Lone Scarlet Lily, Hidden in the World of Snow: Waiting for the spring.
Chapter 3: The Prey of a Snow Demoness
Snowflakes fell to the ground unhurriedly, pattering the ground in another blanket of snow that soon mixed into slush as demons jumped into battle. Ducking under the claws of a fellow Inoue, a smile found itself tugging at my lips. The energy of the fallen head of the clans faded, beings invisible to my eye carrying his spirit to the Netherworld as his empty body grew colder in his spirit's absence. It was not until that moment – when I could no longer feel Isamu Igarashi's presence upon this world – that I felt my father's death avenged.
An arrow sunk into the flesh of the Inoue, piercing through the metal chest armor she wore with ease. Blood seeped into the wet ground as the snow grew heavier and the wind subtly howled through the trees. A storm would soon be blowing through the Kitabayashi forest – a good cover for a snow demoness like me to escape in.
The sight of scarlet blood made my thoughts drift to what my father would think about my actions thus far. He probably hoped that his daughter wouldn't be slaying his own, that's for sure. And so, I decided to allow Isamu's passing to avenge a different death in order to clear my father's noble name of his murderer's death.
The death of my childhood would be a good substitute, I mused as another arrow breached the iron of a chest plate. My earlier years had been consumed with plotting the death of the white tiger demon. While only three decades had been thrown away in devotion to this cause, years which will eventually amount to nothing but a small, singular snowflake of time in the long life yet ahead of me, I felt it was an equivalent death to avenge. With a quick glance to the priestess fighting beside me, easily overpowering and purifying demons one after another, I brought my attention back to the task at hand and plunged an arrow into the heart of a demon advancing on the human woman as she was occupied with pulling her sword out of the fresh corpse of an Igarashi cub. Noticing the demon's approach just as my arrow sunk into the flesh, her eyes swivelled over to mine and sent a quick – but hesitant – nod my way before continuing her onslaught.
Despite my initial misgivings, we fought quite well together. Given that only about fifteen white tiger demons had fallen prey to us, we had actually fallen into an efficient pattern after a few of less-than-perfect attempts to fight off the demons together. The priestess would swing her sword masterfully while imbuing it with her powerful spiritual energy, injuring – if not purifying – multiple demons, and then I would follow up and finish off the few surviving demons as well as any that got to close to her while her attention was diverted.
Even with us fighting side-by-side, there was still an uneasy and brittle partnership between us. She seemed more at ease with this partnership than I was: only throwing a few nervous glances over her shoulder at me while readying her blade before throwing herself back into the battle. While the first few times had insulted me – as it was like she was confident in her ability to intercept me if I ever turned on her – I eventually summed up her nonchalance at turning her back to me to be the product of the bow in my hand as well as her young age. While she handled the blade and her spiritual powers well, her lack of experience showed itself when she failed to keep an eye on her surroundings – opening herself to demons who then caught her off-guard.
But even with my own comparative young age, I ensured that my back was never facing her. Our truce would eventually break down when there was no common enemy present, and even at the distance I stood from her my entire being bristled at her spiritual energy-fueled strikes. While I was certain I could win the fight between the two of us – I would not come out of it unscathed. Not with the amount of spiritual energy that radiated off of her. And certainly not with the ease she used her sword as a conduit for the potent energy.
It was clear that starting a fight with the priestess was unwise, but would the human be able to come to the same conclusion? I slid my eyes to her pale-skinned face as a feathered arrow was released from my bowstring and struck another demon dead. Lingering on the purple marking on her forehead for a few seconds before searching her eyes for the answer to the question in my mind: If the opportunity arose, would she turn her blade against me?
It wouldn't be too far-fetched for her to break the truce before it was just the two of us. After all, we had met pointing weapons at each other and the whole demon-human partnership couldn't last long. Considering she was a priestess sent to rid the nearby villages of their demon invaders, there were even more reasons to be cautious…
But with all my scrutiny of the woman's dark eyes, I couldn't find the answer to my uncertainties.
"Enough of this disgrace!" A voice snarled loudly through the air, and the demon clans stilled as it sounded. The priestess paused as her foes did, her eyes scouring the crowd of angry demons for the source.
Knowing the voice well, I let out a chilling breath that clouded the air as I readied my powers for the confrontation. My eyes scanned the crowd, noting that many of the older white tiger warriors previously present had disappeared from the crowd. Thinking back, only the younger warriors had been present when Isamu had rallied them. Had the older and wiser warriors fled when news of a priestess reached them? My brow furrowed at the thought, but the creases soon straightened as Itsuki growled out another sentence.
"Half-breed, where the hell are you?!"
"I thought I only took one of your eyes." I smirked, twirling a crystalline arrow around my fingers as I turned towards the demon as he parted the crowd and stepped into view. He still clutched his head, feebly trying to stop the bleeding of his lost eye as fury burned in the other. The injuries received from being struck by his late father had already healed – proving once more that he frequented the healing hut merely to torment me.
"Did you lose the other eye getting here, Igarashi?" The amusement laced in my voice did not go unnoticed, and a low growl came from him as he stalked forwards, "Or should I take this as an invitation to take that one from you as well?"
But instead of transforming into his bestial form and charging with reckless abandon, Masuhiro appeared behind him and snapped him out of his rage with a light touch to the demon's broad back. I narrowed my eyes at the Kitabayashi heir, and as Itsuki turned to his fellow bloodhounds Masuhiro shrunk from my withering gaze.
"Demons of Kitabayashi, do not let this traitorous healer draw breath any longer! She has killed my father – our leader – in cold blood while he was trying to accept her into our way of life!" He locked eyes with all of the demons present, trying to rally them into a cohesive unit than their scattered way of attacking (which made them quite easy to pick off one by one), "It is obvious whose side she's chosen – the side of our prey!"
"Wait, Itsuki! This isn't what we should be-!" Masuhiro's objections were silenced by the roar of the crowd, and Itsuki shrugged off the hand he laid on his back this time in favour of facing me. The twisted grin he wore on his face paled in comparison to the crazed look in his lone eye: it exuded bloodlust and hatred, throwing away all logical thoughts as he fell into the mindset of a depraved beast.
He brought shame to the name of the white tiger demons with that look alone, becoming merely a beast on the hunt when we were so much more than that. We had become so much more than the war-mongering nomads our ancestors were. But, with Itsuki guiding the village into a blood rage, they were soon drawn into the hunt like the blood hounds they were… It wouldn't be long before they started changing into their demon forms.
Said forms weren't too hard to deal with: they simply doubled in size as their human-like appearance was traded for that of a white tiger. The highly thought of fangs and claws included in the transformation as well as a toughened coat of beautiful white and black fur that would render any weapon not fused with energy absolutely useless. The Kitabayashi armour would grow with their bodies, as their own fangs were used to bind the material when it was made, and cover the thinner coat on the underbelly. Using a little more energy per demon wouldn't do much harm, especially with the priestess fighting alongside me for now. What would cause a problem is the increased speed this form gave them.
Taking a few leaps backwards, I called out to the unmoving human as I notched the crystalline arrow to Katashi's bow, and released it into a Kitabayashi demoness before she could begin to follow the others and transform, "Priestess, you might want to rethink where you're standing right now."
She glanced back at me, confusion clouding her face as she noticed how far away I was standing. The priestess didn't speak, turning back towards her enemies while raising her blade in preparation to defend against the next attack as the energy of the white tiger demons peaked.
"Don't say I didn't warn you~" While her shoulders tensed at the comment, and I imagined a scowl to be stretched across her face, she didn't give a vocal response to my mocking tone.
It happened quickly. The rapid release of energy from the group of demons blew the falling snow outwards and swirled the thickening flakes swiftly enough to create a blinding haze. Ghostly azure orbs pierced the white as they rose high above the ground, marking me as prey with the thundering growls that I felt in my bones. The sound stopped abruptly, and before the wind created by the transformations could dissipate, a large clawed paw already found itself moments from tearing into me. Anticipating the attack, I dodged it quickly, taking a few leaps backwards again before ducking under another swipe aimed for my head. Creating another arrow out of ice, I fired into the snow accurately as I barely dodged another swipe aimed at dismembering me. A pained howl reverberated through the air, although the source was hidden in the unending haze.
The storm that had been moving into the Kitabayashi forest had reached the village, the thick snowflakes that had idly floated to the ground were now following a harsh wind that created a white-out even thicker than the haze caused by the mass transformations of the demons. It would certainly create a disadvantage for the human priestess, and my gaze flashed over to where I had last seen the woman before we had been separated by the snow. Her figure was easy to pick out through the snowstorm, the slashes of energy coming from her attacks guiding my snow-piercing eyes to the source as I watched her battle with several demons at once.
Despite her disadvantage, she seemed to be holding her own decently. The thought of having misjudged her briefly floated through my mind before a surge of energy coming towards me had me flattening myself to the ground. The energy crackled overhead, and I could feel heat warm my skin and raise the hairs on my neck as I realized just how close it had been to hitting me. Maybe the priestess was trying to kill me after all. Shrugging off the thought, I gracefully picked myself off the ground and dodged another clawed strike as it indented the ground. With a smooth movement, the crystalline arrow I had made transformed into a shard in my hand and I jabbed it into the underside of the arm before it was retracted.
"Argh!"
Blood spurted from the wound, coating the bottom of my kimono in foul-smelling blood as I jumped away from the retaliation of the white tiger demon.
"What are you doing?! Kill her already, she's just a healer!"
The corners of my mouth twitched upwards as Itsuki's enraged voice rang out, easily tracking where the sound came from and which large figure it belonged to. While the blue eyes of the Kitabayashi demons were exceptional at seeing through heavy snowfall the white and black striped coat the demon forms made them blend in easily, even to my snow demoness eyes. So while humans are a playthings to us in this weather, my inability to transform as well is creating a disadvantage as well. Luckily my mixed heritage gives me more advantages than disadvantages in the snow. A sly smile spread itself across my face as the energy I had been building up since Itsuki's appearance had reached the necessary level to truly start the fight. Within moments, the energy shot outwards, creating a sphere in which I now had the advantage.
I faded into the snow and the circling movements of the demons surrounding me halted.
There had been no snow demons in Kitabayashi besides my mother, and she had disappeared a long time ago. There had been no one to teach me about my powers like the other white tiger children, and my father only knew so much and thought me too young to learn how to utilize my abilities… So I discovered it on my own after Master Katashi had taken me in, when I was determined to run away and exact my revenge openly. I learned about many of the traits my mother had passed on during those rebellious years.
"INOUE!" Itsuki called out before me, completely oblivious to the fact that I had slowly been making my way towards him in their confusion.
"Where did she go?!"
"She was just there!"
This ability was what I called 'Misdirection': to fade into the snow and redirect the attention of others. It only worked on those that were in range and only when the area had been covered in a haze of either snow or fog. The former component was harder to fulfill than the latter, as the range I had started with only had a radius of a few meters. After years of practicing and extending it, my range now reached a radius around fifty meters around me and held within it five white tiger demons at the moment – the distance my energy has to cover and contain. The initial energy that spread out to encompass my range alerted me to where those within my range were, and then the 'shell' of energy that surrounded Misdirection's area of operation then alerted me to who else entered. Anything within that shell was my domain, to do with as I please.
Misdirection's second condition was easier to meet even if it became exhausting after long periods. To reserve energy Misdirection was better suited to be used in a snowstorm such as the one I found myself in now. In an emergency I could generate a cloud of fog by chilling the air in my range. To maintain the fog it took a lot of energy and concentration, but in the warmer months it was the only option.
When Misdirection activated, I could either avoid those in range or draw the attention of them. Both used the same underlying mechanic: creating illusions in the snow and completely causing the navigational abilities and directional senses of those in range to fall under my control. If I wanted, I could keep whoever's in range trapped in the haze until the storm subsides or my energy dries up – all the while turning them around time and time again so that they wouldn't know which way was up anymore.
"Smell her out!"
"I don't smell anything!"
"How's she doing that?!"
It was a rather cruel ability, with how frazzled my prey became after toying with their senses a little: tricking what they had previously relied on wholeheartedly to not lead them astray to believe whatever I desired… But it wasn't without weaknesses. While my energy was also masked – as I could manipulate the senses into thinking so – it was not completely hidden, and so those who maintained a calm mind and could sense energy would figure out where I was if I wasn't careful.
"SHOW YOURSELF, HALF-BREED!"
But it was increasingly difficult to do the longer they were under my control, so I decided I wouldn't think less of the white tiger demons for their dwindling strategy as the minutes dragged on and I continuously redirected their attempts to find me by mindlessly lumbering forwards.
Notching another crystalline arrow to Katashi's bow, I took aim at Itsuki, who had remained in place and growled lowly as he tried to sniff me out. Releasing the arrow, it speedily flew towards his neck. His large ears twitched at the sound of the bowstring snapping back into place, and while I distorted the sound he lunged his head down towards me with his large teeth bared. With a quiet click of my tongue revealing my irritation at his unplanned movement and how it rendered the current trajectory of the arrow useless, I decided to attempt to at least strike the white tiger demon. On my silent command, the crystalline arrow splintered itself into shards, some of which embedding themselves along the soft expanse of his neck as I shuffled sideways to dodge his blindly snapping teeth.
Unknown to Master Katashi, the time spent practicing what he taught me had resulted in a lot of spare thinking time (as the old demon had continued to make me practice even when the application of poultices or bandages became muscle memory) I had taken it upon myself to name many of attacks I practiced. While I never intended on calling them out in the midst of battle, the expertly named 'Icicle Burst' was one of the finest names yet. It was only usable in combination with something I had previously made out of ice, as the attack was essentially just causing an imbalance in the energy that I used to create, in this case, the crystalline arrow.
The unfortunate thing about Icicle Burst is that after deciding where the imbalance happened (and thus deciding which way the shards spread out in) I no longer had any control over where the shards scattered. Not to mention how brittle the ice became after dispersing from the form I had initially crafted it into… But they drew blood readily enough, if the red lines that matted the coat of the furious Itsuki were any indication.
But in the gloating over his injury, the scent of human blood reached me. My sense of smell was leagues below that of animal-based demons such as the white tiger demons, but it was slightly better than that of a human… So for the scent to reach me when I couldn't sense the priestess in my range, there must be a lot of blood... I glanced towards the direction priestess again, a twinge of concern flooded my mind when my eyes were unable to pinpoint her figure with a quick scan of the area.
Should I go and help the priestess?
I nearly chuckled at the fleeting thought and how ridiculous it sounded: a demoness helping a priestess. Our truce nearly fell into the same category, but as it seemed foolish to have such an arrangement with a human, my mind sorted it into a 'business deal' rather than 'helping one another'.
"Finally decided to show yourself, you lousy half-breed?" Itsuki growled, towering above me as he met my gaze with a ravenous look. Large paws placed themselves beside me, trapping me as I blinked in confusion at his accuracy.
My eyes widened a fraction as I realized that my Misdirection had weakened when the smell of human blood made my concentration waver slightly, and as I notched another arrow to Katashi's bow I decided that instead of correcting my mistake and refocusing on Misdirection, I was going to end the battle quickly. With the other white-tiger demons closing in on my location, eager to back Itsuki up, it wouldn't be too hard. Itsuki bared his teeth and plunged his head downwards, opening his mouth widely as he planned to bite down on me.
I dropped to a crouch, the arrow discarded and dissolving into snowflakes as I pressed my free palm against the blanket of snow and felt the watery slush underneath easily gave way to my hand. Channeling my energy through the ground, my eyes closed to better visualize my final attack and decided where to build up energy to burst forth on my command. Heat crept down my back, and I felt that Itsuki was seconds away from snapping his mouth closed around me. His sharp fangs would easily dig into my flesh and cut me in half – an image which I decided to abandon as soon as it painted itself in my mind.
Stalagmites of ice erupted from the ground, raising up into the air high enough to pierce the flanks of the remaining white tiger demons who wanted my death. For each of the demons three crystalline spikes sandwiched their bodies in between them, holding them in place while a fourth was poised to breach the Kitabayashi armour and sink into the heart once the placeholders tore into skin and bone. I felt blood drip onto my shoulder from above, and as the pained shrieks sounded from the other four demons were silenced when the fourth spike made itself known I removed my hand from the ground and straightened myself.
Arctic Assault: Another attack of mine that I had named, where large spikes of ice shot up from the ground within my range wherever I deposited enough energy. Getting my energy to where I wanted it took precision, which came from guiding my energy from myself into the ground or the snow covering it and then directing it from there (which so far I could only do when my bare skin was in contact with said surface). While it would've taken longer to build up enough energy in the deposits, the fact that I simply converted the energy leftover from my abandonment of Misdirection into the deposits made the process a lot quicker this time, even though with such a quick dismissal most of the energy was wasted since I didn't draw it back towards me for reabsorption.
My eyes were met with the inside of Itsuki's mouth as they opened, thin crystalline stalagmites were hooked into the flesh of his jaw and gums and prevented him from biting down as he had planned. Because of the spikes that saved my life, Itsuki's heart remained unpierced even as three spikes had angled themselves into a pincer. Stepping out from between his propped open mouth, I smirked at the sight of the other white tiger demons who had thin spikes piercing failed armour.
More energy was required for thicker spikes, which I preferred using, but I can't say I was disappointed.
"I….noue…." Jagged breaths and a hacking cough prevented him from doing much more than snarling out my name, his lone eye still raging with fury and pain as he still lived, but was stopped in place by my ice spikes.
"Oooh, you don't sound too good there, Igarashi." Looking over his injuries as he continued to breathe in irregularly, I guessed that one of the thin blood covered spikes had stuck itself into the space between ribs, reaching far enough into the body that it having pierced the lung was highly likely.
I continued, "Seems like your lung isn't doing too well with a spike in it. It's too bad you don't have a healer that can fix you right up, since that's gonna hurt for a while." I walked up to him, peering smugly into his large blue eye, "If you don't die from it before you can heal on your own, of course."
He thrashed a bit at my comment, but his anger was immediately dashed when the spikes sunk into his body at the movement but the powerful swish of his tail didn't cease. The underside of his white and black striped coat was stained red, and droplets fell into growing red pools which had carved itself into the snow. Halting growls rumbled in his chest, and my fingers twitched around Katashi's bow as pity flashed through me. The thought of granting him a merciful death flickered through my mind and I nearly gave into it, had it not been for him opening his mouth.
"You… filthy half-breed… I'll… kill…" He growled out his threat lamely, and I rolled my eyes at how often I heard him voice the sentiment. It brought back all the disgust I felt for the demon, and I turned on my heel and started walking towards the forest. He continued to mutter insults through an open mouth, and I could picture him throwing a tantrum with how high and mighty he believed himself to be even after being defeated soundly.
Let the foolish cub suffer, then. I owe him nothing.
The thought fueled my steps until I reached the snow-filled forest. It was only then that I looked back over the village entrance, primarily to see if I would have any pursuers as I left the false heir for dead. Nothing stirred. I left the village behind and headed deeper into the silent woods, having a straight path from my current location to the secret training area Katashi had left from.
The longer I spent in the forest, the more my mind cleared and I was able to think. Master Katashi had probably left Kitabayashi forest without any trouble. The human priestess came up the path south of the village, and since the training ground was off in the forest to the west of the village, the likelihood of the two meeting was slim at best, especially since Masuhiro had alerted the village to the incoming priestess so soon after I returned from seeing the old demon off… But the unease that had settled into my heart failed to be lifted by facts, and only seeing him alive and well would erase it.
A gust of wind whirled around the trunks of trees and blew against my face, bringing with it a faint scent I identified as human blood after a second. My body spurred itself into action, leaving my mind far behind as I tried my best to track where the smell was coming from. After losing the trace a few times and wandering through the trees aimlessly until I picked it up again, I eventually found a trail of blood fell onto disturbed snow. The footprints were already being filled in as the snowstorm still raged high above the treetops, raining down heavy flakes even if the fierce wind was buffered by the woods.
If I followed the red line, it would lead me to the human priestess. I could probably get an answer out of her one way or another about Master Katashi, but then the slim chance of still being able to follow after Master Katashi would disappear completely. Either I follow the blood trail, or I try and determine which way Master Katashi could've gone… It was times like these that I regretted not having the enhanced smell of a white tiger demon.
With a sigh, I allowed the red line to lead me to the wounded priestess. The temporary truce had ended, but perhaps I could use my healing powers as a bargaining chip at first. If that failed, I would simply let her walk the snowy landscape until she finally broke under my Misdirection trap and tell me what I wanted to know. With a wicked grin, I picked up my pace and glided softly over the snow and winding tree roots.
After all, I didn't owe the priestess anything either.
O
-Disclaimer-
I do not own the InuYasha movies, manga, or anime. The only thing I own are my characters and the fanfic!
O Reviews O
ferallahey: Hahaha! A lot of excitement over Nozo working with Midoriko, eh? I can get behind that! But, as we've seen, Nozo seems to have a habit of turning against those she 'allies' with, so we'll have to see what happens!
Hmm… I'll try to explain what a yuki-onna is in the context of this fanfic (in other words, not entirely accurate to the actual Japanese mythology).
So, a yuki-onna (translated snow woman/snow demoness in the story) is a yokai (which loosely translates to demon) that is a personification of snow and ice. Most are female, though some male ones have been spotted from time to time. They bear a strong resemblance to humans, as the only thing notifying their demon blood are the pointed ears (much like most demons). They are rarely seen by humans and demons alike, as they tend to keep to themselves and are highly adept at losing unwanted attention in the snowy mountains they call home. Because of these rare sightings (and stories of mysterious women leading travellers to dangerous cliff sides or misfortune) most humans believe that following after a yuki-onna could cause an untimely end, and so they have gained the reputation to be rather ruthless and evil, though they have a surreal beauty to them.
Traits of a yuki-onna include: camouflage (in snow mostly, but fog as well), immunity to cold, illusory tricks (or misdirection), ice manipulation, being cold to the touch and having slightly better senses than humans (they are demons, after all).
So, because yuki-onna are more physically alike to humans (since they cannot transform into a 'demon form'), they also lack fangs or claws. Your specific example, Inuyasha, has them because he's half dog demon. Since dogs are animals and have claws and fangs, the trait gets passed on to dog demons. Snow and ice doesn't have such characteristics (namely, not an animal type of demon) and so, yuki-onna lack claws and fangs.
Nozo, while being a cross between her white tiger demon father and her yuki-onna mother, still does not have claws and fangs because she is a yuki-onna. Half-breeds only inherit the characteristics of one parent – there are no hybrid mixes with two demon parents. So, even though her father's demon breed has animal characteristics, they are not passed down to Nozomi.
An offspring between a human and demon is different, because the difference in strength between the two species (human and demon) is much greater than the difference in strength of two demons. The imbalance of power between the two has to find some sort of middle-ground: a half-demon. But, as we see with Inuyasha, this imbalance kind of sticks around and comes out when the demon blood is activated, as the hybrid body (made to balance the two different energies) is thrown off because the full demon blood can't be contained in the hybrid body...Or at least, that's the BS logic I'm using because it kind of makes sense to me, I just suck at describing it…
Nozo's age? Well, she's obviously alive in Midoriko's time, which I've decided to be around mid-12th century. I actually have a whole timeline set up for all of this, it's pretty sad…
If you want an exact age she was born in the winter of 1150. In this chapter the year is supposedly 1180, so Nozomi is 30 currently (which is extremely young for a demon). For an added bonus, Midoriko is 18 at this time (in this fanfic's timeline).
Older than Sesshomaru? Hmm… I'd say there around the same age. If anything, Nozomi might be slightly older. But, this is a detail I haven't put a lot of thought into yet, so it's subject to change later down the line! :3
emilyamazing: Thanks! Nozomi kind of outclasses the rambunctious cubs in this chapter simply because they're a little inexperienced and have never seen any sort of yuki-onna abilities (the main goal of which is to mislead enemies so that they can be picked off one by one, RIP little cubs), and Isamu might've not been the warrior he claimed to be… But I wonder how she'll face against stronger opponents?
O
So... it's been a while, eh?
Aaaaaaanyway,
You can find the reference that I'm using for Nozomi's clothing and whatnot on my DeviantArt profile under the same name (TheEmberWoods). Or you can search my username and probably find it that way as well (I tagged it... And I think that's how that works). I also have a AO3 account now if you prefer that, under the same name~
Next time on the LSL, an Inuyasha fanfic...
What in the literal world of Japan is going on?!
Nozomi's 'rare gift' is revealed?!
Is Master Katashi alright!?
Who the heck does this priestess think she is?
DEAR GOD DOES THIS EVEN GET TO SESSHOMARU?!
You'll have to tune in next chapter to maybe find out... :3
Thanks for reading, Fireflies!
-Love, Ember ;3
