The One Demon Night Parade

Chapter One - Yokai

A long, long time ago, when the Sage of Six Paths walked the earth, he was displeased with the Yokai. They were everywhere. They hurt his people.

So the Sage of Six Paths hunted them down. A final Yokai stood in his way - only it wasn't a Yokai. The Ten Tailed Beast was no Yokai. It was a chakra beast.

After sealing the Ten Tailed Beast within himself, he attained greater power. The few Yokai that remained stood no chance. The bakeneko, the tengu, the kitsune, the yurei - gone. He then blessed the remaining living creatures so there would be no more Yokai.

And many years have passed since then. Eventually, the Ten Tails had grown too much for the Sage. He split the Ten Tails into nine beasts, and shaped them in the Yokai's image. However, the Sage missed several Yokai in his lifetime. Most had died on their own, or had been destroyed by other means. The point must be repeated: most.

A great trembling woke me. I opened my eyes to see dirt and I nervously shifted around. I was buried. Where had the river gone? I thought I went to sleep in the river! Or maybe I passed out for several years. More like several decades. I wiggled my way out of the dirt and noticed I was in a forest. Huh. How long was I asleep again? I supposed I should ask someone for the year, but I doubt it would make sense to me.

I then paused and changed my form to that of a little boy. I shook my head wildly, and glanced at my hands. My magic had grown stronger while I slept. How old was I now? I shrugged my childlike body. I glanced at my hair and noted it was silky and blonde. Surprisingly silky. I assumed my eyes would be a dark brown, like freshly-tilled earth. I noted I was also thirsty. I must've spent many years without water.

Then I remembered why I was awake. The ground shook again, and I ran to it. I materialized a white kimono around myself as I ran. Typically this is how one dies. However, I had confidence I would not. If I managed to escape the Sage, I would manage to escape whatever... This was.

I found myself staring up at a giant orange Kitsune and a Tanuki. I blinked rapidly and tilted my head. No, those weren't Yokai. They didn't have the aura that a Yokai does. Are those the- what were they called? As I racked my brain for the words, a girl's voice calls out to me.

"You! It's dangerous to be over here," a blonde girl jumped toward me, looking bruised and battered. I squeaked from surprise as I looked her over. Why is she wearing a shiny metal plate on her neck? It had a weird symbol on it. Why was she not wearing a kimono? She was sort of wearing one. Her hair was up in four parts. What a weird hairstyle. "Where are your parents?"

The question surprised me. I made odd sounds at her, unable to reply. It appears time had not heightened my conversational skills. She stared at me as if I was an eccentricity. I didn't blame her.

I finally came up with words and so I replied, "Kawa doesn't know." I had no other words. I didn't know what to say! Conversation is hard! The girl stared at me for my response.

"You really shouldn't be here, Gaara might-" she then gasped and forced me to duck down as air whooshed passed us. My eyes widened. What is this ability? It wasn't magic! And this human protected me. I liked this human. Again, air attacked us, but this time we couldn't avoid it by ducking. She drew a large fan, but I popped in front of her. Dark magic swirled around me and I deflected the wind back where it came from. The tanuki let out a loud yell of pain and annoyance. I tilted my head.

"Tanuki-san isn't very nice if he's attacking Kawa and big sister," I pouted. Then I remembered I was standing in front of a human. Humans don't like Yokai. I turned around, fearful she hated me now. She was staring at me with wide eyes.

"You- what the hell did you do?" She asked me, taking a step back. I drooped my head.

"Big sister, are you afraid of Kawa now?" I trembled. "Kawa wanted to help..." She seemed confused that I could deflect one of those air bullets yet act this way. It wasn't my fault I acted this way!

"Er, no, I'm not afraid- just explain to me what you did, okay?" I nodded and sniffed, wiping away a stray tear.

"Kawa knows magic, so Kawa used magic to protect big sister!" I said. The girl seemed confused.

"Magic? Do you mean chakra?" She asked.

"Cat-ra? Kawa used magic, not cat-ra. Kawa not know what cat-ra is," I told her, equally confused. What is this cat-ra? Just how much of history had I missed?

"It's chakra, not cat-ra," she sighed at me. "I'm pretty sure you used chakra, but I don't know how. And I didn't even sense you use it."

"That's because Kawa used magic, not - um," I paused. The word was foreign to me. "Chakra," I sounded out slowly. She shook her head.

"Whatever. You need to get out of here -" she was interrupted by the tanuki collapsing into sand. A young redhaired boy fell as well, and I wondered if he was going to die.

"Gaara!" The blonde girl screamed and ran toward the falling boy. The kitsune was gone. I supposed I missed its disappearance. I followed the blonde girl, curious about the redheaded boy. The blonde girl called him Gaara. Was he the tanuki? Can a tanuki grow to that size then shapeshift to that tiny form?

No, I already confirmed they weren't Yokai. Does this have something to do with the chakra stuff the blonde girl mentioned? We arrived to where the redheaded boy landed. I noticed another boy with yellow blonde hair. It really was a shockingly bright color.

They had a conversation about friendship and growing stronger from bonds while I watched them silently. The blonde girl seemed to forget I was there, while I watched them. Normally, with this many people in the forest, there would be Yokai nearby.

But they were all gone. Who knows where the others went? I wish I knew. I cursed him. I cursed our hunter, our apocalypse. Our world ended. We ruled everything, and now we had nothing. Nothing except memories.

AN: wheee another fic! and the protagonist is still unnamed! he refers to himself as Kawa, yes, but that's just a reference to the type of Yokai he is. this is a solo project unlike everything else on my page besides The Case. *shrug*