Demon Slayer - Tale of Flame and Dream : A Fan Story

Chapter Two: Dream, Sand and Metal

It took Ren around two days to reach her target location. A busy town at the foot of a tall mountain. The town was almost the size of a small city, its building shone bright even in daylight. The whole city seemed to pulsate with life. Not a moment went by as Ren approached, did silence fall, sound seemed to emanate continuously. The buildings themselves were a mixture of both tall and short, new and old, the whole thing looked to be a living organism that grew as it aged. Looking into the town, Ren saw there was a whole mix of people, traditional and modern dress. Innovation and traditionalism bled throughout the city. Finding this demon may be harder than she thought.

As Ren entered the town she noticed that there were a few people staring at her, it took her a while to realise that her sword was still showing. Slightly flustered, Ren spun her sword around on her belt, positioning it around her back under her haori, hiding it from view. Ren began to search the alleyways of the town, hoping to find any evidence of a demon attack. She did this until the sun began to set before she approached a police officer and asked whether the rumours of the missing people were real. "Fancy yourself a detective do you my dear?" the officer asked. "These disappearances are nothing more than people moving away and not telling their parents, nothing to worry about" Ren thanked the police officer before moving away unsatisfied.

As the moon began to rise the residence began to retreat into their houses and slamming their doors shut. Soon the streets were deserted with only cats roaming the streets. Feeling like she wouldn't be able to find any useful information roaming the streets, Ren leapt up onto the rooftops landing softly on the tiles. she began to run across the rooftops her eyes darting from side to side, scanning for any sign of a demon. Ren ran across half the town before stopping to sit on the roof. She took out of her pocket a small bag, containing a single steamed pork bun. Biting into it, Ren's eyes closed, her face lighting up. The bun was delicious, she could not fault it. Soon however the delicious smell of the pork bun was overwhelmed by the putrid scent of a demon nearby. Ren dropped the bun into the back, stowed it in her pocket again and leapt towards where the scent was coming from.

Running down the alleyway nearby and into a small courtyard, she found the demon towering over a man in his late thirties, too scared to utter a sound. The demon had to have been eight feet tall. Its arms were as thick as tree trunks. It had a normal looking face, had it not been for the second set of eyes and whip-like tongue that hung out of its mouth. It looked like a more freal demon then the two Ren faced on her last mission. "Hey" she said just loud enough to be heard. The demon turned slowly towards her its eyes greedy, yearning for more blood. The demon began to move slowly towards Ren who realised that in her haste to find this demon, she had forgotten to ready her sword. Caught unarmed, all Ren could do was evade and try and keep the demon away from the man who was still cowering. "Excuse me" the voice made both the demon and Ren stop where they were, A young man was stood in the alleyway entrance. His hair was a soft and shaggy pink, his eyes were slightly misted over, which told Ren that he was partially blind. "I see that you're in need of a little help" he said, his voice was smooth and low. Ren nodded knowing that she needed time to get her sword. "Very well" the man said. "I'm Taino Umada, Demon Slayer rank Hinoto and I will be your opponent demon" Before Ren could say anything however, he drew a Sword lunged at the hulking demon "Dream Breathing, Third Form: Plunging Slumber" he said, plunging the sword into the demons leg.

It looked to have done nothing, until the demon began to topple over and hit the floor. "There, that should buy you enough time to get you sword" Taino said looking at Ren as he sheathed his blade. Ren repositioned her sword ready to grab it but then before she could draw it and use a breathing technique she heard "Sand Breathing, Eighth Form, Desert Oasis Severing Slash" As a brown clad demon slayer fell down from above them killing the demon in one downward slash. "Yes" the new arrival yelled. "I finally killed a demon all by myself" They continued failing to notice the two other higher rank demon slayers in front of him. Ren crossed her arms and scowled at him, her usual calm and pleasant demeanour replaced by a rigid and disapproving one. "Hime" shouted yet another voice. Appearing behind the young demon slayer, a slightly older one stood. Ren recognised this one, having met him before a year or so ago. "Is that you Koba?" she asked, her demeanour returning to its usual relaxed one. "Oh Ren it's you" he said looking at her. Koba was very tall for a demon slayer. His dark brown hair pulled into a short ponytail, the rank Tsuchinoto visible on his hand. He wore his uniform with a blacksmith jacket over the top of it, his blacksmith mask attached to his belt next to his wakizashi and forging hammer. Ren walked over to him. "It's good to see you're still alive, Tengan and Gyomei haven't killed you with their training yet have they?" she asked. Both of them laughed as Koba said "No, not yet, though they are trying" Before Ren could get another word out, she felt the weight of Hime draped over her. "You know master Koba? How long have you known him? What rank are you? Who trained you? What breathing style can you use? You're pretty for a demon slayer, Why did yo...." Hime said all this very fast not waiting for an answer for any of these questions. Losing her patience Ren hit him in the face with the back of her hand, sending him flying.

"Friends of yours?" Taino said, moving closer. Ren noticed that he used his sheathed sword as a cane to help him navigate. His uniform was missing its sleeves and tinted slightly pink. Other than these changes, the uniform looked quite normal. "The tall one, yes" Ren answered. "We worked together just after he passed final selection, the tick however" She said pointing at Hime as he was lifted up by the scruff of his neck by Koba. His uniform was the standard demon slayer uniform a haversack like haroi worn over it. "I have to apologise for him" Koba said. "He's a good swordsman but still a child in his mind" he placed Hime on the ground the latter uttering an apology. "That was a bit underwhelming" Ren said looking back at the demon, or where it was a minute ago. "I know what you mean." Taino replied. Suddenly, Ren's senses heightened exponentially. There were a lot more demons around the town. "There's more, around ten scattered throughout the town, Hime and Koba, go west there seems to be a group in that direction, Taino, you go south and deal with the demons there, I'll join you and support when I've delt with the one to the east, there's only one but its potency is stronger than the others." Ren said to the other, who nodded and went in the directions Ren told them. Clearly they understood her rank though she didn't bark the orders, followed them without hesitation. Ren made her way to where the strong scent was coming from. The scent was coming from a dance studio but that couldn't be right, it was empty. Except it wasn't, the police officer from earlier was standing in the middle of the room, his face turned to her, his eyes, now out of the way of streetlights told Ren that they were the demon she came for. It laughed looking at her. "I thought I told you not to meddle" it said before it began to transform, growing extra arms and its face mutating, this demon.

Could it possibly be a Twelve Kizuki?