A New Friend and Ally 2

Aria and Ginchiyo were walking down the sidewalk and eating sweet cakes, talking and laughing. They were having fun in the festival that was being held on that day. Avani was overly clingy to a dog she saw. The dog was very happy to get that much affection. Avani was a sucker when animals appear.

"Look at that sta-" Aria stopped and looked around.

Gunchiyo vanished before her very eyes. She looked behind her and saw Ginchiyo with a cat. Ginchiyo was in a daze and looked extremely happy. Aria walked to Ginchiyo.

"Whatcha doin' Ginchiyo?" Aria gave a smug smile.

"E-Ehh?! N-Nothing!" Ginchiyo stood up quickly and turned to her.

"You weren't just playing with that cat and being in a daze?" Aria suppressed her laughter.

"N-No!" Ginchiyo blushed more and stomped her foot.

"Oh really? You were like 'Ahhhhh~ Neko Neko-Chan~'" Aria covered her mouth and held back her laughter.

"I was not!" Ginchiyo said and scowled.

"Oop- Gotta go!" Aria ran off.

"Get back here!" Ginchiyo ran after her.

Muneshige and Uchi watched and gave a nervous laugh. They were happy Ginchiyo and Aria were getting closer and building a connection. Uchi looked down and ate her ice cream. Muneshige pat her head and looked at her.

"Mmm?" She looked up at her.

"How are you feeling? Don't think I haven't noticed you struggling these past four days." Muneshige smiled.

'Crap! He's noticed my energy hasn't recovered!' Uchi said and blushed wildly in embarrassment.

"It's very obvious." Muneshige laughed.

"Uhhh, I am doing perfectly fine! Hahaha! Nothing wrong here!" Uchi said.

"Then summom your chakrams." He said.

Uchi turned her head and scoffed. Muneshige rose an eyebrow and smiled. Uchi eyed him and closed her eyes and licked her ice cream.

"I don't feel like it! Hmph!" Uchi said.

"Alright, if you saw so, but you're bad at lying." Muneshige chuckled.

"Am not!" Uchi weakly punched his stomach.

Muneshige laughed a bit and saw Avani walk up. She was covered in dog fur and looked happy. Uchi looked at her and covered her mouth, controlling her laughter.

"I was not aware dogs with a lot of fur shed that much..!" Avani said.

"You really love animals don't you?" Muneshige asked.

"Mhm! Mhm! I grew up in the wild since I was a little girl! I have a connection with amimals." Avani said proudly.

"You should go get cleaned before people think your a walking beast." Uchi said.

"Will do!" Avani walked back to the castle.

Two hours passed and Aria and Ginchiyo were in the town again. Aria opened her bag and sighed in relief. She pulled out a diamond and smiled happily. Ginchiyo looked at her.

"Where'd you find a diamond? Especially one of that shade of red?" Ginchiyo asked.

"It was a gift from my sister, Talamat.." Aria smiled. "Although I should sell it for money, part of me doesn't want to."

"I see, I can provide money for you." Ginchiyo said.

"No that's fine. I have enough money to carry me to the next 3 years. If push comes to shove, I'll sell the diamond." Aria walked to a stand and bought the last of the Sweet Cakes.

"Ehh? You bought over 30 Sweet Cakes! You aren't going to eat them all!" Ginchiyo said, surprised.

"These aren't for me." Aria smiled and walked to the children playing.

The children saw Aria and went to her. Aria have all of them a sweet cake and they happily thanked her. Aria smiled happily to see the children so happy. She was jealous of the children because she never had a childhood of her own, but she just wanted to see them smile. Ginchiyo watched her and smiled a bit. Aria walked back to Ginchiyo.

"You are good with children." Ginchiyo said.

"Mhm, I always give the kids treats and snacks. They deserve to have smiles on their faces even in times like this." Aria walked off.

"Where are you going?" Ginchiyo asked.

"Don't you want to train with me?" Aria smiled.

Ginchiyo was taken aback by Aria. She then nodded and followed Aria. They walked to the training field Ginchiyo used for her training. Ginchiyo ran to the small storage house and grabbed two training swords.

"These swords are very dull, so they won't cut though anything no matter how much force you put behind it." Ginchiyo said.

"Good." Aria nodded.

Ginchiyo tossed Aria a sword. They both got in a stance and dashed to each other. They trained for a few hours and passed out on the training field. Muneshige walked outside with Avani. They gave a chuckle and walked to them. Muneshige picked Ginchiyo up, bridal style. Ginchiyo woke up and blushed madly.

"W-What are you doing?" Ginchiyo asked.

"Taking you inside to rest. You trained hard today with Aria." Muneshige smiled.

"Y-Yeah." Ginchiyo relaxed a bit and closed her eyes.

"Alright time to head inside, getting a bit chilly out now." Muneshige walked inside.

Aria was still asleep as Avani picked her up and carried her on her back. Avani smiled and walked inside. She was happy for Aria, she was able to make friends easily because of her free spirit personality.

"You're one special girl you know..? I wish Genten had more people like you..then Genten wouldn't be at war now..or at least wouldn't be so bad.." Avani said.

Avani took Aria to her room and laid her down on her bed. She looked at Aria and rubbed the hair from her eyes and pat her head then walked out the room, closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile in Nixtorm, Ieyasu, Tadakatsu, and Ina showed up for this important meeting. Ranmaru soon showed up as well. They all sat in the meeting room with Mitsuhide and the others.

"So, you have called us here to discuss a very important matter..?" Ieyasu asked.

"Yes, sorry for calling you all here so late. Ranmaru, where is Lord Omu?" Mitsuhide asked.

"He is in the Tower of Eternity, setting something up." Ranmaru responded.

"Good, first I want to tell you the location of Lord Nobunaga." Mitsuhide said.

Everyone listened carefully to what he had to say. They all knew Mitsuhide isn't one to lie to anyone. He closed his eyes.

"Nobunaga is in the Dragon Continent..he is the ruler of the 19th Kingdom, Dragconia." Mitsuhide said. He slid a letter from Oichi to the center of the table. "They are alive."

Nō was extremely happy to hear the news. Spending a few years without her husband took a toll from her mental state and now she relaxed. Ieyasu nodded and smiled.

"I am glad they are safe and sound.." Ina smiled. "Especially Oichi, she isn't the type of person to let her brother die."

"That is very pleasing news." Ranmaru smiled.

"Now onto why I called you all here. Lord Omu's plan." Mitsuhide said.

"Lord Omu is planning to use the power from all 18 Kingdoms to make himself immortal and destroy Genten and the Dragon Continent!" Gracia stood up.

"What?!" Ranmaru said.

"It is true..but we can not act now. Aria is our biggest threat, but our key into stopping Omu." Mitsuhide said.

"Aria? Oh yeah, the One Winged Valkyrie. The whole continent is talking about her." Tadakatsu said.

"I wanna meet Aria now." Okuni said.

"Soon we will. We have to continue playing the part though..but keep Aria alive at all costs!" Mitsuhide said.

"Right." Everyone said.

One by one everyone left the meeting room. Nō stayed a bit longer and Mitsuhide stood up.

"Mitsuhide..tell me..when this war is over..what will happen to my husband..the legend is obviously true now.." Nō asked.

"That is entirely up to Aria..Keeping him alive or killing him. But I know Aria isn't going to kill him..I am sure she knows the truth by now...about what Nobunaga has done..his methods may be harsh and blunt, but he is a good man at heart.." Mitsuhide said and pat her shoulder and walked out the room.

Nō nodded and looked at the letter again then smiled before leaving the room.