Chapter 8
The night's cool air was a stark contrast to the day's heat. Clouds darkened the moon as it hid behind the grey fluff, obscuring the light enough to make their job a little less hard. Kuroune dove from branch to branch, barely disturbing the foliage as he did so. The security wasn't too rough, as much as he had observed at least. Two guards at each gate, one in each guard tower, which were only at the upper corners of the compound. The guards in the tower would pace at the top of the wall every ten minutes or so. They were lightly armed and lower classed demons. From what Kuroune could tell from the brief time he spent in the air, there were only two guards that watched over the main entrance to the inner building of the compound.
"What's the plan?" Kuroune whispered after relating all the information he had found out about the tanuki's compound to Kurama.
"We'll wait until the guard at the rear wall has just made his rounds, then we'll climb up and depending on how quickly we do that, we'll either kill the guard or slip down the wall with out him knowing. Preferably we'll move quickly enough so we don't have to kill the guard." The kitsune noticed the look on Kuroune's face. "An alive guard is less conspicuous than a dead one. After that, we'll break in through a window and loot what ever we want... After we get our hands on the goblet of course. Try to speak as little as possible. Use small hand gestures too. Anything that might catch the eye of the guards would be bad." Kurama pointedly ignored the black haired demon's snort. It might seem to Kuroune as though he was pointing out the obvious, but some demons just didn't get it. "Not that I can't handle the low class security demons, it's just more entertaining my way."
Kuroune smiled, "of course. Anything else?"
The youko leaned forward, catching Kuroune by surprise as he kissed the winged demon softly. "Yes. Don't get your ass into any trouble that might cause you injury. I fully plan on extracting my revenge from you later on, but being hurt would put a damper on my fun." Kurama ran his hand of Kuroune's cheek then scratched under his chin all the while grinning slyly. "Let's go."
Both demons made their way through the forest, stopping a few feet from where the trees started to thin then abruptly ended. After waiting a couple of minutes for the guard to pass by, Kuroune glided from the tree he was in to the middle of the tall wall, then beat his wings once to come close enough to grasping the ledge. He pulled himself over then kelt, looking both ways to make sure it was clear. Kurama followed soon after. Curious, Kuroune glanced down the side of the wall. Several thick vines treated into the ground, their exit as quiet as Kurama's entrance had been.
The youko jerked his head towards the building within the walls then scooted to the other side of the wall. After looking around for a minute to check for anyone that might hinder their plans, Kurama nodded to Kuroune and jumped over the wall. The winged demon followed, landing on his feet with a slight jolt of pain that ran up his shins to his knees. Ignoring the pain, he followed the silver youko to a shadowy area just below and to the right of a balcony. It was an easy jump to make it to the top of the balcony. Kuroune watched the walls for the guards as Kurama picked the lock then pushed open the doors. He peeked his head inside, then tugged on Kuroune's wing. The doors swung shut just as a Kuroune noticed a guard start to make his rounds.
The room they had entered was a darkened bedroom, and from what Kuroune could make out the bed was empty. The whole house seemed to be sleeping, to their luck. Tazmul didn't seem to be all that smart, but even a fool would have a few guards with in the walls of his home. Moving about the halls would be more of a gamble as time went by.
Removing the globe Kurama had given him from his pocket, Kuroune summoned the dimmest light he could manage. The globe acted as Kuroune had hoped it would, a focal point for his magic. Without the globe he could only make two different types of light, bright and blinding. The light didn't travel far, but was enough to illuminate the obstacles in the room. Such as the low bench Kuroune almost bumped his shins against. Lips touched Kuroune's ears, almost causing him to jump in surprise.
"Stay behind me. If we come close to any bends or forks, hang back and let me check before we move on. Alright?" Kuroune nodded then chuckled quietly as Kurama nipped at his ear. "I was told the goblet was on display in the tanuki's business room. It's on this floor, some where to the left."
Kuroune turned so that his lips were close to Kurama's ear. "Been here before?"
The kitsune's smirk was barely visible in the low light. "No. I'm just going by what a friendly little kitchen maid told me. It's amazing what people say after they've slept with you a few times. Of course, she thought I had fallen in love with her. Oh well, such are the games we play." Kurama turned and started heading towards the door.
The winged demon eyed Kurama's back carefully. He wondered how much of a game he was to the kitsune at the moment. Kuroune shrugged and moved on, silently swearing to himself to only half believe anything Kurama told him. Especially when it came to feelings.
Tazmul's business room was located two doors down from where they were had entered. It held a long table with at least five seats to the elongated sides and one seat at each end. In the center of the table held the goblet. The shiny gold goblet was ornate, almost to the point of being gaudy. Every square inch held a jewel, and from what he could tell all the jewels were expensive ones. It took awhile for the winged demon to get past the amounts of jewels to see the pattern they depicted. Fire licked at several different kinds of demons which were tied to poles, all wore masks of grief and horror. The goblet was twice the size of a normal one, making the pictures stand out even more.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Kurama snickered as he placed the hideous goblet into a brown bag.
"If you're into that sort of thing... Where to next?"
The youko shrugged. "Let's just look around and see what else we can take with us."
Kuroune nodded and waited until Kurama was once again through the door then followed him. Light snores could be heard as they traveled past a couple doors, not passing anything Kurama deemed worthy to steal. A scream made both demons freeze, followed by whimpering. The winged demon closed his eyes, his wings drooping a little. The scream sounded familiar.
"Want to check it out?" Kurama whispered as his tail curled around Kuroune's waist.
Pushing aside the tail, Kuroune shook his head. "I told you it doesn't matter to me."
The kitsune shrugged and ducked down a hallway they had passed by a few seconds ago. "It might not matter to you, but now I'm curious. Besides, I bet that idiot keeps his money in his room." They walked until Kurama held up his hand, both ears standing up in an alert stance. He backed up a few feet to whisper, "kill the light."
As soon as Kuroune did so they continued down the hall. Double doors could barely be seen from where they were standing, hidden in the dark hallway. Judging from the ornateness of the doors, this was Tazmul's bedroom. The doors swung open, the fat tanuki charging out.
"Damn it! This one didn't last nearly as long as I had wanted him to. Why are all the pretty ones so fragile?" He seemed to be yelling at no one until two gruff demons exited his room. They carried Kade between them, his lifeless broken body hanging limply in their hands. His wings had been almost torn off completely. Nothing but a bloody piece of flesh or tendon kept each wing somewhat near Kade's back. The boy was naked, long welts could be seen all over his body as well as gashes down his back. At first glance, lack of blood could be the reason the poor boy had died, but after a closer examination the boy's back seemed to be broken in several places.
Kuroune scooted further down the hall, not being able to look at the scene any more. He glanced down at Kurama, then blinked in surprise. The youko's tail was fluffed, his ears flattened against his head. A low growl passed Kurama's lips as he stood up slowly, his narrowed eyes searching for Kuroune's.
"I've done brutal things in my day, and I've killed a slave or two... but NEVER like that. Not to someone that was unable to defend themselves," Kurama growled into Kuroune's ear. "What should we do?" He leaned back to sneak a peak down the hall. "He left with his guards. I heard him mumble something about getting a cleaning crew up here. If we want to take anything, we should do so now." At Kuroune's stiff nod, he dove down the hallway and into the room, the winged demon at his heels. Kuroune made a visible effort to avoid the places and items with blood on it, the scent of fear almost palatable in the room. It didn't take long to clear out the valuables and money from the room, as soon as they were finished they dashed back to the hallway they had last been in. The cleaners came seconds later, loudly grumbling about something being the third time this week.
They retraced their steps to the room they had first been in. The door was still closed so Kurama opened it slowly, peeking his head in. He withdrew it then gave Kuroune a lopsided grin. Both entered the room, treading quietly as they could. Kuroune noticed the balcony door open before he noticed the bed was no longer empty. Tazmul laid there snoring, sheets covering most of his body.
For a brief moment, Kuroune saw two images. One of a much younger Kade playing with Relita, smiling the only way their sister could make them smile as he chased birds around their back yard. The other was of the last he saw of Kade, broken and bloody. In that moment he wanted to use some of the ways he had learned from his father on how to kill while giving the most pain. The moment passed as he felt Kurama nudge him. Kuroune shook his head. Even if he had rescued Kade from Tazmul, what then? It didn't change the fact that he was weak, someone in the Makai would eventually take advantage of him or kill him. That was just part of living here. Kuroune crept back to the balcony then hopped over as soon as he saw it was clear.
Kurama paused at the doorway, looking back at the sleeping form. While he liked a little torture now and then, what that tanuki did was unforgivable. The kitsune shrugged off the feeling of revenge as something he should do for Kuroune, just because they were partners now. Kurama had gangs before, groups of bandits to raid castles and other areas. Not one of them, minus that whelp Yomi, stood out in his mind. Kuroune was different for some reason, a reason Kurama wouldn't, and didn't want to, delve too deeply to figure out.
Withdrawing a seed from his hair he sent a bit of ki into it then flicked the seed at the bed. It'd take at least six minutes for the ki to open the seed, but once it did the plant would erupt forth and devour who ever was closest to it. Tazmul's death would be a lingering, painful experience. That was enough to make Kurama smile as he hopped over the balcony.
The night's cool air was a stark contrast to the day's heat. Clouds darkened the moon as it hid behind the grey fluff, obscuring the light enough to make their job a little less hard. Kuroune dove from branch to branch, barely disturbing the foliage as he did so. The security wasn't too rough, as much as he had observed at least. Two guards at each gate, one in each guard tower, which were only at the upper corners of the compound. The guards in the tower would pace at the top of the wall every ten minutes or so. They were lightly armed and lower classed demons. From what Kuroune could tell from the brief time he spent in the air, there were only two guards that watched over the main entrance to the inner building of the compound.
"What's the plan?" Kuroune whispered after relating all the information he had found out about the tanuki's compound to Kurama.
"We'll wait until the guard at the rear wall has just made his rounds, then we'll climb up and depending on how quickly we do that, we'll either kill the guard or slip down the wall with out him knowing. Preferably we'll move quickly enough so we don't have to kill the guard." The kitsune noticed the look on Kuroune's face. "An alive guard is less conspicuous than a dead one. After that, we'll break in through a window and loot what ever we want... After we get our hands on the goblet of course. Try to speak as little as possible. Use small hand gestures too. Anything that might catch the eye of the guards would be bad." Kurama pointedly ignored the black haired demon's snort. It might seem to Kuroune as though he was pointing out the obvious, but some demons just didn't get it. "Not that I can't handle the low class security demons, it's just more entertaining my way."
Kuroune smiled, "of course. Anything else?"
The youko leaned forward, catching Kuroune by surprise as he kissed the winged demon softly. "Yes. Don't get your ass into any trouble that might cause you injury. I fully plan on extracting my revenge from you later on, but being hurt would put a damper on my fun." Kurama ran his hand of Kuroune's cheek then scratched under his chin all the while grinning slyly. "Let's go."
Both demons made their way through the forest, stopping a few feet from where the trees started to thin then abruptly ended. After waiting a couple of minutes for the guard to pass by, Kuroune glided from the tree he was in to the middle of the tall wall, then beat his wings once to come close enough to grasping the ledge. He pulled himself over then kelt, looking both ways to make sure it was clear. Kurama followed soon after. Curious, Kuroune glanced down the side of the wall. Several thick vines treated into the ground, their exit as quiet as Kurama's entrance had been.
The youko jerked his head towards the building within the walls then scooted to the other side of the wall. After looking around for a minute to check for anyone that might hinder their plans, Kurama nodded to Kuroune and jumped over the wall. The winged demon followed, landing on his feet with a slight jolt of pain that ran up his shins to his knees. Ignoring the pain, he followed the silver youko to a shadowy area just below and to the right of a balcony. It was an easy jump to make it to the top of the balcony. Kuroune watched the walls for the guards as Kurama picked the lock then pushed open the doors. He peeked his head inside, then tugged on Kuroune's wing. The doors swung shut just as a Kuroune noticed a guard start to make his rounds.
The room they had entered was a darkened bedroom, and from what Kuroune could make out the bed was empty. The whole house seemed to be sleeping, to their luck. Tazmul didn't seem to be all that smart, but even a fool would have a few guards with in the walls of his home. Moving about the halls would be more of a gamble as time went by.
Removing the globe Kurama had given him from his pocket, Kuroune summoned the dimmest light he could manage. The globe acted as Kuroune had hoped it would, a focal point for his magic. Without the globe he could only make two different types of light, bright and blinding. The light didn't travel far, but was enough to illuminate the obstacles in the room. Such as the low bench Kuroune almost bumped his shins against. Lips touched Kuroune's ears, almost causing him to jump in surprise.
"Stay behind me. If we come close to any bends or forks, hang back and let me check before we move on. Alright?" Kuroune nodded then chuckled quietly as Kurama nipped at his ear. "I was told the goblet was on display in the tanuki's business room. It's on this floor, some where to the left."
Kuroune turned so that his lips were close to Kurama's ear. "Been here before?"
The kitsune's smirk was barely visible in the low light. "No. I'm just going by what a friendly little kitchen maid told me. It's amazing what people say after they've slept with you a few times. Of course, she thought I had fallen in love with her. Oh well, such are the games we play." Kurama turned and started heading towards the door.
The winged demon eyed Kurama's back carefully. He wondered how much of a game he was to the kitsune at the moment. Kuroune shrugged and moved on, silently swearing to himself to only half believe anything Kurama told him. Especially when it came to feelings.
Tazmul's business room was located two doors down from where they were had entered. It held a long table with at least five seats to the elongated sides and one seat at each end. In the center of the table held the goblet. The shiny gold goblet was ornate, almost to the point of being gaudy. Every square inch held a jewel, and from what he could tell all the jewels were expensive ones. It took awhile for the winged demon to get past the amounts of jewels to see the pattern they depicted. Fire licked at several different kinds of demons which were tied to poles, all wore masks of grief and horror. The goblet was twice the size of a normal one, making the pictures stand out even more.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Kurama snickered as he placed the hideous goblet into a brown bag.
"If you're into that sort of thing... Where to next?"
The youko shrugged. "Let's just look around and see what else we can take with us."
Kuroune nodded and waited until Kurama was once again through the door then followed him. Light snores could be heard as they traveled past a couple doors, not passing anything Kurama deemed worthy to steal. A scream made both demons freeze, followed by whimpering. The winged demon closed his eyes, his wings drooping a little. The scream sounded familiar.
"Want to check it out?" Kurama whispered as his tail curled around Kuroune's waist.
Pushing aside the tail, Kuroune shook his head. "I told you it doesn't matter to me."
The kitsune shrugged and ducked down a hallway they had passed by a few seconds ago. "It might not matter to you, but now I'm curious. Besides, I bet that idiot keeps his money in his room." They walked until Kurama held up his hand, both ears standing up in an alert stance. He backed up a few feet to whisper, "kill the light."
As soon as Kuroune did so they continued down the hall. Double doors could barely be seen from where they were standing, hidden in the dark hallway. Judging from the ornateness of the doors, this was Tazmul's bedroom. The doors swung open, the fat tanuki charging out.
"Damn it! This one didn't last nearly as long as I had wanted him to. Why are all the pretty ones so fragile?" He seemed to be yelling at no one until two gruff demons exited his room. They carried Kade between them, his lifeless broken body hanging limply in their hands. His wings had been almost torn off completely. Nothing but a bloody piece of flesh or tendon kept each wing somewhat near Kade's back. The boy was naked, long welts could be seen all over his body as well as gashes down his back. At first glance, lack of blood could be the reason the poor boy had died, but after a closer examination the boy's back seemed to be broken in several places.
Kuroune scooted further down the hall, not being able to look at the scene any more. He glanced down at Kurama, then blinked in surprise. The youko's tail was fluffed, his ears flattened against his head. A low growl passed Kurama's lips as he stood up slowly, his narrowed eyes searching for Kuroune's.
"I've done brutal things in my day, and I've killed a slave or two... but NEVER like that. Not to someone that was unable to defend themselves," Kurama growled into Kuroune's ear. "What should we do?" He leaned back to sneak a peak down the hall. "He left with his guards. I heard him mumble something about getting a cleaning crew up here. If we want to take anything, we should do so now." At Kuroune's stiff nod, he dove down the hallway and into the room, the winged demon at his heels. Kuroune made a visible effort to avoid the places and items with blood on it, the scent of fear almost palatable in the room. It didn't take long to clear out the valuables and money from the room, as soon as they were finished they dashed back to the hallway they had last been in. The cleaners came seconds later, loudly grumbling about something being the third time this week.
They retraced their steps to the room they had first been in. The door was still closed so Kurama opened it slowly, peeking his head in. He withdrew it then gave Kuroune a lopsided grin. Both entered the room, treading quietly as they could. Kuroune noticed the balcony door open before he noticed the bed was no longer empty. Tazmul laid there snoring, sheets covering most of his body.
For a brief moment, Kuroune saw two images. One of a much younger Kade playing with Relita, smiling the only way their sister could make them smile as he chased birds around their back yard. The other was of the last he saw of Kade, broken and bloody. In that moment he wanted to use some of the ways he had learned from his father on how to kill while giving the most pain. The moment passed as he felt Kurama nudge him. Kuroune shook his head. Even if he had rescued Kade from Tazmul, what then? It didn't change the fact that he was weak, someone in the Makai would eventually take advantage of him or kill him. That was just part of living here. Kuroune crept back to the balcony then hopped over as soon as he saw it was clear.
Kurama paused at the doorway, looking back at the sleeping form. While he liked a little torture now and then, what that tanuki did was unforgivable. The kitsune shrugged off the feeling of revenge as something he should do for Kuroune, just because they were partners now. Kurama had gangs before, groups of bandits to raid castles and other areas. Not one of them, minus that whelp Yomi, stood out in his mind. Kuroune was different for some reason, a reason Kurama wouldn't, and didn't want to, delve too deeply to figure out.
Withdrawing a seed from his hair he sent a bit of ki into it then flicked the seed at the bed. It'd take at least six minutes for the ki to open the seed, but once it did the plant would erupt forth and devour who ever was closest to it. Tazmul's death would be a lingering, painful experience. That was enough to make Kurama smile as he hopped over the balcony.