Each Moment, Only Once

Darkness soon fell over the valley and the army moved closer to the forest for protection. The less critically injured soldiers were put back on duty, while Yua with the help of an energetic and always helpful Kenta routinely cared for the less fortunate, often changing their bandages and constantly checking for any signs of an oncoming infection.

To most the hours had come and gone at a snail’s pace, but to the busy healer the time passed quickly enough. Unfortunately she had yet to change into her new, clean yukata. That would soon change though, as the head physician was soon to take her place so she could bathe and rest for a few hours, as their shift was. She was greatly looking forward to her break and even the thought of a cold dunk in the nearby river wasn’t as unappealing as it usually was.

“Yua-san would you teach me to ride Kasei, please,” Kenta asked pleadingly for at least the twelfth time in a span of an hour. Yua glanced up from re-wrapping her patients wound only to see his youthful face set in an adoring pout and Yua knew she couldn’t hold out much longer.

Carefully she stood to her feet trying to avoid looking at the boy at all costs, knowing she would instantly give in if she did. When she felt a tug at her dirty yukata sleeve Yua glanced down into his large hazel eyes that sparkled hopefully.

The young healer sighed heavily in resignation and before she could even open her mouth to speak Kenta yelped out in happiness and jumped on her, nearly toppling her to the ground. Yua teetered on her heels for a moment before she finally regained her balance. She could feel Kenta’s wide grin through her clothes as his lanky arms wrapped tightly around her middle.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret it onee-chan, I promise!” The dark haired boy stated with such sincerity and delight that even if she was going to refuse him, she couldn’t bring herself to do it now. Instead she wrapped her arms around the skinny orphan and smiled softly to herself. He tried to be a man in front of the soldiers and his daimyo, but she was happy to see the child in him still. War had a way of changing people and not for the better, especially the children, who usually ended up losing more than could ever be replaced, children like Kenta.

Their embrace was disturbed by the approach of speedy footfalls, quickly followed by the authoritative call of her name. “Yua-san, you are to come with me.” The running form of Sanada Yukimura came into view as Yua pulled away from the excited youngster still attached to her middle.

“Where are we going, Sanada-danna?” The young woman asked with a bemused expression. The young general-to-be looked eager, his raw umber brown eyes were wide, yet resolute, almost as if he were going into battle.

“Oyakata-sama wants you to come in case your healing skills are needed.” He answered cryptically in swift words before he passed her and headed towards the staked horses. A small group of soldiers quickly followed after him.

Yua’s eyes widened in alarm when she realized exactly what was going on and immediately stepped back towards her patients. “Sasuke-san,” She gasped when the stealthy and insightful shinobi suddenly grabbed her arm and began to pull her towards an already tacked up Kasei.

“I am sorry Yua-san,” He told her sounding slightly remorseful, but his grip on her upper arm never relaxed.

“No, I can’t.” She shook her head and attempted to pull her arm out of his solid grip, but it was all in vain. “I can’t. I need to be with the injured. I want to speak to Takeda-sama, let me go this instant.” She declined in a harsh quiet murmur so as to not scare Kenta, who was watching her being dragged off with confusion written in his eyes, but her desperate struggles didn’t cease.

Sasuke turned to glance at the wide-eyed and clearly scared woman with compassion, but silently shook his head in the negative before he suddenly and quite effortlessly hoisted her up and onto the back of her horse.

“Oyakata-sama ordered it and the head physician is already on his way.” He stated simply as he swatted the high-strung gelding across his flanks, which made him bolt forward to follow after the rest of the mounted soldiers on instinct.

It took a few moments for the shock of what happened to wear off and when it did Yua’s surprised expression melted to one of practiced calm that hid her true feelings, as her trembling hands clenched tightly around the leather reins.

More swiftly than imaginable the troops on horseback soon reached their destination, only to find it almost completely vacant except for a single smoldering torch and riders clad in blue and black armor across the small field. Yua quickly pulled the galloping Kasei to an abrupt halt, as did the rest of the stunned troops when their leader called for them to stop as he launched himself off the back of his horse using his spears for elevation.

When his feet hit the ground and he landed safely Yua swore that she was going to beat him until he was black-and-blue when they were back safely in Kai. His reckless nature was going to cost him one day and she feared that the price would be his life.

Though she was mostly in the dark about their plans, Yua was certain that these soldiers were not the ones Yukimura and his men had been sent after, as they were obviously not members of Uesugi Kenshin’s stringent army. In fact they looked more like a gang of half-drunk, petty outlaws than properly trained soldiers; however looks could often be quite deceiving.

Yukimura quickly observed the same thing, but unlike the healer woman he seemed to have a hunch as to who the leader was. “Are you the one-eyed dragon from the northern province?”

As soon as the words left his lips all of the soldiers began to murmur loudly amongst themselves in both awe and trepidation. It took a moment for Yukimura’s words to sink in, but when they did Yua blanched. It all made perfect sense now. The odd crescent-moon bearing helmet, the right eye hidden by a patch and the arrogant smirk she could see even from a distance.

He was the infamous and excessively ambitious dokuganryū, Date Masamune of Ōshū province. There were many rumors afloat about him and his fall in favoritism with his mother due to the loss of his eye. But that was just the servant’s gossip and there was no proof of such a thing being true, so Yua wasn’t jumping to conclusions on a matter that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

Though Yukimura yelled out his questions to the young general across from him, to Yua they sounded muffled and far away, almost as if her head had been submerged underwater. The reins went slack in her shaky fists when the blue clad general jumped down from his dark mount, his every movement confident and full of unconcealed arrogance.

For once the many rampant rumors seemed to be true, as he did indeed have a hauntingly superior attitude that unsettled her. At sensing his master’s sudden trepidation, Kasei shuffled with a loud snort and began to back away from the others. Kasei was quite perceptive to his rider’s emotions and acted accordingly due to his youth and the fiery temperament he was accurately named for.

To put it truthfully, Yua was scared for the soldiers around her and her danna. By simple observation alone she could see that the dragon general was confident in his battle prowess, so much so that he only considered Yukimura a worthless pawn that had been thrown away by his daimyo.

While Yukimura might not have been the most intimidating or intellectual man ever born, he wasn’t weak by any means. She knew this from firsthand observation, but the dokuganryū struck her as a man who had yet to meet a foe he feared, or anyone he actually considered a rival. He was a man who lived by his own rules and didn’t care what the rest of the world or his own family thought of him and his escapades. He was the unpredictable sort, and that was exactly what made him twice as dangerous as the other daimyo.

“Will you go back, or will I stop you here? Whichever you choose, Date will singlehandedly claim victory.” Upon hearing his egotistical declaration Yua’s loose fists clenched tightly around Kasei’s reins and halted his retreating movements. She couldn’t runaway. Takeda-sama believed in her strengths as a healer and Sanada-danna or the other soldiers, Kami-sama forbid, might need her help. She needed to be just as strong in will as her reckless russet haired danna. Yua sent a silent prayer to any deity that would listen and adhere to her pleas for the safety of the ones she most cared for, both on and off the battlefield.

“My Lord says he will win, but I do not understand the means.” Yukimura yelled back to the blue clad general, who stood with his knees slightly bent and his right hand fingertips teasing the hilt of the middle sword of the three attached to his left side. The rumors seemed to be ever true, as unbelievable as it sounded, he did indeed carry six swords: three on his left and three on his right. In the flickering light of the dying torch they almost looked like the outline of dragon wings. Strangely, Yua found it almost beautiful, in an artfully vicious way.

“I mean the dokuganryū is not Date. You see?” He smirked using an unfamiliar language to end his sentence, which confused Yua greatly. She was not well versed in other languages, being the eldest daughter of a common blacksmith.

“I’ll not let you interfere with Oyakata-sama and Kenshin-sama’s duel!” Yukimura declared stridently and held his twin spears out in warning.

“Excellent.” The dokuganryū general didn’t appear fazed at all, merely pompous and almost casual as he turned to who Yua guessed to be his most loyal retainer. “Kojūrō, don’t let anyone interfere.” He ordered and the rider closest to him, dressed in a long brown coat. The man responded almost instantly, his voice was deep and smooth.

Kasei pawed at the ground with both front legs, jerked against his reins and shifted around restlessly as the tension in the air rose to a suffocating degree. The following silence lasted on a moment before the dokuganryū unsheathed his sword with a proud battle cry that was almost immediately mimicked by Yukimura seconds later as they prepared to face off.

The singular flame between the two warriors flickered for a brief moment before vanishing in a soft breeze. Instinctively, Yua braced herself for the oncoming clash and Kasei stiffened beneath her, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. In the time that it took for her to blink the two fighters collided in a massive whirlwind of crimson and azure.

Yukimura was fire and the Dokuganryū lightning. Both were equally fierce, powerful and highly unpredictable elements in their own right. Neither were quite like her element though, and of that she was quite proud. It was what made her different, just as their elements made them dissimilar yet so alike.

Yua only heard the sharp clang of steel hitting steel, before they were once again visible. Yukimura was just barely holding off a singular thrust at his neck with his twin jūmonji-yari and it must have been a powerful blow because both warriors were shaking from the effort of holding the other at bay. Once again, Yua was struck by the raw beauty of the fight.

Admittedly, she despised war and what it did to the people, both common and not. But like everyone else, she was a part of it whether she wanted to be or not. Like a disease, she found that it was slowly consuming her and if it came down to it, with no other option left to take, she knew she would fight for her friends, her danna and her daimyo, without fail, despite her pacifistic beliefs.

The Dokuganryū scoffed at Yukimura’s shock at being stopped mid-attack, but the blue clad general’s soldiers seemed equally surprised that their general had actually been blocked. Perhaps it was the first time for such a thing to happen. Yua smirked at their ignorance, her pride and confidence in her danna showing through. Her danna was insanely powerful, just like his beloved daimyo to whom he fashioned himself after.

There was no way Yukimura would let an opposing general interfere with Takeda-sama’s battle against his only true rival, Uesugi Kenshin. She recalled that Takeda-sama had once said that they were fated to fight and that every powerful fighter had one true rival that would not only test and enhance their abilities, but also develop their skills as both a warrior and a human being.

Yukimura did not appreciate the general’s smart comment about his weapons and pulled back from their interlocked duel, before barreling back into the fray. His attacks were faster due to his anger and they were only flashes of red and blue. But the dragon general evaded many of them with envious ease, a wide reckless grin stretched across his face the entire time.

The sound of steel scratching across steel caused Kasei to flinch. And then suddenly they were both visible again. Yua’s lips twitched when she noticed that one of Yukimura’s spears had cut a large hole in the side of his opponent’s helmet, close to his ear. There was no damage done to either of them though, she could tell that much.

“Don’t relax after just a scratch!” The brunette haired general mocked the younger male and their fight began again, only it steadily became fiercer as it went on. Yua braced herself against the gelding when their strikes actually began to shake the mountain.

Kasei whinnied loudly and reared up on his hind legs when the mountain trembled the second time. Yua felt the lightning prickle at her skin and snap in the air before she heard the crackles and pops it hissed out as the dokuganryū fought. Yua tightened her grip on his reins, jerked them to the right, so he wouldn’t kick one of the other horses and squeezed her knees against his side.

“Calm Kasei, calm,” She whispered the mantra near his ear, hoping that he would calm, even just a little. When the gelding’s front legs hit the dirt she let him prance around restlessly behind the rest of the horses. He tossed his head wildly, snorted and lashed out with both his front and back legs, but she let him have his way. Knowing that if she tried to still him now, his temper and fear would only worsen and she wouldn’t be able to control him.

Yua cursed aloud, the uncouth word lost in the noise of the raging battle before her. If the battle continued she was certain that Kasei would either hurt himself or someone else, and that was something she did not want. If she were injured by him then that would be fine, as she was his owner, but if another horse or rider were injured due to his feistiness then she would have to be punished for it later.

Yua bit harshly into her bottom lip when the fighter’s were thrown away from each other from the force of their elements colliding and repelling. This fight had become far too dangerous for bystanders both near and far. It was just as frightening as it was beautiful to witness, but the logical part of the young healer just wanted it to be over. It was too much for her and the other soldiers to handle.

When Date Masamune drew all six of his swords, she knew her silent wish was about to be granted. Though she couldn’t say for certain who would be the victor of this battle. A sudden, dark thought came to her and she tried not to acknowledge it. Yet, it continued to linger in the back of her mind, almost like a dark storm cloud, incredibly threatening and foreboding in its seemingly humble presence.

‘Perhaps, neither of them would escape from this battle with victory.’ She could only hope that she was wrong, as the very mountain itself began to quake violently beneath the two armies feet when their generals finally unleashed their truly awesome and frightening power.