Private Hunters in the Dark

[Takahashi Aki]

It took Aki several moments to realize what exactly had happened. He was still in a state of disarray. He was wounded, but still alive in this dead of night. It was beyond the witching hour where all sorts of foul things were at work. There was something amiss in this moment in time. It was like the last seven minutes had occurred but it was like an outer body experience. He was in control of himself, or so he thought. Was it the fact that his fallen enemy had pushed Aki’s will to survive this to the extent of such brutal violence? Did Aki simply lose his temper and murdered this cult leader due to the number of human sacrifices he had witnessed? No - No that was not accurate, Aki reasoned with himself.

Aki stood up and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a pit. To his left was the still burning corpse of the ‘King in Green’. He blinked and shook his head. He closed his eyes tightly for the moment. The original mission he had cut an outline with Lord Kaen who had sent him backup. Unfortunately the backup had been cut off and were either dead, or status unknown. Aki’s eyes shifted to the collapsed structure of wood that was outside of the pit. It was a makeshift shack that housed untold horrors that would in time need to be documented in the post briefing report. Aki would again shake his head and he would make his way up the pit only to slide back down. He grimaced and he would again attempt to get out of this pit. Again he would slide down the pit and he would make another grimace. This time Aki on all fours would claw his way out of that hellhole. For a moment he seemed more beast than man. He would reach the top and get out. He would then stand on two legs. He would rub his eyes and look down into the pit. The burning corpse of his enemy was perhaps proof enough. Yet Aki would remain there he would watch the fire continue to burn. Aki had to confirm the kill, for he knew that those who were dead in Sungakure would not always remain dead. Shouki of the Cabal came to mind. His father’s old foe would return and returned again. His father always had this feeling that Shouki would return again simply because he could. That was the nature of those who were of the religion of Jashin.

As Aki would watch the corpse burn and become ash over time he would unsheathe his weapon. He gripped Shadow Fox with the full intention of having to again become that apex predator to hunt down and kill his foe. He could split the weapon in two and have two blades at the ready. Shadow Fox was full of surprises. It was his personal project. The sword had been forged and forged again and again. Each time it was getting more and more powerful. The weapon lacked any enchantments. It lacked the blessing of an Elder being, or god. It made aki wonder if at times a blessing is what it required to make it comparing to Shoki the legendary blade of Primus.

 

[Mikaboshi]

In the dying light of the bonfire that had been made out of the King in Green's remains, the shadows clawed closer and closer with each passing minute. There was no moon this night to illuminate the desert making it so the creeping edge of night was all the darker and providing the perfect cover for creatures with violence on their mind to move without being noticed.

The first sign of them was at the far edge of the pit just beyond the limits of the firelight.

Small pin-pricks of red light shone across the width of the diminutive crater in perfect sets of two. One set, at first but then slowly one set became two sets and two became five sets as the gleam of their eyes against the dwindling light of Aki's vanquished for slowly moved in unison around the edge of the depression in the sand. They moved with so little sound that if there was anything to be heard of them it was impossible to hear above the crackle and popping of the former King in Green's burning corpse until finally a sound broke the grim monotony of the makeshift funeral pyre.

"Alone and wounded are a dangerous pair this far out in the winds at this hour."

His words were barely above a whisper but they carried well enough across the stillness of the night from the destroyed wooden shack that stood off to the side behind Aki. If Ali turned to look for the source of the words he would see a figure perched upon a collection of the sundered wood illuminated only by the soft glow of a single eye the color of fresh blood surrounded by a small pack of the same sets of equally bright crimson eyes that burned with a similar hungry intensity. With his elbows resting against his knees, the master of this pack of night creatures observed Aki with the unwavering interest of a hunter sizing up his next meal. In his world, Aki might have been an apex predator but here in the desert the things that went bump in the night were plentiful and didn't play quite as nicely as the ones that lurked around the corners of civilization.

Immersed in his element and surrounded by his pack, the huntmaster's voice was the confident purr of an alpha beast that was secure in its sovereignty over its surroundings. There was no hostility in his voice for he needed none. The wise knew enough that to be outnumbered and wounded in such a situation was implicit enough of a threat and the foolish would not have understood how much danger they were in regardless.

This was Zangetsu, blood of Orochi and an ancient-kin of the Wild Hunt.

"Are you lost, Sand-kin?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Aki was startled by the sound. His eyes narrowed and focused as he quickly scanned the area. He was being spoken to. The words did not register at first. It was noise. He drew his weapon instantly. He did not raise Shadow Fox, no he merely gripped the handle tightly as it took several seconds for Aki to process that the noise was in fact spoken word. He gripped the handle of his weapon tighter. Friend or Foe?! The words were spoken in a whisper. The words spoken did not seem like that of a friend. The voice was not a friend either. His eyes darted to the left as he noticed there was more than one pair of eyes on him. There were several in fact. All of them that blood red colour, and that Aki found unsettling in the extreme. He blinked for a moment, he was trying to figure out just what it was that he was looking at?

This new devilry was not alone there was a pack of them. It made Aki wonder just how long had he been watched? How long had he been observed? Aki had something left in the tank in terms of the fighting spirit, he was running on empty. What he had left, was certainly not going to be enough to overcome these numbers. His breathing was laboured, and he was showing weakness. Aki held his breath for a moment and adopted a different manner of breathing. This was one predator staring back at another set of predators. Aki took a few seconds to observe the stance that this devil had, it was not an offensive stance. The stance of the individual was that of a curious one? Was he sizing up Aki to attack him, or to leave him be? While wounded, Aki was not in a position to show weakness least he be joining the King in Green in the pit as a corpse. “Alone. That much cannot be argued, but at least Suna is a little bit safer.” Aki answered. He was very careful not to stutter or misspeak. His words were calculated. He was wounded, but admitting such before this pack of devils could be fatal. Aki would not explain his actions. Yes this was a crime scene. While this devil spoke to him in the common tongue it could be that the speaker did not identify with terms such as murderer and victim. This was not a civilized place, and absolutely not a civilized time. “I am not lost. That much is for certain.” He rolled on the heel of his armoured boots for a moment. He still had his weapon lowered, but still on guard if need be. “I am present in the land where the killers dwell.” He answered.

At least from how this entity spoke, Aki was safe to make on assumption. This individual was not in league with the King in Green. If he had been, then Aki would have already been set up.