Move.

He needed to move.

Obanai knew, clearer than he'd known anything ever before, that if he stopped now, he would die.

Move

Vision blurry, chest heaving, and hair matted against his skull, the snake pillar reached out blindly for the nearest object. Hand pressing down on a tree, he staggered; slick fingers smearing blood across the bark.

He breathed.

Nothing had gone right on this mission. It hadn't been simple, the demons – the demons had been more than he'd been led to believe, and for some messed up reason... the humans, they had worshipped them. Willing to die and even kill him to protect their masters.

The situation was tricky, but – Obanai was a demon slayer. It was his job to protect these people, to save them, to avenge them, but – they'd poisoned him...Hurt him to save their masters, protect them – and yet, he'd tried, he'd tried so damn hard.

Kids, there had been kids there. So, he fought, and he bled and he'd won. But at what cost?

"I need to thank Shinobu,' he thought absentmindedly; vision slowly clearing as the detoxing agent started to take effect. If it hadn't been for his follow slayer, Obanai was sure he'd be dead by now.'I'll take over her training duties for a week,' he decided. Still-

Outside of the poison, he was gravely injured; his leg leaving a bloody track behind it where he was dragging it behind him as he was slowly inching his way out of the forest.

If Obanai didn't get some semblance of rest soon, he would most likely not make it. Thankfully; even if he was far away from any rest station, he recognized this area. The former thunder pillar lived around these parts, and Obanai was sure the old man would have the grace to put up with him for a while. So-

With that in mind, he inched his way towards the only destination he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, would keep him alive.

What he saw when he arrived at the edge of the cliff however.

-Blood-

-Death-

-Carnage-

There was something to be said about getting used to things. After a while of experiencing certain situations, a person-through time-will get used to those types of situations. Will not flinch when faced with them again and will move forward with a level head and a calm exterior, but – Obanai's stomach lurched.

Sometimes, certain situations just catch you of guard.

When safety – the very concept of safety, is flipped on its head... One finds themselves unsteady on their feet. Unsure, scared, and although Obanai Iguro is a pillar, and had been a demon slayer for even longer, for a split second, for a moment – His fingers stitched, his legs shook, and his face pinched into an expression of utter grief.

He remembered the old man well.

He had a certain laugh.

A frame shaking, stomach holding, belching of a laughter. It had been annoying, it had been warm.

Scanning the village bellow with two different eyes, Obanai furrowed his brows. The old man was dead. He wouldn't - if he was still alive, if he... These people would still be breathing if – if he was still alive, the old man wouldn't have let this happen.

He was dead.

He'd retired, and he was still dead.

It left a sickening feeling in Obanai's gut. A sort of disconnecting pain that he hadn't felt for a very long time. A sort of burning feeling under his skin that made him-

Lifting a finger, he gently patted the slithering snake around his neck. "Let's check for survivors," he muttered.

Kaburamaru hissed softly at him. It was as much of a comfort to Obanai as anything. His lips twitched. "Thank you."

-Making his way down the mountainside was difficult and painful, but without a single sound leaving past his lips; only the echoes of his labored breathing greeting the wind, Obanai made his way down the rocky paths, slowly but surely.

When his feet finally met solid ground, he raised his face to the sky, and closed his eyes. His shoulder ached, his leg burned, and his ribs creaked, but – he only gave himself a second to breathe, before he put one foot in front of the other and started moving forward.

Nothing and no one.

Every single life in front of him had been snuffed out. He couldn't count how many times he'd kneeled down; leg screaming in agony, and checked for a pulse on the least ravaged bodies around him, but-

Nothing.

Kaburamu hissed again. Obanai patted him. "It seems they're all gone, old friend." The snake didn't say anything else, and Obanai continued on his journey. Towards the small cabin squashed between two enclosed training grounds.

The old man was probably dead, but – He wanted to see it for himself. See what was left of him.

When his feet finally came to a stop in front of the broken-down door, he saw the kid first.

Sobbing and hunched over, all Obanai could do in that very instant, was stare. He hadn't sensed him; probably the poison; while weak now was still coursing through his veins, but...There was someone alive here. Yes, the old man... the old man was dead (The snake pillar could clearly make out the twisted white hair and the jagged scar from where he stood), but, someone had survived the massacre. Someone was still alive.

A crying, unharmed, sobbing boy.

And he held a sword between his fingers. Fingers that were clutching at the hem of the dead man's haori.

Obanai took a step forward. The kid tensed; noise suddenly dying in his throat. Obanai took another, and then another, until he was standing across from the blonde child.

The kid had yet to move, but – his fingers were now gripping firmly at the hilt of his sword.

Good

At least he wasn't totally hopeless.

Dropping down on his knees; ignoring the pulsing pain temporarily, Obanai placed both hands on his legs and sighed. "He is dead. They are all dead, so what happened here, demon slayer?"

The kid's head shot up, and through his glassy stare and wobbling bottom lip, the snake pillar saw something.

A burning rage, a reckless glint and a thirst for vengeance.

Obanai's skin crawled and his mouth tasted like ash.

It seemed, no matter how many battles they fought, he fought, tragedies would always strike someone down.

"Are you a demon slayer?"

The question was hesitant, wary, scared.

Obanai glared. "I am a pillar, kid. Show some respect and answer my question."

The kid's shoulders tensed for a second, before they sunk into themselves and the crying boy lowered his head. "I wasn't here," he muttered; one hand coming up to run shaking fingers over the old man's face. "But a demon did this. She did this. Gra-Master told me. Before he... Before he-"

A sob.

The snake pillar stilled.

"A demon? Singular?"

The kid nodded again. "Just one."

Just one.

One demon.

One demon killed a former pillar and an entire village so fast that some of the victims' bodies were still warm. Still bleeding out.

Obanai swallowed.

A single demon.

"An upper moon," he breathed.

The kid's eyes grew sharp. "What does that mean," he blurted; fingers still resting on what remained of the old man's face. "That's what gram...master said too. What does it mean!"

The demon slayer frowned. "It means you better start talking brat. What happened?"

So yup, I'm back with these two again. It seems I have an obsession with this none existant relationship and I'm so gonna make it a thing. Besides, I love Zenitsu and I want to give him more focus and more struggles in this fic.