Chapter 7: The "Akumu"
The rest of the day was relatively quiet for those riding in the carriage. The strange creature refused to speak any farther and there weren't any more encounters with it's people. The only excitement was once, Sanosuke frustrated by the creatures refusal to talk managed to get a single punch in before he was calmed down.
As the carriage was looking for a place to stop for the night, Kenshin sees a subtle movement in the woods around them.
Nudging the creature in the side softly to get it's attention, he asks, "What was that?"
The creature smiles. This smile was not a pleasant smile that seemed to normally cross it's lips as it watched its captures fight playfully, but a foreboding one that drained the blood from Megumi's face just looking at it.
"The Akumu." he says softly.
"The nightmare?" Yahiko asks, confused.
"Aa." it answers. "The waking nightmare that frightens even his allies."
"What about his friends?" Kaoru asks, not really knowing why it would be important.
"What friends?" the creature returns.
The five friends exchange looks mixing from out-right terror from Megumi, who's unused to this, to apprehension from Kaoru, to mild interest from Kenshin.
"Che." Sano mutters. "Just what we need. A demon who scares other demons."
This causes the Seishin to laugh. "You did well to see him, human." it says. "The Akumu showed himself just enough to be spotted by a Seishin. That a human saw him is amazing."
Again, everybody exchanges glances, then suddenly, the carriage comes to a quick stop. Looking out the door, Kenshin can see another creature similar to the one that flew away, but definitely female.
"Oro?"
The Seishin looks through the small glass window that shows forward and laughs again. "Shireikan is not joking around, I see."
"A girl?" Yahiko asks, disappointed.
"Aa." Sanosuke's voice shows definite interest, despite her strange appearance, maybe because of it.
"Be careful of that one." the Seishin says, laughing. "Even if you defeat her, if you treat her as you've treated me, your heads will be lining the Akumu's walls like the beasts you are."
"She is this "Akumu's" girl?" Sano sounded positively disappointed.
"Aa. You could say that."
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Yoake Noboru stands before the now stopped carriage, staring at the driver. The young woman seemed about ready to crawl inside herself to escape Noboru's glare.
As the door to the carriage opened, she decides it's time to speak.
"You will release Shudoshi Hokasekai!" she yells to them, not asking, but, rather, informing them.
"What?" she hears the boy says. The ears of the Seishin Minzoku are not the same as those of humans. Their hearing surpasses the distance humans can hear, as well as the range of sound. Its obvious to her that she is not meant to hear this. "What the hell is a Shudoshi Hokasekai?"
"That would be me." Shudoshi says from with-in the carriage. She fights the urge to sigh, knowing any show of relief on her part might change how they react to her. Right now, they seem to fear her, so she intends to use that to her full advantage.
"Yes," she yells. "That would be him! You will release him." She stresses will as she speaks, hoping to show that they, in fact, have no choice.
"Nani?" she heard the large one, dressed in white, says. "She can hear us from that far away?"
Shudoshi laughs. "Do you think these are for decoration?" She can picture him pointing to his ears. He never did have much tolerance for dealing with humans.
The short one, red hair and crossing scars on his cheek, moves forward. She had heard Taiyoryu mention this one specifically. He must be the leader. she reasons.
"Maa, maa!" he yells in a calming tone. "Maybe we could talk about this?" he asks.
"No." She could hear the voice echoing through out the woods. Che, Taiyoryu! Let me handle this! she thinks, knowing it's too late for that.
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"No."
They could hear it echoing through the woods, sounding like it's coming from everywhere at once. Kenshin could see the female in front of the carriage tense when the voice sounded.
"Surely..." Megumi starts, but is quickly cut off.
"The time for speeches ended when you attacked our people."
Kenshin closes his eyes, concentrating on the voice. Facing away from the strange woman before the carriage, he opens his eyes. He stared straight into a tree a dozen feet away.
"Akumu-san." he starts, but a laughter born of a thousand nightmares cuts him off.
"Very good, Battousai." This time the voice does not echo or seem to be everywhere at once. "But, as I said, the time for talk is over." A sudden burst of movement in the shadows causes everyone to brace for a charge. When nothing but a handful of sand comes out, gently sprinkling over each of them, they look at each other in confusion.
The confusion lasts only seconds, though, as they all collapse, one by one, to the ground.
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"Was that really necessary?"
The strange woman walks over to the carriage to free "Shudoshi", but it's obvious to Meiyomi ,the driver, that she is not talking to him.
"Aa." The voice was the same one that had spoken to Himura-san, but it had changed some how. Before, it had sounded much like she had expected a demon would. Now, it was all business, sounding more like Fujita Goro than a demon.
"Don't you think you were being a little dramatic?" she asks the darkness. "And come out here, please." she adds with exasperation.
A cloaked figure, smaller than the female, the driver notes, steps out from the shadows, where Himura-san was staring just before they all collapsed.
"Not at all." he answers softly. Meiyomi had to struggle to hear him. "They think us demons. They expected demons. I gave them demons."
They began loading the bodies into the carriage. It was several moments later, when they had finally managed to get Sagara-san's body with-in the carriage, that she realized there was one of the demons missing. She turns away, still atop her seat, when the one they called "Akumu" was before her.
"Sit." he says softly. She promptly sits back down. He waves the other two, the two with the skins of gold, into the carriage. From above she could hear the them speaking from with-in.
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Looking at the hands of each, Shudoshi finds what he expects. Looking at the blisters on the hands of the one that defeated him, he says: "Fighter." He moves on to the large one in white. "Fighter." he says, again looking at the hands. So it is with each of them, until he reaches the last one. Long black hair hangs across her deep blue kimono. Taking her hand, he finds no blisters, no calluses that show the use of a weapon. Leaning close, he breaths in deep her scents.
His eyes open wide as he steps back quickly. His hands drop to a dagger tucked in his sash. "Spell caster!" he yells as he puts his dagger to her throat.
The rest of the day was relatively quiet for those riding in the carriage. The strange creature refused to speak any farther and there weren't any more encounters with it's people. The only excitement was once, Sanosuke frustrated by the creatures refusal to talk managed to get a single punch in before he was calmed down.
As the carriage was looking for a place to stop for the night, Kenshin sees a subtle movement in the woods around them.
Nudging the creature in the side softly to get it's attention, he asks, "What was that?"
The creature smiles. This smile was not a pleasant smile that seemed to normally cross it's lips as it watched its captures fight playfully, but a foreboding one that drained the blood from Megumi's face just looking at it.
"The Akumu." he says softly.
"The nightmare?" Yahiko asks, confused.
"Aa." it answers. "The waking nightmare that frightens even his allies."
"What about his friends?" Kaoru asks, not really knowing why it would be important.
"What friends?" the creature returns.
The five friends exchange looks mixing from out-right terror from Megumi, who's unused to this, to apprehension from Kaoru, to mild interest from Kenshin.
"Che." Sano mutters. "Just what we need. A demon who scares other demons."
This causes the Seishin to laugh. "You did well to see him, human." it says. "The Akumu showed himself just enough to be spotted by a Seishin. That a human saw him is amazing."
Again, everybody exchanges glances, then suddenly, the carriage comes to a quick stop. Looking out the door, Kenshin can see another creature similar to the one that flew away, but definitely female.
"Oro?"
The Seishin looks through the small glass window that shows forward and laughs again. "Shireikan is not joking around, I see."
"A girl?" Yahiko asks, disappointed.
"Aa." Sanosuke's voice shows definite interest, despite her strange appearance, maybe because of it.
"Be careful of that one." the Seishin says, laughing. "Even if you defeat her, if you treat her as you've treated me, your heads will be lining the Akumu's walls like the beasts you are."
"She is this "Akumu's" girl?" Sano sounded positively disappointed.
"Aa. You could say that."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoake Noboru stands before the now stopped carriage, staring at the driver. The young woman seemed about ready to crawl inside herself to escape Noboru's glare.
As the door to the carriage opened, she decides it's time to speak.
"You will release Shudoshi Hokasekai!" she yells to them, not asking, but, rather, informing them.
"What?" she hears the boy says. The ears of the Seishin Minzoku are not the same as those of humans. Their hearing surpasses the distance humans can hear, as well as the range of sound. Its obvious to her that she is not meant to hear this. "What the hell is a Shudoshi Hokasekai?"
"That would be me." Shudoshi says from with-in the carriage. She fights the urge to sigh, knowing any show of relief on her part might change how they react to her. Right now, they seem to fear her, so she intends to use that to her full advantage.
"Yes," she yells. "That would be him! You will release him." She stresses will as she speaks, hoping to show that they, in fact, have no choice.
"Nani?" she heard the large one, dressed in white, says. "She can hear us from that far away?"
Shudoshi laughs. "Do you think these are for decoration?" She can picture him pointing to his ears. He never did have much tolerance for dealing with humans.
The short one, red hair and crossing scars on his cheek, moves forward. She had heard Taiyoryu mention this one specifically. He must be the leader. she reasons.
"Maa, maa!" he yells in a calming tone. "Maybe we could talk about this?" he asks.
"No." She could hear the voice echoing through out the woods. Che, Taiyoryu! Let me handle this! she thinks, knowing it's too late for that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"No."
They could hear it echoing through the woods, sounding like it's coming from everywhere at once. Kenshin could see the female in front of the carriage tense when the voice sounded.
"Surely..." Megumi starts, but is quickly cut off.
"The time for speeches ended when you attacked our people."
Kenshin closes his eyes, concentrating on the voice. Facing away from the strange woman before the carriage, he opens his eyes. He stared straight into a tree a dozen feet away.
"Akumu-san." he starts, but a laughter born of a thousand nightmares cuts him off.
"Very good, Battousai." This time the voice does not echo or seem to be everywhere at once. "But, as I said, the time for talk is over." A sudden burst of movement in the shadows causes everyone to brace for a charge. When nothing but a handful of sand comes out, gently sprinkling over each of them, they look at each other in confusion.
The confusion lasts only seconds, though, as they all collapse, one by one, to the ground.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Was that really necessary?"
The strange woman walks over to the carriage to free "Shudoshi", but it's obvious to Meiyomi ,the driver, that she is not talking to him.
"Aa." The voice was the same one that had spoken to Himura-san, but it had changed some how. Before, it had sounded much like she had expected a demon would. Now, it was all business, sounding more like Fujita Goro than a demon.
"Don't you think you were being a little dramatic?" she asks the darkness. "And come out here, please." she adds with exasperation.
A cloaked figure, smaller than the female, the driver notes, steps out from the shadows, where Himura-san was staring just before they all collapsed.
"Not at all." he answers softly. Meiyomi had to struggle to hear him. "They think us demons. They expected demons. I gave them demons."
They began loading the bodies into the carriage. It was several moments later, when they had finally managed to get Sagara-san's body with-in the carriage, that she realized there was one of the demons missing. She turns away, still atop her seat, when the one they called "Akumu" was before her.
"Sit." he says softly. She promptly sits back down. He waves the other two, the two with the skins of gold, into the carriage. From above she could hear the them speaking from with-in.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking at the hands of each, Shudoshi finds what he expects. Looking at the blisters on the hands of the one that defeated him, he says: "Fighter." He moves on to the large one in white. "Fighter." he says, again looking at the hands. So it is with each of them, until he reaches the last one. Long black hair hangs across her deep blue kimono. Taking her hand, he finds no blisters, no calluses that show the use of a weapon. Leaning close, he breaths in deep her scents.
His eyes open wide as he steps back quickly. His hands drop to a dagger tucked in his sash. "Spell caster!" he yells as he puts his dagger to her throat.