Tales of the East

K

Kenji

Guest
Original poster
In the era of feudal Japan legendary tales of monsters, demons, and gods were very common. Though that appears to just be it, just tales. Nobody in the recent generations has really seen demons or gods. There would be some kind of rumor of a demon in the forest when travelers get lost and disappear. Or perhaps the intervention of a goddess when by a miracle a poor boy survived a deadly illness, but there was no actual truth behind these claims. They were all just another story and superstition, at least that is what they thought.

A small village northern of Kyoto close to the base of the mountain known as Kasagi. Spring was in the air, it's cool breeze sweep through the village as people were busily moving on the streets with daily life. Pink petals painted the streets with bright colors and birds chirped with life. The small village would soon find out enough, that the legends were not just stories. A man with oddly fine white hair walked in the streets who appeared to be some kind of ronnin. His maroon eyes were focused on something. "That man.. he must be here," his voice only audible to himself.

[Kyoji Matsura Profile]
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"A priestess must always be beautiful, pure, and without sin.. she must..." and on and on Priestess Naoko went. She was the head Priestess, and today just as every day, she was teaching the Pupils all they needed to know, for on their 18th birthdays, they would be priestess's too. Aiyuri, would be a priestess in just under 2 weeks, her 18th birthday was coming, and soon. She couldnt wait honestly, she was tired of these lectures from Head Priestess Naoko, who was very stern and seemed to think she knew everything, and if things werent done her way then they simply were not right.

"A priestess also knows.. when to PAY ATTENTION" Priestess Naoko pointed out, gaining Aiyuri's attention, who had been staring off in a daze. "Aiyuri.. do you think that.. I talk for my health?.. I do it so that you wont be an imperfect priestess.. a priestess knows people will confide in her, come to her for remedies and advice.. look up to her.. a high lady.. and how do you expect to learn that, staring off into space?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow, in which all the other girls looked to Aiyuri as well. Aiyuri simply blushed, clearing her throat a little and then bowed her head "Apologies High priestess.. it will not happen again..." she promised -though she knew it would. "I would hope so." The priestess said sternly, continuing on with her boring lecture. Aiyuri simply sighed, her eyes looking towards the open window, looking out to the streets.. sometimes she longed to be just an ordinary girl.. but fate had its own plan. Destined to be a priestess, because her mother, and grandmother were.

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The spring breeze blew a sweet scent of flowers in the air. The people of Kasagi carried on with their life as Kyouji passed the market. He felt out of place, the villagers had no idea what was in store for them. He wished that he could have been bless with that ignorance as well. Who would ever ask for this? A life where you have to hide to just survive. He was getting off track, where are you.. Yoshimaru. As if fate was answering his question, he tasted the smell of blood in the air, sweet with the nectar.

In a dark alleyway between to shops, a unfortunate man was being eat alive by a demon. He begged her for his life, even to just end his misery as she feasted upon his flesh. But she only replied with a cold stare with her red eyes before taking another bite. Akiho found humans to taste better when their blood was still racing and fear ran through it. It was nothing personal against him, just a preference of food. A man behind her stroked her long black hair, "You must clean up now, we have a guest," his voice elegant and soft.

Kyouji stood in front of the entrance of the alleyway, his eyes piercing the darkness and seeing quickly what was going on. Without a word uttering from his mouth he quickly drew his sword. With a silent rush, Kyouji sweep in and swung his blade aiming to take off man's head. The sound of metal clashing wasn't Kyouji's expected outcome. It appears that a Naginata blocked his attack. It was the female demon.. looking bored and careless as ever.

"Well, isn't it Kyouji! I was expecting you. Why are you looking so serious?" the man responded turning around to face him. The man hand medium black hair, his left eye covered by bandages. "Yoshimaru.. you bastard. What are you doing here?" Kyouji responded, pressing harder on his katana. The blade inched closer to Yoshimaru's face, Kyouji's eyes gleamed with furry.

Akiho swung her weapon forward, sending the white haired man into the streets. Kyouji crashed into the stalls, causing a commotion. Before he had time to react, Akiho was in front of him and her naginata was in his abdominal the next second. Yoshimaru casually walked up to the two and smiled. "I was looking for it here, but it is nowhere to be found. Lousy rumors, don't ever trust a traveling merchant. So we decided on sight seeing, and then Akiho got hungry," he began to pet her head again, "You know how big of an appetite she has."

The girl stared down at him with blood still on her face. Having such a scene in the public would soon cause for panic for bystanders. Kyouji let out a grunt as he stood up, lifting the weapon and Akiho before pulling it out and throwing her into one the shops. She flew into the building, making a lot of noises as she impacted. It didn't take much observation to realize these weren't ordinary people. A girl with horns and blood fighting a man with above average strength.

"Priestess Naoko! D.. Demons. Market!!" a small old man was trying to tell her after running from the fight scene. His words were rushed and hard to understand since he was out of breath. "Demons! They are fighting in the market. Please we need your assistance!"

[Yoshirou Profile]
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[Akiho Profile]
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It had just been calm and placid outside and now, in the split of a second everything had shifted, people outside were yelling 'Demons! Demons are here!' calling for the men and also Priestess Naoko. The Priestess watched as the old man tried to catch his breath and tell her what was wrong. "Sit and wait here, girls watch over him!" she instructed, before leaving the room. "Priestess Naoko!" the girls yelled for her, however she was already gone. The girls whispered amoungst each other, screaming every time they heard a loud bang. After listening to the commotion a few moments Aiyuir decided she couldnt just sit there, she got up, ignoring the girls as they asked her over and over what she was doing, and going over to the wall where a bow and some Arrows hung. She grabbed them, then leaned down towards two small bowls filled with the extracted poison from a rattlesnake, a priest even prayed over it, specifically for the demolition of demons. "Priestess Naoko said to sit here! she also said not to touch those things! we arent even fully trained for it!" One of the girls screamed at Aiyuri who ignored her "This is an emergency, I dont care, I cant just stand around!" She protested before heading out, tightening the bag which held the arrows around her and tightening her grip on the bow.

As soon Aiyuri stepped outside, there was utter chaos. From what she could tell there were 3 demons.. and it didnt seem like they were just destroying the village, they seemed to be trying to destroy each other -two against one. Priestess Naoko was doing the best she could to defuse the situation -which wasnt much at all, just helping the men get the women and children inside their homes. Aiyuri knew that wasnt enough, if this continued, then the whole town could be destroyed, this wasnt a time to be a coward. She even noticed some of the men had given up and were heading inside. She wouldnt. She couldnt.


Aiyuri took one of the bows out and dipped it into the thick liquid poison, before stringing it on the bow and aiming it, first she aimed it at the male who was facing the other two, thinking it would be good to take out the one who was weak first, but the Demon with Black hair was a closer aim, and since she was still in training this was her best bet. "Aim for the heart.. Aim for the heart.." She told herself over and over again. "AIYURI NO!" Priestess Naoko yelled, running towards Aiyuri and as soon as she let the arrow go, she tackled her to the ground, this messed up her aim, and so instead of heading towards the heart it flew to god knows where -she just hoped it had hit him. "What are you doing??! I told you not to come out you foolish girl! that type of weapon wont do any good unless you have a clear aim! your aim was no where near clear! -it would do nothing but anger them!" she yelled. Aiyuri however wasnt listening, she simply pushed the priestess off and grabbed another arrow "Well we cant just sit around and do nothing! Demons! leave or resign yourself to death!" She yelled.
 
The sound of steel clashing against each other filled the streets as the male and female demon fought. Kyouji narrowed his eyes on the other demon, it really pains him to have to fight her. No matter, he had to end this now. She leaped in the air and he quickly rushed after her. His blade pulled back for a fatal swipe, but she countered with a powerful swing of her weapon. The collision sent him flying back into the street.

Yoshirou watched the two with excited eyes as they battled. He was almost too distracted to sense the priestess who made her way over to them. The arrow made a swift sound as it flew through the air and caught in his neck. He slowly turned over to face the two priestess. "That was very rude.. But I don't hold it against you." His voice calm and taunting as he removed the arrow. "Oh? Were you trying to kill me? How amusing.." A dark pair of feather wings grew behind his back as Yoshirou rose into the air. "I would stay, but I have things to do. Here, have these as a parting gift."

With a gesture from his hand, dark shadowy figures appear from the darkness of the alley. They then suddenly launch themselves at any human bystanders that were still around. The shadow creatures seem to possess the humans and transforming them to a grotesque demon. Yoshirou let out a chuckle, "Come Akiho. Lets leave them to play." The demon then suddenly took off with great speed towards the south. Akiho dispersed into autumn leaves as she hovered in the air.

The possessed humans began to wreck havoc as they attacked any other bystanders and destroyed the market stalls. Kyouji got up and saw that the man had fled, his only chance slipped from his fingers. "Damn it.. How could I let him get away."
 
Aiyuri watched as the demon she had tried to hit departed with the other demon girl, her heart had been racing, thinking he would surely retaliate and in a way he did -but not the way she expected. She blinked a few times, watching as some of the villagers began to be possessed by the dark shadows within them and she gasped, her hands shaking with the bow and another arrow ready for another attempt. Aiyuri didn't want to kill off the humans but didn't see any other way to stop them from wreaking havoc on the other villagers.


"See what you've brought here?" Priestess Naoko seethed to the Demon who was still left. She then proceeded into the hut where all her weapons and anecdotes were. She came out with a wooden vase full of small pieces of cloth which had ancient Japanese writings on it -they were dispellers which could be used on the possessed but she had to get close enough to place it on those who were possessed. She grabbed her own bow and arrow and proceeded to try and injure the humans without killing them, and once they were down she would place the dispeller on them in which they would proceed to shake as if in a seizure and fight back against the shadows which lived within.


Aiyuri shakily began to string her bow and then aim it at the one who had mumbled something about the other ones getting away "Demon! Leave now or.. Or I'll shoot this arrow right into your heart! And I mean it!" she yelled, though she knew full well she wasn't an experienced archer and it would take more than luck to kill the demon.
 
After they other two left, Kyouji found himself with two priestess and a few minor demons. His red eyes look towards the first human who spoke. "If you didn't interfere, I would have been able to finished him off," his voice filled with frustration even though the fight appeared to not have been going in his favor. He looked to see one of them to be purifying the possessed humans. Small fries, not even worth his time. But his anger had built up his lust for fighting and he couldn't control himself. With a quick dash, he rushed forward a group of possessed villagers. A crimson spray of blood filled the air as he sheathed his blade.

To the untrained eye, it may have seem he had just cut them down. But in truth his blade just only went through the non vital areas and disabled the bodies. Kyouji turned to Aiyuri with a dark expression. Light splatters of blood covered his face. He slowly lifted up his sword, "You humans always make things more complicated. I wonder why I bother to try to save a doomed race."
 
Airyuri's cheeks became hot with anger as the demon spoke to them as if it was there fault the other 2 got away, she let her hands turn to fists as she continued to glare at the demon. "Hey! Don't you blame this on us! just because you weren't strong enough to handle them by yourself doesn't mean you can go around blaming it on humans we can be just as strong as you!" she exclaimed before Priestess Naoko turned to face her "Aiyuri! Stop taunting him! He is after all a demon!" she warned before watching as he began harming the possessed humans out of what looked like frustration to his lost battle.

"Hey! stoppit! there are less harmful ways to-" before Aiyuri could continue yelling at the human, Priestess Naoko's hand was wrapped around her mouth to quiet her. "Aiyuri! stop this right now! you know better than disobey a superior!" but Aiyuri had, had enough, she immediately snatched away from the priestess and snatched her bow and Arrows. "Being scared of demons is the reason they feel that they can just walk all over us! it's the reason my little brother was killed! it was the only reason besides the fact that my mother was a priestess that I even wanted to become one! it's time to stop being scared and fight back!" she exclaimed before storming off towards the direction the other 2 demons had left. "Aiyuri! where are you going?!" the priestess exclaimed, but Aiyuri only scowled, not looking back. "To find those demons and end this once and for all!" she yelled back " and if that other demon isn't gone when I'm back then I'll kill him too!" she continued, ignoring the villagers pleas for her to stay. She knew that this was a foolish idea, but something had to be done to show these demons that humans weren't just target practice.
 
The words from the younger priestess seem to clear the rage that engulfed his head. He sheathed his weapon and looked around at the mess that was made. Kyouji had no attention to bring such havoc to the small village, but it was inevitable to happen. This village or the next, the return of the demons to this world will bring more blood shed then this. With a blur the demon moved in front of the girl. "You should list to your master, you wouldn't last a minute with those two in your current state."

His maroon eyes stare into hers, "So you lost your brother to a demon? Does that make you hate me for what I am? Have you even killed a demon before? Tsk. Stay out of this human, you are to fragile to be apart of this," Kyouji stated before he started to walk off down the street to exit the village.
 
Aiyuri jumped a little once it seemed like in the speed of almost light the demon was in front of her. She gripped her bow and arrow tightly and growled silently a little. "My master? shes not my master and yes.. all demons are the same.. you guys do nothing but seek and destroy!" she exclaimed watching as he walked away. She looked beyond him and looked out to see her brother -he was transparent and sad looking. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes trying to get the vision out of her head - and the horrible cries from her parents on that sad day.

She then stomped up to the demon, lifting her kimono so that she could move faster and then getting in front of him as he had done her just moments earlier "Stay out of this? stay out of this? once those demons did what they did it automatically became my business.. if anything you should stay out of this because you seem weak! you even let both of them get away!" she yelled, hearing the whispers from the villagers and in the corner of her eyes she could tell Naoko had a rather angry expression on her face. "And dont blame it on the humans! There were 2 of them -dont you see? you are outnumbered so you never really stand a chance!" she practically preached to him as the wind began to pick up a little, blowing her long jet black hair a little to the right, but she hardly noticed her slightly dancing hair -her eyes were on him. "You know what? I dont even know why Im trying to give you pointers.. demons are stubborn, mindless killing machines.. its a lost case" she concluded before letting the silence engulf them for a while. ".... Are you even going to go after them?" she mumbled softly.
 
The wind let a soft whimper as it blew through the village as Kyouji looked back at the human girl. His eyes then move to the blue sky that was empty of clouds. "Then are we not so different then? You humans rally each other up to fight one another for your beliefs and for land. Believing you have the right to claim land in your own name, foolish humans. Humans have shed their own blood more then demons have ever done. So if you believe throwing your life away to try to kill those demons for your brother's sake, are no different from a mindless killing machine? A demon? Ask yourself if this is what he would have wanted from his sister," his words sharp as they came out.

Kyouji began to walk once more, passing the girl. "I am going after them. But I realize I am in no shape to face them in my current condition. You are right, I am weak. But I know I can change that," he said with a pause in his walk.
 
"Mindless killing machine? absolutely not.. I am completely sane and know what I want to do.. even if it is revenge" she countered his claim, about demons and humans being the same "Demons just seem to kill simply because they know they can, having a slight advantage over humans so they feel they can run all over us and I am not having it anymore" she continued, taking a step forward once he began to walk away. "You cant do it on your own! do you really expect to defeat them? you need help whether you like it or not!" she yelled after him before running towards him and then in front of him, placing both her hands on each of his shoulders to stop him.


"Wait! Demon.. what if.. what if I came with you?.. Im not just a liability you know.. I know a lot of spells and I am getting good at the bow and arrow.. I could help you!" she spilled out, recieving disapproving glares from the villagers. "Aiyuri this stops now! you are shaming your village by even thinking about traveling with a demon! you cant trust any of them and this is not the way to avenge your brother!" Naoko exclaimed with balled fists. "Every time we let those demons invade our land and harm us we are shaming every one of our ancestors who fought so hard for us to have this land! what I am doing wont make or break our village's reputation!" Aiyuri yelled back before looking back at the demon "What do you say?"
 
The demon turned around after feeling her hands on his shoulders. His red eyes glare at her after listening to her statement. "Ignorant human. Is that what you believe of demons? Do you even know we came from? Evil grows in the both the hearts of men and demons," Kyouji's voice filled with irritation as he turned back around. Do the humans even know about the origin of man and demons? He doubt it, it was way too long ago for the humans to have kept record of it. Even some of the demons don't know about it. Only those who who were originally cast to Yomi know truly know.

"Listen to them, if that is your vision then how can you think about traveling with me?" he replied, noticing the tension in the village. He decide it was time to leave this place and the girl behind. Kyouji suddenly leaped up on a rooftop and began dashing away in a quick speed. Once outside the village he stopped on a tree branch. He let out a sigh, not knowing why that girl irritated him so much.
 
Aiyuri listened to the demon intently as he spoke, glaring right back at him and then reaching out her hand once he practically disappeared, dashing away so quickly that the wind even picked up, moving her hair idly as she shouted out to him "DEMON! WAIT!" She yelled, but she knew it was to no prevail, the demon was surely miles away by now or even more than that, she knew their strength was supernatural enough for that. After a few moments of silence she sighed and turned back towards the village of people who looked at her with wide eyes, whispering to one another on how they couldn't believe she would actually travel with a demon.

Aiyuri wasn't trying to hear any of it, she instead headed straight home. Her father was so upset with her that he wouldn't speak to her, and her mother did nothing but yell about how she had done nothing heroic by trying to go with the demon to avenge her brother, but rather pathetic and selfish. "We have already lost one child -why would we want to lost another?" her mother repeated periodically, but Aiyuri had blocked them out, and paid attention only to her journal which she wrote in every day.

Today has been a very exhausting day.. and also a very long one.. I will stick to my decision to leave.. only when the time is right, for I believe that demon I will see again, however even if I dont see him - I will still leave and no one will stop me next time. No one.


Aiyuri thought long and hard about her decision to depart from her village soon - to her all they were, were sitting ducks waiting to be demolished by demons and god knows what else.. she had to go out and fight -maybe learn a few things, and when she was sure that she was good, she could return to the village and help protect rather than sit on the side lines and just hope that everything will be okay. Arrows and sacred spells wont work forever, she had to learn to fight. It hit her soon after these thoughts.. what better time to leave than in the night?.. and what better time than the present? with these thoughts in her head, very silently she began to pack her things -just enough that it wouldn't slow her down. Late in the night she would run away.
 
The forest surrounding the village was dense and filled with wildlife. The different clatter of animals cause the forest to come alive as the trees move to the wind's content. The demon found himself under a large tree within a small opening of the forest. Kyouji has been meditating and trying clear his mind all day. He had to remember the principals to live by and not allow the rage to consume him. His mind was almost clear.. except for one thing. A leaf slowly descended from the sky, spinning before landing on the top of his head.

"That girl.. why is she still bothering me?" he said out loud after opening his eyes. The sky was painted orange and red as the sun prepared to set over the horizon. He could hear crows caw in the distances. The demon was heading to the closest town next to the village but got side tracked. He decided he might as well find something to eat and rest here for the night to heal his wounds.

Kyouji quickly found his prey, a nice size deer with large antlers. It was simple for him to kill it with one lethal strike. He brought his dinner back to the site of the large tree in the opening and started a fire. The demon leaned against the tree and feast on his meal raw, watching the fire dance in the night. He was near the route that lead t the town so it wouldn't be hard for a traveler to spot him. But only a fool would travel so late at night, and twice one to approach a man with a blood stained mouth in a lonely dark forest.
 
Aiyuri sat there in front of her things and blinked a few times as continued to gaze. She was actually about to do it; leave and come back god knows when... if ever. Even if she did go out and train, learn the ways of a ninja or a samurai or even a demon... then what? If she returned would she be shunned or welcomed with arms wide open? This was a question that was left hanging in the air and it would stay there because there was no answer. It could go either way.

"So it's settled then. I'm leaving... really leaving..." she said softly to herself as she felt a vibrating sensation on the small of her back. "Huh?" she whispered, turning around to see a black furry patch that was rubbing against her that was Ginko - the village cat that was taken care of by everyone. She had been left behind by her mother once she was born just a few months ago. Aiyuri smiled, picking the kitten up and holding her close. She was pitch black, but the tips of her ears were white. "I'm leaving ginko... I'm leaving and I'm not sure that I will come back... will you protect the village once I leave? Of course you won't... because then who would protect you hm?" she asked softly to the kitten who continued to purr. "It's settled then. You will come with me." She decided as she slung the large bag of her things over her shoulder and then quietly tip toed out of the house with Ginko following behind.

Once outside Aiyuri looked east, west, north and south, she decided east, because this was the direction that the demon had gone. She wasn't sure that she would run into him, but it was worth a try. She looked up the sky and sighed, hoping to find a suitable shelter before night completely weighed in on the sky. Aiyuri took all the back trails so not to get caught by any villager. She wanted this elope to be clean cut, no trail, no witnesses. So she walked quickly down the dirt path and into the forest, with Ginko trailing behind her.
 
After a while of Aiyuri's traveling on the dirt road, going deeper into the forest.. there was rustling from the trees following by a dark chuckles. The moon was full and bright tonight, shinning it's milky light on the forest. Suddenly figures began to leap out from the trees, surrounding her. How many were there? Five? Six? They were all wearing dark clothing, one similar to a ninja's apparel. Each one had a distinctive theater mask.

"Hey little girl, don't you think it is dangerous to be traveling so late at night by yourself? Who knows what is lurking out there, for a small... fee we can protect you from such things." One of them said with a chuckle. They closed in around her, not letting any route of escape.
 
Aiyuri stopped in her tracks, looking at all the masked figures around her as her body began to shake a little with fear -what was she going to do? her mind began to race with ideas, but all escape routes were non exisitent. "I-Im NOT a little girl and I dont need any protection!" she yelled at them, taking out her bow and arrow and holding it tight "If you dont stay back.. I swear I will shoot each one of you!" she threatened as Ginko raced off into the forest as fast as his little paws could take him until he ran into someone unfamiliar, a boy. He began meowing at the boy until he got his attention, and then he raced back into the forest, hoping the stranger would follow and help Aiyuri.
 
"Oh you aren't a little girl huh? Let's take a look to see if you are a woman then," one of them said with a chuckle as the moved in closer. A strange meowing caught their attention, "What was that?" one of them asked. The one who seemed to be the leader of the group ordered two of them to go check out what the noise was, leaving three of them left. "What do you think that was boss?" a bandit asked pulling out his dagger. "Who knows, maybe a cat caught in a poachers trap," his attention turned back on the girl.

Kyouji open his red eyes to the meowing, his ear twitching slightly. He slowly stood up and disappeared into the darkness of the forest, towards the source of the sound. He could smell humans near by, something was tense in the air.
 
Aiyuri's eyes were now full of terror -she knew what was on their minds, and she was surrounded "You stay away from me!!!" she seethed, her hands shaking as she pulled out her arrows and bow, backing up against a tree. Was this the freedom she sought? only to be taken advantage of by these men? all of the sudden she wished she would have never left..

"STAY AWAY OR I WILL HAVE NO CH-CHOICE BUT TO H-HARM YOU!" she yelled.
 
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