Battle of Great Climb: Siege Of Kyuden Agasha, day 2
 

Raiden slept fitfully in his dreams he stood alone against wave after wave of lion samurai. He ducked a blow that cleaved his back banner off his back Raiden turned and beheaded the man. A lion with a tetsubo knocked him aside he felt like his arm was crushed but his dream self contnued to fight.

Suddenly a blur of gold and green stood beside him moving like a whirlwind of steel. The warrior stopped his scale like jade armor glowed with etheral beauty the warrior seemed to be made of only the mountain mists his face was scarred and determined his hair tied in a top knot.

"Stand with me child. And we will turn the tide."

Raiden knew him. He was the founder of his blood line, Mirumoto-Shiryo himself.

Raiden and Mirumoto fought with unnatural speed and grace.

"You are a worthy son of mine." The Lion samurai disipated the spirit of Mirumoto stood before Raiden. Raiden kneeled to his noble ancestor.

"I have watched you Raiden, you are a true son of mine. I will teach you my techniques and you will lead your people to victory."

The world changed to the dojo in Shiro Mirumoto.

"Your first lesson is how to make the unrighteous fall..."

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Raiden awoke the next morning. He could feel the presence of Lord Mirumoto still with him. He could hear the rustle of his jade armor. Raiden looked at his hands and realized he remembered his dream. He remembered every detail.
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Akodo Yokutsu ordered the First wave to advance. Lion Heavy infantry advanced forward armed now with scaling ladders. They cleared the forest and slowly moved up the steep incline at the base of the lonely mountain.
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Ogami's army was on the move again. They would reach Kyuden Agasha by nightfall.
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Tsanuri led The Lion's pride through the crystal gates, she had no idea what she would find in the labyrinth, but she would take pleasure if she found Mirumoto Raiden. In crushing his throat in her bare hand.
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"The cubs have come for a hunt." Kyoji's insane voice echoes off the rocks in the canyon. The lion soldiers look around to find the source. "The tiger shall hunt the lion cubs." The voice said again folloed by an insane giggle which turned into an inhuman roar.

"The cubs have come for a hunt," A voice yelled. It echoed through the canyon, confusing everyone in the group. "The tiger shall hunt the lion cubs." A bout of laughter followed soon after, which was accompanied by a wicked roar.

"So we're being hunted, are we?" Dai muttered to himself before telling his men what to do. "Everyone stay together. We need eyes in every direction if we don't want to be surprised. Remeber, we're being hunted, so look for anything suspicious. Just remember, don't wander off or you're dead!"

He hoped it had sunk in on them. If they really were being hunted, the larger numbers would probably mean less casualties. He quickly double checked his gear and started moving forward slowly. Now they would just have to wait for the hunter to show himself, which was when they would strike. This was definitely going to take a while, so he knew the group would have to be as patient as possible if they wanted to survive.

Katsu forced his eyes open, finding himself lying on his stomach in the bed supplied for him in the night. It was hard to fall asleep for a couple reasons, but the main reason was the constant stinging on his back. It was more of a dull bothersome pain now, but the agitation was still there. Forcing himself out of bed he paced around for a bit, knowing full well what was going to happen today, in not now, then tomorrow at most. A sudden chill came over the monk before he stepped out into the hallway then outside to see the sun one last time before he would see the color of blood on his hands and body. He rolled his bare shoulders once, still trying to get used to the new picture and power on his back.

Raiden tied his jingasa into place. "Those following me. Let us go and meet our enemy head on. We will meet them face to face and see if Lion's claws are stronger than the Talon's of the Dragon."

Raiden moved into the caves.

(ooc: in the discusion thread declare your position for the next two rounds.)

Taken had tossed and turned the night before, images of the dead seeming to haunt his dreams, as his guilt took residence in his sub-conscious. The after-math of the battle had scrolled through his mind, punctuated by images of his arrows and blades cleaving into lion flesh. Some of the scenes had been new.

His fevered mind had created pitched battles, in which he was surrounded by lions, horribly outnumbered. Yet, the stings of their yari seemed to only goad his dreamself on, as his katana bit deep into throats, and sliced through torsos, spilling sticky ichor all over his body. Corpses piled about the foggy terrain of his sub-conscious, already beginning to rot as he battled on.
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When he finally woke, he found that the sun had still not risen, but sleep was now beyond him. He stood, and donned his armor, placing his katana and wakizashi where they went, before going out to the wall, and sitting down, looking over the forest silently, watching for the movements of the lion below.

The monotonous duty that he had assigned himself slowly slipped out of his mind, leaving it but a blank slate. The forest was there, but it was merely in the back of his mind, although he was aware of every movement of the brush. He was, however, on the wrong wall to have seen Tsanuri leading her troops into the labyrinth. He was not, however, too far away to hear Raiden call men to his side.

'It begins...' The sober thought rang in his mind, bringing himself back to the present.

Taken stood, gathering his bow and quiver, before walking back down the wall and to Raiden's side wordlessly. He knew his duty now, and how he may best carry it out, regardless of how foolish he believed this war to be. He would follow Raiden into the labyrinth, and meet the lion, blade to blade.

Katsu heard the cry for the movement on the lion in the caves under the sacred place. Walking up behind his fearless leader, all doned in his armor ready for battle, Katsu was proud of the armor he was wearing, the cloth keeping out the dust and wind from touching his skin. He took a look at Raiden's weapons in awe, then to his two, proud that they were the only tool for battle for him. He was Katsu, name meaning victory. A victory he knew they would come out with.

"He is merely trying to scare us. It is just one unarmed dragon." Hyobe said quitely to the group. Then he addressed Dai specificly, "And I saved you once, I can do it again."

Just incase though, Hyobe decided to summon an ancestor to help. Despite being proud, brash, and full of himself, he wasn't an idiot. The dragon escaped from two guards while chained up.

Akodo Samune, I need to talk to you. Hyobe called out to the Lion ancestor, hoping to gain his power.

OOC: Lion ancestor, 3 points, this shouldn't fail.

ooc: tn 15 6+4+3=13 fail. He apparently is busy you get his spirit voice mail.

Combat round.
Kenren
Taken
Raiden
Sakuma
Lion red shirts
Dragon red shirts

An hour later, in the labyrinth. The dragon samurai had climbed free of a small path hidden underneath a statue of a Jade Dragon. The light was low. but clearly a squad of samurai could be seen approaching Raiden tossed his torch to the side of the circular chamber several others followed suit. Raiden drew his blades and took a passive stance.

Hyobe silently grumbled about lazy ancestors as he drew his wakizashi and took a defensive stance.

Kenren drew Samehada, and as he did he reached inside himself, touching his body's energies through the Void and concentrating them, focusing for a single burst of action. He trembled slightly as the magic took effect, then he took a deep breath even as he sighed inwardly at the need for all of this.

OOC: Cast spell, Altering the Course. Rolling 10 dice, keep 7, no way in hell I'll fail this unless I roll all 1s.