The Beauty Of The West

Chapter 15: Battle at Osaka Castle

We traveled for a while to Osaka, stopping every night to set up camp. Masamune hardly talked to me while Keiji was around. I think he got the hint that I was off limits. But he did wink at me and nod his head in a slight jerk when Keiji wasn't looking.

When we approached Osaka castle, Kanbe brought his horse next to ours.

"You see that? Its all lit up. They're expecting us." Kanbe pointed out.

"Are you sure it isn't always this lit up?" I asked. The thought of the castle being dull and dark just seemed out of place. The two were silent, perhaps ignoring me and readying their nerves.

"Alright guys!" Masamune yelled, with his arms crossed, and a smirk across his face. "Tonight is the night we take revenge for Odawara!"

The entire army cheered, but I had no idea what he was talking about so I just clapped lightly, unenthused.

The One Eyed Dragon wanted to attack right away. I thought it was a stupid idea. Sensei and Motochika hadn't secured their positions yet. What would happen should the Dragon's army be overwhelmed? It seemed someone tried to talk him out of it for strategical purposes, but his mind was set on kicking their asses and gave the order to attack. Instantly, his men rode past us, ready to take down the army that resided in the castle.

"Well..I suppose we should follow them." Keiji sighed. So Keiji, Kanbe and I slowly followed behind so we could see what was happening.

We saw the charging soldiers suddenly lock arms with another army at the door. I didn't notice much about them, other than the fact that they were mostly wearing red. Masamune began fighting one in particular. He was all loud and dramatic.

"What are you doing, (Y/N)?" Keiji asked after noticing that I was squinting my eyes a lot and looking around the doors to the castle.

"Gathering information..." I replied before locking my eyes on a path leading away from the castle. My eyes grew sad, almost without my knowing. It was only a path, made of dirt. What had my heart pounding so hard and my eyes wanting to cry so much?

"If we go now, we can make it into the castle while Masamune's army is kept busy." Kanbe stated and got his horse ready.

"Isn't there another army inside?" Keiji asked, "Is that such a good idea?"

"Sensei will be here soon." I said "I feel like there is something I need to see here. Let's go."

We hurried and took the opportunity to enter the castle, and surprisingly, there were no troops on the inside. It was silent, the clean stone paths lit with torches. I looked around.

"Guys..." I tried to get their attention but I choked. I recognized where I was and I wanted to say something. But I couldn't at the moment. I had to look just a little more to make sure.

Upon further venturing, the three of us had to kill a few people and take a few camps. But I stopped in my tracks when we came across a giant symbol in the courtyard. It looked like a bed of three fern leaves with three vines of flowers growing from it. It sparked a flashback, where I just stood there, staring at it.

It was night time, a warm spring night when the moon was so full and bright that it lit the entire courtyard with no need for torches. The cherry blossoms danced in the air before falling gracefully to the ground. I was small, and snuck out of the castle to the symbol in the courtyard. When I got there, there was a boy about my age, with silver hair and amber eyes wearing dark violet robes.

"(Y/N), are you alright? Do you think you can go on?" Keiji asked.

"I'm fine," I assured, but I wasn't. Now, there was another boy involved. "Let's keep moving."

Kanbe knew though, I knew he did by the way he glanced at me sometimes when I would just space off, I couldn't seem to get that boy off my mind. I had many thoughts of running with him or holding hands.

We heard gunshots in the distance, indicating that sensei and Motochika were there. We waited in the courtyard before advancing.
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It wasn't long before we met back up with everyone, the forces that greeted us were defeated.

Before we could come up with a plan, we saw a giant cannon in the distance shoot something our way that landed near us. It didn't look like a bomb or anything. Within seconds, it started exerting a purple mist.

"What the hell?" Kanbe coughed, and soon, the entire Eastern allowance was coughing.

"That's Mitsunari's insense." Ieyasu managed to muster. "We need to take out the cannon to move on!"

"Alright. Keep your heads down!" Sensei yelled. "Raven, you and I are the fastest. Let's get up there and dismantle the cannon."

"Yes sensei!" I continued to cough. Motochika destroyed the insense effortlessly.

"Get going, Lass. Let's not lollygag any longer."
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Sensei and I ran for what seemed like forever, and sometimes, it was like we were going in circles. But apparently, sensei knew where she was going.

"And where do you think you're going...? We ran into Yoshitsugu, seemingly waiting for us. The very sight of this man made my skin crawl.

"You know exactly where we are going. Don't you think using the incense is a little dirty?"

"Really. If you weren't going to attack us with no warning, we wouldn't have had to use it,now would we?" Yoshitsugu shot back.

Sensei cocked her gun. "I'll keep him busy. The path to the cannon is just over there. Can you manage dismantling on your own?"

"Yes sensei." I whispered to her.

"Go now, and be careful. Hurry!"

I split for the doorway that led to the path to the cannon, while Sensei and Yoshitsugu began their brawl.

"Oh man..." I looked to the path and saw what seemed to be a never ending staircase. It was well lit with torches like the rest of the castle with a faint sound of rushing water in the distance. I recalled being carried down these stairs, crying.

Slowly, I walked up the stairs, taking in the scenery as I ascended. With each step, the rushing water came closer and closer. When I reached the top, there was the entrance to the castle, guarded only by a single man, Mitsunari Ishida.