Demon Slayers

The demon ran through an old looking town. It was winter and a cold chill shot through the air as fresh snow was stained red with the demon's blood. The demon stopped and frantically looked around him trying to pin down the whereabouts of his pursuer; his eyes scanned all around but he could not find him until he turned around and saw her. The woman whom he hated with all his heart. She had blond hair and fair skin under a uniquely carved kitsune mask that was strapped to her face. As she shot towards the demon he could only stare with wide eyes as prepared a devastating attack

Then a deafening cut was all he heard before everything went black.

Ruby Moved towards the demon preparing her attack, blood streaming down her forehead, her image overlapping with that of the woman whom he hated with every fiber of his being as she prepared the same attack that was used on him all those years ago.

'GOODWITCH!' He Thought with surprise, and then in that instant, his head was severed from his body with the same deafening ringing he had heard all those years ago overtook his brain as his head was severed from the body. His head fumbling to the ground his brain then processed what had happened.

'NO NO NO NO!' The Demon panicked its eyes 'My body's crumbling to dust and I can't stop it, NO NO!' The Demon thought sweat rolling down his face as its body disintegrated Ruby landing as she sheathed her sword and pocketed her sickle as she began to turn towards the demon. 'Damit the face of this demon Slayer will be the last thing I see!' Ruby began to turn and the demon's eyes widened. Ruby's face instead of it being twisted rage or consumed with pride as she triumphed over her adversary. No, she looked at the demon with eyes of pity. remorse filled her eyes as she stared directly into the demon's eyes. 'How-How had it come to this'.

*Sniff*, *Sniff* A young boy cried his legs tucked into his stomach and his hands in his face as he wept "I'm So Scared,". The boy sobbed "Am I really alone here,". The boy looked around searching as tears rolled down his face "Brother" He called out "Brother where are you?" The boy crocked out as he put his face back in his hands in fear. "I want you to hold my hand again.*Sniff* Like you always do," He said as he cried.

"Why, why did I do it," The boy said as he cried into his hands overcome with grief and racked with guilt.

"Why would I bite and kill my own big brother," The boy asked himself as he sobbed his heart longing for his big brother to come comfort him.

Ruby walked towards the demon's crumbling body as she did; she noted the demon's energy as it dissipated through the air.

"Huh, who is this brother I had,". The demon asked confused and scared. It looked up at its dark surroundings trying to recollect the brother it once had.

Ruby looked at the demon's outstretched hand and it was open in big. 'Why does this demon give off such a sad aura'. Ruby clenched the hand and closed her eyes and began to pray "Dear god when he is reborn ... please make sure he doesn't become a demon" She prayed the demon's hand closing around hers as the demon's eyes began to shed tears.

"Please, Please hold my hand," Said the younger brother.

"Well if I have to! You're such a scaredy-cat!" Said the elder brother.

The demon disappeared, finally crumbling into ash leaving Ruby standing there. Ruby looked up. "Pyrrha, Gretchen, and all the others whose lives were taken by this demon." Ruby began "With all certainty, I can say it's over and I hope you can all rest now" She stated solemnly as Pyrrha started jumping off the bolder and walking away as one by one the rest left with Gretchen being the last "You can all go home now back to Mount Sagiri, if only as souls." Gretchen turned around finally retreating into the fog."You're going back to " She said imagining Glynda by the fire waiting for Ruby's return."If I had failed I wonder. Would my soul go to the same place?" Ruby's question staring up at the star dotted the sky pondering."I bet I would" Ruby said as she shed one final tear for everyone's lives who had loss to the demon

She focused her eyes in front of her walking away continuing determined to finish this trial.

Ruby slumped down as she caught breathing; it had already been seven days since the start of the challenge and now she was simply running back to the start trying to avoid as many demons as possible. She was covered in dirt and bruises and the blood on her face had now dried and clung to it. She closed her eyes as she tried to regain her breath until she realized where she was standing. She was once again in the wisteria flower forest as she began following it back to the selection area.

The morning sun scraping over the horizon as she made her way to a nearby clearing a fresh set of bandages wrapped around the wound on her others stood in the clearing with her. There had been 5 including her 'Wait … only 5 of us.' She looked around 'but we started with at least 20" at the people who had also passed she had not seen the boy she saved from earlier 'So he didn't make it' she was disheartened at the realization." it's my fault again … all because I blacked out like an idiot," She berated herself as she gazed down. 'Stupid' She thought to herself.

"I'm going to die, I'm so dead, I survived for now but soon enough, dead," The yellow-haired kid said he had a fake smile as he listed through all the ways he was going to die and how he was just going to die sooner or later. He was covered in dirt and mud as well as scratches and bruises. His energy seemed a lot more panicked than before; it was yellow and white, brimming with power and fear.

She looked around glancing at the other kids who passed.

The first she noticed was the white-haired girl she had seen before. Her ponytail had fallen down and she wore an angry face. Her pure white kimono was covered in dirt and grime 'still pretty' ruby glanced a passing thought. The energy she gave off was still ice cold and still angry.

The third was another girl. She had black hair and big bright green eyes as well as silky pale skin. She wore a smile but it was still emotionless. She looked more like a doll than a person; her posture emulated that with her standing very straight almost inhumanly so with her hand on her sword as she played with a butterfly. Her energy was green but even still it was unnaturally calm and gave no indicator of any emotion. This girl gave off almost no energy whatsoever which kinda freaked Ruby out. What was even weirder about this girl is the fact that she had almost no injury on her at all. She did note that the white-haired girl was glaring at this girl quite intensely whatever it was she assumed was personal and didn't want to get in the middle of it.

The fourth and final kid had red and black hair and dark blue eyes with a huge scar on his face covering his left eye. He had a black Sleeveless yukata over a plain red shirt; his energy was unique. It was red but it had streaks of black in it faint but unmistakable as a demon's energy. Ruby didn't really question it as the kid gave off a lot of hostility and had a deep scowl on.

The shrine was the same as before and now behind the two sodden pillars in the ground, there was a table with a blanket over it with several lumps underneath the blanket likely to be presented when the moment was right.

"Hello, welcome back," the black-haired girl said.

"Congratulations, we're glad you're safe" the other finished.

The red and black-haired boy spoke first"So? I survived your dumb test. What do I do now? Where's my sword?" The boy said clearly aggravated.

"Patience, we must first issue uniforms to you all so we'll start by taking measurements and engraving your rank," One said while the other one began to finish.

"There are ten ranks," The girls began to speak in tandem alternating as they listed the ranks. "Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe, and Mizunoto," The girls listed the rankings. "As of now, you are all at the lowest rank Mizunoto," The black-haired one listed.

The red and Black haired one snarled like an angry dog, his brow furrowing more and more "Hello our katanas!" The boy was growling in annoyance as he once again asked for a katana.' patience dude.' Ruby thought as she watched the boy become more and more agitated.

"Today you will be able to pick the ore that will be used to forge your swords. However, it will be ten to fifteen days before the weapons will be ready for you." The little girl with white hair stared emotionlessly at the boy as he rolled his eyes.

"Realy, come on," He turned away grumbling on and on and an intelligible mess of words.

"But first," The black-haired little girl clapped twice. As she did the 5 of them looked up in time to see several black crows descend upon them as the crows cawed and flew around each of them before resting on their shoulders."Now that you are demon slayers you will all be assigned your own Kasugai crow,".

"Crows but, What for?" Ruby asked, looking at the blackbird perplexed at why each of them was given a crow of all things. It was the last thing she really expected, well to be fair she didn't ask many questions and maybe that was her fault but still, this is kinda unexpected.

"The Kasugai crows are primarily used to facilitate communication between corps members," One of the girls said as each of them looked at the crows in wonder.' how does that work? Does it just send letters to us or something'

"Umm … Wait you said a crow," Ruby turned around looking at the yellow boy almost laughing when she saw the tiny sparrow that clung to his arm chirping happily. "I think you're confused, this is a sparrow," the boy said perplexed at the small bird he had been given.

"*!KAW!*" One of the crows screeched in surprise as the red-haired kid from before threw the crow off of his shoulder Ruby turned to see the. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY STUPID CROWS *GAH*!" He shouted, causing the yellow boy to finch and look at the boy in terror. The boy walked over to the girls, his crow still squeaking as it flew away as he grabbed the little white-haired girl by the hair and pulled her off the ground and towards his face so they were barely an inch apart. "I want my sword right now SO GIVE IT TO ME! The Demon Slayer Corps Katana. A COLOR CHANGING SWORD YOU GOT THAT!" The Boy yelled at the girl, his face was severely crossed and furious at the girl.

But just then a hand reached and grasped the boy's arm. The boy turned his head towards seeing Ruby. She had been the first to spring into action out of the four others "Please let go of her," Ruby demanded her eyes crossed with determination, "Or I-I'll break your arm." She threatened to stutter a small bit, praying the boy would let go.

"Who the hell are you?" The Boy said, his arm refusing to budge from the girls head. Behind them the yellow-haired boy panicked trying to think of what to do, the white-haired girl stopped mid-stride a little miffed at how Ruby had gotten to him first. The Green-eyed girl had failed to notice what was happening much more focused on her crow than her surroundings.

"I'd like to see you try loser," The boy said, sticking his face in hers.

Ruby breathed in and tightened her grip around his arm until there was a quiet yet notable crunch. "AH FUCK!" The boy yelled, pulling away from Ruby, releasing the girl in the process as he clutched his arm in pain, stumbling back glaring at Ruby.

"Melodramatic," the White-haired girl said under her breath as she watched Ruby and the boy glare daggers at each other. The boy ignored her before he turned black towards the altar.

"Are you done chatting with each other," the black-haired girl spoke, still completely absent of emotion. The girl pulled the blanket covering the small table revealing an assortment of different ore's."Now the time has come, the ore that will be forged into a sword to both annihilate demons and serve as your protector is to be chosen by you,"

"I'm gonna die soon anyway does it really matter," The yellow-haired mumbled under his breath.

The 5 of them looked upon the ore, each of them hesitant to do anything. "They want us to pick one, I've never ever laid eyes on or before how I am supposed to know which one to pick. I can't tell the difference between any of them," Ruby said pondering to herself then her eyes widened in realization. She focused her vision and saw what she needed. She focused on the ore that gave off the most energy and grasped it with her hand.

A gentle hand rested on the crow's beak petting the small bird. The hand belonged to a man who sat in his house overlooking a beautiful garden. This man had long ivory hair and wore a green, white, and purple kimono with flower-like patterns.

"Really," the man spoke in a soft gentle voice. Kind and caring. "5 managed to survive this year" the man continued to face the garden looking out on a beautiful day

"That's wonderful," the man exclaimed "my children have grown once more," he said softly as he began to ponder. "I wonder what kind of swordsmen they will become?" He asked.

Ruby Stumbled falling on her knees as she clutched a walking stick she had picked up. Ruby put all her weight on the stick and stood up beginning her slow staggering walk down the trail back to her fatigue immeasurable as she shuffled along the road. The sun had just dipped under the horizon as Ruby was almost home. The energy of the final exam had taken its toll on Ruby as she struggled to even put one foot in front of the other.

'Not one person' She lamented 'I couldn't save even one person.' Ruby stared at the ground recollecting the test. She had tried to save 5 different kids and yet each of them either ran away and died or she was too slow to help them. She thought back to Pyrrha 'I bet she would have been able to save them' Ruby fell to her knees once again closing her eyes.

'What are you doing?' her eyes shot open as she remembered what her sister said to her.

"What are you doing sis?" Yang said flinging her ax over her shoulder. She had just been cutting wood when she heard Ruby crying around the corner. Just as she had predicted there was a small Ruby sitting on the ground behind the house, hand in her face as she stifled tears sniffling and trying to make herself look as small as possible.

"I-I *sniff* I m-messed up *sniff*" Ruby sniffled out.

"What happened?" Yang asked, staring down at her younger sister.

"I w-w-want *sniff* w-wanted to cook m-mom dinner to he-help her b-but instead I just ruined everything" The little girl sniffled out.

"Really now. How exactly did you do that," Yang said nonchalantly.

"The meat is all burned a-and ch-ch-charred and I sp-illed all the veggies on the floor by accident!" She cried out through tears lifting her head towards Yang as she did. "I'll just stay here where I can't mess up anything else,".

Yang then lightly thwacked her on the head smiling as she did so.

"Hey what was that for!?" Ruby explained clutching her head.

"Trying to knock some sense into you," Yang replied "Because what you said is dumb," She said earning a Yell from the younger girl. "Because if you mess up then you need to own up to it," Yang said with a wide grin.

"If you ever fail then you need to try twice as hard to fix your mistake!" The Elder girl smiled warmly as she embraced her sister. "Always make sure you make up for your mistakes.

'Get Up' Ruby thought, forcing herself onto two feet as she trudged her way back to as she did. She remembered her sister's face and her smile. She had a personality that could warm an entire room and comfort everyone in it. 'If I give up now then I would be insulting everyone who helped me get here now.' She gritted her teeth as she took one step in front of the other, willing more and more energy into her limbs as she did. 'If I give up now Yangs gonna be mad' She smiled as she walked. Before long she felt a pair of hands wrap around and embrace her.

"Thank you," She heard Glynda say. "For coming back alive," she said. Ruby looked up seeing the familiar kitsune mask before her as she hugged her back eventually drifting off into sleep.

Yellow hair swayed in the wind as Yang looked at the Moon in the sky. Her signature yellow haori swaying with her hair as she sheathed her orange sword. The demon's body crumbled around her as she stared up at the sky, a sad smile on her face as she took off towards her next job adjusting the box on her back as she started down the trail.


A/N: Another chapter done once again sorry for the long wait.