Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Enjoy this chapter.
The sun rose over the horizon to extend the rays to the small group of two dragons, two children and one faun. Zangetsu felt the sun's ray warming his scales and with a great sigh his eyelids opened to reveal his golden eyes. The black dragon gave a loud yawn and looked about the camp. Toushiro was sleeping along Hyourinmaru's forearm while the dragon had his neck curled around. Zangetsu noticed that the fire had gone out during the night, but not too long ago if the wisps of smoke rising from the charred wood are anything to go by. His gaze wandered to Karin curled up on her pallet, but there was a small bundle curled up at her feet. Zangetsu snorted at the faun morphed into the cat sleeping at the girl's feet. The faun had joined their group just last night when he peeked in on Karin as she bathed. She accepted him while Toushiro and the dragons were far more reluctant.
Zangetsu growled low in his throat to wake Hyourinmaru. The snow dragon raised his head and looked over the group.
"Should we wake the rest?" Zangetsu asked. The snow dragon looked down to where Toushiro was sleeping, reclined on his forearm. In the current position, Toushiro would awaken should Hyourinmaru move.
"It would be best. We still have a long way to travel." Hyourinmaru shifted his arm and woke Toushiro with the gentle movement. Zangetsu bent his head and carefully nudged Karin, and Kon as well since the cat form was curled up alongside Karin's legs.
"Just five more minutes," Kon mumbled as he rolled away from the pallet. Karin sat up and stretched her arms and legs, then looked around blinking the sleep away from her eyes. Her gaze drifted around to Toushiro standing from his spot, Kon curled a couple of feet away from her feet and up to Zangetsu's head hovering over her.
"Why are we up so early," Karin mumbled in her drowsy state.
"It is time to get up. We have a long way to travel." Zangetsu easily answered the girl, since Karin had the length of dragon scales around her right arm there was no need for her to be in physical contact with the dragons. The two of them turned their heads to Kon as a snore escaped the sleeping faun.
"We need to wake up Kon," Karin explained as he curled his legs tighter to his small body.
Toushiro stood up and easily walked over to Kon, where he stopped. Thinking over the methods of waking the creature, Toushiro decided to shake the animal awake. It would be pointless to scare the faun half to death when they needed him to point them in the right direction.
"Huh?" Kon squinted up at Toushiro and morphed into his lion bear form. "Hi there," Kon waved a little paw as he stared up at the boy. He remembered that the boy did not like him, so Kon was doing his best to get on his good side.
"We need to get ready to leave." Toushiro answered then walked off to gather the bags from last night. Karin rolled up her blankets and carried them over to her best friend.
"How are we going to get back home?" Karin asked making Toushiro look away from packing up last night provisions.
"Kon," Toushiro called over to the faun causing the creature to jump at his name. "You said you can help us get home. Which direction will we need to head?"
"Well what direction were you heading before you got lost?" Kon ran over to the two.
"We left Rukongai heading West following a map Kisuke gave us." Toushiro explained. Kon plopped on the ground crossing his legs and placing a paw under his chin in deep thought.
"If you guys were heading West and had a map, then how'd you get lost?" Kon asked and Toushiro furrowed his brow in irritation.
"The map was upside down." Toushiro felt his left eye twitch at the careless mistake which he made the day before.
"So if the map was upside down does that mean you need to head East?" Kon looked up to the young man.
"This is what I am uncertain about." Toushiro admitted to the small creature.
"Okay so what villages are closest to you guys?"
"Ever heard of Karakura?" Karin asked watching the small faun cup his chin in a paw while closing his eyes in concentration.
"It doesn't ring a bell," Kon exclaimed while rubbing his chin. "Happen to know what region you guys come from?" At Kon's question, Karin looked over to Toushiro and shrugged her shoulders. Her schooling only covered the basics of the mountain geography and never learned about the various regions of their lands.
"We come from the Suisen region." Toushiro easily answered, he knew about the regions from soldiers coming into the village. While they explained the region, they failed to mention the various divisions the country was divided into.
"I know where that is!" Kon jumped up in excitement and spun a quarter turn to the right extending a paw straight into the forest across the lake. "I know some friends who winter over in that region. It's about five to six days away, and there's a fairly large village just before we get there."
"We'll be able to gather more supplies there." Toushiro started glancing between Kon and an excited Karin.
"So we'll be getting back home in a week's time," Karin looked up to Zangetsu when the dragon wandered over to the group. "That means you will also see your friends." Zangetsu tilted his head in thought curious at her sudden downturn in mood.
"Does that disturb you?" Zangetsu asked the young girl.
"No, but once we get home will we see you again?" Karin stepped over to Zangetsu and he allowed her to stroke the tip of his nose just below the horns. Toushiro watched her interact with Zangetsu and thought about what awaited them in Karakura. The dragons would return to their den, maybe they would see each other again; Karin would finish her schooling, and be grounded for the rest of her natural days; and Toushiro would be preparing to leave for Sereitei.
"We can worry about that later first we need to get back home." Toushiro easily answered dismissing the subject and finished packing up the bags. Karin watched him move about when her stomach began to growl. The dragons, Toushiro and Kon stared at her. She simply rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment and gave a little chuckle.
"I guess I'm a little hungry." Karin mumbled staring at the ground when her stomach growled again causing a fairly light blush to dust her cheeks.
"I would say you are more than a little hungry." Toushiro answered then he walked over to Kon still sitting on the ground. "Kon, do you know what can be eaten in this part of the forest?"
"Yep, sure do," Kon rose and motioned for the two humans to follow him. "I'll show you guys where the best nuts and fruits grow." Kon led them into the forest for breakfast. After they had eaten their fill, the group followed Kon's direction and they traveled for many days.
Each night the group would find a clearing and eat dinner then sleep. The nights were still warm, but a night or two turned chilly. On those nights, Zangetsu would curl up stretching a wing along his body so that a little shelter was created. The shelter was warm and protected against the wind. Karin would sleep under the wing and Kon would curl up at her feet to Toushiro's annoyance, but the little creature was harmless and kept Karin entertained, so Toushiro and the dragons let the faun alone. On many nights, Toushiro stayed up watching for anything to come around. This caution was not really needed with traveling with dragons and all, but he could not settle unless he knew for sure that the group was safe. Besides the dragons needed the rest more than he did, or at least that was his reason to Hyourinmaru. The dragon snorted obvious not believing the boy, however there was nothing the dragon could do to convince Toushiro to get more rest.
They had traveled for nearly four days when they came upon the village Kon had spoken of.
"There it is," Kon morphed into a ferret ran up the length of Zangetsu's neck and perched on the crown of his head pointing a small paw into the expanse of thinning trees. "That is Junrinan. This marks the edge of the Sensui region and another two days travel will get you guys back to your village."
"We're almost home," Karin exclaimed with a large smile on her face.
"We should stay the night and leave for Karakura in the morning." Toushiro ordered to the group. Kon looked down to the humans, still in a ferret form, and looked toward the village through the trees. It was a simple village: there were no walls to block out any animals but it looked like there were a few soldiers drifting between the small cabins and stores. Kon also spotted several horse and rider pairs drifting through the trees. Many of the riders walked into a low, open building with stalls open to the air where horse heads poked out from the open windows.
"I'm not too sure you guys should just walk in there without any type of packs or transport." Kon observed as more soldiers walked to and fro in the village.
"What do you mean Kon?" Karin asked up to Kon resting on his haunches atop Zangetsu's head.
"I mean they're going to want to know how you guys traveled here." Kon looked down to the girl and started to run down the dragon's neck and plop down in front of her. "They find out you guys got here on dragons, then there's a good chance they'll throw you out."
Toushiro looked over to the village, understanding what Kon was saying.
"Kon's right," Toushiro explained. "We need to enter in a way that will not be suspicious." Toushiro looked back from Hyourinmaru's shoulders. He looked at Kon and recalled all of the forms he transformed into the first day. One of the forms was a horse, and they still had the bridle and saddle from Winter Storm.
"Hyourinmaru where is the bridle and saddle that I took off Winter Storm?" The snow dragon looked back to Toushiro and used his tail to lift up a pack from his back at the joint of his wings and shouders. Placing the pack on the ground Toushiro spotted the saddle and bridle at the top of the pile and easily slid off the shoulders of the dragon.
"Kon," the faun looked to Toushiro and ran toward the boy. "I need you to transform into a horse." The faun nodded his head and transformed into a horse easily as tall as Winter Storm but pale beige with dark brown mane and tail.
"Sure thing, so why do you want a horse?" Kon asked standing before the boy, whose head now only reached to just above his horse form's shoulders.
"You are going to walk us into the village." Toushiro answered and proceeded to place the saddle on Kon's back as the horse form looked between the village and his foreleg with the star.
"I'm not sure how that is going to work?" Kon stated showing Toushiro his star tattoo shining a brilliant gold in the mid afternoon sun. "It's not normal for horses to have stars on their legs." He kindly pointed out as Toushiro moved to place the bridle over his muzzle. Karin heard the exchange and ran over to the pile placed at Toushiro's feet.
"I know what will help," Karin shouted in triumph and pulled out a small roll of gauze from the pile. "We can use this to cover the star up, riders wrap the legs of their horses with a strip of gauze all of the time." Karin answered and kneeled at Kon's forearm to wrap the leg. Once she had finished, Kon looked at her work and nodded when the star was completely hidden under the padding.
"Now we are ready to go into the village," Toushiro finished adjusting the bridle and motioned for Karin to stand beside them.
"Karin you need to ride Kon so we can enter the village without any questions." Karin looked over to Kon and gripped onto the bridle.
"Do you mind Kon?" Karin asked before she allowed Toushiro to assist her into the saddle.
"Nah, I don't mind." Kon answered and bent down for Karin to get settled in the saddle.
"Kon one more thing," Toushiro began leading the two toward a cleared path just past the trees. "Horses don't speak so don't talk when we get in, and you'll stay in the stable for the night."
"Aww man that stinks," Kon complained dropping his head down to Toushiro's shoulder.
"What else can we do? We can't come in with a horse and not place him in the stables. We can't have you morph when we get inside. Nobody can know that you can morph into different animals." Karin pointed out their unique situation.
"If it'll help I'll make sure that you have a nice warm blanket for the night." Karin patted the neck comforting and the horse picked his head up and gave a little nod.
"Now that's settled, let's go." Toushiro walked past the trees into the opening of the rather large village. Despite the time of day, the village was fairly busy. People wandered in and out of stores at a steady pace, almost all carrying parcels into the store and leaving without. However, there was one store at the end of the group which had a small sign reading Grocer in black block letters, and even if there weren't a sign, the people walking out with boxes filled with various types of food was evidence of the business. With all of the people and stores, Toushiro found it odd that he had not spotted many cabins. They must have entered on the market side so the living cabins most likely were deeper in the village, some homes possibly spilling out into the woods.
"This village is a lot bigger than I thought it was." Karin mumbled as she too watched the many people traveling about the street, but her view of the village showed the open stables they spotted from the woods, and what looked like a postal cabin nestled beside it. Beyond this cabin, Karin could make out several more cabins but there was far less travel and they looked more formal, probably a section where the mayor lived along with any other authority figures.
It was then that the small group became caught up in the rush of the village when a burly man shoved past, knocking Kon a few steps nearly stumbling over Toushiro.
"HEY Watch it!" Kon spoke out before Toushiro grabbed the bridle and forcibly pulled Kon away from the rude man. It was a good thing they moved so quick since the man was rather mean looking and sported a wooden sword hefted across his shoulder.
"Who said that!" The man looked around but the small group had disappeared into the crowd.
"What are you getting upset for Ikkaku?" Another man walked up to the bald one, however this one appeared to be the opposite in looks. The bald man, Ikkaku, was well built but nimble for his size, bald (as previously stated), and with what could only be called eyeliner drawn past the outer corner of both eyes.
"Someone bumped into me Yumichika! And I'm going to find him." Ikkaku argued with his companion, who was opposite in that this man had dark black hair cut into a bob just below his ears, slimmer but more toned than his friend, and feathers attached to his eyelashes.
"Hmph, from my view it looked like you bumped into their horse. How could you miss a beast of that size?" Yumichika asked looking toward the stables where he spotted the shoved horse (Kon) and rider (Karin) being led by a small white haired stable boy (Toushiro).
"They should have gotten out of my way!" Ikkaku argued waving his wooden sword about and causing many passersby turn in the opposite way of the irate man. If one looked closely though, many would see the bald man had his cheeks tinged pink and the stench of alcohol wafted off his skin. His friend had just dragged Ikkaku from the nearby pub and they were making their way back to their post near the houses of the village, many yards beyond the market.
"Forget them, Ikkaku, we have to get back to our posts. You should know better than anyone how the captain gets when there are men shirking their duties." Yumichika stated grabbing the elbow of the bald man, not trusting his friend not to hunt down those who "assaulted" him. "Do you really need Captain Soi Fon to beat you down in front of the unit again?"
"No, but we shouldn't be here!" Ikkaku grunted in disgust. "Who should we care if some village doesn't have any protection?"
"We should care because it is a direct order from Princess Shihoun herself, and this division has no captain so there is no one else to defend this section. Also, if you question the captain's orders she'll make sure you land in the medical cabins with broken legs." Yumichika pointed out, effectively expelling the insanity of alcohol from Ikkaku's mind and so more willing to be dragged back to their post. As they moved between the meandering crowds, people allowed them to move without hindrance especially since it is a well-known fact that people do not cross soldiers in the Sereitei army. So the pair stalked back to their post, their black clothed uniform identifying them as soldiers disappeared down the lane.
Toushiro dashed from the lane to the stable where he gripped Kon's harness in his hand.
"That was close," Karin breathed a puff of air in relief.
"Kon, what did I tell you about talking?" Toushiro harshly whispered in the horse's ear.
"It was a mistake," Kon mumbled and turned his head back to the lane where the two strange men had disappeared. "Besides they're gone now." Kon commented, momentarily forgetting about the "horses don't talk" speech Toushiro gave him before entering the village.
"Forget it," Toushiro puffed out a breath of air. He caught the attire of the pair just after the bald man crashed into Kon. As soon as Toushiro recognized their clothing he made sure to get them out of the area immediately. Toushiro didn't want to have a run in with soldiers, especially ones who seem to have such a poor attitude.
"Let's just find the stables and then we can get a room for the night." Toushiro exclaimed to the small group. Toushiro led them to the stable and found the head stableman. With a small handful of coins, they were shown to a stall nearing the back wall of the stables with a window for Kon to peek his head out. Karin slid down from the saddle and began to lead Kon into the stall and was tending to his saddle and bridle. Kon looked around the small stall and snorted a small puff of air. Toushiro was still talking to the stable man when Karin heard, and felt, the puff of air rustle the back of her hair as she settled the riding gear on a hook at the door of the stall.
"It's going to be okay, Kon." Karin stepped over and patted the nose of the horse form of Kon. She looked around and spotted a clean blanket draped over a hook beside the door. Retrieving the object, Karin felt the material to be heavy and very sturdy. It would certainly keep Kon warm as he slept in the drafty stable. "Here's that nice blanket that I promised, and we'll be back first thing in the morning." Karin patted his neck and barely heard the whispered "thanks" escape the horse's lips before she left the stall and closed the door.
Toushiro turned from the stableman and turned toward Karin as she was stepping from the stall.
"Kon will be fine here overnight, and I just learned of a small inn just around the corner where we can rent a room." Toushiro explained and led Karin from the stable, she chanced a glance back to where Kon stuck his head out watching them leave.
The two walked straight over to the inn the stableman recommended and walked into the building without any hesitation. The building itself was two stories tall and easily three cabins wide, fairly large as inns go but considering all of the travelers it was only sensible that a large inn be available to travelers. It turned out the inn was called Valleyfield Inn, seemed very appropriate considering the village was in a valley overshadowed by the first of many large mountains making up the tenth division of the country.
Once inside, the inn was nice and very clean. Toushiro ordered food for supper and rested until their meal was ready. Toushiro looked about the room and noticed there were many army uniforms surrounding the hall and walking about from the halls to the dining hall. Many meandered around round tables playing cards, poker if the number of coins spread in the middle of the five man table was any indication. Others loitered along the wall. It seemed like they were all waiting for something.
'These must be the new recruits that have been trying to get to Karakura.' Toushiro thought as he watched the men speak in hushed tones. 'What are they doing here?'
"Here's your meal," the waitress calmly set down two platters for Karin and Toushiro. She caught Toushiro glance at the soldiers from the corner of his eyes and seemed to read his mind. "They're here to investigate all of the most recent dragon killings. There's been more attacks in these last two weeks than what I can remember in nearly a decade." The woman commented.
"What do you mean?" Karin asked up to the woman, her fork suspended in mid-air at the woman's answer. The woman transferred her gaze to the young girl.
"There's this village in the middle of this mountain range, near impossible to reach what with the dense forest and attacks. Used to be the attacks happened once in a while, but now they are almost constant day by day. The army has tried to send soldiers to discover news about the village, but anyone who has entered that forest have never come back out." The woman answered glancing down to the young girl who suddenly looked pale.
"How do you know they haven't reached the village?" Toushiro asked thinking of the most likely reason as to why this woman would think like this.
"Those forces that were sent out," the woman paused giving a look over to the fireplace where a small group of soldiers had become silent. The look the group sent to the woman was withering, but she merely nodded her head and quieted her voice to barely a whisper. "Those men were relief soldiers sent to the village so the current soldiers could report to Sereitei. So far two groups of men have left, but none have returned. These past few nights, some say they hear screams echoing from the forest. Many of the villagers believe these are the screams of the men killed on their way to the village." The waitress explained, then she took out an old rag to wipe down a table behind her.
Toushiro looked over to Karin and noticed she had placed her fork down on the plate.
"Madam," the waitress turned back to the boy, "does this village have a device known as a kido portal?"
"A kido portal? Never heard of such a device, besides I'm sure that if there were one the army would stop sending soldier flights to this village." The waitress walked off back into the kitchen.
"Toushiro," Karin whispered staring at her tray of rice and chicken with a side of mixed vegetables. "Do you think everyone is okay?"
Toushiro looked at Karin and thought hard on his answer.
"The waitress said it has been the last two weeks that have seen the most killings. We spoke with Rangiku only five days ago, well within the time the waitress spoke of. Besides, there are strong soldiers, two captains and Chief Yamamoto in the village. They will keep the villagers safe, but we will need to be more careful in our travels back home." Toushiro carefully answered and watched Karin slowly perk up and give him a weak smile. "There is nothing to worry over. Now, we need to rest and then we'll leave for Karakura first thing in the morning." This finally caused the worry to leave Karin's eyes and started to eat her dinner.
The two finished their dinner in silence and both retired to their room. Toushiro rented one room for the night, this was so he could keep an eye on Karin and it was safer to stick together in this unknown village. Upon entering the room, it was small with one bed and two sets of blankets. There was a washroom through a door in the back corner of the room and only one small window high in the wall. Toushiro placed their bags at the door and gave the room one more glance.
"You should get ready for bed." Toushiro exclaimed and took a set of blankets to make a palet on the floor close to the door. Karin nodded her head and lay down on the bed, pulling the covers over her head. The news from the waitress scared her, and made her worry for her family. It was only Toushiro's reasoning that kept Karin calm enough to eat supper and even think about sleep. She watched Toushiro finish making the palet and stand in front of the door. He placed his palm on the door and whispered a barrier spell. Karin recognized the spell because it was the same one Toushiro had used when she was grounded for straying into the woods near Karakura.
"That will keep us safe for the night," Toushiro crawled to his palet and buried himself in the covers. Despite having the seal over his spiritual pressure for two months, he was still unaccustomed to the drain simple spells seemed to have on his suppressed energy.
"Good night Toushiro," Karin called out to him and she heard him reply in kind before she fell into a deep sleep.
The pair seemed to sleep far into the night, but a sound startled Toushiro awake. He shot up from his bed and looked over to Karin who remained in a deep sleep. Blinking in confusion, Toushiro looked around for what could have awakened him from such a deep sleep. There was no sound at the door or window, in all appearances there was no reason for him to be awake. He lay down once again when he snapped his eyes open. Once again he heard the sound that wakened him: footsteps, or stomps to be more accurate. There was a couple of men tromping down the hall and they were crying in drunken rages. He couldn't make out their words but he had the impression that they did not like being stuck in this village.
"…and then they dared to bump into me!" He heard a voice shout, he recognized the voice as the bald man from earlier in the day. "I tell once I find that twerp then I'm going to make him pay."
"Ikkaku…" a new voice to Tousiro sighed in exasperation, "don't do anything you will regret."
"No worries, Yumi!" A stumble into the wall could be heard, swears, and mumblings. ". . . not gonna let no Captain scare me off No matter how many times they knock me down." The voice continued beyond their door stumbling and rising in pitch as the grips of the alcohol the man had consumed affected his mental state.
'He recognizes the authority of a captain.' Toushiro thought over the garbled sounds and he looked over to their bags. He looked over to the window and watched the sky brighten as the first rays of dawn stretched from the East. Making his decision he took the bag and retrieved his uniform and walked toward the washroom. Once inside he changed his clothing to that of the Sereitei Army. He stepped out from the washroom and stood at the mirror on the wall. Where a young teenage boy stood now stood a captain of the army in his place. He gently pulled aside the edge of cloth to reveal the black tattoo that kept most of his spiritual pressure sealed.
'Now is not the time,' Toushiro stepped away from the mirror just as Karin stirred from her sleep.
"Hmm, Toushiro," Karin sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked at his attire and her face grew determined.
"Karin, we need to leave and get to Karakura." Toushiro calmly answered and stepped back to the door. Once Karin had gotten dressed and was ready to leave for the day, Toushiro dispersed the barrier and gathered their things. He walked out from the room and Karin followed just after him.
They ate a quick breakfast and headed for the stables. Toushiro walked into the stables followed by Karin and they approached Kon. The horse stuck his head from the stall and neighed at his friends. Karin worked fast in making Kon ready with his saddle and bridle. Karin hopped into Kon's saddle and Toushiro led them toward the entrance of the village. As they walked through the village, his uniform caused the early crowd of villagers to give them a wide berth and they left the village in peace.
Once outside the village they nearly ran to the dragons waiting just inside the treeline.
"Why are we running?" Kon asked galloping toward the trees, now that he was out of the village he was able to talk once again.
"We have to get to Karakura as soon as we can." Toushiro yelled from running beside Karin.
"Zangetsu, Hyourinmaru!" Karin yelled for the dragons the minute she spotted snow white through the trees. The dragons immediately stood at attention with the cry. "We need to leave right now." Karin shouted jumping from Kon as he transformed into his lion bear, making the saddle and bridle fall to the ground now that he was no longer big enough to wear them. Toushiro snatched the horse tackle from the ground and threw it up to Hyourinmaru's back. The snow dragon bent low to allow the boy to jump aboard. Karin leapt up to Zangetsu's bent shoulders and settled at the base of his neck. The two dragons moved from the clearing and traveled into the woods in the direction of Karakura.
"Is there a reason we are moving in such haste?" Zangetsu asked the two humans.
Toushiro told the dragons everything the waitress had told him the night before.
"You believe it is gargoyles that have been slaying these men?" Hyourinmaru asked Toushiro.
"It is the only scenario that makes sense. Screams echoing in the woods, the only creature that makes such a noise is a gargoyle." Toushiro answered and the dragons understood the humans desire to return home.
"Then perhaps we should no longer travel by foot and take to the air?" Zangetsu asked causing Hyourinmaru to come to a stop and look back.
"Is your wing well enough?" Hyourinmaru asked. Zangetsu stretched his wings and flapped them down with enough force to blow the trees on either side to the ground.
"Yes."
"Very well," Hyourinmaru answered and opened his massive wings and took a mighty leap to the upper branches of the forest canopy. He gripped the tops of the trees and waited with wings spread out.
"What's going on?" Kon whimpered cowering beside Karin.
"We're going to fly?" Karin answered and Kon looked up to her then proceeded to freak out.
"WHAT?! I can't fly!"
"Good thing it won't be you who does the flying." Karin answered placing her palm flat on the shiny scales of Zangetsu's neck to brace for the take off.
"Hang on," Zangetsu stated as he crouched to the ground spreading his wings wide.
"TO WHAT?" Kon yelled turning into a long-tailed monkey he wrapped his arms and legs around Karin's left arm and closed his eyes. Zangetsu leapt from the ground and cleared the canopy of trees with a single leap and hovered above the ground.
It felt so good to be flying again! Zangetsu could not think of anything that felt better than having the wind whip around his scales. Hyourinmaru leapt from the canopy and hovered beside Zangetsu. With a mighty roar, Hyourinmaru took off flying straight for Karakura and Zangetsu followed close behind.
The two made a rapid pace for the village, following the mountain ranges encircling Karakura. Kon managed to loosen his death grip on her arm and began to enjoy the wind flowing through his fur.
In no time at all, they reached a cliff overlooking the valley holding Karakura. At first glance, everything seemed to be calm and no trouble seemed afoot.
"There it is," Toushiro exclaimed in relief. "Karakura village." Kon transformed to a ferret and climbed on top of Karin's head to get a clearer view of the village.
"Home," Karin sighed but the sigh turned to a gasp when a fearsome cry reached her ear. Screams ranging in pitch and volume sliced through the air and froze Karin's blood in her veins.
"Toushiro," Karin whispered and the boy nodded with his eyes narrow to a glare.
"I hear them." Toushiro answered. Before the dragons returned to the sky, Toushiro placed two fingers over the tattoo on his chest and whispered the release spell to unleash all of his spiritual pressure. The tattoo glowed a bright yellow and the light spread out to engulf Toushiro hiding his form, then a bright flash flew from his skin and he felt all of his energy return.
"Let's go," Toushiro looked over to Karin and she started at his eyes glowed a bright blue. Hyourinmaru took off and Zangetsu followed close making a rapid beat toward the village. The closer they came to the village, the louder the screams of the gargoyles grew and mingled with frightened screams of the villagers of Karakura. As the dragons flew closer to the village, they spotted black shadows moving about the village.
A/N: Chapter 25! Wow, so many, many, many, many apologies for taking so long to get this chapter published on this site. I do have a reason: I sort of went through some stuff about a year ago. After this, I went through a bout of depression but things are better! I have my desire to write again! Thanks to everyone who has been so patient.
A/N2: This story is based on Dreamworks "how to train your dragon." Still don't own this movie, not even a digital copy.
A/N3: One more chapter in this story then the epilogue. I have enjoyed writing this story and reading your reviews have been helpful. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with this story. Next chapter is almost finished and will most definitely be up by the weekend if not sooner!
Please let me know how this chapter came out in a review.