9 YEARS LATER

Leyona was.....struggling, to say the least.

I mean, who wouldn't?

She was dragging an entire basket of wood uphill, at sunset, while also wearing the most uncomfortable footwear ever.

She was also soaking wet from falling into a pond early on in her journey.

Muttering a few curse words under her breath, Leyona decided to sit down for a brief rest against a tree, setting down the basket and soon sitting down next to it with a huff. Mom's gonna kill me when I get back, but I could care less. She thought, closing her eyes. 

The twelve-year-old had grown taller from when she was three, her hair longer and her shoulders broader. Light brown hair tumbled to just below her shoulder blades, her eyes had darkened a bit, and she had overall turned out to be a very pretty individual. Not that she would admit it, though.

After about five minutes of her resting, she got back up again, hauling herself to her feet and picking up the basket, then shoving it onto her shoulders and continuing to walk. Why didn't I bring a cart with me? This would have been way easier, but noooooooo I just had to let my pride get the better of me. Leyona thought with an irritated huff, gritting her teeth. Her mother had always that she had a problem with her pride, and she had always caught when her mother had said under her breath, 'Your just like your father' but Leyona just shrugged it off. Her father wasn't even here for most of her life, so why should she be concerned?

Glancing up the blue that fading into orange just above the branches, she let out a puff of air and continued walking. The twelve year old adjusted the straps of the basket, wincing slightly at the flash of pain in her shoulders, and looked back down at her feet and absentmindedly kicked away rocks and various twigs that littered the path. 

"Leyona! Leyona!" At this, Leyona glanced up at the sound of her name, already dreading the owner of the voice.

Her younger brother an up to her, clutching her kimono and grinning wildly. "You wanna hear what I did today? I found a snail, and then I found two snails, and then I went snail hunting, and then I went into daddy's old study-" At this, Leyona shoved him away, her mood already dissipating at the sight of her brother. "Leave me alone." She snapped, continuing towards the house with her brother trailing behind her. 

"But I haven't told you what I did today! So I caught more snails, right? And then I showed mom! But mom told me to..." As her brother droned on and on about snails and how his day went, leyona began started to lose her patience, eventually losing it. "Will you shut up! Kami, I swear you never shut your trap!" She said, setting down the basket and turning on her brother, glaring at him with enough force to freeze lava.

The boy looked at her for a few seconds, then started to laugh. "What are you laughing at-"

"Leyona Esaki." At this, Leyona froze, turning around, tensing up and preparing herself for her mother's disappointed look. But, everytime, she still could not brace herself enough to handle her mother's glare. Seriously, the woman was probably the scariest person you could meet.

"Yeah mom?" Leyona said, trying to keep the her emotions from being visible on her face, although she was certain that she was doing a terrible job. "If you yell at your brother one more time, you'll have to watch him while I go get the wood!" At this, the nervousness subsided and Leyona rolled her eyes, feeling her temper rising. " Yeah, yeah whatever. Now if you excuse me, I have a friend that I would like to visit." With that, the twelve year old turned around.

"Leyona! You better get back here!"

"Screw off!" It was at moment, that Leyona knew.

She messed up. Big time.

Oh well. Her mother may in fact beat her ass and then ground her for a month but wounds heal and time passes, and the end it would just happen all over again so why bother?

At the sound of footsteps behind her Leyona broke into a run, directly into the forest, not even taking note of the slowly setting sun....

Michiko fingered the hilt of the sword at her hip, a nervous habit she had developed over the years.

Apparently, a Lower Moon was here. Or at least a demon with the power of a Lower, since all the previous had disappeared.

No bother, it would not be able to withstand her blows.

"So. This is where the Kami-forsaken demon is?" Asked her companion, but Michiko didn't even spare him a glance. "Yes, I suppose so." She said, raising her unoccupied hand to brush away her lavender bangs away from her eyes. They had been dyed that way for so many years, and Michiko couldn't bring herself to let them go.

"Hm. Let's go then. Orika pissed me off today and I'd just really like to blow off some steam." Casin said, nudging her with his shoulder when he saw she was spacing out again. He wasn't sure why, but he did know that it was his duty as her friend to help her. 

The two continued down the path in a quiet, yet comfortable silence. After a while, the two began to walk in sync. Casin kept his hold on his sword as he approached the mountain, glancing once at Michiko. "I'll handle the east, you go west?" He got a blank look in return, and merely took it as a yes. "Alright. See you at dawn." He said, then began to run, his sandals making a crunching noise against the ground. 

Casin stuck to the path, knowing that a demon would like an easy meal, and travelers looked like they took this path. He paused for a minute, just to collect when his bearings, when he heard a shriek. 

His ice-blue eyes widened, and he took off towards it, unsheathing his sword in a flash. 

He would kill this demon, even to save just one person.

Meanwhile, with Michiko, things where....uneventful.

The Flame Hashira was mainly just wandering around, trying to detect demonic presences and overall just not being useful.

She frowned when she reached a cabin in a clearing, the door thrown open. A basket full of wood was toppled over, as if someone who was running had hit it while escaping. Well, that was both a bad and good sign.

Bad sign, because people in this house where probably dead. Nobody could manage a house of this size on their own, and even if they did they where probably super stressed.

Good, because someone probably escaped. She just wasn't sure who. 

Michiko drew a breath, before approaching the door that was half hanging off it's hinging and slowly drawing her sword at the same time, before opening it.

The red-eyed Hashira couldn't have have prepared herself for this, despite seeing it countless times.

The family appeared to be at dinner, one having been trying to make a break for it towards the bedroom, another thrown over a small boy. The two parents(what she assumed, anyways), where dead, their faces so mangled she couldn't tell which was the father and which the mother. Michiko uttered a quick prayer before stepping inside, sword gripped in hand, before checking the house. You never know, some people could have fled or be hiding.

...

Michiko couldn't find anyone.

Two hours before

Leyona ran.

She was upset, but crying was a sign or weakness. So, she couldn't cry in front of anyone. Not now, not ever.

Her brother. Her stupid, stupid brother!

Her life had been perfect before he had come along.

Her parents had paid attention to her, praised her for making the trips up and down the mountain all by herself. 

She gritted her teeth, feeling the ache in her bones. Making a trip up a mountain and then running away afterwards was not smart on her part, but it was too late to go back now.

Eventually, she stopped, feeling as though she would collapse at any moment. Despite having plenty of stamina, Leyona was still human, and could still feel the burn of over-exerting herself, so she just flopped over in the middle of a forest, not thinking about her kimono getting dirty at all. To get back, all she would need to do was turn around, and when she was back she'd apologize to her brother and help her mother after dinner and maybe, just maybe, squeak out of trouble. 

Breathing in the scent of earth, pine needles, and things that she didn't know what they were but smelled good anyways, she lay there, not bothering to move. It was quiet, and calm, and she suddenly felt sleepy. 

But she had to get back. Not now, but soon. A flash of anger at her brother returned. She hated him. It was his fault that everything happened.

Her hands curled into fists absentmindedly, and she gritted her teeth. She just felt so....frustrated. She did everything her parents asked, made trips up and down the mountain, cleaned, and sometimes when her father was home he'd teach her the basics of sword fighting. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was childish to think this, and she was twelve, turning thirteen soon. Leyona was not a child. Her brother was, and he was annoying. It was as simple as that.

Flipping over onto her back, she suddenly remembered that her kimono would be covered in dirt when she got up. It didn't matter, she'd brush off the dirt on her way back and then forget it ever happened.

Time flew by, just Leyona and her thoughts, as she stared up at the slowly darkening sky. She liked the stars, they reminded her of times when her father was around more and they would go out and count them. It was stupid, since that was impossible, but Leyona found herself smiling at the memory.

Her stomach growled.

Damn. I should head back now. I'm getting hungry. She thought, slightly dreading getting up from the forest floor. She pushed herself to her feet, and began to make her way back towards her house.

Damn. What's that smell? It's really sharp, and is overall unpleasant... Leyona subconsciously sped up into a jog, then a full on run after a while. The rest for the few hours had really helped, and now she able to maintain a steady pace without feeling as if she was dying.

A nervous feeling wormed into Leyona's heart, and she felt a cloud of dread hanging over her. Was her family okay? She certainly hoped so.

Her breaths became quick and shallow the closer she got to her house, and her lungs burned for air. 

She slowed down, relief flooding her as she neared the door. Chewing sounds came from inside, and with a sigh Leyona realized she might have been late for dinner.

"Hey Mom? I would just like to say sorry for earlier-"

A strangled gasp cut off the girl's sentence as she pulled the door open slightly, revealing the scene in front of her.

Blood covered the walls, the food, and her parents. Her mother was thrown over her brother while her father, who must have come back to see her, had been lunging for his study, most likely to retrieve his sword.

Leyona took a couple steps back, her breaths coming in sharp, ragged gasps. Right in the middle, was a creature.

It was taller than anyone she had ever seen, even Uncle Agutuma, and he was at least 6'4. It's skin was pale, almost snow-white, it's hands and mouth covered in blood. 

And it's dark green eyes were staring right at her.

She screamed, taking off running, right back into the forest. It wasn't to get away from her problems or blow off steam anymore, now she was running for her life. She could hear the inhuman screech behind her, and the chase was on.

The girl was certain that it was a demon, her father had told her about them and even had trophies from his kills. He took pride in them, always asking for her mother to sew to the inside of his haori, and whenever he came he would show new ones to her, and even let her hold his sword.

The image of the dining area was burned into her mind, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any second.

Her mother. She would never hear her tease her father or laugh again. Would never eat that amazing salmon that she was able to cook, and would never hear her read to her brother late at night again.

She was sorry for being such an ungrateful child. Leyona didn't deserve parents like them. She acted like such a brat.

Her father. Leyona wouldn't be able to greet him when he came home, to hold his sword again, to laugh at him failing to tease her mother back. 

Despite acting like she hated him for leaving them for months at a time, she didn't. It was his job, and she was being childish. Again.

Her brother. Her poor, sweet, innocent brother. The girl was sorry. Sorry for everything. For tormenting him, for shoving him away, for shouting at him when he didn't deserve it. Leyona was so, so sorry.

Maybe if Leyona had ran off she would have been able to save them. Maybe, if she hadn't been such a Kami-forsaken coward, they would still be alive.

It was all her fault.

At this point, tears were streaming freely down her face, hitting the ground silently. She was nearing a clearing, and could hear the demon behind her, shrieking and laughing. This was a game to it. A sick, twisted game of tag.

At that thought, the worst thing possible happened.

Leyona tripped, landing face first in the dirt. Scrambling to get a handle on the pine needle covered ground, she turned to see where the demon was. 

It was right there, grinning. It's cat-like eyes were wide with excitement. She could see it's teeth, all sharp and pointed, designed for ripping and shredding.

This was it. Leyona was going to die.

Maybe she could apologize to her family.

Just as Leyona had given up and had closed her eyes, ready to feel the teeth or claws on her neck....

"Ice Breathing. Second form....Cold, Bitter Wind." Leyona's eyes snapped open, and her head whipped around, just in time to see the demon's head come flying off by a light blue blade and then a sudden cold, which didn't make sense since it was August and it hadn't rained in a couple days. "Move! It's gonna hit you!" Came a shout, and her instinct kicked in, throwing herself to the side just a body that was slowly turning to dust hit where she was moment before.

To say that Leyona was traumatised was an understatement. 

Holy, that was a big chapter. 2563 words, including this. Damn.

Anyways, thoughts? Did you like it, dislike it? 

Here's a little something for you all-

Shattered Legacy secret! Leyona had a little sister who unfortunately died of disease when she was three.