-Doji Shizue

--The following story was told in the court of the Emerald Champion, 40 years in the future to celebrate the heroes of the past.--

Daidoji Shogusha's plan was simple. A spearhead of Daidoji will cross the two landbridges, with Shogusha leading the central front, and Akodo Toranaga and Kuni Hitoshi the west and east. A separate flank will cross Akodo Toranaga's bridge in the east, led by Mirumoto Tokura's Dragon unit and Kakita Kazuyoshi's unit of Kakitas. Shinjo Taki of the Wasp will lead a unit of archers to cover the eastern flank. The whole area was heavily forested, so any more complicated maneuvering would be pointless. The river which flowed by had flooded, leaving the banks slippery with mud. Any tactics would have to be executed on the level of the nikutai and gunso: the thick forest would block any message going between units.

A simple plan. And the goal, of course, was to free the sieged Emerald Magistrates.

"The Rebellion!" the peasant and ronin forces shouted as they held their spears against the Lion charge. Akodo Toranaga laughed inwardly. That was nothing compared to the Matsu's battle cry. One wave, one rush, the Lion easily opened a path of death into the stunned enemy. Spears and swords seemed to bounce harmlessly off their armor, and arrows always missed.

The Daidoji spears rushed afterward, the second wave that crushed the enemy. They killed more than the Lion did, but it was the Lion who demoralized the rebellion first.

"This is battle, Akodo-sama!" Matsu Tonchuko shouted over the clash of steel. Toranaga looked at the samurai-ko who had doubted his every decision. She served him only because her lord ordered her so. "Not that raid you and your friends had the other night!" She ran her sword through two samurai and pulled out her wakizashi to cut another.

Akodo Toranaga cut off a former Shiba's hand and leapt over a naginata sweep. He shook his head and smiled at the Matsu. Then he lunged past her and killed two soldiers who were about to attack her from behind.

Tonchuko looked at him with renewed admiration. Sometimes actions speak louder than thunder.

"Tokura! The right!" Mirumoto Akeu shouted. Tokura looked to where his friend pointed his bloody katana, and raged filled his veins. There stood a former Mirumoto. A former Mirumoto who served by his side as yojimbo to the Emerald Magistrate Mirumoto Utsuro, but now wears the mon of the eagle. His grandfather's soul roared in fury at the betrayal.

"TRAITOR!"

With his grandfather's soul guiding his sword arms, Mirumoto Tokura leapt past enemy and friend alike and attacked his former ally. A circle formed around them and a single tree, leaving the two warriors to decide their fates. Steel clashed as the two fought, but the duel was swift and certain. Akeu arrived right as the traitor fell, and the two friends fought back to back against the tree, oblivious to the blood flowing from their wounds.

The righteous shall prevail.

Hitoshi had fought conservatively so far, acting as reinforcements for the other units. But a path cleared in front of his men, straight into the enemy's front line.

"More opportunities present themselves after taking the first," the Kuni quoted. "Charge!" and his men obeyed. Really, attacking this ragtag army was like attack an army of Goblins. There were a lot of them, and they weren't proficient fighters. On the other, Goblins were stupid, and this was their strength: they fought with a single-minded stupidity and tenacity that gives them a stubborness that even the Matsu do not have. These peasants, however, were not stupid (in the same sense). Instead, they had emotions. Like fear. Fear for the big hammer that crushed a human head like a melon.

So, they broke through the pathetic line, and the enemy fell back in fear, allowing other units to fill in the gap. Shogusha's bloody column on the central front had agonizingly advanced, but now Hitoshi's charge allowed them to gain more ground quickly.

"Hitoshi-san!" one of the Daidoji shouted. His armor was chipped in a few places, but his yari was soaked in red. His eyes showed that of a cunning warrior. "Look!" Pivoting on his spear, the Daidoji sidestepped around a ronin and knocked him down from behind, then swiftly spun to parry a sword and disemboweled the sword's owner. Then he pointed over the fighting fray. After Hitoshi swung his mighty hammer a few times, he also looked in the general direction, and spent a precious few seconds trying to get a view through the trees.

"Zakennayo!" Hitoshi swore.

They had Isawa.

Commanding a small unit of Daidoji archers, Shinjo Taki of the Wasp Clan was to provide archery cover for the eastern flank. Unfortunately, this meant that his unit had to follow the Kakita and Mirumoto duelists, who were busy showing off their skills. Of course, they were oblivious to the fact that Taki himself has probably shot down more unit leaders than all of them combined.

THUNK.

And, to make things worse, his unit had a minimum escort of Daidoji spears. Supposedly, they were to stay in the reserves, but the swordsmen got a little katana happy.

THUNK.

Still, considering their situation, his unit was doing remarkably well. They ran back and forth among the trees instead of leaping into the chaos. Of his twenty archers, Taki designated assigned 5 the all-important mission of keeping them alive: they had to shoot down anybody who got close. And Taki didn't choose wrong; the five did a fine job.

THUNK.

When was the last time I missed, Taki thought. Probably an hour ago. No time to think. That last samurai got too close. An ex-Mantis, using farmer tools as weapons.

THWIP.

Taki turned to watch one of his men take an arrow into the chest. Retracing the trajectory, he saw an enemy unit of mounted Unicorn archers. Former Unicorn. He knew they had advantage of speed, range, better armor, and probably better aim. They were good; he used to train with them.

But Taki was better.

"Divide up. Aim for the horses." While Unicorns were rich enough to afford heavy armor, only a few can afford barding for their horses. The Daidoji archers strafed the cavalry and shot the horses. A few fell off their mounts and were quickly engaged by the Daidoji spears. The archers tried to move into the trees, but the cavarly cut them off. Mirumoto samurai had seened cavalry attack and came in to assist the archers.

The former Unicorn also divided up, four soldiers per target. With two on each side, they strafed and picked on the Daidoji with accurate bowshots. They depended on their armor to protect them from other arrows, and used this method to systematically wipe out Taki's unit. However, they did not expect the Mirumoto, who intercepted the charge and cut the bows from their hands. Before they could draw their weapons and attack, Taki's unit shot them down.

The Kakita's regrouped back with Taki's men and the Mirumoto. Both were taking injuries, but that did not faze them.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

Akodo Toranaga's front was doing fairly well. They had held their western front admirably, and slowly pushed northeastward, squeezing the enemy forces together for slaughter. The Akodo bushi were bloody, wounded, and executed his horseshoe traps and wedges with perfect precision. His Matsu charged headfirst into the enemy's wedge about four times their size, and routed them.

This is what it means to be a Lion.

A soft rumbling could be heard over the blades clashing. Toranaga ducked under a sword, but took a small wound to his side from another knife wielding rebel. He drew his wakizashi and parried the knife holder while he sliced into the rib cage of the other swordsman. (A trick he learned from watching Tokura practice.)

The rumbling intensified.

Toranaga looked to the source of the sound and saw the Daidoji spears falling back. From cavalry. Clad in purple armor but boldly displaying the mon of the eagle, the cavalry charged at his army.

"Fall back!" yelled Akodo Satsu, Toranaga's second in command. Even the Matsu did not hesitate. The rumbling became thunder, as over four dozen horsemen ran over the wounded Cranes toward the retreating Daidoji.

"Hold your ground!" Akodo Toranaga shouted over the thunder. They must hold in order to save the major body of the army. "Defend!" The Lion obeyed. And watched. And braced themselves, as the lances were lowered toward them.

His theory that Goblins were better than this heap of men was falling apart. Somehow, someone was able to organize and direct these soldiers into something resembling an army. Still, Kuni Hitoshi thought, they will fall. It's just taking longer than he thought.

A prayer to the water spirits, and the fallen Crane rose again, lifting his grandfather's blade in renewed energy. An arrow nearly grazed Hitoshi's ear, but he didn't mind: it missed, after all.

Hitoshi felt ill-prepared for this battle. His spell repertoire was geared toward fighting the Fallen One, not humans. His primary offense was to hurl fires into the opposing army (which was quite effective). On the bright side, he was smashing enemies left and right with his massive die-tsuchi.

Still fighting conservatively, his men waited for the enemy to come to them. A group of eagle-bearing bushi surged forward through the forest.

"Serpent's Teeth!" one of the Daidoji commanded. The Crane instinctively opened their deadly formation, and trapped the enemy into their spears. Hitoshi leapt into the fray, and enemy bushi underestimated the use of a hammer in battle.

"Forward!" Kuni Hitoshi screamed. Shogusha's column was advancing, and it would not be proper to be left behind. Besides, the enemies' shugenja were up ahead.

"Retreat!" His archers gratefully obeyed. A chaotic brawl completely surrounded them. His archers put away their bows and drew their swords in order to cut their way out. A few Mirumoto heard the command, and helped them, but the Dragons eventually returned to their leader. More arrows flew from Taki's yumi, each claiming a life. He single-handedly gave archery cover to his whole unit as they tried to clear a path.

A searing pain razed his back. Taki leapt off a pile of wounded samurai, somersaulted, and shot his attacker in the heart while upside down and in the air. Apparently his rear guard had died. Taki kept to the trees for protection.

Kakita Kazuyoshi truly was a master of the blade. His own Kakitas struggled to keep up with the pace he set. When the two units, they smiled at each other in friendly rivalry.

For today, they were friends.

"Up ahead! Their general!" A figure in yellow, proudly displaying the eagle. A former Lion. The enemies' standard bearer stood behind him, with the standard tangled in the trees.

"Akodo Yakume," Kazuyoshi whispered. "A Lion Magistrate." The general rode the horse back and forth, shouting orders and waving his tessen, leading a unit of disciplined ex-Lions. The enemy rushed into the Daidoji spears, and cut the spears, allowing the ex-Unicorn cavalry to charge. Daidoji bodies were skewered and lanced through.

"He's mine!" Kazuyoshi declared, and proceeded into the fray.

"I'll have that one then," Mirumoto Tokura calmly pointed. Another mounted figure, a ronin, was leading another unit of ronin with some skill. They fought evenly against some twenty Daidojis.

The Dragons all smiled and rushed forward.

The Akodo looked around. While his front had suffered, the central column had advanced quite far. After the last horseman died, the remaining Craness joined the Lions, forming a single unit. They rushed forward into battle.

Normally he had nothing but contempt against his ancient enemy, but he did acknowledge that the Daidojis certainly knew how to use a yari. They executed traps and lures effectively, if not as precise as the Lions.

Something huge hurled itself into Toranaga's back, knocking him down. When he finally stood again, he saw a Daidoji and Matsu Tonchuko finish off the two men who flew into him. The Akodo looked into the Daidoji's eyes, and he saw underneath a man to be reckoned with. Matsu Tonchuko kiaied triumphantly as she slay foe after foe. She stared back at the Akodo.

They were even.

Akodo Toranaga fell back into his stance and fought like the Lion he was. They had charged too far into the enemy, for they were surrounded, and the samurai felt the rope around their necks tighten.

And then Toranaga burst into fire.

A magical fire. Must have been from the Agasha. He felt a renewed strength in his blood, and his wounds no longer pained as much. The ragtag enemy fell back in fear and awe of mystical blue and green flames. Confidence and energy surged into his unit of Lions and Cranes. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he lunged forward like a spinning star, death radiating from his fury.

Even the Matsu were proud of him that hour.

Mirumoto Tokura ran forward also, a straight line to his target. Tokura leapt into the air, carried by the soul of his grandfather, and sliced into the horseman, drawing blood. A solid blow with the katana. The blow knocked him off the horse, and Tokura landed slightly farther than the horseman.

Unforunately, not enough to kill him. Tokura turned around with his faced up toward where the horseman should be sitting: on top of the horse. He did not know the ronin fell off.

That was his final mistake.

The ronin lunged his yari into Tokura's chest, just below Tokura's sight. Tokura fell forward, clutching his grandfather's blade in his hand.

"NO!" Mirumoto Akeu screamed, but the rebels blocked his path to the ronin.

THWIP.

THUNK.

Taki's arrow hit the wounded samurai, nearly felling him. Tokura just died. He couldn't believe it. Spending a few weeks company with the quiet swordsman had made them friends. Taki pulled back on the yumi string. He had never lost a friend like this, not in battle. His second arrow killed him. Now his soul can rest.

Tokura's Dragon friend finally broke free from the rebels and nearly carved up a corpse. He then went over to Tokura's body to pick up his daisho.

Taki resumed his position behind the trees, giving cover and strafing any units they see.

They were getting closer. The Magistrate's keep was sometimes showed behind the trees. There might be men flooding out of it. Kuni Hitoshi wasn't concerned with that though. They had began this battle with half the number of men as the enemy, and now they were even. Except that now everyone was exhausted. He used his spells sparingly, depending more and more upon his hammer to destroy his foes.

His goal, still, was the enemy shugenja. Fire and rocks flew over into the central column, blunting the spearhead attack. Precisely timed Earthquake spells slowed down the samurai's charges. Units that his men had routed came back with renewed vigor.

Must reach the shugenja. Hitoshi's army only had him and 5 Agasha shugenja to start with. And he was the highest ranking one.

He saw them. They were protected by former Shibas. Hitoshi charged forward.

THWIP.

Someone shot one of his

THWIP.

two of his men. They were throat shots.

TWANG.

The arrow hit one of the trees right above his head. Who is this? Shinjo Taki rushed ahead to the nearest cover, catching glimpse of a red kimono. Phoenix? He stood up and looked at her.

She caught his eyes as he caught hers.

A hundred yards apart, they assesed each other in a heartbeat. And then they drew. Taki fired first.

Missed. His worst shot ever. It did not even reach her. The Fortunes did not favor him that day. She then fired.

Hit. An excellent shot, into his lung. Taki fell to one knee, his own blood drowning him. Coughing the red ichor onto the ground, the great bowsman died.

Shinjo Etsumi saw this as he rode from the keep, and screamed his brother's name.

And the enemy was the metal.

Another group of Daidoji who lost their leader joined his unit, and they rushed into the chaos, sure of the victory. The enemy was losing, and it was only a matter of time.

A stray arrow hit Akodo Satsu, his second in command.

But it was not time to be overconfident. His right hand wounded, Satsu used his off hand to wield his sword. Though clumsy, he still fought with the courage of a Lion. Toranaga led his unit into a scrape and bounce attack. The unit ran along the side of the enemies' army, shaving off the sides. Then, they regrouped ten yards away and charged back into the newly exposed army side.

Another arrow hit Akodo Satsu, in his leg.

These were no stray arrows. Following the arrow's path, he saw movement in the tree tops.

"Hidden archers! In the trees!" Toranaga shouted. His men armed themselves with yumi bows and shot down the tree archers. A Togashi Ise Zumi, one of the two on their side, climbed the tree dexterously and threw a couple of archers this way and that. His tiger clawed hands allowed him the strength to leap from tree to tree while the Cranes and Lions sent volley after volley into ambushers.

After finishing them off, the unit resumed their attack. The enemy was dying, with only stubborn units fighting back. As far as they were concerned, with the leadership of Toranaga and Shogusha, the battle was over before it started.

But they were shugenja.

Fire and Earth spells flew down at them with dizzying effects. An Earthquake nearly caused the charge to fail, but it stopped quickly. The shugenja casting it must've died.

One of the ex-Isawa saw Kuni Hitoshi, and shouted something back to his brethen. He then summoned the spirits around him, and a blue aura radiated from his body.

Duel.

Hitoshi put down his die tsuchi and used his remaining energy to summon the Earth spirits. The earth started to rumble at his feet.

The Isawa lashed first, a three foot geyser of hot steam shooting from the ground. It streaked toward Hitoshi. Hitoshi barely managed to stop it with the Earth spirits, and was felled to one knee. But he was still alive.

His turn. The rumbling now came from the other shugenja's area. The ex-Isawa lost his footing and fell, and the Earth spirits struck a mighty blow against his chest, sending him reeling twenty feet back. He coughed blood as he landed. His spirit quickly departed to Jigoku.

Hitoshi's men made sure the other shugenja were sent the same way.

Yakume was cleaved into two. Their general dead, the fire of the rebellion was quickly extinguished.