Three days past since Rei freed Fuyutsuki castle and she was steadily making here way north to the mountain pass. She was becoming used to being attacked by demons at any time including while she slept. Fortunately for her she was always alert and had now two demons to help her. It was odd, but there were times when she wanted to find other demons and purify them so that she could use them. It was a strange want for the magic power of them that she never felt before.
"I wonder what other types of demons there are?" she often asked herself. "I've got a fire one, an ice one, is the a wind one that flies, or a lighting one? It could be interesting to find out." Rei would never go looking for demons just to get more power, but natural curiosity is not something that one can help.
On the fourth day Rei had her questions answered. As she was taking a drink from a stream she noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. She continued to drink as though she had noticed nothing to bring the creature out into the open. Moments later the creature attacked and Rei disappeared as it attacked.
The creature was a large snake like creature and was crystal like the other. It had Two large fangs coming from its upper jaw and a large blade at the end of its tail.
Rei appeared behind it as quickly as she had disappeared. "Why do they all have big blades on them, I thought they were meant to assist humans?"
The snake realized that she was behind it and turned to attack again. As it attacked again Rei flipped backward and kicked the demon in the head as she did. When she landed she attacked the snake again to the head, but this time with her hands. After several palms to the head region the demon fell to the ground. Rei calmly exhaled when the demon fell and looked at it. Quietly the demon stood back up and as it did its body fell to pieces leaving only its spirit. The snake spirit than moved in and wrapped itself around Rei and merged with her.
"Ok all I have to do is focus on the demons thoughts when I attack and I can purify it. Now I should see if I can find a way to do it without attacking, like the first time. I wonder." Rei sat down and meditated like she had the night her village was attacked. She wanted to talk with that voice and ask it to help her with her powers. If she could better understand her power than maybe she could purify the demons on sight and master that blue glow.
Rei eventually emptied herself of all thoughts and felt for the energy of the earth like she had before. After a while she found herself in the same void as when she asked demons to clear the mist.
Yes my child. Is there something I can help you with? said the voice.
"Yes there is I have a mountain of questions. Can I start off by asking what exactly you are?"
I am everything and nothing. I have no form and can not be explained by human words. The simplest explanation is I am the energy of the earth. I believe that is how you would explain me.
"Whoa, I'm talking to the planet? That's amazing."
It is a power of the Shinpishugisha. You had the ability bestowed upon you at creation to pull power from me and use it. You cannot take power from something you cannot speak with.
"Ok that makes sense. The reason I called you was I wanted some understanding of my power. The first time I used it the power just surged threw me and I was able to purify the demon without touching it. Now I have to attack it and focus on the power. Can you explain to me how to use my, your power like that?"
It is not something that can be properly conveyed into words. You must understand your energy and the demons. It is easiest for you when you fight with it you must teach yourself the rest on your own. You like all of your kind must master understanding of self and the planet.
"Ok. Thank you. I guess there is a good reason why we pay homage to the earth and its spirits."
The voice did not reply. Rei came out of the trance and opened her eyes. She stood up and looked at the river that she sat in front of. She had a new gratitude for the water and what it provided for her. The idea of being Shinpishugisha was growing on her. She felt as though it made her understand things better and have a better view of the world. She walked again toward her destination to the north.
Two days latter Rei was getting close to her destination. She could see the mountain clearly and was amazed by the sight of it. The stories of mountains she had heard as a child had made them sound like places of adventure. Places that would be hard to climb and be full of caves, ledges, and cliffs she would have to climb. She imagined a triumphant feeling of reaching the top and looking down to see what was below her. She shook her head and focused on walking forward. She still had at least a day before she even got there let alone reaching the summit.
"I can't wait." Rei said. "I shouldn't day dream like this, but it's so cool. I get something no one in my village has seen in over a hundred years. Something that you hear of in bed time stories as a child." Rei felt slightly sad after completing her sentence. She remembered being told the stories by her mother before she died and than by her father. She remembered telling the stories to Saori and seeing the look on her face as she imagined the beautiful images. "I have to get rid of the mist so I can bring Saori to see everything in the stories."
Rei continued to walk toward her destination. Her new determination to get there and destroy the mist made her walk faster than she normally would.
The next day she reached the mountain pass shortly before noon. At the base of the pass there was a large wooden arch like those said to be around temples. It was painted red but most of the color had faded with time. Rei was in aw over this sight. When she refocused she noticed that there was an inscription on one of the pillars. It read CURSED SERPENT ROAD DO NOT CROSS.
"And this is the safe pass." she said. "I should go back and find another rout that isn't so dreadfully named." Rei looked up at the path. "No, it's right here. The other paths could be days away. I'll take this one because I'm right here."
Rei walked under the arch and up the path, hoping the warning was not to serious.
Climbing the mountain was much harder than Rei though it was going to be. Her sandals provided terrible traction on the stone slope and she had to work harder than normal to maintain her footing. Even after all her training with Kenji she was not used to this. They had never been up a mountain after all. By the end of the day she could still she the gate that started he path. She was not able to gain as much height as she hoped for the first day. She picked a tree to sleep against and rested for the night. She fell asleep quickly because she was exhausted from the climb.
The next day Rei continued her climb after a small meal. She had been living on vegetables for the past several days as she could not find a small animal to eat. Her strength was probably suffering as a result. After a few hours of climbing she noticed a small patch of plants on the trail. For some reason there was a patch of root vegetables growing there. As far as Rei knew someone would have to tend to these plants so that they would grow like this. Especially since they were quiet neatly planted. Unfortunately for the farmer of the vegetables she took up several of them and put them into her pack. It wasn't meat, but root vegetables would provide her with much more energy than the ones she had been eating.
At noon Rei noticed a bird sitting in a tree that was protruding from the side of the mountain. She slowly and carefully pulled out a throwing dagger and prepared to kill the bird. With the smallest amount of movement possible she tossed the knife at the bird and killed it. It fell to the ground and landed with a thud. The bird did not call out as it died.
"Alright, finally some meat to eat. Those beans and vegetables have not been enough food lately." Rei said thanks to the earth and bird for supplying and being her meal and proceeded to ready the bird to be eaten. After quite some time she finally had the bird ready and a fire going. The bird was cooking and she waited patiently.
"This should give me enough energy to operate for a while. I might be able to gain more ground on the mountain afterwards. I miss my village and the eggs we used to have. Oh well I have to live with what I have."
When the bird was finished cooking Rei sat and ate the entire bird. It was slightly larger than a chicken and had quite a bit of meat on it. Unfortunately it tasted nothing like a chicken, it was terrible. If Rei had had a choice she would not have eaten it, but she did not have a choice, she had killed it and thanked it for its sacrifice she had to respect it. After she finished Rei looked up at the sky. It was not too late in the day, so she decided to keep walking. She walked until the sun set and then decided to rest.
Shortly after Rei started walking the next day she thought that she would have to turn back. She came across an large gorge that was in the path. The gap between her side an the other was at least fifty meters and the drop was extremely large.
"I'm not sure if I can jump that and there aren't enough hand holds on the side for me to scale the gap. Damn what do I do? I can't walk back and loose three days."
Rei crossed her arms to think. She thought about the possibility of jumping and about trying to run across the side of the mountain above the gap. Neither of these ideas seemed very good to her. She continue to ponder and tried to think if her demons could help her. Fire could not. Ice maybe, it was possible she could make a bridge out of the ice and then precariously cross it. What about the third one? She had no idea what it could do. Maybe it could help her. Rei focused on the demon spirits that lived inside her. She tried to commune with them like she did with the planet and ask them for help. In that brief moment the snake demon spoke to her. A quick hiss and she knew what it was and what it could do.
Rei uncrossed her arms and looked at the gorge. She held out her arm and summoned the demon snake. When it appeared it looked at the gorge and moved toward the edge. When it got close the demon bowed its head to the ground and merged with the rock. It came out the side of the cliff as stone and extended almost the entire was across the gorge. The newly formed rock was still shaped like the snake. Rei muttered a thanks and walked across. The remaining gap was quite small in comparison to the original space and she easily hoped across to the other side.
"That was interesting." Rei said calmly. "I wonder what else I can use that power for." Rei continued to walk along the path up the mountain.
Later that evening Rei had reached the end of the path. Now all that was left were several ledges straight up the side of the mountain. She would have to climb or jump up the ledges to make it the rest of the way. She also noticed something very interesting, there was no mist there on the mountain. It seemed to stop just a short way below her and did not extend this far.
"This is also interesting," Rei said softly, "The mist can't rise up this high. So from this altitude and up there will be no demons controlled by the mist. I wonder if there are any people who escaped up here away from it all. That would be very interesting."
While continuing to think Rei jumped up several ledges. They were about seven meters apart going mostly up and only slightly off to the side. It would have been a pain to scale by hand and especially hard if she were a normal human. Maybe it was reasons like this that this pass was not crossed. After going up ten or eleven sledges, and seeing that there were still many left to go, Rei decided to stop for the night. There was no danger of attack on the ledge with no mist and she would not fall off if she slept there. Rei sat against the mountain looking out at the landscape below. She pulled out some of the root vegetable that she had gathered a few days ago and began to eat.
While she ate she talked out loud, "The world looks so peaceful from up here. It doesn't look at all like we're trapped by an evil mist and our own walls. It just looks like a world of nature and humans, existing as they should. Everything is too far away for me to tell what it is. It would be funny if I could see Fuyutsuki castle from here." Rei paused to take a bite of food. "There has got to be someone on this mountain, there's no way these grew on there own. Hopefully I'll find them."
While she finished eating Rei continued to look out at the world and think of it as peaceful, to think of it as it could be, as it should be. She wondered, only for a moment, how long it would take her to accomplish her task. She quickly put that though out of her mind. Those kinds of thought were pointless, she would finish when she finished, there was no way to rush it.
Rei slept on the ledge that night quite nicely. Despite the fact that she was dangerously close to a ledge that only had a fall to her death beyond it she was quite calm and well rested. After a quick meal Rei continued her climb up the mountain. She continued to jump from ledge to ledge. She was getting used to climbing the mountain and the extra movement with ever thinning air. With every day it seemed like there was less to breath, but everyday it came easier to her. It was like growing up, she was able to adjust to things quickly and learn the best way to do them. It was times like this that Rei wondered why she ever disliked that part of her.
About half way through the day, slightly before the sun was directly overhead, Rei had made it to the top of the ledges. There, there was a large flat plateau and a cave at the other end. It looked as though she would have to go through the cave to get to the other side of the mountain and down the other side. She walked to the cave and entered looking around for anything that could go wrong.
After quite some time in the cave Rei let her guard up just enough so she would not be entirely focused of safety. Instead she took the time to notice that, even thought she was inside of a mountain, there was light in the cave. On the top of the cave there were rocks that glowed a brilliant green color. They illuminated the cave and made it possible to see. It was very beautiful and cool at the same time.
As she walked into the cave more she noticed that thee were tracks and foot prints of people across the floor. Some of them were very recent and some were quite old. From what she could tell most of the new track were from a girl around her size and age. The other ones were from many other people of varying size and age, but some time ago they stopped, almost as if they disappeared. By knowing this Rei figured that she would run into the people, or person, that had planted the vegetables down the mountain. Maybe this person could tell her more about the northern country and help her getting to her destination.
Later that day, when it was most likely getting close to night, Rei sat down against the wall of the cave. She had not expected it to be as deep as it was. It seemed as thought it was going down into the base of the mountain very slowly and in a long winding path. If this was the way down she really didn't care, but she worried for a moment that this path would lead her to a dead end and she would have to back track, loosing more time. She put that idea out of her head quickly and kept positive.
Inside the cave Rei had a strange dream. She dreamt about people living inside this cave. Living as thought they could not leave even for a moment. The dreamt that they felt safe for many years and then, without warning something bad happened. One by one people died for no reason, some would just died in the middle of a task with no sign that the would. Others would feel there death coming and leave the cave never to be seen again. Eventually there was only one person left, a small lonely girl. She was the only one who didn't die and had to live without other people for the rest of her life.
When Rei awoke from that dream she was horrified. She was unsure if it was truth she could feel from that place because of her Shinpishugisha power or just bad thoughts from analyzing the foot prints the day before. She could hardly ever tell what was real and what was a dream when it came to her powers. Despite being disturbed from the dream, Rei got up and continued her trek through the cave.
After several hours of walking, Rei could not tell the time of day, with the only light coming from the constant glow of the rocks she could not distinguish night from day, She came across another peculiar sight. This time instead of a row of root vegetables it was a large patch of seemingly cultivated mushrooms. The patch covered half the cave and ran some ten meters down it all uniform and utilizing the space it the most efficient way possible. Someone very skilled had actually planted fungus inside a cave in a controlled way. Rei had never seen or heard of anything like this. Despite the fact that someone had clearly worked very hard on this Rei kneeled down and plucked a mushroom from the ground. She was slightly sick of eating the other vegetables and thought that, since they were there, mushrooms would be a good change.
After taking and eating one Rei went to grab a second. They were surprisingly good and she wanted a few more before she carried one. As she grabbed the mushroom and took it of the rock a voice yell from down the tunnel.
"Hey what the hell do you think your doing? Those are mine!"
Rei looked up at the voice that yelled so effectively in the echoing tunnel and was very interested. It was a female voice, probably the one that belonged to the foot prints she saw earlier. As she thought about this the voice yelled again, this time louder.
"Are you listening? I said what are you doing steeling my food?" The person that the voice belong to walked closer to Rei and asked once more. "Who are you and what do you think your doing taking my food?"
Rei stood up. "Sorry, I figured these belonged to someone, but I didn't think taking two would be a problem. I apologize for my transgressions and humbly seek your forgiveness."
"Are you dense that only answered one of my questions." The girl said with a slight hint of confusion in her voice. "WHO ARE YOU?"
"My name is Rei and I'm a traveler from the south. I'm trying to go north and I needed some food to continue my journey."
"Wait you're a traveler? Does that mean that there is no more mist out there?"
"Unfortunately no. I have been fighting my way through it until a few days ago when the mist didn't come up any higher."
"Wow that's amazing, you can fight off demons? And of course the mist wont go this high. Why do you think we came here in the first place?"
"I wouldn't know. I was unaware that there were people living in this mountain, and until about two weeks ago that there was even a mountain here."
"Come with me," said the girl with a happy grin on here face, "lets go to my home and we can talk more there."
"Ok." Rei followed the girl further into the cave.
While they walked Rei thought that this girl was very odd. She could sense a quiet sadness in the girl and wondered what it was from. Was this the girl from her dream, could it really have been true? The other thing that interested her about the girl was her hair, it has red.
After a about thirty minutes of walking they arrived at a huge room inside the cave. There were several huts built out of straw, leaves and rocks, but no sign of anyone but the girl. This room was much better lit than the rest of the cave and Rei could see the girl much more clearly. The girl turned around and looked at Rei. After a few moments she moved her face very close to Rei's and looked very intently at her. Her face was very serious. After a few moments of that the girl backed away and smiled.
"This is cool. You and I are opposites of each other. I have red hair and blue eyes and you have blue hair and red eyes."
Rei stood there slightly confused. It was true, but she never expected this girl, who was so angry a moment ago, would find it so fascinating.
"You know you really don't look much like a girl with those clothes. You look more like the soldiers from stories. I'm Asuka by the way. Nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure Asuka. So, what exactly is this?"
"It's my home. What a stupid question . Are you always this dense?"
"No I mean is this a village or a hideout or…?" Rei paused. "And where is everyone else? It's not just you is it?"
"Yup it's just me. Everyone else either left or died." Asuka replied with a surprising lack of sorrow. "When the mist came my village moved from the base of this mountain up here to escape it and all of a sudden people started to get sick and die. It was pretty awful. I was only a kid and everyone around me died except me."
"That's horrible." Rei replied. "How were you able to survive here all by yourself for so long?"
"Because I'm not an idiot. I watched the others when I was little and learned enough to take care of myself. I had no choice." She finally said with some sorrow.
"I'm sorry for asking you about such painful things."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not sad, they've been dead for so long I've gotten over it. Come on lets sit over there, I can make us some tea."
"Tea in a cave?"
"Yeah. It's special, only grows here and nowhere else."
"Sounds good." Rei replied.
As Asuka prepared the tea Rei sat there thinking about what Asuka had said. She was able to get over the deaths of here village because it was so long ago. She was either amazingly strong or a liar. It had been eleven years since Rei's mother died and she still felt sad about it. Her thoughts were interrupted by Asuka sticking a tea cup into her face.
"Here." she said happily. Asuka was obviously very pleased to be interacting with another person. "So," she said to break the silence, "what are you exactly? I don't mean that to sound bad, but I was told that is was impossible to travel through the mist and not be taken over or killed. How'd you do it?"
Rei paused for a moment not sure if she should answer. She did not know how Asuka would react to her being a Shinpishugisha and she did not want to scare her away already. "Well it's not impossible." Rei replied. "My master did it when he traveled from his home to my village many years ago. If your strong enough than you can do it. Me on the other hand, I'm not only strong, but I'm…" Rei paused.
"Your what?" said Asuka.
"I am Shinpishugisha. I have the power to control demons that I've defeated and can use them to destroy the mist in a localized area. I'm actually traveling trying to just that until I can destroy the mist outright."
"Aren't Shinpishugisha the ones that made this mist to begin with?"
"I'm not sure, and even if they did it wasn't me and I will stop it." Rei said with a serious look on her face.
Asuka burst into laughter. "Wow you take this seriously huh? I was always told that Shinpishugisha were evil, but I don't necessarily believe it. I mean come on, I just found out it is possible to walk in the mist. I'll believe anything soon."
"So, you don't care what I am?"
"No of course not. You've done nothing bad, except take my mushrooms. I'm talking to a nice person, not an evil demon who wants to kill me."
"Thank you Asuka for not being scared of me."
"Huh?"
"In my village everyone else was always afraid of me for the color of my hair and eyes. I frightened them. When they found out I was Shinpishugisha they kicked me out of the village. I've been journeying to stop the mist ever sense."
"Wow that's bad."
Both girls sat silent for a moment. At the same time they both burst into laughter.
"What's wrong with me?" asked Asuka. "I meet someone for the first time and we both end up spilling are guts to each other."
"It is strange huh? I've never been this open with anyone."
"I guess we have to be friends now huh?"
"I guess so."
They both laughed again.
"So Rei, you said you were headed north. Why?"
"It seemed like the best destination. Also there's a small town right near this mountain that I can stop at."
"No you can't. That's my village. The one that was abandoned one hundred years ago."
"Oh, I guess that I wont be able to stop for a while then huh?"
"Guess not." Asuka looked down at the floor. "Hey Rei, could I come with you? You know on your journey. I'm not magic by any means, but I know I can help. Please?"
Rei looked at Asuka. She was about her height with long red hair stopping at her waist. Her build was about the same as hers and her clothes were like the ones she had trained with Kenji in. Asuka's breast were quite a bit larger than hers, but she decided to keep that fact quiet for as long as she could.
"Do you have any fighting experience?" asked Rei.
"Some. Like I said I was able to watch everyone else when I was little and I retained some of the moves I saw the older men doing."
"Let's take a look then shall we." Rei stood up and motioned for Asuka to do the same. "Attack me, I want to see what you can do."
"Ok." Asuka said with a hint of pride in her voice. She took a stance that was noticeably weak, but would be good if she had any real training. Asuka attacked Rei very quickly, much faster than she expected.
Rei easily avoided the attack, but Asuka rebounded and attacked again, also very fast. The exchange of Asuka attacking and Rei dodging continued for a few moments and than Rei finally countered one of Asuka's strikes. While not intending to hurt her she did try to hit her, Asuka was able to block and make space between them.
"Your pretty good." said Rei. "I like your speed."
"Haha, I can be faster, I'll get you this time."
Asuka attacked again and this time she was indeed faster. The training and living at such a high altitude must have made Asuka used to the thin air and much more able to operate there. Rei enjoyed the advantage Asuka had because if it. For this attack Rei jumped over Asuka and attacked her from behind stopping her blow just before it would have connected with the back of her neck.
"Your good, especially for not being trained. I think you should come with me."
"Really? Great."
Rei and Asuka sat down and talked for the next several hours. Rei told Asuka about her life and Asuka about hers. The told each other of all the things that troubled and hurt them and all the things they liked. Asuka told Rei about life inside a mountain and Rei told Asuka stories of her travels and about her village. Each one talked for as long as they could until the other interrupted out of interest.
"Wow," said Asuka, "I've only ever heard of an ocean and that was a long time ago. I'd really like to see one."
"I had never seen a mountain until now. I can't wait to go north and see lots of snow."
"That would be amazing." Asuka yawned after she finished her sentence.
"Are you tired?"
"Yeah it's late after all."
"Really? I can't tell what time of day it is in here."
"You get used to it having grown up in here. So tomorrow, we will continue out of her and on our journey?"
"Yeah, it will be much better traveling with a friend than alone. I have to warn you though, it is very dangerous out there."
"I'll be fine I'm the great Asuka after all." This caused both the girls to laugh.
"We should probably sleep so we can start early tomorrow."
"Yeah, here this way I think there's a spot where you can sleep."
"You Don't have to do that. I can just sleep against the wall, it's what I've done for most of my trip."
"I can't let my one and only friend do that. Come on, I'm sure there is a spot for you." Asuka grabbed Rei's arm and pulled her into the cluster of huts.
Eventually Asuka was able to make a patch or ground soft enough to call it batter than a rock wall. Her spot was not much better, but she still called it a bed. The fabric it was made out of was so old and beat up that it was hard to distinguish it from the various plant and leave discarding on the floor of the cave. Rei enjoyed the bed as she hated sleeping against rocks.
The next morning when Rei woke up Asuka was already up and was preparing tea. She had a pile of mushrooms and a few other plants that Rei could not identify.
"Good your up the tea is just about ready and I got us some food."
"Thank you, that's very kind."
"I'm a little scared." Asuka said flatly. "I've never been too far outside this cave let alone down the mountain and into the world. I'm worried about what will happen."
"I was too the first day. Not many have gone outside there village in a hundred years because of the mist. It's only natural to be worried. But it will be alright, we'll be fine. And besides, we're doing this so that everyone will one day be able to walk the earth freely again."
"Your right. Thanks. Here's your tea."
"Thank you." Rei said with a chuckle.
After they finished eating Asuka and Rei packed up there things, which were minimal, and some extra food ad set out on their journey. Asuka led the way out of the cave and into the open light of the day. By the time they had gotten out it was almost noon. Rei was unsure if it had really taken that long or if she over slept. The weird lighting made her stay awake and sleep oddly. It was no really concern because she was out of the cave and traveling with a friend. Slowly Asuka guided them down the path to the bottom of the mountain. By the end of the day the had reached the level that the mist would reach. Asuka turned around and walked quite a ways back up the trail.
"Is something wrong Asuka?" asked Rei.
"It's getting dark and I don't want to sleep near the mist tonight. Tomorrow we'll go the rest of the way."
Rei looked softly at Asuka. "You don't have to worry about the mist. As long as your alert you wont be caught off guard. And besides I'm used to it and I wont let anything bad happen to you."
"Well we can go down tomorrow anyway I want to sleep now."
"Ok Asuka."
Rei sat next to Asuka who was sitting against a large rock. They both sat there quietly together until they fell asleep. They were both very calm that night despite being so close to the evil mist.
The next morning Asuka and Rei awoke and walked right down into the mist eating as they walked. This was Rei's idea to get Asuka into the mist quickly so she would not have a reason to stall. It took most of the day for them to be attacked. But until then it was very calm. Except for the constant vapor drifting across the land the area with mist was no different from above it. The same grass grew, the same trees, and the same animals moved across the ground. When they got attacked, of course, it was different.
As they walked Rei at one time said to Asuka, "Be careful ok."
Asuka puzzled replied, "Huh?"
"There are demons around us so keep your guard up, don't let them attack you from behind."
"Ok." Asuka said slightly nervous, she had never actually been in a battle before.
After a few minutes the demons came out from behind the rocks and attacked the group. They were goblins much like the ones Rei fought at Fuyutsuki castle, only they were slightly larger this time. There were only two and they had large clubs in their hands. Rei stood calmly and Asuka acted like she wanted to fight, as to hide her fear. The first goblin attacked Rei from the front. It swung its club straight down at he head and she simply side stepped it to avoid. The club hit the ground only a few inches away from her feet and jumped up kneeing the goblin in the chin. Immediately after she rotated her body and kicked the beast in the side of the head. Continuing her spin she came around and delivered another kick to the top of its head, dropping her heel onto it. The goblin fell down dead from the impacts of Rei's kicks.
"All right Rei!" Asuka cheered.
"Pay attention Asuka."
Asuka turned around to see the other goblin charging in at her. It swung its club from the side at her and she ducked underneath it. From her crouch she jumped up and sent a kick to the neck of the goblin. The goblin fell over on its back and Asuka landed with an amazed look on her face.
"I did it." she said stunned. "Holy shit I did it. I'm amazing."
While Asuka cheered. Rei walked over to the goblin Asuka kicked. Standing next to its head she drew her sword and thrust it into the neck of the goblin. Asuka gasped when Rei did this. Rei took the sword from the goblins neck and shook the blood from the blade. She then calmly put the sword back into its sheath.
"Wha- what the hell? Why did you do that?" Asuka asked in a panic.
"It was still alive so I just finished it off." Rei said calmly.
"What do you mean? My kick wasn't good enough? You didn't have to do that I beat it."
"Yes you did but it was just unconscious. We needed to kill it so it wouldn't come after us again."
Asuka stood there with a frightened look on her face.
"You've never thought about killing something like that have you?"
"No. I mean I've killed small animals with traps for food, but I've never thought of stabbing a beast like this in the throat. I never imagined you to be like that."
"This was a demon that never in its existence was meant to help people. It only existed to hurt us for its food. Killing it was the only way to stop that. And…" Rei paused. "I'm not a completely good person. I've killed a human before." Rei's eyes were down cast at this statement.
"What?"
"In Fuyutsuki castle, the king had sacrificed the whole castle to the mist to gain power. It was the dying wish of the doctor there that if he still desired that he be killed, and I did just that."
"…."
"Asuka you will have to kill these demons we face. I know what I did may have seemed harsh, but it was the best way to awaken you to the truth. I'm sorry for frightening you, ok."
"Yeah, ok."
"I know this is probably the wrong time, but have you ever used any weapons before?"
"When I was younger I used to play around with a staff. It was just a limb of an old tree, but I guess I was ok with it. I don't have a real one obviously."
"That's ok, we should be able it get you one somewhere if you want. No come on, lets keep walking. I don't want to keep looking at these corpses."
"Yeah."
Rei and Asuka continued on the path down the mountain. At night they found I nice spot to sit and light a fire. The fire was nice as it was quite cold that night. The time of year made it cold, but also their location. They were getting close to the north country so the weather would get steadily cooler from there. After a while of sitting quietly Asuka finally spoke.
"I'm sorry about earlier Rei."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because I was useless. I couldn't do what I needed to in that battle. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. You have been exposed to a lot of new things in the past two days so it's natural that you be a little off. Also, you had no idea about killing these demons so how could you be expected to. An besides I never gave you a chance to kill it I just walked over and stabbed him. You could have if I had told you in advance or even right there. I handled that wrong, not you."
"Thank you Rei."
So when we fight again make sure you hit them more than once. I'm stronger from my training with Kenji so it's easier for me, but until you get used to it you have to work a little harder."
"Ok." Asuka said happily.
Rei tilted her head back and looked up at the stars. No matter what happened to her she always felt better looking at them. When she looked back down Asuka was also looking at the sky. Rei tilted her head back and continued looking at them.
"You like the stars too huh?" asked Rei.
"Yeah."
Rei liked looking at the stars, especially now that she had someone to look at them with.
The next day Rei and Asuka were attacked three times by demons, all the goblins like the day before. Asuka had no problem finishing them off as Rei had instructed. The goblins posed little trouble for the two of them and they felt very confident after each battle for their accomplishment. At the end of the day they were both exhausted from all the fighting, yet they still laughed around the fire.
"I can't believe how many of them there were." said Asuka.
"I know, that was the most I've fought in one day since my village was attacked."
"Do you think that will happen often?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything about the demons habits or this part of the country so I have no idea."
"Oh well, at least we know that we can handle it, right?"
"Yeah."
"We should probably reach the bottom tomorrow. Then it's flat land for quite some time."
"How do you know, you hardly ever left the cave let alone come this far?"
"All stories you moron, my parents told me all this before they died."
The two girls sat quietly for a few seconds and then started to laugh together. The fake exchange of angry words was a great relief after the long day of fighting. They both fell asleep soon after and slept with the glow of the fire keeping them warm and safe.
They reached the bottom of the mountain shortly after they woke up that morning. If only they had not been in so many fights the day before they could have made it sooner. At the base of the mountain where the path started there was an arch just like on the other side. This arch had the same warning as the other side. Rei was slightly confused by this.
"Both of these arches war about this being a cursed serpent pass. It wasn't that bad and there were no snakes. Do you know what the legend is behind this Asuka?"
"Well, my parents said that a few years before the mist came no one would go up this mountain because it was cursed. They said that a large snake did once reside in this mountain and would kill anyone that came up to high. Apparently one day a strange visitor came and offered to rid this mountain of the snake. He climbed up the mountain and about a week later came down with a large snakes head. To prove that it was safe he took seven people up to the top and back down again. And that's how we knew about the caves up there. It was almost like this man had come not to kill the snake, but to show us that we had a place to be safe from other dangers."
"And no one ever took the warning down from the arches huh?"
"No I guess not. The people at that time probably didn't want any visitors to their peaceful town so the left it. You know, now that I think about it, I think the story said that this stranger had red eyes just like you. Maybe a Shinpishugisha knew about the mist coming and wanted to save some of us."
"That would be amazing to hear. It would show that were not all bad. Unfortunately I don't know if there are even anymore of my kind left. Most of the that lived with humans were killed for being thought to have caused the mist and any that escaped were killed in other towns or went into hiding. I have no idea where they are or if they're out there."
"Well it doesn't matter too much. As long as we free the world from the mist it doesn't matter who's where." Asuka said with a smile.
"Your right."
The two girls continued along the path away from the mountain north toward their destination. At noon they stopped for a quick rest and a drink of water. There, Rei pulled out her map and looked once again at where she was going.
"Oh, what's that?" asked Asuka as she looked over Rei's shoulder.
"It's my map of the country so I have some idea of where I am going. I was going to head to the village at the base of the mountain, but since that was your village and has been abandoned for so long I might as well just go past it." Rei stopped when she noticed the somber look on Asuka's face. "I'm sorry I'm still used to saying "I". It really should be we huh?"
"No it's not that. It's just that I've never even seen my village, it was always spoken about like something that was lost and could never be gotten back. And now, since I'm right here. Can we go there? Even if it's only for a moment I want to see where my family is from, where I could have lived, where I will live when we clear the mist."
"Yeah sure thing Asuka. If I can I'll convince demons to purify that area so your town will be free. It seems kind of strange to do that since there are no people, but if you want."
"If it's not something you can do right away don't worry about it. There's no need for me to hold us up there if we're rescuing no one."
"Ok Asuka, if that's what you want." Rei turned back and looked at her map. "This town looks like a good place to go to. It's rather large so there is probably a lot of people. I think that your first town rescue should be a big one, how about you?"
"Yeah sure. What's this town called anyway?"
"Oshu."
"Sounds like a nice place."
"Yeah. Well, lets get going shall we."
"Ok." Rei packed up the map and they both walked off toward their new destination.
Later that day they came across the old village that was Asuka's ancestral home. Despite the hundred years of decay and rot the beauty of the town could still be seen. It was a decent sized town that was built in a perfect circle. The roads went around the city and there were several main roads that went to the center. In the center there was a large building made of stone. It was beautifully decorated with statues of various creatures that must have been important to the people living there. Because of the hundred years with no people there was considerable vegetation growing all over the city. Most of the buildings had plants or trees coming out of them. Despite this Asuka was aw struck at the sight.
"It's as beautiful as the said it was. I had always heard that it was like this."
"But without all the trees growing in the houses."
"Yeah. My home, the town that was built in a perfect circle. It was said that when they built this town the had someone with a demon fly overhead and measure the city so it would be perfect. I can't believe how wonderful it is."
"Look Asuka, it's getting late do you want to stay here tonight?"
"No it's alright we can leave."
"Come on, we wont come back this way for a while so if you want to I'm ok with that."
"Thank you Rei. Do you think you can purify this place?"
"I don't sense any demons, but that doesn't mean anything. If there are any here we'll find out soon. If they're here I will purify this place, ok?"
"Ok." replied Asuka obviously holding back tears. She silently walked of and into one of the buildings. There she lay down on the floor where a bed would have been if there were any left. She started to silently cry and Rei sat down next to her. Rei did nothing for Asuka, she figured letting her be emotional would be the best thing for her tonight. Asuka eventually fell asleep and stopped crying. Rei followed shortly there after, she lay down next to Asuka, deciding that she should be there for her friend.
When Asuka woke up Rei was gone. She walked out of the building and looked around for her, but to no avail. Eventually Asuka started to get worried.
"Rei! Where are you!?"
"I'm right here." called Rei from atop one of the buildings. She hopped down from the roof next to Asuka. "Geez you get worried quick. I was just looking around for any demons. Sorry, there aren't any that will purify this place. That means we need to keep going."
"Yeah ok." Asuka said with a smile.
"She's either over all those emotions or really good at hiding it." thought Rei. "Well lets go."
"Yeah, to Oshu!" Asuka shouted holding her fist up into the sir.
AUTHORS NOTE:
There you go another character introduced. I know it's odd introducing Asuka before Shinji, but I like her more. And who knows, maybe there is a reason for it. Maybe there will be some good Asuka Rei moments, but who knows. When I wrote this I was more worried about my college midterms. The next chapter will be slightly more violent so those who missed it in this chapter, or think the story needs more to begin with, will be happy. I think there should be more sarcasm in this story how about you guys?