Welcome to Gaia! ::

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Black smoke billowed off the scorching ground. Flames danced licking up the dead bodies and broken pieces of wood that lay scattered across the earth in great rolling tongues of orange. It rose among the charred bodies of fallen warriors and tainted the nocturne-veiled heavens with a malicious vermilion glow. Screams of battle-lust and pain chorused and ascended off the battlefield like a haze of locusts, hovering long and terrible.

Men dressed in bright red and blue-trimmed armor scurried to and fro. Some of them tromped about dressed in more elaborate battle-gear as they barked orders through their mouths. In the meantime, other less fanciful ones—foot soldiers to be more exact—darted off in random directions as they set their leaders’ plans into motion. Sometimes, a few of them would stop and cross swords with their enemy. This lasted no more than a few strokes before the lucky ones proceeded onwards, their swords glistening bright orange against the weird firelight.

Elsewhere, three of such were rushing towards each other, blades held high, faces marred and convoluted with black hatred. A sick squelching sound echoed across the combat zone followed by the clean swipe of metal tearing through bone. With the sound of splintering armor, both of them fell. Their weapons slid out of their grasps until the tools of death hit the moist earth with a dull clang. Still in motion the third figure spun around to strike an attacker from behind, but he was too slow. Sticking into his stomach, through his heart and out his cranium was the metallic shank belonging to a fourth warrior that had sidled up from behind. The falling warrior’s lips moved as though to say something before he crashed into the mud with a noisy squelch.

Loosening itself from its former thrusting position, the stranger straightened to admire his work. And just as he was starting to flick bits of warm ichor and fur off his brand, he let out a gurgled gasp before finding himself falling to the ground in two separate pieces. Such was the fate of those who participated in a battle. Death was forever imminent, never leaving a warrior’s side long after the battle had been fought until another felled him. It was because of this that concentration and constant vigilance was a must—typically during large-scale crusades.

As the hot summer breeze blew across the pieces of what was once a man, his eyes stared out wide with shock, forever wondering what had happened. His dead question remained unanswered, for whatever killed him could not be seen. It had passed him by like the wind and had already disappeared to deal the same fate on other hapless combatants that chanced upon its path.


Moments later four more figures appeared like terrible demons of hell as they stepped out from the smoldering fumes. Most of their faces lay concealed behind scarlet, hellish masks; the plump, smooth lips twisting up into a hideous sneer that was difficult to read. They formed a ring around the four bodies, three of which were men and one that was a bear of sorts attached to a bulky dirt-colored body. The silhouettes of the men that had just arrived stood motionless against the battle scene.

“Tch.” The first one spat, as he kicked the dead creature with one of his booted foot. “It took three of our men to take down this monster. Damn it to hell.”

“This is not enough.” Agreed the second one speaking more calmly with a sharp bob of his head.

“No. This is more than enough.” Tightening of leather and squeaking of metal sounded as the third countered, “The sabotages conducted by our small bands of miko and houshi for the previous decades has been more than enough to weaken their forces. We can win this.”

“I agree. We must keep hold on our hopes until the very end.” A fourth voice added. It was deep and coarse from having yelled countless times during the exertion need to swing his long katana.

“They have the Great White Dog.” The second warrior reminded his comrades, “And that crazed Tiger lurking around as well.” Stepping back he scanned the scene as though to search for one of the two mentioned creatures.

“Powerful as they are,” The third one continued persistently, “Even the fiercest of mononoke have their limitations. The enemy will lose everything once their forces have been completely wiped out.”

“Yes. Yes, perhaps you are right brother. For now…” They turned their heads to the carcasses lying in the grass and fell silent almost as though praying for the souls of their fallen associates. After a stiff pause the same fighter cleared his throat and spoke up yet again: “Moving on to more pressing matters, do we have the woman?”

“Indeed. The operation has been well planned and executed. I am most positive she will stop the Tiger at the very least.”

“And the Great White Dog?” Anxiously, the second warrior flexed his fingers over the worn handle of his katana.

“That remains to be seen. If he does not care for the woman, then it does not matter.” The third one responded silkily as he dismissed the previous statement with an airy wave of his hand. “He is only one mononoke. We should be able to take him on with all our forces. If in the case that he ends up killing too many,” He continued louder still to prevent an impending interruption, “We’ll just retreat and kill him at a later date.”

“But—”

“Quiet.” Holding his finger up to the wooden lips of his mask the first figure searched the burning ruins of misshapen bodies and crumpled metal. “They are coming, which means we should not be here idling away with small talk. We will meet back at our makeshift fortress, where we can discuss our plans in a more comfortable situation. For now we kill as many of these beasts as humanly possible.” Three of the four figures bowed sharply and they scattered across the weeping lands where swords clashed and companions fell. The first figure stayed behind only to crouch next to the carcasses to slip a piece of paper into one of their armors before venturing off to his right.

The other four bodies lay quietly in the hard-packed mud, some of their eyes wide and staring up at nothing as their lifeblood pooled from their wrecked corpses, sticky and sweet.


No sooner did the anonymous speakers vanish someone else was emerging out from the darkness of the smog. His features were not visible under the thick layer of grime that coated his entire body and the murky fog emitting from burning wood further aided in obscuring his countenance. While it may have been almost impossible for any person to see through the wreckage in the sweltering air, this strange man marched forward with no further complications. He nimbly picked his way through the bodies; his unseen eyes scanning the front much like he was searching for prey. Despite his concealed features, the posture in which he carried himself coupled with the quick strides he used to trudge forward radiated clear signs of fury.

Suddenly, a yell erupted off from his left, alerting his attention. With swift and perfect precision, the creature plucked his assailant from the air. A crunch resonated into the night before the body was pitched aside just as quickly. Spinal fluids mingled with the shiny copper plasma sprayed out from the gash in his back, heavy and succulent, before it peppered the ground and stained his front. Cradled in his hand sat a large pulsing chunk. The heart he had torn out from the wretched creature beat softly until exploding into a shower of crimson in his clenched fist.

Pitching the shredded organ aside, he started to move on to a different part of the field only to pause yet again when his sharp vision focused on piece of paper. Its edges were frayed and there was not a single spot of the tarnished surface that was white. The strange and powerful man-creature bent down and scanned the scrawled kanji that had become barely recognizable from its charcoal stains. He released the vellum from its entrapment in one of the armor. Ignoring its vicious flapping against his smooth clawed fingers the unidentifiable being read its contents.

For a skipping moment he remained motionless, body stiff and senses heightened. Turning his head this way and that way he silently weighed his options and calculated a seemingly random direction. With grace and speed too smooth for that of a human, he bound across the field, his matted and tangled hair flying out behind him. His purpose on the field had taken on an abrupt change. Following the sweet fragrance of cedar and honey that cut through the stench of war like a heavenly road paved out before him, the creature sped on across the depths of hell.

Author’s Note: This story had been originally added on April 1st 2007 and has been deleted and will be re-added due to various reasons which I will not disclose.

Glossary:

1. Miko: Literally meaning “priestess.” A woman with some or more spiritual powers used to expel youkai and other spirits.
   
2. Houshi: Monk.
   
3. Mononoke: A subset branching off the terminology “youkai” usually used to specifically describe animal spirits.
   
4. Youkai: A Japanese mythological creature whose meaning lies somewhere between the fine lines of “monster” and “apparition.”