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"Welcome back, Captain Hadeki." Two of the resistance soldiers saluted my return.
Barely reciprocating the gesture, I soon walk ahead allowing the two to follow me.
"I hope your expedition was successful. Though you were much needed on the island, it was for the better that you dealt with this matter yourself." One of them spoke.
"Were any other delusions found while I was away?"
"None sir. But since your leave the uhhh...the training camp has been slightly uncooperative."
I didn't question on the matter as we were nearing the camp itself anyway. I'll have a look at the matter myself.
When we climbed the hill, I noticed general Gorou already at the entrance with a stand off-ish pose as if pondering something inside.
He turned once his ears twitched, likely hearing our approach already.
"Ah! Master Hadeki!" He greeted with a bright rush of respect.
"General." I returned his greetings with a smile then soon stood next to him, staring into the encampment. "Is something the matter?"
"...Ah... it's mainly the troops." He sighed and scratched his head.
I looked into the camp itself and see resistance soldiers meandering about or lazing on training grounds. Some of the huts even had closed doors, knowing the rules and regulations here that mainly symbolizes that there's men still inside their rooms refusing to come out, it is barely noon as well.
"The soldiers have been very demotivated and even uncooperative to commence with their training. Some deem themselves useless in the sense that they aren't vision bearers some are becoming sceptical in our authority ever since we confiscated and destroyed the delusions....I tried reasoning with them, lift their spirits in some tangible way but--"
"I understand, General. Please," I reach into my pocket and take out a letter. "this is the report of my findings in Yashori and what my suggestions are for our next course of action. I advise you and the Lady Priestess to read this through."
"But..."
"In the mean time, I will speak to these men. You needn't worry any longer." I give him a gentle smile once again. Gorou took some time to find his faith in me but eventually nodded and headed off back to the shrine.
"You two. Inside." I ordered my two followers.
As I walked in with them, our prominent stomping caused the loitering soldiers to mutter and nudge each other of my coming as they immediately fumbled about and stood at attention.
"Captain!"
"I depart for a day and I receive complaints of incompetence from our General?" I roar my voice. "Do I need to ask for a proper explanation?"
It has been some time since I ever used this tone of voice. However, I've gotten used to it once again ever since I accepted to train the recruits. Some may think of me as twisted to think that I missed using such harsh demeanor...but this is the only language the honor of the Shogunate approves.
"W-WE...UHH...!"
"..."
None of them brought forth any reasonable response or any response for that matter. Until one...
"What's it all for..?" A soldier muttered with his head down.
"Elaborate." I crossed my arms.
"How could we possibly make a difference?! In this situation....in this war?! Some of us may have had their visions taken but most of us aren't even real fighters! We're not born into talents of a warrior or blessed with a vision! We take more losses in our ranks that don't even make a victory feel worth it. The only people that actually have an impact on the battle are you, General Gorou and the Divine Prestress, where does that leave us?! Not the mention the heavy blows we receive from Kujou Sara!"
He yelled with all his might as he pointed at me, the men around him had not raised a single hand or voice in support or protest against his claims but it was very apparent to me what they were all feeling.
Once the man was done with his frustrated venting, he had come to a breathy end with his forehead sweating while I remained unmoved in place.
"Do you know of the training routine I held back in my prime?"
No one responded to me for a short while. They merely exchanged confused glances amongst each other with light murmur until one of them spoke up nervously.
"I only heard rumors about it but people said that you didn't train them per se but rather tried to kill your trainees." He cleared his throat.
"There were many rules and regulations to be followed when entering the training encampment under my observation. The few more highlighted notes were not so easily forgettable. The first being to always be awake at 6 in the morning sharp, be any later or earlier than that then you'd be under risk of being beheaded in your sleep by me personally."
A few began fidgeting in place I noticed one of the men start slamming his fist against the doors of the closed huts.
"But the second and most important rule to follow if you ever even dared to enter my domain was to leave your visions at your abode or hand then over to officers on the field. None were allowed under my observation. Being a shogunate soldier meant that I had to strain you to skin and teeth then rip you apart from head to two until you were a perfect embodiment of honor and glory to the Narukami Ogosho, I needed to strengthen your bodies and your will to it's fullest."
Silence fell upon us once again.
"What? Did you think that Vision bearers could sit back and kick up their feet simply because they had a blessing from a God? No. I was tasked to train nearly a few hundreds yearly and among them would be 20-15 individuals with Visions, all taken from them. If they wanted them back and train with their elemental powers? They needed to be promoted from a novice and you only reach anything higher after completing all routines flawlessly and defeat me in a spar."
For some reason, a majority of them stepped back.
"T-that doesn't mean anything...! You yourself are-"
"I received my Vision after I became the Shogun's personal guard. Before that, I bred the finest warriors that protected these lands with my own bare hands without the aid of any blessings. Kujou Sara was the only one who had ever survived my training with her Vision intact. Now..."
I clear my head of any personal feelings, unreasonable emotions. None of these are welcome in the will of a General.
"...I understand that most of you never experienced any of this. You were farmers, shop keepers and laborers who merely wanted to live a quiet life and provide for you and your family. I wouldn't say that visions are meaningless to our cause since that is key to what we are even fighting for but remember that you and only you were the one to come here and take up a weapon and fight to regain your vision or fight for the right to receive one. You knew of the implications, the consequences of being here and yet some of you chose ill means to attain power, some of you cheated your way to victory. There is no honor in what we do here but your deeds with the delusions were not inconsequential....many of your brothers have lost their lives by merely using them."
Those who had any confidence in them before had now cowered in humiliation and without aim. I sighed and decided it was best to move forward with what I can grasp.
"I came here to alert on increasing your daily training in some manner because our final act was almost ready." Their heads perk up once again.
"Right this very moment, the General and Priestess are reading my planned notes and strategy of a full on frontal assault on the mainland and the Shogunate directly. We will barely have a few days before we make a decision and launch an attack. But I come here to see my hopes crumbling with the very men who swore their lives for this barely standing their ground in their own abodes."
I turn and look at the two men behind me. Takeo and Kaito have been the most trusted members of my platoon since the day I had come here.
I nod at the two and then have them stay here on guard as I take my leave.
"I will go to further discuss our plans with the leaders. Those of you who still even have a fraction of will left in them to believe you are more than just an ordinary man, return to your training....The rest of you can leave as you wish."
With an exhausted slump of my shoulders, I leave the encampment. I entrusted Takeo and Kaito to make sure no misdeeds take place should any of them throw out their aggression or come to any disagreement. Regardless, when I return, only the useful ones will remain and I know there will be.
There are no acts of kindness and favoritism between a student and a teacher, the matter is harsher with a General....Sara was always something more of an exception.
When I reached the shrine, I expected to be escorted inside the large palace like abode, but instead I was met by the daring sight of both Gorou and Kokomi running towards me with awestruck eyes.
"M-Master Hadeki....! This is..!"
"Our one and only chance, we shall discuss it appropriately." I place my hands on their shoulders and push them along with me back to the shrine.
A few days later....
No one's POV
For once in a long time, Watatsumi Island was eerily quite. The villagers were silent in their daily works but also worry, the training encampment and the Divine Shrine was nearly empty.
None of the island's proud defenders were anywhere to be seen. The only remaining clue of their existence was a lone dagger stabbed into the table of the meeting room inside the shrine, the dagger had violently wedged a note onto the table that none dared to remove and some couldn't do it either.
~~~~°~~~~
Master,
I pray that this letter reaches you quickly, I made haste in writing this and did all in my power to send it off to you.
Big Brother has his hands tied in this matter as much as I, neither of us can step in or take action that can save him.
Our house keeper, Thoma, whom had brought you to the estate before, has been captured by the Shogunate. The Raiden Shogun is personally holding a public confiscation of his Vision infront of the Statue you are all to familiar with. She plans to execute this today as the Hunt Decree's 100th Vision taken as a sick ceremony.
As I said, neither my brother and I can act upon this matter, I could only turn to you. Please, I beg of you, save him...he's more than just a keeper and we cannot afford to have him imprisoned like this. I only wish that you learn of this in time...
Kamisato Ayaka.
~~~~°~~~~
This note alone was what broke the tide. The small spark to chaos. Their plan for a week to come had been cut short to just a day as the Resistance force had to act now.
"Your Excellency!! It is urgent news!" A Shogunate Soldier made his stop at the gates of the Tenshukakku, trembling in his place as the Shogun stood atop the stairs.
"Speak."
"W-we just warning of war declaration from the R-Resistance!"
"Declaration? When did you receive such a letter?" She crossed her arms.
"We didn't....t-they are on Narukami Island with their entire army."
The Shogun went quiet for a moment, she didn't show any signs of distress however. She pondered her next move, or rather awaited orders.
"Bring the prisoner to the statue, inform General Kujuo and have her deal with the fodder. The ceremony will still commence..."
"Yes...your Excellency...!" The soldier bowed and immediately ran off.
On the outskirts of Inazuma City, the island was charred with sudden display of tents and soldiers oceaning the land. The resistance army was quietly standing in wait.
Kokomi standing in front with a face of new anger and stern energy of determination.
As they stood and stared at the far away city, they noticed thick black clouds rolling in from it's direction. They approached with such speed and organization that it felt almost unnatural....
"They have arrived." Kokomi whispered as she looked down at the roads ahead.
An army of equal number was marching towards them. The proud banners of the Shogunate with spears moving at equal height. The rush of authority was clear and the dreadful tension in the air was too potent to be ignored.
Any and every civilians in the area had been evacuated...this only spelled chaos written in fate to come.
General Kujuo Sara firmly stood ahead of the ocean of soldiers behind her. Her bow gripped and ready but her mind was clouded with so many worries and questions yet her face remained steadfast. She had to be the one to stay professional after all.
However, she saw the two of them standing in front. Sangonomiya Kokomi and a dark figure with a black Haori, black straw hat and the same mask. The attire he used when she first encountered him on the island of Watatsumi. Her brows furrowed at the sight, not out of resentment but rather the pain of having to face what she worried all along.
Still, she took a deep breath then concealed her bow. Looking back at her army, she quietly nodded to them then began walking forward, alone.
Kokomi saw this and whispered to her companions then did the same. The two lone leaders now walking towards each other, neither showing a friendly face anymore, the chances of those were long gone.
"Kujou."
"Kokomi."
They quietly stared at each other as the rain finally began pouring down. The fluff of their hair slowly stiffening to moistness as they stare at each other.
"So, has the resistance finally gone mad?" Sara began.
"Yes."
Well, that was definitely not a response she expected.
"We've finally broke...fighting a battle that always results in loss, it made us realize. If you refuse to listen, if death is all it takes for us to stand for what is rightfully ours...then we will fight to the very last drop."
"You would throw away your life for this?" Sara gritted her teeth.
She couldn't understand this. Why are they so stubborn? Why are they so persistent on defying the Electro Archon? Are they actually insane...? Or is this new declaration truly a mistake.
"This? Our right to a vision? Our right of freedom? Be free from this trap we once called our home from a God once prideful? Yes...we will."
Even if Sara was now having doubts about her own morals, she felt as though she couldn't shake their will now....it was too late.
Sara was only brought back to reality by a sudden ball of water being flung at her, she used her electro to try and stop it in place but it ended up created a recoil charge that threw the both of them back.
"Negotiations are over!!"
"We fight!!"
Both leaders roared to their armies and hell's gates chain open.
The two seas of soldiers finally crash together in an uproar matching the thunderous weather above them. The clang of metal and the screams of lifted spirits was all that could be heard the commotion of the island.
The conflicted general would merely ram through and knock out any enemy that would try attacking her, but her weapon would not take a single soul. She as strangely making sure that none of her own men killed anyone in her sights but her eyes showed a different sense of bloodlust as her eyes remained glued to one individual.
Her sights soar through the masses and pin pointed one man amongst then. She found Hadeki striking down soldiers left and right but this time...a sword in hand.
Has he finally acknowledged his own honor...? Is he not using his vision for this sake...?
She thought. Kujou felt obligated to approach him in battle and so she did. Toppling over and weaving past all manner of forces stopping her, she finally reached him and made her presence known my jumping into the air and rocketing back down until she tackled him to the ground.
The black hat fell off and the once restored mask had toppled to the muddy ground where grass was once green.
"Master! Stop wasting your time here and face h-"
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...
Kujou was speechless at the sight before her, the man she pinned to the ground was--
"Ha-Ha! You just got played by the great Arataki Itto!"
He suddenly punched the ground and activated hsi vision, flinging Kujou off and away from him in a shockwave, he used his punch to get back onto his feet.
"Itto?!"
"Missed me that much Tengu? I've been waiting for this moment! I'll finally have my revenge against you fair and square!" He summoned a large spiked club and charged at her.
"Where's Hadeki?!" Sara yelled.
"Forget that! Don't run from me this time! I'm not letting you off the hook!"
Itto slammed his weapon to the ground with such force that even the rain around them bounced back. And with that he charged at her, locking them in a long awaited battle.
She did her best to evade and neutralize him, when she saw a window to make an escape and try to make it back to the city, she was stopped again by a wild gust of wind.
"One with Nature!"
Kazhua plunged to the ground with the wind shooting down after him with such force that it caused Sara to fall to her knees.
"Agh...! You?! What are you doing here?!"
"I've come to aid in a destiny that I thought was once mine.." He pointed his blade at Sara who tried her best to stand back up and fight.
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Deep within the heart of the City, the Raiden Shogun quietly stared at the sky, as if the clouds spoke to her in return.
"Your Excellency, are you sure it is safe to conduct this ceremony at this hour?" A soldier asked worriedly in a bow.
"If the General is truly worthy of her title, then we have no need to worry of being interrupted -- Bring forth the prisoner."
She ordered with a point of her spear as she stood atop the wooden floors before the great statue that sparkled with visions ingrained into it.
Thoma was shoved up to the stage with his hands tied, he was brought to his knees before the Shogun who stood at a higher level.
The wide ground behind them was standing in a mix of confusing emotions, were they supposed to cheer? Yell? Worry for the man before them? Bow to the Shogun? They didn't know, they were so detached from their own God by now that they didn't know.
"As the 100th...you will symbolize a new dawn of Inazuma." The Shogun announced, reaching her hand out.
Thoma's Vision flickered then snapped from it's chain at his hip, it flew towards the Shogun while all he could do was watch in helplessness.
Just half way through the air, the Vision itself was struck by an arrow knocking it off to the side. As it bounced off the floor boards a dash of brown rolled onto the scene and snatched it off.
General Gorou growled as he reassumed his stance with his bow conjured up. The two guards standing behind Thoma immediately prepared their spears to attack but Thoma took this distraction as an opportunity to help out and stand up, shoving the two guards with his shoulder to the ground.
"An enemy of eternity...you dare violate our laws in my presence...." The Shogun huffed.
"In the name of the Divine Prestress, I do..." Gorou slipped an arrow in and readied himself, he knew for a fact that facing the Raiden Shogun was a death wish,....he just had to wait her out.
"Then perish like the rest of them..."
Without a hint of delay, the sky above the Shogun grew
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