The Long Road to Freedom 2: Fire on the Water

Taking the South

To the south, settled in the hills that rose up along either side of the tributary fed from the Sagami lake and river, Kintsuke and her cohorts struggled. For a variety of reasons, they were having no luck in wresting further control of the area from its new insectoid master and its spawn. The interior of Mount Hachioka was a veritable hive now, complete with squirming and squelching eggs and young, and it stood tauntingly as the last milestone they simply could not conquer.

Together, they'd had little trouble removing the numerous weaker would-be masters of the land and split the area amongst themselves. When Mount Fuji even further south erupted, however, it had either awakened or displaced the creature that now burrowed its way into the roots of Hachiokayama. Since then it'd been an uphill battle.

It bred quickly, producing at least three young for every one they managed to kill, and exuded a pheromone that bewitched humans and demons alike. Perhaps Sesshoumaru would not have been affected, but Kintsuke found herself once or twice under its influence. Thankfully, her blue flames were capable of neutralizing this as well as shouki, and she'd taken to keeping them lit about her face every time she got anywhere near the invisible danger line.

By now, three long years later, neither she nor any of her cohorts had any new ideas of how to handle the giant insect. True, they could just burn everything, kill everyone, and storm the mountain, but that would ruin the land and attract far more attention than any of them wanted; so they waited and plotted. The ensnared demons were disposed of easily enough and weren't much of a concern, but for Kintsuke, there were still the humans to consider. Her allies teased her for being soft with such insignificant and vulgar creatures, but Kintsuke couldn't help her need to get them out of the way in a manner that did not include death.

No matter how powerful she became or how she chose to identify or live her life, she was, and would always be, part human. It was something she was finding herself unable to ignore any longer. Strangely, one of her allies seemed to not only understand but agree with her intentions. He was a somewhat softer-spoken male named Yoichi, with long thick hair the color of evergreens and large glinting eyes like jet. They'd worked with each other more than with any of the others, and slowly a stronger sense of comradery had formed.

Eventually, the group had a stroke of luck. They'd managed to find a narrow channel in the side of the mountain and discovered that it led all the way through to the hive at the core. Perhaps being used for ventilation, Kintsuke now employed it as a pathway for her ravenous green flames. The cries of pain and anger, along with the occasional popping of the eggs inside, told them that Kintsuke's flames had done significant damage.

The effect was minor but immediate. The invisible cloud of mind-controlling pheromones weakened, freeing a small number of humans and demons from the creature's influence. The humans fled for their lives, the demons joined rank with Kintsuke and the others, but the following years would prove to be just as challenging as the ones prior.

***

1572, final year of the Muromachi Period, Winter

Twelve long years of toil, of loss, of patience and hope, had finally come to fruition. Kintsuke and her allies had managed to root out the demon of Mount Hachioka, destroying its massive underground nest, its spawn, and earning the gratitude and debt of those now released from its control. Many of her acquaintances had not survived the final confrontation but there was no time for mourning or remembrance. The survivors quickly disbursed to lay claim to the liberated territories they coveted.

The territory around Hachiokayama was more desirable, certainly, but Kintsuke and her now-companion Yoichi sought out the sprawling mountain ranges even further south. They'd decided to split the miles of land, taking three mountain peaks a piece, and once everything was settled, they began their trek to their new homes, a small group of grateful demons in tow. They'd agreed to offer their skills wherever they could when need-be in exchange for Kintsuke and Yoichi keeping the ranges safe from larger demons and brazen humans. It was a fair deal.

The trio of peaks they came across first was Kintsuke's. During a previous scouting trip, Kintsuke'd found herself drawn to the one at the center, Mount Omuro. She hadn't been able to explore it in much detail then, but she knew there was something there, waiting for her. As they arrived and cleared out the winding series of tunnels under the mountain, she found what it was.

Eventually, nearly a half-mile down, they came across a huge cavern. Spiders, bats, and other such pests were driven off easily enough, and further inside Kintsuke found it: towering to scrape the heights of the great cavern and carved from the very stone was a granite and adamant fortress-like structure, ringed by large ornate braziers decorated in the distinct style of the mainland. All of it was covered in a thick layer of spider web and dust, but Kintsuke saw it clearly enough, and it was all she could do not to root to the spot and stare in fear.

'Is this....? It couldn't be... Zheng's former stronghold?'

She strode forward cautiously to a brazier one of the demons had begun clearing of web and pressed her fingertips against the metal. It thrummed weakly, but the youki signature was unmistakable; Zheng had been here. She felt her hackles rise and her hair stand on end, her inner demon hissing ferociously at the intangible memories that thrummed against her fingertips and in the corners of her mind. She still felt the livid sting of her time on the mainland keenly, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to calm herself.

'It's only the whisper of a memory; he hasn't been here in decades, at least. Besides, that bastard is long dead and gone... ...Isn't he?'

The soft voice of the demon nearby startled her out of the paranoid speculations, and she found Yoichi blinking down at her from the steps of the structure above her.

His soft voice echoed against the stone.

"Kintsuke-san, are you well..?"

She swallowed, forcing a neutral expression as she hopped up to join him.

"Of course; why do you ask?"

"You look as though you've seen a ghost."

She hummed noncommittally, not looking at him as they continued their ascent up the structure so like the fortress of fire in Shanghai.

"Something like that."

As though sensing her unease, he chose not to press the issue, leaving the group to focus on removing the webs and dust and clearing out the remaining pests and corpses that had been left behind here. When they were finished, Yoichi and those that had chosen to follow him departed, leaving Kintsuke and her small group to begin the long task of turning the cavern fortress into a home.