Balance
So I had a burst of insight and I thought, 'Why not reward my readers with a DOUBLE POSTING?'? That, and I can't wait to see your reactions to this chapter! OMG IT'S GONNA BE SO GREAT! Unfortunately, though, in order to hype up suspense, I will not be publishing another chapter until probably this time next week. So yes, I am a slightly cruel writer in that I make you all wait, but I really do think that you all will be happy with the direction that this story is taking!
I picked Kutsuriuri up on my back and raced across the landscape since Kutsuriuri could not keep up with me at this pace. The Mononoke were approaching from east of the village, and with my trajectory I hoped to cut them off before they reached the village. I could discernably sense the moment that the Mononoke recognized my aura, as they suddenly slowed down. I forced myself not to worry about their motives for doing so and got to the interception point. I let Kutsuriuri down and proceeded to draw the salt circle for him, knowing full well that he most likely would not use it. Looking at him, I silently pleaded with my eyes for him to use it, but he only glanced coolly at it and looked east, throwing his scales in a straight line before him where they rested, tilting and tinkling. I shook my head and faced east as well, squaring my shoulders and balancing my center of gravity for the moment when the Mononoke's pace would bring them to us.
Their arrival was signaled by a rustling in the brush across the field from us, and a group of ten beautiful girls shyly emerged. They were slim and pale, with dark, lustrous hair gathered at the nape of the neck. Each girl wore a simple, earth-brown, knee-length tunic, tied at the waist with a colorful sash. As they slipped daintily across the field, they kept their heads coyly ducked beneath the brims of their straw sedge hats. I was quite astonished at the form that these Mononoke had taken; normally, Mononoke tended to relinquish the forms that had represented them before death, opting instead for forms that would strike fear into the hearts of their victims. And yet these girls looked entirely human, save for their inhuman speed that carried them to within feet of us in seconds. The girls all grouped in a wedge shape behind she whom I assumed to be their leader.
Neither side spoke for what seemed like hours, though it was only several minutes. The girls kept their faces hidden beneath the brims of their hats, remaining still as statues save for the breeze that ruffled their clothes and hair. Kutsuriuri and I also remained still, and while I was tensely alert for any sudden movement on the part of the girls, Kutsuriuri cocked his head, studying the girls. I hoped that he was not distracted by their feminine forms…
Suddenly Kutsuriuri spoke. "Must you persist in your course of action? Has your hate grown so that it clouds your judgment?" he asked them gently.
The girl at the head of the wedge formation stepped forward, lifting her head to show her beautiful face. Her features were exquisite; a face chiseled from porcelain or marble, with soft lips that were unnaturally red and a healthy blush staining her cheeks. What drew my attention most were her eyes; they were entirely black, black as the shadows, without any distinction between her pupils, irises, and the whites of her eyes. They seemed to be staring in all directions at once, though her face was directed at Kutsuriuri. Looking into them made me dizzy, and I marveled at Kutsuriuri's composure at such a disturbing sight.
Next she spoke, and what I saw disturbed me almost as much as when I had first glimpsed her eyes. Instead of a single human tongue, she possessed two tongues, long, thin, and forked like a snake's, that flickered in and out of her mouth as she spoke. "All judgment is subjective," she whispered. "No judge is unbiased. While our course of action may seem distasteful to you, your own desire to inhibit us is distasteful to us. Thus we stand here at an impasse that can only be solved by one side backing down or by means of combat. Since the first will never happen, it seems as though we must fight each other." I tensed again, ready for an assault, but the girls remained still.
A second girl stepped forward. "Whenever two sides are in conflict, with neither side backing down, the only just way is to fight out the differences through physical combat. Who are you to deny us the right to physically fight those who oppressed us in our past life? You," she looked at me, "who was created as our opposite and therefore has pitted yourself against us through combat time and time again, and you," she looked at Kutsuriuri, "who was raised as a warrior?"
"That is the way of an uncivilized, animalistic culture; true humanity will settle the differences through compromise," Kutsuriuri answered. "There is no good achieved by bloodshed."
Another girl, closer to Kutsuriuri than she was to me, stepped forward. "I have heard of you, medicine seller," she whispered. She looked at me. "I am surprised that you took on another human companion after your involvement led to the other one's death. But then…" She paused, sniffing the air about Kutsuriuri. Knowledge and surprise showed in her features, if not her eyes. "It seems as though Death has been kind to this one. He danced once with Death and was spared for a second dance. And he found you a second time –" Her words were cut off by Kutsuriuri stepping forward and cutting her head off; we had imbued his mortal sword with magics and rituals to allow it the same powers that my own held, though the mortal metal of the sword was still quite brittle and prone to breaking. In the process, his kimono had slipped slightly off one shoulder, and as he stepped backwards from the Mononoke as it exploded into a myriad of colors, he readjusted the kimono so it covered what it had before.
But not before I saw a gold flower medallion hanging on a purple silk cord around his neck.