Everyone looked around as the crawling sound continued. "What is that? It sounds like something crawling" Tanjiro said. The moon then came out from behind the cloud where it had been hidden, illuminating the forest, and what was hidden amongst the trees. "Spider webs?" Gyutaro asked, as they saw the trees practically shining silver with them. "This place is full of 'em!" Inosuke said, as the creaking sound continued. Suddenly Ume started to growl, staring into the trees. "What is it Ume?" both Gyutaro and Tanjiro asked at the same time. A dark figure slowly walked out of the trees. In the moonlight, they could them that the figure, and the ones that came after him were Demon Slayers, bloody and injured. Most of them were obviously dead, but they were still walking with jerky movements.
"Aaahhh!" the unnamed Slayer whimpered, stepping back in fear. "What?!" Gyutaro asked in shock. The next second Tanjiro had darted forwards, dodged the sword swipe of the Demon Slayer, and swiped his sword at the man's back. The body fell limply to the ground with a thud. "It's threads! They're being controlled by threads! Cut them off!" Tanjiro cried. "Right!" Gyutaro nodded, before turning to his little Sister, "Ume, help me!" he said, running towards the controlled humans. "Yes!" the Demon woman cried, as the two cut the Slayers lose with Scythe and claws. The other Demon Slayer yelped, "Wait, that woman is a Demon! Why do you have a Demon with you?!" he cried, as he blocked the sword of another of their controlled Comrades.
"Long story! She's our Sister and she doesn't eat or hurt humans!" Tanjiro kicked a woman away, before severing the threads controlling her with his sword. Ume turned to the other Demon Slayer, "i-i-it's true! I d-do pro-t-tect humans!" she called. She caught the arm of a Slayer who was aiming his sword for her neck and cut through the threads controlling him. The other Demon Slayer blinked at her for a minute, before dodging another swipe, "okay. I'll believe anything after all this shit!" he cried, cutting him lose. The five of them fought, trying to free their friends for several minutes, but they soon noticed something wrong.
The bodies of the Demon Slayers that they'd taken down were slowly getting back up. "What the hell?! How're they still getting up?!" Inosuke cried, indignant. Gyutaro looked down at the ground, at all the spiders crawling around, and noticed some crawling over the body of the woman he'd just cut the threads off. Then she was lifted up again, silver threads glinting in the moonlight. "The Spiders! They're reattaching the threads after we cut them off! Some Demon must be controlling them as well as the Demon Slayers!" the green-haired young man called out. "We have to find that Demon, or this is never gonna end!" Tanjiro cried, blocking a strike aimed at the black-haired Slayer's unprotected back.
"You! What's your name?!" he asked. "Its, Murata!" he called, as he parodied another strike. "Murata! They four of us need to take care of these people! Unfortunately-" he maneuvered a sword that was about to stab him to the ground, "I can't find the Demon who's controlling them because their scent is being blocked! Inosuke-" Tanjiro began, before they saw a Demon child seemingly floating above them. The fighting stopped for a moment as everyone looked up at him. "What the- is he floating?!" the boar-masked teen yelled. Gyutaro noticed it first, 'no. He's not floating. He's standing on threads!' he thought. Ume stepped in front of him, growling dangerously, head tilted down as she glared up at the younger-looking Demon boy.
'I have a really bad feeling. The last time that feeling was this bad, and the last time Ume was reacting like this, was when we fought Lower Six. Don't tell me he's-' his thoughts were interrupted by the enemy Demon's voice: "I will not let you disturb my family's peaceful life. Mother will dispose of you shortly" he said. 'Mother? Were he and his Mother both transformed at the same time? But this feeling. It's coming from him!' Gyutaro thought. The Demon then turned and walked back along the threads without a word. "Hey! Where are you going! Fight me! Fight me!" Inosuke cried, as he jumped up to try and cut the Demon, but his attack just missed the threads the young-looking Demon was standing on.
The Boar-masked teen fell to the ground with a snarl of frustration. "Inosuke, leave him! Right now we have to focus on the Demon who's controlling our people!" Tanjiro called. He knocked a controlled Slayer back, "there's a powerful scent coming from somewhere on this mountain, and it's interfering with my," Tanjiro blocked another sword, a broken one this time, "sense of smell! If you have, an ability to help us find the Demon, that would really help!" he cried. Gyutaro knocked another Slayer backwards. He was strong enough to knock these people back easily, in fact he could probably kill them if he wanted to. But he'd sworn a long time ago, to only use his strength to protect, not to harm.
Inosuke kicked the Demon Slayer he was fighting away from him, "Why can't we just take 'em out, instead of doin' all this crap?" he demanded to know. "They're our comrades! Don't you remember that we're not supposed to kill each other?! We're not supposed to fight each other either, but we have no choice right now" Tanjiro replied. "So, that means we need to find the Demon who's controlling everyone and take it out, before anymore of them are injured or killed!" he explained. "Urgh, fine! But I better be allowed to take out the next one!" Inosuke cried. He stabbed his swords into the ground and held his hands out either side of him. "Beast-Breathing, Seventh Fang: Spatial Awareness!" he called. A few minutes later he called out: "I found you, you Demon!"
"You found it? That's great! We'll stay here and keep these guys busy! Once you defeat the Demon, we can take them down the mountain and leave them for the Kakushi to find!" Gyutaro said. "Just leave them?! But won't the Demon just get them again?" Murata cried. The green-haired 27-year-old shook his head, "the Demon doesn't seem very strong. After all, it uses these threads to control others, rather than fight us directly. It might not be able to reach people outside it's range, unless the threads are already attached. They should be fine, if we can get them down the mountain!" Gyutaro explained, cutting another person's threads again. "We'll just have to hurry. Come on!" Tanjiro replied. "Wait!" Ume called. Everyone turned to look at her.
"I-I'll stay. S-s-sever, th-threads. You go. Kill, D-demon" she said. "Are you sure Big Sister?" Tanjiro asked worriedly. The white and green-haired Demon nodded, "I'll k-keep them, s-s-safe" Ume replied. Gyutaro nodded, "be careful" he said, as the group turned to Murata, "Ume will stay and help you deal with anyone who ends up being controlled again. Take care of her" he ordered with a glare. The black-haired Demon Slayer nodded rapidly, "r-right! Of course!" he replied. Then the three of them left.
U*G.K
Gyutaro, Tanjiro and Inosuke ran through the forest, "Are you sure you know where the Demon is?" Gyutaro asked. "My senses have never been wrong. It'll be there alright!" Inosuke replied. Suddenly they were stopped by more controlled Demon Slayers, "stop. Don't come near me!" a woman called, as she gripped the hair of a dead Slayer in one hand, and had a sword in the other, which was stabbed into the throat of another dead Demon Slayer, "you have to go, and bring back someone of higher rank! I can't control myself! I'll kill you!" the woman cried, sobbing uncontrollably. Gyutaro stared in horror, while Tanjiro began to give off a furious aura.
Suddenly the woman dropped the dead Slayer and rushed forwards to attack. Gyutaro and Inosuke moved away, but Tanjiro parried the strike. The force knocked him back, but he got up quickly. "I can't stop! I'm not even this strong! Ah! Urgh!" the woman cried out as she made wide and vicious swipe with the sword. Suddenly her arms were pulled backwards and they heard her shoulders dislocate. "Aaahhhh!" she screamed in pain, as her body once again rushed at them. "We have to do something Big Brother! We have to help her!" Tanjiro cried, as the other controlled people attacked as well.
"Please, kill me! All the bones, in my arms and legs are shattered. Every time I'm forced to move, the pain is so intense that I can't stand it!" one man cried desperately. "We have to save them somehow!" Tanjiro pleaded. "I don't know how we can without Ume!" Gyutaro replied, horrified by what they were being faced with. The three continued to fight off the controlled and injured Demon Slayers, when Tanjiro suddenly got an idea. He started running away from the woman he was fighting, who was forced to follow him.
"Tanjiro?!" Gyutaro called. Suddenly his younger Brother stopped, turned around, ran into the woman, and threw her into the trees. The threads attached to her ended up getting tangled in the branches. "If we tangle them up, we can stop them from moving!" Tanjiro called, moving to do the same to one of the men. "Wh-what the heck was that!?" Inosuke yelled, "I wanna do it too!" he cried, tossing aside his blades and running away from one man while cackling like mad. The three continued to tangle to controlled Demon Slayers in the tree branches, but just before they could do the same to the last man, the threads pulled all of their heads around, snapping their necks instantly.
"Fuck!" Gyutaro swore under his breath. "Argh! What the hell! That thing went and killed all of 'em!" Inosuke said. Tanjiro knelt down in front of the last Slayer, the only one they hadn't tangled in the branches. He said nothing, but Gyutaro felt goosebumps prick up all over his body at the wave of anger he could feel emanating from his younger Brother. "Let's go" he said firmly, with no room for argument. "Yeah" Gyutaro agreed. "No argument here" Inosuke said.
U*G.K
The three continued to run through the forest, "are we headed the right way?!" Tanjiro asked. "Of course we are! My senses never lie!" Inosuke replied, before he suddenly gasped, "watch out!" he cried. The three of them jumped away as a huge hulk of a Demon fell towards them. A cloud of dirt was thrown up when it landed on the ground. When the dirt faded, and they could see again, Gyutaro gaped, open-mouthed at the form in front of them, "what? How?! Where's it's head?!" he cried, shocked when they saw the headless body of a Demon. "How are we supposed to kill something that has no weak point?!" Inosuke demanded to know, freaking out.
The Demon was large and muscled. It's arms ended in large scythe-like weapons, and, as Gyutaro had said, it had no head. "It's alright. We can do a Monks-robe cut," Tanjiro said, "we cut from the base of the neck, all the way to it's waist on the other side. That should do it!" he explained. "My Sickle isn't made for wide cuts Tanjiro. I don't see how I could help here!" Gyutaro said, as he deflected a swipe of the headless Demon's scythe-arms with a throw of the weighted end of his chained Sickle. "Take out it's legs! I've got it's arms!" Tanjiro replied. The green-haired 27-year-old nodded, "right!" he replied.
Gyutaro sucked in a deep breath as he ran at the Demon, 'Stone-Breathing, Second Form: Upper Smash!' he thought, as the Sickle sliced through both of the Demon's legs. Tanjiro used his Flame-Breathing to cut off the Demon's arms. Then Inosuke sliced through his torso.
U*G.K
The three ran through the trees, "the wind is shifting. I can smell the Demon now! We're almost there!" Tanjiro called. Finally, they emerged into a clearing. There a woman sat, perched on top of a rock. She wore long robes of white, red and turquoise. She looked terrified. Tanjiro stepped forwards, but the woman screamed, "no, don't come any closer!" she shrieked. She held out her arms, and suddenly, the three Demon Slayers were wrapped up in threads. "Crap!" Tanjiro cried, as they struggled to free themselves. "I have to kill you! If I don't do it before he gets back, his Father will hurt me again!" the woman Demon cried. She seemed terrified at even mentioning this 'Father'.
"I'm going to do it! I'm going to kill you and prove to Rui that I can protect him!" she cried, before suddenly, her body began changing. The Demon woman seemed even more terrified at this, "no, no, no! I can't! I can't change back! They'll hurt me! Stop it! Stop it!" the shrieked. The woman shrank, her proportions changed, her hair turned black. And, suddenly in front of them wasn't a full grown woman, but a little girl. Her eyes were yellow and had X marks in them, and her black hair was done up into two short, spikey twin-tails. She stared at them, utterly terrified, while Tanjiro could only gape at her in shock. The now child panicked and the threads holding them in place slipped away.
Tanjiro took a step forwards, and the girl freaked out, "no! Don't hurt me! Please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to change back! Please! No more!" she began sobbing even fell off the rock, but she didn't even seem to notice, "please, please, don't hurt me! Please, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she wailed. Tanjiro stared at the new, terrified child form of the Demon who had killed do many of their people, and all he could feel- was sorrow and pity. She was literally a child, even younger than Nezuko. Probably only around 8 or 9-years-old. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to die. She deserved- a chance. Suddenly a memory of Tamayo flashed into his mind.
What if- Gyutaro stepped forwards with his Sickle at the ready, while Inosuke snarled a challenge, when Tanjiro spoke up: "wait". The two looked at the younger Kamado. "Wait for what? This is our job. She killed so many of our fellow Demon Slayers, and you want us to just let her go?" Gyutaro asked. Tanjiro looked at his Older Brother with a determined look in his eyes, "I'm not saying that. I don't think we should just let her go. I'm saying that we could give her a chance." He said firmly. Gyutaro turned to fully face Tanjiro, while Inosuke kept watch over the small Demon girl, "what do you mean?" he asked. "Miss Tamayo was able to alter her own body and Ume's to no longer need to eat humans. She could do the same for her, and maybe even take her as an Assistant" Tanjiro suggested.
Gyutaro considered the idea, "maybe. But how would we get her to Miss Tamayo? We're still on a Mission, and there's the sun to worry about too." He replied. "She could go down the mountain, and hide somewhere out of the sun until we come back down. If we're too hurt, and the Kakushi have to take us back, we can send a letter to Lady Tamayo and Chachamaru can find her and guide her when the sun goes down" Tanjiro suggested. The Oldest Kamado thought about it, before turning to the Demon child, "hey!" he called. The girl jumped, "y-yes?" she asked. "If you could survive by just drinking some human blood, and not need to eat humans at all, would you?" Gyutaro asked.
"I, uh-" she stuttered and looked down. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, as memories of her horrible life as the 'Mother' of this fake family went through her head. How she was hurt so often, by all of her so-called 'children', because she was the youngest and didn't know how to be the proper Mother that Rui wanted. She looked up at the green-haired man, "if it means that I can be free of this place, and of them, then I'll do anything you want!" she replied firmly. Tanjiro smiled down at her and crouched down in front of her, "my name is Tanjiro. This is my Older Brother Gyutaro and my friend, Inosuke. What's your name?" he asked kindly.
But the young Demon girl frowned and looked down, "I don't remember. Everyone just calls me Mother." She replied. Tanjiro frowned, before covering his disgust with a warm smile, "well, if you don't remember your name, we'll just have to give you a new one." He thought for a while, before perking up, "how about Sayuri. It means small lily." Tanjiro suggested. "Sayuri" the small Demon said softly, before smiling slightly, "I like it" she replied.
The burgundy-haired teen smiled, "I'm glad" he said, before standing up, "we have to stay and fight the Demons here on this mountain, and our allies are at the bottom of the mountain to the North. Go down the South side and find a place to hide. After we've dealt with the other Demons here, I'll send a message to Miss Tamayo. She'll find a way to get you. Okay?" Tanjiro explained. He stood up and went to leave, but the newly named Sayuri grabbed his sleeve, "wait! That's dangerous! Rui, the one I mentioned before is a member of the 12 Kizuki!" she cried. Both Tanjiro and Gyutaro froze in shock. A member of the 12 Kizuki was here? "He looks like a small boy, and he forced me to be his Mother! He'll kill all of you!" Sayuri said.
The Kamado Brother's locked eyes, determination shining in them, "not if we kill him first" Gyutaro said firmly. Inosuke looked between them like he was watching a Ping-pong match. Tanjiro turned back to the young Demon, "get going now, I promise, we won't let this Rui hurt you" he promised. Sayuri closed her eyes, before climbing out of the layers of large Kimono. She was now dressed in a small, faded purple Kimono. Her feet were still bare. "Thank you!" she cried, before running towards the South side of the mountain. Once she was gone, Gyutaro clenched his fists, "a 12 Kizuki. We need his blood for Miss Tamayo!" he said. Tanjiro nodded, "we'll get it. We have to".