#ikesen ranrmaru

[writingwhimsey]

All's Fair In Love and War Prologue Pt 1

Alright, here is the opening of my new fic! Featuring my MC (Ava in place of Mai), as a warrior/warlord herself! The prologue will be the same and as I write the chapters for the suitors, those will break off from the prologue. The Prologue has 3 parts. Alright, here we go and I hope you guys enjoy!

Prologue Part 1

I stood, panting as I looked around me, my sword still held defensively in my hands. My enemies lay in a circle of bodies at my feet. I turned my gaze from the ground to the group that still remained, ready to challenge me. Or at least they had been.

“Fall back! Retreat! Retreat!” Their commander ordered.

The groups that had been fighting around me began to break up as the enemy began to run away, their proverbial tails tucked between their legs. My forces had won.

“Do we pursue, commander?” Jiro, my right-hand man asked.

“No.” I answered. “They won’t be returning to threaten our lands again.”

It was hours later that my men and I were returning home. I walked up to the manor of my family, Father waiting on the veranda and Mother rushing out to the path to greet me. “Ava! Dear! You’re covered in blood! We must get you to the healers right away!”

“There’s no need, Mother...” I began to protest.

“Ava, being covered in this much blood is not normal. You’re clearly hurt!”

“Kaede, calm down.” Father said as we reached him on the porch. “None of that is her blood.”

She turned to look at me. “I should have known…just like your father.” She said with a sigh as she pulled a hand towel from her robes and began to wipe at my face.

“I probably should have cleaned up better before coming back home.” I said.

“Probably.” Father agreed with a smile. “But your mother would have found something to fuss over anyways.”

Mother looked at Father. “Riku, you know I only do this because I love our daughter and worry for her, just as I have loved and worried over your sorry butt all these years.”

“Come on, let’s get inside. Ava get cleaned up and then give me a full report.”

“Yes, Father.” I replied with a bow before heading to get a bath and fresh clothes. Afterwards I was sitting in the main hall with Father and Jiro. Apparently while I had been getting cleaned up, Father had sent for Jiro and asked for a report from him as well.

“The word is already started to get around about how fierce our lady commander is, Lord Riku.” Jiro informed my father.

“Is that so?” Father asked.

Jiro nodded. “Yup, they’re calling her the Tiny Terror of the Yamada clan.”

“I had no idea I’d already earned such a moniker.” I said with a look of indifference, though I had to admit I liked it.

Father chuckled. “I would expect nothing less from my daughter.” He said, smiling with pride. “You were born into this world in battle. Clearly you were made for it.”

“Only because I had excellent teachers.” I replied. Father had taught me everything I knew. Jiro had also been by my side in my training. It hadn’t always been the easiest relationship between us, but eventually he came to see me as his equal…and accept me as my father’s successor.

It was strange how I had come to be in this role in the first place. I wasn’t always the daughter of a daimyo. I wasn’t always in this place of chaos and war at all. I had actually been born centuries later…and yet I somehow ended up here. Though it had happened so long ago now that I knew this was my true home. I had been here longer than I had in my original time now…or at least very close to it.

You see, I had been a teenager when I arrived in the Sengoku…a bit of a troubled one from my time in fact. My parents had died when I was young and I had spent my modern life in an orphanage…or girls’ home as it had been called. I had a lot of anger and resentment…and well it had me in and out of trouble. Constantly getting in fights at school and the like.

Anyway, I had been on a school trip to Kyoto. I was visiting the Hono-ji monument when a sudden storm hit. Lightning struck close by…for a moment I thought I had been hit as the world slipped away around me. I couldn’t see or feel anything. Then when the world came rushing back to me…it did so with frightening clarity. I was suddenly in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by men in armor and bodies.

I hadn’t been sure of what exactly to do, but I knew I had to do something so that I didn’t get completely clobbered. I really didn’t want to die and especially not like a frightened child. So, I grabbed a random sword from one of the dead and started trying to fight my way out. I think adrenaline had completely taken over me at that time as I had no idea what I was doing. Just randomly swinging the sword and hoping to hit something.

Riku had been in that battle and eventually found me and helped me out. That was how I ended up meeting the man I would come to call my father. He took me into his home, cared for me, and trained me. Kaede had instantly taken a liking to me and fussed over me as if I were her daughter right from the start. Eventually they decided to adopt me and make me theirs as they had never been able to have children of their own. Honestly, I felt more suited to this life than I ever had in my original time anyways. I had a family now…and something to fight for. Something to protect. I had a family and a land filled with everyday citizens to keep safe. I had a home.

After finishing giving our report, my mother was coming in to let us know the banquet preparations had been completed. We were soon gathering in the main hall with all of our men for a victory celebration.

Sake flowed and food was gobbled up. Tales of our most recent battle rang out as our soldiers filled my father in on everything.

“There I was surrounded by our enemy, I was prepared to go down swinging…but then the commander came and she took out the entire ring surrounding me!” Junichiro, one of the younger members of our forces spoke.

“The Tiny Terror of the Yamada Clan is a force to be reckoned with for sure!”

“It was her quick thinking and ability to change strategy quickly that really got us out of a couple of tough spots!”

I could feel my cheeks reddening at all of their praise. “And what good is a commander if she doesn’t have the best forces in all the land behind her?” I reminded them. “You’re all just as responsible for our victory as I am. Not a single one of you is to forget your worth.”

There was plenty of fun had that night. Everyone was drinking and enjoying themselves. I decided to slip out to the garden for some fresh air and was looking up at the moon and stars. The sky was so much more beautiful here than it was in my time since there was no light pollution. You could really see all the stars.

“It’s a beautiful night.”

I turned as I saw Jiro coming out of the banquet room to join me. “It really is. Hopefully we’ll have more peaceful nights before our next battle.”

“Hopefully.” Jiro agreed. “You know I notice you looking up at the night sky a lot. You always have…though not in the same way you did when Lord Riku first brought you home.”

I smiled wistfully as I recalled the many nights I spent outside. “I used to look up at the stars for answers.” I said after a moment. “Why was I here? What was my purpose? Would I ever be the same person I was again?”

“And now you don’t look for those answers?” JIro inquired.

I shook my head. “No. Because I found those answers in the clan and in our fight to help create a better world.” I answered.

“Okay, but if you’re not looking for those answers, what answers are you looking for?” Jiro asked.

“No answers now.” I answered. “Now I just think the night sky is beautiful. All of those twinkling stars…each a light in the vastness of it all…”

“Oh, so staying humble then I see.” Jiro said with a teasing grin.

I laughed. “Something like that.” I replied. “We are small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but like each star we can bring a little light and hope to others.”

“You always surprise me, my lady.” JIro said.

“Oh, is that a compliment from you?” I asked, returning his teasing grin. “The man who once told me he would never follow me in battle or recognize me as a warrior or the leader of the Yamada Clan?”

“I was a stupid and jealous kid then.” Jiro replied, his face gentling. “Now, it is my honor to serve you, my lady.”

“And it is my honor to fight alongside you.” I replied.

Silence lingered between us as we both turned our gazes back to the night sky. The moon was full and shining its light down perfectly on us. After a bit, we returned to the party which went on well into the night before we were all returning to our homes and our beds.

My futon felt especially warm and welcoming after everything. It felt like I had just gotten to sleep when I jolted awake. Though I heard nothing…SOMETHING was WRONG. Every nerve ending in my body was alive and my senses on full alert.

I moved quickly and quietly, grabbing my sword. Quietly, I slipped from my room and through the halls, something compelling me to head towards my parents’ room. I wasn’t far from their room when I became aware of another presence. I turned holding my sword in a defensive stance, ready to fend off an intruder, only to be met with Jiro’s face.

We shared a look and then nodded, walking towards my parents’ room and watching each other’s backs. There was a reason Jiro was my right hand. We worked well together and had for so long now. There was no one I trusted more besides my father.

As we got closer to their room, I could hear movement. Then I heard my father, “Don’t you dare…” Before what sounded like metal connecting with a skull. Jiro and I were rushing down the hall and bursting into the room just as there was the sound of sharp metal slicing through human flesh. As soon as we were in, I saw the bodies of the only parents I had ever known hitting the floor. Blood was flowing quickly from their bodies where the swords had sliced their necks open.

I felt tears of pain, anger, and rage stinging my eyes as I looked at the enemy commander who was wiping his blade clean. He smirked at me. “Looks like we’ll get to wipe out the entire clan tonight.” He said.

I glared hard at him. “No, you signed your death warrant! You dishonorable coward! Slaughtering them in their beds!”

Though it wasn’t always wise to fight from a place of strong emotion, I had nothing but rage and anguish inside me at that moment. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. The only thing that mattered in that moment was taking down the man who had killed my parents. There were ten other men in the room, but that didn’t matter. I knew I would make them all pay.

An anguished cry of unholy anguish and rage left my lips as I raised my sword. Jiro was at my side, fighting with me as we cut through our enemies. By the time it was over, I had the man who had killed my parents on his knees, looking up at me and begging for mercy as he soon realized he had made a grave mistake.

“I’ll show you mercy by ending your miserable existence here.” I told him, my voice cold as ice.

That was when I felt Jiro’s hand on my arm. “My lady…we’ll need him for information.”

I nodded. “Take him to the dungeons…and call on Sato…she’ll make him talk.”

More of our soldiers were coming into the room, having found my parents’ guards dead. The enemy commander was taken to the dungeons and word was sent for Sato. “Let us help…with their preparations, my lady…” Ichiro, one of my men said.

“In…in a moment.” I told him. “Leave…everyone leave.”

My men looked at me a moment before leaving the room, closing the door behind them. I knelt down by the bodies of my parents. I reached my hand to my father’s face, touching his cheek. The bodies were still warm as I reached to close their eyes.

“You were too good for this, Father.” I whispered. “They never would have been able to defeat you had they fought with honor.” I looked over at my mother, a woman too good and kind for the world she was born into. “You both deserved better than…than this.”

It was in this moment, alone with their bodies that I let myself cry. I lost all control of my emotions. They didn’t deserve this fate…and here I was an orphan once more. Even as a grown woman…that was what I considered myself.

Days later, I stood dressed in my black funeral robes as I stood by the tombs where my parents were being buried. A monk was burning a special incense not far away as Jiro approached me. We both stood a moment, silent as we paid our respects to my father and mother.

“Word from Sato yet?” I asked.

“Yes.” Jiro answered. “They were mercenaries hired by the Ishihara Clan.”

“I knew those bastards wanted Father gone…wanted our land gone.” I said. “They think with Father gone that our people…our land will be for the taking.”

“What are your orders, my lady?” Jiro asked. “You are the head of the Yamada clan now. Your father left everything to you.”

I looked at my parents’ bodies, determination flooding through me. “I won’t let Father’s faith in me be destroyed…he entrusted our people to me…prepare for war. We’ll protect what’s ours and make an example of the Ishihara and anyone else who dares to think they can attack our clan and take what is ours.”

“As you command, my lady.” Jiro replied, bowing respectfully to me. “Or shall I call you Lord Yamada?”