Blood Moon

Chapter 4 - Hearts of Stone

"A new mission?" you ask. A cold wind blows and you wish you had the crow on your arm as its voice is drowned out.

"A mission! To investigate the whereabouts of Muzan Kibitsuji!"

"Mu - " you break off with a gasp, having almost uttered your father's name by mistake, cut off by an immense feeling of vertigo, as though standing on the precipice of a large and intimidating cliff. You suck in a deep breath and continue calmly, "My father? What?"

If a crow could roll its eyes, this one would. "Yes, slow child, the one who birthed you, the one who brought you into this dark, cruel world. Your mission is to investigate his whereabouts. You leave tonight." The crow flies off into the sky, ebony wings blending in with the near-sunrise darkness. A single feather comes to rest by your feet - you pick it up and watch the moonlight shine on it, before making your way back into the house.

***

Inside the house, you do your best to avoid the writing on the wall, as well as to ignore the heavy stench of congealed blood on the floor. Even so, the smell makes you sick with excitement, which in turn makes you feel sick at yourself for feeling this way.

In a side room that nobody has entered, you kneel in front of the broken sword of Rengoku. Only the hilt and a small bit of the blade remains - his blade guard was returned to somebody else - but it feels as though a little bit of his spirit stays smiling down on you. "I'm leaving, sensei." Your voice is hushed as though trying not to disturb a sleeping person in the room. "I assume I'll be back, but if I'm not... I wish I could say that I'd see you in heaven, but we both know that I'm not going there." You smile crookedly but your voice breaks. Standing up, you smile again, futilely mimicking the way that Rengoku used to smile at you. "See you soon. Hopefully."

Walking down the mountain, trying to hold back tears, and calculating the amount of time it will take you to make it to the Tera Temple, your thoughts are interrupted by a scream. A human scream. You clamber down the rest of the mountain path, stumbling and flicking your Nichirn blade from your sheath to your dominant hand.

"HELP! HELP!"

The scream urges you to go faster until you finally arrive at a gruesome scene. A young boy, about thirteen, maybe fourteen at most, voice unbroken by puberty and so high and frantic bats at the wrist of a demon, who has their own hand enclosed around his frail wrist. Any harder and the boy's wrist could snap. Without thinking, you spur yourself into action. "Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire!" You dash towards the demon, and your haori takes flight behind you, flowing invisibly as flame erupts from your blade and you sever the hand off of the demon. Blood spurts from the wound as they turn around to look with confusion at you, and then a slow smile spreads across their face.

"Muzan's child?" In its crazed smile and bloodshot eyes, you immediately see a difficult fight coming your way - demons like this often have hearts of stone, incapable of not killing anyone. "I'm going to have fun with you!"