Mostly a group of volunteers and disillusioned fighters who rallied behind the banner of Watatsumi Island's Sangonomiya.

They were vastly outnumbered, their resources and manpower limited, and what little foothold they had - which happened to be the very island they currently stood on - became battered by the Tatarigami's corruption. The people, and Ayaka herself included, expected a swift, especially decisive, and very particularly painful end to the so-called rebels that dared to rise up against the will of the Narukami Ogosho. Morale was high, and as the Tenryou Commission sailed past the mainland and into Kannazuka to meet the Resistance troops on Nazuchi - most people predicted that the battle would be over by the matter of mere days, or weeks at most.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, month changed into entire seasons, and small skirmishes turned into all-out battles spanning over across two islands - ultimately resulting in one of the bloodiest conflicts to ever happen in Inazuman history. But throughout it all, the Watatsumi Resistance held on, remained steadfast against the immense and formidable opponent that was the nation's bakufu. The much smaller and underequipped group that many'd perceived to be simply rag-tag group of farmers and foot soldiers banding together for a desperate stand against an unstoppable force turned into a formal military force to be reckoned with, fighting for the very future of Inazuma that was free from the oppressive rule of the Archon of Eternity.

Even then, many people still believed them to be myths - still caught up in their own uncaring and nonchalant attitude at the very real conflict happening right outside the mainland. With how peaceful Narukami Island was, despite the ever-present tense and foreboding atmosphere, the citizens fortunate enough to live inside the safe refuge of the Raiden Shogun cared little, while some even straight up thought that the war was either already over, or was just a hoax to coax and implement more taxation to the public.

For there was simply no way that the Watatsumi Resistance could've fought toe-to-toe with the Shogunate's forces.

Or so everyone had thought to be the case.

With every skirmish, their numbers and influence only continued to grow - defeat was a rarity, and even if the Resistance was forced to pull back, they made sure that with every foothold the Shogunate gained - they came with an incredibly heavy price and huge loss of both material and human lives. And if anyone could attribute those victories, they could point their fingers towards the stratagems forged by the Divine Priestess of the Watatsumi herself, referred to as the Pearl of Wisdom in both endearing and hostile terms by her allies and enemies - the Lady Highest who ruled over the clans of Watatsumi, Sangonomiya Kokomi.

One would think that having such a young age - likely being no older than both herself and her companion, she would rapidly crumble under the immense pressure of going to war against the deity that personally ended their God, or perhaps - being a miko herself, the priestess would oppose of leading her forces to war. But instead she turned what should've been desperate battles and the subjugation of her people, into decisive victories that served as both beacons of hope and grim reminders to both her people and the ones on the mainland respectively - that the Shogun and her army - no matter how vast, were not invincible.