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"That damn healer! I swear she's trying to kill us all, not save us!"
A large pair of bat like ears twitched causing a focused and serious pair of dark sapphire eyes to look up in the direction of the shouting. Komori sighed softly as she picked up more complaints about her dear friend Tsu, resident healer and scariest demoness alive.
"I'll be right back." she excused herself with a dull voice as she pushed herself up from the table where she sat with several other demons. They were in the middle of planning for another few weeks of danger and stress. The entire clan was smack in the middle of a war with their neighboring thief clan. They were approaching the forth round and Komori was not comfortable with their rank to be positive. Needless to say the last thing she needed was a distraction but she was sick and tired of hearing complaints about their healer.
"You two, come here." she called sternly to the demons who were walking away from her. The strain of the war was beginning to show in everyone, especially Komori. The normally cheerful and optimistic leader who considered her clan to be family had taken to being stern and serious. It had been several weeks since the last time she'd actually enjoyed herself.
The two demons jumped and turned to face her, each bowing slightly to her before approaching her cautiously.
"Yes, Lady Komori?" one of them asked timidly, the same one who had been complaining, she recognized his voice.
"You two go get all of your friends who have recently been the infirmary and meet me in the den." she commanded easily before walking off, her belling sleeves wafting in the breeze she created in her haste.
The demons she had spoken two could only stare as she walked away before shooting each other curious glances.
"What the hell was that about?" one asked as they turned and began to walk back to their rooms to get their companions.
"She probably heard you complaining about Tsu. You know those two are best friends."
"Well then she should know how crazy that damn wench is!"
"Of course she does, but like hell she's going to stand around and let you listen to it."
The two continued to talk in hushed voices while Komori returned to her planning party. She quickly dismissed them, arranging to meet again later, before she headed towards the surface of her underground den. Honestly, bat's didn't belong underground, but she hadn't been the one who had designed the den. One of the original demons who helped bring this clan to life had been some form of a badger or other burrowing demon. He had this gigantic underground castle carved out in a year. Komori had never had to add on to it.
The largest of the open cavern rooms was located just beneath the surface. It spanned both sides of the main tunnel and all together was one hundred feet long, sixty-five feet wide, and seven feet tall. It could house a great number of the clan's population comfortably and was great for meetings and lounging. Usually it was just a common room, but recently Komori had taken to using it as a conference room.
By the time that demons began filing in she was seated on a raised section of the floor where she could be seen. Rugs, cushions, and sheets of fabric were strewn all over the room for lounging, but the most delicate and beautiful played as the leader's make-shift throne. This was where she could be noticed and heard and be the most comfortable.
"I know all of you are probably wondering why exactly I've called you here on such short notice. You are all exhausted and sore from this past round of the war and you probably want nothing more than to go to bed, but first I want to tell you all a story, to remind all of you what you are fighting for."
"Some of you might remember what it was like during the early days of the clan's existence, but most of you probably don't. In fact, I'm not sure all of you even know how this clan was founded. It began over a thousand years ago when a small group of demons met each other on this side of the river, opposite the powerful and feared thief clan of Youko Kurama. These demons all had their own reasons for being there; they had different past, different skills, different occupations but all of them had one thing in common, a desire to be greater than Youko and his clan.
"The formation of the clan, of this clan, was never part of that plan; it just kind of happened. Some of us had old friends who we brought in to help; others had families, but mostly thieves from all over Makai came to find us, having heard of what we were trying to do. Before we knew it we had over one-hundred of us gathered on the eastern shores of the river and we knew we had something going. We continued to recruit and we listened and watched Youko's clan, learning how they moved, how they organized, how they lived together. And soon we were able to tell where they were planning on going and we moved in before they could, beating them to various prized possessions and earning our own name. This brought even more clan mates to us and soon we had a name for ourselves. But we were still young and we had much to learn.
"Eventually we backed off from trying to get to a location before Youko's clan, but we still kept our ears open to where they were heading next. If it sounded interesting then we took the risk, but it not then we waited. Although we had many new members we were still unorganized and the other thieves were strong and well prepared for us. Every heist came with a cost and no one ever got away without a scratch. Our injuries were becoming harder and harder to heal and some of us were getting sick from infection to old cuts. Sadly, we lost several good thieves to injuries and illness in those first few years. It was those losses that hurt the most because we had no way to help them.
"Then, one day, we got wind of their newest project. There had been talk around for years of a small cluster of demons that had discovered something that could cure anything. No one knew exactly what it was, some said it was a special potion, others said it was a book, even more thought it to be some kind of staff or magical instrument; but no mater how they described it physically everyone agreed that it could work miracles. There was no illness or injury that it couldn't cure and they even said it could bring people back from the dead.
"Of course we expected the stories to be exaggerated but it was still too good for us to pass up. We had buried one of our friends only a few weeks before after his fever wouldn't break. There was no question about it, we had to get this item, this Tsuanado no matter the cost. The strongest and skilled of us got together and we left the same day. We didn't bother to make a plan we just played it by ear. The demons who boasted to have the miracle cure had built up their small section in Makai and were guarding their precious gem as ruthlessly as they could. So along with a great number of guards they also had built a giant shrine to their miracle. It was a massive castle where demons could come to be cured and pay homage to the object (whatever it was) and its priestesses. Demons who had been cured and had seen others be cured worshiped it as a god and it became their own religion. They were crazy. And so were we.
"We arrived outside the compound a few days after we left. We scouted around the outside of the high, guarded walls and waited for our opportunity to strike. We knew that it was kept deep inside the castle and was only brought out during the day. At night it stayed inside a specific room along with only the highest of priestesses to take care of it. So that night we struck. Some of us formed a distraction while the rest began to make our way inside. I was one of the ones who was searching the castle for the Tsuanado, sneaking along in the shadows until I finally came to a lone room on one of the higher floors. I slipped inside and knew instantly that I was in the right place. The room was more elegant and beautiful than anything I have ever seen. The silks I have here don't even begin to compare with what was in that room. The walls were golden and covered with the finest silks and furs. There were objects from Ningekai and other things that I have never seen before. It looked like the vault of some great thief's hoard. It was marvelous. I was so struck by the room that I almost missed its lone occupant.
"She was laying across a bed, the high priestess. She wore ornate beads and bands of silver all over her body, like spider webs laden with morning dew. Her chest plate was silver armor, decorated with ornate designs and rare gems, but wore a skirt of only translucent silver layers. She hadn't noticed me so I pulled out my sword and snuck to her bed and covered her mouth and nose so that she wouldn't scream. Instantly her eyes opened but she didn't appear alarmed. I held my sword to her throat and told her that if she didn't scream I wouldn't hurt her. The woman showed that she understood and I stood back and demanded to know where the Tsuanado was.
"'Why?' she asked me.
'What do you mean why?'
'Why do you want the Tsuanado?'
'That is none of your concern. Now tell me where it is.'
'Don't act tough. I am the only one who knows were it is and if you kill me you'll never find it. So answer my question.' she demanded cooly. I'd never dealt with anyone like her before and I was effectively thrown off guard. I didn't know whether to answer or not, but I knew she was right, I wouldn't find it without her.
'Because members of my clan are dying from injury and illness daily and I refuse to bury another one of my friends because of some infected cut.'
She was quiet for a moment, seeming to think about something. 'What kind of clan is it? Surely not a family clan.'
'We're thieves.'
'Anyone I've heard of?'
'Probably not.'
'So a group of nobody thieves wants to take the Tsuanado back to their base in hopes of keeping more of their friends from dying? Is that it?'
'Basically. Now I've kept up my deal of the bargain, tell me where it is!'
'I wasn't aware that we'd ever made a bargain. All I said is that I'm the only one who knows where the object you are looking for is and that it would be pointless to kill me. I never agreed to divulge its location if you told me why you were looking for it.'
I was ready to cut off her head and ransack the place when she stopped me.
'But, I like you so I'll make you a deal. If you can get me out of here without being caught then I'm all yours.'
Of course meaning we had the high priestess pretty much meant that we had the Tsuanado but, just in case, I still had to know.
'Where is it?'
'What?'
'The Tsuanado!'
She sighed at me and rolled her eyes. 'I am the Tsuanado! I'm nothing more than a healer but these bafoons think I'm some kind of god. I'm sorry to disappoint you. What's your name, by the way?' she told me.
I was so dumbfounded that all I could do was answer her question. 'I'm Komori."
'Komori, its nice to meet you. My name is Tsuanado but I prefer to be called Tsu, if you don't mind. Now, if you are still interested, my offer still stands. If you can get me out of here then I'll be happy to come and help heal your clan.' That was the first time I saw Tsu smile, and one of the last. To this day it is still one of the most beautiful that I've ever seen.
'Can you really do all of the things they say you can?'
'Pretty much, yes. So, are you going to get me the hell out of this place or not?'
"I put her on my back and we got the hell out of there. I flew all the way back to the den with that damn healer on my back. We never stopped until I finally collapsed once we got home. The first thing that Tsu did was have someone bring me inside and lay me down and then demonstrated that she was worth all of the effort. After only an hour of sleep I felt completely rested and had all of my strength back plus some. The rest is history." Komori concluded her story with a smile. Recalling the memory of how she'd met her best friend had done a lot to help her mood.
The room was silent. Her audience sat there gapping at her as if she just told them that she was caring Youko's unborn child. Komori didn't blame them; she wouldn't believe it if she hadn't been there herself.
"But why is she so. . . cold?" someone finally asked.
"She's actually always been like that I found out. Even when she was considered to be a god she was cold to her servants and worshipers. Exactly why you'll have to ask her."
"And I'll ask you to get the hell out of my face." came a cold reply from the hallway that made the tense room jump.
The leader smiled warmly to the healer who stood with her hands on her hips, her dark tail slashing at the air in irritation. "Tsu, how nice of you to join us. I would have asked you to join but I thought you might be busy."
"I've been busy since the moment I got here. Had I known your little clan would be so prone to injury I would have stayed back and continued to accept homage from those mindless fools. At least there I was respected." Tsu said as she made her way through the room, the crowd parting before her feet as if she really was a goddess.
"Which is exactly what I was getting at." Komori smiled easily as she moved over so that her friend could sit beside her. "That our damned healer who is trying to kill you all is actually the most valuable and most powerful thing that this clan has ever succeeded in claiming for its own. There are still thousands who would kill to have her for themselves so be thankful for what you have."
Komori's gathering grumbled and said their thanks to Komori and Tsu before being dismissed to hide with their tails between their legs.
"I hope you weren't trying to make a powerful statement with that because you sounded like a mother children." Tsu said as they were leaving.
"Compared to the way they act children would be a lot better to handle."
Tsu laughed softly "Yes, I suppose they would."
The two friends were quiet for a minute before Tsu's softly spoke again. "Why did you tell them that story? You haven't told anyone about that in years."
"Because there are so few around who remember that. We didn't have a clan leader then so no one was respected as much as you were. But in the past centuries our old friends have gone and been replaced by newer, fresher faces who only see you for who you are now, not what you used to be."
"Its a good thing they didn't know who you were before you were leader otherwise they wouldn't respect you either." she muttered and they were laughing again.
"That is very true. Lets face it, you and I are both spoiled brats."
"Oh so you've finally noticed. Good to know." Tsu said as she stood.
"Where are you going?"
"To bandage more bo-bos and long for the homage of yesteryear." she answered dramatically as she walked from the room.
"Hey!" Komori called, still lounging. "Do you still have that old outfit?"
"The priestess one? Yea, I have it tucked away for special occasions."
"Like what?" Komori asked incredulously. Tsu wasn't one to recognize special occasions.
The healer shrugged. "I don't know. If you get any half decent men around here I might wear that to impress him."
Komori laughed again and Tsu waved goodbye as she returned to the infirmary. She was still laughing when the tall, dark and shirtless figure of Yuto walked by, his body glistening with sweat from a day of training. She watched him carefully as he walked past. "They may not be half decent, but they are half dressed." she muttered to herself as she rose from her throne to chase after her own god.
 Kage_Komori · Wed Oct 15, 2008 @ 10:20pm · 1 Comments |
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