The harsh, gray rains of yesterday morning had left the forests of the Eastern Makai a little worse for wear. Leaves, once brightly green atop the trees, now lay crisp and golden upon the forest floors. Some of the trees were stripped entirely of their foliage and stood bare to the world, while others had fallen at the whim of the gale storm winds. The chill in the air had not left this section of the demon world and one could still see his breath hanging lightly in the air, like steam rising from a cup of chai tea. And yet despite these, almost cleansing, changes to the surrounding lands, the morning on this day was a glorious one most Shinobi would not have had the pleasure of experiencing back at their dreary headquarters.
The sun was still low in the sky at this early hour and the dew of morning settled on the lower shrubs of plant life, almost cool to touch due to the chill in the air. However, the sun was at the height where the now golden leaves, the ones that had managed to cling to their trees, amplified the rays giving the forests a golden aura about them. The sunshine that was not impeded by the trees shone down to the ground in stray beams...this with the cool morning mist still upon the ground was quite a sight to see. The plants close to the ground had been collecting water fallen from the higher trees since yesterday, and droplets were accumulating on each separate leaf like water in a bowl. On a small patch of earth, which was covered with crisp, golden leaves lay a large bundle of black cloaks, enclosing one extremely worn Shinobi demon.
Touya lay on his right side curved into a fetal position. Two black cloaks of his clan were wrapped around his frame, though in hindsight, being an ice demon, he really would not be cold at all. The black cloth covered up to his chin leaving his head bare, yet cradled in the nook of a tree's roots like a natural pillow. A shrub stemmed off of the tree precariously above his face, with plenty of cool water sitting in its leaves. A gentle breeze sent one leaf's supply dripping upon Touya's eyes. Despite his ability to withstand cold, Touya was by nature and experience a very light sleeper...all the better to be alert when one was in the profession of the Shinobi.
Touya mumbled groggily and opened both of his eyes to see the golden light before him coming through the trees. However, he was far too sleepy to even appreciate the glorious sight before him. Touya started to wake up slowly, searching the ground, with his eyes, right in front of him for Jin and Einin. He was only slightly worried when he realized both were out of his sights. 'Jin must have covered me with his cloak before he set off this morning...why would he go without waking me first?' Touya asked himself before reaching a hand up to wipe his eyes from the water dripping down from the leaves of the shrub. Once his hand reached his face, Touya's elbow created a slight cave in his cloak from which protruded a small, white fuzzy...head? At this Touya started and pulled his cloak back all the way leaving himself bare to the morning air. He relaxed seeing that it was just Einin cradled in his right arm, sleeping peacefully while clutching Touya's shirt in her little hand. 'Why is she here? And where is Jin?' he wondered sleepily.
He needed only to turn his head to the left. There, Jin half sat and half stood, with his muscular arms across his gently rising chest, against a large tree. Touya looked at him perplexed, but his curiosity was not so great as to warrant leaving the comfort of two cloaks or leaving Einin cold. Touya decided not to wake Jin and layback down on the ground, rewrapping himself and the baby in the cloaks. As he lay there Touya tried to get his brain functioning properly. 'Why would he be there and I be here?' he asked. In a flash, like most memories do, the events of yesterday afternoon hit him smack in the forehead.
After the demons had left the ruined village in the late morning, they had traveled on route to the west for about five hours. Both of the Shinobi were tired from earlier activities and though Jin would never admit to it, he was the most exhausted of the three. Although Einin was not heavy by any means, only about fourteen pounds, it was probably very tiring for Jin to keep up the steady pace behind Touya for five straight hours with the extra weight. After all as far as Jin and Touya were concerned, the little girl was not some piece of baggage easily slung over the shoulder...Jin took his time climbing up hills and over rocks or rivers. The ice demon knew Jin would never have forgiven himself for letting Einin be harmed in any way, and he had given many a threatening stare to other demons they passed along the way. (Due to the haste required to get back to headquarters, Touya had insisted they take the most raveled and most direct route; which meant that they would be encountering more demons than they would have preferred...but none this far were foolish enough to disturb members of the Shinobi.)
Touya had managed to make Jin finally stop walking by reminding him that they needed to find some milk for Einin. Jin had quickly agreed to this before handing her over into Touya's capable arms, then he dashed off at top speed into the woods to the north. Touya had blinked many, many times before mentally scolding himself and looking down at Einin as if to say, 'What...have I done?' He sighed and sat down on a rock near the path. He looked at Einin who was crying slightly in a hungry way, at least according to Jin, who insisted by now that he could tell which cries were which...but of course to Touya it all sounded the same. He had called Jin a "real mother hen", which earned him a dirty look and another lesson in Gaelic cursing.
As Touya had just finished sitting down on the rock, a strong gust of wind blew through the area bringing with it Jin and...a cow?! Touya had ranted at Jin's mistake for almost twenty straight minutes as to why that was an overly dramatic method to getting milk for a baby. Jin had just shrugged and grinned a toothy grin...at least until the angry owner of said cow came charging down the path at them. Luckily Touya's persuasive skills had saved the day: the cow's owner received said cow, a little money for his trouble (all of which was Touya's, which he of course grumbled about), and the owner was so pleased with the cash sum that he allowed Jin to empty some milk into a satchel for Einin.
After that fiasco had been resolved Touya and Jin had begun trekking homeward once more, only to take a final rest in the small clearing covered with golden leaves. Both of the demons were too tired to make any sort of camp for the evening, thus it was agreed upon that sleep would be the only initiative taken.
Initially Jin had flatly refused to go to sleep without Einin in his arms sleeping just as soundly. However, while the wind demon had been arguing with Touya about this fact...he actually fell asleep standing up against the tree trunk. After a classic anime fall down and one sweat drop, Touya gently took Einin to sleep with him amongst the two cloaks.
Touya now snickered slightly at remembering watching Jin fall asleep mid-curse, only to let his face somber once more realizing the current situation. The morning of yesterday had been both emotionally and physically taxing on all parties involved, thus Touya felt a few more hours of refreshing sleep were not only deserved but required. He hugged Hikari closer to his chest before snuggling his face back into the roots of the tree to sleep once more.
At least...he would have gone back to sweet slumber if it had not been for two noisy travelers loitering down the path, right on the opposing side of Touya's tree. He hushed his breathing and tested the air for youki levels. After about two seconds his features calmed from the look of concentration, realizing that they were just low D-class demons anyway. However, this fact did not encourage Touya to confront them at this time. Lowly though they were, Touya was not one to begin a needless confrontation this early in the morning while holding a sleeping infant. He decided it was best to leave well enough alone and tried to fallback to sleep. Unfortunately the two idle travelers had stopped, to talk rather boisterously, in front of Touya's tree.
"Well, I don't know about those so called 'peace keepers' the Shinobi...I mean you heard what happened to that village in the east, right? Any one traveling on his way would have passed by it and seen what had happened there. If those fools can't even do their jobs, why not cut them off of the pay roll?" one sneered loudly. The other chuckled before responding.
"Yeah I mean it's not like protecting a bunch of worthless, stinking mixed breeds would do any good for us you know." Touya growled inwardly at this statement, but decided to keep himself calm, if only for Hikari's ensured safety.
"I heard there were even half breeds in the town!" he spat louder than before, as if the sound of those words tasted bitter in his mouth.
At this point Hikari began to stir. Touya looked down with his eyes wide and teeth gritted, silently begging, 'No no no no no...pleeeaaase don't wake up Hikari...not now, not when we can get some extra sleep!' She continued to mumble sleepily, obviously upset due to the loud menacing noises.
"Well you know if that's true...," the demon nearly yelled, putting extra emphasis on "that's". Hikari was about to wake, and not too happily either. Touya thanked the gods that Jin was a very heavy sleeper; who knows what he would have been doing to those lowly demons if he had heard what they were saying. "...then I would have done the exact same thing to those little hanyou bitches!!" At this point the demon's speech ended and Einin Hikari's began.
"WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Touya swore mentally and the demons looked around befuddled. Touya's face grimaced painfully at the sound of crying and sleep long lost, as he put his left hand over his eyes wearily. Suddenly, out of the blue, a small breeze from behind his back was felt and his eyes snapped back open, his hand hovering before his face. Touya felt a strong burst of youki behind him and all he could think was, 'Aw damnit...so much for moving across the Makai discreetly...'
The two lowly demons were still looking around, completely oblivious as to where the wailing infant's cries came from. When the first of the pair peered behind Touya's tree he was met by a huge gust of wind. The demon never had the chance to even scream before he was hurled backwards, across the pathway and into the adjacent forest's foliage. He flew painfully into a long line of sturdy trees before finally being stopped by a large boulder sitting off in the woods. Touya cringed inwardly at hearing the sickening crunch of his bones against the boulder's rock face and knew in an instant that the demon was dead.
The other D-class demon stood in shock seeing what had happened and turned around to face to chest (because Jin is quite tall in actuality) with a very angry wind master. Touya stood shakily, still groggy, holding Hikari close to his chest protectively. He was facing Jin's back, which was heaving up and down...as if he was laboring inwardly to control his power. After noticing this Touya was not sure if he even wanted to see Jin's face at this moment, so he decided to be patient and see what Jin would do next.
The lone, lowly demon began to tremble unsure of how to react to having Jin's face peer down at him. He had closed his eyes quickly as a reaction to seeing the wind master. The demon continued to shake, breathing sporadically in fear of what Jin would do next.
"Open...your...bloody...eyes!" Jin commanded in a low voice. It seemed the lowly demon did not understand Jin's tone, for he opened his eyes expecting to have some sort of mercy befall him...Touya knew better than that. Whenever Jin's demeanor held no humor or playfulness when nearing a confrontation, it would be the time for his opponent to reconsider the choice to face Jin. Jin's serious countenance could be more fearful than even Kurama's when brought into a rage.
"Were you one of those grotesque creatures complimentin' the deeds of child molesters?" Jin asked, struggling to keep himself in check. His eyebrows were drawn dangerously close together and his eyes were mere slits upon his usually handsome features. The lowly demon noticed how Jin licked his canine teeth underneath his lips and felt a shiver of dread run up his back.
"WELL?!" Jin yelled at this point making the demon fall to ground and bow at his feet.
"P..p..ple...ease sir...I meant no disrespect! I...had no...idea that two FINE Shinobi were in my presence," he begged with his hands reaching to clutch Jin's feet as a sign of submission. Jin's eyes widened at the unwanted contact and kicked the demon square in the face.
"Get up now ya' filthy bastard...I want ya' to see my face before you go to join your little pulverized friend o'er there!" Jin spat back at the demon while pulling him up to his height of five feet eleven inches. The demon hanged there about a foot off the ground cowering.
"Jin! That's enough now! Put him down...he's learned his lesson from his companion's demise! I am just as angry as you are, but it gives us no right to take vengeance in this way," Touya exclaimed as he jumped over to Jin. He still held Einin safe to his chest as he placed a hand on the wind master's shoulder. "You are better than needless violence...do not do something Reisho would compliment you for. No more unnecessary blood shed...I have seen enough."
"Are ya' deaf Touya?! Did you hear the bile spewing out of this bloke's pie hole?" Jin responded heatedly turning to look at Touya while still holding the frightened demon. "What would you have done if I were the one holding Einin and ya' had your hands free to do as ya' please?" Touya pondered this statement for a moment before looking up at his taller friend. His answer could be the determining factor in whether or not Jin stepped over that line of proper defense and down right cruelty.
"I would try to remember that my eyes are not the only one's witnessing my actions..." he said simply. Jin quirked an eyebrow at Touya, his own eyes searching the ice demon's face for his meaning. After finding nothing to read from Touya's expression his gaze finally settled on Einin, who had stopped crying, though tears still sat on her cheeks. She was now looking very intently at Jin's face. The wind master suddenly realized that she had been watching the whole altercation with the demons..., the first demon's death and hearing Jin yell ferociously about killing the last defenseless one. He raised his eyes back to Touya's. Jin looked down at his best friend pleadingly...Touya frowned, knowing what his friend was silently requesting of him.
He leaned up to Jin as much as he could before saying softly, "No Jin. I will not remove her from this environment to let you kill with out remorse...if you are going destroy this demon because of Hikari then she will be here to see it. Jin, if you want to...keep her, you need to realize that your actions now bear a heavier weight than before. When it comes to what she sees in her lifetime it will be up to us...I myself would prefer that she see the world in a better light than the one we grew up in..."
Jin's eyes widened in realization of what Touya was saying, and it took all of his composure to allow his chest to relax as he let his youki fall back down to its normal level of agitation, like water rolling off of a duck's back. But this did not keep him from turning back to the demon angrily before tossing him to the ground.
"Go on now ya' bloody scoundrel! Don't ever let me catch you doin' to another living creature what those demons did in that village, you hear me?!" Jin called after him as he ran off blindly into the woods whimpering pitifully. Jin continued to look ahead after the retreating form of the D-class demon. Touya sighed in relief, glad he would not have to explain one more dead demon to Reisho when they returned.
"I'm sorry...to the both of ya'," Jin said softly before turning to face his partner and Einin. "I didn't mean to let it go so far, but...I just felt this...I dunno..." Touya grinned slightly before finishing the wind master's sentence.
"You mean this unswerving compulsion to protect?" Jin looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, that's it exactly! How'd you figure that out?"
"Simple...I know you Jin sometimes better than you know yourself, while at the same time you know me best. And you don't have to apologize...your desire to defend Einin was admirable even if your methods were not as thought out as they could have been," Touya said in a reassuring tone, taking a step closer to the wind master. "Your heart has always been in the right place Jin the Wind Master...even though your head does not necessarily keep up with the pace." He finished with a slight grin, but Jin only drooped his once perky ears more.
"But Touya I could have caused real damage here not only just to some pitiful demon but also to Einin's remaining innocence...or what is left of it after those bastards had their way. I don't want the scarring of a little girl's heart to lie on my own spirit. And on top of it all, if Reisho even finds out about this one demon, it may be enough of an excuse for him to refuse our request for a leave o' absence...or worse, take...take her away from us," Jin admonished himself sadly. "I...I don't know exactly what I would do if he decides to sell her off like the others...its like we're trapped with him as our tormentor and sometimes it feels like I make a hopeless situation even more so with out thinkin'. Just like at the Dark Tournament...my weaknesses push the light even more out of reach." Jin's face was lined with worry and regret. It was not often that he allowed his sunny demeanor to falter so quickly...already Touya missed that optimism Jin was known for, and envied over. Even the ice master wished that he could have the same strong hope as his closest friend; but maybe that is what made them such good friends...they complimented each other and compensated for one another when needed. One's weaknesses could be another's strengths and vice versa...Touya considered this for a moment, then decided to give Jin some of what he had always given to Touya.
"Jin...close your eyes and open them only when I say so," Touya said repositioning Einin in the crook of his left arm. Jin's face vaulted into confusion, followed by a sweat drop at this request.
"What are ya' spoutin' there? This no time for a game o' hide an' seek! And you say that my head's not in the right place," Jin said, unsure of whether or not Touya had lost his sanity along with his chance at proper sleep. Touya sighed and said, "Just listen to me for once you big elf." At the use of Touya's little nickname for him, Jin shrugged and closed his eyes obediently. He felt his hand being taken by Touya's as he lead him forward by ten paces. Once Touya had stopped walking, he asked Jin to open his eyes and not to say anything. Jin was once again perplexed, but made nothing of it and opened his eyes at Touya's command. What he saw took him aback.
The forest had not changed one bit between this moment and Touya's awakening ten minutes earlier. The wind master had never really seen this place for what it was worth until Touya pointed it out to him. Jin looked in awe at the golden tones of the woods, the sparkle of the morning dew, and the light shining through the trees. It all held some kind of poetic justice in Jin's mind, that yesterday should have been so dark, but now with Einin and Touya both by his side...the world was now alight and glistening anew.
"When ever you feel that hopelessness, my friend, remember places like this...it is what we Shinobi fought for and lost during the Dark Tournament, but now we have another opportunity to rectify our past errors. We will do things differently this time around and triumph in the end. This is the life we want for ourselves and for Hikari...keep that in mind and may it keep you strong, when you think all hope has left us behind." Touya finished and turned to stand in front of his comrade. Jin looked down at him, genuinely surprised at Touya's eloquence, and smiled a toothy grin. 'He truly is me best friend that one is,' he thought happily before reaching out a hand to ruffle Touya's hair.
"Ya' always know how to bring me spirits up after bein' so low, eh?"
"Simply returning the favor," Touya replied with a knowing smile.
"Aawwwww...our little ice pixie is turning out to be quite a poet then, eh? Next I wanna hear one about dandy lions and licorice sticks! Ha ha ha ha..." Jin continued to laugh as his ears resumed their jovial twitching. Touya looked at Jin with his eyes half lidded and one quirked eyebrow. 'I try so hard to get a point across and he never lets on that it's sunk in...'
"Jin sometimes I wonder why I bother with you as much as...hey!" Touya started before Jin grabbed him into a great hug as he had the day before. Touya's feet hanged down to Jin's knees, seeing as the ice demon is about a foot shorter than his redheaded counterpart, and Einin sat snuggled in between the two demons cooing contentedly. Jin looked at Touya straight in the eye with a huge grin gracing his features.
"You bother with me because ya' love me ya' silly pixie!" Touya stiffened as his face was thrown into a slight blush. Jin had always been one to make his feelings known, at least to Touya. It was not often that Touya felt entirely at ease responding though. It was not that he did not feel the same way for his good friend, he just did not vocalize it...Jin never seemed to ask though, he appeared quite aware that Touya felt that same bond and what it meant to have such a close companion. It was one of the things Reisho despised the most about the pair.
"Jin as much as I know you love to crush things in your overgrown biceps...ugh...I think we should start on the move again!" Touya was able to breath out as Jin relaxed his embrace a bit.
"What? Would Uncle Touya be embarrassed if I carried him all the way back to Reisho, like this?" Touya had a little frustration vein popping at being called "Uncle" again. He growled a little inwardly and Jin gave a chuckled sigh before letting him down to the ground.
"A'right then me friend, let's be off," Jin said taking both of their cloaks from the ground. "Wouldn't want to keep dear master Reisho waitin' now would we?" he asked sarcastically, as he reached out his arms expecting to carry Einin. When Touya hesitated in handing her over Jin raised his brow. "What? I carried her all of yesterday with no complaint from either of ya'."
"As much as you attempt to hide these things from me, Jin, you can not say you weren't tired carrying an extra fourteen pounds on your chest...let me take her for today and we will alternate again tomorrow, alright?" Touya proposed.
"Well...alright then. But I get her tonight, ok?" Touya smiled at Jin's attention to the young girl and decided he would concede this time.
"Great! Now that's settled I think the nearest town is close by...not ten miles from here. If we keep a steady pace we should reach it by just after lunch time, then it's only another day and a half's trip from there back to headquarters," Jin said as they started down the path. As they walked Touya held Einin close, whispering silent hopes in his mind that Jin's heart would remain unbroken once they had reached their homeland...but he reminded himself of his own words not long ago uttered, about a golden forest and the hope it could bring to one's spirit. Touya smiled to himself and then down to Einin before gently rubbing his nose on top of her fuzzy head. 'Have faith Touya for with these people at your side, the light will surely come,' he though to himself as the trio continued on their journey.
TBC (Sorry about how I spell the villain's name Reisho but I figured that changing it now would be of no use...and to think I would make such an error after two years of college Japanese! Ja mata for now!)