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Snippet #2701604

located in Alternate Universe || Edo Japan, a part of Recrudescence, one of the many universes on RPG.

Alternate Universe || Edo Japan

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tatsuya Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Hino Character Portrait: Ayla Character Portrait: Aram
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Between them, they'd decided it was best to leave at least one of them behind when they made the excursion to the nest of oni. Deciding who it was to be was a bit more of a problem, but in the end they'd collectively decided that Tsubasa was the best choice, since he commanded the household garrison and could moblize them fastest in the event of an emergency.

Of course, such an emergency would be the result of the rest of them failing to kill the oni in the nest, and if they did, the garrison's fifty or so humans and solitary vampire were hardly going to succeed. Their instructions were to evacuate all of the townspeople within the walls of the castle, where they would be safest from oni attack due to the fortifications.

Tou-chan had not built his home like a man who'd forgotten his old enemies; it should hold.

Reiko couldn't let herself think too much about that though. Failure was something she could hardly contemplate. If they failed, death would be the lucky end. The other alternatives were horrifying enough to turn her stomach and make her feel nauseated—she dared not linger on them beyond acknowledging that primal fear was part of what would drive her in this battle. She had to accept her fear, or else it could incapacitate her at the worst moment, so she acknowledged it and pushed it aside in the same thought.

Her new sword was a heavy weight on her hip. She'd practiced with it this morning, to get a feel for its heft and balance. It was not nearly as familiar as her old one, of course, but it was the only thing she had that was guaranteed to work. Unlike her brothers', her abilities were not really combative. Certainly not especially useful against an oni.

Beside her. Tatsuya laid a hand on her head, silently offering strength and support. She leaned into the touch for a moment before it was removed. It was time to go.

Aram was standing to her side for a moment, observing his own weapon, it seemed. He seemed more familiar with it, perhaps because he hadn't had to have one made for him. His appeared to be the same one he'd carried with him wherever he went. It must have been made from bone as well. Ayla had a new bow, and a quiver full of arrows at her back. She, too, had a pair of blades attached to her side, but they weren't the size of a katana or wakizashi. They were tantō she'd had made. The blades, themselves, wouldn't necessarily be long to pierce the side of an oni, so perhaps she had them for another reason?

"Alright, you all know what you're up against," she spoke, turning her attention to all of them. "I'm not going to give you some bullshit rally talk, but I will say this," she continued, pausing only momentarily, "don't get cornered."

She didn't say anything after that. Aram didn't say anything, either. He remained silent, but his lips were pursed into a fine line. Ayla spared him a glance before turning her attention back to them.

"If you all don't have any last-minute questions, lets get going. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we'll probably have more answers."

Reiko nodded. The eight of them moved out, immediately slipping into a running pace. They moved slightly slower than usual out of deference to the fact that Ayla was not as fast, though Aram seemed to have no trouble keeping pace. Though the nest was a few miles from the castle, they'd reached it within three minutes of their initial departure.

They drew to a stop a safe distance away. Jirō caught her eye. “Reiko, if you would?"

She nodded. As the one with the kunoichi for a mother, Reiko was better at moving quietly than most of them, and her small size helped her stay under cover. From her obi, she withdrew several small smoke bombs, slotting them between her fingers. The cat mask she wore would help filter the smoke if she accidentally inhaled any of it, but she didn't plan even on that much.

By herself, she crept closer to the nest. It was located within a cave near the outlying edge of the forest. She couldn't smell any oni wandering around outside, but there were definitely some in there. Strategically, it was better to confront them while they were confused and disoriented, and dispatch as many as possible before they recovered. That would mean fighting all the rest at once afterward, which was dangerous, but they had little choice without knowing the exact number. Between them, they'd seen at least five different ones, but whether that was all of them or not wasn't totally clear.

Once she was close enough to the cave's entrance, she struck the wick-lighters on her fingers together, lighting all the bombs in quick succession. She threw all of them in at once with a sharp toss, putting them as deep in the cave as she could get them. They needed to smoke them out, after all. Pursing her lips, she followed up with a flashbomb, hoping to blind at least a couple of them for a longer duration, then fled the area back to where her family and the other two were.

The last thing she needed was to meet them all by herself.

“Here they come," Daichi muttered under his breath, drawing his katana. He spared her a nod, but seemed mostly content to ignore everyone else. Reiko saw Takahiro step slightly closer to him; doubtless Taka intended to protect him if he did anything reckless, like refuse assistance from the rest of them.

The first oni emerged from the treeline in front of them, red-skinned and about eight feet tall. It clutched at its eyes and bellowed its displeasure for all to hear. Kentaro went for it immediately; Jirō followed in his wake, a kodachi in either hand.

The next was almost forest-green, hard to see because of how well it blended against the background. Daichi charged, Takahiro right on his heels.

The one after that was a pale blue color, and slightly taller than the first by a foot. Aram moved first before Ayla. He moved with the fluid grace of water, seemingly serene and just flowing with each strike he made, with each strike he deflected. His face was, oddly, pulled into one of neutrality. He didn't appear worried, scared, excited, or anything for that matter. It was a strange look on his face. Ayla looked like she wanted to jump in to help, however; another oni emerged.

It was a deep orange color, and slightly smaller than the first. It stood about seven feet tall, and made its way towards Aram. Ayla, however, managed to direct its attention to her. Her arrow didn't seem to pierce anything, and seemed to bounce off of it. She didn't look concerned about it, and instead, kept firing her arrows. When she had its full attention, she darted in, sinking one of her tantō's into his back. There, she seemed to curl into its back, and drove the other tantō in, to keep herself in position.

The oni Aram was currently with, however, seemed to be growing frustrated at its lack of connecting hits. Aram still didn't look too worried about it, though. If anything, he looked to be studying its pattern, the way it moved, and how it was moving. He looked intrigued. Perhaps he was trying to figure something out?

There was little choice but to leave them to it. Because what seemed to be the last of them appeared then, and he was considerably bigger than his kin. At a whopping fifteen feet, he was still smaller than the one Kentaro had killed, but clearly still a danger. He also looked least-affected by the smoke and chaos, honing in on a target immediately.

He chose Ayla, and that was when Reiko and Tatusya moved. He was faster to react and got there first, sharpened sword cutting a thick line across the oni's ribcage. That certainly got his attention, and he swung his massive, horned head for her brother. Reiko interfered then, moving in behind it and slicing low, attempting to hamstring the creature.

Her blade cut reasonably well, but her strength was not quite up to par, and though she'd injured him, he was still able to put weight on the leg. Howling his indignation, the oni swung one fist for Tatsuya, perhaps to occupy him, and kicked out with his other leg towards her. Reiko dodged, but he changed his trajectory in midair, clipping her hip with a heavy blow.

The bone shattered, sending pain splintering through her whole side; she pulled in a sharp breath and fought back, slashing again, though this time she missed. She heard Tatsuya snarl; either he wasn't taking her injury well or something else had made him angry. The air around her chilled, dropping probably about twenty degrees within the space of seconds.

The others were still fighting; she had to pull her weight here.

She could hear Ayla snarl in the same fashion as Tatsuya had, however; it was hard to tell if it was for Reiko's sake, or something else. Ayla seemed busy with her oni, driving the tantō into the oni's back as if she were climbing it. Once she managed to get to his shoulders, she managed to settle herself there, and quickly pulled her bow and an arrow. The arrow, even from this distance, was different. The way it gleamed, it looked like it was one that was specifically made. Perhaps she'd had a few bones fashioned into arrowheads? That seemed to be the case when she fitted the arrow to the bow, and released it into his head.

The creature roared, painfully, but it did not go down. Instead, he reached over his shoulders, and grabbed Ayla. She hissed when he did not release her, and instead, seemed to squeeze. There was a popping sound, and from the look on Ayla's face, and the short scream that escaped her, it was apparent that it crushed her ribs. She manuevered the tantō, though, into the creature's hand, using the second one to split the back open. He immediately dropped her, and she landed on her knees. It was apparent that she was in pain, but she pushed forward.

Aram, on the other hand, still looked like he was studying his opponent. The oni had yet to lay a blow on him, and Aram kept on the defensive, deflecting blows where he could, and dodging them when it looked like he couldn't. He seemed to have come to a conclusion since he pushed forward, striking the oni's hand as it landed on the ground with its club. It howled, but only for a sort second. It was silenced thereafter, and it became apparent why. Aram's blade was sticking out of its ribcage, and the oni dropped to its knees. Without missing a beat, Aram pulled his blade out and flicked it across the oni's neck as it went down, effectively severing its head. He was by Ayla's side seconds later.

"You're getting rusty, Ayla," he simply spoke to her, though it sounded in good nature, the grim look on his face spoke otherwise. Ayla merely growled at him, but they both moved in on the oni. She was moving slower, perhaps to accommodate for her injuries, while Aram went back into the defensive position. He kept the oni's attention on him, as it tried to defend against the both of them.

To her left, Daichi and Takahiro had discovered that their opponent had some form of ability to breathe a noxious-looking gas of some kind. Both of them had pulled on their masks, though Takahiro was moving more slowly than he should be, forcing Daichi to make up the difference. They were otherwise mostly unharmed; she could smell some of Daichi's blood, but not enough that she was seriously concerned. He'd probably caught a glancing blow from a claw.

Jirō and Kentaro had already carved one of their foe's arms off at the elbow. That was quite a feat, considering the toughness of the skin and bones there. With only one arm, it was resorting a lot more to stomping the ground. It seemed to have some form of terrakinesis, because doing so produced shockwaves and a few small fissures in the ground, nearly knocking Reiko off-balance despite the distance. Fortunately, both of her brothers avoided the strikes with skill and obvious deliberate patience; like Aram, they were not especially quick to go for a fatal blow, but slowly wore away at it.

Tatsuya was rather another matter. He lunged for the oni, slashing at it again with his sword and again drawing blood. This time, however, he lifted the blade and ran his tongue across the flat side, scowling presumably at the taste of its blood.

But she knew he hadn't done it merely to be intimidating, or because he was hungry. Her suspicion was confirmed when the oni's fist simply stopped in midair, his whole body locking up when he attempted to hit Tatsuya. His muscles trembled and strained against the force holding him in place, but he could not move.

All of Reiko's brothers had the ability to puppet someone with their blood if they'd consumed it, but Tatsuya was by far the best with it. Perhaps because he could also, if necessary, pull around the water inside a body, giving him much more to grip on, so to speak. His eyes glowed with a touch of gold; he locked them on the oni, otherwise utterly still.

“Reiko," he said.

“Yes," she replied, knowing what question had been implied without the need for him to say it.

Ignoring the pain still in her hip, Reiko backed up a few paces and charged, jumping at the end of her run. Rotating herself in midair, she built strength and momentum for her strike, which cut across the back of the oni's neck with jarring force, leaving a deep wound. To make sure it was sufficient, she thrust on her way back down, sliding the blade between his ribs and piercing his heart.

Warm blood spattered her face, spraying out in a fine mist from the artery near his armpit. She tried to ignore the feeling and all the complicated things it awoke in her, keeping her mouth firmly shut and her breathing as steady as possible.

With a short gesture, Tatsuya pulled the oni's blood out of its body, leaving it slightly shriveled-looking and tossing the fluid aside onto a bare spot on the ground. Without his power holding it in place any longer, it fell, just as the other two her brothers fought did the same. That left only the one.

The one Ayla and Aram were dealing with, however, seemed to be slowing. Either it was getting tired, or something else was causing it to slow. It paused in its attacks, temporarily leaving Ayla and Aram to do the same. They both stared at it as it stared at its fallen brothers. It didn't move, and neither did the other two. All three seemed to be holding a staring contest, and it wasn't until Aram flicked his blade did they move again. This time, however, the oni was much faster, as if using something to fuel its speed.

It became apparent that this one was capable of manipulating air, as slices appeared on both Ayla and Aram's faces and arms. Aram's cuts healed almost immediately, but Ayla's didn't look to be having the same effect. Perhaps her healing factor was just slower than the rest of theirs? It was apparent from the way she was breathing, too. Her ribs were probably still broken, and she looked to be having trouble breathing. She glanced at Aram, though, and they both went in.

She drew her bow, cringed slightly, before releasing an arrow to capture the oni's attention. When she had it, it fixed most of its abilities towards her, causing her to take most of the damage before Aram was able to go in for the final blow. Like the one before it, it fell, its head rolling a few feet away from it. Aram flicked the blood off of his blade, and sheathed it, but not before glancing towards Ayla.

"You and I have much to discuss, Ayla, when we return," he simply spoke, his lips pulling into a deep frown. He looked almost upset, as if he knew the reason why she was as battered and bloodied as she was. Knowing her skill, she could have easily avoided most of those wounds. She merely furrowed her brows at him, and almost seemed to glare. Aram paid no mind to it, apparently, as he turned his attention to the others.

"I believe that to be all of them," he spoke, taking a step towards the nest entrance. "We should see if we can find anything inside. Be on guard, though," he cautioned before walking further into the entrance. Ayla looked slightly hesitant before she, too, followed after him.

The rest of them filed in as well. Reiko jogged until she'd caught up with Ayla, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder. More than a comforting gesture, it had an instant effect on both of them. Ayla's wounds vanished as though they'd never been present at all. Reiko, on the other hand, sucked in a sharp breath, the only indication of pain she allowed herself to give. Even when several of her ribs snapped with wet crunching sounds, and several new cuts opened up on her body, in the exact same places they had once been on Ayla.

Unlike her friend, though, Reiko's injuries started to heal immediately, the bones grinding as they realigned and new flesh swiftly forming over the gashes, clotting her bleeding. Of course, it didn't stop all the damage; a fair amount of her blood still splashed onto the ground, but it was less than Ayla would have lost waiting for it to heal. It was important that they all be in the best fighting shape they could; Aram was right that there might be more inside the nest. Even her sense of smell couldn't say for sure one way or the other, given the stench of the rest of them.

The cave's entrance was dark; not a problem for Reiko or her brothers and probably not a significant obstacle for Ayla, either, though she wasn't sure how well Aram could see in it. Trusting him to request assistance if she needed it, Reiko kept her sword at her side, moving forward quietly. Tatsuya stuck close to her shoulder.

The interior of the nest was strewn with animal bones and rotting furs, mostly. Some brush remained, likely what the oni had been sleeping on. The entire place stank so badly Reiko nearly retched even beneath her mask. She lifted it and pinched her nose closed instead, putting her palm over her mouth to prevent herself from tasting it. The scent was a mix of rot, grime, sweat, blood, and urine; she'd never smelled something so putrid in her entire life.

There didn't seem to be anything of interest; at least not until they picked their way deeper into the cave. Against the far wall, she could almost make something out, but it was impossible to see in the dark as anything other than faint discoloration on the stone. “Taro," she said, voice muffled somewhat by her hand, “Can you float a light over there?" She used her sword to point to the wall in question.

Stoic as ever, her brother nodded, producing two orbs of yellow fire and sending them the eight or so feet to the wall, bathing it in flickering, warm light. Reiko's eyes went wide.

It looked like... it looked like someone had covered the walls in writing. But the script was nothing she recognized. The text itself was dried and flaking, written in something that was surely...

“Blood," Tatsuya confirmed. “About three months old, by the smell." She wasn't sure how he could stand to smell anything at all, but his face was passive, his arms crossed over his chest. “I can also smell... incense. Really old, too, but I think someone left the stick here." Kentaro moved one of his flames down a little, and sure enough, Reiko picked out what might have been incense ash near the wall, atop a stone slab that looked like some kind of altar.

Reiko furrowed her brows. “Um... this one does not remember anything about oni being religious," she said tentatively.

“They aren't." Jirō said flatly. He shifted, resting his eyes on Aram. “This is shaman's magic, surely. Powerful shaman's magic."

A rasping sound signalled Daichi's sword emerging from its sheath. “Funny how there's only one shaman around here," he hissed. “I sure hope he can explain this."

“Daichi," Reiko said sharply, dropping her hand from her nose to frown at him. “Stop." She took hold of the tip of his sword with her fingers; he let her, but his eyes narrowed nearly to slits.

“Not everyone deserves your trust, Reiko."

She shook her head. “Aram-sama does." She turned, her hand still carefully gripping the blade so it did not cut, and half-turned to look at him, tilting her head in invitation for him to explain. Surely he would know the answer, right?

Ayla's eyes flashed golden, and she growled in response to Daichi. It looked like she was going to respond to Daichi's threat, however; Aram placed a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed it. He shook his head at her, though.

"Ayla, he has reason to be suspicious. I am the only shaman, as he said," he spoke, but his face remained in a neutral expression. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, let alone feeling. There was just a kind of emptiness to him, at the moment. "But I assure you, Daichi-san, this is not of my doing," he spoke, staring directly at Daichi. He moved his gaze towards the writing on the wall, though, and walked closer to it. Ayla's eyes receded back to their blue, and she followed after him.

Aram stopped in front of the writing, and seemed to inspect it. The neutral expression on his face, however, shifted to something more grim, and Ayla spoke something soft to him. It sounded like she was saying it was human blood. They could all smell it with their sense of smell, after all. He only furrowed his brows further.

"Someone's been using an old ritual, one that... is forbidden," he finally spoke. He didn't take his eyes off of the writing, though, and continued to appear to read it. "That... that is how the oni have come back. Someone who is... capable has been turning humans into oni," he sounded a little grave and worried.

"They've been using human sacrifices to bring them back? How is that even possible?" Ayla questioned. Aram finally took his gaze off of the wall, and stared at her.

"Dark magic," he replied. "This... isn't good. I don't know who else is capable of doing what I can," he spoke. His eyes held Reiko's gaze for a moment before turning towards the others. "I apologize that I cannot do more, but," he spoke, pausing for a moment to glance back towards Ayla, "there is no telling who is responsible for this and there is no telling how long this person has been trying to bring them back. They may have succeeded in creating more than just this nest. More than we could imagine."

"Then we need to go hunting," Ayla spoke, but Aram shook his head.

"It isn't that easy. If there are more, we will need to approach the situation with caution," he responded. "We can't afford to be careless, here. We have," he paused for a moment to glance at the siblings, "their help for now. But it might not be enough. We might not be enough. We cannot afford to be reckless. I think... it is best we return and strategize for a just-in-case scenario. Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard."

"That is, of course, if you still trust us," he spoke directly towards Reiko's brothers.

Tatsuya shrugged. “I'm fine with it."

That alone seemed to be enough for most of the others. Kentaro nodded simply. He didn't seem suspicious of Aram, either. Takahiro smiled. “I think there's no reason to suspect you. If you'd really wanted these oni to kill us, you would not have gone to the trouble of instructing us about how to kill them, after all."

Jirō felt slightly less than sure of that, Reiko could feel, but he inclined his head slightly anyway, apparently intent on keeping his thoughts to himself for now. Daichi narrowed his eyes and scoffed, but he removed his blade carefully from Reiko's grip and sheathed it. “Don't blame me when we're all dying," he said sharply, shaking his head once.

Reiko pursed her lips and sighed, but turned back to the others. “We will trust you," she said. “Please, help us understand what to do." She phrased it as a formal request. She may not be head of household anymore, but she was still the person who could keep her brothers united, and she knew that more now than she had before. Jirō did not contradict her.

Aram pursed his lips together when Daichi spoke. He felt guilty about something, though he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his attention towards Reiko, and inclined his head. "We shall do our best to keep everyone informed of what must be done, however; our main concern should be the village. The nest, even if it was a few miles out, was still too close. There might be a chance that there are other nests, nearby. We don't..." he paused, taking in a slow breath.

"We don't need those fuckers getting to your humans, is what he's trying to say," Ayla seemed to clarify. Aram nodded his head. "I'm not entirely sure what can be done, though, to ensure their safety. Mere patrols might not be enough," she continued, frowning as she did so.

“This one might have a solution," Reiko said quietly, “but it will take some time. Until this one can figure it out, we should probably keep the patrols going." She paused, then sighed.

“For now, let's go back home. We can talk more once we've had a chance to rest and fill in the others."