Fates Parallel (A Xianxia/Wuxia Inspired Cultivation Story)

Chiyo apprised Kaede of the situation while leading her through a tour of Ienaga’s camp.

“We’re not sure if we accidentally started something that had been in the works for a while, or if something spurred the shogun into acting, but pretty much the moment we started making a fuss about the borders, all-out war broke out between our factions.”

She made a sweeping gesture to indicate the camp around them.

“We’ve had to set up forward camps like this one to prevent Hayakawa forces from sacking our villages. Raids like the one you just helped us fight off have been happening every week at least.”

Kaede crossed her arms, frowning.

“How are they keeping up such an offensive? My father has the advantage in numbers, but the majority of his armies should still be in the south.”

“That’s why grandpa—er, I mean General Takeda thinks that this was planned out in advance. If he’s right, then Hayakawa already staged most of his armies further north in preparation for this war, and judging from how hard they’ve been hitting us, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be satisfied just suppressing the rebellion.”

“You think he intends to annihilate the Ienaga clan entirely?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to wipe out our whole population.”

Her father was many things, but she’d never expected that level of senseless violence from him. If nothing else, he was a man who knew that the power of Yamato lay in its land and its people. Using scorched earth tactics in a civil war was like cutting off your own head to escape a noose. Just what had happened to her father since she’d left?

“All the more reason for us to put an end to this war swiftly, then. What about the southern front?”

“Lord Ienaga himself is camped there. I hear the fighting is even worse on that side, but even if he’s not shogun anymore, our lord hasn’t lost his fangs.”

“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll rest here for a day, then move to reinforce him as quickly as we can. I’ve been gathering support on my way south, so with any luck we’ll be able to consolidate the fighting into a single front.”

Chiyo furrowed her brow and stared down at her own balled fist.

“I want to go with you. I’m tired of just defending—and my sister’s already gone on ahead. I want to take the fight to that Hayakawa bastard myself! Uh...n-no offense or anything.”

“None taken. I wouldn’t be waging war on my father if I didn’t agree with that sentiment. But you’ll have to take it up with General Takeda.”

She scuffed the ground with her boot, scowling.

“Gramps doesn’t want me taking any unnecessary risks. Says I’ve got the future of the entire dojo riding on my shoulders.”

“What about Rika?”

“The Unseen Fist is a martial art first and foremost, and the Takeda clan are warriors of Yamato. Big sis abandoned that when she decided to focus on her Hundred Mirrors technique and move to Jiaguo.”

Kaede pursed her lips, taking note of the familiar feeling in Chiyo’s aura, and the way it reached out in every direction with tendrils eagerly awaiting the right moment to strike.

“You’ve been practicing Rika’s technique too, though. With a focus on ambush and hidden strikes.”

Chiyo fumbled a step and did a double take.

“How did you—no, never mind. Rika told me that you’d merged with Yoshika. You guys must be crazy strong now—the power of three people in one?”

“Four, actually, but that’s not important. Given how closely tied Jiaguo is to Yamato, I don’t see why Rika’s position would preclude her from inheriting the clan.”

The young woman rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, no duh. It’s all just a stupid excuse to keep me coddled up here and out of trouble. He sent Rika to the academy to keep her out of the army, and now he’s come out of retirement to do the same to me!”

That seemed slightly uncharitable to Master Takeda, but only slightly. There was no question that he doted on his granddaughters, and after losing his son to civil war, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that he’d do whatever it took to keep the girls from meeting the same fate.

Rika was just too headstrong to be contained, so he focused his efforts on keeping the younger sister safe.

On one hand, Yoshika could understand that. Half the reason she’d been so insistent on an age requirement for Jiaguo’s military was to make sure that Narae had no chance of trying to sneak her way in. On the other, keeping her too safe would stifle her growth, and cause more problems than it solved.

Yoshika didn’t want to put anyone through the gauntlet of irresponsibly dangerous situations that she’d suffered during and shortly after her time in the academy, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny that those practical experiences had gone a long way towards shaping her into the cultivator she was today.

There had to be a balance. Experience was important, but no amount of experience was worth dying for.

“I’ll try talking to him, but don’t forget that you are first and foremost a soldier of Yamato. Your general’s orders are absolute.”

Chiyo sighed.

“I know, I know. If gran—I mean, if General Takeda orders me to stay, then I’ll stay. Thank you for supporting my request, Lady Hayakawa.”

Kaede smiled.

“You’ve grown into a fine young woman, Miss Takeda. I’m sure your sister is proud of you—General Takeda too, in his own way. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

 

---

 

“Absolutely fucking not!”

The normally jolly old man paced furiously about his command tent, barely paying Kaede any attention as he bustled about, receiving reports and snapping orders to his lieutenants. She followed behind him persistently.

“General, a young officer can’t advance without practical experience. The southern front is nearly secured and I could use more local officers that I can trust to remain loyal.”

“Abandoning the family arts for some fancy new techniques isn’t what I’d call loyalty. Besides, an officer as green as Chiyo has no place on the front lines of a major conflict like this. She’ll remain garrisoned here to ensure that we don’t get stabbed in the back while we make our way south.”

“Hundred Mirrors is a technique built on the same foundations as the Unseen Fist. Rika and Chiyo are not abandoning your family arts, they are advancing them!”

The general whirled on Kaede angrily.

“I didn’t say anything when you took Rika away with you to Goryeo, and then she never came back! She’s always been a strong girl—adventurous, impossible to contain. I was so worried when she holed herself up in her room, and then you came along and got her out of it. For that, I’ll always be grateful—but you can’t have Chiyo. She’s the only damn family I’ve got left.”

The nearby soldiers fidgeted uncomfortably, desperately pretending not to hear the argument. Kaede sighed and shook her head.

“I’m not taking her, General. Chiyo doesn’t want to leave Yamato or go on adventures like her sister—she wants to fight for her home. She wants to be able to stand proud at the head of your clan and say that she personally fought against the warlord threatening to destroy it!”

“And she can! She’s seen fighting here, and she’s done well. Chiyo has earned her rank, and the right to call herself a warrior of Yamato. I may not approve of what she’s doing with our arts, but when the time comes for me to step down, I know that the clan will be in good hands. Which is exactly why I’m not letting her go to the front lines.”

“Takeda Keiji, I know you’re afraid of losing her, but if you hold on too tight you’re going to stifle the girl!”

The general slammed his fist on a table and snapped at her.

“And what would you know of loss, my lady?!”

Yoshika’s face dropped into an ice cold mask, and she had to consciously restrain her aura. The martial artists in the command tent sensed the shift in the air, and the busy room fell entirely silent. When she spoke, her words were careful and measured, keeping her emotions as neutral as possible.

“General Takeda, I remind you that I am waging this war against my own father. My master is being kept hostage. You are among the few people privileged enough to know what I mean when I say that when you speak to me, you are also speaking to the founders of Jiaguo. All of us have lost family, and while some were lucky enough to be reunited, some of us have realized that we never truly had one to begin with.”

She turned away, not willing to press the matter further without taking time to meditate first. Nobody stopped Yoshika as she made her way out of the command center in silence, turning before she left.

“Your soldiers are yours to command, General, and your family is your business. I have no intention of overstepping your authority in either matter. Just know that Rika is like family to me. It would break my heart if you pushed Chiyo away from her. You may only have them, but they still have each other—don’t take that away from them.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“We march south in a few days. If that will be all, my lady, I still have a lot of preparation to do before then.”

Kaede bowed politely and left the stubborn old man alone.

 

---

 

“We shouldn’t have blown up like that.”

Yoshika’s aspects all sat in meditation, synchronized across vast distances to take advantage of the rare confluence of downtime in their schedules. Eui snorted in derision.

“We hardly ‘blew up.’ The man’s lucky we didn’t slap him after what he said.”

Meili shook her head.

“It was just a thoughtless comment. Losing our composure over something like that isn’t like us.”

Kaede took a deep breath. The incident with General Takeda was the first time she’d really felt the impact of Yoshika’s emotions on her. The old Kaede wouldn’t have flinched at an off-hand comment like that, nor would she have tried so hard to advocate for Chiyo.

It was a double-edged sword. She’d always been too aloof before, but Jia’s passion had a way of sneaking up on her, which could be dangerous when combined with Eui’s temper. Her cooler temperament helped to balance things out, but that cut both ways.

“It’s just stress. War is difficult, running a country is difficult, inserting ourselves into family drama is difficult. I think Jiaying had the right of it when she said we need to get better at relaxing. Each of us bears the stresses of all of us.”

Jia chewed on her lip, squeezing Eui’s hand nervously.

“Easier said than done. There’s so much to do, but we really can’t afford to lose our composure. People could get hurt if we let our aura rampage.”

Meili pursed her lips for a moment before coming to a decision.

“I think we need some time off.”

Eui raised an eyebrow incredulously.

“Time off? We’re in the middle of a war, Meili.”

“Kaede is in the middle of a war. The rest of us aren’t nearly so busy. Since she’s working so hard, it falls to the rest of us to manage the stress.”

It was a strange thought, but Yoshika knew it made sense. All of her aspects were hard-working to a fault, and no matter how far apart they were, her emotions were shared across them. Ideally, it would be best if each aspect managed stress individually, but that wasn’t always possible. In such cases, Yoshika had the unique ability to offload the task to her other aspects.

It wasn’t something she wanted to make a habit of, but Kaede really would feel much better if Jia and Eui took some time off to themselves. Meili already led a fairly quiet life but as Jiaying had warned them, they couldn’t rely on one aspect to relax enough for four people.

“Alright then, that settles it. We’re taking a break! Until Kaede arrives on the front lines, we’re going to dedicate our time to relaxing as much as possible to prepare ourselves for whatever our shitty old man has in store for us.”

Kaede chuckled. She wasn’t really sure who to attribute that last thought to, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. A break would be nice—even if she was likely to spend the majority of it dealing with the logistical nightmare of navigating multiple armies across heavily populated territory.

Being part of a gestalt had its perks after all.