Specter of Light

The sun was on the verge of retiring for the day and it doesn't spell well for the hunters who experienced several setbacks on their attempts to reclaim the captured castle. A change of plans was quickly enacted by the commander and the different divisions regrouped and took their new positions. The castle which was taken was well fortified to start with and having a cunning opponent made things challenging but this wouldn't stop the legendary group of demon slayers from ridding the place of its intruders. A couple of crates of gold coins and a free pass to all allied countries of the kingdom were at stake anyway.

The commander went on the edge of the cliff which was overlooking the castle. His eyes keenly observed the assumed positions of their enemy. His raven hair tousled by the breeze as he turned to face the remaining unit behind him. He nodded on the smaller man who stood near him.

"Everyone is in their position." The commander stated, his voice calm but with authority. "Saitou you know what to do"

The smaller man nodded curtly. His hair which covered the right side of his face a bit fluttered a little, away from his pale face, revealing the pair of his icy orbs which was almost the same hue with his deep violet hair. He turned to his subordinates. "Let's go. I'll enter the fortress first and I'll be followed by the 4th division. That's when you enter next and assume discussed position" The men nodded. Before moving to the front of his small group, he glanced at the young woman whose eyes didn't hide the fact that she was dead worried about him. He led his group down the side of the cliff and acted as planned.

A group of ten men, along with the commander and the young woman, were left on the cliff. They watched closely as the different divisions positioned themselves and started to wreak havoc in the ground below. The commander pulled out his binoculars whose barrels were covered in silver with almost unreadable inscriptions in them. His brows furrowed as he placed down the binoculars.

"Is something wrong?" the woman took a step closer to the commander, looking up at him.

"Why does Kazama always have to defy my orders? That arrogant bastard" he growled.

The woman's brown orbs turned from the commander to the ground below. She pursed a smile knowing that this usually happens but things turn out well in the end. "The 5th division has reached the top walls" she pointed.

The commander watched as the demons guarding the walls got thrown to the ground one after the other. "but I don't think that the 4th division and 2nd division would make it in time to cease the castle from inside. I'd go down for back-up" he grabbed a compound crossbow and handed it to the woman. "You never missed a shot, cover my back" he gave her a small smile.

"Eh?" the woman looked down the crossbow on her arms. She was trained by the commander himself so she should be confident with her marksmanship but she can't help but feel a lump on her throat. Despite the fear in her she wanted to help and so she nodded with conviction. She grabbed the leather pouch filled with arrows and slung it over her shoulder.

"Let's go" the commander lead everyone down the cliff and stopped at one point on the way down the to leave the woman. "Yamazaki" he called one of his trusted men.

"Yes" the young man stepped forward pulling down the metal mask that covered the lower half of his face.

"Stay with Chizuru" with that the commander head off to the battlefield below.

The young woman knelt on one knee, removed the pouch, loaded the bow and rested the butt of the weapon on her shoulder as she prepared to fire. From the scope on her bow she can see that the commander has just stepped into the battlefield. She took a deep breath and let out her first shot, hitting the animal like demon who tried to attack from behind. "Please don't let me miss" she muttered to herself like a mantra as she prepared for the next shot.

"Yukimura, I'd go and get the guests in there" Yamazaki pointed to their right with a thumb. Some demons have managed to locate them.

Chizuru's eyes widened, feeling a bit nervous with the sight of the enemy approaching, but she trusted Yamazaki and his skills. "Be careful" her voice was too sweet in comparison to the growls and moans of the demons nearby.

She focused on covering the commander who has already met with the 4th division and took over the battle outside. She let loose one arrow after another, only stopping for some breather and to reload. On the side of her eye she saw that Yamazaki got pinned down by a demon. Turning to her right she hit the demon with an arrow in between the eyes.

"Thanks" Yamazaki exclaimed as he finished off the last of the demons.

When Chizuru turned her eyes back to the battle field she saw that their groups' flag was already raised on one corner of the castle. From her scope she watched as the commander and the 1st division cleaned up the battlefield. She can't help but feel relieved that finally the battle was over. The sun has already set and the crescent moon was smiling down at them, the victors.

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

Soft music from a man with a guitar mixed with the rowdy laughter and voices of men as they toast their mugs of beer or glasses of wine in celebration for their assignments success. There were injured men and a number also lost their lives in the battle but it was a risk that everyone was aware of. Demon slaying is a tough and dirty job but someone has to do it for the sake of the humans who have been in strife with the other kind since everyone can remember.

On the side of the room sat the quite man whose deep violet hair casts a shadow over his pale face. He looked really worn and ready for bed. He pulled his white scarf loose, which stayed immaculately white despite the battle. Looking up, he was greeted with a warm smile and a mug of beer.

"Brother, you look really pale" Chizuru Yukimura sat next to Hajime Saitou who took the mug of beer and took a gulp.

"Don't worry about me" he gave her a curt smile. "I heard that you did well today"

Chizuru shook her head and smiled bashfully. "Not really"

"Don't discredit yourself." He sat up and took another generous gulp.

"I'm sorry." She reached for the pocket of her pants. "Here, I guess this good luck charm helped me"

He received the small gold coin like pendant and hid it in the pocket of his coat. "It does have its own magic" Seeing the pendant reminded him of his mother but he tries not to think about the past that much despite it trying to catch him like a monster in the shadows.

"Why don't we join everyone in the…" Chizuru was interrupted when a hand pulled her up by the wrist.

The man with a sly smirk on his lips pulled the young woman with him. "Hajime, get up and join us there or I won't return her" he teased.

"Okita…" she muttered. Her face got dusted with shades of pink.

"Chi-zu-ru" Okita said playfully and leaned down so that his face would be on the same level as the young woman. "I need you to fix my braid" he pointed at the three rows of already loose braid on the right side of his slightly long layered brown. It wasn't to keep the hair from his face really, if you asked him head tell you it's his style so bug off.

"Alright" she beamed and followed him to the round table in the middle of the room were the other four division captains and the commander sat. She took a seat next to Okita and started to undo his braids. She noticed that Saitou took the seat next to her and refilled his mug off beer. As she fixed Okita's braid, she listened to the conversation the men were having.

"Stop being so tight assed Hijikata" the man with golden hair narrowed his eyes to the raven haired man sitting next to him. "I did my job despite not following a tad bit of your plan. So don't whine"

"Then take my place Kazama" Hijikata, the commander, said with his signature furrowed brows.

"Interesting idea" Kazama crossed his arms.

"Hey! Guys!" the youngest division captain stood in between the two. "Don't fight. I have a good joke which would lighten up your mood" he announced proudly, placing both his hands on his hips.

"Heisuke. Just don't. Please don't" the topless man said shaking his head in disapproval. "You'd make things grim with your jokes"

"But my joke about the fake noodle and fat psychic made you laugh Shinpachi" Heisuke pouted. "You always pick on me, that's why I like Sano more than you"

Okita chuckled. "Yay… so Heisuke plays for the other team now ? Kudos to your undying sex appeal Harada" There was a chorus of laughter from the men, except from Heisuke who turned beet red.

"Souji!" Heisuke exclaimed as he stomped back to his seat.

"Sorry Heisuke. You really have to work on not becoming the prey of our dinner topic." Sano nudged his pal on the side. "But I don't think Heisuke has a thing for me because the other night he confessed something"

"Ah! Yeah" Shinpachi clapped his hand at the memory of the secret the youngster spilled. "I just remembered that he's in lo…" his words were muffled by Heisuke's hands.

"Jeez… so much for a faithful friend" Heisuke removed his hands from the man.

"Come on. I won't tell them" Shinpachi grinned. "I was just teasing"

At this point Chizuru has finished fixing Okita's hair. She leaned back on her chair, ate a bit and listened to the men's conversation. She wasn't sure when exactly it was that she felt drowsy and before she knew it she was already snoozing on her chair.

"Oi, Hajime" Souji poked Chizuru's cheek. "She fell asleep"

Kazama got up with a small smile. "I'll carry …"

Hijikata cleared his throat and interrupted Kazama. "Keep your hands to yourself."

Without any words Saitou carried Chizuru in his arms. "Excuse me. I'll take her to her room" he said ducking his head a bit and left after a nod from the commander.

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

Saitou was about to put down his adoptive sister on her bed when her eyes fluttered open with a yawn. He laid her down on the bed and sat near her feet.

"You were sleeping soundly so I didn't wake you" he said.

Chizuru sat up with a small smile. "Thank you. I guess I got really tired"

"You should go back to sleep" he was about to get up when Chizuru held on to his wrist.

She can feel her cheeks heat up and she focused on the sheet beneath her instead of his face. "Can you stay till I fall back to sleep?"

He nodded. She lay back down and pulled the blanket over her. Staying with her until she falls asleep is not new to him. When they were younger they'd even share a bed together but she was eighteen and he's twenty. At their age sleeping on the same bed wouldn't sound so right and would be awkward. There are times though when he'd have no choice but stay next to her, especially if she's not feeling good or when she's down or when the weather is awfully bad.

He looked down his adoptive sister, who has already fallen asleep. He can't help but remember the past. Starting from when they first meet to the day he finally fulfilled two of his dreams which were to ride an airship and become a demon hunter. As he closed his eyes, specters of vivid memory played in the theater of his mind.