Blue Seed Fan Fiction ❯ Dreamer Awakened ❯ Rude Awakening ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 13: Rude Awakening









Dreamer Awakened

CHAPTER THIRTEEN


The sun was setting, Midori noticed as she stood in front of
the make-shift lab in her brother's kitchen. He would be getting restless,
now. He always did when the sun started to go down she thought, tiredly. She
wondered who he was for the hundredth time as she stirred the chemical contents
of the glass bowl being heated over a pan of water on the gas stove, and
wondered too, if she was doing the wrong thing by not telling the people at the
Science and Experiment Department.
Midori knew he was Aragami and that she should probably tell
someone, but she couldn't bring herself to do it while he was so helpless. She
pushed her disquieting thoughts aside and rubbed her neck, her eyes drawn to the
mahagony wood of the floor. The identity of the man with dark hair was
temporarily forgotten as she stared down at it. It gleamed flawlessly, except
for one large, barren spot right in the middle.
Perhaps if she squinched up her eyes, it wouldn't look so
back. Midori tried it, and then heaved a hopeless sigh. It was no use. Oh, boy,
she thought. She had totally ruined it, and, Yuji was not going to be happy with
her when he finally came home and saw the huge chemical burn she had made when
she had accidentally dropped a beaker full of acid wash yesterday.
The sad thing was that she had worked extra hard to keep his
house clean, so that he wouldn't have to know that she had even been here.
Every other part of the house looked flawless. But this, Midori thought, staring
morosely down at the scarred wood, there was no way she could hide this. -
Maybe she could buy a rug! - but no, that was no good. Yuji would just wonder
why a strange rug was lying in his kitchen and remove it anyway. Feeling even
more downhearted than ever, she pushed her thoughts away. She would think about
it later, she told herself
Midori turned the heat to the stove off and left the finished
solution to cool. She wouldn't be able to use the new solution until tomorrow,
but she still had enough left in her medicinal flask for tonight, and tomorrow,
so it didn't really matter. But she believed in being prepared, so she had
made this batch in advance. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach
as she moved around the kitchen and gathered up her medical supplies. Time to
treat the patient, she thought determinedly.
Midori crept towards the spare bedroom that her brother used
as her room when she came to see him and peeked inside. The bed was too small
for him, but she had put him in here because this room received the most
sunlight during the day, and she had thought that perhaps that would help his
body to recover quicker. Just as she had feared, he was thrashing restlessly,
his long arms and legs making the bed look even smaller.
Midori moved soundlessly into the room, putting her things on
the floor next to the bed and reached out to try and quiet his movements to keep
him from rolling onto the floor. The dark-haired stranger shifted restlessly. He
flung his arm out and she grabbed it to try and anchor him in place, marveling
as always at how human he felt to her touch.
It was like wrestling a squid, she thought in exasperation as
she grappled with him. He always seemed to have more arms than she did, and she
tried to keep her aggravation from showing as she murmured softly to him, trying
to calm his restiveness. After a few minutes of push and pull, her words of
comfort seemed to affect him, for he quit struggling so hard, and Midori was
able to let him go. She slumped with relief, pushing from her flushed cheeks the
thick strands of dark brown hair that had gathered there during her struggle
with the dark haired stranger.
Drawing in a deep breath to help collect herself, Midori bent
down and picked up a piece of gauze and applied the solution from the flask to
it. Leaning forward, she pushed aside the robe that she had managed to put on
him and began to lightly swab his chest. She was so immersed in what she was
doing that she almost cried out when she felt his long fingers snake out and
catch her wrist in a cruel grip, holding her hand immobile from its task.

Murakumo felt pain tugging at his consciousness, pulling him
from the oblivion of darkness and into the bright flames that seemed to be
searing his chest. He opened his grey eyes, seeing nothing but blurred shapes in
the dimness of the light, and felt a grimace twist his face. What was that
god-awful smell? Slowly the room came into focus and he saw the shiny, dark hair
of a human girl bent over him, her hand hovering over the spot in his chest
where the fires raged.
What the hell did she think she was doing, he thought,
reaching up to grab her hand, his grey eyes pinned coldly to the crown of her
head.
His touch was unexpected and she turned and looked at him
with startled eyes, her mouth slightly agape. Murakumo continued to stare coldly
at her and was baffled when she smiled at him, her brown eyes sliding happily
over him.
"You're finally awake!" she murmured delightedly.
"Oh. It's you," Murakumo said, letting go of her
wrist as his eyes flitted dismissively over her nondescript features and big
brown eyes, and he recognized her as the girl from the iwatto.
"My name's Midori," she told him quietly after he
released her, leaning back and rubbing at the red marks his fingers had left on
her wrist.
Murakumo ignored her for the moment and let his gaze wonder
around the room, instead. "Where am I and how did I get here?" he
demanded imperiously.
"I'll answer your questions, if you answer one of mine
first," Midori bargained and remained unaffected when he scowled at her.
How dare she dictate to him?! The insolence of her attitude
infuriated him, but there was little he could do about it in his current
condition.
"What is it you want to know, human?" he asked her
sullenly, his pique growing at the smile of satisfaction that spread across her
face.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"I am called, Murakumo," he informed her coolly,
looking away from her and then added, "and now that I have fulfilled your
request, tell me what I want to know. Where am I and how did I get here?"
Murakumo, Midori thought. What a noble sounding name. She
burned to ask him even more questions, but knew better, so she did her best to
answer his.
"You're in Ise, at my brother's house," she
told him. "My brother's out of the country on business and this is the
only place I could think to bring you."
Murakumo's eyes flitted back to her then, and he looked
disbelievingly at her slight figure, "You brought me here?"
Impossible, he thought, but she nodded her head, and he
continued to stare at her.
"You?! Brought me here?!" he reiterated
incredulously knowing that if he were able to stand, he would tower over her by
at least a foot.
"Well, yes," she replied diffidently, It felt like
he was calling her a liar. "But you did help some."
"I did?" he asked, his dark brows soaring over his
steel grey eyes.
"Don't you remember?" she asked, eyeing him
uncertainly.
"Not particularly," he replied faintly, shifting
uncomfortably in the small bed, and felt pain rip through his chest.
He let out a strangled cry and Midori bent over him in
immediate concern.
"Try not to move," she urged him as the pain began
to recede a bit and he lay panting heavily, feeling drained.
His vision started going in and out of focus, and he watched
Midori reach down and pick up a piece of gauze, bringing it close to his chest.
Murakumo immediately recoiled from her, striking her hand away as the noxious
smell reached his nose and he paid for his actions with another bought of pain.
What was wrong with him? Had this pathetic human been
poisoning him, with that foul smelling potion? He should kill her now and be
done with it. He had no time for human schemes, knowing that there was much he
must do to reclaim his kingdom. He tried to sit up, tried to draw his blade, but
he couldn't, his efforts causing such a haze of pain that he felt like his
chest was being ripped apart.
"What have you done to me?" he demanded weakly, his
eyes staring accusingly at her as he realized he was on the verge of passing
out.
Midori gave him a bewildered look. "I haven't done
anything, except try to help you."
"That's a lie!" he retorted harshly, his voice
raw with pain. He struggled to maintain consciousness, as he put his hand to his
chest, "you have been poisoning me!"
Midori looked shocked, and she didn't know what to say. The
first words she thought of inadvertently popped out of her mouth.
"What an idiotic thing to say!" she reprimanded
him, seeing his eyes widen first in shock and then in fury, but she didn't
care. "Do you really think that I would have dragged your butt all the way
back here if all I wanted to do was poison you? That's utterly ridiculous!! If
I were trying to kill you, it would have been easier to leave you at the iwatto
and let you bleed to death!"
"Why you little bitch!" he hissed, his hand
shooting out and grabbing her by the neck. He dragged her down so her face was
just inches from his, his grey eyes boring into her brown ones. "Do you
have any idea who you're talking to?" he asked her in a softly menacing
way, his hand trembling from the effort of holding onto her.
Midori didn't say anything, her mouth thinning into a
mutinous line. He was trying to intimidate her, she thought, as she met his gaze
unflinching. But it wasn't going to work, she decided, her own temper flaring
at his attitude. She had worked too hard to help him to be treated like this.
"I am the king of Aragami," he declared arrogantly
when she didn't say anything, and finally let her go, too weak to hold her
anymore.
Finally free, Midori slowly stood up, but kept her gaze
locked with his, her eyes sparkling with anger. "How nice for you,"
she told him tartly, "maybe you could start acting like it then and show a
little refinement. I've seen better manners from a garbage collector."
Murakumo's face twisted with fury and he reached out and
grabbed her again, but this time, he lacked the strength to hold onto her,
letting her go almost immediately as his vision darkened.
Midori watched as Murakumo's hand slid away from her and
his eyes fluttered closed. In seconds he was unconscious again, but she
continued to stand there and stare defiantly at him for a minute more. Then with
a deep sigh, she picked up the cotton and finished what she came to do, her
hands gentle despite her desire to thump him hard in the head.
"There, you ungrateful wretch, " she muttered to
him even though he couldn't hear her. "And the next time you open your
eyes, I hope you at least have the decency to ask a few pertinent questions
before you start flinging accusations at me!"
She glowered down at his unconscious face, and then with a
loud snort, collected her things and left the room.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right, Momiji?"
Mr. Kunikida asked anxiously.
"I'm fine," she responded, looking down at the
table to avoid his gaze, "really."
She, Kusanagi, and Sakura had returned to Izumo and were at a
local restaurant where they had arranged to meet Mr. Kunikida before they had
left Takachiho. Kusanagi had driven back, and Momiji had sat in the back seat
with her eyes closed the whole way to avoid any questions. She really did feel
better than she had at the iwatto, but she couldn't shake the persistent
feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
"So," Mr. Kunikida recounted, "what you're
telling me is that these new Aragami aren't Aragami at all, but something
called Tengugaki?"
Kusanagi nodded his head.
"And that they are after a…child," Mr. Kunikida
reiterated.
Kusanagi's gaze slid to Momiji before he answered.
"That's what we think - "
"That's not what we think," Sakura rudely cut in,
"that's what Momiji thinks! And just how would she know, anyway?"
"Shut up, Sakura !" Kusanagi ordered impatiently,
"you know as well as I do how Tamanasu reacted when Momiji told him he
wouldn't find who he was looking for."
Sakura's lips compressed into a thin line, and her crimson
eyes burned resentfully as they rested on Momiji, who was still staring
uncomfortably at the table.
"All right," she conceded, ungraciously, "so
Momiji knew he was looking for someone. But what I want to know, is how
Momiji knew that he was looking for someone."
Here it comes, Momiji thought, tensing up at Sakura's
words. She had been dreading this ever since they left the iwatto, and she knew
she wouldn't be able to dodge the questions any longer. But the problem was
she still didn't think she should tell them about Susano-oh. She knew it was
ridiculous to hide it, but somehow it felt…wrong to divulge how she knew.
"Momiji is the Kushinada," Kusanagi replied,
looking down his nose at Sakura, "there are a lot of things that she knows
without having to be told, Faith Healer. Why don't you just accept that your
powers of perception aren't in the same league as hers?"
Momiji's eyes widened and she tried to hide her surprise,
knowing that what Kusanagi had said, he had said to protect her from Sakura's
probing question.
Sakura stiffened at Kusanagi's insult, just as he had
intended, her eyes shooting daggers at him. "I'll have you know, I am at
the top of my field - "
"Spare us," Kusanagi cut in impatiently, rolling
his eyes, "I think we all know by now how great you think you are."
Sakura leaned forward and growled at Kusanagi, but Kunikida
intervened at this point trying to keep the fight from escalating. "That's
enough, you two," he barked, and then when they lapsed into silence, added
more calmly, "is there anything else I should know?"
"You mean about the iwatto?" Momiji asked,
responding after realizing that Sakura and Kusanagi were too busy throwing each
other dirty looks to be of any use in the conversation. Mr. Kunikida nodded, and
so Momiji told him about the aura of sadness that she and Sakura had felt
outside the iwatto.
"Hmmm. I wonder if that has anything to do with what Ms.
Matsudaira was saying about the high levels of particle ionization?" He
speculated.
Momiji was about to respond when his phone rang. It was Ryoko
so he excused himself from the conversation for a moment.
Momiji listened to the one-sided discussion, intently
watching Mr. Kunikida. Near the end, his grave demeanor gave way to shock, and
all the color drained out of his face as he said, "Dear god! - are you
sure, Ryoko?" and then after a pause, "have you searched the area? I'll
be there as soon as I can."
Momiji waited with baited breath for him to finish his
conversation, and even Kusanagi and Sakura had stopped shooting each other
hostile looks, waiting and wondering just what it was that Ryoko had said to
him.
"What is it?" Momiji asked, apprehensively,
"is it Midori?"
Mr. Kunikida hesitated, and his eyes sympathetic when he
said, "I'm sorry Momiji, but Midori has gone missing. Ryoko and Kome
found her things inside the iwatto, and they also found the decapitated body of
another Tengugaki."
"There's no way that Midori could be responsible for
such a thing," Kusanagi observed.
Mr. Kunikida nodded his head. "Unfortunately, you're
right about that. An Aragami did it."
There was a long silence into which Kusanagi slowly replied,
"You mean another Tengugaki, don't you?"
"No," Mr. Kunikida replied heavily, "I mean
Aragami. They found a copious amount of green blood inside the iwatto as well.
Ryoko thinks that the Aragami slew the Tengugaki and took Midori as well."
"No!" Momiji cried, her distress drowning out
Kusanagi's violent cursing, but just barely. "That can't be!" she
protested in a tight voice, balling up her fists on top of the table
"I'm sorry, Momiji," Mr. Kunikida apologized
again, "we'll do everything we can to find her. I promise." He stood
up then his gaze sweeping over all of them. "I'm not sure what this means
- how the Aragami could have re-awoken, but I'm relying on you all to work
together as a team." He paused and looked meaningfully from Sakura to
Kusanagi. "If we're to have any hope of defeating both the Aragami and
the Tengugaki, then you're going to have to learn to get along."
Neither one of them said anything and Mr. Kunikida didn't
waste any more words on the issue, telling them he would be in touch as soon as
he had some new information. And then he was gone.
"Well, I'm outta here," Sakura said with a shrug
a few minutes later, rising to her feet as well. "I have a big date tonight
and I sure as hell can't go like this. Surely you and Carrot Boy can handle
things on your own until some time tomorrow afternoon?" she said to Momiji
and continued without waiting for a reply, "If you have an emergency
between now and then, try not to call me. It'll only mess things up. Ta-ta,"
she told them dampeningly and then she was gone too.
Momiji turned to look at Kusanagi then and found his eyes
pinned to her in an unnerving fashion.
"It was Susano-oh, wasn't it, Momiji," he wanted
to know without preamble, "that's how you knew about the child, isn't
it?"
Feeling conscience-stricken, Momiji looked down at her hands
and nodded.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and Momiji
could feel Kusanagis displeasure with her.
"Why didn't you tell me, Momiji?" he asked her,
and she flinched at the coldness of his voice. "How am I supposed to
protect you if you don't tell me what's going on?"
"I'm sorry," she replied miserably, biting her
lip her contrite gaze coming back to rest on him.
"Is there anything else that you know that you're not
telling me?" Kusanagi demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and
watching her intently.

Bind yourself to Kusanagi…he is your destiny…

Momiji's face turned red and she looked away, but not
before she saw the flash of anger and suspicion in Kusanagi's cat-like eyes.
"There is something else, isn't there, Momiji,"
he pressed relentlessly.
Momiji turned her shoulder to him and mutely shook her head,
but he was having none of that. He grabbed her by the arm and with his other
hand, wrapped his fingers around her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"What are you not telling me, Momiji?" he demanded,
his scrutiny of her expression ruthless as he tightened his fingers on her chin
when she tried to pull away, "is it the Aragami? Did Susano-oh tell you
that he was going to reawaken the Aragami?"
"No!" Momiji replied defensively. She raised her
hand to pry his fingers loose and twisted free of his grasp, but didn't look
away from him, "no, Kusanagi, I swear that Susano-oh never said anything
about the Aragami. Technically, he didn't even tell me about the child,"
she informed him, "I saw the child in a vision I had at the iwatto before
the Tengugaki attacked me.
"Well, then what is it that you're holding back?"
"I- I-'m not holding anything back," Momiji
stuttered, her words belying the tide of color rising in her face, "at
least nothing to do with the Tengugaki or the Aragami, or the
child."
"What is it then?" he demanded losing patience with
her excessive reticence
"I can't tell you!" she finally blurted out
squirming uncomfortably, "it's nothing important, Kusanagi. He just
promised me that…things would work out." Kusanagi gave her a disbelieving
look and so she added, "really, that was all it was! - nothing more -
nothing important."
Kusanagi remained silent, for a minute more and then he
abruptly stood up, leaving her sitting alone at the table.
"Kusanagi!" Momiji called, scrambling to catch up
with him, "Kusanagi, please don't be mad," she pleaded, looking up
at him as she trotted alongside him to keep up with him.
Kusanagi thrust his hands in his pockets and snorted. Then a
smirk tipped the corners of his mouth and he gave her a significant look.
"I don't get mad, Princess," he informed her with a glint, "I
get even. You'd do well to remember that."

Hikaru stumbled and fell to her knees, a low moan swelling
from her throat as another strong pain gripped her around the middle. She
remained crouched over even after the pain rolled away. Her moonbeam like hair
was plastered to her head from perspiration and it hung lankly down her back.
Defeat was written in every line of her body and despair dulled her violet eyes.
Kaede called to her, but she remained unheeding, sitting listlessly slumped
over.
"Please, my lord," Kaede begged from the darkness,
her heart torn in pity for the fate of this one lost child, "we must do
something - I must do something," she cried, "she is not going to
make it if I cannot help her." Her husband did not reply and she closed her
eyes tight, thick tears clogging her throat at his rejection.
"There is one way, my sweet," Susano-oh told her
slowly and against his better judgement.
Kaede opened her eyes and turning eagerly to stare up into
his face as she felt him place his hand on her shoulder. She put her fingers up
and warmly squeezed his, her smile loving as she murmured, "I am willing to
do anything."
"Kaede. It is very dangerous," he informed her
gravely, not returning her smile, "it puts your soul at risk, and I would
not have you do such a thing - "
"Please!" She turned and laid her face against his
shoulder, closing her eyes as his arms encircled her. "Please, my
lord," she entreated again, "I know that we cannot save her, but
please let me help her until it is finished. She doesn't deserve to be treated
so cruelly, to be left to bear this child alone, forsaken by all…" her
voice became tight and she pressed her face against him, drawing strength from
his presence. "If it were me, would you have me bear such a burden
alone?"
"No," he finally said, his arms squeezing her
tightly before he loosened them to hold her away from his body so that he might
look into her face, "but if I allow you this, Kaede, you must promise not
to expose your soul to the Tengugaki. You must promise to return to me."
Kaede gave him a luminous smile, her fingers caressing his
cheek, "My place is with you, my lord. I will never forget that."
His hands slid up and cupped her face, his thumbs tracing the
contours of her lips. "Then I will not deny you this," he told her
softly as he bent to place a lingering kiss upon her mouth.
His hand slid downward from her face, coming to rest over her
heart, and a brilliant light began to shine between them where he touched her.
Kaede could feel the strength of his power coursing through her, a crystalline
wave overwhelming her with its purity and brilliance as it surged into her,
making her limbs feel heavy and her head spin. Susano-oh held onto her tightly,
his lips increasing their pressure, not wanting to let her go. But even as he
kissed her, he could feel her slipping away from him, away from the
shapelessness of unborn dreams and into the light.
As Kaede faded from his side, she coalesced into solidness
next to Hikaru, her head thrown back and her eyes closed, a brilliant light
emanating from her chest. The glow of light waned, converging into a shimmering,
crystal mitama centered over her heart. Kaede opened her eyes, feeling strangely
heavy and looked down at her corporeal body.

"Remember your promise, my love, and guard well your
mitama from the Tengugaki for it contains your soul. Now make haste, so that you
may return to me."

Kaede heard the words in her head as if they were her own
thoughts, and she felt a pain constrict around her heart as she realized that
with her decision she had well and truly severed her bond with Susano-oh. She
pushed her own pain aside though when she heard the quiet sobs of the huddled
figure on the ground next to her and she crouched down and put a soft hand on
Hikaru's shoulder.
Startled, Hikaru turned her streaming eyes to Kaede's sweet
smile.
"It's all right," Kaede soothed, brushing the
hair away from Hikaru's temple, "you're not alone any more."
"Y-you're the one I've been hearing aren't
you?" Hikaru hiccupped, drinking in the kindness of Kaede's face and
touch like a thirsty child.
"Yes," Kaede replied, drawing Hikaru's arm around
her own shoulders and helping her to her feet, her arm encircling Hikaru's
waist to keep her upright. "my name is Kaede, and I promise that I will
stay with you as long as you need me. It's not far now, Hikaru," she
urged her, taking a small step forward, "just a little farther, and you can
rest."
They began to move forward, stopping when the labor pains
gripped Hikaru and she was incapable of moving. Their progress was slow, and
Kaede kept looking back over her shoulder, sensing danger closing in. It was
true that they weren't far from the iwatto now, but Kaede wondered if they
would be able to reach it in time.
"My lord," she murmured under her breath,
"even with my help, I don't know if it's going to be enough. Please
help us."
As she whispered the words, she felt the wind pick up, a gust
blowing her hair away from her face.
"Kaede," Hikaru panted weakly, drawing Kaede's
attention to her, "will you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
"Promise me that no matter what happens to me, you will
take care of my baby," Hikaru begged, and Kaede could see from the look in
her eyes, that she was aware of her own frailty.
"I cannot," came Kaede's troubled reply, her arm
tightening around Hikaru's waist, "I must return to my place when you no
longer need me, Hikaru. But I promise that before that happens I will see your
child safely to one who is aware of his coming. You need not fear for him, for
he will be well loved and protected by the lives of others."
Hikaru swallowed hard. "Thank you, Kaede."
She took shuffling steps on trembling legs, moving inexorably
foward in the waning light of the afternoon, leaning heavily upon the dark
haired woman at her side. Fatalistically, she accepted whatever destiny held in
store for her, now that she knew her baby would be safe. She was tired, she
thought. More tired than her seventeen years, and she wanted badly to rest; but
not until she had held her child in her arms at least once. Just once, so that
she could feel the presence of Tsurugi once more, and see with her own eyes the
miracle of life that her union with him had created.

Matsu leaned back and rubbed her eyes before resuming her
position of staring down at the plate under the microscope.
"I think I've isolated the right one this time,"
she murmured to Yaegashi, carefully taking a sample from the plate she was
looking at and transferring it to another slide for computer analysis.
Yaegashi's hands paused over his keyboard and he swiveled
around to look at Matsu's form, swathed in a white lab coat stooping over the
table.
"That's great!" he started to say, but was
interrupted by her loud outburst.
"Damn!" She pulled back, her hands fisting at her
sides and stomped her foot.
"Not the right one?" he asked sympathetically with
a raised eyebrow.
He pushed up his glasses and watched her turn on her heel and
storm ill-temperedly away from the table, moving over to the window to stare
crossly out at the gathering clouds.
"No, dammit!" she cried in exasperation, "I
don't think I've ever seen a protein chain encoded so complicatedly before.
I don't know how long it's going to take for me to find the right isotope,
but at the rate I'm going it'll be weeks!"
Yaegashi nodded his head towards his computer screen.
"Well at least we have this to work with in the meantime. Using these radio
isotopes, we can devise a device that will track the Tengugaki within a five
mile radius once they are above ground."
Matsu looked over at him and sighed. "I know, Yaegashi,
but it's not good enough." She came to stand behind him and looked down
at the equation on his computer screen. "These will only work on those
Tengugaki that have claimed a victim, because they come from the genetic code of
the victims themselves. That means, in order to track them, we have to have a
victim to start with. Why should we have to sacrifice even one life before we
can track these horrible creatures down!? I won't accept that - I can't
accept that!" she exclaimed in agitation, spinning away and returning to
her lab equipment .
"I'm not saying this is the solution," Yaegashi
replied, "but until you can isolate the correct radio isotope, this is
better than nothing."
"Tell that to the people whose lives are in
danger," Matsu muttered under her breath, too low for Yaegashi to hear.
She knew he was just trying to make her feel better, but she
wasn't going to feel better until she had devised a system that would stop the
human bloodshed. More determined than ever, she prepared another slide and began
her meticulous search for the key that would allow them to track the Tengugaki
before they struck.

Tamanasu stopped, his body quivering with anticipation. He
turned his head to the right, his red-slitted eyes staring off between the
trees. The scent hung strong in the air, he could smell the sweet vitality of it
and a horrible smile transfigured his face. The child was not far now. He was
closing in, and soon, the prize would be in his possession.
He would return, victorious to his lord, Akumakai, bringing
with him, the catalyst for their ascension to the Overworld. And then all the
Tengugaki would shed the shackles that held them in the Withered Kingdom and
feast upon the bright souls here, absorbing them until they were less than the
shadowed wraiths that wandered the Road of Death. Both the humans and the
Aragami would fall beneath their power, and with the rise of Lord Akumakai even
their gods would be subjugated as well. Domination, power, annihilation. It was
all within his grasp now.
His thoughts spurred him on and, he morphed his body, his
legs becoming thicker and shorter and his arms becoming powerful forelegs so
that he could cover more ground in a quicker period of time. With renewed
excitement, he began moving forward again, only to stop a few minutes later,
when he was unable to maintain his current form.
He needed energy if he was to pursue the child and his mother
without losing their trail. He looked around, feeling for the closest flow of
energy and turned his body to the south. There, he thought. It was not a strong
current, but it would have to do. Changing his course, he burrowed underground
and began to stalk his victim.
It was an old woman, he realized as he emerged quietly behind
her, watching as she hung her laundry out to dry. It would be an easy kill for
him, but her energy would not sustain him for long. He would wait, though; wait
for her to turn and see him, for a human's terror was almost as satisfying to
him as the flow of a human soul. And with this one, it would be even more
satisfying, because her life stream was a mere trickle. Her soul would offer him
little satisfaction since her life's journey was almost at its natural end,
and so he would savor the taste of her terror instead
He approached her quietly, flexing his fingers so his claws
became even longer, their sharp points taking on the shape of a curving blade.
He stopped just a few feet from her, his shadow falling across the ground as she
bent to pick up another piece of laundry from her basket. She turned then, her
cloudy brown eyes staring up at him in disbelief.
She straightened and took a step away from him, and he smiled
his twisted smile, feeling the terror well up inside of her and savoring its
flavor.
"What are you?" her voice quavered.
"I am your reckoning," he hissed at her and took a
menacing step towards her.
She tried to run then and he laughed, and let her go,
enjoying the game of toying with her. She had almost made it to the back door of
her house when he let out a roar and leapt forward, landing between her and
sanctuary. He smiled again, his bared fangs dripping saliva as he longed to sink
his teeth into her flesh and feed from her energy stream.
She knew she was going to die, knew that he would not let her
escape. He could see it in her cloudy eyes, and his pleasure dimmed somewhat at
the resignation that registered there. This one was too old to die properly, he
thought to himself. She would miss life, but not like one who had only just
begun life's journey. This old woman's regrets were small ones, and that did
not satisfy him. He stopped smiling and raised his claws.
He should try to kill her slowly; to enjoy her pain. But
there was a danger in that the meagerness of her life stream might abruptly
cease upon his first strike and end his chance to absorb what little energy it
had to offer him, so he could not even take pleasure in the kill. His hand shot
out and her grabbed her by the head, lifting her off her feet and raising her
above the ground so that she dangled helplessly in front of him.
"Be thankful that Fate has kindly awarded you a swift
death, old woman," he hissed at her as the mitama on his forehead began to
glow red and he felt the pulse of her life energy slide through his veins.
It was over too soon and her energy did little to renew him.
Angered at the meagerness of her spirit, he left her with just enough energy so
that she could feel the blow of death as he sank his claws into the wall of her
chest.
"Pathetic human," he sneered as her warm blood
cascaded down his mottled flesh, and she refused to cry out, "you were not
even worth the effort," he told her as the light died from her eyes and he
bent his head, his tongue slithering out to taste the blood that streamed down
his wrist and arms.
He threw her lifeless body to the ground and ripped into her
then. Her spirit might be too weak to fuel his mitama, but at least her body
would help to restore some of his physical strength. Done at last he turned and
left her, still seething at the waste of effort she had been. Her flesh might
have restored his strength for now, but It would fade quickly, unless he found
another human with a stronger life stream to feed from since his main source of
energy was stored in his mitama.
A cold wind began to blow, chilling his sensitive skin and he
looked up at the sky. The clouds were roiling up, becoming dark and thick; the
direct work of Lord Susano-oh, he surmised. Tamanasu could not travel above
ground for long periods in the cold. It wasted too much of his energy and the
god of Storms was very aware of that fact. His anger increased as the wind bit
into him again.
"You think to stop me this way?" he asked in soft
disdain, "your worthless tricks serve only to fuel my determination. I will
find more energy, and I will claim the child. And then, Susano-oh you will bow
down to my lord, Akumakai."
Tamanasu reoriented himself, searching for the scent of the
child and upon finding it, set off again, ignoring the cutting wind for now. He
could not travel above ground much longer in the dropping temperature, so he
must quickly locate more energy while maintaining the trail of the child. He
could do it. He was determined to show the gods that they were no match for the
Tengugaki.