The Missing Tiger

Summary:

While the Date and Takeda together with the Uesugi army; are fighting the feared 'Devil King' at the battle of Sekigahara, something terrible happens! Sanada Yukimura gets kidnapped. A month later they find him again but the Yukimura everyone knew has changed. Will Date Masamune, Sarutobi Sasuke and a mysterious figure who appears, be able to change Yukimura back to normal before the last decisive battle with Oda Nobunaga begins?

'' = thinking
"" = talking
'nickname' (like 'cub of Kai')

Chapter 1: The Kidnapping

Date Masamune and Kojuro were with the Date army fighting together with Takeda Shingen and Sanada Yukimura, Sarutobi Sasuke and their Takeda army against the Oda army. It was led by Oda Nobunaga or 'The devil king'. There was lighting and dark rainclouds in the sky. It was raining as well. Many men would lose their live here, the green grass was already turning a murky red color from all the blood that was spilled on it.

The two great warriors, Masamune and Yukimura looked at each other, in their smile the respect for each other fighting spirit while they were wiping out the Oda army soldiers. One was as hot as the sun and was emitting red energy, the 'Cub of Kai', Sanada Yukimura. The other was Date Masamune, his energy was azure as lightning. His nickname was 'The one-eyed Dragon.'

They stopped to look at the wicked figure at the top of the mountain when he was made visible by the lightning flashes. The devil king looked at the two responsible for wiping out many of his men with his piercing gaze. Suddenly a lightning bolt hit the foot of the mountain of on which he stood, and because of that there was a big flash. When the flash was gone, Masamune and Kojuro recovered first. Wiping their eyes to get rid of the black spots that formed on their irises. Masamune looked around and saw all of his men and the men from the other army's getting up and staggering to their feet.

Kojuro was looking in horror at the direction the devil king was at. "Masamune-sama… "What is it?" The young lord asked. "You need to see this…" Shingen and Kenshin were looking in that direction as well. Masamune followed their line of sight and almost dropped his six swords in shock. "No…way." Shingen was also speechless. The devil king was holding Yukimura by his neck. He was hanging off the mountain ridge, if he was dropped now he would surly die.

Yukimura needed to drop his beloved spears to try and get those monstrous fingers away from his air pipe. His spears fell on the ground and broke, to Shingen's horror, in many unfixable pieces. Yukimura's sight was fading in and out of focus because of the lack of air he could get in his lungs. The devil king saw Yukimura's distressed and pain filled face and his wicked smile he wore got even bigger if that was humanely possible.

There were million thoughts racing around in Yukimura's head. 'I can't give up now. I need to… be…be strong. No…w-wait…' Without warning the devil king turned around and slammed Yukimura in the opposite mountain wall, causing a concussion, him coughing up blood and knocking him out in the process. And that happened in a matter of a few seconds. "Aargh!" The devil king let go of Yukimura's limp body that fell on the ground with a thud, a ridge lower than the devil king's.

"Danna!" Sasuke yelled and rushed forwards intending to get him back. But before he could reach the supposed mountain ridge, Aekichi, Nobunaga's right hands man, appeared. He grabbed the back of Yukimura's jacket with his scythe. "Let's go, toranoko- chan." (1) After another flash of lightning, and to Sasuke's horror, the devil king and Aekichi were gone and the Oda army as well. Everyone was shocked into staring at the spot Yukimura had been seconds ago for a whole full minute.

"What should we do, Oyakata-sama?" Sasuke had gotten back to stand next to his lord. "We will retreat for now. We will discuss it back home what we are going to do. Help me to get Yukimura's spears back. At last what remains of them." Shingen said. "Hai, Oyakata-sama." Shingen sighed and walked back to his horse, saddened about what just happened to his young retainer.

When they were back at Takeda castle, Shingen sent his injured men to get rest and the ones that still were able to fight were ordered to search in the Kai area. Ueshigi Kenshin had fought on the battlefield as well and full of his own spirit but he could only pray for the boy. That was because he was targeted by another army as well and he couldn't permit to lose any more troops than he already had.

Two weeks went by without any success. Shingen was getting desperate. He had asked Sasuke to get the best wood carver and weapon smith of the rising sun to look if the man could maybe repair Yukimura's demolished spears. But it had turned out that the honest man could do nothing but try and make something else from the remaining pieces to deem it usable again.

The old and experienced man had made 10 identical short dagger like swords that most resembled extended tiger claws. He had used the metal of the spears to make them shaped like that. He needed to meld the metal and reform them into 10 swords. And they had the same fluency. They could be attached to the user's fingers and they helped to protect the fingers as well. But instead of that a sword was only sharp at the bottom side, those were sharpened like an actual tiger claw. Thus meaning sharp at all possible angles.

They were attached at the up side of the hand with leather armored straps and also around the wrist with armor as well. There were straps of leather attached to the base of his fingers to his wrist too. It were two sets of 'claws of steel' as the man named them. The old man was named Chi. "Shingen-san, I have made what I could of the pieces you gave me to work with and I have created the claws of steel, as what I named the weapons." Chi said once he was permitted inside. "Ah, I thank you for your wonderful work." Chi gave them to Shingen, bowed to show respect and left for his home with a bundle of gold. Chi was independent as long as he was willing to give any warlord his created masterpieces, even if it was carved wood. He was always paid.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke looked up from toying with one of his shuriken. "Yes, Oyakata-sama?" Shingen looked at him a moment. "I want you to go to Date-dono and ask if he is willing to send search parties in his area too." Sasuke nodded. "Hai, Oyakata-sama." Shingen sighed when Sasuke was gone. "I hope Yukimura is found soon because he needs to train with his new 'gift' when he is back." When Masamune heard that Yukimura wasn't found yet in those two weeks, he ordered that the most of his trusted men started searching in Oshou as well.

One week later, Kojuro was with some men looking near the Tokuwa-falls. Those were at the border of Oshou and land nobody owned. They had searched the whole Oshou area without success except here. "Kojuro-sama! I found something!" Kojuro ran towards the guard that had shouted the sentence. "What is it? What did you find?" The guard held something in his hands. He opened them to let Kojuro see what it was. "Oh, dear…. He is nearby here. Please give me those and continue searching." Kojuro ordered. "Hai, Kojuro- sama."

Kojuro turned around and got on his horse and galloped back to the Date estate. When he was standing before Masamune's bedroom door, he knocked. Masamune's voice was a little muffed because of the door. "Kojuro? You're back?" "Hai, and we found something." Masamune got up and without warning slid open the door. Masamune looked a little flushed because of the sake he had been drinking to relax.

Kojuro was surprised. He tried to hide the smile that got on his face. "You are worried about him, aren't you?" Masamune turned his head away, blushing. "No. I'm not! And wipe that smirk of you face! I just want my rival back, that's all." It stayed quiet for a few minutes. Masamune faced Kojuro again with a serious expression on his face. "What did you find?"

"Open your hands, I am going to give them to you." "Them?" Kojuro nodded while he put the items in Masamune's hands. Masamune looked at what was dropped in his hands. His visible eye widened. "Are those…?" "I am afraid they are, Masamune-sama." Masamune gulped before looking down at his hands. It were 6 round golden coins with a square in the middle, covered in dried blood and dirt. "Where did you find those?" "Near the Tokuwa-falls this morning." Masamune's hands closed around the pieces. "Message the old man about this immediately, and thank the one who found them for me." Kojuro couldn't almost catch that last part but he smiled when he heard it. "Hai, Masamune-sama."