War Changes Everything {Mature, Open}

"Princess Iliara, look out!"

Iliara looked around at the shout, and whipped out her hand, holding it out as if telling the coming arrows to stop. A burst of wind hit the volley, shattering the arrows coming toward her. She turned to thank the woman who had warned her, only to find she'd been cut down by arrows. Iliara cried out in anger, and with seemingly impossible speed, had fired a near volley of arrows into a group of enemy archer. Many fell over dead, and Iliara turned to look out over the battlefield. For generations, their enemy's, the Takeda family, had been regarded as THE greatest military force in the country. They also commanded the largest territory. They sought to unify Japan by taking it over. But now Akashi stood in their way. Akashi, led by Kenshin Akashi, the Goddess of War, was holding Takeda back from expansion.

Of course, it wasn't easy. Takeda was powerful. It was only Akashi's alliance with Hojo, a house of powerful magic users and monks, that enabled them to hold Takeda at bay. While both Akashi and Hojo could single handedly hold Takeda back for a time, Takeda would, eventually, take over. But together, they could hold Takeda back.

"Iliara!"

Iliara was broken from her thinking as Kenshin herself appeared next to her, causing the archer to smile. "Finally here, eh, sister?" Kenshin smiled, nodding. Iliara pointed to where the Takeda army was rushing toward them. "Shall we?"

"Of course!" She drew her sword, holding it at the ready, as Iliara prepared an arrow. From behind them, their army cried out.



"For Lady Kenshin!"

"For Princess Iliara!"

"For Akashi!"

They charged, with their ruler and princess leading the way.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~1 Month Later~

"Kenshin! Kenshin, where are you!?" Princess Iliara Akashi ran desperately through the halls of the castle, trying to find her sister. She had to tell her, had to warn her... She came to a sudden stop as she rounded a corner, finding her way blocked by soldiers. "No..."

"Yes, Iliara."

Iliara whipped around, and looked into the gloating face of her uncle, backed by more soldiers. "You bastard..." He laughed a bit.

"Iliara, foolish child. Did you really think I'd let you get away, so you could tell Kenshin about my plans? No, you are never going to get to tell her."

"...So are you going to kill me?"

"No, no...I'm not quite so heartless that I can so easily kill my own niece. But you are going to be exiled, my dear. If you set foot here again, then yes, I'll kill you. But for now..."

"Kenshin will know something is up! She'll get suspicious!"

"No she won't. As far as she knows, you've fallen to assassins from Takeda. It will motivate her better to kill them."

"Why do this? Why go to all this trouble? If you intend to take control from Kenshin, why keep it secret? Why not just do it?"

"Idiot. I currently don't have the power to do so. There are too many who support her and ONLY her. Once I have the needed support, I'll take over. If she doesn't fight it, then not much will change, but she'll listen to ME for once. A mere woman should not be commanding men."

"You sexist pig! Are you really that stupid!? You'd do all this, going around murdering Kenshin's supporters and exiling me, all because of a chauvinistic way of thinking and desire for power!? You stupid bastard!" He suddenly slapped her, and she staggered back.

"Get her out of here, before Kenshin shows up." The soldiers, which were some of the few males in the Akashi army, making up only about thirty percent of the army, grabbed her and dragged her from the castle. They gagged her after awhile, what with all her shouting. In the end, she was knocked unconcious. She awoke just in time to see an elderly man kill another man who, it seemed, was attempting to rape her. She soon came to find out she was in the territory of Asai-Asakura, which bordered Akashi, and that the man who saved her was the lord of that territory, Yoshikage Asakura.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~2 Years Later~



Iliara walked calmly behind and to the side of her charge, Princess Yuki, said to be one of the most beautiful women in the country, as they made their way up to the castle of the Lord of Oda. "Ilia, what is his name again? The lord of this territory?"

"I'm not sure, princess. It's a foreigner."

"A foreigner? Why would they allow themselves to be ruled by a savage?"

"I don't know, Princess. I assume they have some reason."

"I know that, Ilia, I'm not stupid. Now shut up, we are almost there." Iliara did just that, though wanted to teach the princess a little lesson. Still, she'd say nothing. "Ilia, I need confirmation that you heard me."

"I was being quiet because you told me to, Princess."

"Right. Shut up then." Iliara's hand tensed on the hilt of her sword. She hated this woman. But she was hired to protect her. She missed the old days. SHe missed her sister. She missed her life as Princess Iliara Akashi. But she'd been exiled by that treacherous uncle of hers, and in secret, so her sister wouldn't know. Now she was just Ilia, mercenary.

They arrived at the castle throne room, and were announced. "Princess Yuki Asakura, from Asai-Asakura, requests an audience with the Lord of Oda!"



(Okay, here's the deal. Need ONE guy, to be the Lord of Oda. Good, evil, or somewhere inbetween. Their allignment will GREATLY affect how things go. There will be wars with other territories. The two sisters Kenshin and Iliara are the main girls, but two more will come in later. It's possible for the guy to be with all four. Keep in mind, this is in the 'warring states' sort of period of Japan. With obvious alterations from history. If you have any questions, let me know. I'll be happy to answer them.)