Third Step
Last Time on
What Does It Take… To Move Forward?
Kagaya went to respond as his small smile turned into a full calm grin, however they were interrupted as a weak croak reached their ears. All of their heads turned to the open shoji doors as an old crow quite literally fell from the sky to land before the Kagaya in a mess of lost feathers and frantic caws. It heaved in place for air as it tried to calm itself down from its fear and fatigue, it was quickly picked up by the blind man as he soothed it against his chest while offering small words of encouragement and praise. It took nearly a minute for the aged crow to be able to offer its message to the ensemble Hashira, which chilled the warriors and leader to their cores. Only eight words were heard in the stunned silence and weak caws…
'...Aid requested. Mt. Kumotori. Upper Moon Five Spotted.'
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"Shinobu! Uzui!", rather than gentle and warm, Kagaya's tone had become stern as he spoke to his fastest warriors. Strong. The voice of the commanders that had led them for generations of his family line.
"Sir!", the two hashira straightened out as they came out of their shock.
"To the mountain. I will not allow any child of mine to die alone.", came the corps' leader's voice as he cradled the old crow to his chest once more. The two were gone in an instant racing towards the mountain top, they had spent enough time around the crows owner to recognize the old bird immediately.
"Lord Kagaya?", Iguro's quietly puzzled voice rang out as he and the rest of the hashira came out of their stunned silence at the news of an upper moon appearing. Something that had not happened in nearly a century, let alone his leader's reaction.
Who's crow is it?", the voice of their newest pillar sounded out as he stared into the old bird's eyes.
"I suppose you wouldn't have met him yet, he's quite old by now so he usually rests when we are all together.", the blind man said, gently placing the old crow next to him, alarm bells rang throughout the gathered warriors. "This is Kanzaburou. The crow belongs to your senpai, young Tokito. The water pillar, Giyu Tomioka."
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The storm had enveloped the mountain completely, leaving them all in its icy shadow. The wind howled in his ears, and the snow danced across his eyes.
Flowing Dance. A single sword swipe extended by twists and bends reaching out to slice through the small army of mutated aquatic creatures, tearing through the air with a scream as his enemy disappeared from in front of him once more.
The only source of light he's found was from the destroyed home he guarded, the two civilians and one impossible demon under his protection huddled there even now.
Water Wheel. The demon had chosen to appear above him with both hands outstretched towards his neck. His head ducked towards his chest, his body following the motion as he flipped to bring his blade upwards and meet flesh for the second time. Both arms flew off once more to protect the abomination's only weakness, however he had sliced just a bit deeper this time. It disappeared yet again.
His blade had not stopped once since the battle had begun, building up momentum as it sliced through the air with surgical precision. The nichirin blade had begun to steam against the drifting snow, if it kept up the blade would burn through the very air itself.
Whirlpool. Mid-air, he twisted his body and turned the chilled air into a whirlpool, slicing the never ending army to pieces from the pressurized air slashes. Before he could even touch the ground, he was in motion; breathing deep and jumping across the clearing to stand before the wounded family once more. Upper Moon Five chose to hide amongst his pots yet again as more monsters were birthed from their porcelain depths.
The girls were alright, for the most part. The newly demonic girl had torn apart old clothing from their ruined home to bandage the two humans' wounds as best she could but the other girl was laid out next to the adult, watching him with wide hopeful eyes like the other two. The sickly man, however, looked much worse. His many wounds had been cleaned and bandaged as well as they could be, but his own natural health seemed to have been aggravated by his wounds; sweat poured from his forehead and blood refused to stop soaking through the bandages. They didn't have much time, he had the supplies and experience to treat them both thanks to all of the missions spent with the corps' head healer and insect hashira Shinobu Kocho.
Dead Calm. The demon chose that moment to start talking about art and how he'd painted his own body to be perfect and beautiful, however all Giyu paid attention to was that the demon could modify his body. The next moment derailed his thought process as the demon tore through trees and threw them all at the injured family of three. He slid into the eleventh form's stance and slashed hundreds of times in the blink of an eye, shredding the many trees into piles that surrounded the four, offering some protection from the harsh wind.
His blade glowed red in the encroaching darkness, hissing against the chill in the air. His heartbeat pounded furiously in his chest, dancing to a song he could almost hear, tempting him to give in. To exchange something precious for power. Enough strength to kill the enemy before him. It would take the only thing he had to offer in exchange, his life. It soothed him as he stared out at the hissing forms of monstrous amphibian and cackling laughter of the aquatic demon.
Water Surface Slash. A single concentrated cut was made before him, the air caught along his blade ringing as if it was made of steel. The mutants were all cut in half, along with the trees the demon had hid behind. It took its chance to race forward from the other direction towards the father, changing its arm into a rippling mass of mouths and teeth as it thundered forward, its other arm hanging limp from its shoulder, split from knuckle to shoulder, sacrificed to protect the demon's neck once more.
The strength of the heat that scorched his veins was great, but it would end up killing him, he knew it in his soul. The trade was worth it, it was more than worth it. His life for three innocents?… People not affiliated with his war?…
…
…
It was enough…
Drop Ripple Thrust. The arms momentum came to a harsh halt, the ground beneath the two splintered and shattered. The air howled as it dispersed from their clash. A thrust met a disfigured punch and the hand gave way. A thrust turned into a simple sword slice meant to sever heads only for the pot beneath the two to shatter, distributing another dozen beasts as the demon disappeared once more.
Giyu reached for it. The blazing inferno waiting to be freed from his aching heart, so it could consume both combatants. He allowed himself a moment to remember. Remember the days with his sister who worked so hard to raise him when their mother died bringing him into this world of bloody evolution. He remembered days learning from the father he'd never had Sakonji Urokodaki. He remembered training with his brother in all but blood, Sabito. The lessons they learned together. The ones his brother had taught him. The love their sensei had never expressed with words, but had more than proven with his actions warmed him more than the inferno coursing through his blood ever could.
Water Basin. He brought his blade down to the ground in a grand slam that broke the bodies of his enemies and sent them flying away from him, along with large gusts of air and earth. The demon seemed to finally understand that its little pets wouldn't be helping him and dispelled most of the pots around him. only leaving enough that Giyu would never be able to tell which the demon would be coming from.
The new warmth soothed the inferno attempting to burst free from his heart. He wanted to close his eyes and bask in the memories that had held his soul together for years, but to do so would invite death onto the three behind him. He had to fight. He had to kill this afront to mankind. He had to… Had to…
…
He had to…
…
…
He was so…
…
He was so tired…
Upper Moon Five stepped into visible light and laughed as if he'd been told a funny joke. It's voice slowly became deeper, its body changed, somehow becoming even more aquatic. Growing scales and fins. Its hands enlarged and grew webbed fingers. It laughed and laughed as it changed, howling for blood and victory. Despite Giyu not paying any attention to his words since the beginning of their battle, the demon ranted about art, however when he so gleefully told the water hashira the abilities that came with his form, Giyu offered some quiet gratitude for the information. With an enraged screech that sent the snow around it flying, the demon shattered the remaining pots before them.
If he just gave into the inferno, he could survive for a handful of years. He could fight for a time. But he knew his life would be cut short. He could fight until his body gave out and then pass in peace. No one would blame him. No one would know but himself. He could finally let go.
The aquatic demon appeared inside Giyu's guard, a webbed claw that would transform him, take his life and humanity away stretched towards his beating heart. A heart split between soothing warmth that promised peace, and an inferno that demanded sacrifice. Rather than give a limb to protect himself, he spun his nichirin blade round and round to bring it up, meeting the demon's wrist. The demon had been right, he could not cut through its scales and muscles…
A voice hummed in his ear, a gentle lullaby he remembered his sister singing to him when the nights were too restless to stay still and he was too tired to fall asleep. It was mornings toddling along behind her as she walked out of their home and worked herself to the bone to keep them both fed and alive. "And I'll sing you to sleep, And I'll sing you to tomorrow." she said as she held him to her chest, rocking him to sleep. He hummed along to it, swaying away from a breeze that made its way past his cheek.
Dead Calm, Tidal Waves. …but the heat his blade had been building up as he slashed through the air, leaving it screaming as he passed, was more than enough to sever the hand. Its head snapped to the side, hurling insults and jeers at the water hashira even as it obeyed its honed instincts to move. Appearing behind the enraged one armed demon, the water hashira continued to hum as many wounds opened all over Upper Moon Five with its neck being sliced through to its spine rather than completely severing its head. An unsteady hand guided a blade towards its neck to finish the battle, the new form leaving him off kilter for half of a heartbeat, long enough for the demon to tear its own head off and toss it away as its body was torn to shreds.
He sat next to Sensei and Sabito, eating lunch on a tree limb. He had failed to complete his exercises yet again, however with those two beside him, it felt as if he could fail a thousand times and still stand back up. Try yet again to be more than what he was. A whisper in the wind carried a strange tune and he couldn't help but close his eyes and follow along. "Bless you with love for the road you go, May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune.", he fell back to the ground before jumping up to catch a passing flower in the breeze.
Waterfall Basin, Destruction. It regenerated even before it could fall down, only to leap high into the sky and dive down with claws extended. Yet more poisonous words spewed from its mouth as it made its way to where he stood in silence. Until he was no longer in sight of the demon, once more appearing behind him, the demon's chest was torn to shreds by the blade he'd just barely dodged. A single overhead swing met the crossed arms of Upper Rank Five stopping it just before it could slice its head in half and sent the demon slamming into the ground. He allowed himself to fall straight down onto its torso with another slash, only to be met with his enemy's spike and fanged mouth covered foot. A quick shift was all that saved him from impalement.
He was walking towards the nearest village, fresh from a meeting with the other hashira( the real ones). At his side was the ever grinning Shinobu Kocho, the new insect hashira of poison. She was quiet for a time as they walked, taking in the gentle blue sky as well as the setting sun, and gently began to hum as they watched it disappear. A sure sign that their leisure time was up and to pick up the pace. A look into his comrades eyes held him back from pointing this out, the pain and utter contempt that could only be directed at herself stared back into him behind her reflective eyes. A mirrored image of the feelings his heart bleeds out as his only companion in the long nights of constant travel and killing. He turned his eyes back to the path and continued walking beside her, pacing himself to match the shorter woman's stride as she softly sung a melody, "With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet, And may you need never to banish misfortune."
Lateral Water Wheel. For a moment the two hovered mid air, side by side, until they both swung at once. A circle was drawn into the air as the water hashira sliced for his foe's throat once more, meeting the shifting claws that formed a spear and sent them flying away from each other, the demon's limb torn completely off. The small light from the ruined home once more illuminated the two warriors' silhouettes as they paused to consider each other. Giyu raised his blade, grabbed the hilt firmly with both hands and propelled himself forwards, shattering the ground under him as the demon did the same, his wounds healed before he'd landed.
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…
…
'You have to live!'
Striking Tide, Turbulent. His eyes were shut as he crouched under the fist, coming up in a spin as he lashed out once, twice, five times, ten times, twenty in a single heartbeat, each blow strong enough to slice through boulders. Each strike meeting a fist, slicing the offending limb in half, each time the limb was torn off to offset the burning wounds his blade left behind that refused to heal.
'To do anything other than your best to live a long life full of as much happiness as you can hold would disrespect the sacrifice your sister made!'
Drop Ripple Thrust, Curve. The demon had modeled his fist into something large and grotesque, with mouth and spike fighting for dominion over its surface. The punch would have rendered steel to nothing, a simple side step would keep him alive, however the three behind him had no way to survive. His blade tip met the charging limb and halted most of its force, the rest was used to guide the misshapen limb into the ground leaving the demon stuck for a moment in time.
'Go forward, Giyuu. The secret to ending this war lies ahead of you, but it must be protected, nurtured, and taught. You must save her, Giyuu.'
Dark blue eyes snapped open as he sliced the limb off, taking a single step back was all he needed to dodge the wild tangled mess of limbs that destroyed the cratered ground Giyu had thrown him into.
The inferno that threatened to consume him gradually began to subside, the warmth seeping into his bones and cheek soothed the rumbling storm that his heart had become as it finally began to slow down. Giyu didn't know if he'd live to regret this. He didn't know what these strange feelings were. He could barely handle the storm of emotions he usually ignored, let alone this strange power that pushed him forward. What he did know was that this wasn't over yet.
It had just barely begun.