A storm raged. Lightning and thunder boomed above the city. Actually, nice weather had been announced for this weekend, but apparently the gods had a change of heart and decided to let the camping enthusiasts stay at home.
On the other hand a good camper was always prepared for any weather.
Yoshiro rustled through the thickets of the forest. His tattered clothes fluttered in the wind. A sword, whose scabbard he had strapped to his back, swung back and forth with every step.
For days he hadn't rested. He just couldn't. He didn't want to. When he stopped, the painful memories came up. Even this small moment in which he remembered, was enough to bring up the pain again. She was dead. Kira was dead. His great love had been taken away from him. By Tirr, this wretched monster. He would never call another Oni a monster, but this abominable creature deserved it.
He stumbled out of carelessness and fell to the ground. He rolled over and stopped struggling for breath in a shallow puddle. His heart ached so much. Silent tears sparkled in his eyes. Slowly he came up to his knees. How could he endure this? He looked at his hands. They were flayed. His whole body was marked, littered with cracks, scratches and bite marks. For days he had hunted continuously.
He had warned her. He had begged Kira not to go. His weakness had her killed. His beautiful wife. His heart. She had meant everything to him in this world.
"Be reasonable!", he pleaded.
The female Oni snorted. "You don't get it. You are not like us. You're no warrior, Yoshiro."
Kira was truly beautiful. In her own special way. Her skin gleamed in the various shades of the rainbow. Depending on her emotional state she changed her color.
Her features were fully human for the most part. She simply had bigger eyes and pointed ears. Her ponytailed hair fell to her hips and had the same property as her skin.
At the moment she shone in a menacing red. She was furious. She was mad at him because he just didn't understand. Because he was not able to understand. Then he was not a warrior, but a scholar. One of the few exceptions of their kind. And that was why she loved him more than anything.
"If we don't stop Tirr now, we will never make it. With every week, every day, with every life he takes, he becomes stronger. Don't you get it?" She put her fists on her hips.
With his hands he gesticulated wildly. "Of course I do. Really. But why do you have to do that? Why can't the others go without you?"
She closed her eyes. "I am the strongest healer. We know that this fight will be the greatest challenge we've faced so far. There will be injured. Almost certainly people are going to die. I have to be there to help them."
Yoshiro faltered. "And what if he kills you?"
Encouragingly, she smiled at her lover. "I will be careful. I'm not going to fight on the front line. I support them."
"Don't go." The yellow-skinned folded his hands in front of his chest. "Please, Kira. I'm begging you."
She bit her lower lip. She hated it when they quarreled. Her skin darkened. "I have to. They rely on me. They put their lives at risk to protect the humans from Tirr. If we don't get him under control, they will exterminate us. The hunters won't watch forever as he slaughters their kind."
"You're right. Of course you're right.", confessed Yoshiro. He went to the table next to them and grabbed Kira's sword, which lay on the table.
"What are you doing?", she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I will help you." Determined, he looked at her. "You need every man for this fight."
Kira snorted. "You've never held a sword in your life."
"Then give me a gun or a rifle.", he demanded.
"You've never killed anyone." She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his cheek. "I don't want you to kill. You are no murderer."
He looked into her glowing eyes. "In the Imperial Army I learned and perfected the art of shooting. I always hit where I want to hit."
The hand of the female Oni jumped and wrenched the sword from his hand in one go. She backed away from him and fastened the sheath on her belt.
"No. You stay here. You hold this position. That's an order, soldier.", spoke Kira winking.
Snorting, he clenched his fists. "Please. Don't go. Let's go away from here."
"Here is our home. Everything that we have built together. We have to fight for it." She brushed through her hair, which slowly became brighter. "Tomorrow we will laugh about this. After we destroyed Tirr, we can live peacefully again. Only without him we have a future."
She looked into his eyes until he turned his gaze away. Normally she was the one who relented when they were of different opinion, but this time it was not possible. Too much was at stake. Everything they had achieved, the way they lived and the community of the Oni. Tirr had to be stopped permanently and at any price. Therefore, they had forged the plan to attack him with everything they had at their disposal.
Kira snuggled up to him and put her lips on his. They kissed long and intimately. Yoshiro wrapped his arms around his wife and pressed her body against himself.
Slowly she took her soft lips from his. "Let me go, dear.", whispered Kira, as she rubbed her nose against his. "By tomorrow morning I should be back."
"I'll wait for you." He let go of her and looked at her sadly.
Satisfied, she smiled. "Good. I love you."
"I love you too."
Then she left. Yoshiro guessed already at that time that he would never see her again. But he was not able to change her mind. He moved up to the front door, where he stopped in the frame and followed her supple movements with his eyes.
"She's really going?", asked Kitsune, who had joined him. The upright-standing fox looked up at his friend.
"Yes." The Oni watched his wife, as she got into her car and drove off.
Kitsune nudged Yoshiro compassionate with his front paw on the thigh. "Damn it. I'm really sorry."
The yellow-skinned breathed in. "They can do it. We have to believe in them."
"Agreed. Everything will be fine." The fox went back to his own interests and left the Oni alone.
Yoshiro waited patiently until morning came. And he was still waiting when the sun disappeared again on the horizon in the evening.
The Oni struggled back to his feet. The beasts had fled into the woods. They would not escape from him. He would destroy as many beasts as necessary, until he could take on Tirr and then he would kill this monstrosity.
A bright scream echoed through the forest. Yoshiro pricked up his ears. Using teleportation he moved within seconds between the trees. He found the pack, which was attacking a camping tent. He heard the panicked screams of people.
He immediately tore the sword from its sheath, charged the first beast he saw and chopped its head off. The other beasts noticed him and attacked right away. He could kill another creature by ramming the tip of the blade into its skull.
Then he was thrown to the ground. Angry screamed Yoshiro when he felt the claws dug into his flesh. He dismembered the forelegs from the beast and pushed it off of him. With the next stroke he ended its life.
The last creature sought its safety in flight and sprinted away. The Oni teleported directly in front of the beast and impaled it on his sword. A gurgling sound came from the throat while the creature died.
Exhausted, Yoshiro sank to his knees. The paws, which still stuck in his abdomen, slowly dissolved. He rammed the point of his sword into the ground. Ha, the beasts could not escape his wrath.
"Mommy! Mommy! Daddy!"
Startled, he looked up. A girl cried and screamed for her parents. Yoshiro rose and grabbed the hilt of the sword again. He was in tremendous physical pain, but he welcomed it to cover the pain in his heart. Gasping, he toddled over to the devastated tent. He pressed his free hand against his fresh wounds to stop the bleeding.
Amid all the destruction knelt a blood-stained girl, shaking the shredded bodies of her parents. The Oni looked at the scene. Was this his fault? Had he driven the beasts here? What were humans doing out here in the wilderness?
"Hello.", he said softly.
The trembling girl turned around and looked at him distraught with watery eyes. There stood this strange man in his torn clothes. His body disfigured by deep scratches and cracks. Blood smeared his whole body and in his hand he held a sword.
She had seen how he had fought against the monsters, but what did he want from her?
"My parents ...", she sobbed.
He briefly looked at the woman and the man on the ground. "They are dead." As if she hadn't realized this before, the girl began to cry even louder. The Oni was overwhelmed by this situation. "Hey. Calm down." She shuddered and went on crying. "I'll get you to safety. Come."
She wailed on. "No ..."
"Be reasonable. What do you want to do? They are dead and you can't change that." The crying became more intense. Annoyed, Yoshiro snorted and put the sword back into its sheath. He grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Now come!"
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She tried to pull away, but there was no escape out of the monster's grip.
"I won't hurt you. I'll take you to safety. Everything is going to be fine." He took the kicking and screaming child into his arms and teleported.