Blood in Flame and Water

Distant Nightmares

The song of a gentle breeze and the light feather touch against skin had Rengoku blinking awake. Eyes fluttering open, a slight groan left Kyojuro's lips as he pushed himself up from the trunk of the tree. Reaching up, the slight touch of fingertips grazed over the soft skin of Rengoku's cheek. Yawning, Kyojuro dropped the hand to his side before pushing himself up into an upright sitting position. Looking up through the curtains of willow tree branches, the faint light of the moon filtered through the depressed branches.

Grunting, Kyojuro stood up and brushed away the bark from the tree that stuck to the back of his kimono. Raising his hand and brushing away some of the willow branches, a spot was opened for Rengoku to walk through. Stepping through and into the cool embrace of night, a deep breath of the chilled air woke Rengoku further. Sleep filled eyes slowly grew weightless.

Glancing up at the moon that bathed the land on a pale hue, Kyojuro brought his gaze back towards the stone pathway and started walking back towards the minka farmhouse. Walking through the garden was surreal, almost like in those fairytale scripts he used to read to Senjiro. The faint buzzing in the background was quiet enough to not be a nuisance, but loud enough to be noticeable. Everything almost had a glistening sheen across it. Rengoku didn't know if that was due to the moon, or his still hazy eyes. His hands grazed over the flower petals of multiple hydrangea, morning glories, and early blooming cluster amaryllis. Sandals grating against the stone walkway, Rengoku stepped through the garden foliage, but stopped at the sight before him that knocked the air right out his lungs.

The engawa was covered in liquid. The darkness of the night made it look as black as tar. The scent it gave off, however, was unmistakable. Thick blood covered the engawa, dripping onto the steps and stone, splattered across the shutter door that was unmistakably broken in and ripped to shreds. The ringing in Rengoku's ears grew louder, almost piercing. A shout left Kyojuro's lips as he rushed up the stairs, not caring if the blood splashed his kimono. Gasping, Rengoku slipped on a large puddle of blood and reached out quickly to grab one of the columns to keep himself from face planting.

Heaving for breath, something within the blood caught Rengoku's eye. Reaching for it, shaky fingers wrapped around the thing and lifted it close. There in his hand, was a piece of shredded and blood soaked fabric. Feeling bile rise in the back of his throat, Rengoku could make out the bloodied pattern of muted checkered green and yellow.

"TOMIOKA!! " A scream left his lips before he could scramble to his feet. Snapping up, Rengoku skidded to the opened shoji door and leaned into the broken open doorway.
A breath caught in his throat. Quivering in place as his eyes slowly took in the scene before him. The blood grew thicker and drenched everything. In the middle of the giant puddle lay the mutilated body of Tomioka Giyu. With his haori shredded to bits and pieces, hair clumped and drenched in his blood, and lifeless dull blue eyes gazed distantly in Rengoku's direction.

Right there stood a demented figure shrouded in shadow. It seemed like living darkness rose from the creature's body, making it impossible to see it clearly. It was a wall of black smoke that wouldn't dissipate. The further Kyojuro looked up, the more his neck craned from the strain. Near the ceiling of the minka farmhouse, supposedly near the head of the beast, winding branches grew from the thing's head. Though when the ends of the great branches would scrape the top, they wouldn't make a dent, rather, they would become smoke.

A shivery breath left Rengoku's lips as the creature slowly turned towards him. The mouth of the beast opened wide, gums and teeth stained with the obnoxious amount of blood dripping from its blackened tongue. Two beady eyes as dark as the night stared down at him, deadly glee lighting them up. Razor sharp teeth peeked out past pulled back hackles peeled back into a sharp smile.
Raising its hand, a chunk of meat was clutched in it. Talons puncture the meat and make it gush with blood, coating the shadowy figure's limb all the way down to the elbow. Droplets fell to the ground with the faint sound of 'pit… pit… pit'. Bringing its free hand to its lips, a childish 'shhhh', came from past its blood stained black teeth.