Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or

concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that i claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:

The Annals of the Heroine Akane, and the Dreaded Demon King. A Tale of the Mirrorverse.

Chapter 6: The Boar who hated war, and the Priestess who sought peace.

Ryouga hated war. He hated it with the very core of his being. Yes, he was rather well suited to it in almost every form,.but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. The divine blessing and curse that he toiled under made it even more trying. No matter how hard he tried, he never ended up where he intended to be if he lost sight for even a moment of where he was going. At that point, he was left to the will and whim of the Goddesses on where he ended up. And that was a fact that was as true now as it had ever been as he stood beside his Master and surveyed the human's fortress city that was laid out before them. He glanced at Lord Ranma, then over at the almost lounging Xian Pu before he huffed and pawed at the ground with one massive hoof.

He hated this. Why couldn't the humans just leave them alone? What was the purpose in this never ending war?

If they just fell back and gave them the room they needed, then they could end this useless conflict.

For now, he would run rampant, because that was what they needed of him.

Anything for their Master.

All so that they could end this.

Kasumi smiled gently and kept up her air of calm, even as the first of the casualties were brought to her. These were the remnants of the scouting parties that paid such a price to bring warning to the town, but they had returned almost too late, with the goblins hot on their heels. It was a miracle from the Goddess that they made it back at all.

She knew that she would be called to the front lines at some point, her blessings and healing powers would be needed to save as many as possible, and to counteract the vile chanting she could hear from here as the Dark Acolytes of their heretical Goddess shouted out the vile, reality twisting litanies of the Mistress.

Why couldn't they just return to the blasted, dark lands they had creeped from? Why did they have to bring war and violence lands? What purpose was there in this endless bloodshed?

Why couldn't there just be peace?

All too soon, she heard the summons she had been dreading. "Priestess! We need you, their spellcasters and witches are calling down curses and blights on us! We need you!" An exhausted soldier said, as he panted out of breath.

"Where is my sister?" Kasumi asked as she hurried along behind the soldier.

"She is fighting her way towards that dark dragon. Her sword, it's shining so bright it's almost painful to look at." He said as he glanced back at her.

"That's because that isn't a dragon." Kasumi said as the dread in the pit of her .worse.

"Then… What is it?" The soldier asked, fear in his voice.

"The Demon King." Is all Kasumi had to say.

The soldier shuddered as he rushed a bit faster,.leading Kasumi towards a pocket of soldiers at the ready outside of the gates, just behind lines.

The army had sallied out, to try to buy had to retreat shelter of the fortified walls. Once they did that, there was nothing they could do but try to weather the endless assaults, at least before they had to collapse the bridge and abandon half the town to the enemy.

That was truly the last choice out of them all. They could not afford to abandon their main foothold into the contested lands. Yes, there were other crossings, but none as convenient for either force. How the king had let the defenses here lapse as much as he did was unimaginable. But, from what she had heard, he was more concerned with pretty women and being praised than taking the risks to actually protect his people. That was why the King's Army was situated at the castle, rather than on the front lines where it should have been.

Still there was no point to cursing his lack of insight or courage, all that there was to do was to take care of the people of the land as best as she could, and trust in her sisters to do what she could not.

So, she put the benevolent smile on her face once more, and saw to the preparations that were needed to counter the dark magics of the enemy. Silently, she prayed that her sisters would make it through this fight, and that they would end this war here and now. If Akane could lay the Demon King low, then that should end it all, right?

That was what she hoped.

Ryouga charged along the lines, ignoring the spears and arrows that struck his thick hide as he ran. It didn't matter what was in his way, human or demon, he charged headlong. Those that were smart, moved out of the way of the monstrous boar. Those that did not, well he was an object of divine vengeance, after all. Who was he to question where the Goddesses took him, and what he ran through? He knew that he caused havoc in their own lines almost as often as the enemies, but it was on the Goddesses heads almost as much as anyone else's. He saw a surge of goblins rushing headlong towards a knot of human warriors valiantly surrounding a lone human woman. He had problems seeing very far in this form, but she looked to be in robes. A mage or cleric of some sort, he imagined.

Not his concern, unless she happened to be in his way.

Then, may the Goddesses have mercy on her.

Kasumi looked at the enemy army as it crashed into the defenders over and over like the surf as it pounded the shore. She hated this, the war and senseless violence. She longed for the quiet days in their village before the war came for them, before the Goddess chose Akane.

Before everything turned upside down.

A shout from those who guarded her pulled her attention back to the present as they tightened ranks as a surge of goblins slammed into the wall of soldiers who had braced for the impact. She started to chant out litanies of protection and healing, as she tried to help them withstand the assault. It seemed to have worked, until she saw one of the soldiers drop, and be pulled into the mob. His screams are cut short suddenly, as she saw an orc, far larger than the goblins that had been swarming her location, toss aside the broken and bloody body as he made his way closer to the dwindling knot of soldiers she sheltered in the midst of.

Her voice lifted in prayer as Kasumi beseeched the Goddess for Her divine protection, even as one soldier after another fell before the onslaught. Then, they were upon her, clawed hands grasped at her robes and pulled her down before the leering orc, his bloody blade raised high.

That was when the sky was blotted out by the massive board that plowed its way through all before it, friend and foe alike. The last thing Kasumi saw was the massive maw opening, then slamming shut around her.

Darkness greeted her like an old friend.

Ryouga had seen the surge, and had followed in its wake. He let the fates decide where he was needed, as he had done for many long years already. He was a plaything of the Goddesses after all, a force of nature cast onto the world and directed at divine whim. His massive hooves crushed all those that did not flee from his path, his tusks rent asunder flesh, bone and armor with equal impunity.

He was an unstoppable force on the battlefield, and he secretly hated it. He hated the randomness of battle, he hated the wanton death and destruction. He hated the humans for making it necessary. And he hated himself for the acts that he committed. That last hate was the cause of most of his pain, if he had to be honest. It was hard to live, hating yourself.

He shook off those thoughts as he saw the green tide of goblins wash over the priestess he had seen earlier. He roamed the battlefield, even as her defenders dwindled and fell, one by one. He saw her pulled down, as the orc moved to stand over her. In that moment, he decided to take a rare bit of initiative of his own. He moved, a rolling, unstoppable mass of primal force as he plowed through the Demon King's own army and charged into the knot. He looked down at the priestess and scooped her up into his massive jaws. His mouth closed around her as he looked about and started to charge off into a random direction.

He didn't usually act on such thoughts of whims, but for some reason he didn't want her to die there, like that. He knew well the cruelty and delight of Orc's, and that her suffering would last longer than what was right. If you were to kill, do it quickly. Do it cleanly. What glory was there in torture? What purpose in pain? No, better to die a quick death, than to be played with.

But he hadn't killed her. He knew that. He couldn't understand the reasoning why, but he had spared her. He rushed into the woods, and ran until he could not hear the battle before he placed her on the ground and loomed over her for a moment. He observed her the best he could with his poor eyesight before he shifted down and assumed his normal form, that of a massive bare-chested man with a boar's head. He poked her gently, and observed that she was breathing, just unconscious. He knew how fragile the humans were, and decided that a fire was probably a good idea. She was soaked from being in his mouth, after all.

And so Ryouga set about starting a fire, and waited.

Kasumi slowly came to her senses, then woke with a jerk as her hand raised to stop the blade she was sure was coming for her. Her frantic gaze cast about, before she fixed it on the massive figure sitting across from her at the small fire. The boars head perched on his thick neck and broad shoulders confirmed her worst fears. She had been captured by one of the demons, a greater one from the look of him.

She steeled her resolved, determined to die with grace. "Do what you want to me! I won't give up anything!" She said defiantly even as she trembled a bit.

The massive figure stirred, and fixed her with surprisingly human eyes as his deep, but surprisingly soft, voice rumbled out of his chest. "If I had wanted to harm you, I would have swallowed, or at least chewed."

"S..Swallowed? Chewed?" Kasumi said, then the pieces clicked together. "You are that boar monster that was running amok."

He chuckled. "A monster am I? I would guess it would take one to know one. And I have a name, priestess. It's Ryouga. I won't hurt you, there is no reason to do so."

She eyed the demon named Ryouga for a long moment as she sat up and checked herself over, surprised to find that besides a few bruises and scrapes from the rough handling of the goblins, she seemed to be otherwise unharmed, if a bit damp. "Why did you do this? Why… Why bring me out here, when you could have killed me there? And why attack your own kind?" She questioned.

Ryouga sighed as he poked at the fire. "I took you away because no one deserves the death you would have had at that orc's hands, not even a human. And why did I bring you out here? Because this is where I ended up, thanks to the curse your Goddess placed on my line. And they are not my own kind. They belong to our kingdom, but I hardly consider them one of us. The orcs are vicious brutes, and the goblins are vermin that plague everyone."

Kasumi slowly moved closer to the fire. "I don't understand you. Why did you call me a monster? You are clearly the monstrous one here. Your kind are vicious, vile murdering monsters that constantly threaten our peaceful lives." Kasumi said as calmly as she could.

Ryouga snorted as he shook his massive head. "And your kind attack us constantly, trying to drive us from the lands we have taken and back into the desolate wastes that we have pushed out from. Your kind hate anything that looks differently than you, and you only seek to destroy what you don't like or understand. That makes you monsters, as far as I am concerned."

"It was your kind that attacked us! You are the ones that sought to slay us, and drive us from our lands!" Kasumi said, her voice growing more heated.

"Because what other choice were we given? You would not leave the lands that we needed! It's only right that the strong claim what they need!" Ryouga said back as the fur on his neck stood on end.

"See! And that is why your kind are monsters. You only seek to take and destroy." Kasumi said as she settled a bit closer to the fire while she watched him warily.

"Would your kind have allowed us to move into lands that could support us? No, they wouldn't have. They would have attacked us like they always have before." Ryouga said as he laid another log on the fire.

"Your kind are just warmongers that love violence, why should we ever consider welcoming you into our lands?" Kasumi countered bitterly.

Ryouga rose to his feet, and Kasumi shied away from his massive form as he stalked over to stand over her. "I do not like the war, I hate it. It's senseless, and endless. You think I like doing what I do? That I enjoy it? That I like to know how much blood is spilled because of me? I hate it. I hate the endless death and suffering." He turned and stalked back to his place across from the fire and spoke much quieter, so quietly that Kasumi barely heard it, in a voice laced with such bitterness and loathing that it made her heart suddenly ache. "I hate myself for being part of it."

Kasumi started to speak, then stopped as she watched him settle down across from her once more, and poked at the fire sullenly. She didn't understand this demon, this Ryouga.

But there was one thing she understood all too well, that the being that sat across from her was filled with grief and a pain that she knew all too well, that he suffered as many of those that had been scarred from the endless war did. She couldn't help but feel like she understood him just a bit, and that worried her a bit.

What did it say about herself if she could understand the heart of a monster?