Tanjiro was in a black void. Oh Great, another bout of nightmares. The void cleared up, and he was back home on Mount Takao. A familiar smell...
OH GOD. NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-
A distorted carousel melody plays (think the FNAF circus music but really loud and distorted) as the bodies of Tanjiro's family float out of the house, blood gushing out of their open wounds, twisted in inhuman ways, hands being stuffed into their stomach wounds. Eyes rolled to the back of their heads, as the blood kept gushing, their faces contorted into a smile, the cries of agony, screaming, burning, all assaulted Tanjiro's ear drums. A blood red pond was being formed below Tanjiro, sucking him in. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. Then, he was surrounded, not by his family but by 10,000 faces, all mutilated beyond human recognition screaming at him
"M̵͙̳̠̱͖͎̋̾̇̀̒͐͗̈́͝͝͠U̸̝̭͈̯̭̠̥̥̰͈̻͎̒̎ͅR̷̡̡͙̰͚̲̜̒̆̔̀̎́̌̋̄͂̓̂̕͝D̶̡̖͉̱͚̩̂͜Ę̵̛͈̭͔̭͔̳͓̙̓̎͒͂̚Ř̴̨̲̬͙̞̹͓̰̱͉̬̋͛͘E̶̤̱̦͔͕̱̩͎̟̪̮͋̊̇̐͗͑̉̎͂̔͠͝ͅͅŘ̵̝̂̾̂̓͛͐̀̍̽͋͠"
"M̵͙̳̠̱͖͎̋̾̇̀̒͐͗̈́͝͝͠U̸̝̭͈̯̭̠̥̥̰͈̻͎̒̎ͅR̷̡̡͙̰͚̲̜̒̆̔̀̎́̌̋̄͂̓̂̕͝D̶̡̖͉̱͚̩̂͜Ę̵̛͈̭͔̭͔̳͓̙̓̎͒͂̚Ř̴̨̲̬͙̞̹͓̰̱͉̬̋͛͘E̶̤̱̦͔͕̱̩͎̟̪̮͋̊̇̐͗͑̉̎͂̔͠͝ͅͅŘ̵̝̂̾̂̓͛͐̀̍̽͋͠"
"M̵͙̳̠̱͖͎̋̾̇̀̒͐͗̈́͝͝͠U̸̝̭͈̯̭̠̥̥̰͈̻͎̒̎ͅR̷̡̡͙̰͚̲̜̒̆̔̀̎́̌̋̄͂̓̂̕͝D̶̡̖͉̱͚̩̂͜Ę̵̛͈̭͔̭͔̳͓̙̓̎͒͂̚Ř̴̨̲̬͙̞̹͓̰̱͉̬̋͛͘E̶̤̱̦͔͕̱̩͎̟̪̮͋̊̇̐͗͑̉̎͂̔͠͝ͅͅŘ̵̝̂̾̂̓͛͐̀̍̽͋͠"
"M̵͙̳̠̱͖͎̋̾̇̀̒͐͗̈́͝͝͠U̸̝̭͈̯̭̠̥̥̰͈̻͎̒̎ͅR̷̡̡͙̰͚̲̜̒̆̔̀̎́̌̋̄͂̓̂̕͝D̶̡̖͉̱͚̩̂͜Ę̵̛͈̭͔̭͔̳͓̙̓̎͒͂̚Ř̴̨̲̬͙̞̹͓̰̱͉̬̋͛͘E̶̤̱̦͔͕̱̩͎̟̪̮͋̊̇̐͗͑̉̎͂̔͠͝ͅͅŘ̵̝̂̾̂̓͛͐̀̍̽͋͠"
This chant seemed to go on forever as that FUCKING CAROUSEL MUSIC was all he could hear.
"Ţ̴̧̨̧̨̺̖̮̙̻͈̗̤̱̹̹̪͇̀̋͂͊̐̅̊̀̎̃͑̄̚͝͝H̵̡̯̦̙̜̗̗͓̟̟̔͑̄̊̅͛̓̈́͒͜ͅI̴̢̡̧̞̺̺̮̩̪͇̮͚̙̦̭̼͉̘͍͈̝̥͍̲̺͎͒̌̈́́̒͌̊S̵̡̗̤̦͔̹̭̑̆ͅͅ ̴̙̪̜͕͙͛̀̒̈́͐͋̍̐̋̾̑̒̀͑̿̀̔͆͛̕͝͝͝I̷̡̞̞͕̱͙͕͐͂̾̐͋͑͑̇̂͝S̵̛̥͚̤͈͈͎͔̽͑͝ ̴̛̳͊̑̋́̒̓͗͒̆̎̿̒̄̆́̅̆̽͊̋Ÿ̴̢̯͍̮̺̪̖̘̗̖̩̯͚͈̦͙̣̙̞̣̟̦́̒̈́̉͜͠Ơ̸̢̧̩̺̹̗͓̯̭̟̖̟̘̮̣̥̬͓̯̩͖͛̆̅̋̑̈́̓̂̇͒̏̽͜͜͝͝Ų̴̟̻̪̠̞͕̜̱̺͖̖̜̫͚̜̞̿̅̅̌͆̋̊͌̓R̷̡̡̧̧̢̨̛̛͚̬͈̖̰͎̻̗̟̬̯͖̻̳̤̫̉̉̐͋́̀̒͊̃̀͘͝ͅ ̶̨͙͖͖̤̙̗̞͕̳̘̳̦͚͚͕͍̹̺͇̬͕͈͕̱̬́̉͗̿̒͆̐̓̉̏̂̇͑̐̎͐͂̑̀̿́̆̍͜͝͠͝͠͠F̶̥̲̩̼͇̯͕͙̼̞̫͕͚͎̬͈̈́̿̍̂͗̆̑͐̿̿̈́̽̑́͌̊̀̿̑̚͘̚ͅĄ̸̧͍͖̙͈͎̩͎͚̂͆̈̀̊̈͌́̌̈́̌̍̋͆̔̉̓͆̂́͋͂̀̉͐̚̕͝Ų̴̤̝͔̥̫̬͍͖̬̭̒͛̒̽̐͒̍̍̑̀̓̏̑̍͐̎͝͝L̷̛͖̲̗̩̝̣̘͓̔̓̅̇̃͆̓̉̈́̒̓̆͒͂̀͗́̅͌͘̚͘̕͘͠Ţ̶̤̙̹̤̤̬̭͈͔̥̙͇̜̏̍̀͊́̃̓̎̊͆̀͐͘̕͘͝͠.̵̢̤̫͎̜̙̙͙̬̫͚̦̘̤̘̠̤͈͇̆̓͑̀̿̑͆͜͝ ̷̢̛̫̆̾́̏̍̉̿͑̇̒̇́̎͛̚͘Y̸̨̢̧̧̛̰͖͍̜̟͎͓̩̺͉̭̜̱̞̳̤̣̜̭̘͋͐̃̃͒͒͋ͅǪ̴̡̢̼̤̖̬̰̝̗͙̗̰̣̳͇͍̮̜̤͙̉̐̓͐̈̌͂̿̐̉͜͜Ų̴͉̱̠̘͉̫̯͛̏̋͂̈́̿͋͗̂̌̈́̀̏̉̂̈́̕̚͝ ̵̡̢̨͔̳͚̝̟̻̳̝̤̻̦̗̺͙̟͕͕̱̗̲̜̤̦̭͙͊̿̔̎̓̅͂̇͊͒̄̓̓̈́͌̾̐́̒D̴͕̲̫͖̱̺̱̟̗̝̥͕̪͕̘͕̪͓̭̖̼̘̝̹̲̤̾͒̉̿̍̍̚͜Í̵̢͇̰͚̥̩̗̭̫̈̎̄̐͛͆̇̔̏̀̉͑̀̄̊̓̇͑͝ͅD̴̢͇̼̬̞̪͑͋͌́̇̽͛̔̈́̀̎̾͑̌̈́ ̵̡̧̬̝̼͍̺̜͔́T̷̨̡͙̠̠͙̣̰̯͎̣̱͚̪̞̐͐̃̐̾̔̀͊ͅH̶̛̠̦̭̜̞̝̻̠̪̮̻͖̭̓̇̔͋̇̐͊͒̏̾̃̑̅͐̃̈́͒̋̐̈́̐͛̚̚I̸̧̨̼̹̠̘̙̠̦͍̘̰͎̪̜͚͉͚͈̠̜̩̟͍͌̍͆̽̀͆̒̈́̀͋̐̎̐̒̃͌̇̅̇̂́̒̋̍͗͘͝S̸̢̧̺̜͕̣̠̰͈̘̺̘̜̯͎̺̖̱̅͊́́͊̌͂͗̏̎̃̆́̃̇̊̚͜͜͝.̸̲͔͔͇͓̜̞͛̔̓̋̀̅̎̒̈́̒̔́͊̽͌̆̓̔̌͊͘̚͠͠"
At this rate, Tanjiro couldn't even understand what was being said. It all sounded so garbled and warped. Like he was stuck in his own eternal Hell.
As if he had spoken too soon, flames began to lick at his skin. The only thing that managed to break through was his screams as the fire enveloped him, and the laughs of the 10,000 he had killed. No matter how many times he begged, it just got WORSE. First, his Hanafuda earrings burned away, then his skin, his hair, his muscles. Nothing was left. Then, he woke up with a shout. He was sleeping in a makeshift tent, nothing but sand for his bed, and pillow. Just adjacent to another. Richtofen's tent. The sun was rising.
'Fucking great. Not a lick of sleep.'
After waking up, and still hearing the carousel melody, Tanjiro fakes a smile and exits his tent (if you could call it that), having slept with his equipment on. The moment he saw Richtofen, his smile faltered to his regular stoic face.
"If you're gonna smile, smile genuinely at least, 'could see from a mile you're faking it." Richtofen mutters, shrugging.
Tanjiro sighs."Yeah, morning to you, too, smartass." Tanjiro snarks.
"Don't call me that." Richtofen says.
"Don't call me 'Jap'." Tanjiro mutters.
"Ok, then what should I call you, cuz I'm sure as hell not pronouncing your actual name." Richtofen exclaims.
"Well too bad." Tanjiro says, raising his voice a bit.
Richtofen spots Tanjiro's Hanafuda earrings.
"Those things look ancient. You'd make a fortune selling that thing." Richtofen mutters, as Tanjiro glares at him.
"These are NOT on sale." Tanjiro says harshly.
Richtofen shrugs. "Your financial funeral." He says, spotting a coyote not too far off.
"Finally, something to eat." Richtofen mutters, taking his rifle off of the sling on his back, but Tanjiro stops him.
"Don't shoot it, you'll ruin the kill. That is not a hunting rifle."
"Fine, perfectionist." Richtofen snarks.
Tanjiro takes out a hunting dagger from its holster.
"Watch and learn, German." Tanjiro snarks, dashing off, kicking up dust.
"Jesus, how fast is that guy?" Richtofen coughs.
Just a moment later, Tanjiro comes back with a dead and skinned coyote
"Annnnnd, here's breakfast."
"Ok, who's gonna cook it. Definitely not me, I'd burn the whole fucking desert down. Not that there's much to burn anyway. I mean, at least you'd die." Richtofen says.
Tanjiro softly sighs. "Fine, I'll do it. I hate you for this." Tanjiro says, walking past him.
"I thought you already hated me. You learn something new everyday." Richtofen bites back.
An hour later, and the two are walking in the desert blindly once again, stumbling upon a train wreckage, filled with Ottoman soldiers.
"Wait, those are Ottoman soldiers. We're not in Africa." Richtofen mutters.
"Alright, I'll go clear the outpost."
"Wait, no!" Richtofen shouts, but Tanjiro was long gone.
"Gott verdammt Jap..." Richtofen mutters.
Tanjiro leaps off of one of the train car roof, and like a graceful angel, decapitates the first Ottoman infantryman.
"Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After The Drought. At ease." Tanjiro mutters, skidding on the ground, dashing off, using Striking Tide to decapitate the rest, then sheathing his sword as they fall. The smell of blood in the air, the wounds gushing out with blood. Something Tanjiro got used to. It was something a soldier got used to. But the bodies morphed into something much different. His friends, his family.
Kanao.
But the hallucination only lasted a split-second, and they were gone.
"Oh yeah, we haven't checked the train." Tanjiro says, kicking the door open.
"How very subtle." Richtofen says, having slid down a sand dune to get to where Tanjiro is, spotting 1 Ottoman officer, as Tanjiro walks up to him, pointing his Nambu pistol to his head.
"Alright, you're gonna tell me what's behind door number 1, or I'll blast your brain out." Tanjiro muses, as the officer caves in like an unstable house.
"Alright, alright! Just don't shoot. It's ammunition. A whole cache of weapons and supplies." The officer caves, as Tanjiro says
"Yeah, I have a feeling you're lying, but thanks anyway." Tanjiro says, shooting the officer in the leg, then kicking open the door, killing all of the Ottoman soldiers present in the room, with a Water Surface Slash.
Tanjiro picks up a book.
"All of this for a book?" He muses.
"I'd need that book, 'Ghost.'" A British voice echoes from the darkness.
"Lawrence of Arabia. Long time no see." Tanjiro says.
"Tell me, why are you working with the enemy?" Lawrence questions
"Very long story." Tanjiro says. "Let's just say.... He's a forced acquaintance."
"Yes, yes. I'll need the book. Very crucial to the cause." Lawrence says.
"And what might that be?" Richtofen adds.
"He can speak English?" Lawrence says.
"Yes." Richtofen answers.
"The rebellion. I am part of the Bedouin. We fight against the Ottomans. For your age, you're quite capable. We'd need someone like you." Lawrence says, staring at Tanjiro, making eye contact.
"You son of a bitch.... Count me in." Tanjiro says, shaking hands and embracing.
"I'll go too, I guess" Richtofen sighs.
"Welcome to the fight, both of you."
"Let's see if this rebellion is worth its weight." Tanjiro muses.