Warring Heart of Rokugan

[Kitsu Hiraku]

*If your enemy doesn't show honour... why should you?* Daisuke thought and bowed, with his eyes on the enemy. He smiled, showing his teeth, not those of a human, but spiky teeth of a predator. He laughed in his mind when he saw what the Yobanjin tried to do. * Oh, please do... dumb blood-lusted beast*

As soon as the man raised his arms to hit the boy with his blade Daisuke crouched a little, and then stepped to the side while rising himself, and cutting at the attacker throat with a loud cry.. or a wild roar to better describe it. Within the roar a command was hidden. A request for the earth itself to slow the Yobanjin, not allowing him for a chance to dodge.

(OOC: TOTALLY not influenced by dat matsu ancestor )

[Bayushi Haruka]

The Yobanjin felt a small sinkhole under him as his last heavy step landed before the lion shugenja, causing him to drop only mere inches but it was enough to throw the berserker off guard, forcing him to look down. The foolish Yobanjin had abandoned the kami so many years ago, it was no surprise that they took some strange emphasis on punishing those that had disrespected them.

The swing was hard enough as it crushed the ground next to Daisuke, the earth crumbling all around where his blade clumsily landed. One of the stones he dislodged struck Daisuke on his left side pretty hard, but the damage was done. The air kami cleared the air with a swift whipping motion as the storm continued to build around them all, the rain soaking the earth into a more muddy state. The Yobanjin's form dropped, his head limply falling away from his body.

The storm would feel strange to Daisuke, as it seemed both natural and something almost prayed for as he could see some of the Yobanjin being struck down by lightning itself. Osano-wo's vengeance was being spurred on by distant shugenja on their way to the battle. Even the wyrms below were not immune to the raging storm as several were struck down, and the rest seemed to flee, with or without riders. Only one rider seemed to maintain himself through all the fighting as he growled out something to his men.

The Yobanjin got more reckless and were cut down. But those that weren't fighting used the sudden surge in motion to retreat, their defensive surge before the Shogun had arrived had failed. As the Shogun's cavalry and the various riders from the camps finished clearing the road it seemed for the moment they could finally breathe.

A new guard and patrol was setup while the Shogun's screening riders kept going to drive the fleeing Yobanjin back. For now the road was secure; Tomatsu was rushed back up to camp where there was still fighting on the wall, but the other samurai looked over seeing Senshi, but not having spotted Haruka. The wyrm's blood and the fallen chieftain's blood splattered across the ground. The rain only now starting to wash it into the soil.

"Bayushi Senshi-sama! The road is secure, we return to drive these dogs back! It's only a matter of time before the Shogun reinforces our numbers and this battle will finally be over!" The lion captain seemed to cheer as Tomatsu was put into a secure tent with its own guard. He was lightly bruised from the fall but otherwise uninjured as he was tended to for the moment. The defenses held and for now it seemed that the storm would only continue to brew.

Anyone who wasn't in a tent seemed to flee to cover, if they weren't fighting of course. Those on the gates and firing down from the walls cheered out as they saw the Shogun's cavalry pour through. The reinforcements would arrive soon, and they had held the line.

[Kitsu Hiraku]

Daisuke coughed and felt a metallic taste in his mouth. Luckily it didn't last long. *Whew, thought it would be worse. Seems I'll have to lie down for a bit.*

- Thank you, Fortune, for helping us in this battle He said into the air.

The young shugenja cleaned his blade with a piece of cloth and hid it in it's sheath. He looked around and noticed that the fight ended... at least for now and at least here. He picked up the Yobanjin head by the hair, his first trophy, and headed for his tent. The fight might have ended but his mission wasn't over. He moved inside his place and left the head on a piece of cloth he took out from a chest. After that he searched for some scrolls that contained prayers for recovery.

After he found them he went outside, wondering what to do. First he thought about looking for his champion but he saw Tomatsu-sama being carried into a tent, with healers already attending to him. Then he decided to head where the group that was commanded by the Lion champion was. He knew they were probably badly injured after fighting the wyrms, so they would need his help.

[Akodo Tomatsu]

He had just run out of stamina. Thats the only explanation for it. Having been battling almost non-stop since the war had begun, facing several threats to his own life in his spare time, the Lion champion had succumbed to exhaustion. After riding forth to meet the Yobanjin horrors, he had simply run out of strength for battle, the man giving everything he had.

After riding into the Yobanjin forces, Tomatsu was unhorsed by one of those vile beasts. While he had not suffered a great wound from falling, it was enough to drain him of his ability to stay conscientious. He lay there, drifting in between sleep and semi-conscientiousness.

My body has betrayed me, how can I complete my duty? he thought as he was carried off by his loyal soldiers, not a one saying anything less of him. His troops had witnessed a moment that surely the kami would remember. The Lion champion, giving everything short of his life in defense of Rokugan, collapsing on the battlefield, was truly a sight to behold, not because it was embarrassing, however his enemies could construe it that way, but because he was so dedicated to his duty to the Emperor that he forsook even the basic needs of ones body in serving his duty.

As he passed by, his troops all took moments to nod their heads in appreciation of their champions sacrifice. A universal moment share by all.

[Bayushi Haruka]

The rain seemed to let up, but the storm was no less intense as the road was now clear for Daisuke to ride through at speed. The combination of the new numbers reinforced the guard and kept the fighting at the walls. A small caravan of supplies was being readied to the Unicorn camp as they were known to be running low. The horses still seemed frightened of the lightning as the cart was loaded up for immediate leave.

Tomatsu would be surrounded by proud faces, as they would bring him all he needed for now to take it easy. He'd been taking less breaks and longer shifts than most, there wouldn't be a single ill word said around him. Not even from the Unicorn who patched up their wounds in a tent across from his. The wyrms had destroyed good men and good horses, but that hadn't deterred a soul. This was battle and this was the glorious fight that they were made for. So much alike the Unicorn and the Lion were in spirit and purpose at times, and yet still so different.

Keiko seemed to move in from the corner of Senshi's eye as she came to Haruka's side. Her eyes seemed fierce to determine her injuries, as she silently looked to her Champion and bowed. She didn't even say a word as she would have asked his aid should she have needed it. Haruka's battle mare Rin came trotting over, snorting and glaring at Keiko with a most displeased look. But Keiko was hardly afraid of the horse.

With ease she mustered the strength to get Haruka over the mare's back as she leaned forward, clearly unconscious and covered in blood and mud. As with a slightly tense but obedient gaze Keiko brought them both to an unoccupied tent for her to lay down and recover. Not far from Tomatsu's tent as Keiko simply let Rin stand outside. The stubborn Utaku steed seemed almost as annoyed as Keiko was in having to deal with all of this. She stood a silent guard for now as her duty was to Haruka for now until at least this battle was over or Senshi commanded otherwise.

As now Senshi could see Haruka was visibly out of harm's way, the only things that were before him was the fight still raging. The Yobanjin were losing momentum quickly with the Shogun's screen riders running through their ranks at speed. The battle was not over, but the question was could his body continue holding out. He felt a few pings of the wyrm's impact from before as his chest and abdomen throbbed a bit, part of his armor now had claw marks in it. A fun story for another day perhaps.

[Bayushi Senshi]

With the arrival of the shogun's forces, Senshi decided the battle was well in hand, and knew that there would be logistics and command issues to deal with back at the keep. And perhaps, one more restful night ahead of him as the reinforcements slammed into the siegeing force. He walked back to the keep, impatient to be by the side of his friends. His clansmen bowing to him, clearly approving of his leaving the front lines, he strode through the defenses, and began laying out battle plans in his tent. He knew with Setsuro gone and Tomatsu unconscious, Kaneka would wish to speak with him. He stripped his armor to be more presentable, then swiftly dropped by the tent Keiko was guarding checked to see that Haruka was ok, then to Tomatsu to confirm that he couldn't meet with the Shogun.

Convinced he was on his own, he awaited the shogun's messengers.

[Kitsu Hiraku]

After a few questions for directions Daisuke finally arrived to where most of the wounded were. Surely he wasn't necessary there but no one would say no to a Kitsu help when it came to healing wounds. Not to mention that he had more than enough scrolls for himself and would be willing to share them. And also he wanted to be there. Mainly because he could later easily check on how his clan champion was feeling. With thought like that he dismounted his horse, greeted the other shugenja and started working.

[Bayushi Haruka]

It was as this time that the notes Setsuro had written to Senshi, Tomatsu, and Haruka now were delivered. Haruka looked at the note, coming out of her unconscious state to read it with a little sigh.
"Crab and their wall. Ah well..."

Her gaze shifting to Keiko who still stood guard over her. After a brief self examination to ensure she had all her limbs she looked to Keiko saying that she was all right. For now Keiko would leave her be since she'd pulled through without any trouble, where she'd continue to maintain her diligent vigil from a comfortable distance.

Otherwise Daisuke could assist quite well with those that had made it back from the wyrm attack, muttering something about a strange heroic presence that had come over them. The shugenja could only guess that it might've been his doing, that his prayers had been answered.

---

The next day and a half would continue with the waning siege of the Yobanjin along the defenses. There were a few chance strikes in the night, but with the additional screening cavalry bolstering their numbers they were dealt with swiftly and easily.

Kaneka would arrive at mid-day with the vast army he'd accumulated to help complete the battle. But the storm still seemed to hold around them as the prayers of the many accompanying shugenja were answered by Osano-wo's might.

The Shogun would meet with the champions and the generals to discuss the rest of the battle, leaving the rest of the defenders to carry on with the Yobanjin until they were ready. It wouldn't take long though as samurai were appointed into strike groups, their highest abilities being utilized as the might of Rokugan readied to pour out onto the Yobanjin.

The battle was finally drawing to a close, it wouldn't be long now many thought.

((OOC: For now this is my last post for Warring Hearts due to a lot of complications I've decided to leave it as is for now. I hope you've all enjoyed and I look forward to more roleplays in the future! Good luck for the rest of the Battle of Mountain Watch Keep!))

[Kitsu Hiraku]

Daisuke smiled while listening to these stories. He wouldn't say anything about it being his doing because pride wasn't really his thing. He was just happy that he did his part in this war.

*Wa-r?... I don't really feel... well...*

Those were the last thoughts that he had before collapsing. When he woke up he was already on a cart. - Where am I? Where are we going? He asked the carter.

- I was ordered to bring you toyour clan lands for further healing. Those shugenja were talking about some internal injuries. Said you could die if you stay there. And something about you being too rare to risk. Or something. I dunno, I'm just a bushi, don't ask me about your magic stuff. He said and turned his eyes back to the road.

*Damn, I really wanted to fight some more... but yeah it probably was pretty stupid going on to the front lines. Might as well just rest.* He thought before falling asleep again.