Of Dark Secrets

Back at the manor, Yamagashi and Touga were both sweating profusely under the heavily lead stare of their Master, Aoki, and his shadowed guest in the background. They had travelled as fast as possible with their current injuries, yet the moment their feet touched ground the air surrounding them felt suffocating and the hairs on the back of their necks shot straight up in warning.

"You must enlighten me as to why you are," dark painted fingers gestured to the room "here…and not six feet under." The snarl of his voice made both men cower, but before either of them could make a sound their Master had sharply brought his hand back towards his person. Eyes wide in fear at the deepening malicious grin on Aoki's face, Yamagashi felt the sting of pain across his throat and small thick wet drops of warmth slithered down and soaked the threaded fabric of his clothes. A brief glance at his companion shared the same fate.

"This. Better. Be. GOOD."

"O-of course! Ma-Master we saw both The Walking Shadow and his friend in the f-flesh. They are accompanied by two foreign h-humans…A male and f-female…" Touga shakily nudged Yamagashi to continue as the dark eyes of their Master narrowed in boredom, fingers flexing in preparation to finish what he had hinted at before.

"Right! But…the man," Yamagashi glanced at his comrade for a split second, memories rapidly flashing across his eyes. "he was not human." His haunted gaze churned back to an interested Aoki. "He…made fire, blue fire and moved a-as fast as you, Master…" Aoki hummed and lowered his hand, inclining his head to the side.

"Not human, you say?" There was a thoughtful hum and Aoki turned partly towards the forest green haired visitor. "Hatsu?" The male bowed respectfully at Aoki and rose a blue robed arm up in thought, fingers curled delicate under a rounded but sharp chin.

"My Lord, that ssoundss s-ssuspicioussly like foxfire." There was a frightful crack that startled the already terrified humans, and Aoki opened his hand to drop pieces of ceramic that he had, at one point, filled with wine to drink from. Liquid stained his hands, and under the low light it dripped down as thickly as blood.

"There is only one man capable of such a feat, Hatsu." Tone sharp, deadly "Offer an invitation…and make sure he's alone." Aoki spun his dark eyes to his confidant, lightly flicking his soaked hand towards Touga and Yamagashi. "I will handle this. Dismissed." Hisashi bowed his short, cropped head of hair, and encased himself in shadows while the two mortals almost tripped over themselves to leave their Master's presence.

A deep hum left the spindly lord as he sat alone. Fragments of an oval cup lay in front of him lined up as if in warning. He clenched his fist, drawing a deep crimson as his nails bit crescents into his palms.

"You will not get in my way, Shio." A slightly disturbed look flashed across his face. "I will drive you to your grave!"

Smash!

Miles across the country, a white-haired male with peculiar hued orbs sneezed harshly into his elbow. He furrowed his brows in irritation while his 'guards' followed behind.

"Pests." Fabric billowed, trailing in an elegant flourish down the wooden hallway.

Days had passed with an unbearable sense of slowness. Stars shone, dimmed, and made way for blinding white rays of sunlight. There was a quiet lull in the air that was only disturbed by the soft, imperceivable pad of feet tromping across the foliage deep within the woods surrounding a small village called Hasō. Small animals pottered and scurried through the thick and thin underbrush, chortling with joy in the morning light.

Hasō was far smaller than it appeared, with a very minute population of only seven. A little girl with black hair streaked with slivers of radiant gold, her mother and their little white rabbit lived nearby a rushing waterfall backed by overgrown vegetation and protected by the elements. They were far enough from the rest of civilisation to be unaffected by whatever darkness was lurking out there. In the center of the village there was a span of around ten small to medium wooden buildings that sported a maximum of three-square rooms per abode. Taking residence inside there were a family of three, an elderly man and a stout, but dishevelled rōnin. All brought some form of development to the quaint little area.

As Mizuki emerged from the thick of dark emerald trees, Ryō meandered off to do a perimeter check and both Evelyn and Michael stumbled clumsily onto their faces next to the sandalled feet of their guide. He, in turn, just shot a knowing look and twiddled his fingers out of sight. Reflexively bringing invisible threads, similar to Ryō's, back to his person. With a chuckle, he beckoned the siblings back up and ventured through the deserted village. Evelyn furrowed her brows and whispered a question.

"Why….are there no people?" The male hummed lightly but continued forward. The deep timbre of his voice separated the thickening silence.

"It is imperative they remain inside as we traverse through," he pulled a long delicate finger to his mouth in thought "it is…protection, should we have unwanted guests following." There was a rustle and suddenly Ryō appeared, shocking Michael half to death. His poor beating heart could be heard vividly through Mizuki's ears. He gave an amused little huff.

"Jeez, man! Don't do that!"

"My apologies." Ryō winked, then turned back to his friend.

"Surroundin's clear."

"Hm. Let us go then."

Through the bubble of peace they went, passed shut doors, closed windows and all the way back until they reached the roaring [whoosh] or a crystal-clear waterfall. A lovely round pool lay below, catching the water and collecting it into one sparkling pond before draining away into pitch black behind the rushing water from above. Standing just off to the side of the pool, not quite in front but being sprayed by tiny little diamonds, stood a cosy bamboo house. Evelyn could see

there was love written into the bones of the structure…and, if she squinted really hard, she thought she could make out a very faint, but there, crescent moon. As they passed, moving towards the back of the waterfall and underneath the water, a small head deftly popped into view from an open shutter, two white bunny ears just below. Mizuki smiled internally, watching as Michael jolted before laughing heartily and alerting his sister. They waved lightly at the mop of hair and then disappeared behind the wall of water.