To everyone that has made it this far, I thank you and love you! You are the best! Please keep reading and to the five people that ever see this chapter, REVIEW! It would make a new writer very happy. I want everyone's input so I can make it better and, hopefully, get it to your standards. Love you guys and please keep reading. Something cool might happen soon... I just have to think it up first...
Chapter 34
The sun rose the next morning and burned into Kaze's eyes through the window. He did his best to shield his eyes from the bright light. It didn't work, so he rolled over onto his other side to escape the brightness. That's when he realized something was wrong. He was alone. Sai wasn't in bed with him. That's when the ground shook. Everything in the house shook with it and Kaze heard some things fall to the floor. He sniffed the air searching for any trace of danger. There wasn't any, but Kaze instantly recognized the tell-tale scent of two certain demon blades and their owner.
"DRAGON RIFT!" Sai roared. The waves of light erupted from her swords and slammed into the tree line. It left a wide swath of destruction in front of her. This wasn't helping her frustration. She threw the blades into ground making them stick out at an angle from where they stuck. Sai found the nearest tree that was still standing and ran to it. Sai flexed her claws reading for the attack.
"IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" She brought her claws down, bringing the tree down with them.
"Dammit!" She cried out in anger and frustration. The tree beside the one she had just clawed down was her next target. Sai clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it straight into the trunk. The tree broke easily under the immense force and was sent flying back until it hit another tree and broke in half. She brought her arm back to do this to another tree that was nearby. However, her fist never connected with the bark. Instead, it slammed straight into Kaze's palm. He had gotten there in a fraction if a second and had a look of concern and worry all over his face.
"K-Kaze?" Sai stuttered, suddenly feeling all of her muscles go limp. Her fist dropped to her side and her face dropped to stare at the ground. "What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you were alright." He said, "And I'm glad I did. Otherwise we wouldn't have a forest for much longer." Sai looked up at Kaze. He was smiling warmly at her. She laughed half-heartedly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." She said.
"So are you alright?" Kaze asked.
"I thinks so." Sai told him, "Just had to get a little bit of stress out."
"I can see that." Kaze said, surveying the damage, "C'mon. Let's get some food. Then we can look at that scroll." Sai nodded and let Kaze put his arm around her and walk her home.
The two ate breakfast together before being joined by Nami, Umi, and Akage. None of them seemed to know about Sai's outburst that morning. Obviously they hadn't seen the devastation to the woods nearby. Sai was okay with that, though. Once they arrived, Sai immediately got up and retrieved the scroll that Sesshomaru had given them the day before.
"Alright." Sai said, taking a seat in the circle that had formed and setting the scroll down in the middle of it, "Moment of truth." She broke the seal that held the scroll closed and unfurled the parchment to reveal a map that was written on in several places.
"What is this?" Nami asked, scanning over the thing.
"Looks like a map." Umi said.
"Well I know that." Nami shot back sarcastically, "What I meant was a map of what."
"Not sure." Kaze said, "But what I do know is that the symbol we are looking for is on the far eastern tip of Japan." He pointed to the symbol drawing everyone's attention to it.
"So that's where we have to go?" Akage asked.
"More than likely." Sai said.
"That's really far away." Nami pointed out, "It's going to take forever to get there."
"Not quite." Came a voice from behind them. They all turned to face the familiar voice. "Your mother sent me a message that you might need my help, so I came as fast as I could." Kohaku said.
"Uncle Kohaku?" Kaze said, surprised that he was there. He was quickly followed by the excited cries of his sisters.
"Uncle Kohaku!" They cried out in unison.
"The one and only." He said, smiling, "You're looking different Kaze." This made Kaze blush a bit and scratch the back of his head.
"Yeah, just a little bit." He said, laughing lightly.
"Well, it's obvious that you guys do need some help and I can definitely provide that." Kohaku told them.
"How?" Kaze asked.
"Follow me." Kohaku responded, motioning for everyone to get up and come outside, "I've got just the thing for you guys." They followed him out of the house and watched him closely. Kohaku whistled loudly causing it to echo throughout the village. With seconds, a giant cat with two tails came flying down from the sky.
"Kirara!" Nami and Umi screamed together as they ran to greet the familiar cat demon upon her landing. They began to pet her and shower her with affection. Even Sai and Kaze got in on it. All the while, Kirara purred happily since she hasn't seen any of them in a long time. After a while, Nami turned to Kohaku.
"So what was it that you had for us?" She asked.
"Kirara." He answered simply, "She is my gift to you. You guys need her much more than I do, especially considering your need to travel quickly."
"Are you serious?" Umi asked incredulously, "That's amazing!" This made Kohaku smile, but after a moment, his face turned serious. Everyone picked up on the change in mood and quieted down.
"What is it uncle?" Kaze asked.
"You must move quickly. Konton is building up his armies. He is making bolder steps than ever before and launching assaults in even the most powerful demon lords." Kohaku explained.
"You mean like Sesshomaru?" Sai asked. Kohaku nodded his head.
"However," Kohaku continued, "what is most disturbing is that some of the demon lords are joining under his banner. The demon lords themselves disappear soon after the alliance is made, but Konton keeps the armies."
"So he's eliminating all demonic competition while at the same time, increasing the size of his demonic army? That's pretty smart to say the least." Nami pointed out, "Do other humans know about this?"
"Very few." Kohaku told them, "Only clans of demon slayers have accepted the fact. Most common folk are too foolish to realize what is truly going on."
"Well then, we should get going then." Kaze said. The rest of the group agreed and they began to prepare to leave the village.
After everything had been readied and tearful goodbyes had been said, the group left the village. Sai, Kaze, and Akage were running along the ground while Nami and Umi rode on Kirara. The running would not tire the half-demons and Kirara could fly for days without getting fatigued. All of this made progress much faster for the group. Without any obstructions, they would make it to the eastern coast where the map had pointed them to go in about a week. However, an unobstructed journey is never possible when it comes to powerful demons. The group knew this and was vigilant every moment that they traveled. Luckily, the first day was danger free.
They found a place to camp just off the road along which they were traveling. Sai agreed to take first watch. She would be followed by Kaze, Akage, Nami, and Umi who would do it with Kirara. The stars were beautiful that night. Sai stared at them the tree she was sitting in when suddenly it's branches rustled. She turned round with her hand flying to her blades, but was relieved to be faced with Kaze.
"Did I startle you?" He asked, concerned.
"A little bit." Sai admitted, "But don't worry about it. I guess I'm a little jumpy. You should get some sleep." Kaze chuckled.
"Can't." He told her, "It feels wrong without my mate." Sai smiled.
"Well then, I guess you're just gonna have to stay with me here in this tree." She joked.
"I guess so. Give me some room and I'll join you." He said. Sai did and Kaze jumped over to her branch. Kaze sat against the trunk of the tree and let Sai sit in his lap and rest against his chest. He emitted a low growl from his chest that made Sai laugh. She returned the pleased growl and snuggled up closer to him.
"I thought you didn't like being in trees." Sai commented after a while.
"Yeah I know. It's like there's something different about me now, but for the life of me I can't place what it is." Kaze joked. He grazed his fangs over her neck making her laugh.
"A mystery indeed." She said. Suddenly, her face became serious, "What's more of a mystery is what's waiting for us ahead."
"Yeah no kidding." Kaze agreed, "We've got no idea what we're up against."
"You think we have a chance?" Sai asked him. Kaze was taken back in surprise.
"Of course we do Sai. It's Konton that doesn't have a chance. He's got a few army, while we've got the only half-demon priestess to ever live. Not to mention that all of us got exponentially more powerful after our time in the future. I say that we got this one easily." He told her confidently.
"Thanks Kaze." Sai said, grabbing his hands that were wrapped around her, "I needed to hear that."
"No problem Sai. Just don't ever forget that it's gonna be us winning this war." Kaze said, kissing neck. Sai growled in pleasure. Kaze sighed.
"Dammit." He said in a defeated voice.
"What?" Sai asked confused.
"You're giving off that scent again and it's driving me crazy, but we can't do anything about it." He explained.
"Who said anything about not being able to do anything about it?" Sai said with a mischievous look in her eye, "We just have to be a little quieter than normal and I think I can manage that."
"I think I can too." He said with a smile. Sai winked and then pounced on him.
Despite their efforts, Nami awoke to hear the conversation and the events that followed. It made her laugh. She had never taken Sai to be one to so adventurous. Kaze truly did complete her friend. After it was clear that they were done, since she didn't want to interrupt the couple again, she got up to relieve them of their duties of watching over the camp.
"Hey you two!" She whispered loudly into the tree that they ha returned to, "You're times up. Come on down and get some sleep." In response, the two immediately dropped from the branches and landed quietly on the ground. Nami saw their ruffled hair and relaxed appearance and smiled.
"Looks like you two had fun on watch." She joked. Nami winked as both of their faces turned from relaxed to surprised. Before they could try to come up with something to say, she held up her hand to tell them to stop.
"Get some sleep okay. You two need it. Don't worry. My lips are sealed." Then, without waiting for a response, Nami jumped onto the lowest branch of the tree an began to make her way higher. Sai and Kaze, on the other hand, sighed in relief and hurried off to sleep.