War Changes Everything [Reboot] Past Thread

Suzume blinked. "What's chakra? Eh, anyway, I can make ten, but any more than six and it takes a lot more out of me. Six, I can hold for an extended period of time, and they have a lot of stamina." She grinned, and six clones of herself appeared around Eon. They seemed to all have personality, considering the way they idled about, two waving at Eon, while another curiously groped his ass. Another was grinning and teasing as if she was going to pull her top down in front of him. The original Suzume giggled a bit, and shoo'd them all off to do their job. "Well, let's get going!"

Eon was..taken a bit back but he didn't show it on his face and or expression in body language. "I'll explain whenever we get back. I guess its not too surprising, its not as well known in Halzara or even in the Earth Realm outside where it came from."

Suzume blinked at that. "You've been to Earth Realm? You'll have to tell me what that's like later too. Anyway, let's go! I've said this three times now."

"Don't worry, I will. And you're right, we've been here too long." Without another word he continued on deeper inside the castle along with Suzume. They had wasted enough time and the longer they waited, the bigger chance something would happen.

It really didn't take all that long. About twenty minutes later, one of the clones dropped down in front of them after they had skirted a patrol, relaying that they had learned where Iliara and Yuki were being held. The fact they were in separate areas was a little surprising. The fact that Yuki, being the 'more valuable' hostage, was being held close to Ashikaga was both a blessing and a curse. At least Ashikaga thought she was ugly, and would not be inclined to take advantage of her. On the other hand, it also meant getting to her would be a little bit harder, since the bastard was slippery.

The more alarming issue was Iliara's position. "Being held in the north-west wing of the palace, bottom floor, one hallway down from the courtyard entrance... if I remember right...." She paused. "Oh... that's near the soldier's barracks... that's not good, since there's nothing stopping the soldiers from..." She blinked, and shook her head. "This could get messy. And loud. We need to act quickly. Iliara's the one in danger, but getting to her will probably alert Ashikaga. So, you and three of my clones, and me with three of them. Pick which one you're going after and I'll go to the other." She was, unlike was usual for her, deadly serious. Clearly she was in 'mission mode' now or something.

It was a bit surprising of the change, but at the same time not as much as one would think. If she was well trained like she seemed to be, then it meant she'd have to have a serious side of her when the time came.

Eon had no preferences. And the sooner a decision was made, the better.

"I'll go grab Yuki while you go grab Iliara."

Hopefully things didn't turn to shit.

Suzume nodded, and took off with three of her clones, leaving three with Eon. One of them motioned for him to follow. "Come on, we know the way to where Ashikaga is at!"

Eon didn't need to be told twice, he followed right after the clone as they lead the way. If he was honest they'd probably alert some attention no matter how careful they were now but they should be able to get out with the hostages in one piece with their speed and tricks. It did help the person in question that was in charge was disorganized and wasn't the smartest.

It still begged the question how he had lived this long.

As they continued on, Eon would hear the sound of a plate being smashed, and a rather high-pitched male voice calling out in anger.

"Stupid! You stupid, ugly girl! What kind of princess is this useless and defiant?!" The three Suzume's gave Eon a pointed look, gesturing toward the double doors leading to Ashikaga's throne room. He viewed himself as the rightful ruler of the territories, so why would he not have a throne? The Suzume's all crept away, finding their own ways into the throne room undetected, and leaving Eon to get in whichever way he saw fit. As it turned out, Ashikaga was sitting on his throne, and had Yuki dressed in rags, with a leash around her neck. A tray of food was scattered across the floor where Yuki had thrown it, refusing to hand-feed Ashikaga as he had demanded. So of course, he was jerking on the leash roughly and kicking Yuki from his seated position, berating her for her actions. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be hurt too badly. Then, not a moment later, this was interrupted by a call of 'Intruder's in the palace!'. The call to arms started off further away and coming closer, which meant that apparently, something had happened with the original Suzume and Iliara.

Hearing this, Ashikaga jumped up, eyes wide, while a short, creepy looking man holding a doll ran in. "Lord Ashikaga, the other one, she has escaped, someone is helping her!"

"I-I see... I must get to safety at once, tell the men to guard this room with their lives!" He yanked on Yuki's leash, while he began to waddle over to a part of the wall behind his throne, dragging Yuki behind him.

Murphy's Law was a wonderful thing.

With no more room for stealth and taking it easy, Eon quickly dropped down from his hiding spot after throwing a few miniature throwing knives aimed at the back of Ashikaga's neck. He didn't slow down to observe his handy work of it it had really killed him. No, instead he tossed down a small smoke bomb while at the same time grabbing Yuki and hauling ass in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

"Time to get you out of here."

He didn't doubt others would be hot on their heels, and unfortunately the time for stealth was over so they'd have to rely on their other skills.

Yuki was extremely confused by this, and even more so once three people that happened to be the exact same woman joined them. One of them smirked at Eon. "What was that about not killing?" A few moments later, four more of that same woman arrived, though one of them was carrying Iliara, who seemed to have a nasty wound on her leg, that was poorly bandaged. The real Suzume, carrying Iliara, moved closer, while the clones fanned out to act as guards while they ran.

"You got me. But I didn't say no killing what so ever. That was more me letting you know ahead of time working for the big guy." He kept up his pace, glad to see Iilara had made it out all right. The last part was addressed more to then both. "You're probably confused as hell as right now but we both work for Reifer and we're getting you out of here."

Yuki and Iliara both looked a bit shocked at that, though it was Iliara who spoke up. "Lord Reifer? But how did he even know we were here?"

"Um, Ashikaga said something about using us as leverage to force Komai and Asai-Asakura into war..."

"...That bastard! He made it look like Komai betrayed us, didn't he?!"

"Yeah. He planned on having Reifer and Yuki's country to fight each other and have him scoop in to get the spoils. But he's dead, I think, and with you back we could put an end to this." Eon could understand Iilara's anger perfectly.

"If we keep at this pace, we should arrive before too long. There wasn't any border patrols that were spread out so we should be fine. But, how's your leg?" She wasn't complaining but didn't seem the type to, but as long as it didn't get infected it probably should be fine.

Yuki nodded a bit, clearly a little shaken, but otherwise relieved. Iliara looked pleased as well. Especially after Suzume rather gleefully informed them that Ashikaga was, indeed, dead.

Eon was at least ninety percent certain he had gotten that kill but it was a nice they got some sort of confirm from his partner. There were other ninja that worked for Reifer, of course, but he worked more or less alone at least half the time.

The actual fighting, thankfully, hadn't started yet. That meant Eon and the others were able to get to Reifer and Hector who were in the make-shift camp as they prepared for the incoming battle. Of course they had to check through first before they entered.

Reifer was talking to a young woman who seemed to be part of his forces before turning to greet them both. "Ilara, Yuki, I'm glad you're both well. None of you are seriously hurt?"

"Nope. Got there just in time. The bastard is dead though." Hector seemed happy to hear that from Eon.

Hector cleared his throat. "Anyway, we've been trying to stall things as much as we can but even if we're defensive at first we can't be idle. You no doubt know why you're here. With you both alive, there is no reason for this pointless fighting. The only question is, how you want to proceed from here."

Yuki seemed to think about that, unsure, but Iliara had a ready-made answer. "Send a messenger, carrying news that you wish to discuss terms of Komai's surrender. Even as angry as he seems to be, Lord Asakura will welcome the potential to end the bloodshed. When you go to meet with him, simply take myself and the Princess with you. We can easily explain everything."

At Reifer's suggestion, they got things going right away. True to Iliara's word, he was still willing to talk despite how angry he was about the situation. Reifer along with Hector came with the two in question on his own turf to make things even more authentic as well as make them more willing to come forward.

The two waited anxiously, but at least with this once he saw them himself things would blow over and they would be able to go from here.

Asakura arrived alongside an extremely tall man wearing a strange red mask. Asakura's face was stern... up until he got closer and recognized Yuki and Iliara, who immediately moved toward him. He was certainly shell-shocked when Yuki threw her arms around him tightly, and Iliara moved to his side, quickly relaying information in hushed tones. Several emotions flashed across the man's face, before he closed his eyes tightly. Gently, he removed Yuki, and strode forward toward Reifer, dropped to his knees, and bowed low, his head resting on the ground. "Lord Reifer... I have done you and your people a horrific disservice. I waged war against you for baseless reasons, and allowed myself to be manipulated. I cannot apologize enough for my actions, especially since you took it upon yourself to return them both to me. I place my life in your hands as pennance."

"Papa, you can't-" Yuki was silenced by Iliara placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, and shaking her head quietly.

A normal ruler in this day and age might have been content with killing them to show as an example but Reifer wasn't one of them. It wasn't simply out of bleeding heart that he quickly came to his own decision but some pragmatic, practical ones as well.

"My father and mother told me the value of mercy and why its important tool to use wisely during your role. So, no, I won't kill you." He glanced at Yuki and others gathered. "If I did, all it would is continue where what was left off. People would take your death badly, and even if I took over there would be a lot of discontent and unrest that couldn't be solved but nothing with violence."

Reifer placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "So rise. No one was hurt and we all make mistakes."

Asakura slowly stood, managing to smile. "You are a man wise beyond your years, Lord Reifer. And I am in your debt, whether you wish it or not. You returned these two to me and spared my life where many others would have taken it. I do not even need to hear Yuki's report on your meeting to know that, should you still wish it, an alliance between our lands would be a welcome one to me."

Reifer smiled faintly again. "I'd be happy to accept that offer. That was the original plan to begin with and with all this put behind this we can focus on the future."

"I think it would be a good idea to mark this event with a dinner of some kind. Have a chance to wind down and sort other things out. It's good for morale of mending bridges. It's good for us and its good for the environment." It was all true, but if there was other ulterior motive is he wanted to get to know the princess more.

The dragon lord raised a brow at his friend slash general's last part. "How is it good for the environment?"

"Absolutely has nothing what so ever do with it. its just nice to say. I'm practicing in the event something happens that causes me to enter politics. That means adding needless fluff. How was it so far?"

"Bluntly, horrible."

"I aimed to be authentic."

It was just how the two men were at times, but Reifer bemusement he forced himself to cut short as he focused on the other Lord. "There is one thing. My mother, she suffers from a unknown illness. I would be very grateful if your own healers could maybe look into it themselves."

Asakura raised a brow at Hector's words, but nodded. "A formal dinner sounds like a good idea, yes. I would like Asai-Asakura to host the dinner, as apology for my actions, as well as to thank you for saving these two. How about in... three days time? If your mother is fit to travel, my healers can look into her illness there as well. If not, I can send some of them along with you when you set out to return home after the dinner."

Reifer didn't take more then a moment for his answer. "I think, given my mother's decision it would be best to send healers along the way and return home on the journey."

Asakura nodded. "Understood. Then I will see you, and anyone else you choose to bring, at my palace for a dinner in your honor, and in honor of our alliance, which we can formalize at that time. And when you leave, you will be accompanied by our best healers."