Kimiko: This is my first DGM fic! It's going to be OOC, so you don't have to compare it to Hoshino's series. Because she's much more amazing than I could ever be, seeing as she made these characters. Just tell me if it's any good. And it's probably going to get much better [and bloodier].

War and Desire

Yu Kanda could smell the battle even here in the camp. Even after four days, he could still smell the bloodshed, rotting flesh, gunpowder, and smoking steel. The sounds had been significantly muffled, as he had pitched his tent as far from the medical tent as possible. The men had stopped complaining about the losses and pointlessness of the battle.

Their side hadn't won, but neither did the other side. Kanda had long forgotten what they were fighting for, what name they were representing. The war was meaningless as far as he could tell. No one except the commander was motivated to fight under the flag they carried into battle. The apathy was even evident in the banner's visible likeness. It was stained by rain, smoke and even some blood. Everyone they passed, when they weren't hiding in their homes, could tell. These soldiers didn't care about the war they were fighting in.

Kanda was just here to make money. He was a warrior and he was good at it, even though he was only nineteen. He wasn't about to die, and once the war was over, he would get his money. If the other side won, he would plunder the places he passed anyway, out of spite.

But the war was still pointless.

The camp still reeked of leftover battle.

People still died.

Not that he really cared about too many people in the camp. Alma Karma, his childhood friend had come along. He was the one who urged Kanda to join the army. He was acquaintances with a few others: Marie and Daisya. And there was that annoying soldier named Lavi, but he could care less about that one.

Kanda started to get pissed off for no reason. Or maybe there was a reason. He was annoyed at the junk he was starting to think of. He didn't need to think. He just had to fight. Thinking was for the battlefield. Thinking off the battlefield was for the commander.

Kanda got up and began walking out of the camp. There has to be someplace that didn't stink.

As he passed another tent, Alma saw him. "Hey, Yu, where are you going?"

"Out," Kanda growled. "I can't stand this smell. I'll be back later."

Alma nodded. "I'll make sure the commander doesn't go looking for you." That was good. The commander, Howard Link, was paranoid about deserters. "Don't be too long."

"I won't." Kanda kept walking out of the camp. He spat in disgust. It was slightly better, but there was still a faint rotten smell in the air. It was just noticeable enough to be irritating. Kanda looked around. There was a forest a little ways away. It was even farther from the battlefield. Forests would mean other smells that might block the haunting dead-and-dying stink. He began to head for it, still listening for anyone from the camp chasing after him. He didn't expect to meet any enemies, but he still had his katana with him, just in case. Kanda was, after all, a warrior, much better than these pitiful soldiers who were cheap as dirt. He knew how to survive a battle, and a war.

He reached the trees now and kept walking. The whole forest had an evergreen smell. It started to purge his senses of the sensation that had been festering inside him for the past week. He could hear the still silence of nature now. He stopped and closed his eyes, actually enjoying himself for the first time in a while.

Kanda opened his eyes again and walked in the same direction he started, not wanting to lose his way. He looked around, but there were no signs that any humans had been here for a while. He continued; glad to be in a place with nothing.

After a few minutes, he saw something far up ahead through the trees. He narrowed his eyes. It didn't look like a house, but it didn't look natural, either. He walked faster, but kept the noise he made to a minimum.

He finally came to the place. It looked like the old stone ruins of what once might have been a castle. Or some other ancient civilization. It didn't really matter.

Kanda would have turned back, but there was something about the ruins that intrigued him. He hadn't felt like this for years. Something inside was compelling him to go further, to explore, to enter the crumbling place. It wasn't like he had anything else to do. Kanda slowly began to walk deeper into the mess of stone remains. They were covered with creepers, ivy, shrubs and moss.

He could barely see inscriptions carved onto the walls, but he ignored these as he kept walking around. Eventually he found himself at what felt like the heart of the place. There was a small shrine, also covered with wild green growth. Kanda walked up to this and stopped.

Here the pulling was strongest.

This was kind of bothersome. He had left the camp to get away from unwanted sensations like this. But his warrior senses told him this wasn't anything normal. It wasn't anything hostile, though. This feeling felt old and ponderous, like a storm brewing. Kanda looked into the shrine.

Inside was a small figure.

Was this what he had been feeling? How annoying. He looked harder. It was a child.

"Hey, brat," Kanda said, his voice sounding loud in the jarringly silent place. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The child crawled into a shaft of light. He looked up with wide silver eyes at the warrior. The kid had white hair that fell across parts of his face, a weird red mark that ran through one eye, and old-looking black clothes. He couldn't have been more than ten years old. He blinked at Kanda before answering.

"I can't get out."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "You're lost? Well, listen, I don't have the time to go looking for your folks, brat. I'm sure they're looking for you. Though it's going to be harder if you're playing hide-and-seek in here,"

"No, I can't get out."

"What do you mean, you damn brat?" Was this the only thing he could say?

Rather than speaking, the boy pointed behind him. Now Kanda noticed that he was wearing a collar that was attached by a length of chain to the wall behind him. Was this someone's joke? Or was someone trying to get rid of the kid? No, they wouldn't go to this length just to get rid of an unwanted child.

"Sir," the child whispered. "I'll give you anything if you free me."

"What could you possibly give me in your position?" Kanda scoffed.

"Anything, as long as you release me."

"Sure, whatever," Kanda could hardly believe this. The kid was bargaining for an escape. He'd probably realize that no one wanted him once he got back home, though. "You're trying to be the spirit that grants three wishes. All right, then I want you to help me end the war."

"If that is what you want."

Kanda was about to laugh. How could the kid end a war that all the carnage of combat could not? But the kid's eyes were serious. "Listen, kid, it's an impossible thing. No one but the leaders can really end the war. And they're not going to do that anytime soon." Why was he talking to this kid even remotely seriously? This was a waste of time.

But the kid's eyes were serious. Kanda sighed. He might as well let the kid go. Some other traveler might not be as kind as him.

Kanda looked at the chain again. It was pretty thin and looked really weak in places. If the kid had hit it hard enough, it could've broken, but there wasn't anything around to hit it with. He unsheathed his katana and swung the blade at one of the weaker spots.

It broke the chain neatly.

Suddenly there was an odd rush of wind throughout the ruins. Kanda looked up, but the sky was just as clear and blissfully sunny as before. He looked back at the kid, ready to tell him to run off now, but he seemed different.

The kid's mark on his face was glowing red. His eyes were glowing silver. The chain was turning wispy, almost ghostlike. Clearly, he said, "You want the war to end. That is your desire." The rush of wind came again.

"I am the yokai that is called Allen, the Bloody Clown. As promised, I'll contract with you now, Yu Kanda, to give you your desire."

Kimiko: If you like this, please review! If you don't, you don't have to complain here.