Magnus: Hello and welcome to this new story. For those of you wondering why I'm not updating my other stories please go to my profile for an explanation. I certainly needed something new, to start again and hopefully to not stop ever again. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, though I wish I could have participated with Monty on his wonderful creations.

Remnant Warriors

Chapter 1

An unintended end.

Honnouji was engulfed in fire, hundreds of soldiers were burned alive or skewered by arrows, all gates surrounded, and screams of panic and hate filled the air, but in the heart of all of this, inside of a building set ablaze, a single man remained calm, seemingly uncaring that these were the final hours of his life…

"Nobunaga-sama! You need to get out of here!" Ranmaru shouted while blasting open the doors, nodachi at the ready to cleave any possible intruders, the concern in his rather feminine voice was painfully obvious, just like his dedication to his master. Nobunaga watched the one who perhaps was the only one to ever understand his mission, his only real friend in his crusade.

"There is no need, my time has come to an end, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise." Nobunaga replied with a calmness that was completely out of place with the situation, more akin to an old man in a peaceful bed, and not a warlord about to be burn alive.

"But my lord, who will rule the land now? Without your vision to guide us, we are all doomed!" Ranmaru pleaded with fire in his eyes, and passion in his heart. He had no doubt that his master had everything planed, but it didn't make it any easier to let him depart.

"Someone else will have to do it; my vision will come to fruition, I won the moment I forced our enemies to throw away their old ways, and no one can stop the tide of change. I won, and I regret nothing." Nobunaga declared, with pride in his voice and a smile on his face. Ranmaru could only stare at his master wide eyed, but not with doubt, anger, or incredulity, but with admiration.

"If that is how history is going to be written, then I'll stay by your side until the end, my lord." Ranmaru calmly declared while kneeling down at Nobunaga's side, who could only stare at him with surprise in his eyes.

"You don't have to." Nobunaga softly said, half expecting to see his friend take the offer and flee.

"No. But I want to." Ranmaru replied with a smile on his face.

"As you wish, my dear friend." Nobunaga replied with a smile of his own, he was finally at peace, knowing he will spend his last moment with a real friend. With no more need for words, both of them waited patiently for their end to come, either by flame or by steel they'll face it together. They didn't have to wait for long…

"NOBUNAGA!" Mitsuhide shouted while violently entering the hall with his shining katana at hand, this was half expected by lord of the Oda clan; what was not expected was for another man to follow Mitsuhide's entrance.

"Prepare to face Justice!" A man wearing white robes over some pieces of armor shouted in a zealous voice, wielding a straight sword with a broad tip on his right hand and paper charms on his left, although the helmet with the large kanji for 'Love' was his most distinctive feature.

"Now this is a surprise! I didn't expect to see you again, Kanetsugu. I don't know if to feel honored to be slain by your hand, or sorry for seeing you being tricked into this fight!" Nobunaga greeted the man in white, who didn't let his guard down.

"Your words will not affect us, you will no longer run rampant destroying entire clans, nor will you sow chaos within the land!" Mitsuhide declared while entering his battle stance, ready for the final showdown.

"HA! So you finally got what it takes to be your own lord. Still seeing me as a ruthless demon after slaughtering the families of my soldiers?" Nobunaga asked while readying his long sword, already covered by dark energy.

"Mitsuhide, you said that there were only soldiers here. You never told me about the women and children!" Kanetsugu shouted back at the samurai, for this was against his moral code.

"There was no other chance and I'll take the blame for this transgression; for now let's focus on stopping the demon king, for good." Mitsuhide replied, thinking that maybe tricking Kanetsugu was not the best of the ideas, but he lacked confidence to face Nobunaga and Ranmaru at the same time.

"Poor little Mitsuhide… Condemning himself to live in this chaotic world without the guidance of our lord…" Ranmaru said with a condescending tone while standing up and reading his nodachi.

The four were ready for this final battle, ready to decide the fate of a nation within the next minutes, but it wasn't meant to be, because the building couldn't resist a second more, and without warning the ceiling caved in, trapping the warriors in a fiery tomb. The last thing they saw before losing consciousness was a bright light and the intense flames falling upon them…

For a moment, Nobunaga thought that all descriptions of the afterlife were wrong, this wasn't like what the faiths of his land had described, for there was absolutely nothing on sight, only an empty white and an otherworldly feeling of… something. If he had to call a reference, he would probably pick something from the western culture; 'limbo' came to his mind after a while.

"My lord? Where are we?" Ranmaru's voice forced Nobunaga to turn around with mildly surprise, although his hopes of not spending eternity alone were crushed by the prospect of spending it along Mitsuhide and Kanetsugu, who were slowly waking up.

"I don't know, Ranmaru. But at least I can count on not having to face this new adventure alone." Nobunaga replied, while helping his friend to stand up.

"Ow… My head…" Kanetsugu complained while slowly standing up, although he gave up midway, and instead decided to sit in a lotus position.

"What happened?" Mitsuhide asked to no one in particular while standing up, still too dazed to notice his surroundings, or the lack of such.

"It seems to me that you succeeded, although with unintended consequences. Congratulations anyway." Nobunaga replied, although it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not, this of course earned Mitsuhide's attention.

"YOU!" Mitsuhide screamed with murderous rage while reaching for his katana, just to find that he no longer had it. His confusion, along with the confusion of the others, was short lived, for another presence appeared before them.

There is no need for violence. You can't fight and bleed anymore.

A bright light appeared and spoke to them, as if chastising a group of children. Kanetsugu was the first to react to the presence; he instantly changed from his sitting position to a kneeling reverence.

"Oh Kami-sama! Please forgive our disrespect!" At Kanetsugu's words, the rest of the warriors knelt down too, although Nobunaga was doubtful about the identity of the presence.

I'm not your god, but your apology is accepted.

When the presence replied, the four warriors were filled with surprise and fear, for none knew what to expect.

"Then who are you? And what is this place?" Nobunaga finally asked with a firm voice, although not with disrespect.

In this place you will wait for the time to judge your souls in accordance to your actions. As for who am I… I'm the watcher of your fate.

As the voice replied, the warriors finally began to understand the situation, they indeed died, and now were in wait for their final destination, it was somewhat comforting, liberating even…

"If that is so, then where are the others that died before us, or along us? I don't see my wife, or any of my men along with us." Nobunaga asked with an even firmer voice, in his eyes, this scenario was not to his liking, there was something else at play here; this also made the others to turn toward the light, for now they were aware of what Nobunaga meant, the place should be filled with soldiers from both sides, not only them.

You were separated from the rest because all of you had unfinished destinies.

With that reply, the four warriors grimaced; they didn't like the idea of becoming ghosts, or anything similar, this was made worse when they began to hear their disembodied voices…

"I wanted to fulfill my vision, and see my country united and moving forward as a strong nation, evolving continuously to face the rest of the world and its constant changes…" Nobunaga simply nodded at his own words, while Kanetsugu and Mitsuhide stared at him, astonished by the revelation of his ultimate plan.

"I wanted to be by my lord's side, to help him to fulfill his vision in any way I could…" Ranmaru simply smiled at his words, earning a pat on the shoulder by Nobunaga himself, and a roll of eyes from the other two, they actually expected to hear those words, but it didn't made it any less corny.

"I'll become Shogun! I'll restore the country to its former path of honor!" Mitsuhide frowned at his words, they were true, but felt that the others had no right to know them, especially Kanetsugu, who was now glaring at him.

"My wedding is in one month, I can't wait to start a family of my own, and teach my children to fight for love and justice, for the glory of the Uesugi clan!" Kanetsugu simply shed a tear when he heard his words, he barely knew his betrothed, but he really was looking forward to that day; he was caught off guard by Nobunaga, who placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"For whatever it is worth, I'm sorry. The world really lost a worthy line of men and women with your death." Nobunaga's words were sincere, and Kanetsugu could only accept them with gratitude; Mitsuhide could only scoff at the scene, which in turn made Ranmaru glare at him.

Your situation is a most unfavorable one, as it means you most likely have to wait until the end of times to be properly judged.

As the voice continued, the warriors understood that an eternity as ghosts awaited them, which filled them with dread, especially Ranmaru, who didn't know if he would remain by the side of his lord.

I offer you an alternative.

This gained the attention of the group, as it promised a chance of avoiding the horrible fate that awaited them.

I have number of wishes that I can grant you after the completion of a number of special tasks. What you use these whishes for, is up to you.

"Can you return us to life to complete our destinies with these wishes?!" Mitsuhide immediately asked, voice filled with hope, and perhaps a little bit of greed; Kanetsugu envisioned himself with his desired family, but Nobunaga sensed that something was off.

Yes.

Was the simple answer of the voice and three of the four warriors perked at this.

"What are these tasks?" Nobunaga asked, he was no less eager, but still cautious.

There is a land besieged by darkness, where a group of white knights fight in and unrelenting war on all fronts against this threat. Your task will be to help each of these knights to find what they need to keep going before the abyss claims them forever.

The explanation was ambiguous enough to give hope to the warriors, for it sounded like they were really needed, but the questions began to form. Do they need vision and strategy? Do they need an honorable leader to guide them? Inspiration to become a shining light in the darkness?

"I will go. Wishes or not, these knights can count with my sword to help them against the darkness, and my strength to aid them in their time of need." Kanetsugu declared, standing now with his face held high, he just couldn't say no to this challenge.

"I will go too. I'll save both lands; I swear this by my honor." Mitsuhide replied, standing tall and proud, he had a mission to accomplish, and if he had to fight another war to do it, so be it. Once Nobunaga heard both of them, he turned to Ranmaru, who simply nodded to him, as if assuring him of his support.

"We'll go. It is obvious that this people will need vision and strategy if they want to accomplish anything at all." Nobunaga added his own appointment, with Ranmaru standing firmly by his side; if he referred to the white knights with his words, or his other two companions, was not specified.

Very well then, you have made your choice, and now I'll send you to this land to begin your tasks.

As the voice spoke, a large circle of light surrounded the four warriors, and they began to feel something changing within their bodies, this of course scared them.

"What are you doing to us?!" Ranmaru shouted his alarmed question.

Your life time has reached its end, in order to allow you the time to complete your tasks I have to give you enough years to do so; this in turn will turn you younger. This will not have any effect on your memories, any change in your physical capabilities remains to be seen.

The voice's explanation made sense to a point, but there was another question in the air.

"How will we find them?" Nobunaga asked, and both Mitsuhide and Kanetsugu had to resist the urge to face palm, for they didn't thought about that problem.

That is part of your task.

And with that final answer, the light engulfed the four warriors once more, and they were gone. Soon the light of the voice dimmed until it was gone, and was replaced by a man in a pure white suit, the grin on his face was extremely unnerving.

"Oh! I'm going to have soooo much fun watching these four! I need to create some popcorn and a recording device. Good thing they won't be missed, not that three footnotes in history books would matter, and the other one was supposed to die anyway, can't believe they fell for the destiny bullshit though!" The man said to himself, the smile never leaving his face.

Magnus: This should suffice for an introduction, any doubts on their appearances or fighting skills can be cleared either by googling the names of the characters or by looking for them in Youtube, unless you are a history buff, or a fan of the games. On a side notes, I wonder if someone will be able to guess the name of the team they are going to make?