I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.
Rin's group had not been going for very long when they had reached Konekomaru. Rin had tried to insist on carrying Shiemi, but the girl didn't wish be be a burden. Leaving the half demon a little disappointed when they left the brush and spotted Konekomaru.
But his mild depression disappeared upon seeing the 'lantern' Konekomaru had found. "That the h...heck is that supposed to be a lantern!" Rin shouted, cutting off his swore words as he remembered Jazz's presence. The 'lantern' was was to put it lightly, huge. Six feet in each direction and made of solid stone with a large circular hole in it were you would put in the wood for the fire.
"It's a stone lantern." Shiemi said in surprise.
"No... it's a 'peg' lantern." Bon said as he walked up to the thing. "A mid rank lesser fire demon. At night, it lies in wait for someone to light it, and once lit, the lantern begins to move and eats any living thing it comes across for fuel. Though it favors women. It only stops moving once it runs out of fuel or when the sun raises."
"That thing is a demon?" Jazz said looking it over. "So how do we light it and carry it back with us, if it starts trying to eat us once lit? I don't think threats will work."
"Konekomaru and I both know a sealing sutra that will keep it still while we move it, but if we are going to do this, then we will all have to work together." Bon said seriously.
"Wait a second Bon, weren't you the one that said 'They'll be no cooperation among us!'?" Renzo teased.
"Shut up! I just didn't understand what they meant when they said there were only three lanterns!" Bon shouted angrily.
"Mr. Okumura never actually said that there was only one lantern per person." Konekomaru added.
"I thought the whole set up seemed a little weird, considering how much they went on about infighting getting us killed." Jazz added as she walked around the lantern.
"...So anyways, now that we now we have to work together. Is there anyone who knows Kamiki or Takara's cell-phone numbers?" Bon asked the group.
"No, I tired to get to know Takara better, but he's really shy." Jazz admitted.
"I've asked for Izumo's countless times, but she always turns me down." Renzo said miserably.
"Shima... when did you ask for her number?" Bon asked, feeling a little annoyed with the Earthly monk.
"Um... I've... I've thought of a formation the six of us cound use to carry the lantern for the moment." Konekomaru said nervously.
First, they all loaded the peg lantern into the nearby cart, before sealing it and getting some dried figs inside of it for the beginning fire. After that they used their flashlights to attracted lots of the moths before lighting the flame.
As soon as the flame was lit, Bon placed a talisman on the side of the lantern and started to chant the Buddhist sutra to keep the lantern from waking up. Jazz and Shiemi were told to sit in the cart and gather moths to feed to the fire as the cart was moved along, while Konekomaru and Renzo walked along either side of the cart, finding off most of the moth hordes. Renzo looking as if he was going to faint at any moment.
Even though they had seen Rin's strength before, they were all a little surprised when he was pulling the cart along at a speed equal to how fast the others could jog.
"Holy cow, Okumura! What planet did you come from!?" Renzo said in a good deal of ah as Rin pulled the cart weighed down with the massive stone lantern and the two girls.
"We can't let our guard down yet. The hardest part is yet to come..." Konekomaru said, sounding more than a little worried as they all moved along the path. Renzo did not like the sound of it.
Yukio was staring at his watch. None of the students had come back yet and it was nearly 4am. He looked over to find both Shura and Danny were sound asleep, snoring loudly.
"For christ's sake..." Yukio swore under his breath, furious that the two of them didn't seem to care at all. He hated them. And it was more than just the way they tried him like some nieve kid. He worked his ass off to try to improve himself, to try to get stronger so that he could protect his brother. And then after all those years of training, when if finally came down to it, those two lay about completely out classed him. It made everything he had done look so pointless as they took charge of his brother's destiny, teaching him how to use his flames and how to fight with a sword. Encouraging his reckless behavior. It was so frustrating that it made Yukio want to scream.
But he was pulled away from those thought as the scream of a firework could be heard. Yukio looked up into the sky to see one of the fireworks had been launched nearby.
"Wha..?" Shura said drowsily as she pushed herself up from the ground along with Danny. Both of them pushing sleep out of their eyes.
"Looks like someone's given up already. That was quick." Yukio said.
"Alright, so who's going to get them?" Danny said rubbing his head. "One, two, three." "Not it!" Danny and Shura said together.
Yukio glared at the two of them but then sighted. "Fine, but make sure you two stay awake!" He said before walking off in the direction of the firework. He needed to get away from the two of them anyways.
"So... how long are you going to pretend to be drunk?" Danny asked the grown woman after Yukio was gone. Keeping his voice to a near whisper.
"When are you going to stop pretending to be sleeping?" Shura said, no hit of any intoxication in her voice.
"Was hoping the guy would attack sooner if they thought we were off guard, but it seems like he wanted to lure Yukio away first." Danny said quietly as he petted the air next to him, Cujo appearing from the air in his puppy form. The dog had been there all along, monitoring the surrounding demons. "Anything for us to worry about in that direction?" Danny asked his familiar. Cujo gave a few sniffs but barked only once. It was a no. "Figured as much."
"Yeah, my snakes can't find anything over there either." Shura said patting a snake who's back was covered in orange flames. "Just some adult Chuchi that some tamers raised. But they are hardly what I would call a threat. More like just cannon fader, even for someone on the Scaredy Cat's level." Shura said, sounding unconcerned.
"I can't believe Mephisto authorized this trip. Does he even care at all? I thought it was in his best interests to keep Rin's friends safe. Not much point in making a living weapon if that weapon hates your guts." Danny said as he flopped back on his back again.
"I don't get it either, but we have no choice. If something happens, we will do what we got to do." Shura said, also laying back down. The two of them waited for their enemies attack. Knowing that it would come soon. Until then, the two would move about as little as possible, conserving their energy until the demons chose to strike.
The instructors hadn't been the only ones to see the fireworks go off. "I wonder whose given up." Renzo said, latching onto the sight, since it distracted him from thinking about the thousands of bugs that were flying around them.
"Was it Kamiki, or Takara?" Shiemi wondered as she stared at the bright light for a moment.
Rin had been too focused on the firework and had to rear to a sudden halt when he found that the dirt trail had disappeared, and that there was a worn out old bridge in the path between them and the camp.
Bon, not knowing that they were about to stop, ended up running face first into the back of the peg lantern. Surprisingly he didn't stop chanting even as his face was flattened against the stone.
"What are we going to do about this?" Rin shouted. "Looks more like a ladder than a bridge! There's no way the cart's gonna be able to cross that!"
"I'm not even sure if it is safe for people to cross it..." Konekomaru said as he looked at the broken boards, the whole thing was on the verge of rotting away.
They heard a girly squeal and turned to see Renzo trembling as he looked down into the water underneath the bridge. "Wo...wo...worms!" He shrieked. They all looked closer, and what they had assumed to be dark waters, were really billions of larva, all crawling over each other. "Oh... my... god... I think I'm going to pee myself." Renzo said his knees trebling.
"Maybe you would feel better if you did. You never now." Rin said looking over at the pink haired monk.
"Rin, don't say stuff like that. Once someone pees their pants, that's it, game over." Konekomaru said.
But before Renzo even had time to straighten himself up Bon pulled his k'rik out of his hand and started smashing it's end into the bug mote. "Holy Crap! What are you doing!?" Renzo shrieked as the smell of piss filled the air.
Bon turned to them all held up a scrap book. One the book he had written the words, 'I have a plan.'
"This doesn't make sense." Yukio mumbled as he walked slowly around the spot where the firework had been launched. But there were no signs that any of the exwires had gone that way.
But before he could become too suspicious, all hell broke loose. Dozens of fully grown Chuchis, each with a wing spanned of over fifteen feet were flying over him, preparing to attack. It was an ambush. For some reason, as Yukio pulled out his gun, he couldn't help but feel like he should be angry at Shura. But he couldn't say way.
Cutting this up because the scene for crossing the river takes too long.
Danny and Shura both are more than aware of the position they are in, even more than Yukio does.
And Yukio hates them... we already established that, I'm just reinforcing it every chance I get.
The actual fight will probably not began for another two chapters, but I am tired and going to sleep. More committee work tomorrow... I hate committees.