"Enter the threshold..."
Meioshi walked forward, feeling a sense of foreboding come over her. It was quieter near the family home than it was by her estate. That shouldn't have been possible, but it made her heart pound a bit harder. She continued to walk through the trees lining the cliff, only turning to her sides to analyze the area in search of this haunting predator possibly in her family's home. Crunching of dead grass and leaves echoed in the vacuum of silence before rumbling finally sounded. The ground began to vibrate a little until quaking intensified enough to bring Meioshi to her knees to try to stabilize herself. Abruptly, a distorted figure of light and stripes swiped at her, and she just barely dodged it. Some of her hair was cut from the rapid swipe. A towering creature with piercing, glassy eyes and misshapen stripes along what was possibly its body knocked down several trees before sinking back into the darkness to obscure her visual of it. Whatever the creature was, it wasn't a youkai at all. This creature had mianyi like Meioshi and a large amount of it. There was no way she could fight this thing! She used up every ounce of her might!
"Do not insult me!" a familiar voice said.
Baohu qi Voluptatis appeared in her hand before she could even respond. The time it took for her to look down was enough for the distorted creature to lunge at her. She was hit with a bone-crushing blow that knocked the wind out of her. Only a scream and a grunt managed to escape her. Her back slammed against several trees before she plummeted to the ground, coughing up air from the hit. Her injury brought the sword to life, however, and it started to glow intensely. Before the beast could strike, an ice wall had formed and the sword reached out to the Dai Fubuki blade. Together, both weapons formed armor around her torso, a helmet, and a bow with no arrows.
"Stand, my friend," the soft voice of the Nameless General commanded.
Her legs may as well have been jelly from the blow. Her knees shook violently as she forced herself to stand. She only had a moment to look down at her armor before she felt a surge of power wash over her. It wasn't hers. It didn't feel like the Nameless General's reiki either. Though his reiki was covering her through the armor and bow, she reasoned that the lurking beast of the divine arctic sword was lending her its might. The ice shield it formed was large like one of its scales. The distorted beast struck at the shield again with enough force to make the shield close its distance between it and Meioshi. This enraged the dragon of the sword and made him unleash a wave of power that filled Meioshi's very core. It was like being possessed by the Netherland wolf again, but this was much worse and far more intimidating. This dragon was an easily angered one when something dared to challenge its might. Her eyes glowed and her pupils changed from a human's roundness to a dragon's slant. She could even feel herself go from confused and scared to angry and insulted. Those who command the ice seemed to share the same personality from what the doctor could gather. They did not like losing whatsoever, whereas the doctor invited loss if it meant she could learn another technique or train to be better.
"You are too noble, hell traveler," the dragon said through Meioshi's voice. "No wonder you attract certain men."
Huh? Meioshi thought, feeling a playful energy coming from the Dai Fubuki blade. Are you both teasing? Right now? We've no time for this!
"Show me your strength!" the dragon commanded, dropping the shield and infusing the sword with snow gust energy.
Meioshi nodded and lunged forward simultaneously with the distorted beast. Blade and claw clashed in a power struggle until Meioshi couldn't take much more of the clashing mianyi and reiki if the dragon was even using such power. She quickly leapt away from the beast and ran around it to escape a tackle. Using melee tactics, she focused on devising a plan to make the beast less of a distorted blending of light and stripe. It heavily relied on powerful strikes, so she had to avoid any lunge attacks. Delivering a critical blow to the beast's arm, or at least something resembling an arm, she took notice the stripes responding to the blows. They shook and flashed like a flickering flame being blown at too softly. The shaking of the stripes came to a halt when one of the arms had stripes settling on it. That made guessing at the creature's identity much easier. She barely had a chance to make a solid guess before the beast came at her with even greater force. The dragon took over in dodging this time. Meioshi felt her legs being carried before she swept off her feet. Her vision tunneled and she suddenly found herself a good distance away from the distorted opponent. What just happened?
She was closer to the beast's hind legs now. If the stripes weren't distorted before, they were painful to look at now. The light was searing! The dragon let out an unimpressed harrumph before it released a breath of shadow from Meioshi's mouth into the air. The dragon practically controlled this part of the fight. it made Meioshi run again before sweeping her off her feet, but she was able to control the sword on her own. Whatever the dragon was doing must have been evasion tactics. She had no idea what was going on.
"He's making you shapeshift, my friend," the Nameless General explained. "He's helping you gain enough momentum to transform you into him so that you can move quickly. This strange creature you're against is using a lot of power. You need to evade its strikes as best as you can. You'll only be able to do that with agility. You can't see it where you are, but the creature does have one weak point. I think when you straightened its stripes, the light it was emanating to overload your senses dimmed up. That's why you can see one of its arms now. I will lend my strength if you can continue to straighten its stripes. You'll have to make an arrow or find one somehow. Something's stopping me from creating an arrow myself and stopping the dragon from fighting in your place. Our strength is usable, but this is not our fight."
"It's... mine," Meioshi whispered to herself.
She was meant to fight this creature without power. Gaining a new resolve, she very quickly performed the kage o tasuo ritual simply to analyze the beast's fighting pattern. Accepting the strength of her friends, hearing the dragon let out a hmph at the notion of being called such, she took some deep breaths... and became one with the dragon. This time, she gave herself the momentum she needed and... as the Nameless General had explained, she felt herself be covered in the dragon's scale armor before her body elongated, her nails broke in half vertically to extend into claws, and her teeth lengthened and sharpened into fangs. In a burst of snow and shadow, she did turn into a silvery dragon! She nodded, timed her strikes, and became an equal match to the distorted beast. Claw and sword met in almost each strike. Stripe and light became less distorted. Before long, the beast went from being unseeable to a fully realized, fully armored... tiger with the hell traveler's mark on its forehead!
"That's it!" the Nameless General called, bow glowing with power. "Strike that symbol!"
"But that's... my family crest!" Meioshi said, taking a mighty blow from the metal tiger.
Letting out a yelp from the blow, the tiger let out a mighty roar to call upon the winds of heaven. He breathed in, filling his chest, looked down and shot out a blast of wind that sent Meioshi flying into an unknown place outside of the tree line. Wherever they were, the walls or surrounding area was curving and undulating with exception to what appeared to be glass flooring. The tiger towered over her with a snarl before pouncing at her. She hurried to her feet to barrel roll out of reach of the creature, but she doubted she would be able to hit the creature's forehead with no arrow or easier way to get to its head. There had to be something she was missing. The Nameless General wouldn't have formed a bow for her to use if there was no way for her to create or use an arrow. Dodging another blow and shapeshifting to circle the metal tiger, Meioshi spotted a pool of light in the tiger's hind leg. Taking a huge risk, she rushed over to it and plunged her dragon claw into the spot. From it, an arrow made of bamboo had come out and the beast was furious. It swiped at her one good time, knocking the wind out of her and rushed at her for another blow. She shapeshifted again, took the Nameless General's bow from her back, aimed... and fired at the crest.
"Child of Unmei, stand down from your post!" Meioshi shouted, watching the tiger respond to the title.
The arrow sunk into its head, causing a bright light to burn Meioshi's eyes. Before she knew it, she was standing in the grove of snowbell trees. She searched around to make sure she wasn't dead or crazy, and a man's hand touched her shoulder to turn her to him. He was quite a handsome, young man! Smiling softly at her, he saluted her and said, "You did well, daughter of Unmei. It's me. Oyakawa."
"Father Oyakawa!" Meioshi said, running into her forefather's arms. She had read his letters and spoken to him before. He was a goofy fellow who loved to laugh and make others laugh. Who knew he could be so fearsome as a fighter? Meioshi asked sweetly, "What on Earth are you doing here, Father Oyakawa?"
She earned a light pat on her head and a joyful wink from her ancestor. Oyakawa was Unmei's grandson. His letters explained the hell traveler's training grounds and teachers. When a hell traveler receives the Gosuto~ingu marking, many things are set in motion. The immediate predecessor begins training the next in line on everything that was done while they were in power whether that's performing exorcisms like Saikaku, Oyakawa's father, or military service to Heiwa's emperor like Unmei. Oyakawa was ironically a theatre performer who specialized in comedy and historical satire for the emperor, but he was quite adept at self-defense, and he learned a great deal about the Forest of Lurking Beasts and the fate of hell traveler after his or her enemy was defeated. The hell travelers do not go through a "normal" death. They instead go through a sort of trade. Unmei had passed on when Oyakawa was merely a toddler. It was believed that Shanwang had killed him when Saikaku's wife had presented herself to the king oni, but Oyakawa was the first to deny this. He clearly stated that when it was his turn to travel to the sentry, he was reunited with Unmei, but his beloved grandfather had taken on a different form. His soul was released from his body and transformed into what is called a zodiac beast. To become the next in line, the successor must defeat his or her predecessor in a small scuffle and claim their seat among the hell travelers. Unmei was the rat much like the first of the Chinese zodiac.
Oyakawa discovered that hell travelers receive teachers through the gods. Unmei had the general of the Heiwan army, Saikaku had a Shinto priest, and Oyakawa had a master archer as his instructor in battle. Right then, Meioshi realized why the bow and arrow worked for her fight against her ancestor. He was a master archer during his time. Of course, Meioshi had her own instructor who she missed greatly now that she was thinking about her. Yes, Kirameku Ha was her sensei in learning to fight with mianyi, Shishou was her sensei as well in learning to fight wiith spiritual balance, and Kaede was her sensei in the art of medicine, but there was one teacher who shone above the rest. She wondered if she would see her again soon. Her teacher did mention to her once that she felt a pull and warmth in her soul when she first laid eyes on Meioshi as a child. "It was as if someone was taking my hand to lead me to you," was what she said.
"To train you, of course!" Oyakawa said cheerfully. "Though I'm sad now."
"Why?" Meioshi questioned, pouting cutely.
"I see no food in your arms," Oyakawa answered, turning away playfully. "No snacks, no snacks!"
"Well, I didn't know you were coming!" Meioshi tried, eyes tearing up. "You know I would've brought you something if I knew!"
"I can't tell. You haven't been up here in years. Look at my snowbell trees! Rotted and ruined!" Oyakawa complained, pointing to his pair of snowbells. Each hell traveler receives a pair of snowbell trees along the path to the sentry. He was right. They were shredded to... well, hell. Meioshi sighed at this and looked at the path. All broken and burned stones defined the pathway now. The goofy ancestor could see that his descendent was heartbroken by the loss. It was only fair that he be the one to cheer her up. He had more grave news to tell her now. He then said, "We do not guilt you, daughter."
"I wish you would," Meioshi said quietly.
"Daughter," Oyakawa said firmly, making Meioshi straighten up. Though silly by nature, the man had a stern father's voice. He then continued, "You were chosen to act in our place as hell traveler for a reason. Sulking was not it. Straighten yourself."
"Yes, father," Meioshi said, obeying his command. See? Stern.
"My visit this night was not all about training. It is your time to release us. All of us," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Father, I'm not ready to say goodbye," Meioshi said almost weakly, heart sinking at who she had to release to the sentry. "Please... I..."
"Why do you fear them so much, daughter?" Oyakawa asked, taking Meioshi's face into his hands and wiping her tears away. "They do not guilt you."
"But how did he infiltrate our bloodline, father?" Meioshi questioned, shaking. "It should've been impossible, but it wasn't! He hurt them! That evil man killed my family! He even tried to kill you! The only reason he couldn't was because Shanwang stopped him! Why? How? Tell me, father! TELL ME! I need you to hate me! I let him fool me! I let him! HATE ME! I hate me... I guilt me, father..."
"You dare insult us by claiming the crimes of our enemy!" Oyakawa shouted, frightening Meioshi with the boom of his voice and burst of power washing over her. "You are a daughter of Unmei! Your might quakes the earth, strikes fear into the land of the dead, opens the heavens, and forces the worlds in-between them all to bow! Do not dismiss your bloodline to the lowly level of fools! We were chosen by the gods to right the wrongs of those who dare to cross the lines of fate! Stand on your feet or we will hate you for betraying our line for your own sniveling!"
Meioshi let out her last sob, cowered for the last time, and took some deep breaths. He was right. She couldn't keep blaming herself for something that was premeditated for years. She couldn't keep hating herself for what Sojuro (or Hidorobo) had done to her and to her family. It was her time to fight. It was her time to end this. It was her time to follow her own teachings. Her family was forgiving her for not knowing about the attack. It was time she did the same. She slowly nodded, wiping whatever tears were left, and stood strong before Oyakawa. His tiger eyes were impressive to say the least. When his power calmed down, he heard a scuffle in the distance and furrowed his brow at the clashing of power beyond the cliff. What on Earth was that?
He shook his head, dismissing it as nothing more than beasts quarreling over something simple, and continued, "Return to our shrine, daughter of Unmei. The kings of the Netherworld must decide your reach in their kingdoms."
"They've entered the mortal realm?" Meioshi shouted more than questioned, horrified at this knowledge.
"No, only our shrine," Oyakawa replied, turning to the direction of said building.
Just as he spoke the words, billowing and green smoke surrounded her. The sounds of running and rustling soon followed after that. Meioshi knew which king this was. Of all the creatures in existence, she hated and feared him the most. She would do anything to not be his servant. Goblins and pallbearers surrounded them until Oyakawa disappeared to the sentry. He gave Meioshi a reassuring kiss on her forehead before he was gone and lighting up torches. Abruptly, vines wrapped around Meioshi's neck and arms to trap her as her worst nightmare emerged from the smoke. His mask was that of a broken skeleton and the crown on his head was a tricorn piece in the style of horns. It was bejeweled with orange stones and gold. His bottom jaw was toothy and menacing, but it was very familiar to Meioshi. After all, this abomination of a man transformed her into the Netherworld predator. Laughter and drumbeats could be heard. Clacking of drumsticks sounded the king's approach. His armor was a spectacle: wide and plated like castle walls, spiked at the shoulders to pull them back, and accentuated with a cape that flowed like the river of the dead. He flashed closer to his prey.
Meioshi tried to stop shaking in front of him, but she just couldn't in his presence. The air around him was so cold. He had no remorse in his orange, spidery eyes. Removing his mask, he transformed into a handsome man with a fanged mouth and sweet, pink lips. His hair was a smoky grey and his skin ghostly pale. Observing his prey, he walked around her in a stalking manner and yanked the vine around her neck to make her body lay flat. His clawed hand then caressed her cheek and jaw before escaping to her neck, bosom, stomach, and hip. When he dropped his hand, he tsked at her and locked eyes with her.
"This attire is not fitting for my visits," he hissed. "How do you intend to be my queen?"
"I will never be your queen!" Meioshi growled, eyes glowing orange like his. The vines tightened their grip on her. "Why are you here, Biancheng?"
"You took some very priceless souls out of our domain, queen," Biancheng replied, dragging his nails up her body. "Kuroi Nurikabe should have been mine once he perished. Where is his soul?"
"It was purified at the hinoki tree," Meioshi answered, struggling to breathe.
"Don't be coy, little queen. Did you forget it is I whom you serve? Where is my soul?" Biancheng questioned, leaning over Meioshi's body.
Meioshi shook to her core with the question. The air was getting colder. She was practically freezing. She closed her eyes to calm herself and think of warm thoughts before opening her eyes to the piercing gaze of the king of hell. She said through grunts from the pulling vines, "I spared what remained in exchange for a shield."
"Shield?" Biancheng questioned, lifting a brow.
"One piece of the black wall demon became pure. Within was a strong desire to protect. He committed great crimes, yes, but he was kind to me before."
"Take a wild guess on the value of his soul now that you've taken him from the Frost King," Biancheng growled, eyes widening slightly with anger.
"I don't know."
"He had just gained the rank of titan before you purified him. His soul was worth over 160,000 kurogane alone. His rank earned him a new value that now must be replaced."
"That's why you released Rakuyama before?" Meioshi questioned, heart thumping from the king's anger rising.
"Brother released her to find the black wall's killer. I had only a suspicion that you were involved. Imagine my lack of surprise when you delivered Rosanjin and now the akashita demon against the pallbearer's orders to our threshold. Both worth a fine price, but it is not enough. You owe us 50 souls...," Biancheng explained. He kissed Meioshi's lips softly and growled lowly, "under a few conditions, of course. Dress appropriately when I next visit. Restore the balance that was disrupted, and I may grant you access to a new weapon. The kings have decided to give you a chance with investigating Tetsuzan's murder. You will be informed of our findings through the pallbearers. Before I go... your powers need to be restored for our missing souls. 22,000 stones worth."
"That's nearly impossible!" Meioshi complained, struggling to move out of the vines.
Biancheng lifted his mask, eyes glowing with anticipation, and lowered the item to Meioshi's face. The doctor tried to move to escape him, but she was as trapped as a rat in a cage. Sharp veins curled out of the mask like crawling maggots, making the woman's eyes widen with fear. They shot out and stabbed the doctor in her eyes, draining blood and power directly from them, before the mask closed on her face. A boisterous roar bellowed from her soul and echoed into the night.