Authors Note: Here it is a project long in the making by Blue Baron with assistance from 'Iron'. The entire story will not be released except for this first set of chapters directed by Blue Baron and written by Iron. Enjoy.
"Saburou! You know you can't be out this late! You're only eight!" shouted Dobashi from their doorstep, concern apparent on the elder brother's face.
"The elements of this world are within us in our spiritual cores, through training and discipline we can utilize these elements." Saburou's father regaled him and his siblings with tales of great warriors wielding elements of the world to ward off great evils.
His brother's call echoed throughout the stillness of the night. The usually verdant valley, filled with greenery and fauna, took on a sinister appearance at night. The moon's light was the only respite amidst the darkness. The Yamashi family home was a small structure, containing no more than a room for the parents, kids, and gathering. The last of which held their dining table and all belongings not personal.
Their father was a carpenter who provided made-to-order furniture, their residence was remote so that he could gather his own wood. The mother meanwhile took care of the children, educating them to the best of her ability. It was here the family of five lived and where the youngest son named Saburou played his heart out with his two of which, his sister Soryu was ten years old and his brother Dobashi was eleven.
Saburou was free-spirited in nature with a wandering mind that kept him in trouble day and night. His older siblings, though loving, despised these traits as Saburo would oftentimes neglect his chores. Despite the constant chastisements, the child found companionship with the endless stars in the night sky, blessed by the moon's ever-present splendor.
Tonight however, was an oddity. The moon was scarlet, doused in such a vivid color that he had heard his father say that some in the town whispered it foretold ominous events to come. Saburou happily basked in the red moonlight, letting his mind wander, no worries or rumors plagued his soul as he sat in peace. The headache that had bothered him through the night was still present unfortunately, mildly aggravating the back of his head.
So the young boy lay in the tall grass behind his homestead, allowing the foliage to block the world around him as he would gaze up, lost in the vastness before him for hours on end. It always drove his elders mad when they searched for him.
When they did, his attention was often occupied with tales of Samurai, glory, and adventure tantalizing his mind.
"Saburou! I know you can hear me!" his brother shouted once more into the dark. "People have been disappearing lately! Please come inside!" With apparent irritation in his voice he tried again. The demons might get you!"
" Demons don't exist!" Saburou called back. "Just a few more minutes! Okay?" It was true that some townsfolk had disappeared as his parents said but the villagers were always making mountains out of molehills. As any other his age, Saburou believed himself wiser than others. Never believing in the 'myths' of demons parents told their children, an obvious lie to cow their kids into listening. He was different! He would become a figure of legend! If anything were so famous he would've seen one by now, right? He was already eight years old.
Lying in the grass he recalled his mothers stories of man-eating demons that prowled the night and preyed on people of all ages and status. His father even told him and his siblings that it was a demon who killed their grandfather when he was young. Saburou felt annoyed that their grandfather's early death was used to convince him of a childish story.
Lost in thought, Saburou was snatched from his stupor by a jolt of pain in his head. The burning sensation crept behind his eyes, making it difficult to think let alone return home.
Home.
He no longer heard his brother's incessant calls, nor his parents preparing for bed. Only an eerie silence, not even the crickets made themselves known. Unease and curiosity drew him up. Withstanding the pain in his head, Saburou trudged home, hand pressed against head, eyes focused on the dark windows and open doorway.
"Ugh...mph!" muttered Saburou, clasping a hand over his mouth. He had stopped the urge to vomit as the pain in his head worsened. The pain was so severe it called him to faint. He was desperate for his mothers embrace, her tender care. Yet as he stumbled to his home it never came. Her figure didn't run to him.
"Headaches happen all the time," his mother would say when she would nurse him. Yet no one other child had them as frequently. Curiously, despite their frequency, they only came after sundown.
Feeling as if death was soon coming, Saburou was mere inches from his house's entrance and he could not enter. Somehow he felt he had to stop. Something told him to. An instinct, a primal fear. But his pain wouldn't subside. His hand trembled in fear as he reached for the door, propping himself in pain against its frame, as the scarlet light of the moon elucidated the floorboards. The wood glowed red in the light, the inching rays showing a Crimson shine further into his home. His eyes followed the tormenting trail.
There they were. His family. Their smiling, annoyed, joyous faces. A happy family of five, now a remnant of what they once were. His sister lay lifeless across their father's corpse, agony on his face as if vivisected. His brother's body ripped in two, no three parts as the majority of his mass were scattered across the far wall, pooling to the bottom. He looked on in horror to see his mother's vacant eyes staring at him as if asking where he had been. Why wasn't he with them? Her eyes begged him to speak, to do something. Upon her broken form hunched a grotesque figure, delighting in his family's flesh. A being known to all common people yet never seen by the eyes of most.
"Demon" was all he could think as another surge of pain brought him keeling over, vomit erupting from his mouth as he attempted to regain control over his body and endure. Agonizingly, as if fighting in severity, the pain and image of his family reverberated in his mind. Shocking him into torturous silence. Then a curious hiss rose from inside.
Saburou glanced up to see piercing amber eyes. An incandescent slit widening and narrowing as it observed him. Dismissively it grinned, showing sharpened teeth that seemed to glow. From the distance, A single Kanji printed on its eye, dulling the glow emanating from its amber pupil.
Saburous eyes widened, his breath hitched, None of this mattered, he could not stay. His body refused to and his mind agreed as his feet took flight so that he wouldn't share the same fate as his family. His mother's face, his family's forms, these images raced through his mind as he ran.
Breaking through the brush behind the house then into the thick woods his mind was empty as he raced to survive. His body guided him to town instinctively while he was filled with panic. He could only beg it to succeed as his head pounded with each step. His lungs burned, inhaling and exhaling as his muscles strained to force him further and further on.
"I love a good meal for the road," taunted an ominous voice from behind. It sounded human yet tinted with malice, diseased with sin. Saburou, running with all his might, could hear terrifying laughter from all directions, as if he was running in place.
His eyes filled with tears, overwhelmed by fear. Fear that was nothing more than a game to the monster. Crying out, he kicked his head back, seeing the stars and moon. Always present, but never intervening. This didn't stop him from begging for assistance. "Help me! Please! he shouted, expending the last air in his lungs.
The hairs on his neck raised. One moment he felt as if the beast was upon him the next there was nothing as a crow burst from the trees and flew off. Suddenly a warm sensation splashed onto the sobbing boy. Looking down at himself, it was liquid, blood, drenching his body. 'I'm Dead He thought in horror.
Unexpectedly his body was then encompassed by a feeling of warmth, the burning of his lungs and cold night air on his skin, faded. His muscles, still in strained, no longer screamed. On his hands and knees, he felt the danger was over.
"Hrkk!" hissed the once domineering voice, now stifled by pain and surprise. On all fours, Saburou's mind sharpened and gathered his thoughts as the feeling of warmth his surroundings expecting to see his severed limbs, instead, he saw the demon's head just a few inches from his feet. Wide eyed and breathing heavily, Saburou nearly vomited at the sight, only able to dry-heave what little food his family could provide as the rest had long since left when he ran.
Shocked and confused , his eyes stared at the severed head. It was detached, yet there was still clear emotion on it. Rage and disbelief, all encompassed in that glowing amber slit. Finally, he read the kanji printed on the pupil. "Lower one" he muttered, giving a name to the foul being that had taken any semblance of normalcy from him. The moment hate began to well up in Saburou the head spoke. Skittishly Saburou fumbled away from the head as it began to turn to ash before him.
"You… interfering Bast…ard" The head hissed as its eyes hazily drifted away from Saburou. Following the vile stare from its eyes, Saburou saw a figure ten meters away. It stood towering atop its decomposing foe's corpse.
"Are you alright young one?" A surprisingly gentle voice asked. The figure appeared sturdier than an oak tree, as tall as one to the boy as well. The man's features seemed to be made of stone. Eyes a strange shade no, intimidatingly, they were blank. As white as the moon and dimly luminescent in the night. A scar ran across his forehead yet none of this scared Saburou.
He could make out massive prayer beads resting around the neck of the warrior who saved his life. The man approached and knelt down, extending a hand. Saburou flinched at the offered limb and the stranger seemed to understand. Silence settled between the two as they waited for Saburou to regain an ounce of strength.
Suddenly Saburou lunged at the man. Limply leaning into his figure as he struggled to slam his small fists into the man's chest.
Tears poured out as he wailed. His confusion at the world, at fate, plaguing his mind as he spoke.
"Why?! Why did he kill them?! Why like that?! Why my family?! Why weren't you here sooner?! he shouted.
The questions were unfair, harsh on a man whom the boy should have been thankful to. Yet this mattered little toa child whose world had been ripped apart before his own eyes. Who began to think, perhaps he should have perished too.
The man's face shifted, showing emotion as tears flooded out of his eyes as well. Saburou was shocked. He expected rebuke for his words if not outright punishment. Instead, the figure placed a hand atop his head. Once again the warmth engulfed him, setting Saburou at ease. The child's anger began to fade away. Patiently the man spoke.
"I am sorry child. Your pain is as unfamiliar to me, as the cause of this event is new to you. For that, I cannot apologize enough. Your family, however, shall return to the cycle of life, and their lineage is not extinguished, for you live."
Between the tears and snot running from his orifices, Saburou could not help but give muffled sobs the man's strange reply. Before he could even form a proper response his consciousness fled as his strength faded.
