The Tigers of Chi-Ha-Tan ReRise Volume 0: The Veil Before Glory

The Downfall and The Choice

The dawn had come, the sun slowly peeking over the hills to the countryside casting a reddish glow over the sky with streaks of clouds here and there. It was the promise of a new day coming again, a promise of gorgeous one at that. Though the reddish glow could be seen as an ominous forewarning of the day's coming event, as this crimson dawn was like a promise that blood would be spilled. The blood of invaders who had desecrated the land for a past grudge, for which the defenders would pay them back tenfold.

As standing in the shade of trees was none other than these proud defenders who had been sitting in the saddles of their horses for some hours, waiting for the dawn to peek over the land, to which was to be their signal for the attack on the enemy armies camp, the Kawahara camp that was, that was sleeping soundly, having this sense of security in their victory over their enemies.

The Shimada clan.

Though this sense of security was due to their army numbering in the 30,000. With such a large force, any would feel victory is ensured, especially knowing how few the enemy was. It was because of this invincible feeling, these very men had gone on a drinking rampage the night before, as they were only a day's march from the Shimada's main castle that would stand no chance to their overwhelming numbers, with the Kawahara men themselves already picturing the spoils they would take from castle once they sack it.

These dreams of their spoils fuel the Kawahara men to no end but also had made them complacent, as much as their very own leader, Hitoroka Kawahara, the new lord of the clan after killing his father in a duel. With this very lord leading the campaign not for any strategic value in the end, but only to sate his own honor after having the Shimada family reject his marriage to their only daughter. Now finally having immense power to wield against them with no one to stop him, this mad young lord would start his rise to prominence by butchering this proud family for good.

This narrow-minded thinking is what had placed this very lord into this precarious spot.

His blind need for vengeance had brought his men to the gates of their demise.

Just as the Shimada's had wanted.

Under the shade of trees facing the flank of the Kawahara army camp, the very Shimada who had come up with this bold strategy, while also being the one to reject the marriage proposal was Akina Shimada herself, she was quite a beauty with her pale skin, her long light brown hair that looks almost like silver tied into a neat bun, with light brown eyes that added to her loveliness. Though her beauty was covered up by her samurai armor and helmet.

Don't be nervous Akina, we got this far, now all we need to do is scatter them and will save our clan and home

The young Shimada thought as she petted the side of her horse's face she sat atop of. Her horse was restless and a little unhappy as well, but Akina knew that was because they had been sitting in place since the middle of the night, while there was a cloth tightly secure around the muzzle of her horse, so to keep him quiet. Several times her horse bobbed his head up and down, practically telling Akina he wanted to ride and get this obscuration off his face.

With a smile, Akina leans forward to speak to her horse. "There, there, will get that thing off you soon enough. Just bear it a little longer boy."

Her soft words seem to quiet her horse's internal rage, as he stop stamping his feet and sat still. Though Akina could tell if they didn't do something soon, he be right back at it. Turing over her shoulder, Akina took in the sight of the seemingly endless lines of her Shimada mounted warriors behind her, even if they in actuality number only 5,000, from the ground level it looks like more.