Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Tear ❯ The Demon's Resort ( Chapter 2 )

Hoku looked down from her height. She was overlooking the land from the top of a large tree. She was still in search for the one called Marrowind. Her revenge was still clean in the back of her mind. How her grand home had been destroyed and she was forced into poverty. She had wandered to the east lands in search of the dog demon.

"What `cha `doin?" a voice called up to her.

She softly growled and looked down at the base of the tree.

Kitasato was looking up at her with a smile. He had followed her ever since they had first met. Kitasato's home was also destroyed by the same demon. He was a demon himself, but he was too friendly.

Hoku detested this. She was once a great and powerful demon, and didn't afford to place her trust in anyone. She knew that Kit was trying to do. She wasn't going to go with it either. She didn't have anything in common with him either. The only thing was that they where both looking for the same demon and he happened to know the way.

"Go away." she said to him. "Can't I think in peace anymore?"

"Hay, I just found a good place to stay for the night." he said.

Hoku looked down at him coldly.

"Why don't you go and bug someone else." she said. "I told you before- I don't need your help anymore, and I certainly don't have the slightest interest in you. So do yourself a favor and bark up someone else's tree."

Kit didn't say anything. Instead, he just sat down and leaned against the tree trunk with his arms comfortably behind his head.

"Okay," he sighed. "Just let me know when you make up your mind."

Hoku stared at him for a moment, then looked up at the blue sky.

"Stubborn mutt." she softly hissed. Not only did she despise the fact that he was so nice, but also because he was a canine. Hoku detested dogs.

She couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her. She was always mean to him. She didn't even want to be around him. Why would he want to travel with someone like her? She didn't know weather it was because their revenge, or he just liked to annoy her. Then another thought came to her mind- Maybe it was because he liked her! The thought of that just revolted her. She was a cat demon and he was a fox demon. They couldn't possibly be together. It would be unnatural.

Hoku looked back down at him. He appeared to be asleep to her.

"How can he be so relaxed?" she wondered to herself. "We're on a mission, and all he can think about is sleeping."

She then yawned. She was a bit tired herself. She hadn't slept for days, and she hadn't had a bath either. Mostly because she didn't like sleeping or bathing outside. She loved the outdoors, but she couldn't bear to live in it. Then, it came to her…

She stood up and jumped from the branch she had been sitting on. She landed softly in front of Kitasato. She crouched down.

"What kind of place are you talking about?" she asked him.

Kitasato's eyes remained shut.

"A hot springs resort." he said with a satisfied smile.

This sounded good to Hoku. Knowing that she was able to get a good bath there and sleep on something besides dirt.

"A resort?" she frowned, pretending not to care in the slightest. "And how exactly are we supposed to get in? We have no money and we just happen to be demons!"

Kit opened his blue eyes and stared up at her with a smile.

"As a matter of fact, the place is made especially for demons. I did them a favor once and now they let me in as much as I desire, and the fact that your with me and you are such a pretty woman, they'll let you in too."

Hoku's eyes flashed. She had this sudden vibe that he was hitting on her.

"Of course," said Kit. "A well refined personnel such as yourself might prefer much better accommodations."

Hoku wanted to hit him, but instead, she folded her arms and stood up.

"Fine." she said. "Let's go."

They reached the resort by dawn. It was a large wooden structure surrounded by groves of bamboo.

Hoku stated that her mansion had been ten times larger than the place. She still hadn't expressed the fact that she was actually glad to see civilization. She and Kitasato walked up to the large wooden gate.

Two dog demons were standing there with spears in hand. They wore matching uniforms with chest and shoulder armor.

Hoku despised dogs. As soon as she and Kit got close enough to them, they held out the spears to make them halt.

"You've come here to sleep?" asked the tallest. He had no emotion on his face and his voice had no tone.

Kit nodded.

"Good, nice place." said the shorter one in the same way as the tall one.

"Couldn't ask for better." said the tall one.

"Just in time to sleep."

"And relax."

"We have rules."

"No killing each other."

"Yes, this is a place to relax."

"But you can kill other times."

"I killed someone last week."

"We shared it."

"Okay, okay!" Kit exclaimed.

The dogs looked at him.

"Right. Okay, before you enter you must hand us all your weapons." said the short one.

Kit took his staff that he carried over his shoulder and handed it to him.

"Very good." said the tall one.

"It's in safe hands."

"Thank you for your honesty."

Then the dogs looked at Hoku.

She held up her hand, exposing her three-inch claws. She was about to glare at them when Kitasato shielded her eyes.

"You must excuse my friend here." he said. "She is a bit too tired right not, but I assure you, she carries no weapons."

The dogs just stared at them for a moment.

"Okay, enjoy your stay." said the tall one as he lowered his spear to let Kit and Hoku pass.

"Don't fight anyone." said the short one.

"Or carry any arms." said the tall one.

"That's a good one."

Hoku followed Kit through the door way, and away from the dogs.

"Morons." Kitasato chuckled.

Hoku slid into the bath. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She was beginning to feel pretty glad that Kit talked her into going. The sweet scent of the water made her feel clean and relaxed for the first time in months.

"This isn't too bad..." said Kit.

Hoku's eyes popped open. Kit was sitting right across from her.

Kit stared at her for a moment.

"We're wearing robes you know..."

Hoku was mortified. She held the robe closer to her chest.

"So!" she yelled. "That doesn't mean that we're wearing anything underneath it!"

Kit smiled and leaned back.

"My dear friend..." he sighed. "We're supposed to be relaxing. So why don't you just set aside out differences for just one night."

Hoku smiled too. She then leaned forward and loomed over him.

Kit stared up at her with wide eyes as she placed her hand on his cheek.

"Yeah, I suppose we should set aside our differences." she said compassionately. "But you know what...?"

She then glared at him, and held her claws up to his throat.

"But you know one big difference that I am unable to forget?" she said with a dangerous whisper. "YOU are a man. I am a woman. We are in a bath together. There is something wrong with that. Something that makes me sick to my very stomach."

She blinked and released him from her paralyzing spell. She then stood up and stepped out of the bath.

Kit blinked.

"Woa," he said. "I don't know what was more weird. The fact that you got that close to me while we were both half naked, or the fact that you just admitted that you were a woman."

Hoku's eyes flashed. Never in her life had she been so embarrassed. She was angry and apprehensive now. She couldn't figure out if she wanted to crush Kit's skull, or break down and cry. She felt her eyes begin to burn. It was a strange feeling to her. She had never cried before in her life.

Kit stood up. He leaned forward, his face was inches from Hoku's.

"Look, I didn't meant to hurt your feelings." he said. "You gotta learn to take a joke. Why don't you open up to me a bit more?"

Hoku glared at him again.

"If your life was like mine you would understand." she hissed. "I don't open up to anyone. Especially not you. I am a demon. My feelings don't get hurt. I don't feel the shallow emotions that the weak, half-breeds, and the humans feel."

She blinked again, allowing him to talk.

"My life IS like yours." he said. "It is your choice if you don't wish to open up and accept the way your life is now, but you're holding back allot that can hurt you in the future. You do have emotions, you just don't want to show them. You don't want to admit your weaknesses because you don't want anyone to take advantage of you by using it" Hoku gasped. His words struck her like a spear in her chest to her very heart. She felt something roll down her cheek. It felt like water. It had come from her right eye. The side of her face where the scar lay that she had struck herself out of anger. She then turned away from him.

"Excuse me." she said as she walked away. "I have something in my eye."

"Now were getting somewhere..." she heard Kit say.

After that, Hoku didn't look at Kit in the eye. She felt shallow and embarrassed. He was nothing to her. She didn't want to get attached to him at all. She wished that she hadn't done it now. She didn't want him to think that she felt anything for him. She didn't feel anything for anybody.

She sighed and leaned back. She was sitting up in a tree in the garden behind the resort. She didn't know of anywhere else to go. She wanted to be alone. High in the air and away from anyone else. That was the way she preferred it.

Hoku had always liked her solitude. Especially after her house had been destroyed. She didn't trust anyone. Not even Kitasato at this point. She didn't want to share his feelings with him. As far as she was concerned, she only showed feelings for herself, when her pride was hurt. She knew it was arrogant and selfish to do such a thing, but she didn't care about what others thought about her.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from behind her. She quickly turned and saw that a large hole was burned in the roof of the resort. The smell of smoke and blood reached her nose. She stood up. The first thing that came to her mind was Kitasato. She leapt from the tree branch and lightly soared above the roof of the building. She could hear screaming and monstrous cries of demons in pain. She dropped through the large smoking hole and landed at a crouch in a long corridor. There were the dead bodies of demons and blood all around her. She caught the scent of a wolf demon amongst the smells of blood and death. She stood up.

"Come out foul beast!!" she shouted down the corridor.

A tall wolf demon walked out of one of the far doors. He had shaggy black hair and large red eyes. He had as spirit form. Only it wasn't the most powerful. He just looked like a wolf that walked on two legs and wore armor and had a sword like that of a samurai. No doubt, he killed one to get them. There was a tiny fox demon in his jaws. Blood dripped from his chin.

He dropped the small fox and looked at Hoku with amusement.

"I suppose you wish to be next." he said in a smooth voice.

Hoku grinned.

"Yeah right." she said. "The only part of you that can kill me is your foul stench."

The wolf frowned for a moment, then laughed.

"You think you're so tough." he chuckled evilly. "Do you think you're a zodiac or something? That's funny."

Hoku's fists automatically clenched to such a statement.

"Bastard." she hissed. "I am a zodiac demon."

"You are in denial." the wolf laughed. "Sure, the cat may be called one, but deep down, your kind will never be one of them. The gods merely felt sorry for you."

"Liar!" Hoku roared. "Don't try to defend yourself with such stories. Now, draw your sword if you think you can get away with this!"

"Do you really think that you can beat me?" he said as he took his sword out of its sheath and sat it on the floor. "Okay cat. Let's make this more interesting. I won't use any weapons. That'll make up for your lack of morality. It wouldn't be fair and I like a challenge."

Hoku tightened the muscles in her fingers, causing her knuckles to crack. This wolf was nothing to her. She grinned.

"We'll see." she said.

The wolf nodded. He then sprang forward with his brutish fist out in front of him.

Hoku leapt out of the way and landed behind him as he turned and made for her again. She leapt out of the way once more as the wolf's fist went through the wall.

More demons gathered in the doorways and watched the fight.

Hoku didn't look twice to see if Kitasato was amongst them. She ducked as the wolf's fist crashed through another wall. She stood up and flipped backward to dodge the wolf's blows. She landed at a distance from him and held up her hand.

The wolf chuckled again as he faced her.

"What's the matter cat?" he said. "Am I too big for you to hit?"

Hokou grinned.

"No." she said. "You're just the right size."

She then glared at him.

The wolf was paralyzed. He looked at her with sheer fright now.

Hoku jumped back and launched herself off a wall.

"HELL FIRE!!" she shouted as she swung her flaming claws.

The room went dark, and the only thing that could be seen was the green glowing eyes of Hoku and the flames left behind from her attack. Hoku stood up as the room went back to it's normal color. She turned and looked at the back of the frozen wolf. She grinned and blinked.

The wolf turned and fell in half. He was defeated and Hoku had won.

The other demons were cheering from their doorways.

Hoku smiled. Suddenly she sensed someone behind her. She turned and saw a rabbit demon walk up to her. He was a Zodiac, and was in his spirit form. The sign of the rabbit was printed on his kimono.

He was holding the wolf's sword and appeared to be offering it to her.

Hoku gasped.

"Please, take this." he said. "For helping us..."

Hoku looked down at him coldly.

"I don't need this old man." she said as she held out her hand and touched the sword with the tips of her claws. "I don't accept any of your gratitude."

Suddenly, the sword turned into ash in the demon's hands. They sprinkled the floor around his feet. He looked down at it with wide eyes. He then looked back up at Hoku and smiled.

"You have the makings of goodness in you." he said. "Someday you'll learn to accept it."

He turned and left Hoku standing there in shock. She didn't know what to say. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and faced Kit.

"Good job." he said with his usual smile. "You did something good for once."

Hoku frowned.

"No I didn't." she said. "I just like to fight, that's all. What makes you people think I did it for otherwise?"

"I don't know." said Kit. "But one thing is for sure. Marrowind won't be any match for you when we find her.

The sun was rising when Kitasato and Hoku left the resort. Hoku wanted to leave by day break, and Kit wasn't about to tell her otherwise. She was hoping to forget about what happened the night before. The old rabbit demon's words were still ringing in her mind. He saw goodness in her, and that was something she didn't want to happen again. She still wanted to live up to her feared name. Hoku hated all other Zodiac demons. They doubted her kind too much… over a story. She was possibly ten times stronger than most of them, but they showed no heed to her or her family.

And yet all her thoughts led back to Kit. He wasn't afraid of her. She could easily kill him, but yet she didn't. Long ago she would have killed him like any other demon without hesitation, but there was just something about him.

"Why is he so different?" she asked herself.

Just then Hoku realized that no matter what she thought about, she couldn't keep her mind off of Kit.

She glanced over at him and a thought came to her mind.

"Hey," she said. "Tell me, what did you do for them to let you get in for free?"

"Well…" Kit blushed. "I did the same thing as you did only I saved a princess. Those were some good times."

"A demon princess?" Hoku asked. "I've never heard of one being a princess…"

"Well, think about it." Kit said. "Let's say you still ruled the west, and you had a daughter. She'd be a princess."

"You Japanese are weird." Hoku frowned. "That's not how it works with demons were I come from."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, only the eldest man in the family is the ruler. Everyone else is just family." Hoku sighed lazily. "You Jap. demons just adapted the human ways."

"That's true I guess." Kit snickered. "But you got to admit, a demon princess is worth getting into a bath house for free."

"Typical man…" Hoku sighed.

She looked off in the distance down the road they walked. The sun shown high noon, lighting up the path ahead. The trees ruffled slightly as a light breeze swept through. A scent came to her nose. The scent of dog.