Chapter VI:

Village of the Demon-Slayers

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Hiromitsu had never seen winter snow from the air before. He could jump high and far, but now, flying on Momo's back behind Totosai, with Myoga riding on his shoulder, he had a bird's eye view for dozens of miles around. Watching the sunlight sparkle on the snow-covered land, Hiro thought that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Once, as they passed over a woodland forest, he saw the new-fallen snow sparkling like diamonds on the tree branches, and the sight moved him to tears. It was the very same forest where he had left Midoriko and his other friends to fend for themselves as he had dashed off to fight Onigumo, never suspecting that the undead warrior - now little more than a pile of ashes on a distant mountainside - would be able to capture him, nor that he would spend more than two months chained in a cold, dark dungeon in the castle of the Great Demon Sounga.

And Hiro had never imagined that he would meet Saeko, the eerily beautiful, undead blind girl with visions of Sounga's defeat - visions in which a shape-shifting dog-demon with Hiromitsu's name killed the Great Demon with a pair of magic swords. Though he had already tried to fight Sounga, and had lost miserably, a part of him still wondered if he might not really be the one to bring that heartless monster down. It had been Sounga and his army of living dead who had orphaned his friends, slaughtering their parents to scare the neighboring villages and keep them under Sounga's thumb. If there was any way he could bring the Great Demon to justice and avenge his friends' suffering - to say nothing of his own - then he wanted to do something about it.

"Hey, Totosai, where are we headed?" he asked. The old, emaciated-looking demon turned to make eye contact, still keeping his hands on the reins. "I was thinking of that village I told you about, where I used to work as a blacksmith for a clan of demon-slayers. It's only a few minutes' flying from here."

"Excellent!" said Myoga. "If there's one place we'll be safe, it's in a village full of warriors who know how to fight evil demons and the living dead."

Hiro nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. If the village of the demon-slayers was so close, then Midoriko and the others could easily have made it there before winter had set in. If they had kept heading north after he had left them, and if they had had the courage or desperation to actually approach the villagers, then just maybe ...

As they approached, Hiromitsu got his first good look at the village. Though there were huge fields of farmland beyond the village proper, the town itself was a small village in the shape of a rectangle. Around the perimeter stood a high wall made of tree trunks tied together with thick ropes made from some sort of animal hide, with a walkway behind their sharpened tops that offered archers an excellent lookout and shooting position. On three of its sides, the ground beyond the wall dropped away, creating a sheer cliff, and the one path to the main gate was a steep downhill slope. Hiro could understand, now, how these people had successfully repelled so many attacks by Sounga's armies; their village was an almost perfect fortress, occupying the high ground, with strong walls and only one, easily defensible way to approach it. Even as they came in for landing, Hiro saw movement on the upper catwalk, and by the time they had touched down, there was already a small contingent of warriors waiting outside the gate, carrying bows, swords and pole-arms, and at least one with some sort of large, curved weapon made from a giant demon's rib.

As he and Totosai dismounted, an old man came down the slope toward them, leaning on a thick walking staff and flanked by two tall, well-armed warriors with their black hair tied into topknots. "Ho, strangers!" he called. "What brings you to our humble village? If you two demons are in the service of Sounga, I feel compelled to warn you that my people have been well-trained to battle the Great Demon and his minions. So, if you came looking to start a fight, I would advise you to return to your master and risk his wrath, or you will surely face ours!"

"Hey! What do you mean, 'two demons'?" exclaimed Myoga. "I'll have you know that I happen to be the oldest, wisest living demon east of the continent!"

"If you're so smart," hissed Hiromitsu, "then how come you don't know when to keep your mouth shut?"

WHAP!

"Mmph! Smushed again!" groaned a now-flattened little flea demon.

Totosai's brow furrowed, and he peered curiously at the old man. "Kaoru?" he asked, "Is that you, my old friend?" The elderly man stopped in his tracks, and his eyes widened in shock. "Totosai?" "Ha ha! It is you, Kaoru!" proclaimed the wizened old demon, and bent down to shake the man's hand as the two burly guards exchanged looks of total confusion. "My goodness! It's been so long, I thought that I'd never see you again!" As Hiromitsu looked on, the village elder's face transformed miraculously as his jaded, distrustful expression gave way to an almost childlike jubilation, and Hiro could have sworn that the man had just turned at least thirty years younger.

Totosai and Kaoru embraced like a pair of old friends, and Kaoru's guards turned to regard Hiromitsu. "Sir," one of them asked, "what about that one over there? Is he a friend of yours, as well?" "No," Totosai said, "that's Hiromitsu. He's the one that helped spring me from Sounga's dungeon, and he's one heck of a good fighter, too. He even managed to give that monster Onigumo a good thrashing!" Hiro was amazed at such high praise; true, he had helped carry Totosai to the stable where they had found Momo, but it had been Saeko who had helped free them both from their enchanted manacles in the dungeon, and Totosai himself had fried the mighty warrior Onigumo to a crisp when the undead butcher had been about to slice Hiro in two. As far as Hiro was concerned, he hadn't really done much during the escape, and was actually a bit embarassed that Totosai was giving him so much credit. The guards, however, seemed to accept Totosai's testimony, and both sheathed their swords, nodding at Hiromitsu.

"Well, come with me, then!" Kaoru exclaimed, turning back toward the main gate and motioning for Totosai and Hiro to follow him. "I must admit, my old friend, that you've become something of a legend these days. About half of the weapons that we still use and train with today are among those that you forged for us all those years ago."

"Really? I'm amazed you haven't found someone better by now. What about my apprentice, Pazu? Even when I was here, he was well on his way to becoming a great smith himself."

"Well, actually, Pazu was our blacksmith for a time, but he's since passed on. Our current blacksmith and master armorer is his successor, Shigeyuki."

"Shigeyuki? You don't mean that little boy who always kept getting in trouble, I hope?"

"The very same," Kaoru said, nodding, "and while I'm pleased to say he's matured quite a bit, I'm afraid that he isn't nearly as skilled as either you or Pazu. He does his best to live up to your reputation, but frankly, I think he'll be happy to have a chance to learn from you, old friend."

Hiromitsu lost track of the old men's conversation - not because he wasn't interested, but because he suddenly caught sight of a girl with light brown hair trying to push her way through the crowd at the gate. Without thinking, Hiro leaped right over the old-timers and the two guards, then dashed straight toward the startled villagers. Many of them looked terrified at the young demon's approach, some tried to run back through the gate, and a few even drew weapons, but even as they all backed away, the girl ran forward, a hopeful look on her face. "Midoriko?" Hiro called, hardly daring to hope.

"Hiro!" Midoriko shouted, her face lighting up as the two ran towards each other, finally wrapping their arms around one another as the villagers - and quite a few of Hiromitsu's childhood friends - looked on, amazed. "We thought you were dead," Midoriko said as they separated. "We all saw that big monster on horseback beat you up, and when they tied you to his saddle, we thought you'd been killed."

"Yeah, well, he almost did kill me - twice!" Hiro said. "If it weren't for Totosai --"

"And me!" added Myoga, all four of his arms folded across his chest.

"-- I'd still be stuck in a dungeon. I'm just glad to see that you and the others are all right."

"We came here after the first frost killed off all the edible plants. The villagers say that we can stay as long as we want. Oh, Hiro, it's just like being back home again!" They embraced once more, tears of joy running down both their faces. Finally, they were all together again, and for the first time Hiromitsu could remember, he had a place that he, too, could call a home.

As Totosai and old Kaoru came up the path, Hiro and Midoriko rejoined them, and all four of them began talking, sharing stories and laughing with the joy that only long-separated friends can know. As they were about to cross the threshold into the walled village, Hiro turned to Totosai and said, "Say, do you remember what you told me before? About how you would make two magic swords for me if we ever escaped?"

Totosai smacked himself on the forehead and exclaimed, "Oh, of course! I almost forgot all about that! Thanks for reminding me, boy! I'll get right on it."

"Magic swords? Hiro, what are you two talking about?"

"Um, well, it's kind of a long story..."

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Author's Notes/ "Bonus Material"

-Character Design

In this chapter, we meet the demon-slayers themselves. Their leader, Kaoru, is a typical old wise man; he doesn't have much physical presence, he relies on bodyguards for self-defense, but he's got a strong and charismatic personality. He's also the "key" that grants Totosai and Hiro the opportunity to join up with the demon-slayers, so he's got a close friendship with Totosai.

-Plot Development

Because Hiro's lack of experience has been pointed out time and again, he needs some opportunity to develop as a warrior, and the village of the demon-slayers is it. It's also where he reunites with Midoriko, starting a romance that will continue for the next three stories.

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