Icy Flames- Rengoku Kyojuro-Demon Slayer/ Kimetsu no Yaiba

49

A full day of running and I was nowhere near my destination. I was running through the forest nearly breathless. The pine-soaked air was filling my lungs. Under the music of the wind and the rhythms of my memories, my eyelids weighed heavily over my eyes and I felt the emptiness in my stomach.

My mind still rolled on those moments between Kyojuro and the waitress. The ways they were conversing, the tone of their speech, and their indefinite eye contact...all were somewhat bringing about those feelings I had when I assume Kanroji was with him. But something seemed different...maybe my emotions were fickle and loyalty wasn't guaranteed when it came to a shinobi as skilled as myself.

"Focus."

My eyes harden to the path in front of me and continued running through.

"I shouldn't have submitted to my feelings...they seem to be obscuring my mind."

My feet ran through the open fields. It was clear to see that the moon halved over the horizon, its light blanketing a field of sleeping flowers, much how the sun spills its light over the sea at dusk. A vast emptiness of the sky and the flowers and the moon and its light.

My head heightened and turned sharply to a metallic smell.

"Blood...and lots of it"

Screams cut through the air as I drew closer to the smell.

I quickly darted into the lavish green fields with brilliant yellow and white flowers that camouflaged my appearance.

Parting the plants to the side, I peeked to see the carnage before me. These creatures, who have abnormal physical characteristics ranging from human to demonic, were slaughtering the villagers. The stench of fresh blood was overwhelming.

Demons were either slaying away the helpless individuals, slumped over dead individuals, tearing their bodies relentlessly, aggressively lapping large amounts of blood as scarlet cascaded down his lips, chin, and neck, or abandoning the remains of victims who seemed to have had their organs stabbed and turned to mush.

This wasn't a normal demon's slaughtering...it was a banquet.

"HEl-AAH!"

I turned to see blood spewing from the mouth of a demon slayer as the creature's talons of one of the creatures stuck from his back to his abdomen. The slayer dropped to his knees trying to stop the blood flowing from his stomach for a futile moment before he stopped moving and dropped forward.

"He-" he tried to sound out however the blood clogging his throat making him take long gulps for breath until he took his last breath.

Using this opportunity of the demon being distracted, I charged into the carnage. The cold steel split the warm skin of the creature.

As I turned around, I noticed a creature at least 5 meters tall, with dark, skeletally thin, a female humanoid body that was pierced with shakujo in its neck. It attempted to swipe towards me which I quickly evaded. As my footing touched a tree, I quickly turned my body to the side from seeing a sharp pointer attempting to aim for my head.

My blade quickly to towards the beasts ahead, decapitating them one by one to which their body scattered across the floor.

"I need to be calmer...I need to eliminate my emotions and enter a state of pure, cold, reason.

The rain was falling, but instead of water it was blood, blood falling from the sky, the sky that excavated without stars, the moon silently emerged through the clouds, the atmosphere was strained, and the winds blowing calmly but it brought tense, not tranquility.

I looked around the village...

No one survived this attack.

The victims were mauled. Their bodies littered this beautiful area where the waters that seem to be so clear and pure were tainted with red, surrounded by unearthly cherry trees, all flush in perfect bloom-splashed with blood.

Gritting my teeth...what if I had gotten here earlier...this could have been avoided. Promises, sweet nothings, and feelings prevented me from coming here and saving their lives. I clenched my fist tightly in anger.

I walked through the town trying to get any clues on what was happening. My flaming, amber gaze could never take in the amount of blood that bathed the lands of this village.

The snap of a twig quickly drew my attention and caused me to turn around and slice the neck of the demon attempting to attack from behind, splashing its blood on my face. Looking into the eyes of a bodiless head a mere foot away from her, held her petrified gaze.

All I could do was remain unaffected by it all...I was trained to do so.

We are to see dying as the easiest part of our life and living the hardest. The harder it gets, the stronger the will to live. And the greater the fear of death, the greater the struggle to keep on living.

"Life is useless...you are a mere doll trained to kill."

I stopped and sighed.

I looked up at the sun rising from the horizon indicating what would have been a new day...but this village was nothing but scraps and ashes, quiet and the uncomfortable wind was blowing around.

Though these lives were lost, something told me...that I only scratched the surface.