Chapter 6- War Games
'I feel it deep with in, its just beneath the skin. I must confess that I feel like a monster. I, I feel like a monster. I, I feel like a monster.'
-Crimson Moon Day Five; 7:15 am-
"Alright, hold on tight, this might be a bit rough." Kouen said to Hitsugaya, who was on his back. He flexed his enormous raven like wings and crouched, staring out over the open ocean. "You ready?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the boy. Hitsugaya nodded, gritting his teeth as Kouen pushed off hard on the sand, splashing into the shallows and with a leap and a beat of his wings, they were airborne. Kouen circled a couple times to gain altitude, riding the ocean breeze and churning his paws instinctively like he was running. Then, turning westward, and with a burst of fire he shot through the sky with Hitsugaya clutching the fur on his neck as a lifeline. "That wasn't so bad." he called over the wind. Hitsugaya was shaking from cold and fear but managed to reply.
"How long will it take to get home?" he asked, raising his voice.
"The rest of the day most likely. I can't fly like I can run. If I go to fast, I'll run out of energy and we'll end up at the bottom of the ocean." he narrowed his eyes against the wind, glaring at the mass of blackening clouds in their path. "Make that the rest of the day and into the night. We're going to have to skirt around that if we want to live." he said we for Hitsugaya's benefit. Kouen himself would wash ashore alive but with lungs full of water in a couple days should they go down in the storm, but Hitsugaya would drown. Tipping a wing, Kouen veered to the north while dropping purposely toward the ocean to pick up wind before shooting up again while traveling at a faster speed.
-10:43 pm; outskirts of Karakura-
"Finally home..." Hitsugaya breathed, walking beside Kouen. The werewolf had ransacked a clothing store that had been abandoned, getting new clothes for himself and the boy. Kouen was in his human form in a plaid shirt open over his bare chest and jeans with work brown steel toe boots adorning is feet. Hitsugaya was in a plain t-shirt and jeans with his own shoes on his feet.
"Or what's left of it..." the wolf muttered, running a hand through his hair with a grimace on his face as he surveyed the destruction. Buildings were collapsed, bodies everywhere, not a sign of life anywhere. "I would say it could be worse, but I dunno... this is pretty bad."
"Actually, there could be no city left at all." said an icy voice behind the pair, making them jump and whirl around. Alex was standing behind them, looking worse for wear. She was in old fashioned Greek style armor that was sliced and dented in several places and had blood all over her. Her shirt and pants under the armor were filthy and her hair was a matted mess from sweat and blood. The unusually cold gleam in her eyes suggested that things were very bad, and beginning to look hopeless. "Nice of you to come back. While you were out gallivanting on the other side of the world, we were evacuating the city and getting ourselves slaughtered." she looked solemnly at the body of a demon that lay mutilated near by and shook her head. She looked them over, her eyes sweeping over Kouen while sending ice daggers at him, making him flinch at her glare, then stopped at Hitsugaya. Her gray-blue eyes darkened and she stepped toward the boy, who gulped. He was able to ignore the majority of the pain now, but it was still hard and he was sure that it still shone in his eyes.
"What happened?" the cat demon growled. Her gaze snapped to Kouen. "What happened?" she demanded, a bit louder and more forcefully. Kouen gulped and explained the past couple days at the speed of light, but Alex didn't seem to have trouble understanding him. The demon sighed and she looked them over. "I was just about to go to a meeting. I want you two to come and help us plan our next move. Akamizu is making steady progress and if we don't stop him soon he'll take over the whole of Japan."
A sudden though occurred to Kouen. "What about Jin? How is he?" he asked as the girl walked past him. She paused for an instant before closing her eyes.
"It was a close call, but Rowan pulled a few strings with Eclipse that got him sent back up." she said shortly.
"You mean he died?" Kouen cried, his eyes wide.
"Yes, but Eclipse sent him back. He's in a coma now, and will be for a while. But he's fine now. Now follow." she lead the way to one of the few standing buildings- an old gas station- and pushed the door open. Shadow, Amanda, Rowan, and a few powerful looking individuals were sitting in lawn and aluminum chairs around a makeshift table. They all looked up when the three walked in.
"You found them." Shadow said, not a question, but a blunt statement. He looked awful. His face was sallow, extremely pale, and dirty, his normally vibrant crimson eyes dull and dirt and blood covering him. One arm was wrapped up but a line of blood ran down the middle where the wound was still bleeding some. The others didn't look any better. Even Amanda looked like hell. Kouen felt like crying, but held it in and pulled up a chair for himself and Hitsugaya, sitting between Alex and a stranger who he didn't know. "Now that we definitely have everyone." the kitsune said, glaring at Kouen, who studied the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "We can start."
"Well first of all, I want to pull my army out." a woman with fiery red hair and black eyes demanded straight off. "Our kind has never stood a chance against werewolves, in fact we've always been hunted by them." another glare was sent Kouen's way. He was starting to feel very small. "And we're just getting slaughtered out there while playing scapegoat for the rest of you."
"Calm yourself Brunhilde." said a man with long white hair and cold amber eyes. "Though I cannot say that I do not share your views. I too would like to pull out my army."
"King Velentijin please." Shadow said, holding up a hand for peace as the two strangers glared around the room. "If you pull out your armies, what do you think will happen? Akamizu will take over your realms once he's done destroying this one. If your armies pull out, we will be destroyed by dawn, and then Akamizu will come after you. Which is better? Fight here, or on your home territory where your subjects can be killed as well." Brunhilde and Velentijin fell silent at this, looks of consideration crossing their faces. "Brunhilde, I understand your concerns as the leader of the witches. Your kind has never had much power, but if you stand together you can flatten a continent, is that correct?"
"I suppose so..."
"And King Velentijin. As the king of the leopard demons, it is your responsibility to ensure that your army stays strong and fights for the right cause. Leopards are known for their cunning and speed. In their feral forms, werewolves are slow and stupid."
"Hey..." Kouen growled warningly. Shadow glanced at him and then back to Velentijin.
"Your recruits can easily skirt around them and attack their weak spots if they think fast enough."
"You are right Lord Shadow." Velentijin muttered grudgingly. A man with brown hair and blue eyes spoke next, glaring in a hostile manner at Kouen.
"Before I speak, I want that out of here." he growled, jabbing a bony finger at the werewolf, who stared at him skeptically. "It might be a spy. You never know who you can trust during war."
"Lord Marek you're not being fair." Amanda protested, standing up to challenge the man. "He's our friend, and has been his whole life. We can trust him." Marek ignored her, standing up and pulling a long spear from no where.
"If you will not send the monster out then I will." he growled, his pupils huge with fear as he advanced on Kouen. He stopped abruptly when Kouen stood and got in his face with one big stride.
"You dare question my loyalty to my friends and loved ones you filthy bastard. Who do you think you are?" the werewolf snarled, his hands curling into fists and his fangs growing.
Marek gulped and moved to bring his spear up, electricity crackling from the end, but Kouen grabbed the shaft. He tightened his hand and somehow managed to sent the electricity back through the spear and up its wielder's arm. Marek screeched and dropped the spear, clutching his arm that now had electricity burns all up and down it. Kouen just rolled his eyes. "You call yourself a Lord? Pathetic." he turned to the rest of them. "Now listen up, I have an idea that just might get this war won and not get anyone else killed." Hopefully. He added to himself.
"Why should we trust you?" Velentijin demanded, his pupils little slits. Alex growled warningly at him and motioned for Kouen to continue.
"Its simple. Pull all the armies out, make Akamizu think we've given up. Then when his army has relaxed, I'll go in and kill them all. I'm the only one of us that has that sort of power, and then when they're dealt with, I'll go after the bastard himself. This war will be over by dawn if all goes well." Hopefully. He added again.
"Bold... but it might work." Shadow murmured.
"Hey, my name doesn't mean bold council for nothing." his legal name is spelled K-O-E-N not Kouen. Its Dutch for bold council, and he was named after a good friend of his father's. The spelling K-O-U-E-N is actually a name in the native werewolf tongue meaning shining light or good friend.
The immortals murmured amongst themselves before they came to an agreement. "Very well mon-I mean Kouen." Marek lamented. "We will go through with your plan. But if it doesn't work, we will come after you."
"You'd think you would learn by now. I don't die easy." Kouen snorted, glaring at the lord. He smelled of feathers so Kouen guessed he was some form of bird demon. "Nor do I take insults."
"Now." Shadow boomed suddenly. "Evacuate the armies. Kouen, we're counting on you to end this tonight." he stared pointedly at the werewolf, who nodded, all traces of amusement gone. The lords and ladies stood up, filing out the door to go find their various armies. That left Alex, Amanda, Hitsugaya, and Kouen in the gas station, Rowan being in charge of the cat demon army at the moment because Alex was so low on power.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Alex asked as Kouen sat down heavily on a chair, his hands shaking.
"No." he replied in a cracked voice. "It was one of those stupid spur of the moment plans that sounds good in a desperate situation. I don't know what I was thinking coming up with something like that." he let out a low moan and tangled his hands in his hair. "But I'll try. It might be easier than I think." he sighed.
"Very well." Alex muttered, an analyzing look on her face. "Report to the town square at eleven thirty. I'll be there to brief you." she continued, motioning for Amanda to follow, leading the way out the door. Kouen was silent for the longest time, his hands still shaking and his face extremely pale. Hitsugaya pulled a chair up beside him and grabbed one of his arms, pulling his had out of his hair.
"I'm an idiot." Kouen muttered, barely coherent.
"Yeah you are. But this will work. I've seen you fight, so has Akamizu. He knows you're a force to be reckoned with. He won't try anything stupid while you're feral, especially now that you can control it."
"Yeah, but what about you? I need to get you somewhere safe. I-" he swallowed before continuing in a softer voice. "I don't want to loose you again."
"You won't. I promise." Hitsugaya reached up with one hand and rubbed in along Kouen's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Kouen looked at him for a while and then looked away, his face seeming less pale and troubled. Then he looked at the time.
Drawing in a deep breath, he stood up, pulling Hitsugaya with him. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always be with you." he leaned down and captured the boy's lips in a short but passionate kiss. Pulling back, he looked into Hitsugaya's eyes. "Forever." he breathed, pressing his forehead against the boy's forcing a smile. Then he drew away suddenly and was gone.
Short yes. Good, dunno. But the next chapter will be the epic battle between Kouen and the werewolf army and part of the battle with Akamizu. The one after that will be the rest of the battle with Akamizu and then... you'll see. Review to help me update faster. They're my eco-friendly fuel!