The unsettling tale
A roar
sounded in the air, as Mai was staring at the sky. A large shape
descended from the clouds and dove into the middle of the enemy's ranks.
"A
monster!" someone screamed, while his companion yelled from pain, as
the claws tore his body to the shreds. The soldiers shifted their
attention from the escapees to the new danger – a dragon attacking them
from above. Despite their desperate attempts to defend themselves, the
beast was diving to kill one or two of them, before turning in the air
and attacking again. Swords and arrows did no damage to the scaled body
of the monster. However, the arrows had one effect – there was a
terrified squeaking heard. Mai smiled to herself, recognizing the
characteristic sound. Sesshomaru knew it too – the dog demon leaned on
the sword, visibly relaxed, as he was observing the beast's actions. The
inu-youkai decided, that his steed deserved to enjoy itself once in a
while.
"Get, what you deserve, stupid humans!" a squeaking voice called and the remaining troops died, fried by the fire.
Mai felt Akira motioning closer to her side, staring at the scene with terror.
"They're mononoke." The boy whispered. The girl smiled wider.
"They're
friends." She said to the boy in an encouraging way. Akira furrowed his
brows and returned to observing, what was happening. The boy was still
clutching the sword, keeping the heavy blade lifted.
By now nearly
all the men were dead. When the dragon noticed any signs of life, he
dived to finish off his prey. One of them tried to escape, hiking his
valuable robes and running as fast as he could. It didn't escape the
beast's attention – it followed the escapee and snatched him into the
air. The dragon flew up and let go off the screaming man. Sasaki was
frantically waving with his limbs, as he was nearing the ground. Mai
flinched, as she heard a loud "thud" and a horrible sound of breaking
bones. She saw, that the nobleman was still moving, his chest rising and
falling in the rhythm of the erratic breaths. The height was enough to
break his body, but not to kill him.
The dragon landed before
Sesshomaru, waving his tail like a puppy waiting for the praise. The dog
demon smiled and patted one of the beast's heads.
"Well done,
Ah-Un." He said, before limping towards the heavily injured Sasaki. The
nobleman tried to move away, but wailed from the unbearable pain
instead.
Without saying anything, the inu-youkai trampled with his
foot over the man's face. Mai winced, when Sasaki yelled from the pain.
Then, Sesshomaru stepped on the nobleman's throat and shifted his
weight on the injured leg, slowly strangling Sasaki. The man could only
stare at his killer with the bewilderment and fear in his eyes, for he
was unable to even lift his finger. The dog demon waited, till the man's
eyes became empty, and took a step back.
Mai thought, that it was cruel, but Sasaki deserved such end.
"Sesshomaru-sama, what a luck, that we found you!" a little green creature on the dragon's back squeaked.
Akira frowned.
"What's that supposed to be?" he muttered.
"Youkai." Master Sekiguchi whispered back, as Mai dashed forward towards the two creatures.
"Jaken! Ah-Un!" she called, embracing one of the dragon's neck. "You're the best!"
Mai
let out a squeak of joy and glued herself to Ah-Un, who along with the
small green demon, was the hero of the day. It was a miracle, that the
two came to rescue them. The dragon, happy to had been praised, let out a
contented roar.
Jaken straightened himself, trying to appear
taller – like a victorious hero. However, the imp soon took in the
surrounding and his mood dropped. It was fortunate, that after days of
searching for Sesshomaru-sama they finally found him, but the
circumstances were odd. He scanned his master up and down, hardly
believing to have Sesshomaru-sama before his eyes. The dog demon didn't
have his usual attire on. To be frank, he looked miserable – dressed in
torn rags, his silver hair tainted with the remnants of some black
substance and tangled. It didn't escape Jaken's attention, that the
inu-youkai was limping, as though his leg had been severely injured, and
he appeared to be generally exhausted, strain visible on his face. It
was strange and scary to see his master appear so… weak. It was the
word, that could never be associated with Sesshomaru-sama and yet he
looked weak.
The circumstances of their meeting were odd too.
Normally the dog demon would have finished off the pathetic humans in a
heartbeat, but he seemed to have some difficulties with doing that. Then
Jaken noticed something else – his master was wielding an ordinary
sword, made by humans, while Mai was holding Tenseiga. The imp furrowed
his brows. What was going on here? Well, it was neither time nor place
for deliberating. There were more pressing matters to attend. Not to
mention, that he and Ah-Un were currently escaping from the danger.
"Sesshomaru-sama…" Jaken began speaking, but he stopped, seeing his master sway on his feet.
The
dog demon regained his balance, using the sword as a crutch. He was
glad, that Jaken and his battle steed made their appearance, for he did
not have enough strength to defeat all the opponents. Now that Ah-Un was
at his side, there was nothing to worry about. The journey to Saga
would take an hour and be safe for the woman. He gazed at her, seeing
how happy she appeared. The boy and the scholar shyly came closer to the
dragon, staring at the creature. However, there was something, that was
unsettling Sesshomaru. Jaken disobeyed his order to stay at the camp
and flew here on the battle steed. Knowing his servant, he would not go
against his order if nothing happened.
"Jaken," the dog demon spoke. "Where is Rin?"
Mai
lifted her head, suddenly forgetting about cuddling Ah-Un. True, Jaken
and the two-headed dragon were here, but the children weren't with them.
Did they stay in the camp?
Jaken nervously looked at Sesshomaru, wiping his sweaty green palms in the kimono.
"Erm…"
he began uneasily, avoiding to make a direct eye-contact with his
master. "It's a long story and we should get out of here…"
The dog demon furrowed his brows, glaring at his servant.
"Jaken." He growled impatiently. The imp's head snapped up.
"Sesshomaru-sama, maybe I'll tell you along the way…" Jaken was insisting.
"Tell
me now." Sesshomaru said in a low, threatening voice. The imp gulped,
meeting the angered gaze of his master. Jaken looked around nervously,
as though anticipating danger and then glanced back at Sesshomaru. He
weighed his options and finally decided, that disobeying the inu-youkai
was scarier.
"As I said it's a long story." He muttered.
"Jaken!" this time it was Mai, who scolded him, as her patience was wearing thin as well.
"All right." The imp glared at the human girl and cleared his throat. "It happened three days ago."
Three days ago
"Jaken-sama,
the food is ready!" Rin exclaimed happily, as Jaken's favorite baked
lizards were finally edible. The little girl grabbed the steaming
reptiles and made her way towards the place, where the imp was sitting,
staring at the horizon. "Jaken-sama, eat up!"
The imp looked up to
see Rin's face, brightened with a huge smile, as she passed him his
snack. Jaken took the sticks and emerged his teeth in the lizard.
However, it tasted like dirt. He noticed with a corner of his eye, that
the girl sat down beside him, pulling her knees to her chest. He smiled
bitterly, realizing, that the human child tried to cheer him up.
"Jaken-sama, when Sesshomaru-sama and Mai will be back?" Rin asked quietly, worry sounding in her voice.
"Surely
soon." Jaken answered.
This was the response he was giving the human
girl for the whole past week. He expected Sesshomaru-sama to be gone for
two or three days, but a week seemed to be too long. Maybe something
happened to his master? Jaken shook his head, chasing the grim thought
away. It was stupid to worry about him – Sesshomaru-sama was too
powerful for something to happen to him. The imp glanced at Rin.
"Stupid, stop worrying. Sesshomaru-sama is going back soon. He needs
some more time."
The girl arched her eyebrow, not fooled by Jaken's fake encouragement.
"But
it has been a week already!" she protested.
The imp glared at her.
Usually when Sesshomaru-sama was missing for some unknown reason, it
turned out, that he was seriously injured. Jaken hoped, that it wouldn't
be the case, especially when he was with Mai. The green demon kept the
thought to himself.
"We have to wait." He said with all the confidence he could muster. Rin clenched her small fists.
"We should look for Sesshomaru-sama and Mai. Maybe they need us!" the child insisted. Jaken waved with his hand.
"Sesshomaru-sama ordered us to stay here." He told the girl, folding his arms.
"But…" Rin began, but stopped, as Kohaku went out of the cave and put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"Sesshomaru-sama
will be fine." The boy said with a smile, sitting next to the little
girl. "It would be a problem if Sesshomaru-sama returned and we weren't
here. Mai-sama would be crazy with worry."
Rin nodded, convinced
by what the boy said. The three of them sat before the entrance to the
cave, staring at the horizon. They sighed simultaneously.
For a longer while they were just sitting still.
Suddenly Kohaku jumped to his feet, his hand wandering to the weapon. Rin's eyes widened.
"What's wrong, Kohaku?" the girl asked, seeing her friend tense. The boy narrowed his eyes and warily looked around.
"I sense youkai in the vicinity." He said quietly.
Jaken and Rin gasped. Both of them stood up, feeling equally uneasy.
"Are they dangerous?" Jaken asked the boy. As a demon-slayer, Kohaku had the ability to sense youki.
"I
can't tell." The boy responded, grabbing his sickle and assuming a
battle stance. "But, they are not leaving and closing to our position."
Jaken gulped, nervous.
"I'll get Ah-Un." He said and ran into the cave, leaving Rin by Kohaku's side.
The
imp snatched Nintoujou and approached the dragon, who was soundly
sleeping in the far end of the cave. Jaken patted the beast on one of
its heads.
"Wake up! It's no time to sleep!" the imp exclaimed,
but Ah-Un only made a low sound and kept napping. Jaken lifted the staff
and whacked the dragon with it. "WAKE UP!"
WHACK!
Both
heads snapped up, as Jaken hit the dragon with Nintoujou. Ah-Un looked
at Jaken with resentment in his reptile eyes and swung his tail,
knocking the imp off his feet. The beast let out an irritated hiss,
angry, that he had been woken up. Jaken immediately jumped up and began
scolding Ah-Un.
"You stupid, lazy dragon! Get up!" he was
screaming, while pulling the reins. The dragon resisted and the struggle
between the two lasted for few moments.
Then, they stilled, as a loud noise sounded outside the cave.
"Kyaaa!" Jaken heard Rin's voice.
Immediately,
Ah-Un got up and galloped outside, with Jaken sprinting after him. As
the imp managed to catch up and leave the cave, he witnessed a horrible
scene.
The enemy appeared out of nowhere – a group of the fox
demons. The imp counted ten. The human children were held captive,
already cuffed in the heavy shackles. Rin-chan was struggling, crying
for help, while Kohaku attempted to fight, but the both children were
immobilized. Jaken saw a few bodies laying on the ground in pools of
blood, the demon-slayer's sickle sticking out of the back of one of
them. Apparently the boy managed to take down some opponents before he
got captured. Even cuffed, they struggled, so the fox youkai used a
cloth soaked with chloroform to make them unconscious.
Ah-Un roared with fury, while Jaken clutched Nintoujou tighter, ready to defend Rin-chan. He furrowed his brows.
"Who are you?!" he demanded, however instead of confidence, there was fear in his voice. "Let go off those humans at once!"
The
head demon glanced at the kids indifferently, combing his long red hair
with claws. He narrowed his emerald green eyes, as the smile flickered
on his lips.
"You must be the servant of the pathetic dog." He
said slowly. "I advise you to remain still. We have no interest in
harming you or the steed. We came only for two humans, who were supposed
to be travelling with the son of Inu no Taisho."
Jaken clenched
his fists, glaring at the fox demon. Ah-Un was all tense, wanting to
attack. However, no one made a move. Both the imp and the dragon knew,
that if they did, the children would be harmed. Jaken assessed the
chances to retrieve the hostages with his own strength, but they were
meager. He wouldn't stand a chance in a fight, not to mention, that it
would only endanger Rin-chan's life. He felt utterly powerless.
"Who are you people?" he asked, hoping to get some vital information at least.
Jaken's question made the fox demon burst in laughter.
"Who
we are?" he repeated the imp's question, making an amused face. "Enemy.
That is all, you have to know." The leader of the kitsune-youkai
reached inside his sleeve and took out a letter. Casually, he tossed it
right into the imp's hands. "Pass it to your master."
Then, the
fox fire blazed around the demons. When the bluish flame dissolved, the
enemy was gone, along with the children. Even the bodies of their dead
companions vanished.
Jaken jumped on Ah-Un's back.
"Quick! We have to follow them!" he cried, grabbing the reins.
However,
instead of leaping into the air, the dragon hesitated, sniffing. After a
longer while of standing motionlessly, it roared, sounding sadly. Jaken
furrowed his brows.
"What do you mean, you can't track them?!"
the imp squeaked panicked, before muttering to himself.
"That bunch of
fox demons must have used something to cover their scent. Cunning
bastards…"
The green youkai weighed his options. Dear gods,
Rin-chan had been kidnapped while Sesshomaru-sama was away! Jaken could
barely believe, that such horrible thing actually happened. If his
master found out, he would kill Jaken! There was no doubt, this time his
head would roll. What should he do? Following the enemy was out of
option. The imp stared at the letter, he held in his hand. The damnable
fox spared his life, because he wanted him to pass the letter to
Sesshomaru-sama. It must contain the demands of the kidnappers. If his
master wouldn't get it, Rin-chan would surely die… But if he delivered
it, Sesshomaru-sama would be in danger. Which was worse?
"Get a
grip, Jaken!" the imp told himself. "Sesshomaru-sama is a powerful
Taiyoukai. He will kill those bastards without batting an eyelid.
There's no need to worry about him."
Jaken nodded, assuring
himself, that he made a right decision. He grabbed the saddle tighter
and called to the two-headed dragon.
"Fly, Ah-Un! We have to find Sesshomaru-sama!"
Ah-Un
readied himself for the jump, when the sky became black. However, no
clouds obscured the sky. The dark shapes in the air were birds, no
ordinary ones at that. They dived, surrounding Jaken and the dragon from
all the directions. One of them transformed.
"Oh, it seems, that I am too late." A feminine voice said in a sing-song voice. Jaken gulped.
nice! I knew it it was Jaken and the dragon) thanks for the chapter! waiting for more!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I forgot about Ah-Un! WOOT! Go Ah-Un! Thanks for the update! Can't wait til the next one.
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GO Ah-Uh! i love that dragon. Cant wait for more! I wonder how much more Sesshomaru will handle before being a demon again, and if his time as a powerless demon has taught him anything about Mai's human strength.
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Ten chapters to go, 10 chapters to go!! la la laa la laaaa 10 chapters to go! (or about) I hope you update more consistently. Are you going through and editing each chapter before posting? I haven't noticed much errors...
ReplyDeletePut up the rest! Please you can't stop now!
ReplyDeleteYay! Ah-Un! They're saved!!
ReplyDeleteplease update soon! ive been waiting for days...i check it about 2 times each day hoping for an update! please dont stop!
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