Disclaimer: Violence, Adult Content, and no Hormones :o
Chapter 12
A Deathdealer, A Red Fox, A Paradox
"Speech" 'Telepathy' Thought "Dream"
"Vast untouched alabaster stretched over the seeming wasteland, the gusting wind becoming harsh and biting as the temperature dropped and the icy dunes covering the path camouflaged any dangerous drop off the foreboding edge. The bright, stunning white of the great winter range stung the sensitive crimson ireful glare of the lone figure draped in heavy, black leather and fur-lined cloak as she raised her hand to part the layer of ice that walled her path up the steep and hazardous mountain. Scattering the piled ice and snow to the howling breeze, she set her jaw as a particularly icy cold front battered her slightly trembling form, as the cleared path wound up into the clouded sky and the stultifying edge gave way to a pitted valley of jagged rock and snow. Kyouran continued up to the plateau, her gait solid against the boorish elements.
Her mind wandered over ill-forgotten memories as her heavy-soled boots trudged through the compressed powder and her cloak whipped behind her in a sinuous dance with the wind. The wind howled woefully as she reached the top of the plateau, her gaze penetrating over the rest of the world that sprawled beneath her hundreds of feet below. A wayward ache settled in her chest, under the dormant pendant of her necklace. Unbidden, her memories brought her the sight of gentle silver eyes, alabaster features, and flowing graphite hair mingled with the perpetual white of the snow gleaming off the figure of her thoughts. Snapping herself out of the memory, Kyouran huffed to herself and plopped down into the lotus position on the snow-covered top.
"Shido…you still manage to peer down at me through the snow-filled clouds, after so long…" she sighed in a soft tone, a frown crossing her tanned features.
The howling of the wind settled to soft whispering as the cold front passed, bringing with it a sense of calm over the mountain range. Kyouran pulled her hood back, allowing her hair freedom to play in the gentle wind. Her eyes softened as an unexpected flake of snow fluttered down from the sky to land on her cheek, where it instantly melted into a drop that ran down to drip onto her gloved hand. She looked up to the heavens as more flakes fluttered down like brilliant sakura petals, flowing gently by the wisps of northern breeze. Kyouran stood up as the flurries increased, and watched the heavens as flakes landed in her dark mane and clung to the fur of her cloak.
"…are you crying…Shido," her monotone timbre paused as she blinked a small flurry from her long eyelashes, "…the God of the Northern Mountain Range should not cry for a demon deathdealer… not when he watches her live like a weak fool…a fool weakened by her memories…" Her gaze narrowed as a gust tossed her hair and made the flurries dance in languid whirlwinds around her. "Hm… you still don't like it when I call you by your title," she mused as soft flakes kissed her skin, "Fine… you win…" Her gaze caught the clouds parting in the far horizon as dusk settled the sky to mingle in soft auras of violets, pinks, and hues of the world's blush as it descended slowly into its time of slumber. "…I'll stop reminiscing and watch the sunset you made…Shido…"
The small clearing at the eastside of the priestess village was busy with the bustle of preteen girls and elder officials as they took charge of the small crowd and directed them to sit in their assigned places under the ample shade of trees of their humble meeting place for the prestigious apprentice onmyoji trials. The meeting place consisted of a natural flat rock perch that was used as the stage for the official conducting the lessons or for the high priestess herself to address the village. The perch only stood two feet off the regular ground and was smoothened at the sides to ebb the jagged corners in order to prevent any rambunctious children from hurting themselves.
As the strict onmyoji officials instructed the girls to settle down and take seats on the two long wood benches that stood angled from the left and right sides of the perch, leaving a free space down the middle and in front of the perch, Mekareh took the chance to slip her charm bracelet into her alabaster glove and straighten the collar of her apprentice robe before taking a seat on the front bench close to the perch. Today's trial involved spiritual energy and the ability to use one's spells naturally and properly for self protection, both offensively and defensively.
She was incredibly excited and anxious for the trial. Her brilliant green eyes sparkled as she looked at all sides at the other would-be apprentices, eager to see who would be conducting the trial. Her father had ruffled her hair that morning as she brimmed with glee, mentioning that maybe the high priestess herself would be in charge of the trial, being that it was the last big lesson before the final apprentice onmyoji test that would make one out of the dozen prospective candidates her apprentice and soon-to-be priestess. She couldn't stop fidgeting from the excitement of making it past the final trial. Her father had told her that everyone was very proud of her, since she was the youngest candidate ever to make it into the trials and the youngest female to ever show such promise in her lessons.
Snapped out of her thoughts by the clinking bell being rung in indication of the trial's commencement, she noticed how all the candidates immediately mumbled into silence and how the officials created a semi-circle to enclose the meeting area and prevent any disturbances from entering off the main road in the village. The priestess Murami, who had been in charge of her lessons up to that point, stood on the perch with a long and serious look as she placed the bell back in its silk pouch and tucked it away into her robe.
"The final trial shall commence forthright. At its closure, three candidates shall advance to the final apprentice onmyoji test. You will be tried for your skill and innate abilities at invoking spiritual essence for self protection. Your… 'instructor' will decide the course of the trial, as well as nominate the final three candidates that will move on to the test. Blessed be you all." The priestess curtly nodded and departed, and the whispers began.
"Seems that 'she' is late," one of the officials promptly whispered to priestess Murami as she joined the line of officials. Priestess Murami's caramel eyes didn't flicker as she responded softly, "she was due this morning."
The whispers were also extensive in the ranks of the waiting candidates. "I wonder who will be the instructor," Mekareh heard someone say at the end of the bench to another. "Maybe the high priestess herself," another answered. "That's stupid. She's conducting the final test, after all," snapped quietly another. Mekareh simply kept quiet, knowing she wasn't really accepted by the others because of her young age and the lack of commonality that she had to other children in the village. Sure she was loved by all for being the only daughter of "Kakyo the True," but her youth and personality were of a completely different ether than the others. Most of the other would-be apprentices ignored her or dismissed her candidacy as mere favoritism because of her father's status, so she found herself always practicing by herself and excluded from the other's conversations.
Suddenly, all conversation ceased as the stealthy galloping of frenzied hoofs became louder and louder in approach to the trial, and all the officials who made the tight excluding circle from the main road started gasping in shock and horror as the unlikely trial instructor appeared. Not parting fast enough for the approaching figure, the black and stout mare was made to jump over the diving priestesses and vaulted into the free space of the meeting grounds, snorting and neighing as she circled the tight perimeter before halting. All those present quietly cringed from trepidation as the figure swiftly stood down from the majestic animal's back and planted her worn leather boots on the dirty ground, that is, all but one.
Mekareh's eyes brightened as Kyouran gestured for the horse to gallop back to its stable, causing the crowd of appalled officials to make way for the raven-colored mare as they scoffed and dusted their robes off. Turning her attention to the tense candidates sitting stiffly on the benches, Kyouran ran her fingers through her mussed hair and huffed in slight annoyance. Her tattered and dirt-scuffed gi clung loosely to her curvaceous frame and earned many sneers from the small crowd as she snapped the latches of her armor off and shrugged the heavy metal to the ground off to the side, almost crushing a couple of sniveling officials' toes.
"You are late, sister," priestess Murami remarked in a steely hush, very characteristic to her poised and un-confrontational self. Kyouran sighed in apathy as she pulled the sheath of her sword free from her hip and tossed it to join the breastplate. "Those tattered garments are not suited for an occasion of this prestige."
Without turning to face the small woman, Kyouran replied dejectedly, "I am here to judge a few twits, not for a fashion show. Now step back and get out of my way."
The priestess lowered her gaze and turned back to her position with the other officials before signaling to some of Kakyo's village sentinels to take care of Kyouran's discarded equipment. Kyouran grunted and walked over to the front of the perch. Turning back to face her stiff audience, Kyouran set her cold crimson gaze to drag slowly over every anxious face and resentful look, until she landed on the bright-smiling and happily-waving Mekareh. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and stood in her imposing casual stance.
"Your original instructor, Sumeragi Saiga-sama could not make it. I am his last minute replacement. The fact that no other human official could do this is beyond me, so lets just cut to the chase," Kyouran stated in her icy tone, her iron features tensing as she saw one of the candidates raise her hand meekly. Her gaze intensifying on the girl, she barked, "What?"
The girl flinched and fiddled with one of the tassels on her collar as she piped, "My mommy says you're too rough to be around children, so why are you the instructor? And don't you know you're supposed to stand on the perch when you talk?" The other girls around absent-minded Moira slapped their hands on their foreheads and inched away from her.
The corner of Kyouran's mouth twitched as she gazed at the girl. "Tell your 'mommy' to start investing in a dowry for you, because you just failed the apprenticeship. You're going to need a lot of money and possessions to be able to ensnare a human moron as your mate." When the girl only looked at her with wide-eyed shock, she scowled and stood over her with her imposing height. "The perch is for stubby humans, and as you can see, I don't need to make myself anymore taller to address you calves. Leave."
Her eyes welling up instantly, the girl broke out in wails and ran like a sputtering toddler to push between the officials and shriek all the way to her home on the opposite side of the village.
The officials, minus priestess Murami, shouted in disapproval of the treatment, haughtily calling for something to be done. When they wouldn't quiet down, Kyouran faced them and sent a surge of ki outwards to push them back and to land on their rears. "As I was saying," she muttered tersely, "You have been told what the trial entails, and how its course is decided by me. If you don't like it, take it up with old lady Sumeragi." She narrowed her eyes at the still muttering officials, and they all fell silent as they once again dusted themselves off. "Now, I will pick each of you randomly and test your spiritual abilities. If I find you passable, then you'll pass. Simple, so keep it that way, got it?" she instructed in her tenor monotone.
"Yes Nisou Kyouran!" all the girls replied carefully. Mekareh wondered what kind of test Kyouran planned, and anxiously awaited as Kyouran trailed each girl, and finally pointed to the girl right next to her. Paling, the girl stood and nervously walked over to stand across from Kyouran when she was gestured to by the demon priestess.
"One reason Sumeragi Saiga-sama was to be the instructor of this trial was because of his innate spiritual strength. As the head of the Sumeragi clan and lead onmyoji in the country, he would have sensed and tested each of your abilities the way one feels the air on their skin. Another reason is because he will be present during the final test, and will recommend his choice to old lady Sumeragi, so he wanted to spend time with the candidates and see what each could offer as an apprentice. Since he could not make it, he nominated me as his unwilling replacement. My spiritual strength is one that is different from yours and Sumeragi-sama's. It isn't spiritual at all. It flows through me like blood flows through humans and animals. Because of this, I can sense your soul's life energy, and the power you exert in using it." Pausing in her monologue, she allowed her aura to come to life, red and scintillating as it licked her frame. "I will show you what I expect from each of you," she charged up a hot ki sphere that flickered and bristled with power and blasted it toward the girl. Yelping in terror, she froze and shut her eyes, waiting for the fire to sear into her, but it never came.
Everyone gasped as Kyouran willed her attack to maneuver around the girl and move towards priestess Murami, who skillfully raised a spiritual shield with the defensive spell she held between two fingers out in front of her. As the blue aura faded and the priestess stood down from her position, Kyouran explained, "Deflect and even repel the attacks back to me if you can. If you want to show off, attack me before I attack you, but you are not to move from where you will stand. Clear?"
Only intense silence was her answer before one of the tallest girls stood from her seat. "Are you actually going to let her do this? She could kill us!" she shouted at the officials, "She doesn't even care if she does hurt one of us. This is cra—" the girl was cut off by the ki blast that singed a hole into the ground in front of her feet. Dropping back in her seat, the girl looked back at the iron countenance of the instructor.
"Fear of death is good." Her eyes narrowed as she continued, "being a priestess carries the outcome of death, everyday, every second. If you cannot take living in fear, then get out of my sight! You're wasting my time." She ignored the girl as she grimaced and bolted through the officials, disqualifying herself from the trial. "Now if there aren't any further outbursts, I was going to test this calf. What do they call you, girl," she muttered scornfully and set her heavy gaze on the trembling girl.
"Tohru…" the girl mewled nervously.
"Tohru…let the exam begin," she rasped coyly and powered up. The girl nervously held up her hand in the defensive symbol and pulled a blank spell paper from her robe. Uncurling her fist, Kyouran sent slurries of ki attacks towards the girl, who recited her spell in mumbled whispers and deflected each, her blue aura dissipating the attacks before they could ricochet and cause damage. When everyone cheered for her, the girl dropped her guard and smiled to her friends, and was blown back by a powerful blast into the line of officials, whom broke her fall. A bit stunned, the small crowd fell quiet. "Pathetic…you, let's go!" The next girl didn't last one attack and was flung into the air, getting the back collar of her robe caught in one of the tree's thick branches. "Next!"
After eight girls, the officials began to complain that no girl would be left to take the final exam. Mekareh knew Kyouran would be hard, but not to the point that no one could be able to get there spells out before being sent flying. "Kid! Stop daydreaming and let's go," Kyouran's rough tone snapped Mekareh out of her thoughts.
Running to her position, the auburn-haired girl bowed before her instructor and immediately prepared herself. Inwardly smirking, Kyouran charged both hands with glowing aura and pressed her hands outward in a bowl shape and blasted an attack that sent the dust whirling all around. Mekareh held her hand up in the defensive gesture and recited her protection incantation as she pulled a blank slip from her robe and held it between thumb and middle finger as she traced a pentagram with her index finger on one of the sides. Her straight hair whipped all around her from the surge of energy as red lines filtered on the piece of paper and formed a pentagram. Flicking the paper towards Kyouran, it magically became a spiritual fighting bird in the form of a white crow with red eyes. Dodging the bird's beak from slicing her face, Kyouran snatched it into her hand, and it fizzled back to a crumpling paper. Mekareh's blue aura ebbed into wisps of energy the breeze carried away as Kyouran ceased her attack.
Looking at her friend and pupil coolly, Kyouran sighed. "Passed."
Mekareh squealed and jumped happily. "I did it! I passed! I can't believe it!" she piped happily and ran over to Kyouran and hugged her arm after she had grunted and patted her head.
"Of course the little suck-up would pass. Kakyo-san's precious daughter gets nothing but the best," one of the remaining girls jealously scoffed.
Glaring at the girl with murderous intent, Kyouran barked, "Well so will you, since you've failed and have time to suck-up to your teacher for another chance in the trials, in about 5 years."
Chocking on her tongue, the girl quivered in embarrassment and humiliation before stomping to her feet and running from the meeting place in a huff.
"Well, Murami. Here are your 3 finalist. All of you get out of my way," Kyouran muttered in annoyance and pushed through the line of officials before phasing out of sight.
"Gauh! This is an outrage! She didn't even test the last two girls; this is unacceptable—"
"Well you will all accept it because high priestess has said so!" priestess Murami finally shouted, shocking everyone there. "Now, see to it that each girl's parents are congratulated. I will tell the high priestess of the outcome." With that, she turned and exited the meeting place in route to high priestess Sumeragi's.
Ignoring all the commotion, Mekareh skipped past the crowd and squealed in happiness as she pulled her white gloves off and freed her silver charm bracelet. "Father will be so happy! And I hope you are too…mother." Her whisper floated merrily to the fluffy clouds lazily trailing the blue sky, where they would never be forgotten.
Kneeling before her alter, Sumeragi Hitomi-sama prayed silently to her ancestors as she lit a white candle, as was customary for her every eve, when she heard the crash of heavy equipment raucously echo in her main room. Not even reacting in surprise to the crash, she apathetically remarked, "Even when Saiga-sama manages to talk you into a favor, you always seem to rebel against me," she paused and stood, turning to direct her raven gaze at the cold figure of the priestess warrior that outlined the twilight coming from the open door, adding dryly, "You must go to Edo."
Raising a tense eyebrow, Kyouran muttered, "Those punk sentinels have already given me your 'orders', old woman," she paused as she stepped over her discarded equipment and crossed her arms. "I'm not your errand girl."
High Priestess Sumeragi patiently closed her eyes as she replied, "You are a priestess warrior. Your going to Edo is important because it has to do with one of your tasks—"
"Say whatever you wish to justify your asinine request, but I'm not going," she interrupted contumely, narrowing her unflickering gaze of fire towards the woman who raised her in her 5 years of life. "If your petty revenge scheme for how I conducted the trials today is through, I'll be going to my private quarters now," she tersely muttered as she turned on her heel to head back out the way she came in, poignantly ignoring her discarded armor and sword so the old woman would have to deal with moving them her weak self.
"…Saiga-sama is at Edo Castle. That is why he could not make today's trial."
That made Kyouran pause in her exit and look over her shoulder skeptically at the middle-aged high priestess. "What does that have to do with my going to Edo?" she inquired in a cold monotone before turning back around to face the high priestess.
Thoughtfully gazing at her as she spoke, the high priestess folded her hands behind her, "Emperor Higashimaya beckoned Saiga-sama to go to Edo immediately. I have consulted my brother and he says that the Emperor is not himself and that he wears some sort of metallic coin around his neck that seems to be the cause of his difference. He feels a dark presence around him. You must infiltrate the castle and retrieve the coin from his neck and bring it to Saiga-sama so that he can ascertain what hold it is under," she paused for seeming emphasis and added, "it could all be related to the immense surge in demonic activity in the country lately."
Crossing her arms stiffly once again, Kyouran tersely said, "Infiltrate as in with ninjutsu tactics, I take. You do remember I'm a sheep-herding assassin; maybe you should reconsider, old wo—"
"I'm not making an order or request of you. I am merely voicing Saiga-sama's petition for your help in the matter. Your spiting me because I have delivered the request does not change the fact that you're denying Saiga-sama, not me," she interrupted with expert deference that is entitled to her, turned her back on Kyouran, and returned to her alter.
Setting her jaw and biting back the sneer that narrowed her eyes at the old human's back, Kyouran managed to will the slight pulsing of the garnet pendant in its onyx casing back into dormancy. Keeping the temper out of her voice, she asked with cold steel in her tone, "When?"
"Tonight."
Turning to walk back out into the advancing night and take immediate flight with her ki, Kyouran suddenly paused halfway out the door and looked back over her shoulder. "Are you sure that is the only thing that is going on, old 'priestess'?" Kyouran suspiciously remarked, feeling she did not need anymore surprises to pop up and get ripped in the throat from her loss of temper.
"If you are to make it before dawn breaks, you must leave soon," was her only answer as she bowed her head and resumed her prayers.
Grunting, Kyouran walked down the steps and powered her aura to thinly envelop her form. Before blasting off at full speed for her destination another province away, she managed to mutter with derision her own type of goodbye.
"Give your ancient bones some rest, you damned crafty old bat."
The Edo-jo was ominously lit by the scattered torch flames under a darkly-clouded night sky, causing the water of the many moats to resemble unmoving tar until a bristling breeze stirred the surfaces and caused the trees and their branches to sway like malevolent giants with wayward limbs. The 100 men guard house inside the Otemon was brightly lit from the inside and the murmurs of the guards on their patrols and watches was distinguishable from her perch on the most imposing tree top inside the compound. Even with the moonless night overhead, Kyouran wisely chose to done a black ninja robe complete with hood and mask instead of her bright white priestess warrior clothes. Her crimson eyes scanned the immense grounds all around for any activity, and noted the unusual amount of armed guards that patrolled the many types of vicinities. Diving off the tree top to land in a feline crouch on the nearest solid block wall that faced the Fujimi Yagura, Kyouran assimilated into the shadows just as a pair of guards strolled ahead of her.
"Oy, Teshimine-senpai! Why do you think the taichou has us patrolling so intensely lately?" the slender-built and young guard of the pair muttered to his full-bodied patrolling partner who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Masaki. You ask useless questions. It is our duty to patrol as many times as we're ordered to; nothing more, nothing less," the experienced monotone of the dark-eyed man made the other sigh.
"I understand that. But I mean if you've heard of the rumors. Do you think they're true?" the other grumbled and shut an eye from the gusty breeze that whirled through and between them.
"Ah. Kitsune no Aka and his secret liaisons in the imperial court. You rookies just love your gossip and speculations," was the other's amused reproach to his eye-rolling partner.
"It's not gossip! Aren't you a bit interested to know what's going on? I mean the emperor's weird behavior, no one allowed to go in and out of the imperial palace, and then talk of Kitsune no Aka wandering secretly in Edo?" the other remarked and pulled his robe closer around him with his shivering fingers. "It's cold out."
"It isn't our business to wonder until we're told otherwise, Masaki-kun," the older man smirked at the other's annoyance and winked teasingly as he added, "The samurai and ronin tales rile up your imagination too much."
"Gauh, Teshimine-senpai," the other whined and added quickly, "The legendary Kitsune no Aka from the legendary Forty Seven Ronin could be in Edo right now, plotting against what remains of the shogunate and the emperor, charming allies into following him and sneaking around the Edo-jo as I speak! That is not exciting to you?"
Snorting at the wide-eyed look of excitement from the younger guard, he replied, "A legend within a legend. You and I both know that the 47th ronin who escaped punishment is probably in a province somewhere farming and making many boys to take over the family duties, not running around like this legendary pseudo villain gathering forces against the shogunate. And even if he was, you should be focused on your duties instead of daydreaming these adventures." The other's loud sigh made him chuckle. "You look cute when you're frustrated, Masaki-kun," he debonairly muttered in a casual husk as he inched closer to the younger man.
"T-Teshimine-senpai!" the other choked as a blush overtook his pale features and stiffened in his stroll as the other chuckled with mirth. "I don't know what's worse; your indifference to adventure or your seduction…"
Kyouran snickered from her perch at the roof of the Fujimi Yagura as the strong wind muffled the older man's deep laugh. She raised her gaze across from her to the imperial palace. She could already see the many guards standing watch through the open windows of the stately edifice.
Unsure of the location of the emperor's quarters, she phased onto the corner ledge of the palace's roof and slipped down the opposite side in search of an unguarded entry. Spotting a small alcove of a balcony right below her with a single guard, she deduced that it must be the emperor's quarters beyond, since it had an impressive view of the sprawling landscape and the long moat wall trailing the black waters like a ledge.
The guard yawned, scratching the back of his neck from exhaustion and boredom. Walking in a crouch down the side of the wall, she knelt on the ledge of the wooden balcony rail and used a pressure point on the back of the guard's neck, knocking him out, and grabbed the back of his robe, easing him down to the floor so he wouldn't make a thudding noise.
Stealthily making her way past the elaborate wooden doorway that gave access to the spacious room, Kyouran scanned the room for any irregularities before fading in, her crimson eyes seeing perfectly in the pitch darkness. The emperor's bed was modeled from the European style. With extravagant draperies enclosing the sleeper in the bed and massive posts carved out of cherry wood— it was a dubious sign of how the outside influence was slowly seeping into the Land of the Sun. Seeming to float closer in the darkness to the drapes, Kyouran listened to the slight snore the occupant took on in his slumber. Pulling the drapes slowly opened with her will, she revealed the sleeping form of a man in deep maturity, his pale features looked tired and wary. His dark hair fell in tussles on his brow and around his ears, a visual contrast to the heavy coin that rested on his chest. The coin's chain was that of a thinly braided silk that clashed with his neck.
Carefully reaching towards the side of the emperor's throat to retrieve the coin, Kyouran's fingers halted as she sensed the spiritual binding that protected the coin, and as a result, the slumbering emperor. It wasn't dark, but that of a high power that only one person she knew could possibly have—
"Higashimaya-uesama!" She twisted around and clamped her hand on the guard's mouth, lifting him off his feet, and slammed him against the doorframe of the balcony.
"Assassin! Help! Guards!" She looked over her shoulder as she let the unconscious guard slip from her grasp to crumble to the floor. The terrified emperor paled as white as his sleeping robe at the piercing demonic gaze that glared at him. Phasing in front of the retreating man, she grabbed him by the front of his robe and tossed him through the drapes of his bed as the door was broken through and four armed guards roared in. "HELP ME YOU FOOLS! It's a demon!"
Kyouran went into her stance, considering aborting her task, when she heard the continual shouting of a familiar tenor voice rush down the hallway and burst through the room.
"Please let me through!" the person shoved past the first two guards. "Would you kindly get out of my way?!" he shouted and parted the last two guards. Wide purple-blue eyes stared over at her under fine raven bangs. "Kyouran-chan! You made it!" Saiga-sama shoved the guards from his side and adjusted his light gray robe. "What's with the outfit?" he said as he wrinkled his fine slender nose in confusion.
Ripping the hood and mask off, Kyouran growled at the situation, barking, "What do you mean what's with the outfit? This is because of your damned request!"
Bringing his forefinger to his mouth in astonishment, Saiga then laughed and started gesturing for everyone around him to be at ease. "Higashimaya-sama, please don't be afraid. This is the person I called to aid me in our predicament," Saiga jovially remarked and gestured towards the fearful emperor to come out from under his covers. "And please, gentlemen, lower your weapons. She isn't going to eat you. Her bark is worse than her bi—"
"SAIGA!" the young man flinched and turned his gaze towards the fuming Kyouran. Laughing falsely and grinning like a sneaky child, he stood quietly as she began to shout in controlled anger, "What in the nine damned hells is going on?! I came here to get the coin off that weakling's neck! Like you requested!"
"Ah-heh, well," he paused and teetered back on his heels as he spoke, "I needed you to come to Edo and help me with something. The emperor's necklace is a charm I blessed and bound with a spiritual protection."
"…why-then-did-you-request-me-to-get-it-from-him!?" she snarled at him and made all the men in the room nervous at the sight of her burning red eyes and pointed fangs.
"Oh, uh, that wasn't my idea, Kyouran-chan—"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"Ok, ok!" he smiled calmly at her as a vein throbbed to life on her temple. "Well, my original favor was surely something you would never in a million years agree to if I didn't ask you in person, so Hitomi nee-san thought that, heh, well..." he trailed off and her expression darkened even more.
"So the old battle ax actually concocted the coin thing just so I'd come over here and help you with something else?" Kyouran's garnet stone began to flare brightly through the heavy black ninja shirt as she loomed over the still smiling young man. "What the hell do you really want then, Sumeragi?" she growled with acid in her tone.
Saiga winced at the use of his surname. "Well, we need to speak to you in private about it," Saiga placidly replied and looked toward the still trembling emperor.
Still suspicious and wary of her, he inched closer to Saiga and stood behind him as he ordered his guards to leave. After they all begrudgingly left the emperor, he fortified himself to actually address his guests. "Well, Sumeragi-sama?"
Saiga cocked his head to the side and smiled. "What we all need is some tea and treats!"
"You don't need anymore damned sugar, Saiga! Jut hurry up and show me to wherever we're to have this conference before I leave," she contumely threatened and crossed her arms, after snapping her fingers and materializing her usual attire.
The emperor's jade eyes didn't revert to their normal size the entire time he mutely led them out of his chambers and into a private hall, with a cozy throne and table ready with the refreshments Saiga eagerly accepted. Refusing to sit, Kyouran leant against the closest pillar in the room and watched as Saiga calmed the emperor before getting into their true business.
"Were you able to sleep well, uesama? I mean, before Kyouran scared the color from your cheeks?" he warmly asked as he stirred the contents of his cup and nibbled on a treat.
The emperor wearily sighed and nodded. "I've been so exhausted from all of this. Thank you for your spiritual protection, Sumeragi-sama," the man smiled weakly before nursing his tea.
"You've been getting attacked by spiritual forces. That accounts for your odd behavior for the past weeks," Kyouran bluntly deduced after replaying the conversation of the two guards from earlier.
"Odd behavior? Is that what is being said?" Higashimaya blanched as he inquired in a frantic tone. "Without having a moment's peace and having to totally make the decisions, I'm sure the people have noticed my fray and think I'm going mad!"
"I thought you were simply a symbolic ruler? The shogunate calls the shots here," Kyouran inquired flatly from her casual position.
Saiga finished his tea and answered, "All the members of the shogunate were assassinated a week ago, even those in line to succeeding the head of the Tokugawa. The imperial court has been covering it all up, and the emperor has been put as auxiliary ruler." He pushed his cup away and straightened into his sober demeanor, continuing matter-of-factly, "The emperor called for my help then, and I used deep spells to shroud some of the onmyoji from my shrine to impersonate the shogunate members. Unfortunately this won't last for very long, and we need to come to a head before the country goes into ultimate crisis."
His serious look caused Kyouran to straighten and walk over to where they sat. "But you know who assassinated the shogunate, and that's the bigger problem," she stated coolly and crossed her arms.
Saiga's eyes were shadowed by his fine raven bangs as he looked up at her. "The demon underground has been organizing. Instead of rogue factions, packs, and clans of different demons, they're all joining. Something…or someone is organizing them," he paused and gave her a look that mirrored her stoic one, "this force is responsible for the spiritual attacks on his highness, and for the assassinations. This is all in their grand scheme—"
"Get rid of the human power, break the control, and destroy the symbol," Kyouran finished his thought, adding, "but there's one more catalyst you haven't mentioned in all of this."
The emperor and Saiga looked at each other, then back at her.
"Very impressive, Oni Hakaisha."
Kyouran raised a delicate eyebrow and watched from the corner of her eye the figure emerge from behind one of the pillars on the other side of the hall. The samurai armor gleamed red and black in the light as it emerged from the shadows. Crimson eyes looked over the vibrant red and polished black that extended from the top of his kabuto all the way down to his kakozuri. The touseigusoku looked menacingly at her from the furious expression of the ressei men that covered the figure's face. "I like a woman who can get the right explanation from the most minimum of information," the figure mused with poised charm from a vibrating baritone rasp that she assumed was from a voice distorter located in the mouth of his red somen. He walked with a powerful stride over to them, as if the armor was part of his skin, and stood facing her.
Their heights weren't much different from a few inches. She crossed her arms as he bowed his kabuto-clad head. "Kitsune no Aka," she said, earning a vibrant chuckle from the mysterious ronin in front of her.
"It's humbling to hear my title with such indifference," he retorted in the unnatural deep rasp that distorted his true voice, and faced the other men present. "Nice to see you again, Sumeragi-sama. You as well, Higashimaya-san," the red samurai remarked plainly, making it a point that the emperor was no more than an equal to him.
The emperor's weary expression turned into one of distaste for the legendary instigator known as the 47th surviving ronin. "You forget yourself, ronin," he spat condescendingly and was halted from his verbal tirade by a peace-keeping Saiga.
"Now-now, gentlemen! Please let's not partake in the bickering again," Saiga chided pleasantly, then remarked to Kyouran, "I guess you've got the gist of what the predicament is, ne?"
Huffing in boredom, she replied, "The ronin and his forces were suspect number one for the shogunate assassinations, until you intervened and saw the truth. If he had been responsible for the killings, he would have immediately taken control and overthrown the empire and the emperor's head would be displayed with the rest of the Tokugawa in his victory parade, but the imperial court managed to cover it up without any problems."
"Impressive observations," Kitsune no Aka rasped, then shrugged his armored shoulders as he added, "and so very true." At the emperor's angry growl, he continued, "I was still making my plans to overthrow the shogunate in my secret camp when imperial forces suddenly attacked us. I had no knowledge from my informants of such an attack, so I was caught by surprise. What surprised me more was when we crushed the attack and I gave no word to retaliate against the imperial court, and later found many of my men burning in a bonfire outside of one of the imperial compounds."
"A third party was pulling the strings for you and the emperor to eliminate each other and throw the country into anarchy," she stated dejectedly and yawned, losing interest quickly as the conversation progressed.
"Precisely. You must be bored," he remarked with a coy edge that characterized him as the Red Fox, adding, "I came to Edo at Sumeragi-sama's request, already aware that I was being set up for something I was still planning to do."
Suddenly standing from his seat, Saiga stated seriously, "The point is, something bigger than all of us is organizing for the biggest demonic takeover ever. We aren't enough to stop it; the people are the defining factor to success against this threat. The only way we can ensure Japan's future is to give the people stability. Higashimaya-uesama and Kitsune-sama have agreed to join their forces and to pull the country together. The emperor has decided to embark on a campaign throughout the country making appearances before the people to assure them of his competency in the eyes of the shogunate and of its biggest rival, who will accompany him as a partner in alliance—"
"As unlikely an alliance, but fine," the ronin jokingly cut in, goading the emperor to seethe, then added, "and we'll share power of the country after it is revealed of the unfortunate plague that killed the Tokugawa's."
Closing her eyes to run their plan in her mind without her impatience flaring, she grunted softly, then remarked, "And, pray tell, what does all of this insignificance have to do with you needing my help, Saiga?" She opened her eyes to narrowed lids and focused them on the somber purple-blue eyes under those raven strands of hair, adding, "seems to me you weak fools have it all planned."
Running his alabaster fingers through his hair, Saiga sighed and said, "Kitsune-sama has a special provision for his going along with the plan—"
"Something the selfish bastard is demanding or else he'll betray us and go public with the truth!" the emperor irately cut in as he stood and began pacing in his temper loss.
Saiga sighed, exhausted from his mediating, and looked at the red clad ronin. Putting his hands on his hips, his form of saying that the niceties were over, he authoritatively stated, "I won't accompany the emperor on his campaign," he paused as the man scoffed and as Saiga shook his head, "but my armor will…" he trailed off as Saiga sighed and looked at Kyouran, waiting for her reaction.
Looking at the two other men, then back at the Red Fox, she growled and turned away. "No."
"But Kyouran!" Saiga whined.
"No!" she barked as she began to stride down the hall for her exit.
"C'mon, Kyouran, Please! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!" he beckoned as he blocked her from going any further down the hall.
"I-SAID-NO! Move before I throw you out of my way!" she hollered as he began to hop back and forth while she tried to dodge him.
He paused and said, "This has directly to do with you too, Kyouran and you know it! What's the point of going on day in and day out slaying and destroying demons when they're surging back 3 times in their numbers? While you impersonate Kitsune-sama and escort the emperor you can do your own investigating of who's behind this. They're getting organized…and smarter. If you can stop it at the source then your purpose in life is completed and you are free from human rule."
Narrowing her eyes at him, she intimidatingly loomed over him and growled, "I am under no one's rule, Sumeragi. Not yours, not the old bats, and especially not under a bunch of stupid mortal cows."
Unfazed by her intimidation, Saiga crossed his arms and gave her his rarest iron expression as he growled, "Then do it to relieve the aggravation of killing those not worth your time!" he paused and composed his tone to that of the head of the Sumeragi clan as he added, "Either way, you're gaining more without having to lose a thing."
Setting her jaw, she looked over him towards Kitsune no Aka, whose distorted chuckle made her wrinkle her nose. Looking back down at Saiga, she decided to fight arrogance with arrogance. "So the legendary Red Fox is too much of a coward to hold up an end of the bargain, and needs a female demon to take his place and masquerade as him," she shot aloofly in his direction, and saw one of his tekou-protected hands clench and unclench. "Sending a woman to do a man's job, I see," she added in a drawl and watched as both of his hands clenched into fists. The emperor gave an unsavory laugh at the legendary ronin's expense, earning a growl from the composedly seething figure.
Seeming to pull his temper back, the mysterious ronin brought his hands back to his hips as he replied haughtily, "A demon slayer hardly constitutes being a woman, even if biologically female," he contemptuously bit back, adding, "I highly doubt you could even handle the job past maiming and crushing anything that moves, so if you wish to decline it's no problem with me. I can still get what I want either way…"
Instead of enraging her like he intended, her reaction was that of amusement as she walked past a stunned Saiga towards the daring armor-clad figure. Standing his ground as she came to impose her height over him, he watched as a slow and malevolent smirk quirked her full lips. "How do I know you're not one of the many doppelgangers trained to impersonate the real Red Fox?" The question caught everyone else but the ronin and Kyouran by surprise. "That is a small factor, but it is still a factor. If you're not the real thing then the agreements have no point," she coolly stated.
Saiga's eyes flickered with understanding to what she was talking about. "That's right. It is rumored that many assassination plots have supposedly failed to kill you, but the truth has been that you have many well trained men who masquerade in uncanny replicas to your armor, and those loyal decoys have met their deaths. No one has been able to ever discern what the real Red Fox looks like beyond the armor because no one remembers what you looked like when you were younger," he astutely stated, adding, "the only thing they do remember is the mark on your back. Unfortunately, even when they've checked the corpses of your decoys, they all have the mark on their backs, either as tattoos or scars. No one is even able to distinguish if Kitsune no Aka is still alive, let alone who's the real man."
After a short silence, the ronin made an impatient gesture and replied, "It's all very true. Many of my skilled decoys run around the country on my orders, just to confuse those who track me. And yes, they all have my mark on their backs." He paused as his hand reached up and grasped his red somen. "But, I am the one and only Red Fox," he stated coolly as the rasp of his distorted voice snapped out and revealed his steely baritone voice halfway through his statement. Pulling the mask from his face, he gazed at Kyouran from under heavy dark eyebrows and large slanted eyes the color of a vivid liquid silver bound inward by black rims. His angular features and olive skin were chiseled by the sun's harsh rays and the years of strict food deprivation. 'Now that I've revealed myself, you have my word that my role in this is—"
"Showing us your ugly mug doesn't prove a damned thing," she interrupted with vicious humor, causing him to press his lips into a thin line between his neatly shaped mustache and sharply styled chin beard. His heavy brows knitted together in a scowl as he turned, walking a short distance from all of them, and began taking his red and black armor off, starting with the helmet, and working his way down until he was left in his black under-robe.
Without turning to face them, he tugged the front of his robe open and slid it halfway down his sharply-toned back. Exposing the tilted X-shaped birthmark in between his shoulder blades to them, he looked over his shoulder and barked, "Proof enough, or should I whip it out too so you can confirm my sex?"
Raising a brow in humor, she looked over at Saiga, who stated, "It is a true birthmark, so he must be the real Kitsune-sama."
A long silence reigned in the room, until Kyouran closed her eyes. Nodding, she replied, "Fine…"
Smirking as he turned his face away from them, the ronin chauvinistically mused, "If I'd known that getting nude was the defining deal closer for the lady, I would've given her a peek from the start and saved all the wasted words."
Grimacing at the cheap philandering, Saiga watched a sadistic grin pull at Kyouran's lips as she responded in a biting tone, "If I wanted to get a peek at your pathetic excuse for a physique, I'd strip you naked after snuffing the life out of you and before dumping you in an unmarked grave, Katsumoto."
At hearing his real name, he turned with a cautious demeanor and fixed his liquid silver eyes to scowl at her. "Where did you find this creature, Saiga-sama…" he wittily remarked, without letting the scowl leave his features.
The sun had only been up for an hour, and although he was used to early morning duties, Saiga yawned and rubbed his left eye as he stood in the retreating shade of a tree. Higashimaya-uesama absently fanned himself as he sat tensely in his carved chair under the heavy shade of the courtyard's porch.
Stifling another yawn, Saiga asked, "Did you managed to get some rest, uesama?"
Jumping at the question, the man answered wide-eyed, "Oh yes! The talisman you protected was a relief to my nerves, thank you."
Saiga bowed his head. "You are very welcome," he paused when the eerie but tough figure of Katsumoto appeared from one of the side doors at the far corner of the porch, opposite the emperor.
Wearing robes of blended browns and grays, his olive skin glowed like tanned leather and looked uncharacteristically soft even with the slight scars that still lingered on his strong countenance. His quicksilver eyes were slanted under his heavy dark eyebrows as he contemplated the two men. "It's been done," he answered their silent question as he strode with a commanding gait across the porch towards them.
Clearing his throat, Saiga remarked, "Kyouran disappeared after the arrangements were made. I don't know where she is or when she'll be back."
Narrowing his dark brows, the unmasked Red Fox crossed his arms, reminded of the absence of the constriction his armor provided, and snarled, "What good is it to waste my time allying with you fools if you can't keep the dog on a leash!" His angry gesturing caused his long blackish hair to sway, which annoyed him even further as he slapped his hair back— not used to having it out of a chonmage.
"A dog snarling for a leash—that's something I would equate with you, Katsumoto," the emperor remarked with a Cheshire grin, loving the power of knowing his nemesis' real name and how it enraged him even more.
Trying to hide his rising tempest, Katusomoto barked, "We agreed that she would need to train with me and study my mannerisms before leaving for the campaign. I will not let one of my doppelgangers make me look like a horse's ass, Sumeragi-sama!"
"If I made you look like more of an ass, you'd be the entire horse, Katsumoto," the voice gained everyone's undivided attention as the silhouette appeared behind the shoji of the main door leading out onto the cherry wood porch. Sliding the door open, Kyouran emerged onto the shadowed porch, her scowl softly etched on her features. She watched their eyes go wide, and the reaction of her appearance was individually evident. "Have you never seen the female form, gentlemen?" she sarcastically sneered as Saiga diverted his gaze meekly, while the emperor cleared his throat and unglued his eyes off her hourglass curves and Katsumoto leered with a debonair male bravado.
"I've seen many forms, but who knew a demon could be so well endowed," Katsumoto muttered confidently as his liquid silver eyes sashayed up from the garnet pendant resting on her bust to her smoldering red gaze. Kyouran walked passed him uninhibited. The sun struck the stark white of her thin samurai shitagi that barely hid her nudity, especially as she stood in the warm sunlight.
Katsumoto followed her down the steps into the glaring sunlight, and was met half way by Higashimaya and Saiga. She looked like some lustful goddess standing in the middle of the marble tile that made up the private open-aired dojo, with her golden tan, supple curves, and her long locks pulled up in a topknot. "Where's the robes and armor?" she authoritatively inquired and stared intensely at the other men.
Saiga went and retrieved the robes she would wear under the armor, to Katsumoto's specification, and handed them to her. She dressed promptly while Saiga turned away respectfully and the other two did so hesitantly.
"The armor."
Katsumoto walked back up the porch steps and slid the door open that he had previously come through, and revealed the complete red armor that stood fully clothing a dummy-stand. "I made the alterations so that they would fit your height," Katsumoto muttered aloofly as she appeared next to him.
"The full foot, I hope," she said with a snarky smirk at his expense, and looked down her nose at him.
At only 5''7, Katsumoto gritted his jaw, which made his nostrils flare in perturbation. He knew he should have worn his padded boots; then at least he could be somewhere near her height. "Yes," he hissed between thin lips as he turned and went back down the steps. By the time he joined the others on the dojo floor, Kyouran was already in armor— minus kabuto and somen— waiting with her arms crossed. The muscle in Katusmoto's jaw twitched at the sight of her. "Red is your color, I see," he remarked with a bored tone.
"Saiga, you and the emperor get off the dojo floor," she instructed, adding, "This should be quick."
"But will you please inconvenience yourself and agree to be our weapons handler?" Katsumoto commanded in the form of a question, and received a curt nod from Saiga, who went over to the weapons table off to the side of where he had been standing in the shade.
"Well, Oni Hakaisha. If you best me in these little exercises, you will be a suitable decoy," he arrogantly stated as he gestured for Saiga to toss him the fighting staff. Kyouran's cold gaze didn't shift from him and Saiga didn't bother to offer her weapon since she didn't gesture for it. Grunting with confidence, he went right into battle and used the weapon expertly, just to have it suddenly snatched out of his grip. Kyouran spun the staff in every conceivable manner until she spun it behind her and swung it to sweep Katsumoto off his feet to crash on his back.
With the wind knocked out of him, all he could do was stare incredulously up at the red-clad Kyouran. Katsumoto flushed in anger and kicked himself up to his feet. "Sword!" He shouted, and Saiga hurried over and tossed them both swords.
Kyouran grabbed hers out of the air and spun it in the palm of her hand. It was much lighter than she was used to, and Katsumoto proved himself to be quite adept with a katana. When their swords connected and gnarled against each other in struggle for dominance, Katsumoto made a vociferous cry and spun his sword in such a way that it snapped Kyouran's hand and made her lose grip of her sword, which flew into the trunk of a tree. Baring down to strike, Katsumoto had a glimmer of pride in his silver eyes that soon turned to astonishment when Kyouran calmly stood in his path and bright red spark-energy whirled around in her left hand and instantaneously formed into a katana made out of pure and clear red energy. Before he knew what happened, she slashed his sword horizontally and sliced the blade of his sword clean off, making the blade fall and clatter to the marble floor.
He stared with his jaw snapped tightly shut and mechanically composed himself as Saiga cheered and the emperor gave him a contemptuous smirk that boiled his blood. She stood down and let the sword dissipate to a flutter of aura that extinguished itself.
"Now that Kyouran has bested the great Red Fox, the preparations are in order and we will be ready to leave at midday. I hope you'll join us in my caravan, Katsumoto," Higashimaya-uesama stated with forced severity as he impishly mocked the contemptuous glare he received.
"Saiga. You stay in Edo. If anything happens, you need to be here for clean up duty," Kyouran stated before Katsumoto could lose his temper, and added, "Get everything ready now. Kitsune no Aka and I have some business to take care of before we depart…"
The horses trotted in a tight file over the beaten dirt road, steered by resolute guards who were silent and vigilant. Katsumoto rode behind the emperor's horse-driven carriage of opulent carved wood and decadent inner upholstery, posing as his steward for the duration of the trip. His hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail to match the reserved robes of an imperial servant, but no matter how he tried to seem like a demure steward, his black-rimmed silver gaze spoke volumes of his strength and arrogance. Steering his ride to trot at the side of the emperor's coach, Katsumoto itched with anxiety at not being the center of attention for the first time in decades.
He glared ahead of the caravan at the red and black touseigusoku-clad figure that rode motionless and with an air of powerful poise under his favorite horse. Pressing his lips together in a tight line, he couldn't believe his once loyal horse accepted the intruder so quickly and with no resistance whatsoever. The demon woman had powers of perception and intuition that just jarred him to the core, not because he feared her power, but because he didn't poses such abilities.
"Is that a frown, Katsumoto?" snapping out of his thoughts, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the mocking green eyes of the emperor as they peeked at him through the wooden blinds of his carriage. "Seems Kitsune no Aka misses his plated skin; or is it that your glory has been taken by a female? A decoy better than the original, ne?" he acidly goaded the scowling rider who shut him up with the glared daggers he sent his way before slapping the reins and galloping up to the front of the caravan.
He fell back to a decent trot a few yards behind the samurai decoy who was presently leading them into the next little village of the day, and hopefully the last.
At the sight of the imposing figure clad in red and black, the farmers working in the rice paddies and on the crops rushed back to the village and spread the word that the Red Fox was arriving with an imperial escort. The village gates were nothing but rotting posts that let any in; the villagers made way and stood on the sides as the caravan came through, falling silent and filled with suspense.
A small boy ran out in front of the samurai-clad Kyouran, causing her to halt in trot and circle around the boy. Crystalline blue eyes gazed in astonishment at the powerful figure who stared dejectedly at him from behind a red somen. A mother quickly pulled the boy back and held him close as the emperor's coach passed and all bowed in respect.
Katsumoto's look of disdain was replaced with forced reservation as he dismounted and helped the emperor out of his carriage after arriving in the middle of the village square. Kyouran dismounted swiftly and appeared next to the emperor who was dressed in his full adornments, his private guard stationing around the perimeter and behind him. Almost immediately, the humble farmers came to pay their respects to the symbol of Japan, who assured them that their tribute was not necessary and that he was proud to have such great people and such a modest village.
"My people. The struggles you go through do not go unknown. The sacrifices of each will guarantee prosperity for all in the long run…" Higashimaya-uesama went on with his address, Kyouran standing like a looming demonic sentinel clad in all that red next to him, and Katsumoto crossing his arms behind his back so he could squeeze his hands into fists without attracting attention.
As the emperor finished his address, many curious villagers began to voice questions about the skirmishes between the imperial troops and the Red Fox's rebel forces.
"That has been put to rest, my people. As you can see, Kitsune no Aka has accompanied me on my travels as an ally," he paused as skeptical whispers started to rise in the crowd, "we have recognized Kitsune no Aka to have nothing personally to do with the skirmishes, and our alliance will bring into the light the real culprits who intend to bring disorder into the provinces—"
"With all do respect, uesama, the legendary Red Fox could be anywhere, and it is possible that he is not here but his armor is," a stout farmer with tanned and dark semblance voiced with skepticism as he crossed his arms, and a low murmur began to reverberate in the crowd.
Higashimaya inwardly sighed, not being the first time to have the truth thumbed in his face by a wary crowd today, and was about to give his rehearsed answer when the red touseigusoku moved to direct a menacing gaze from the rage-expressing mask. "Let me interject in the interest of time that this alliance is for practicality's sake. I do not care for the string-less puppet at my side, but I will stomach the annoyance of contact with him because Japan's true interests will be accomplished if I do so," the rasp concealed her feminine timber perfectly and made the crowd stir with astonishment at her remarks.
Higashimaya's face turned pink in his anger— to Katsumoto's extreme amusement at having her rehearsed answer come out so eloquently suited to him— but he managed to stifle himself to pull the crowd back to believing him to be an able-minded ruler with a strong ally.
After her remark, Kyouran fulfilled her part and simply stood back down into sentinel mode by the emperor's side. Her senses had been alert for the past couple of minutes since the small boy ran out in front of her. She had been distracted to the glint of metal on one of the roofs when the boy stumbled in front of the horse and snapped her attention back. The air was foreboding, and her predator-like gaze traced the small village until her senses picked up something remote.
"Please be assured that the violences committed will be severely punished and those responsible will be brought to justi—" the emperor was cut off as the arrow aimed to pierce between his eyes was caught by a red and black covered hand. Immediately, panic and chaos broke out as the guards went into action to shelter the emperor and the villagers scattered in hysteria as arrows began to rain down from atop some of the roofs of the village and beyond the high wooden fences that enclosed the site.
Kyouran unsheathed the katana at her hip and deflected a barrage of arrows as guards and civilians started dropping like flies around her. Higashimaya shrieked in panic as the guardsman closest to him was shot in the neck. Katsumoto had swooped behind cover and saw the arrow heads glisten in the late afternoon sun and realized that something extremely problematic was happening. Grabbing a sword from the closest dead guard on the ground, he dodged through the falling arrows towards a still screaming Higashimaya and tackled him to the ground as an arrow flew straight over his head.
"You squealing pig! Shut up and get in the carriage before you ruin my plans!" he roared in exasperation as he dragged the sniveling man up off the ground and tossed him into his carriage and shut him in. Turning back to the chaos, he caught sight of Kyouran as she deflected tens of dozen arrows and collapsed one of the huts on its foundation to reveal the hidden attackers on its roof. The plainly-armored men unsheathed their swords swiftly, but mechanically, and went at her. She fought through them easily, only to have more jump from their perches and come into the fray. After slicing one's stomach until his bowels oozed from the wound, she turned to face the chaos behind her and finally heard Katsumoto's shouts.
"Kitsune!" he insisted in anxious aggravation, "get them to run them out before we're all slaughtered!" He then disappeared behind the crowd and billowing smoke as the arrows falling were now tipped with fire.
Shouting at a nearby group of guards to gather the survivors and crowd them around the carriage, they ran to do their biddings and she roared in her rasp for those fighting to fight them back. Kyouran sprinted through the anarchy and smoke back to where the carriage was and yanked the door open. The emperor shrieked madly before he realized it was just her. Yanking him out of the carriage, she ripped the protective charm around his neck off and grabbed his hand. "Try not to scream," she rasped, as with the edge of her blade, she slit a small cut on the palm of his hand, and made the man wail a cry. Then, she pressed the amulet in his blood-running palm. Immediately, a force field sprang around them as big as two of the huts around them. "Hold this and don't move. Get the survivors to come into the force field," with that, she stood and passed through the protective barrier into the rain of arrows.
The guards were managing to fight the attackers back, but the fires were raging and the casualties were piling up. Spotting something moving on the ground beyond the smoke, she crouched and went to strike it when big crystalline blue eyes looked up at her in terror. Growling under her breath, she snagged the small boy up and tucked him under her arm.
"Kitsune!" she turned just in time to see the kunai swish pass and embed in the throat of a plainly robed attacker. Looking towards Katsumoto, he smirked at the red glare directed at him and ran over, avoiding the fallen and the crumbling of a hut from a consuming inferno. "Most of the attackers have been pushed back to the front of the village, but there's something very wrong here," he spoke in a calm deep tone as he got to her. "They're not staying down," he resumed and gestured to the opposite side of the village where a disemboweled figure still fought one of the guards, it's features expressionless but determined.
Narrowing her eyes, she pushed the small boy into his arms. "Go back to Higashimaya and get the survivors inside the barrier with him." She turned away and started walking away.
"You're welcome!" Katsumoto arrogantly shouted and smirked at her when she glanced back at him. She turned and disappeared behind the chaos' smoke.
Snapping their necks wasn't working. Maiming and slicing through them was pointless. The guards started panicking, saying that nothing was killing 'the zombies' and that they should retreat.
Kyouran crushed a man's head into the ground and that managed to put him down for good. "Sever their heads, you fools, and stop whimpering!" she shouted in that reverberating rasp provided by the distorter in the mask she wore. The men grew squeamish as they fought through the now dwindling numbers of zombie-like attackers, but did as they were instructed, allowing Kyouran to focus on her surroundings. Someone was pulling the strings, and they weren't too far away. She had a hunch and she needed to fulfill it before she lost her patience and just obliterated the entire field and rice paddies they were wallowing in.
Reaching her thumb and forefinger under the mask to her lips, she made a high-pitched whistle, and in minutes a black stallion galloped through the destruction and smoke of the village towards her. She swiftly mounted it in mid gallop and raced through the fighting towards the outcropping of trees that skirted the village from the dirt road. The trees led into a thick wood with trees that seemed to barrel to the sky, and her hunch was reaffirmed when she sensed the puppet master of the attackers. Hopping off the horse's back, she flipped in the air and landed in a crouch in the brush as a figure emerged from the darkness of the woods.
"Well, my silly puppets were ineffective at killing anything that tried to escape. Pity," the figure moved out of the shadows and gave her a lopsided grin. The demon's sandy skin looked streaky from the brown stripes that horizontally etched over his exposed skin. "Why you decided to ally with the emperor at your own peril," the snide creature tisked at her in a peeving voice as he went into action and materialized behind her. She turned in a blink and grabbed him by the throat. The creature's filmy eyes went wide as he choked in her grip. "You're not Red Fox!" it wheezed and stared at her in horrified surprise.
She chuckled. "Who do you work for," she rasped, her blood red eyes beginning to glow at him. When he didn't answer, she squeezed his throat and hefted him higher so he could get a good look at her murderous gaze. "You're too stupid to be running this alone," she said in a demonic tone, "who is pulling your strings, puppet master." In a desperate attempt, the demon jerked his hand palm out towards her and revealed the puckering hole in his hand. Knowing what he attempted, Kyouran grabbed his hand by the wrist and twisted it off in the blink of an eye. The demon jerked and hollered in pain. "If you want to keep your right hand you better not try that again," she mused in that eerie rasp. "Now who's your leader."
"Let me go and I will tell you!" he gasped and struggled absently in her grip.
"You're a higher level demon, and you're smart enough to speak out of the demon tongue, so are you stupid enough to think I would let you go?" she asked rhetorically and dug her fingers into his throat, while she used her free hand to pull her somen away.
"I don't know! I don't know who's the leader; I've never seen him!" he gasped, then froze when he saw her cold features stare back at him. "You can't be…!"
"But I am, so tell me who commissioned you to make this chaos between the imperial court and the rebels."
"Even if I told you you'd kill me, deathdealer!" he spat with as much breath as he could muster and narrowed his gaze at her.
She let him drop to the ground wheezing and coughing for breath. "Try and run and you'll be another head in my collection," she warned with a hard tone.
"Just the middle man! That's the guy who's doing the actual organizing in the underground; says it's his grand vision, and that the one who leads us plays part in it," he muttered in a hurried tone as his eyes darted around looking for an escape.
"His name."
"Hiretsu—!" Kyouran's eyes widened at the surge she sensed; she dodged almost too late to avoid the ki blast from behind her that slammed into the confessing demon and seared right through him. Chocking a gurgle, the demon's eyes rolled back as he collapsed in a mangled heap.
Kyouran replaced the mask to her face and looked back into the dark wood. The momentary ki signature disappeared. Her lead was a pooling mess-heap and she was now suspicious of this plot. Saiga was right; something powerful was organizing. That aura she momentarily sensed was vastly strong. Her interests were piqued.
Walking back down the dirt road, the stallion appeared from the nearby brush and followed her reverently back to the village. As she arrived, she found that the survivors were in the process of extinguishing the blazes and taking care of the severely wounded. The field and rice paddies were riddled with the lifeless corpses of the plainly armored attackers, the guards sitting bloody, sweaty and dirty on the side of the road.
She walked passed them and through the rubble to the center of the village to see how it faired there. Higashimaya was trembling as he sat on the footstep of his carriage, still gripping the protective talisman caked in his drying blood. The protective barrier had dissipated, but the man was too scared out of his wits to notice.
As she surveyed the weeping and fearful survivors, her hand was suddenly tugged by a small one. She looked down and was accosted by crystalline orbs of innocence. "Arigato, Kitsune-san!" the small boy grinned happily up at her and then waddled back to his grief-stricken mother.
"How touching." The sarcastic grumble cooed from behind her. She turned and encountered a smug expression from Katsumoto, who faired pretty well compared to all the others. "Most survived. The casualties are unevenly numbered considering they suddenly just dropped dead around us. Guess that was your doing," he remarked in his cool tone and crossed his arms.
"My lead is a pile of burnt out flesh in the field across from the wood," she commented and walked over to one of the corpses that just dropped dead as Katsumoto said. "A puppet master demon. Very rare; the first I've encountered."
"Puppet master?" Katsumoto gruffly inquired and gazed at the red somen skeptically.
"The group of your men you found burnt up in the area of the imperial compound," she tersely replied, "were being controlled like puppets." She kicked the corpse onto its face to reveal the back of its neck. The dried out parasite fell from the burrow it made in the base of the neck that connected to the cerebellum.
Katsumoto's gaze widened and looked back at her. "These parasites can control you?"
"Why else would your men disobey direct orders, and attack you for that matter," she replied.
Higashimaya began to snap out of his fear-induced catatonia. "What?" his trembling green eyes looked up at them.
Katsumoto composed his features to an iron mask. "You figured the same thing…these attackers are my men," he replied with apathy, kicking dirt onto the corpse. "Once I saw the arrow heads I knew I was being attacked by my best men; they use these arrows because they're harder to pull out of a wound," he stepped on a fallen arrow and ground the tip into the sooty dirt with his heel.
"So we're being attacked by our own people…" Higashimaya-uesama shuddered and hugged himself.
"That's the premise, fool. The issue is how do we fight the people we trust; loyalty and fear are no longer factors in this betrayal," Katsumoto barked gruffly and clenched his jaw in exasperation.
Kyouran huffed, earning both their attentions. "Make the arrangements to make it to the nearest province; the encampment must be up before nightfall."
"You're seriously considering continuing with this charade!" Higashimaya choked a panicked whimper as his eyes bulged in fear.
"You two are now my bait," both men flinched and stared at her in astonishment. "The middle man is running the show; like the emperor, the leader is just a pawn for the grander plan. To get to him, you two are going to continue this campaign. Do whatever you have to do to beef up your personal securities, but you will stick with this until I find what I need."
Katsumoto's quicksilver eyes narrowed at her. "My end of the deal will not change, or else I expose everything," he growled as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
"Your threats are moronic. You have too much to lose to dump your plans now," she hissed at him mockingly in the rasp of the distorter. When he clenched his fists tighter and the muscle in his jaw twitched, she knew he was silenced. "Make the arrangements."
She walked over to what was left of a post that rested in the middle of the village and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "It's going to be a long trip…"
The contorted top of the tree had been a perfect perch to watch the battle from. He was quite pleased that everything was going according to plan. "That decoy is another matter…" the demon's fire orange gaze narrowed contemplatively. He leaned back on the shadowed trunk of the tree and bowed his head in thought.
A slight rustle of leaves tipped him off to his follower's presence. "Kokuzoku is dead, master," the youthful timber spoke apathetically from the curved branch that hung off to the side in the shade.
"I saw, Arasoi. He was going to betray me, just like I foresaw," the passive confidence in his voice leaked even more with his quirked slender lips pulling back in a candid smile.
"What do you wish me to do now, master?" the monotone inquired.
"Make the final arrangements," the fire-eyed figure responded as he pushed off the tree. "Kyouran is officially in my chess game, even if it was slightly different than what I foresaw," the man spoke as his pale gold skin and alabaster mane of hair emerged into the fading light that poured through the canopy of leaves.
The man's follower gazed avidly over his facial features, letting his cobalt aqua gaze linger over the light scar-like marks that lined his cheekbones, three under each eye. "Where will you retire to, master?" the boyish tenor spoke.
Directing his fire gaze to contemplate his loyal follower with a faraway look, Hiretsukan murmured, "To admire a young lady, and acquaint myself with her…"
Maybe he should have taken that other road… The word 'maybe' had been on his mind all day. Maybe he should give up his apprenticeship, or maybe he should try being a farmer, or maybe he should take master Korokawua's advice and dedicate his life pursuits to a profession that doesn't take much brains, like studying martial arts. He fit the requirements; all brawn and hardly any sense. Not to mention that he could probably attract more women than he would with his peeping tom hobbies. He sighed, realizing that it was the word 'maybe' that had distracted him on his walk back in the first place. The sun had long set in the horizon and the trees and brush were alive with the nightly dialogue of insects and scurrying animals as he made his way back with the light of the moon that poured through the dark overhead.
Haku stretched his arms over his head and laced his fingers behind his head as he stared up at the moon. His carefree look was weighed by slight exhaustion from the day's journey back and forth from the market. It was the first commission job Korokawua had allowed him to go on unsupervised, and it had been a pretty sweet one; the merchant had many gorgeous daughters.
Grinning at himself as he thought of the girls, Haku started to stroll away from the pebble road over to an incline that overlooked a well known waterfall and river… which were very close to the hot springs. He knew it was a long shot to find any beautiful babes to peep at so late, but he figured that it was a better detour than the one he had taken in trying to get back to master Korokawua's home. Feeling the spray of the fall start to dampen his face, Haku crouched behind a choice river rock and looked over through the few trees that obscured his view of the hot springs below and off the riverbank.
He thought he heard a splash, but couldn't see from that angle, so he snuck across some rocks over to the other side of the waterfall and hopped down the flatter side of the incline. Hiding behind tall river rocks that faced the edge of the closest spring, Haku peeked over it and saw the discarded robes hanging off the branch of a tree on the corner of the spring. The splashing trailed and stopped as if someone was rising from the spring.
With a chibi grin, Haku poked his head around the rock and stared at the female's delicate curves and sloping shoulders as she tossed her long chocolate brown hair back and ran her fingers through the length. He started to salivate as his eyes leered over the small of her back, the curve of her hips and her tanned back.
He watched her slosh through the waist-deep pool of natural bubbling jets and lamented when she grabbed her white under robe and swung it over her shoulders, ending his show.
Kyouran needed the soak after spending so long in Katsumoto's constrictive armor. She lazily tied her robe shut and sat at the edge of the spring in relaxation. Aware that Katsumoto would continue his obnoxious bitching if he knew she had ditched him in the tent with the armor so she could retreat for a short training session with her new katana and then have a long soak in a spring, Kyouran decided to return at dawn and get back in the armor so he would have to keep his flagrant tone down and keep a low profile.
Haku silently griped about missing the beauty enter the spring, but took solace in the thought that he'd have ample material to keep his sex-driven mind occupied for the next millennium. Deciding to retreat before his eyes melted out of his sockets, he turned and went to scurry over some brush to make his way behind the cover of trees when his foot clanked something made of metal against smooth rock.
Instantly he was grabbed by the back of his gi and tossed into the hot spring. Jumping out of the water sputtering and yelping from the heat, Haku pulled his wild matted bangs out of his eyes to catch sight of the crimson death glare that was boring down at him.
"You!" Kyouran tersed out as she crossed her arms under her covered bust, her necklace dangling from her slender neck.
"Miss Kyouran!" Haku shouted in surprise and rose out of the pool. "Fancy running into you here! I was just taking a stroll in the night air—"
"Five miles from the nearest village," she bore her scrutinizing gaze into him as he pulled the collar of his now sloshing gi with a goofy grin plastered on his face.
"I guess your alluring beauty attracted me over the vast distance, heh," he mused debonairly as he slicked his messy wet bangs back with his fingers.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE POOL, YOU JACKASS!"
Complying quickly with the request, Haku sloshed out of the spring and stood at attention in front of her. "Yes miss luscious lips, or can I drop the miss and add babe?" he charmed with that damnable grin of his as she gave him an acid once over. "The last time we were together you had me seeing double you were so stunning—"
"You saw double because of the concussion, you moron!" she barked in his carefree face.
"Nope! I'm pretty sure it was your stunning beauty," he quipped ruggedly and winked at her as he started wringing out the front of his gi.
Starting to fume, Kyouran was about to wipe the smirk off his face when she jerked her head to the top of the waterfall. Shoving Haku behind the big river rocks, she phased out just in time as the ground at their feet exploded, leaving a crater the size of a shallow grave. Appearing on one of the flat rocks jutting out of the river, Kyouran glared over with an iron semblance at the demon who sat with one leg dangling lazily off the mossy edge of a rock that stuck out of the waterfall.
Haku hauled himself up and around the rocks that protected him from the blast. "Miss Kyouran!"
"Shut up and leave, human!" she growled at him, without taking her eyes off the demon that contemplated her thoughtfully. "You must be the middle man with a vision," she spoke in a low tone and narrowed her gaze when he smiled candidly at her.
"Kokuzoku must have mentioned that before he was blasted through," he mused almost affably as he leapt off his perch to land gracefully on the water. The waterfall's rushing stream made a breeze that tussled his long white mane around him as his fire orange eyes took her in with a faraway gaze. "That armor was doing nothing for your looks, Kyouran," he remarked smoothly, his voice like schooled velvet as he walked in a stride on the water. Phasing out, she appeared on his right and went on the attack. Going on the defensive with skill, the demon gazed at her with amusement. "Won't you let me introduce myself before we start this dance?" he remarked as he slid out of the way of a roundhouse.
When he went at her, they clashed, fighting for superiority in the grappling and pushing each other back with their ki. The river rippled madly with their movements on its surface. They stood sizing each other up, and then the demon straightened his back and looked over his shoulder at Haku. He swept the remaining dust and pebbles of the sizeable rock that had exploded against his back from the impact off of himself.
"Son Haku, I told you to get out of here!" Kyouran roared contemptuously at the blazing blue-eyed man.
Then the demon phased out and she sensed him behind her. Their battle went on like a choreographed dance on the water, kicks, flips and punches exchanged but never breaking through the defense. Kyouran's bare feet slid across the water as she spun to the side and swiped a kick under his legs, but he jumped to the top of the rock edge he had been on before.
"Well, since you're so reticent, I guess I'll introduce myself. I am known to the underground as Hiretsukan, but you can call me Iyashii," he smoothly stated as he looked down at her.
"What do you want with me, Hiretsukan," she commanded in a leveled tone.
With a mock frown, Iyashii Hiretsukan replied, "to see the young girl I never got to know, and to ask you nicely if you'll follow the destiny that I've foreseen for you."
Snarling, her garnet pendant began to swirl as she ran at him.
"Kyouran!" Haku grabbed the sword that still lay where he had stepped on it and tossed it to her. She grabbed it out of the air and used her speed to propel her to the top of the rock edge and slash Hiretsukan across the chest with it. The demon didn't even flinch, and his candid smile spread across his thin lips.
Grabbing her wrist, wringing it to the side and pulling her close so her feet were on the edge of the rock, he stared into her face and said, "You wear that collar. What will it take to make you break free from it, my dear Fury?"
Her eyes burned a glowing red as she bared her fangs and maneuvered her wrist out of his strong grip as she drove the blade to pierce his heart, breaking the sword in half. His front torso was like rock, not allowing any weapon to pierce through, but the attack allowed her to wring free and swing him off the rock edge to land in a skidding crouch on the river below. Still holding what was left of the sword, she flew at him in a rage.
"Come on, Fury. Where's that malevolent smirk you're trying to hide," he shouted as they battled. "It's so vivid in my visions, and it becomes you beautifully! Your twin star has been eager to see it."
That made her flinch as the pendant flared a brilliant red and sent her aura to spike outward as she roared and uppercut him in the jaw, leaving him open to have the broken sword plunged into his side. Hiretsukan howled a shout of intense pain, grabbing his wounded side and holding the handle of the sword with wide eyes. He staggered back and on a knee on the flat rock in the middle of the river.
Kyouran pulled her aura back and tried to control her rage when his sudden bark of a maddened laugh pierced over the running of the waterfall.
"You're further along than foreseen," his velvet voice came in a haggard rasp as he pulled himself to his feet and licked the dark blood off his lips. He stared at her with a crazy faraway look, before smirking. "Your resistance is throwing things off, but your destiny is inevitable, Kyouran," he coughed as he stood straight, without bothering to pull the sword out of his side. Then in a sudden reflex, he threw an energy blast at her and disappeared when she deflected it easily up into the sky where it exploded like fireworks.
Trembling with suppressed rage, Kyouran strode back to the riverbank and passed a shocked and confused Haku who had witnessed everything. While he stared at her as she dressed, Haku mustered up the brazenness to say, "He isn't your type."
Whirling on him, she grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the closest tree. "Get your head out of your ass and understand this: I will kill you the next time you interfere in my affairs. Stay out of my way and don't ever speak to me again, you useless twit! Your infatuation makes me heave, your smirk boils my blood, and your mere existence exasperates me to kill," she snarled out at his wide-eyed but silent expression. Dropping him to the ground, she walked across the river and disappeared into the shadows of the dark trees, leaving him to sit under the now bruised tree with his equally bruised ego.
Sighing in exhaustion and wounded pride, Son Haku closed his eyes as a wry smile pulled his lips. "Maybe training in the martial arts academy wouldn't be such a bad idea…"
He roared in pain as he pulled the broken sword out of his side and threw it against the cave wall where it broke to unrecognizable metal. Iyashii Hiretsukan hadn't seen that coming. Her resistance was throwing his premonitions off, but as he told her, her destiny was inevitable…
"Master!" the horrified shout echoed in the cave. Hiretsukan's follower ran to him and was pushed back by the snarling demon.
"It isn't important, Arasoi! Just a miscalculation," he grumbled as he stood straighter, letting the black wound drip blood through his clothes and down his side.
Although he hesitated from his masters chide, the pale blue-skinned follower went to his master's side after retrieving a metal shard left over from the sword. The fire of Hiretsukan's eyes blazed into the cobalt aqua of the youthful demon as he squeezed his fist shut and cut his hand severely. Dropping the burgundy-stained shard to the cave floor, Arasoi pressed his bloody hand to his master's side, making the other man stare at him with his faraway contemplation as the boyish figure's blood smeared and seeped into his wound. He felt the wound start to mend until the searing pain that had been shooting into his side and all over his nerves dissipated. His follower rested his head on his shoulder and pressed his slender muscular build against his.
Hiretsukan loved the power his premonitions gave him over the will of others. He knew just how to influence those to do his bidding, Arasoi being his second and most successful betrayal; his loyalty has been the best thing he's taken advantage of since the path to his ultimate destiny became known to him.
"Arasoi…I think it's time to consider my insurance policy, for you and my destiny," he mused as he brushed the back the boyish follower's long braided raven hair, his eyes of orange fire contemplating his next step on the path.
The boyish demon shut his almond, cobalt aqua eyes. "Your destiny is mine, master…"
THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW!
Uesama- emperor
Kitsune- Fox
(no) Aka- Red
Edo- what is Tokyo today
Edo-jo means Tokyo Castle
Touseigusoku- samurai armor
Senpai- upperclassmen or some sort of superior
ETCS.
The Ace of Authors: PPT! From a Piccolo smut slut to another, get that smut up and going, BITCH! XD
All you other Piccolo Pervs are the shit and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
