Brothers of Thunder

One More Night

Kaigaku awoke with a start. The scent of the forest permeated the air where he lay. As he sat up, fallen leaves crunched against the moist soil beneath him. The sun began to sink beneath the treetops, coloring the sky red. His heart began to race at the sight.

The demons would be out soon.

The raven haired boy clambered to his feet despite his aching body. He was weary, hungry, sore and generally miserable. Most importantly, he was cranky.

It had been five- no... it had to be six. Six days since he had left the comfort of his family. Six days since he stepped into this forest which is forsaken by all that is good. Six nights battling demons for his right to live.

Seriously, who's grand idea was this? Sending children into a den of demons like fresh sashimi on a dish just to get the right of passage to join the slayer corp. Besides that point, the demons were supposed to be low level and easy to take down, but that wasn't all there was in here. He was sure of it. He could feel it. The animosity, the bloodlust of the monsters crawled in his gut. He could vomit if he wasn't careful.

Grumbling to himself, Kaigaku stood at attention watching with dread as the sun set with his hand on the handle of his sword. As soon as the red faded from the sky, the screams would start just as it had for the past week.

"Just one more night," Kaigaku muttered as he braced himself for the blood chilling proclamations of death in the night. "One more night and then you can go home."

Kaigaku's heart twinged at the thought of home. How he missed his master and his crazy smile and tough love. How he missed his dear little brother with his beautiful eyes and warm embrace.

He breathed deeply, holding onto the memories, but releasing the distracting emotions that came with it. Home was his motivation, but he cannot afford to lose focus. One slip could be his demise.

***

The young blond sat with his head on his knees as he watched the sunset. The air of melancholy was palpable. His honey colored eyes scarcely blinked as he tirelessly searched the horizon for a familiar figure.

It was useless work. He knew. He was sick and tired of waiting in suspense, but his brother wouldn't come home yet. Not until tomorrow. At least... he hoped.

"No." Zenitsu thought to himself. "He will come home. He'll be fine. He promised he would be fine."

When he heard Gramps's voice calling him back inside, he stood up with a sigh. Taking one last glimpse of the dark blue swallowing up the last embers of orange, he whispered aloud.

"I trust you, Aniki. You can do this. Just one more night. We'll be waiting for you."

***

Darkness fell over the mountain.

Keeping his mind and body alert, Kaigaku trudged through the inky black of the forest. He focused his hearing and waited for a rustle of a bush or a crack of a twig. All he heard were his own footsteps, his steady breath, his thundering heartbeat.

The silence of the mount was eerie. He had expected a harrowing chorus of screams echoing over the treetops. Not that he wanted it to be so, by any means. But the lack of that horrific disharmony could only mean three things...

All the demons had been destroyed. A naive presumption. The weakest participants had been killed. The most likely case no matter how horrible. Or...

Kaigaku was the last man standing. Alone...

Kaigaku paled at the thought as dread began pushing pins into his heart. "No..." he sucked in a shallow breath and gritted his teeth. "Please don't let me be alone again..."

A sharp scream shattered the silence of the forest and knocked the distressed teen back into his senses. Without wasting a second he dashed off in that direction.

As Kaigaku moved closer and closer to the source of the wailing, the weight curling in his stomach became more and more intense.

"This really isn't good..." his jaw clenched as he thought. "My instincts are screaming at me to run the other way. It's chilling me to the core. This demon... shouldn't be here!"

Sweat beaded on his brow and he shuddered, but he kept onward. "What am I doing? I want to live don't I? Why do I run towards danger, towards death?"

Another scream made him stutter to a halt. The sound was loud, piercing his eardrums like needles. It was let loose by a girl... a girl that was so small he nearly tripped over her. Her eyes were an ocean blue and shining with tears.
She gasped as their eyes met.

"I'm so sorry! I must have brought you here!" The girl's voice sounded like a strangled songbird with all the screaming she had done. "I'm sorry! It's after me! Please run!" She pleaded frantically before her face screwed up in pain.

"She's injured!" Kaigaku briefly examined the young girl, finding her leg trapped beneath a thick limb of a toppled tree. "I could use my sword to free her, but I'd have to be extremely precise with it or I'd risk hurting her more."

Quickly, he positioned himself to lift the branch.

"No!" The girl panicked. "You have to run! It's coming back! It'll kill you!" Tears rolled down her pallid cheeks. "Please! I can't be the reason you die!"

The heavy feeling in Kaigaku's gut twisted just before a tremor struck the mountain. Footsteps thundered in the distance, rattling his bones. His breath hitched as the hulking silhouette lumbered into view. His body turned ridged like he had been doused with glacial water.

Laughter, cruel laughter that chills the soul, echoed through the woods. It finally materialized out of the darkness, a massive knot of arms with crazed bloodshot eyes peeping out the top.

"Ahhh! That's where the little mouse scurried off to. She went and caught herself in a trap of mine! Oho!" The monster turned its bloodthirsty gaze on Kaigaku. "Hmm? And who might you be? Another of the water style brats perhaps? Oh it's been too long since Urokodaki has sent me an offering!" It tsked in disappointment a moment later. "Ah, you don't have a fox mask on ya do you? Maybe the old man finally gave up?"

"Hey..." The voice of the girl was so quiet now as she beckoned his attention. "You can run. I won't blame you... I wasn't cut out to be a slayer anyway."

Kaigaku didn't move. He couldn't. Not with the gaze of that demon pinning him down. Not with his conscience in a standstill against his fear. His breath stuttered as he inhaled and his pupils shrank in terror.

"I don't want to die. I have to run! I want to... like the coward I am... that I always have been. But..." his gaze flicked over to the girl on the ground. Her choppy black hair tied up in pigtails, her shaking hands, her dirty face and her frightened tear filled eyes... "she looks just like him... I can't just leave her to die!"

The voice of his master rose to the forefront of his mind and the image of his crazy smile. "I wish you luck in battle... And remember what I told you. You're a protector Kaigaku."

Still shuddering under the weight of his fear, Kaigaku shifted his stance protectively over the girl.

"What are you doing?" She squeaked.

"I can't leave you behind in good conscience," he finally answered in a hushed voice. "Calm yourself. We're getting out of here alive. Both of us."

I should really be writing the script for my comic right now, but I feel bad for y'all since you've been waiting so patiently. Love you guys! See you next year (hopefully not Lord help me!)