Character thoughts
"Character Dialogue"
_ = Scene Break
Chapter 5 - Mt. Natagumo
Under the moonlight sky, a head of black, burgundy-tipped hair calmly walked through the winding path of the mountain forest trail. With a hand on his katana sheath, firm and tense, his dark red eyes flickering around his surroundings, his breathing calmed and his nose sniffing the air occasionally in regular intervals. With a narrowed frown, he pressed forth, the spider webbing that littered the trail seemingly increasing in quantity as he continued deeper into the forest.
Screams, distant, echoed in the air as Tanjirou sniffed the air and quickly cracked the ground under the strength of his sprint, disappearing from the trail entirely. Running quickly through the multitude of bushes and shrubbery of the forest floor, he soon arrived at a branch above the origin of the screams.
With his slitted eyes, he watched as the spider webs contorted themselves around the immobilised humans below, grimacing at the fear and agony in their eyes. The humans were now being lifted by these webs, controlling their movements like a puppet. With the twitch of his eye and a slight glow in his mark, he shot forth, slicing the web in two, causing the captured humans to fall to the ground in pain.
Facing away from them, he glanced at the downed human only to be ashamed at the prevailing fear in their eyes as they gazed into his. Sighing in disappointment, he turned around and crouched down to them, placing them against some of the trees nearby much to their paralysed fear. Three in total, all of them around his age, three men. Glancing at each of them, their fear gripping their speech, "How are your injuries?" Tanjirou asked with neutral concern, his tone distant but caring as the three's hearts stopped in shock.
After waiting for a response amid the awkward and cold silence, Tanjirou turned to leave until he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. With a twitch in his ear, he shot around to see the charging form of a woman coming toward him, crying out in rage through her assault. His right hand still on his katana, he quickly drew his blade and deflected every blow gracefully, parrying the last of her strikes with an upward slash, launching the katana out of her hands.
Noticing the fire still in her eyes, he smirked in appreciation of her commitment to her teammates albeit disappointed that she rushed into battle without a plan. As she backed away, creeping toward her katana as her brown eyes never left him, he nodded to her, gesturing to her to collect her katana and try again. Taking another sniff of the air as he did so, he glanced up into the night sky in contemplation.
Taking this opportunity, the woman quickly grabbed her katana and charged at the demon before her, only this time, the hissing of her breath echoed throughout the clearing quickly grabbing her target's attention. Upon clashing their blades, he immediately noticed the strength increase compared to her last strikes as she quickly attempted to swipe his legs from under him, focusing solely on his legs.
This lapse of judgement was quickly taken advantage of as he quickly grabbed her leg and used it to throw her to the ground, slightly cracking the earth at the point of contact. Observing her stubbornness to give up, the still firm grip on her weapon, and the quivering of her body as she attempted to get up, he smiled warmly. "I am not here to kill you, any of you." He uttered in fond kindness, making the group of four blood turn cold.
Getting up from the ground, now on her knees in pain, waving her long, brown ponytail out of her face, she glared at him. "Then what are you here for?" Her tone was harsh and blunt as she lent heavily on her right knee. Sheeting his blade and crouching toward his downed opponent, his face turned sternly serious.
"I'm here to kill the demons that lay nested on this mountain," He stated with a glare as her eyes widened in shock, her eyes seemingly understanding the sincerity in what he'd say but her mind reiterating his demonic nature. Quickly rising from the floor, he turned his back to the group once again, walking away deeper into the forest mountain. Before getting out of sight, he glanced back at the lone woman among the slayers. "You're not bad, slayer-san," he complimented, immediately disappearing off into the forest leaving the four demon slayer beyond confused at what had just happened.
The centre of the confusion and the only source of shame was the woman in the centre of the clearing. Quivering more as she stood up, holding her stomach in pain, she glared at the spot the Kamado was last. "Why do I believe you?" She muttered to herself, her teammates only replicating their shocked glances onto her as she looked away in disgust as she then began to check on her teammates, one by one and making sure they were all fine.
Upon confirming their state of health, she too entered deeper into the forest. The remaining demon slayers all let out a withdrawn sigh of relief as they struggled to get up and retreat the way they'd arrived. "Nakamura-san has a death wish," one of the slayers spoke up with a deathly expression on his face as the other two could only nod and descend further down the mountain.
Sprinting across the forest floor, Tanjirou was shocked by the sudden golden swipe that had attacked him through a tree he'd just passed. Gripping the ground to stop himself, his katana drawn in his left hand, he glared at the headless abomination before him. A hulking behemoth, lacking a head and utilising giant golden cleavers for forearms, charged at him with frightening haste as the hissing of his breath suddenly bounced around the clearing. His legs were firmly, horizontally spaced apart, the murderous glare in his eyes causing the muscles in the mindless beast to wince.
Shooting forward, he sliced the nape of its neck off cleanly as it stumbled behind but upon noticing it still standing the scent of a second demon became clear to Tanjirou as he narrowed his eyes at the network of webs above the abomination. In his observation, the demon attempted to cleave the Kamado in half only for him to jump over the attack and slash at the air above it, immediately dropping the demon to the floor, causing it to disintegrate into nothing.
Waiting until the demon had entirely turned to dust, he glanced around the surrounding open area, sniffing in frequent intervals as he did. Frowning deeply and sighing in annoyance, he rolled his eyes as he saw a bundle of brown hair emerge from the clearings' edge. "Why did you follow me?" he quickly asked in confusion, with his glare firmly planted onto the emerging demon slayer.
Freezing in her tracks, her eyes twitching and glaring at the demon before her. "Because I've still got a job to do, you idiot," she quickly snapped at him with her hand firmly on her katana and her gaze never leaving Tanjirou. Slightly amused by her, he shrugged his shoulders and began to walk off, chuckling as he started to leave her behind which caused the slayer to run up to him and punch him on the head.
With widened eyes, he turned around to see her glaring at him, the cold exterior front she attempted to pull hopelessly falling with the trembling of her free hand. Smiling with a raised eyebrow, he turned back around shooting off into the forest leaving her behind much to her utter annoyance. Sighing in disappointment but also relief, she quickly sprinted out of the area and in the direction Tanjirou had left.
Bolting through the tree branches, he quickly arrived at another clearing in the forest, situating a small boulder at its centre. Atop the boulder a young, long white-haired woman sat, her hands and finger extended away from her as if she was using a puppet. Observing from a distance, he noticed the look in her eyes that felt foreign to the demons of this mountain. Amongst the rage, bloodlust, and greed, she exhausted fear and self-loathing.
A morbid smile fell on his face as he glanced at her one more time with pure compassion. Unsheathing his katana silently, he breathed in heavily as the grip on his scarab intensified dramatically. Within the blink of an eye, the branch he was crouched on snapped in two, splinters flying everywhere as Tanjirou sheathed his katana, sorrowfully gazing at the dirt below him.
Turning his head, the head of the demon finally fell off her body plummeting toward the ground, only for Tanjirou to catch it at the last second. With her body falling to the ground and beginning to disintegrate, he couldn't help but be jealous at the look of bliss she held in her eyes. But, as her head became dust in the wind, "A demon moon is here," was what quietly echoed in the clearing.
Placing his hands together for a minute, closing his eyes and bowing his head a little, he stayed still until the scent of the annoyingly persistent slayer entered the area. Quickly reopening his eyes, he glanced at her perplexity with stern concern. "A member of the Kizuki is present on this mountain, slayer-san. I'd suggest your retreat." Tanjirou ordered to which the young slayer scoffed at the suggestion, a hidden fire lit within her at the challenge.
"I'm not running away, not while I can still fight." She said with the utmost determination as the demon before seemed unfazed at her proclamation. Gripping her scarab more now, her patience was beginning to wane at the lack of response from the mysterious demon. "Who are you to tell me what fights I participate in? I shouldn't even be talking to you, let alone attempting to work with you." She angrily ranted as Tanjirou's glare became icy cold, freezing the slayer in her place.
Tanjirou immediately charged at her, not drawing his katana whilst she did. Sprinting within a metre of the demon slayer, she slashed in a horizontal arc. To her surprise, Tanjirou had stopped the momentum of his charge and dodged the well-timed strike as he jumped over her, grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her to the ground.
Grunting on pain, he struggled to escape the hold pressed on her to no avail and soon the fear crept back to the forefront of her eyes. "You are not ready for this. That is why I will force you if need be to leave and join your squad," the Kamado harshly remarked, as Yui all the while remained frozen still in the jeopardy of her situation.
"When will I ever be ready if all I do is run?" She asked in dismissive anger, the tension across her body raging as was her mind and soul. Tanjirou, meanwhile, stared at her with slight disappointment, getting up and pushing away from him, toward the base of the mountain.
"You'd be alive. You'd still be human." Tanjirou uttered with the most sincerity he could muster which had caused her the flinch at the insinuations but the look in her eyes never changed. Upon noticing this, he turned around, a smile on his face as his eyes looked distant and in a trance.
Chuckling after suddenly jittering out of the daydream, he turned his back to the slayer and back again. "What's your name, slayer-san?" He asked with neutrality, as he could feel the slightly startled look she gave him. But as she pondered and pondered Tanjirou decided to turn around to see the conflict on her face. "I'm Kamado Tanjirou." He introduced himself, his tone slightly more upbeat as she sighed in acknowledgement.
"My name is Nakamura Yui, Rank Kanoto." She responded in kind, her voice formal but also slightly tired at the mental conflict she'd just overcome but upon seeing the smile he gave her, she felt her body relax, the honesty in his expression being absolute to the trained slayer.
"Stay by my side, Nakamura-san. The demons ahead are much more powerful than what you've encountered thus far." Tanjirou ordered, turning around and preparing to walk off, however upon hearing her not move he stopped and waited.
"Why are you alright with me coming along now?" She asked with suspicion, her tone expressing the genuine curiosity that felt to the change in approach. What only furthered her confusion was the chuckling that originated from the Kamado.
"Because, from what I've already observed and gathered from you, I know for a fact that you wouldn't have listened." The demon explained, his tone was slightly nostalgic and reminiscent of times past. But smelling the confusion, he sighed, gazing up into the lunar-lit sky. "I don't remember much of my family, but you are almost identical to both myself and my sister. I can tell that you think about others before yourself, your journey toward strength isn't for you." He uttered with melancholy happiness, smelling the guilt of the young slayer but seeing her acknowledge this out of the corner of his eye by nodding her head in agreement and began to venture deeper into the forest.
They sprinted through the foliage of the forest for a little while finding only spider webs and weird burn marks on the trees they passed. It was only after a few minutes that they discovered a small home, suspended in the air by complex cobweb structures. Sniffing the air, his eyes shot open as the air itself seemed to burn at the sound of hissing that engulfed it.
Yui, who was behind Tanjirou glanced at the nearby bushes to see pairs of the dead, tortured eyes staring back at her, in response to which she drew her katana. Before she could do so, she felt an incredible heat emanate from in front of her.
With a cold glare at the wooden house, he utters Hinokami Kagura, Beneficent Radiance in his mind. As he then spirals in the air, creating a vortex of solar fire that burns away the camouflage around them and forces the humanoid spiders to retreat into the darkness of the forest. After the technique finished, Tanjirou began to breathe heavily sweat forming on his face as his mark began to glow a little neon red, the strain on his body so great that it brought him to his knees.
Yui, meanwhile, stared in awe at the beauty of such a technique. While she was confused why he hadn't just eliminated the demons around them, she could assume that there was something she either didn't know or couldn't see and she trusted the demon in front of her enough to make that decision. But upon seeing the consequence of using the technique, she was startled, to put it mildly.
"Is that supposed to happen, Kamado-san?" She asked in cautious concern as she then noticed a spider leg emerge from the suspended home in front of them, her focus immediately fixated on the new foe approaching. Hearing the growls of pain from the Kamado put quite a strain on her concentration despite this new enemy.
"No, but forget about me I'll be fine. Focus on the demon in front of us and keep your senses sharp. Expect ambushes from those little spiders." Tanjirou reassured and ordered in pain, raising back up to his feet with now weakened posture. The slitted eyes of the Kamado seemed to be in deep thought as the demon wasted time emerging from its den.
Both of the demon hunter's/slayer's attention was gripped thoroughly as it emerged, its giant spider body with its humanoid face was an unpleasant sight for both. Its hauntingly cyan eyes stared humourlessly at them as he emerged, a creepy smile plastering itself onto its red-dotted face. "More friends to invite to our wonderful family!" he shouted with joy in his sadistic smirk.
Yui reacted with calm disgust, drawing her katana, her eyes darting around her to spot any signs of movement. Tanjirou, on the other hand, glared at it with cold fury, his hanafuda earrings and haori gliding in the wind, his katana calmly in his right hand as his left hand sat at his side. "Yui, cover my flank, I'll finish this quickly." He muttered, Yui nodding and Tanjirou's grip becoming firmer and strengthened.
Once the demon's gaze truly looked at the opposing demon his eyes shot out in fear, its body retreating slightly from his position on the house. It was at this moment, cracking the ground, that Tanjirou shot forward, the lapse of concentration quickly disappearing as it began to shoot out balls of liquid poison at the charging demon, missing every time. The charge with each evasion looked more and more like a hypnotic dance that Yui, on the sidelines, was entranced by, her katana dropping a little.
Rapidly scaling the web constructs, he arrived at the house, the spider demon attempted to stab him using his many legs but all of these attempts were met with the limb being amputated. In a desperate last stand, it shot out a stream of poison directly in front of the demon, his eyes seeing the connection of the poison with the body.
With a murderous grin, he continued to spew the poison from his mouth until he felt a sudden crushingly merciless presence above his head. Eyes glancing upward, the form of the Kamado became clear as his katana was drawn across his body ready to slash across. At that moment, he heard the hissing of the young man's breath, he felt his control stretch by a tiny margin, his grin remaining as the poison stopped and only leaving the feeling of a pyrrhic victory when Tanjirou cleanly decapitated the demon, its body collapsing immediately.
Staring at the body as it fully disintegrated, he heard a high pitch curse from below in the clearing. Quickly standing on the house's edge, he stared at the picture before him with widened, horror-filled eyes. A sea of infected spiders surrounded the bundle of brown hair that accompanied him. It was on this sight, he sheathed his katana and jumped down, quickly making his way over to the kneeling slayer only to immediately see a spreading purple poison on her right hand.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
I don't know what to say this time around lmao other than the invitation for feedback and the discord (Rcf7q3xd5N).
I hope to see you in the next chapter and beyond.
