Doragon Faia
(Dragon Fire)

The Hunt

The forest was silent when a small band of hunters wandered through, making very little sound in the darkness. Travelling by moon light, they searched the shrubs and bushes for any sign of their quarry, having not been told what their prey was capable of, so they carried with them a vast array of weaponry specifically for hunting. The leader of this group wasn't what you would call the biggest, but nonetheless he commanded a lot of respect from his men. He commanded his men to head for a clearing up ahead; he didn't say it, but used one quick hand movement to communicate his order. There was a small fire in the clearing which made it easier for the hunters to find it.

A young man, with bright red hair and a cool attitude about him, was resting under a large tree in a clearing. A large scar was clearly visible on his face starting from above his right eye and ran across the bridge of his nose and down his left cheek. He wore a red hitoe which he didn't like to tie together, slightly baggy hakama and a red hachimaki round his head. His weaponry consisted of a small aikuchi at the back of his belt, but the kougake he wore on his left hand seemed so deadly that he didn't look as though he needed it. Hidden in the side of his hitoe he kept a small one handed crossbow that always had a bolt locked in, ready for quick use. Clearly visible over his shoulder were a row of smaller aikuchi that, if he wanted to, could be fired from his crossbow like a bolt. To his right, lent against the tree, was a large yari, which was made entirely of a heavy metal that would be impossible to lift by a normal person, a short bow and a quiver of arrows. He looked quite peaceful under the tree, hachimaki covering his eyes, when he heard the sound of twigs snapping underfoot. He slid the hachimaki up his forehead and got to his feet slowly, looking around for where it was coming from. In his mind he knew what was about to happen, but he hoped it was not what he was thinking of. He stepped forward just in time as three arrows flew out of the forest, hitting the tree just behind him.

"Not again," were his first words as six men, katanas drawn, charged into the clearing.

He had no time to collect the weapons loose around his camp site, as they would have been upon him, so he darted into the forest with the hunters right on his heels. He managed to lose them amongst the closely growing trees, forcing them to stop and regroup.

"Where did he go?" the leader shouted, hitting the man closest to him.

"We'll find him Boss," the man replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"We better, because if we don't it's going to be your fault." Before the other hunter could reply, the 'boss' shouted to the rest of his team "Keep your eyes and ears open, he could be anywhere."

No sooner had he said that they heard their prey's voice echoing throughout the area.

"Why are you here hunters?" asked the voice. "No need to answer that, I already know. Saibannin sent you, didn't he?"

There was a mumbling amongst the hunters and then they were silenced by their leader.

"SPEAK HUNTERS" the voice shouted, startling the hunters, but the leader did not move.

"So what if he did," he shouted in reply, "you can't hide forever, we will find you Doragon Faia."

After that there was no reply, just an eerie silence that seemed to go on forever, and then the silence was broken with a scream from the back of the group. They all turned, katanas at the ready, but the hunter that was standing there was gone. After a few moments of silence, the missing hunters weapons fell from the trees above, it appeared that he had been disarmed. Doragon (named by the leader) rushed past the five men, hitting the first hunter he came to, sending him into one of the trees. 'Doragon' disappeared into the bushes, followed by one hunter who began to stab into the bush angrily. On his last stab his katana got stuck in the bush and tried to pull it out, but was then dragged into the undergrowth in a flurry of leaves and twigs.

"My name..." drawing his aikuchi with his left hand and taking out one hunter "is not..." swapping hands and stabbing the next "Doragon..." removing his aikuchi and grabbing the leader by the throat "FAIA." lifting him off the ground and slamming him down again.

"It's Doraiku." with that he lifted the leader's head off the ground.

"What are you?" the leader asked.

"I'm complicated..." he gets the leader up and leans him against a tree "and when you wake up, be sure to tell Saibannin that if he wants to get rid of me, he needs more than five men."

"When I wake up..." before he could finish Doraiku drew his armoured hand back and hit him square in the face. Darkness took over and Doraiku slowly disappeared from view. The last thing he saw was Doraiku removing his aikuchi from one of the leader's men and wiping it off, before heading back into the forest, leaving the leader to drift out of consciousness.

This is a list of all the Japanese words I used in this chapter:

Hitoe = the type of jacket Inuyasha wears.
Hakama = Trousers
Hachimaki = Headband
Aikuchi = Dagger
Kougake = Gauntlet
Yari = Spear
Katana = Sword
Saibannin = Judge
Doraiku = Drake