The Price of Freedom
The most prolific and famous clan in that era was the "Night Wolves" clan of which there were many rumors that they were not human, some said that they were beasts with superhuman strength or even that they used magic, although all the rumors were invented by people who feared them, there was a certain touch of truth among these rumors.
The Night Wolves clan was a very closed clan to the outside and few politicians and rulers of the time could hire their services which were extremely expensive and not always accepted by the heads of the clan, this clan became so powerful due to the strict and rigorous training that the members received from only 7 years of age, the only goal in life that the Night Wolves had was to improve their skills so that the clan would continue to be invincible in battle, they even had practices that many would find immoral, One of them was that the night wolves could not mix their blood with people outside their clan and only allowed the most skilled members to reproduce with the intention of producing more powerful warriors, Among the most powerful warriors of the night wolves was Mavis she was the pride of the clan her skills even among the clan members bordered on the inhuman, Mavis was a warrior who would be one of the next head of the clan.
One day one of the leaders of the clan gave Mavis a mission, it was a routine assassination, she had to eliminate a certain warrior named Gin who was beginning to gain fame and could be a danger in the future for the clan, Mavis accepted the mission without hesitation and descended from the mountains to meet her objective.
By the time he reaches the route where his objective is supposed to pass, it is already night, Mavis waits silently at the top of a big tree and prepares his weapons to face the enemy, after waiting a couple of hours in the horizon a man appears walking, He wears a red robe that covers him completely and a big hat that doesn't let you see his face but that is the description they gave her about her target, Mavis waits for the subject to be in her attack range and jumps from the top of the tree where he was hiding with his katana in hand to his target, Gin realizes the mysterious attacker and prepares for the imminent attack but in the second in which they crossed their glances this is frozen due to Mavis, this makes him doubt for a second and Mavis takes advantage to go by the neck of Gin this recovers quickly the composure and as soon as it manages to defend itself of its attack then it takes off the hat and it puts itself in attack position to receive its enemy, Mavis pounces on him with ferocious attacks directed towards his vital points but Gin manages to defend herself from them with great ease, this irritates the warrior and makes her attacks more powerful.
-I have never seen such a beautiful woman wielding a katana in this way
Mavis hesitates a bit before the words of her enemy and her confident smile, but she has been trained hard to repress any kind of feeling so she bites her lips and keeps attacking faster and faster.
-If you keep attacking me so you can hurt me beautifully, take it easy as soon as we are getting to know each other.
These words infuriate Mavis who launches an attack with all her strength but the anger made her katana become clumsy and Gin takes advantage of the opportunity and with a quick movement of her weapon she disarms her attacker, positions herself behind her and holds her with a key over her arms.
-I'm Gin Okata, it's a pleasure to meet you, beautiful. I was told that if I followed this path I could face the invincible night wolves, but instead I think I've got my future wife Ha-ha-ha!
Mavis is very angry but she cannot free herself from her opponent, she has been totally defeated.
-Kill me, spare me the shame.
-Why should such a flower wither in my hands? I do not intend to harm you but I feel that if I let you go you would try to tear my throat "little wolf".
-How do you know which clan I belong to?
-Very simple beautiful, from this angle I can see a little bit of your clan's emblem tattooed on your back and since I have won you should reward me with something more than your life.
Mavis is enraged but according to the code of her clan in the face of defeat she must die immediately or serve her opponent for the rest of her life.
-According to the laws of the clan my life is now yours, I am Mavis Wolf, I will be at your command until my life is extinguished.
-Calm down little wolf, you have a beautiful name worthy of your beauty, I don't want you to be under my orders, I am not that kind of person, I just want to know you a little more and enjoy your presence.
Mavis doesn't understand what the warrior Gin tells her, that kind of behavior is not normal among clan members.
-For now why don't you go back to your village and tell your bosses that you accomplished your mission without problems, anyway I wanted to disappear in the mountains beyond the black forest to train, but you can visit me whenever you want, so I can see your beautiful face.
Gin releases Mavis raises her hat and walks away saying goodbye with a huge smile, Mavis is stunned by everything that just happened and thinks what to do now, she finds herself in a big dilemma since she cannot disobey Gin's orders, after walking all night she decides to return to the village as Gin Okata told her and report her success in the mission.
The months pass and Mavis every time she had a chance she traveled to the mountains where Gin was training and observed him from a distance, this made Gin very happy who every time made Mavis come closer to the point where they started training together, while time passed Mavis little by little left her posture so rigid and became closer to Gin to the point where they laughed together, during one night after training both of them find themselves sitting in front of a fire and Gin looks at Mavis and tells her:
-Why is your clan so closed?
-As it has been since the beginning, that is our way in martial arts.
-There is a huge world out here full of opportunities and interesting people to meet, people should not be deprived of this freedom, it is not logical.
-We never question our practices, that's why we are educated and trained.
-But surely there are others within your clan who think like me, maybe if they got together they could bring about a change.
-That would only trigger an internal war. I have companions who have noticed my relationship with you and have been curious about the outside, but I don't tell them anything for fear that they will silence us all.
-To obtain freedom you will always have to release a little blood, in this violent world to achieve our dreams we must always fight for it with our weapons, if you want my support you will undoubtedly have it, I will help you free your brothers.
While he says this Gin takes the hand of Mavis and both look at each other, Gin approaches more and more to Mavis and this although nervous she decides to trust him and both kiss each other.
After Mavis returns to her clan she begins to talk to all those who yearn for freedom and convinces them to free themselves from the chains of oppression of their clan, this starts a great civil war that extends to the point that clans that work under the orders of the night wolves and clans that hate the way the clan does things join the war, making the bloodshed escalate in great magnitude, Gin along with Mavis lead the opposition against the traditionalists, for months they achieve enormous victories but there are also important casualties within the opposition.
The war goes on for years and to such an extent that even governments are involved, many lives are lost and the longed for freedom becomes an endless sea of blood, the opposition desperate for victory sends emissaries to the western lands to hire mercenaries to help them with their cause, in the center of this is the couple of Gin and Mavis.
-Love, you can't keep fighting on the front lines, you have to think about the child in you.
-I cannot let my countrymen fight a war that I started, I will only rest when everything is over, we will win this war love.
Gin worried about the future of Mavis and her baby makes a very painful decision, she meets in secret with the leaders of the traditionalists to try to end the war.
-There is no way they can win Gin "The Immortal", they will only end up becoming extinct little by little, the main bloodline will prevail and you know that is the truth. Says the current leader of the night wolves Kazami Oshiro.
-You are right, I just want my family to be unharmed from all this, too much blood has been spilled, I can't lose Mavis.
-Very well bring me the heads of the main opposition commanders, it's the only way to end this war quickly and with the minimum of losses, with your skills that should be easy.
Gin cannot accept this proposal since he has become a brother in arms to them during the years they have fought together so he proposes something else to Oshiro:
-Why don't we decide this in a single battle is the most logical, we will both go with everything, if your main line is the most powerful should win without problems. Gin gives off a laugh that angers all traditionalists.
-It's ok in 3 days in the Jinma valley we will decide this once and for all and even the traitor Mavis will die in my hands.
Gin leaves and begins to spread the news to all the opponents so that they get together and finish everything at once, everyone gets together and prepares for the final battle.
-Gin, the emissaries we sent returned with powerful warriors to help us in the final battle, they are huge metal covered warriors, they will be indestructible in battle.
-Any extra help will be beneficial to us.
The night before the final battle, Gin and Mavis are standing on a tree overlooking the valley where everything will end after so many years of fighting.
-I don't want you to fight tomorrow love, we can't put the child in danger.
-I will fight as you do, it is my responsibility, it was my decision to take this route to freedom, as planned I will lead the metal warriors in the flank while you lead the bulk of the army to the front, you will not change the plans at the last minute.
-I will trust your skills little wolf, after tomorrow I will take you to lands beyond the sea and we will be happy together.
Both hold hands as they watch the moon bathe them with its light during that beautiful night, in the morning of the great day both armies are positioned, with a 3 to 1 superiority between the traditionalists and the opponents, despite the disadvantage Gin is confident that the new metal mercenaries will give them the advantage they need to achieve victory, the opponents are positioned with the sea at their backs but have a high ground in their favor, After finishing with the preparations, the war horn sounds and both armies clash brutally in a fierce fight without precedents, both sides lose soldiers but no advantage is seen between the armies, Gin is fighting with all his forces diminishing the enemy as much as he can while Mavis waits for Gin's signal to advance with the metal warriors, The traditionalists begin to put pressure on the opponents little by little and Gin believes that it is the right time for the mercenaries to attack from the flank and destabilize the enemy so he gives the signal to attack, but something strange happens when Mavis gives the signal to attack and pulls out his katana to join the battle he feels a tingling in his chest, She looks down and sees the blade of a sword coming out of her chest, puzzled she starts coughing blood and turns to the mercenaries, who stabbed Mavis was their captain and the other mercenaries follow their example and eliminate the opponents who accompanied Mavis, she falls to her knees and tries to scream at Gin but her voice does not come out and falls inert on the floor with her eyes open.
Gin while he attacks the enemy realizes that the reinforcements have not joined the battle and tries to see what happens, when he turns around he sees Mavis lying on the ground, this blinded of anger tries to go to where Mavis is but before he can react a big explosion near him stuns him completely and he falls to the ground, with the few forces that he gathers he stands up and tries to understand what is happening, random explosions shake the whole battlefield destroying enemies and allies alike, it is a massacre.
Gin only thinks about Mavis so he tries to go to her and that's when he realizes that the explosions are caused by the metal mercenaries who have strange weapons in their possession. Gin doesn't understand why they have been betrayed and why they have killed his wife, the battlefield has become a total chaos where you can only see the strong explosions destroying everyone.
-Conquer these lands weakened by the civil war will be a simple task, soldier give the signal to the hidden ships to disembark and finish finishing with these poor devils. Says the Captain of the metal warriors.
In that a soldier gives the signal and a fleet of hidden ships approach the coast full of warriors with bloodlust, Gin is on his knees defeated watching his companions die without being able to do anything before the weapons of the metal warriors, he does not understand why they betrayed them, the only thing he can think about is Mavis and his son, as he can crawl little by little with the forces he has left to where the body of his wife lies, while crawling the metal warriors mock him.
-This is the famous Gin the immortal, to me he looks like a simple human. Says the commander of the metal warriors as he watches him crawl towards the body of his dead wife.
-Thank you for bringing us to this land full of future slaves and riches that we will take for ourselves. When the captain of the metal warriors says this to Gin he sticks his sword in her side.
Gin seems not to feel pain, he only thinks about reaching his wife, while he crawls several warriors stab and cut Gin but he does not stop his advance he continues crawling to where his wife is, at this point he is the only one left alive in the valley, most of them have died and only a few warriors from both sides were able to escape.
Gin continues to crawl towards his wife without stopping while all the metal warriors laugh and mock him when they see his vain attempt to save her. When he is about to reach her hand, the captain pulls out his saber again and stabs Gin in the neck when he was a few inches away from reaching his wife's hand.
The whole fleet of the metal warriors disembarks on the coast without anyone being able to stop them, this is the beginning of the invasion of Japan just at the moment when it was most vulnerable due to its internal wars, there is no army powerful enough to face the invaders and city by city the whole island is conquered, after this no one would remember the war for freedom or the love story of the immortal Gin Okata and Mavis Wolf.