One With Nature

Snake's Poison: 2

"Zack, my sword broke."

I stared at Yang as she held two halves of her broken sword. We came back from her first fight not even a few hours ago.

"What happened?" I asked as I took the broken weapon.

"It just... broke," Yang replied, looking down for her weapon.

I knew she wasn't lying because she's a godforsaken lier. So, I guess this thing DID suddenly break out of nowhere, but how?

"It looked fine before the fight, and it didn't seem to take enough damage to break during that," I commented while looking over the two halves. "Wait, is that..." I trailed off as I saw something.

There... lines across the sword. They looked like the lines a liquid would leave after it dries up and leaves trails, but the metal was gone from there instead of leaving marks.

Wait, does that mean Orochi's poison did this? Is that stuff so potent it ate through a solid object like metal? This makes me wonder what it can do to living things.

"Okay, let's get this fixed up," I turned my hands into metal, melded the pieces back together, and then filled the hallowed places with new metal. "There you go," I said, giving Yang her weapon back.

She took her sword with a smile and went to near the bond to train. She took the beginners' stance that Yu taught her and began repeating the same swing over and over again.

"So, what's your plan for her now?" I asked Yu as she poured herself a glass of wine.

"Find more stuff for her to kill," Yu replied like she was talking about the weather.

"That's it?"

"Do YOU have any better ideas? If I go anymore serious while training her, I might actually hurt her, and she won't fight you," Yu is a very angry person who complains a lot and that just makes it more annoying when she makes sense.

The next day, we started looking around for anything else for Yang to fight, which wasn't hard since both me and Yu can sense for anything around us. Though, there WAS a little problem with what we found.

It was a giant tiger-thing? It definitely wasn't a normal tiger judging by the size, the blue fur, and the red glowing eyes.

The problem? It was attacking a human village.

"Okay, time for work," I said as I stepped forward only for Yu to stop me with her hand. "Not this again. I know you don't like humans but-"

"No, not that. Let's leave the brat to handle this," Yu replied and I looked at her surprise.

"But-"

"You taught her to not attack humans, didn't you? She should be enough to handle that thing without hurting anyone," she said back.

I glared at her for a few seconds but relented. "Yang, be careful and avoid the humans," I groaned out.

Yang nodded and pulled out her newly repaired sword. She charged forward towards the tiger just as it started attacking another house.

"What is that thing?" I asked Yu.

"Remember how I said malicious spirits can turn to demons?" Yu asked and I nodded. "Well, sometimes, they would instead possess animals and corrupt them."

Third POV:

Yang charged into the the corrupt animal just as it tore down the wall of the house it was attacking. Humans had already either ran away or hid in their homes.

Jumping when she got close, Yang landed on the tiger's back and stabbed her sword in. The beast roared in pain and began attempting to shake off its attacker.

Yang jumped off and landed in the middle of the village. The tiger forgot about the house and turned to face her. She held her sword in both hands and glared at the tiger who glared back.

The tiger charged forward and Yang steeled herself and raised her sword. She blocked a strike from its claws but the strength behind it still sent her skidding backwards.

Another strike from the tiger's claws, and this time, Yang rolled under the strike and slashed at the tiger's armpit. She was not able to cut throw the limb, but she still managed to cut deep enough to render it useless.

The tiger roared in pain and attempted to bite off Yang's head. The Oni hybrid raised her blade and was able to make sure that the tiger bit into metal instead of flesh. The tiger glared at her while her weapon was between its teeth. Yang glared back and, without her realising, Orochi's poison began covering the weapon again and seeping into the tiger's mouth.

The tiger let go of the blade and jumped back with one of its limbs just dangling. It began groaning while shaking its head and blood seeped from it's mouth.

Yang did not understand the tiger's problem, but Yu taught her to always take her chance. Taking up her usual, basic pose while holding her sword with both hands in front of her, Yang steeled herself and charged forward.

Raising her sword, Yang swung in a single straight line downwards with great strength at her opponent, which managed to cleave the tiger's head in half.

The tiger's body stopped moving completely before falling down with a large thud. Yang panted as she saw her work and smiled in victory.

Suddenly, cheering was heard. Yang looked as she saw the people of the village all looking at her in praise.

Yang looked at them in confusion... before she glared. "Why... did you not fight... to defend yourself...?"

A powerful gust of wind blew through the area and covered the whole village with dust. When it was gone, Yang was no where to be found.

Yang blinked and found herself in Zack's arms. "Great job, Yang," he praised as he sat her down. She just kept looking at the ground. "What's wrong?"

Yang glared at the human village that now was at the distance. "Why didn't they fight? Why did they not defend themselves?"

"Because they were scared?" Zack replied, sounding a little confused.

"Then why don't they try to be stronger to not be scared?" She asked again.

"I don't know. I guess they just never thought of it," Zack scratched his head and hoped his reply would suffice, but Yang kept glaring. "Hey, come on. Why don't we make a big dinner with 'borrowed' spices from Yu? That always cheers you up."

Yang's glare faltered before she took a deep breath and smiled at Zack with a nod. They both turned towards the direction of the cave - which is where Yu headed since she did not have her cloak and humans began gathering - and began walking towards it in silence.

*snap*

Until a single sound broke through the area.

"Zack, my sword broke again."

"I can see that."

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