The sky was clouded and gray in this part of the Makai; not the bright gray that makes one squint their eyes, but darkened gray with large splotches of nearly black clouds. It had been raining harshly for nearly two days and was only now beginning to slow its pace. It was now at a light drizzle with the majority of the drops coming off of bits of burnt timber. The trees were blackened, their dark slightly charred and as one went toward the open clearing, about one mile in diameter all the way around, the foliage became more burnt than the plants before it. In the clearing itself remains of once simple structures stand charred; an obvious sight of how malevolent fire could be. Roofs were no longer existent upon the few still erect walls but instead were found in heaps of blackened coals. Amongst the dripping wet ruins lay bodies of the former inhabitants of the village. Men could be found still with weapons in their hands...though those hands were decapitated from the rest of some of the bodies. Mutilated some hanged on the walls while others simply lay in heaps on the ground. Piles of burnt flesh could be seen not far from the main village site. Women were seen mutilated, some still clutching dead children close to their bodies in some unsubstantiated belief that they would survive the onslaught. The smell of death mixed with fluids hung heavily in the air as if it were humid day despite the cold the rain was now bringing. This was the site that greeted two members of the Shinobi that day.
Jin and Touya stood together at the edge of the clearing near the still standing yet blackened trees. They had been called upon to go to this once peaceful village and help defend it from the impending attack. But they were sent off one day too late...the Shinobi masters in particular had protected this village. It had been a safe haven for lower demons, such as hanyous and mixed breeds. There had not been one pure blooded demon in the entire village since its creation nearly 37 years ago, thus there were few demons able to defend themselves from attack. Nothing would have even stopped influential humans, like those of Sakyo's circle, from rendering the village helpless and in need of aid. It was the job of the Shinobi to ensure something like this never happened...
The two demons still stood at the tree line, as if ashamed to enter the graveyard of the innocents who had died. Touya let out a breath he had been holding for quite some time. The initial shock of seeing the village in ruins had subsided and he decided that he should be the one to break this guilt-ridden silence between him and his partner.
"Jin..." The demon he was addressing flinched visibly. Though Touya shared in his comrade's shame, he was not as sensitive to such things as Jin was. Jin with his lighthearted nature did not take sites such as this as calmly as other Shinobi. He had seen just as much suffering, pain, blood, and gore as any other member of the order, but this fact did not make his conscious sit any easier. He looked upon the ruins before him afraid of what he would exactly find there. Now that their object of protection was destroyed, it was his and Touya's job to sift through the remains and report back to their superiors...in full gruesome detail.
"Jin...you know this has to been done. We may find something to lead us to the culprits." Touya said still staring ahead. Jin shifted his eyes sadly in Touya's direction. "I know you want to find these murderers and make them pay." Jin nodded slightly and took the first step forward. Touya raised one eyebrow in surprise...he had not expected Jin to be the first to go since it normally took more coaxing to get his mind back to the task at hand; he started right after his partner.
Jin and Touya walked through the first sections of the town but both stopped at the scent that reached their nostrils.
'The smell of blood, organs, burnt wood, charred flesh and...something...else.' Touya thought to himself as he smelled the air more with his demon senses. After another few seconds Jin gasped slightly and clasped a hand to his nose and mouth. Touya watched his friends as his brows furrowed in some deep despair. At first Touya was confused...he smelled the air again and still could not identify the mysterious odor. However, one glance at Jin told him to look toward the parts of roof covering the ground.
Touya tentatively lifted the roofing to look under and grimacing at what may lie underneath...once he lifted the roof enough to get a full blast of the odor Touya threw a hand to his mouth as he was about to vomit. The odor was now blatantly apparent...a young woman lay under the roofing with her legs splayed open.
The scent was that of semen and vaginal fluids. Her body was crawling inwardly and outwardly with grubs and insects already devouring her remains after the wet rains had begun. The offending liquids covered her lower extremities and her face. It was now apparent to Touya why the entire site reeked of this particular stench...all of the females had been raped.
Jin was unable to look at the body Touya uncovered and instead focused his attention at his clenching fists. These innocents had been slaughtered for now reason other than their blood heritage...and the rapes implied a further hatred...and desire to humiliate and degrade the victims before they were killed. How many of these women were mothers Jin asked himself. How many others had been raped with their children present? He gritted his teeth at the sudden realization that the demon hoard had most likely not discriminated between older females...and children. Jin awoke from his thoughts to find the woman covered again by the roofing and Touya wiping his mouth of the offensive bile he had just regurgitated.
Touya knew they could not bury the entire town by themselves and so they would have to finish recording their findings only to send a "clean up crew" later on to give all of the victims proper burials. Touya mustered up his strength as he saw Jin quickly wipe around his eyes.
"...Got some rain in my eyes..." Jin said softly. Touya knew better but said nothing of it.
.........................................
The partners spent the next three hours sifting through every inch and every corpse they found. As time went on the bodies became more and more mangled. The scent of fluids permeated the air and hung as a thick, invisible fog. Jin was grateful he had not eaten today. The bodies that were missing parts displayed signs of anguish on their faces, if they still had them, indicating that the victims had been alive while being raped and torn to pieces.
"Gee...better write this down in my handy journal." Jin said bitterly. Touya turned to his friend not twenty feet away with a knowing look. Jin out of all the Shinobi hated this line of work the most. He was the most spirited of the groups and thus had the brightest personality to crush within their dark world. The light seemed farthest away when viewed by Jin and Touya's grief was not far behind. Both wanted out so desperately, but being here seemed to put them in their place. At least they were still alive to dream and hope...for these innocent demons the dream was over.
Jin made his way to the end of the village after finally finishing the last of the preliminary report. Every gruesome detail was written down for the pleasure of reading aloud to his masters back at the Shinobi head quarters. Jin did not know if he could hold back the clenching feeling he got in his throat during these reports...often he wondered if reading aloud was just another way for his spirit to be broken by the lack of light. Touya was still doing his half of the village taking more careful and detailed notes than his friend...for Jin felt it was too vulgar to reveal the graphic nature of such tragic events. Touya had learned to detach himself for a time...at least long enough to get the job done.
While he was busy writing down the position of a males body he heard a muffled sniffle. He turned his head and looked around the corner of the building he was in to watch Jin as he turned his head up to the sky and closed his eyes. A small sniffle shivered through his body again as a few warm tears mingled with the rain drops on his face. Jin fell in a kneeling position to the muddy, blood stained ground. He bowed his head in a defeated manner, bringing one wet hand to hold his face.
Touya was concerned...Jin had never let something like this get to him. 'Then again he has never faced a site of this magnitude before either...for him this must simply be too much to take in.' He thought to himself. Touya stood leaving his notes behind and walked over to his comrade, standing close enough to let Jin know he was there but also far enough to give the wind master some space. Jin clenched his free hand into the dirt and blood; his body shivering like he was about to snap.
Touya watched this with sadness apparent on his face...then he jolted as he saw Jin's ears twitching; obviously not in a happy way but as if he were fine tuning them to some small sound.
"...uuunn..." A soft tone was picked up by Jin's sensitive ears and his eyes had opened widely as he still looked to the ground. His mouth parted slightly as he waited on baited breath desperate to hear that sound once more.
"....uuuaanmm..." Jin jumped up nearly knocking over Touya in the process when he heard that mumble again. Touya did not know what to say or do when he saw Jin dart his eyes and ears around so excitedly! What could possibly have gotten Jin so energetic now? Before Touya had a chance to said anything his partner began darting around the site on Touya's half of the ruins. He had not yet checked that area and perhaps Jin had picked up something...still alive. Though his exterior did not show it Touya's heart leapt at the thought that someone might still have survived amongst the debris.
"Jin what is it? Do you hear something?!" Jin shushed his partner almost harshly but Touya knew he meant nothing by it...he just needed to keep listening. Jin had closed his eyes and begun listening with a stern expression on his face. He concentrated as never before. He heard another mumble and immediately dashed over to one of the structures near the end of the village edge on Touya's partition. Jin stopped when he saw one side of a wall with roofing covering all of the other fallen walls. The wall that still stood held a doorway still and Jin walked through soon followed by Touya.
He stepped gingerly over each piece of the burnt remains careful not to tread upon a possible survivor. Jin's ears no longer picked up any mumbles but he smelled a faint scent that was slightly warm despite the cold rain. He followed this scent to the center of the crumbling structure. This house had been about thirty feet but twenty feet wide and looked as if it had held more than one family of hanyous. Jin could still see one strong bookcase on the ground as he moved through the arch ways of the house. The skeletal structure of the building was severely charred and appeared close to falling at any minute.
Touya began sniffing the air as well, searching for any signs of life that lay beneath the rubble. They both moved to the very back of the house and Jin sniffed a strong waft of air and began pulling planks of burnt timber back from a pile. Touya wordlessly followed Jin's example and dissembled as much as he could.
"....uun..." That sound was all that was needed to spur Jin into a digging frenzy. He had heard the mumble and now pin pointed its exact location beneath the pile of remains. He kept pulling and pulling at every plank of wood, not noticing the open cuts he was creating on his hands and arms in his haste. Touya followed suit and pushed whatever Jin pulled out away from the pile.
After what felt like an eternity to Jin he reached the last sheet of burnt wood that covered his target. With out hesitation he yanked it from what lay underneath...only to stop his breathing at what he and Touya both saw.