The man and The demon

one last stand for their memories

The  group return to the palace passing the camps with no warriors standing there only then wounded sleepig in their beds, the group goes infront of the palace doors with a warrior guarding them ,takeda goes close and  give his horse to Kata "warrior where is Hina Shigen and Bohan nobunaga?" "My lord Hina Shigen is with bohan nobunaga at the omi region with the warriors,fighting the horrors and the shogun" "inform me immediatly when she comes back" "yes my lord" the others come back carrying Gozen and Uesugi ,the warrior eyes wide open and  slams the door,the group pass inside and moves to the clinic seeing no bed without a warrior laying on it ,takeda shouts "to the room" the group moves to the stairs and Kata swiftly  opens the door "takeda there is only one bed left" Takeda pass through the door and looks at Uesugi then at Gozen "place Gozen on the bed " kata place her on the bed and Tomoe place Uesugi right beside her,Takeda sit between them,looking at both of them ,Kata pass the door shouting "im going to bring some towels and bandages" everyone stand silent in the room and Takeda mumurs inside his teeth "please live"  Nozomi replied "do not worry Takeda,Uesugis fall was less fatal than normal and gozens wounds are not deep enough to cause any fatal wound inside her body" Takeda slowly turn, lookig at Nozomi with his eyes widen, without closing them once ,slowly approaching him"this is your fault demon" Kata burst inside with a bucket of water ,towels and bandages ,Takeda asks him"why it took you so long?" Kata takes a deep breathe and says "everyone needed them,we are really lucky that we manage to find some" Kata place the bucket down and throws a towel and bandages on takeda,taking care of Uesugi while Kata is looking after  Gozen ,Tomoe place her back on the wall and asks "are they gonna live?"Kata replies "they will" suddenly Uesugi open his eyes asking "did we close the portals?" Kata answers "yes Uesugi,but do not worry about this now ,you should rest"uesugi close his eyes , takedas grit his fist and whispers inside his teeth "all of these months for nothing" everyone stay silent and suddenly footsteps are heard outside the room,a warrior knocks the door and opens it "my lord Hina Shigen and Bohan nobunaga are coming back" "thank you warrior" Takeda and the warrior go outside smiley waiting with other warriors in the gates ,horse steps are heard and the warriors  bodies shown up from the trees with the smile of the warriors vanishig ,looking the horses carrying the wounded and the others walkig barefoot or carrying more wounded warriors in their backs ,takeda and the warriors run to help and takeda  eyes look at Hina with stains of blood in her head  and her armor ,carrying bohan in her back ,Takeda run to help her but she collapse ,takeda lift her up with a warrior doing the same for bohan ,Takeda run inside the palace and to the clinic with warriors waiting in line and a smell  of blood and vomit all over the place ,he run back to the stairs with lines of warriors in all four of them,Takedas head flows with sweat  ,he starts  breathing heavy , turning to all directions,suddenly he  feels a warm hand on his face,he turn on Hina seeing her with her eyes closed ,moving only her hand and her lips ,saying with a low voice"Takeda where is Uesugi?" Takeda answers with a loud voice "he is with the others ,he have something  important to do" Hina smirk "all right" takeda hands start hurting and slowly place Hina to the ground trying to lift her up with no success ,warriors gather around coming close to them  "my warriors do not take me from my son" the warriors look at each other and back off "mother please let them help you" "im already a corpse Takeda,other warriors need their help more than me" Takeda shout "do not speak like that mother ,you will live" "please Takeda listen to me " takeda silent his voice and sits to his knees "the warriors need a new leader now ,one who can regnite their will to resist against the shogun and the horrora" Takeda shouts even louder "no mother you are the one who will lead us to victory" Hina smirk again "my son do not regret anything,the only thig i regret is not passing more time with my boys" Hina lips stop moving and her  hand falls dowm,Takeda grabs her from her armor shaking her "no mother you will not die ,the warriors Uesugi,I need you,you will not leave me" Takeda suddenly stops and the warriors come close, lifting Hinas body and walking to the garden with the single tree ,opening a hole in the ground and carefully placing her inside ,covering her and placing their right arm on their weapon and the other to the ground , silent takes over for 10 minutes and then  thunders and small earthquakes start again ,
the warriors slowly gets up  with their heads down  passimg takeda, bowing to him or saying "your mother was a wise women" or "today all of us lost a great person" Takeda knees cannot hold him anymore he falls down  ,looking at his mother grave ,trying to hold the tears in his eyes , Nozomi and kata come sitting beside him ,with Nozomi grabbing Yakedas shoulder "your mother  died like a true human Takeda,fighting for the right and her people " Takeda hits nozomi with his elbow "do not speak about my mother demon, you do not belong in this place ,you never belonged" Nozomi lower his head and says "i understand" and walks to the forest with kata chasing him "Nozomi do not go,Takeda didnt mean anything he is just devistated by his mothers death" Nozomi continue walking "no Kata Takeda is right,ive done my part by closing the portals now im no use for no one ,im just an enemy ,but you are the red shadow you can end this war and avenge sakura" Nozomi turn on him with a curved smile that reach his ears "i hope the best for you" Kata outstrech his hands and run towards nozomi but he is already vanished inside the forest, Kata then  turn around lowering his eyes and walking back to Takeda "nozomi left" takeda speak, with his eyes  not moving away from the grave "good,nobody wanted him or needed this horror  anymore" Kata looks on the ground still with his eyes lower  and says "im gonna be back in a while " "take your time" Kata walk to the place he met cozbe whispering "come here" Kata sit down to a rock and as the sun leaves him Cozbe comes to accompany him "well done kata" "what?" "Im talking about the closing of the portals" "well done?,we have lost so many men only for us to close the portals and the shogun is still alive moving with her army" "its only one  step kata,the next are gonna be much more impactful" Kata open his lips but Cozeb place her hand infront of his face looking inside the woods "come outside human" tomoe  slowly comes out from the trees ,outsreching her hands towards Cozbe and falling in her knees infront of her "this aura you are really a god" cozbe looks inside Tomoes eyes and laughs "yes,i am your god" Kata asks "shouldnt you keep your appearance away from the eyes of the warriors?" "Yes,but the divine overseeing her is a friend of mine ,like many other friends in the divine warriors" "how can you know that?" "We have our small technieques as the divine" Tomoe bow to Cozbe and she  says"tell me your name human"  "Tomoe my god" "Tomoe,raise your head  " Tomoe raises it and Cozbe look again inside her eyes giving a smile that reach her ears " ive miss you so much, my most royal friends" Kata and Tomoe look without questioning anything ,Cozbe then takes away her look from her eyes waving infront of tomoes face and smilling,her smile slowly vanish and says "Tomoe can you do a favor for your god?" "Tell me my god, your needs are my priority" "good,i want you to convince the warriors to attack tommorow on the shogun in harima region" "yes my god" Kata starts speaking but Tomoe grabs him from his wrist and drags him back to Hinas grave,with Takeda still sitting there accompany by flowers and waxes left by the warriors ,Tomoe goes close and sits beside him "how many hours are you here?" "From the moment they bury her" "Takeda is that what your mother and father will want, Sitting here and ignoring everything around? Takeda stays silent "please takeda speak to us" Still no words coming out from takedas mouth,tomoe grabs his head and turns him on the palace "look around you Takeda,inside this building  there are people that need you,are you gonna leave them like that losing their hope or will you use the teachings of your parents to help them like they always wanted?" Takeda turn his look on tomoe saying "you are right Tomoe ,I have to take the responsibility as the new divine leader" tomoe gets up giving her hand on Takeda and with a smile Takeda says "thank you" "its my obligation to help my friends in need,and tommorow we will attack  the shogun in the harima region"  Takeda look at her with a small smile,shaking his head affirmative  and goes inside the palace helping the warriors, Tomoe goes to leave but Kata grabs her from her arm "we need to talk" "tell me what is the problem?" "You did this for Takeda or because Cozbe told you?" "Does it really matter that much?" "Of course it matters,Tomoe we are humans,we care for each other because we want to help them not because a god told us to do" "you are right in one thing kata we are humans,we are nothing more than  small,short lives in this chaotic world led by higher beings that gives us a purpose" "we can give our lives a purpose without them,just we need to find it" "and what purpose do you have Kata, killing for avenging a corpse and after that will your life be complete?,my purpuse is one of no harm that i will carry until my death,maybe even inside your mind you are the same as me  helping us only for you to achive your goal" Kata grabs tomoes hands ,pressing them with his fists  "you will not talk about my wife like " "see?,you only care about her not giving a damm about the others" kata eyes open wide and tomoe push her hands to her side  breaking free and going inside the palace,watching over Uesugi and Gozen   and Kata sitting outside,holding his blade and thinking, the sun rise once again and the warriors gather outside with their lifeless eyes down to the dirt  and takeda standing infront of all the warriors "warriors,today i want you to follow me in one last battle to destoy the shoguns forces and stop her plans for the divine"  the warriors looks at each other quietly speaking to one another and some leaving their weapons and leaving ,one of them outside the gates  scremes "who cares about this fake gods" Takeda replies "these  were the ones who helped us 500 years ago to win against the horrors and you call them fake?" The tall man answers "I dont know anymore Takeda,yes the horrors exists but the divine never helped us until now,and you know something, our families first came to yours for  help,we needed money and you needed warriors and that was our deal and when the horrors appear we thought after so many generations and  training  we could be the saviors of the world,we could have completed something with the help of your father and mother,but now its too late we lost so many and the people who gaved us a reason are dead,we cannot hold our hopes in this damm fairy tales" the warriors start leaving ,Takeda looked around panicking ,he then set his face straight , tightening it , closing his eyes and  inhaling and then opening his eyes and screaming "then do not fight for the divine,fight for the dead men and women that led their lifes to you,to continue this war to its end and beyond,to show that death is not the end for warriors like us ,that we will sacrifice our lifes for our lost  family ,friends and comrades ,now my comrades step forth with me and show me that you want their memories and wills to live beyond their death" the warriors look at each other or at somewhere else  and silence occured for minutes with no one saying nothing or moving ,the tall warrior then comes back ,taking his weapon from the ground and the other slowly following too slowly reshaping their faces with their eyes pointing to takeda and their eyebrows pulled down screaming  with ther blades and bows risen, takeda face curved a  large smile and he and the warriors take the horses ,leaving the palace and mounting for battle.