Clack, drip, drip, drip. Drip, drip, drip, clack. The shishi-odoshi lifted itself on its bamboo arm and opened its mouth to drink more water. Its heavy head knocked against a divination stone to pour out fresh water into the pool it rested above. Ruined by flame, footprints, and betrayal, the Jigoku family sentry was no more than a roofless shrine with crumbled walls, burned scrolls, and unwashed floors with remnants of dried blood and writing along the wood floors. Beautiful red columns were snapped in two, leaving shadows of sharp noses and teeth behind from torch flames. In the middle of the shrine floor, however, was perhaps the purest water accumulated into a singular pool. Beneath the surface and several feet under is the last hell traveler and the only survivor of the tragic killing seven years ago. As still as stone, Meioshi simply floated in the middle of the pool like she was trapped in an air column. Memories of watching her beloved relatives being slaughtered and her home being burned to nothing but ashes all floated to the surface of her mind. Her grandfather, Arimasa, with all his might had fought their attackers until his end. In a final blast of power that consumed his entire form, he was weakened enough for a sword to go straight through his heart. The sword plunged into his chest was ripped out and tossed next to her grandmother, Umehana, in an act of disappointment. As though his efforts were worthless. She was forced to watch them die, struck by Sojuro's sword, and thrown into hell by another.
Her hand twitched. Looking into the cold eyes of her attacker and seeing Sojuro treat her like she was but a beast was the last memory she had of the living world. For two long years, she remained in the land of the dead and damned. It was her prison. Nay, it was her reality. It took another two years for her to remember that she was a human through and through. The remaining three years had been the real challenge. War was not over. Clack. Moving her hands into a defensive position, Meioshi changed her stance and performed a kata in the waters. She remembered her time in Koridetudi. How she had to fight the kyonshi there. She remembered the struggle in returning to hell and fighting off the hungry demons at every turn. Knife hand, fist, and open palm flowed together in a singular collection of motion as she crafted her technique. She remembered fighting the arctic wolf guardian, Sesshomaru, and the black wall demon. Her memories played in succession until she could feel the movements of her enemies become solid strikes against her. She remembered fighting Numa-o... and then the Satsujin. The ones that wiped out her entire family and burned down the family home on the cliff had returned to give her a warning. Enemy attack became much more solid through memory and shadow. Meioshi formed a kata and combination of defensive grabs and strikes in order to create a technique to aid her in battle. It was war now.
She couldn't look down on herself anymore. She couldn't have mercy in her heart anymore. Not for the ones who hurt her so deeply. They showed her no mercy. They gave her no grace. They had no kindness. As she was training, the kanji on the wood floors started to vibrate. Drip, drip, drip, clack. Symbols were activating. Shadow, water droplets, and a stray snowflake mixed together in the air to sink into the crevices of the floorboards and snake their way to the pool like a snake of spilled ink. Kanji attached themselves to the strange entity until the inky substance grew thicker and stopped at the pool's edge. Lifting off the hard surface, the ink formed an arch then a helix and searched for Meioshi in the water. As she was performing another strike, she felt a jolt of pain in her back where the hell traveler's mark had been burned and sealed into her skin. She let out a frightened yelp, not expecting something to attack her in the pool of holy water, until she was covered in the inky substance and kanji symbols. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she had a vision of a strange man killing another like Sojuro had tried to kill her. The blood on the man's hands matched the blood on Sojuro's hands. Then, her vision changed to the moment a blood bond had been made with the arctic wolf and the arrow of acidic rage pierced her throat. The ice breath was granted to her for a moment. She used it by accident and froze the waterfall from the cliff. She remembered the pain in her ribs from bruising them, her struggle to run up the marble stairs leading to the Jigoku family home, and her determination to find the guardian of Baohu qi Voluptatis.
Eyes of a rainstorm dragon then appeared, and the beast spoke, "I am the creator, guardian, and keeper of the Baohu qi Voluptatis. It was through blood that I was born, and it was through blood that ye were formed. Thou hath been forsaken like I against the kami of judgment. Release me and let us become whole. My fang is the blade. My scale is the scabbard. My claw strike is the power ye doth seek. Seek me in thine forest."
In a burst of light, the water from the pool had been sapped dry and flew out of the shrine to the Forest of Lurking Beasts. Leaving Meioshi at the bottom of it, she coughed the water out of her throat and lungs and struggled to catch her breath. The doctor curled up into a ball for a second to regain feeling before she looked up and saw the barrier surrounding the cliff grow and expand in strength and distance, respectively.
Sleet had formed in the Forest of Lurking Beasts. Waiting patiently was the storm dragon on a dark cliff now covered in both snow and shadow. Horns made from icicles, whiskers long like a curled rope protruding from its nose, claws as massive and deadly as any beast needing to break through ice floors or rocks for food, and body hardened by crystalline scales so no ordinary can pierce through its armor. Meioshi was nervous about this creature. She had read through all of the hell travelers' letters quite thoroughly. Her ancestor, Saikaku, was the one who mentioned that the beasts of their forest were born from grief and immense power. The hell travelers can't defeat them. They can only relate to them in a minor way through the Great Loss, the capture of their precious soul. Why did this dragon appear to her?
"You wished to speak with me, dragon?" Meioshi asked in a humble voice.
"Where is thine pride?" the dragon roared with displeasure. "Ye fought with impenetrable armor, with pure heart, with bravery! Ye hath no more room for mercy for thine enemies! Why doth ye come as a mere grasshopper awaiting death from winter's grasp?"
"I don't understand what happened to you!" Meioshi tried, bowing before the dragon. "Why do we have the same enemy? You're from the heavens!"
"I art born from rage and guilt. A child's blood and a father's grief did make me. Greed and lust banished me. My power stripped, made mortal, and thrown into a place I could not reach. Only one of pure heart can lift my sword, but only I can grant them the might to master the sword and avenge me. Stand, hell traveler, Meioshi. Ye shalt not have dominion over my power if thou eateth of the dirt. Restore thine pride as I saw it in the waters. Fix thine resolve to complete my training."
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"This way, Homugi!" Yuko called.
"I'm coming!" Homugi replied, gathering as much harvest into her arms as she could.
It was actually quite a lot, but the other demons of the farmlands were loading up infinitely more material on wagons and carts. Homugi was dressed in a deep pink yukata. Yuko gifted her with hair accessories to pin her hair up into two short ponytails resembling a brush meant for dusting or polishing. Meioshi claimed she looked cuter this way, so she kept her new clothes on and went with Yuko to work at the farm for a little while until the doctor returned. Homugi found she actually didn't mind the work or some of the demons that lived in the farmlands of Heiwa. She liked Yuko, Ichi, Aka, and Mizu Hoseki. Yuko said her husband and sister-in-law had to check on things at the trading company. They were planning a trip overseas, so Homugi didn't get a chance to meet them yet. Lord Aka had visited her after Meioshi spoke to him about her, so he's been teaching her how to farm and harvest. Yuko was teaching her how to tell when a plant is sick or being attacked by bugs. Homugi made quite the scene when she swiped her claws at the bugs to kill them. It was more humorous and cuter than anything, so Yuko and Aka simply chuckled or laughed at her response to the plants needing protection. When she learned that Yuko merely coats the plants in an oil to smother or repel the bugs, Homugi could only blush in embarrassment.
Mizu Hoseki was a different story. He taught her how to clean the guest inns during the night. If there were bugs or repairs that needed to be done, then he simply showed how to treat the infected areas and fix other areas. Homugi sort of liked both jobs and couldn't decide on a favorite thing to do. Both required her to clean and treat problemed areas, which is what she enjoyed doing, so she had no complaints. Today, Yuko said she had to meet Kyoko as she was Meioshi's other nursing apprentice. They were going in the forest so Kyoko could finish Meioshi's taxonomy homework. Plopping her two large vases of produce on the wagon, Homugi let out a sigh before smiling to herself.
"You did good today, Homugi," Yuko said, smiling brightly. "I think the others can handle it from here. Kyoko is probably on her way now."
"Miss Yuko!" a small voice called.
"There she is!" Yuko cheered, taking Homugi's hand and pulling her to meet the little girl.
Homugi lightly laughed and followed Yuko to meet a small human girl. For whatever reason, Kyoko was more pleasant to be around. Homugi had her doubts when she was told about Kyoko. She didn't particularly like Sesshomaru's ward, Rin, when she heard about her. It wasn't because she didn't like kids or anything. It was because everyone at the House of Inu kept comparing her to the little girl and saying how Sesshomaru would rather keep a human child at his side than her. It hurt hearing that, especially when they used to be friends when they were Rin's age, so she never considered trying to help Sesshomaru in any capacity if it meant she had to help Rin. She didn't even care about him anymore or the royal family of the House of Inu. They were as worthless to her as she seemed to be to everyone else, but she was a rogue for a reason now. She didn't have to answer to anyone there anymore. Instead, her loyalties went to Meioshi and whoever she knew. Kyoko was a smart girl just like her teachers. She had life goals and loved to learn new things. Homugi found she liked that about the little girl the most.
"I got my bag!" Kyoko cheered, lifting up her items for the homework assignment. "Sensei said I need to find a snake."
"A s-sn-snake?" Homugi stuttered, turning blue in the face.
"It's okay, Homugi. It'd be a harmless one," Yuko explained, chuckling a bit at Homugi's horrified expression.
"I hate snakes!" Homugi complained, tearing up at the notion of having to find one of those slithering beasts.