AN: I still don't own Inuyasha. Or Bankotsu. Sigh. If only I was Rumiko Takahashi. (makes fangirly gazey eyes)
Thank you all so much for your continued support for my story!
Wayward Ransom, chapter 24.
Bankotsu glared down the long blade of his weapon as Masakisho ran for his life downhill, meeting his friends at the bottom of the slope. The spirits summoned by Masakisho and his friends not only unearthed the banryuu, but also some extremely angry souls, bodiless spirits caused by Bankotsu's own mercenary activities. Giving themselves form by using dust and soil, they had joined into one entity and brandished their killer's own weapon right at his neck.
The young man grinned tauntingly at the vengeful specter.
"Betcha you really suck at usin' that."
Bankotsu wasnt sure if his words worked in raising the ire of his opponent, but the soil-made fighter pushed forward quickly with the weapon, in an effort to drive its cruel point right through the young man's neck.
But Bankotsu was faster in moving to the side, and dodged it.
"No sense of humor, huh?" said Bankotsu, toying with the souls of his former victims. In a flash, Bankotsu smacked the flat of the blade with a fist, sending it upwards, and throwing the soil-fighter to stagger back a step or two.
Bankotsu was about to rush forward when the soil-fighter countered again, using the momentum given to it by Bankotu's hit on the blade. It brought the huge halberd straight down, its edge threatening to split Bankotsu in half.
"So I guess I have to pick that damn thing up for ya!" Bankotsu spat.
The young warrior got up and rolled to his left just in time. The Banryuu flew past his right arm, and struck deeply into the stone in back of Bankotsu, white hot sparks flying everywhere.
Seeing the deep cut the halberd made in the stone, and knowing that it would be no small effort to get it out, Bankotsu took the opportunity to lunge forward, his right fist cocked and ready to deal a deathblow.
Bankotsu swung at the soil-fighter, and plowed his right fist into the fighter's head. Bankotsu, upon making contact with the fighter's hauntingly indistinguishable face, found that it was definitely more solid than it looked.
Due to the force of Bankotsu's blow, soil flew everywhere, landing far away from where the two opponents stood.
The young man continued to rush forward, compelled by the force of his blow, and eventually stopped, a puff of dust following him. His eyes landed temporarily at the monks at the bottom of the hill, who gazed wide-eyed at the young man's abilities. And the young kid, Kanaye, was happily jumping up and down, punching the air, and shouting something excitedly.
Bankotsu shifted his eys to their corners, and threw his right fist into his open left palm. A pause began, during which Bankotsu sensed that he had disabled his opponent. He almost regretted doing away with the soil-warrior so easily...almost.
"You're too goddamned slow."
Turning around to deal another blow, Bankotsu had to stop, wide-eyed at the soil-fighter, who was now turned around to face him, with one hand still on the halberd imbedded into the rock. Underneath all that dirt that acted as muscle and skin, was a skull.
Bankotsu had a sickening feeling he was looking at his own skull.
Undoubtedly, the spirits had brought Bankotsu's steely skeleton up to the surface with the banryuu, and were now using as it as a strong framework for the soil-fighter.
In his confusion and shock, Bankotsu stared at the soil-fighter as it quickly and silently repaired itself, drawing soil upwards from the rest of its body, easily replacing what was lost on its head.
In one motion, the soil-fighter flung the banryuu forward, throwing the crescent-shaped sharp edge deftly right at the level of Bankotsu's neck.
Caught almost off-guard at the soil-fighter's display of strength, Bankotsu bent way backward, and the crescent blade stopped a hairsbreadth above the tip of his nose. The soil-fighter continued to thrust and swing the crescent edge at the young man, forcing Bankotsu to dodge in every direction.
The soil-fighter fell back a bit, and Bankotsu took the opportunity to rush forward, hoping to hit the dirt away from the soil-fighter's entire body.
The soil-fighter purposely let its guard down to draw Bankotsu inward; it easily flipped the Banryuu around, bringing the double-edged end forward. It swung the edge of the weapon horizontally across itself, attempting to cut Bankotsu in half at the waist.
With a deep, irritated "Dammit!", Bankotsu had no choice but to drop to the ground and roll toward the dirt-fighter. His weapon flew at incredible speed over his head with a deep metallic whoosh, fluttering his clothes and the hair at his forehead, and raising a cloud of dust in its wake.
Hmmm...it never leaves the ground, thought Bankotsu, now at the soil-fighter's feet.
Suddenly, the dirt-fighter was jerked backward, dragged by its left side.
Bankotsu saw Raidonichi, who had snuck up behind the dirt-fighter, and had pinned its arm to its own side using one of his U-shaped, barbed, sai-like weapons.
So that's what those things are for, thought Bankotsu.
Raidonichi held the other weapon in his fist while he drove a knee into the fighter's back, and his fist through its head.
Dirt went flying everywhere, including all over Bankotsu. More bones were revealed from the holes caused by Raidonichi's blows to the fighter's torso.
Appreciative of Raidonichi's aid, Bankotsu flashed a warm smile towards him. "Thanks!" he said to his helper.
Raidonichi nodded, grinning back.
The soil-fighter was stunned again, and, as Bankotsu expected, instantly began repairing itself. Laying at the fighter's feet, Bankotsu noticed a soft, golden glow emanating from the very bottoms of the fighter's feet. As he watched closely, he saw the dirt, taken directly from the ground, shift upwards, enabling the apparition to repair itself.
Bankotsu hoped this was a clue on defeating it. He knew that since the fighter could regenerate, there was little hope in winning by sheer force. He glanced over to the large, flat rock he had previously sat upon. If only he could get on there...
Bankotsu grinned devilishly. Renkotsu, you've taught me more about using my head than anyone else I've ever known.
Hearing a frustrated "Crap!" from Raidonichi, Bankotsu looked back up, and saw Raidonichi's face turned from confident to horrified. He realized that the soil-fighter had encased Raidonichi's weapon and hand with its own substance.
Raidonichi was knocked backward by a huge battering ram that flew out of the soil-fighter's back. Landing hard on the ground with a loud grunt, Raidonichi skidded on the grass a short distance before stopping, too stunned to do anything but rub the shoulder he landed on.
"Bastard," hissed Bankotsu at the soil-fighter. The battering ram disintegrated, and fell to the ground with a puff of dust.
The soil-fighter once again drew the banryuu upwards, and came down hard with it. Bankotsu rolled quickly away and back up to his feet as the point of the large bladed edge hit the ground, biting into it deeply.
Bankotsu back-flipped as the soil-fighter swung again. Using his arms to propel him there, he landed cat-like on the large rock, his knee-length braid flipping behind him. Beneath his feet, he could feel the deep cleft left on the rock from the soil-fighter's previous attack with the banryuu.
"So...which one are you!" taunted Bankotsu viciously. "The criminal kingpin I assassinated? The thief whose neck I snapped for breaking into my men's base? The daimyo whose head I took off in repayment for my men? The tiger-demon that the villagers paid me to kill?"
The soil-fighter stood in eerie silence, its eyeless dark face turned toward the young warrior.
Bankotsu narrowed his eyes. "My interesting opponents had a lot more to say than you!"
Once again, Bankotsu had thoughts of that damned half-demon running through his head. He was so different than anyone else he had ever fought. The half-demon almost seemed...concerned about him...all the way up to the end. It had been too quick an end for Bankotsu in Mount Hakurei. Bankotsu fumed how the half-demon had all but refused to raise a hand against him unless it was to pluck a Shikon jewel shard out of his body. It enraged him that the half-demon was kind enough to him to give him such a merciful end, even after offering him to leave unharmed if he wanted. The half-demon gave him an end that some of his men didn't give to others.
Sure, he had derided Inuyasha for being too soft...but in the end, the soft half-demon was the one who ended up sending him on his way to hell.
For an instant, Bankotsu found himself torn. Maybe he had in fact taken his sorrow out on the wrong person?
The immediacy of his situation rushing to his awareness as he stood on the rock, Bankotsu had to shake his head. Why, he wondered, did he think of this crap now?
Bankotsu figured that the only time he was allowed to think clearly, to feel alive, was in the midst of battle.
And he'd kill Yukio on first sight for taking part in making that so.
The soil-fighter glared, and on a wave of soil drawn up from the ground, rushed toward Bankotsu at light-speed. Expecting to deal the final blow, the soil-fighter brought the weapon down hard on the rock again from high above Bankotsu.
In an effort to keep the soil-fighter on the rock, Bankotsu turned his body to the side, and the flat edge of his weapon flew past his back. The banryuu was again buried deep inside the rock with a flash of electricity.
The soil-fighter shot Raidonichi's weapon from out of its torso, and again Bankotsu turned his body, moving just enough to dodge it.
"So I did piss you off...didn't I!" said Bankotsu, callously harassing his opponent.
Bankotsu rushed forward, and punched the soil-fighter solidly in its torso.
The soil-fighter was stunned, and Bankotsu stared hard into its formless face as it commenced trying to repair itself. Its feet glowed brilliantly, apparently due to its hopeless effort to draw soil up into itself.
The soil-fighter stumbled backwards, and Bankotsu knew he had won when it fell. He made a fist out of each hand, and threw them both down, shattering both soil-made feet on his opponent.
The brilliant gold glow on the soil-fighter's feet dissipated in clouds of dust, leaving only skeletal feet. Bankotsu stared at the soil-fighter as the dirt fell away from its inner skeleton, piling on the top of the rock.
The skeleton that was left over dissipated into a purplish cloud, floated towards Bankotsu, and bored itself bloodlessly, but not painlessly, into his sternum.
Feeling a new heaviness about his body, Bankotsu fell to one knee for a few moments before plucking his weapon out of its stone prison, and lightly jumping off the rock.
Bankotsu glanced a moment at the bleeding knuckles on his right hand. He humphed indifferently, then silently lighted the halberd on his shoulder, as he always did, whether in life or un-life. He made his way toward the monks without a word.
Kanaye ran up to him, his eyes glowing in admiration. The boy put himself directly in the path of where Bankotsu was walking. "Hey! Teach me how to do that!" Kanaye ordered him, his little fists raised. "C'mon! Fight me!"
"If I fight you, I kill you, kid."
"But I wanna do stuff like that, too!" insisted the scrawny boy, waving his fists, trying to get the warrior to look at him.
Bankotsu, in a tired effort, pushed the boy lightly out of his way, never stopping as he moved forward. "To do that, you have to be trained like I was. And trust me, kid...you don't want that."
Kanaye watched him in fearful shock as he walked toward the monks, one of which was tending to Raidonichi, the rest whispering amongst themselves about what they had just witnesed.
The raven, who had been watching the entire time, had now seen enough. It sqawked again hoarsely, and flew off the branch on which it had perched itself, disappearing in a cloud of demonic ether.