A/N: Just kidding...thanks to Coldman9's request I'm putting in another chapter about what happened when the twin demons awoke at Ezofuji and when Oki stole Kutone. After all the fluffiness from last chapter we begin with some action! Woot!

Please enjoy and make sure you review!

Winter was fast approaching the frozen lands of Kamui, but the weather they were currently witnessing was like nothing the Oina had ever seen. It was midday and the clouds were heavy and gray with snow, when suddenly, from far to the south they heard the sound of the earth ripping and shattering apart. The sky darkened and they saw a massive, curling black cloud sweep the skies above their homeland only to disappear within Laochi Lake. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but it still left a very deep impression of fear on all who witnessed it. Every Oina knew that Kamui was the birthplace of demons, and perhaps they were starting to return home.

Oina shamaness Tuskle felt something else stirring by Laochi Lake that made her heart sink to the pits of her stomach with dread. Moshi and Kota, the owls on her mask, snapped open their eyes and shrieked, which only confirmed her fears and suspicion. The evil that has been returning back to Kamui awakened the things enshrined inside Wawku.

She ran to up the path to Wawku, but it was too late. Chief Kemu had also felt the disturbance and was now locked in ferocious battle with the twin demons.

"Chief Kemu!" she cried, but to no avail. He was bleeding heavily and could barely stand up. His spiritual powers were no match for the demons' evil magic. She ran up in her wolf form to attack, but the golden demon swiveled his head around and spotted her. She was halfway through her leap when she realized it was too late. The clock that had been ticking as soon as she ran towards them stopped with a final CLICK.

Everything was frozen. She and Kemu were locked into place, frozen in time, while the demons moved back and prepared to finish them off leisurely. Tuskle couldn't move her head to look at Kemu, but she was certain he shared a similar fate. The golden demon lifted its walking stick, pointing the sharp, golden-tipped end at her, and prepared to thrust it through her heart…

BAM! Something heavy shoved her out of the way and back into the normal time stream. She just barely managed to spot a flash of lilac through her confusion. In one sweep, Samickle pushed both her and the Chief out of harm's way and was now growling menacingly at the twin demons.

"Don't do it, Samickle!" she shouted to him. "Get Kemu back to safety!"

Samickle dropped his guard for a moment and the silver demon took the opportunity to slash him out of the way with its stick. Samickle barked with surprise but left them alone to help Kemu, who was bleeding into the snow. As much as he wanted to rip the demons' throats out now, they couldn't save the village if the only person with the power of volcanic incantation died. Samickle changed back to a human and lifted Kemu into his arms, but the cursed demons pressed closer and thrust flying icicles at them. Samickle dodged them and cursed. He couldn't save the Chief with the demons attacking them as well!

"I'll handle this, Samickle!" cried Oki, who fended off the latest barrage of poisonous purple fruits. "So go, NOW!"

Samickle hurried down the pass while Tuskle and Oki forced the demons back through Wawku Gate. They all met back in the Chief's hut, solemnly watching as Tuskle proceeded to heal his wounds. When she had finished bandaging and muttering chants, she turned her ebony gaze to them and shook her head.

"That is all I can do for now," she said. "A shaman can only do so much. All we must do now is wait, and pray that he heals."

Oki ground his teeth in frustration. He was no good at waiting, especially when he was powerless to do anything.

Kemu coughed and screwed his eyes tight with pain. "Must…say…something…urgent…" he wheezed.

"Don't force yourself, Chief Kemu!" Tuskle reprimanded. "Save your strength!"

"Don't know if I…will have the strength…for later…" Kemu replied, and fell into a fit of coughs. He moved his head slightly to look at Samickle. "Samickle…you must…be Chief in my place…protect the village…from demons…will only get worse…" He lapsed into coughing again and coughed up blood. Tuskle forced him to drink some medicine, and at last he settled down but seemed to have nothing more to say.

Tuskle turned to look at Samickle with a grave expression on her face. She bowed her head slowly. "Kemu has passed on the title of Chief to you, Samickle," she said. "Oki and I are witness. We must tell everyone what has befallen Ezofuji and take precautions against the demons. As Kemu has said, it will only get worse from here."

[xx]

Things did get worse.

It was barely nightfall, and already the demons had turned Ezofuji into a glacier. Kamui was colder than it had ever been, and a harsh blizzard blew down from the twin peaks of Ezofuji. More demons than ever before flocked to the frozen fields, and worst of all, nothing could be done about it.

Oki clenched his fists. He was angry and frustrated. At least Samickle had something to be occupied with, having suddenly become Chief. Oki couldn't do anything except slay an endless barrage of demons as he watched the cursed demon twins freezing over his lands.

Something Tuskle had said piqued his interest, though. They gathered all the Oina in Samickle's house, which was the second biggest after the Chief's, and Tuskle recounted everything that had happened.

"However, not all hope is lost," she told them. "There is an ancient prophecy regarding our guardian sword, Kutone. It goes like this: The wall of ice shall shatter and open the way to the heavens when Kutone, the guardian sword, glows silver. When the time has come, Kutone will glow silver, and perhaps the evil will be banished."

"Perhaps?" Oki repeated dubiously. "We're in a crisis, Tuskle. We need something more definite than a simple perhaps."

Tuskle gazed at him evenly. "I understand your impatience, Oki, but we must wait and pray. For now, that is all we can do."

No, Oki thought. That's not all we can do. He looked at the two tall guardian posts that stood by the entrance to Laochi Lake. The guardian posts that marked the shrine to Kutone. Oki was not the kind of person to wait for fate to take charge. He was going to take charge of his own fate.

Oki shivered as he neared Kutone's shrine overlooking Lake Laochi. The intensity of the blizzard had increased dramatically as he approached the source of it coming from Wawku. The guardian sword was dark gray with a wooden hilt carved in the face of an owl—the guardian animals of the Oina. Slowly, Oki placed his hands around the hilt and reverently lifted the sword from its frozen stand. He could almost feel the power it held inside it, just waiting to be released. Swiftly and silently, he fled through the village back to his hut.

"Oki?" said a voice softly. "Oki, is that you?"

It was Kai. She met him just outside the village entrance.

"What are you doing outside?" he said sharply. "You do know this is a blizzard, don't you?"

Kai ignored him and stared down at the sword in his hand, her eyes growing wide.

"Oki, is that Kutone? What are you doing with the guardian sword?"

Oki looked up in the direction of Ezofuji, which could barely be seen through the snow and the darkness. "I cannot wait for things to simply happen," he said. "Kutone won't glow silver until it has tasted the blood of demons, I'm sure of it. I'll kill as many demons as I must in order for Kutone to shine." He looked at Kai with his piercing crimson gaze, as if challenging her to question him. "You understand me, don't you?"

Kai started to say something but faltered. She stared down at the ground and fiddled with the hem of her jacket.

"Oki…" she began. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

Oki definitely wasn't expecting her to answer this way. She of all people should understand his intentions, right?

She continued fiddling with her hem. "I mean, what if…what if something bad happens? Oki, you can't handle everything by yourself! At least let me or Tuskle or Samickle help—"

"And do what?" Oki said, cutting her off sharply. "Get slaughtered by demons? I'm a warrior, Kai. This is my duty, not yours. Stay in the village, where it's safe."

He turned around and started down the path, but Kai kept following him. "Oki, wait! Please, don't go out there by yourself—"

She yelped as Oki drew Kutone on her. "Don't follow me," he said as coldly as he could. Why couldn't she understand, this was something he had to do alone? This wasn't something he could drag anyone else into, and could never forgive himself if he did. "Don't come down to see me, don't bring me things, I don't want any of it. If I ever see you out here again pulling something stupid like killing demons or whatever it is you want to do, I'll cut you down myself, understand?"

Kai's eyes were upset, and Oki gruffly turned away before he could see her cry. It ripped him apart to make her cry, but he had to, because she wouldn't understand any other way. He ran as fast as he could into the darkness, leaving her behind. He didn't hear her following him, which was good at least.

Oki looked down at the sacred sword in his hand, thinking about something Kai had said that bothered him. Was he doing the right thing by taking the sword? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. One thing was for sure, the right thing was not waiting. Oki was a lone warrior—he always was and always would be. But at least this time he was going to atone for the past and do something right. He could not turn back now, even if he wanted to. A huge demon bellowed in the distance, followed by the sound of clanging armor. Nearby, some smaller demons chattered and rustled with excitement, their red eyes pricking through the darkness. Oki readied his blade, his heart pounding with the anticipation of battle. "Time for you to shine, Kutone."

A/N: The ending is in sight! Stay tuned for the last chapter, and please review!