A.N : Sorry for the delay…It took me a long time to update because I just couldn't get anything remotely intelligent on the paper in weeks. I've written and re-written this chapter from different point of views over 5 times…sometimes it just doesn't work….this chapter is a great example…it's written from 3 different POV's…
Thanks to Seducing Reason and Kill GoGo Yubari (my loyal reviewers) and Riki (who doesn't review but makes phone calls instead) and every other reviewer too, without your reviews and advices I would have probably abandoned this fic after chapter 4…but now I want to write my story to the end. (even though it might take a while….)
You can also think it as an unfortunate turn of events if you wish….
Whatever you do, please do not stop giving me advices, constructive criticism has always been the best way to learn!
Disclaimer: Author Girl in a cup doesn't own the Tenchu, actually she even own the lap top she is using, so why sue her? There are people with more money to lose everywhere around you…sue them.
- The heat -
Matsunoshin Gohda was sneaking away from his duties, in the maze of tunnels below the Gohda mansion. He had come across the forgotten tunnels few years ago. Sometimes even clumsiness could be considered as a blessing. People don't usually pay attention to mirrors, but in Gohda mansion mirrors were often doorways to forgotten places. Like these underground dungeons, no one but he knew of their existence. At least if judged it by the amount of dust.
He was trying to sneak to the western tunnel that led to the forest around the mansion. He had to cross the mortal realm in order to get to the hidden city of Luna, unnoticed. The young soldier had refused to accompany him, because of his duties.
"Well, maybe it's for the best to go alone…" Gohda thought caressing the cold stone wall with his fingers. Sometimes the life seemed so unreal to him. He knew he would be executed in two weeks, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"Will I just wake up and notice that I've been dreaming the whole time? Is my life just a dream?" The thought was soothing and disturbing, but the wall was real. The cold stone felt rough against his fingertips.
Sighing deep he forced his mind to think about the city of Luna instead. The city was a hideout to criminals and runaways. It was known as "City of Sin" or "The Hidden City". He had heard it from a young soldier long ago. It was a place where law didn't reach, where stealing was the most honest of jobs. The city of Luna called him, like fire called moths.
He was passing the red corridor when he heard voices. Red corridor had gotten its name from the magical red light that illuminated the tunnel. It was colder than other tunnels and covered in ice that never melted.
"There is someone here? …Who and what is he or she doing here?" Matsunoshin wondered as he listened the faint voices coming from the red corridor. There was more than one voice, so there were at least two people down in the tunnels with him.
Sneaking closer Matsunoshin drew his sword from it's sheath. He didn't know whether the voices belonged to friend or foe, but he wasn't going to take any chances.
The voices stopped as he got closer.
"Did they notice me?" Gohda wondered creeping closer as silently as he could. He took a tighter grip from the hilt of his sword and pressed his back against the wall.
In the eerie red light he saw two figures in the narrow corridor. The figures were pressed against each other so tightly that he almost mistook them as a one creature. The other one was his newest employee Ayame. The human girl was in the arms of tall man with a long black hair. His hands roamed under her shirt and their lips were locked into a heated kiss.
"It seems that she has found herself a friend…" Gohda thought absentmindedly, lowering his sword.
He was about to turn and leave the pair alone, when the man suddenly stepped away from the girl and looked straight towards Gohda.
"Who's there? Show your self." The man ordered in husky voice, smoothly stepping between Gohda and Ayame.
Gohda stepped out from the shadows staring the man before him. He stood head and shoulders taller than Gohda. He was almost as tall as Tatsumaru. His skin was pale and his red eyes glared him wildly. He wasn't human, not that it would have surprised Gohda too much. There weren't too many humans inside his mansion, only one. The fact that he didn't seem to recognize Gohda was more surprising.
"Actually that's my question." Gohda answered evading his question.
"How do you dare to answer me like that, you filthy half breed?" The man snarled between his teeth and lunged forward.
The man was fast, but Gohda wasn't slow either, he dodged the taller man's attack with and raised his sword to an attack. He dashed towards the arrogant stranger. Gohda didn't want to kill the stranger, just to push him back enough to make the pale man talk.
The man didn't seem to move at all, but managed to avoid all of Gohda's strikes and knock the sword from his hand. The blade slide from his hand to the icy floor, but Gohda didn't have enough time to retrieve it as the taller man attacked with a high kick.
Gohda dropped to the floor dodging the kick that shattered the dungeon door behind him. The door was made from an enchanted wood, but the kick tore it apart like it would have been made of paper.
"This guy is strong…stronger than me…maybe even stronger than Rikimaru." Gohda realized as he lifted himself up. "I need to get my sword back otherwise I don't have a chance."
"Don't even think about getting that sword back… didn't you know that it is forbidden for a half-breed scum like you to wield a sword?" The man asked in a voice full of disgust.
Gohda smirked. "You clearly aren't from here, are you…?"
The man answered his question by sending a three kick combo towards him. Gohda was barely able to dodge the first two and the third one got him off balance long enough for the taller man to pin him against the wall.
"Beg me for forgiveness and I shall kill you quickly half-breed." The man snarled to his ear while curling his long fingers around Gohda's throat and lifting him from the ground. His legs kicked the air uselessly as he used to twist the stranger's hands from his throat. The other man didn't seem to even acknowledge his struggling.
The grip around his neck was too tight to breathe, but he wasn't going to beg anything from anyone in his mansion.
Matsunoshin Gohda didn't usually like to use his magical abilities in a fight.
He had reasons: First of all he didn't have a complete control of his abilities, which made the magic using hard.
Secondly, he had to draw the energy from himself, which left him exhausted afterwards. And calculating the right amount of energy wasn't easy. Too little power and the spell wouldn't work…Too much and the magic would destroy him along everything around him.
Another reason was his cursed blood. Even though he had been given magical abilities, his half human body wasn't strong enough to hold them. The power ate his body from the inside bit by bit every time he used it.
But there were times he didn't really care for the consequences all that much.
"Sorry, I don't have time to meet the reaper today. I've got a busy schedule." Gohda whispered closing his eyes and concentrated to gathering the energy from his body.
A burning sensation filled his chest making him forget the pain in his throat, but he needed every drop of energy he could gather to defeat the glowing eyed demon that was choking him. The pain from his chest had turned from strong to excruciating, when he finally unleashed the power.
Ayame was petrified. Every fibre of her brain demanded her to do something… anything, but her body just stood still as she watched how the stranger pinned the master of the house against the wall and lifted him from the ground.
And the worst thing was that secretly, deep in herself she wanted those strong hands to be touching her instead of the master of the house.
"Get a grip girl. He is a monster not Mr. Right or even Mr. Will Do for Now." She reasoned trying to suppress the longing inside her.
"Beg me for forgiveness and I shall kill you quickly half-breed." The red-eyed stranger demanded, and his deep voice sent shivers down Ayame's spine. But the master Gohda just glared with his cold eyes and tried to twist the strong hand from his neck. He had no chance and soon stopped fighting.
"Did he pass out or did he just surrender?" Ayame wondered worriedly.
Gohda hanged there unmoving for a time that felt like an eternity, but couldn't be longer than a few seconds, before he opened his mouth.
"Sorry, I don't have time to meet the reaper today. I've got a busy schedule." He whispered almost inaudibly.
"What the hell is he doing? Is he trying to fucking kill himself!" Ayame cursed mentally, as the wall behind master Gohda started glow.
For a moment the stone wall was so bright that the light burned her eyes. Then the thick stone wall exploded with a sound that threatened to deafen her. The shock wave threw her on the floor and emptied her lungs from air. Ayame gasped for air and curled as small as she could. She even raised hands to cover her face as she desperately tried to defend herself from the raining stones.
Ayame laid there waiting a strike to come, but instead of pain she felt a pair of strong hands snatching her from the floor. Those big warm hands pressed her against a wide chest protectively, and she felt safer than ever before. A part of her just wanted keep her eyes closed and stay there forever, but she couldn't do that.
Opening her eyes Ayame saw the red-eyed stranger looking down on her with almost tender look in his eyes. She almost lost herself to those crimson eyes before she saw the injuries in his arms and shoulders.
"He blocked the stones with his own body…! Why?" Ayame wondered gazing deep in to those red eyes than hid so much from the world.
"Ah…I made a little miscalculation…but you protected her…that's good. It seems that you care for her …or is it just the bond?" A deep voice wondered somewhere behind the wide chest. It was Gohda's voice but it was somehow different. It was colder and stronger than before.
The stranger turned around to meet his opponent. Ayame gasped aloud as he saw the effects of the spell. Where there had once been a narrow corridor with sturdy stone walls was now a large opening, and in the middle of that opening stood Matsunoshin Gohda.
His black hair was as unruly as ever and his skin looked paler than before, but the black eyes were cold and confident and the air around him seemed electrified. He looked every bit like the Master of the House.
"You didn't think that you could really hide it, did you?" The master of the house asked in an amused voice. "Anyone with the slightest ability of magic could see it. It's like a red string of destiny that binds you to her."
Ayame must have looked confused, because Gohda shifted his piercing gaze to her. Those black eyes seemed to see right trough her.
"You didn't even know about it, did you?" Gohda asked studying her with those all seeing eyes.
"Know what? What are you talking about?" Ayame asked in a voice, which she hoped to sound confident.
"Your faith has been tied to his with a strong, ancient magic, stronger than mine. It's complicated to explain but you need to stay close to him and he needs to stay close to you." Gohda explained in a softer voice. "I had thought of kicking him out of the mansion as a punishment of attacking me, but I can't do that without kicking you out as well…so instead of that I think I'll give him a collar."
"A collar…?" Ayame asked but was interrupted by the man holding her.
"With what power half-breed!" The taller man snarled pressing Ayame tighter against his chest.
"With the power granted to me, the same power I showed you a while ago." Gohda said in a dangerous tone and Ayame felt how the muscles stiffened in the hands that still held her tightly.
"What's the matter? Can't you move?" Gohda asked as the red-eyed man let out an enraged scream.
"You …How? Who..?" The other man struggled with words, as Gohda walked closer with a triumphant grin.
"Yes, I thought that the spell worked splendidly as well. You should be happy. This collar will let you move freely in the mansion in your true form. It'll mark you as Ayame's pet and thus you are with her responsibility and under my protection." Gohda said silently as he placed his finger's to the taller man's neck.
A shining white light formed silver medallion around the pale neck, it was similar to the one Gohda had given to Ayame earlier.
"Don't bother trying to take it off, you'd just hurt your self. Only I or Ayame can take it off." Gohda sighed and turned around. "I have a meeting elsewhere …so I must leave you. And to the question you asked earlier…My name is Matsunoshin Gohda, Lord of the North and the Master of the House." He said disappearing into the darkness.
Onikage looked after the distancing back of the Half-breed Lord.
"So that was the heir of Mitsuomi. The man I must kill…" He thought squeezing the girl tighter against himself.
The little human girl had stolen a place in his heart. A place he didn't even know existing. He wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, but the human wouldn't leave his thought. Partly it was because she was in heat, but there was something else too, an aching in his heart. He had realized it earlier this day.
----(Flash back)----
Onikage watched with his cat eyes how the girl slept in her bed under the thick blankets. She had left her room yesterday, and when she had come back she had reeked of that silver haired ninja, with dog-ears. It had driven him angry, and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't entirely because of the genuine hatred towards Gohda's goons.
"Could it be jealousy?" He wondered "Not a fucking likely, she is human…she is meal, nothing more." He knew that wasn't exactly true. He no longer thought her as a food; he just didn't know what had changed.
He studied her sleeping face. She was so young and beautiful, and caring at least to his cat form. That led Onikage to think about his current situation. He was trapped to enemy's headquarters in a cat form, and he hadn't been able to locate Mitsuomi despite his attempts. He had been in this mansion over a week, and thus far he hadn't seen a glimpse of Mitsuomi Gohda. Mitsuomi was the one, who had trapped him into a dungeon for centuries to starve and rot… and bonded him to a mortal girl with a curse.
The worst thing however was the decision to turn in to a cat.
He regretted many things he had done in the past, but there weren't many things he regretted more than the decision to turn in to a form of cat. Yes, he was willing to admit that at the time it had seemed a very good idea. Cats were common sight in the Gohda mansion, so it wouldn't be anything that would draw unwanted attention. As a cat he was small enough to sneak around unnoticeably, and nobody would consider a black kitten threatening in anyway.
He had forgotten one simple thing, the primitive instincts and needs of the cat. They had come along with the form and mixed with his unconsciousness. Thus he had not one, but two intruding consciousness throbbing at the back of his mind.
Fortunately the girl's consciousness was almost unnoticeable most of the time. He always knew exactly where she was, but other than that the link between them was dead. And it would continue to act dead unless the girl would face danger, or that's what he suspected.
The link to the cat's primitive consciousness was different thing altogether. The cat wasn't a good-natured and submissive. It wanted to be in charge and was more than ready to attack anything or anybody it considered as an enemy. It didn't seem to realize that most of the creatures it considered as enemies were easily twenty times bigger. Good example was the meeting with the dog-smelling silver haired ninja. The cat had been ready to dig the only golden eye straight from his face, if he would have come any closer.
There were also all these small things that had driven him on the edge of transforming back to a vampire several times. One of them was purring, Onikage hadn't words to describe how much it annoyed him. The girl didn't have to do anything but pet him a little, and the purring would just start on it's own. He couldn't do anything to prevent it and he didn't know how to stop it. It frustrated him to no end.
He enjoyed the petting as much as the cat did, maybe even more, but was it necessary to declare it to the whole world?
The cat's part of consciousness it reflected the human as an odd mix between a female cat and comfortable place to sleep. And even though cats weren't monogamous by nature the slow blending of the cat's primitive instincts with his own, had made the cat and him overprotective and possessive when it came to the girl.
He didn't know when he had become so attached to the helpless little human, and he wasn't sure was it for the good or the worse.
Onikage raised his little pawn to touch her cheek as a mark of affection, she couldn't understand. The girl opened her beautiful dark eyes and mumbled something about 5 minutes, before burying her head under the pillow, trying to hide from the dawn. She clearly wasn't a morning person.
Onikage wondered a moment should he let her sleep for a moment, but decided otherwise. He was starting to get bored.
"Wake up!" He shouted, or tried …as it came out as a loud 'mew' and tried to find way under the pillow too.
The girl took the hint and sighed deep mumbling something incomprehensible under her bed. Slowly she got herself to a sitting position, and glared him.
"How did you get in here anyway? I closed the door when I left you to sleep in the living room." She asked with a voice still thick from the sleep.
Onikage wanted to ask, if she really thought that the pathetic lock of the door was enough to stop him, but decided to keep his mouth shut and just glared back to her. Suppressing a yawn she threw the blankets away and stood up. She was dressed to some kind of short nightgown, that wasn't enough to cover the striking beauty of her body. He could have watched her whole day.
Onikage had always found her good smelling, but today her smell was more powerful than before and it was spiked…it was almost too seducing like she would be in heat.
"Oh my fucking god…She is in heat" Onikage cursed in his head. The cat's desired burned in his mind making it hard enough to breathe let alone think clearly. "Shit! This is bad….ok…concentrate. You need to get away from her 'till this is over." He could smell vanilla from the bathroom…the sweet smell dimmed the seducing scent of the human a bit, but not enough.
Before he got decided where he should flee, a sharp knock was heard from the door.
"Ayame, if you don't get up now, you're going to be late from school!" Emi's voice called from the other side of the room, scaring the living shit out of him. If there was a person she was more afraid of than Master Mei Oh …it was that woman.
It took him a moment to understand that she wasn't going to barge in; she had just come to remind the human of school, whatever that was.
Later the girl stepped out of the bathroom, clothed to some sort of uniform. She walked to living room to comb her hair. Onikage couldn't help himself, but watched as she tried to get the comb trough her thick, raven black hair. Her smell had hypnotized him and he involuntarily came closer. He had to use all of his self-control, not to turn to his own form and ravage her straight then and there.
Suddenly the girl froze looking in the mirror, and lifted her hand to touch the base of her neck. She was touching the bite mark, Onikage realized.
"My mark…" A primitive part of him noted with a satisfied tone.
The link between him and the girl awakened at last, as the girl tried to focus something. Whatever she was thinking wasn't nice, as the bundle of feelings started to throb in his mind. He needed to stop it…he needed to get away from her quickly, while he could still control himself.
The human's distress was growing by every moment, and so did the throbbing bundle of feelings in his head, jumping gracefully to the table Onikage let the metal key to fall on the floor. The sudden sound surprised the girl badly enough to yank her from her thoughts. She dropped the comb from her hand and loosened her grip of the table – studying her pale fingers in disbelief.
The girl's eyes wandered from her hand to the room, as if she was looking for something. Then without a warning the girl dashed out of the room, like it would have been on fire, mumbling something under her breath.
She didn't even shut the door behind her as she dashed to the hallway. Onikage took the open door as an invitation to leave the room. Heading to the opposite direction as a girl, Onikage wandered towards the kitchens.
Briefly he thought about transforming back to his own body, but decided otherwise as a croup of young soldiers dashed past him. No need to wake up the angry bear before it's absolutely necessary. As he came to the kitchen door a pair of delicate hands scooped him from the floor.
"Nice to see you Oni dear…" Mimi chirped in her girly voice "I've waited an opportunity to speak with you in private for some time. It's about Mitsuomi… " She said making sure that he was interested enough to listen. And with that she carried him back to Ayame's room.
Closing the door behind her Mimi dropped him on the floor. She was a deceivingly fragile looking. She was easily two heads shorter than her sister; almost sickly thin and her complexion was whiter shade of pale than his. Her long blonde hair, flowing clothes and big blue eyes, gave the impression of helplessness, which couldn't be further from the truth. She was witty and ruthless - ad willing to do whatever necessary.
"Now, I'm not sure do you realize that it's been over 200 years from the day of your capture. Things have changed. Mitsuomi is no longer alive…" She told in a quiet voice. "… There aren't many who still remembers the war, not anymore … just a handful, including my sister, Tatsumaru and Sekiya …" She stopped, thinking how to continue
"Nowadays the Gohda mansion is ruled by Mitsuomi's grandson…good-for-nothing half-breed bastard…" A cold fire had started to burn in her ice-blue eyes, when she had mentioned the half-breed, and her face had twisted to express pure disgust.
"I have a proposition for you: Kill the half-breed and I tell you how to break the bond between you and the mortal." Mimi said, and her voice was like a breath of closing grave.
Apparently Onikage couldn't hide his surprise from the pale witch as she watched him in amusement.
"Anyone with smallest magical abilities could have seen that bond… and it's getting stronger. But I wasn't finished yet, Kill the half-breed and not only will I tell you how to break the bond, but I'll also give you 3 hours to take what you want and leave the mansion, before I'll note the guards… it's more time that you need. Do we have a deal?" The smile on her lips could have been beautiful, if her eyes hadn't burn from madness.
Onikage wondered her motives. He had betrayed Mimi and her allies in the war, many years ago and personally tortured many of her family to death. Why was the death of the half-breed important enough, to place all that aside?
Onikage looked Mimi's madness-filled eyes with his piercing cat eyes and nodded sharply in agreement. Even if it was a trap, the chance was too good to pass by.
"Good, now that it's settled I need to give you something." Mimi said and placed her hand to his back, chanting some spell on him. Onikage didn't understand the old language much, but enough to realize that it was some kind of timer.
"I'd give you a charmed medallion that would protect you from the guards if I could, but only the current head of the house can do that. You just have to be extra careful and move only in your cat form. This spell works like an alarm, it'll let me know when you have spilled the blood of Gohda, and starts the 3 hour countdown. Do you understand?" She asked seriously
Onikage nodded again. Mimi clapped her hands like a child and smiled happily, like she could burst to a giggles anytime. As she opened the door she looked him over her shoulder.
"You know, you were so helpful to me that I'll tell you something…the human child has lost her medallion, and if you want to keep her as your pet you'd better find her quickly." Mimi chirped cheerfully.
For the first time Onikage was thankful of the consciousness that told him that the girl was still alive and well. He concentrated to the feeling of her presence somewhere east of him.
Onikage didn't waste a moment as he rushed after her to the maze of hallways, following her seducing scent as much as the guidance of the unnatural radar in his mind.
----(End of flash back)----
Matsunoshin Gohda strode quickly towards the darkest and narrowest tunnels in the underground maze. Using of magic dulled the pain, but only for a moment. He knew it would come back ten fold before the night would be over.
"I need to get far away from them before the pain comes. I can't let them know my weakness." Gohda thought walking along the maze of narrow corridors as fast as he could. The old wounds were already opening and he had to lean to the wall for support.
"I haven't held that much magic that long ever before…And now I'll pay for my cursed blood…" Gohda thought when a burning pain unleashed it's full fury inside his chest.
His legs betrayed beneath him and he fell to his knees on the stone floor. His inside felt like they would be in fire and he didn't even notice how the old wounds opened soaking his clothes in blood.
A tortured cream escaped from his lips as the unnatural fire burned relentlessly his body. The blood mixed into cold sweat as the convulsions shake his body. If Gohda would have been able to think clearly he would have been thankful when the merciful blackness finally took him.
- The end of chapter eight –
A.N: Bad news…I'm doomed…I've lost my English dictionary! I can't write without it…. at all…It seems that I have to buy a new one…I harder to check errors without dictionary…so this chapter probably has more errors than the previous ones…I might even use wrong words…SORRY!
And don't worry I'll explain the Ayame's heat thing later on…
About the Oni +Aya pairing…I don't know will it evolve into fluff…my method of writing is to write whatever feels best at the moment and it's usually different everyday… so I just have to write a chapter in one night and post it before I decide to change something…
You probably have to wait chapter 9 a long time too…because I got a job.
Oh, and I'd like to know your opinion on Gohda's destiny…should I kill him or not? It'll affect a story a bit…but not much…Review and tell me should he live or die…