A few moments ago a blood curdling scream rang throught out town, followed by another, then another.

Machimaki Misao was awakened in the night. When she heard the cries she dashed out of the house to investigate.

A man ran after her but he wasn’t fast enough to catch up, he is Shinomori Aoshi, the present Okashira of the Oniwabanshyuu.

(Okashira is the title of the leader within the Oniwabanshyuu)

Turn after turn Misao ran, every step lead her closer to the source of the cries. The street grew narrow, but Misao could see a small source of light at the end, she raced towards it. The narrow street led to the town square. Misao stopped dead in her tracks and covered her mouth and eyes.

In the town square there was a countless number of bodies bloodied and lying lifeless. Men, women, and even children were all torn apart.

In the center stood a dark figure, because of the lack of light she couldn’t make out any details. She saw a siloette of a young man with logn hair, he looked normal except a pair of straight hors erecting from his forehead. He stood silently with his hands clos to his face, he was licking the blood off his fingers. Misao could hear the man’s tongue bruch up against his own fingers.

Suddenly the man turned and glared at the terrified girl.

“You!” the creature raised and pointed his finer straight at her. “I am content with my feast for now, but you will be next. I will feast upon your still beating heart.” The creature spoke so emotionlessly, the words struck fear into the core of Misao’s heart.

The pounding of footsteps broke the silence after the creature’s words. Aoshi charged in with his swords drawn. He also stopped dead in his tracks but fear was not the emotion that came to him. He spent a few moments examining the creature that stood before him.

“O... oni?...” confusion and sudden terror finally struck him. Aoshi stepped back and got into a defensive position.

“Hm, you are much more formidable than these mortals.” His red eyes slooked the man over. “See if you can protect that girl from me, then we shall see...” a small smile curled on the creature’s lips.

Before anyone could move the creature leapt into the air and over a wall and into the darkness. The two humans stood shocked and in fear.

The man sat alone, he had a white cape rimmed with red wrapped around his body, hiding any bodily features.

The silence was overwhelming, not a creature made a sound, human or otherwise.

“Stop hiding in the darkness demons...” he spoke softly without makign a move.

The silence was broken by the wrustling of the greenlife.

“You noticed us already? And we just got here too.” The voice had a dark tone to it. “Since you do know that we are here you must know why we are here.”

“Of course.” The man didn’t bother to give a detailed answer, he didn’t even look for the owner of the voice.

“Hitenmitsurugi-ryu, you have no idea of our suffering, now it is your turn to suffer, you and everyone you know.” The voice paused for a reaction. “First of all we shall wreak our vengence on the city of Kyoto.” A hint of amusement was achingly obvois in the voice.

The man remained silent.

“Hmph, you don’t plan to let us enjoy our revenge will you? But we shall see to that, we shall see....” the voice faded off into the darkness.

The man slowly got up to his feet. The cape ruffled in the wind revealing the man’s blue tunic and black pants, and most inportantly the two swords that hung from his belt.

“Idiot, you don’t realize you won’t get a chance to have your revenge...” he spoke softly in the wind, then headed off into the forest....