Beyond the Trees

Chapter 10

The encampment was unprotected from the outside. Even with the villagers moving the levers toward them, there was hardly a stir behind the wall. Kohaku was right they must be sleeping; the raid on top of the lack of food had made the bandits vulnerable like dog without teeth. Kohaku only gave orders through signals and hand gestures. They hauled the levers to the fence at his command, then carefully and quietly caught hold of it with their contraption. The fence creaked as it came down and the levers were left by the wayside as he men entered as quickly and silently as they could. Rin covered her mouth with Sango's black covering and put on her exterminators mask before entering. Her heart was pounding; it felt like someone was knocking very hard for entrance into a house. She scurried through and chose the tent where she was imprisoned. She tiptoed close to it when a man let out a blood curdling scream.

"Intrudgeeeeer" He could not finish his yell before he was stabbed and blood free flowed from his throat. The entire residence was astir with sword clanging and grunts of surprise. From the tent she was in front emerged a familiar face. The guard, who treated her brutally, stared sleepily and angrily at her with his sword out. Rin ran quickly to her right in a zigzag motion, she could not beat him in one to one combat; she was not strong enough for that. Kohaku taught her the most effective means of escape and she meant to execute it. She looked behind to see if he was following, he was. Perfect, her eyes read as they lifted in a smile.

The man turned the corner looking to his left where he saw Rin turn but the only thing he could focus on was the impact that hit his chest. He looked down, an arrow. He fell to his knees looking before him as Rin returned her bow to her shoulder and unsheathed her sword joining a fray beside her. The battle continued this way; many villagers were killed but not as many as the bandits. Rin ran over to where they used the levers to open the fence.

"Are these all the women?" Rin asked Jiho who was signalling for the women to run into the woods.

"Yes this is everyone." Jiho responded.

"And the men?"

"Only Kohaku is left." He said. Rin looked back. She knew where he was, she could hear the clang of his blade to the east of where she stood.

"Jiho, make sure the women make it back to the village safely. Protect the rear just in case any bandits escape. Tell the rest of the men to burn this place down before they leave. I'm going to look for Kohaku." Jiho nodded and they both parted ways without another word. As Rin ran through the center of the tents she looked for Kohaku. He was fighting the snakish grunt from the mountains in the place where she had been kicked to the ground. 'Koha…" But she was cut off with the feeling of a strong arm gripping her neck. She wriggled her body to free herself.

"Rin!" Kohaku yelled as he looked at the bandit leader lock Rin in a vice grip.

"At last" the man said and the snakish grunt let out a sinister chortle. "The last of the exterminators. I have searched for decades to rid the world of you filth." The eyes of the little grunt turned green as his master spoke and the man's arm slowly turned into a blade.

"What are you?" Rin squeaked as she felt the pressure of the blade on her neck.

"Demons." Kohaku said almost breathless. "I should've known a group of bandits could not be so powerful, there had to be something behind them."

"They may not have been as powerful without me but they were always as evil. I was just playing with this group to see how low they could truly go." The man said laughing as the venom split from his mouth. Rin continued to wriggle seemingly trying to free herself, though the prospect of getting free was not promising. "You may not recognize me but I know you Kohaku of the exterminators. It was my group who your people so effortlessly killed and also us who Naruto called when it was time to wipe out your village. You helped us there. I pleaded for Naruto to let me feed on your flesh myself but he refused, meanwhile the rest of my brethen were mowed down one by one by you sister here." He thought she was Kohaku's sister, Sango! Rin thought. Perhaps it was not best to steal her uniform after all. Kohaku gave a look to Rin in confusion.

"So you plan on exacting your revenge on us. Why didn't you just seek us out? Why attack these innocent villagers?" Kohaku asked.

"They are not so innocent anymore. You are attempting to create a new village of exterminators, eh? I knew attacking these villages would get you cockroaches scurrying out of your little holes and here you are. Finally my revenge will be complete and after I finish you, I'll destroy that village. I can't have your spawn causing problems for me" The man said pushing his blade further into Rin's neck. She stopped wriggling and held her fist clenched beside her. "Now watch demon slayer as I kill her then you. Your kind will be as extinct as mine." Rin's head was up she could barely meet Kohaku's eyes but with the view she had she stared at him and when he caught hold of her eyes, she nodded the best she could. Kohaku caught the gesture and nodded. "Waaatc…." The loudmouth demon continued but before the phrase could be uttered Kohaku was swinging his chain blade around in a swoop. The snickering goblin's green eyes, which had been staring on at the madness gleefully, widened in horror and he quickly dipped down for cover with a yelp. The demon holding Rin also looked shocked but he gathered his wits as he looked down at Rin. He smiled ready to slice her head off, when he was thrown off by her upturned lip. His eyes widened in pain, but not from his head, it was his leg. He unknowingly released his grip and Rin rolled forward out of the way. The demon looked down to see a small dagger lodged into his side. That was why she was wriggling, he thought quickly and then his fury heightened. He raised his blade arm to stab her but it was too late, Kohaku's blade had come full circle and the demon's head was cut clean off. The goblin scurryed away at the sight of his master's fall.

"Leave him, lets go. This place is going to burn down." Kohaku said. Rin had not even noticed the tents engulfed in flame, a hellish landscape for a worse than evil place. She was so stunned she hadn't moved and was only stirred by the feeling of Kohaku's hand gripping her own, she nodded and together they flew off into the woods.