The City of Demons(play)

Manga-Oni-Link, post as soon as you can.

It is a stormy night in the city of Belcheser, full of thieves and corruption, Belcheser is one of the most populated area's in the land, and the most dangerous. If any man were to set foot in this place, he would have to be armed, or his life would be at risk. Tatsim, not caring much about corruption, thieving, or even the city itself, slowly walks down the wet road, passing by shops, houses, and all sorts of marketing. It seemed as though the city was surrounded by darkness. Tatsim could sense an evil presence nearby, but it was not his business to find out. He had more important matters to care of, mainly, getting some shelter, and food. Tatsim then notices a bar near him, and decided to enter. The door was burst open as Tatsim entered the busy bar. Suddenly all the noised that came from the bar stopped, left with only silence. It seemed that everyone in the bar was staring at Tatsim, with many surprised, yet frightened faces. Not noticing, nor caring what the public thought of him, Tatsim just slowly walked across the room, to an empty table. He did seem strange though; he was wearing a black cloak over him, hiding his face, and covering his entire body. He had his bow and arrow with him, After a waitress came, and he ordered his food, he sensed that the evil presence was nearby. Then, suddenly the door was burst open, and a man rushed inside, at a fast speed, just running towards a man sitting at the counter. Pulling out what seemed to be some kind of Long sword, the warrior stabbed his sword through the man's chest, anou out of his back. As the man screamed in pain, the warrior then took out the sword, from the chest. The warrior grabbed the man by the hair, and then pulled his head to the tip of the sword, and then he pushed the head through the blade, making his head burst with blood. As the warrior dropped the corpse, which he sought to kill, everyone inside the bar was in panic, and confusion. Tatsim staying calmly in his place, he noticed that there were two humans that did not run in panic. As Tatsim stared with amazement and wonder at the two humans, they changed to their true form. The form of a demon. Not noticing or even caring about the crowd of people that were running up the stares to the second floor, Tatsim took out his bow and arrow, and then fired an arrow at one of the monsters. As the arrow hit the head of the demon, the warrior ran up to the other demon and sliced the arm apart from the body, then horizontally cutting the demon in half. Tatsim, nt knowing if the warrior was to be an enemy or an ally, he approached the warrior from behind, and aimed the arrow at the back of his head. The warrior, having noticed Tatsim from behind, he stopped what he was doing, and waited to hear what his attacker had to say. Then, sounds of screams were heard, it was coming from the second floor. But Tatsim did not turn to see, his eyes were fixed on the mysterious warrior. Tatsim spoke " Who are you ? Are you some sort of Demon slayer ?" There was no word from the warrior, just silence. Tatsim said " Speak now, or die. "
…………………………………….

"...... you're not a demon. I have no quarrel with you." the stranger quickly spun around and knocked the bow and arrow from Tatsim's hand. As Tatsim recovered his balance the man rushed up the stairs. Tatsim quickly followed, and when he had arrived he found the demon hunter with his sword through a man's chest. The wounded man grinned and slid his body further up the blade. He brought his face close to the demon slayer's and spit in it. The demon slayer brought his arm back and punched the man in the face. It was then that it occured to Tatsim that the man impaled by the slayer's sword was bleeding blue. The impaled man then revealed his true form: a feasome demon.

"It certainly took you long enough." the red-haired slayer whispered. The demon spoke, and the language that he spoke in was so foul that it burned Tatsim's ears. "We'll see." The slayer stared straight into the demon's eyes, his blade began to glow and the demon began to scream in agony. He slid his blade from the demon's body and spun around, slicing the demon in half. Blood splattered over the croud, the walls, and the entire room.

A robust man approached the demon slayer and produced a bag of money. The slayer took it and shook it, then dumped it into his hand. "There's only half of what you promised me."
The barkeep's face turned a disturbing tone of purple. "That's because you wrecked my Inn!!" The slayer poured the coins into the purse and proceeded toward the stairs where Tatsim was waiting. Tatsim stared at him, but he walked right past and exited the building. Tatsim quickly followed.
The mysterious demon slayer walked down the street for a few minutes and then stopped. "Why do you follow me?"

Tatsim then stopped and spoke " I have heard of you from different corners of this land, Demon Slayer Sho. I have heard also that you seek to find a Master Demon, the same Demon that ordered the death of your..parents. I have been recently hired to hunt down and kill the same Master Demon. But I have heared that you can't kill a Master Demon, unless you are a Demon Slayer. I know where to find this Master Demon, and I need your...expertise. If you help me track down this Demon, I will pay you as much as I have, and I'm sure killing this Demon will please you enough. Do you accept? Either way, I do not need no.............. Demon Slayer to help me, for I do not beleive in that rumor. I'm just doing this for your benefit." The Demon Slayer stares at Tatsim with an unpleased look, yet confused at the same time. He does not speak......

Sho studied Tatsim quietly, thoughtfully, pondering the wisdom of accepting this man's offer. I could use the information, but I usually work alone... he thought.
"Well? Do you accept my offer or not Sho the Demon Slayer? I do not have all day."
Sho thought for a moment. He could tell that this stranger obviously had very little patience. "Very well, I accept your offer. But first, I want to see how strong you really are!" He drew his Suzaku Buster and charged at Tatsim, who immmediately drew his own blade in defence. Sho lept into the air, "Suzaku-giri no Sora!" he exclaimed; he performed a powerful downwards slash, sending a wave of spirit energy flying towards Tatsim. Tatsim raised his katana, intending to deflect the wave; but as the energy wave approached the air grew hot, as the heat on a clear summer's day, leaving behind a trail of steam. Tatsim, realizing this, quickly leapt from the wave's path. The energy collided with the ground and dissipated in a cloud of steam, leaving behind a great chasm of burnt and blackened earth, which quickly filled with water in the downpour. Tatsim wiped the water away from his eyes so that he could see the demon slayer more clearly. Sho landed, his sandals squelched in the mud and and sank a little.
Tatsim studied Sho and made a quick analysis. He readied his double-edged katana and dashed towards Sho, quickly closing the distance between the two of them. Once he was within attack range, he proceeded to perform multiple thrusts aimed at Sho's chest. Sho, being taken aback by Tatsim's speed and agility, barely managed to raise his blade in defence against Tatsim's fearsome attack. He attempted to make a step backwards, but his shoe stuck in the mud and he lost his balance, causing him to fall backwards. Tatsim's attack ceased and he went in for a finishing blow, but when Sho lost his balance Tatsim's attack missed and he also lost his balance. He put his hand out and caught himself, posing the tip of his blade at Sho's throat. But Sho had taken advantage of Tatsim's loss of balance and placed the sharp edge of his blade at Tatsim's throat.
Sho smiled, "It seems that you are quite strong. I accept your offer."

Tatsim regained his balance and spoke back " You seem much stronger than I have imagined. You have the skill. So be it, if you wish to catch this demon, you must follow. We do not have much time before he changes his course to another direction." Tatsim then rushed near a building, and leaped over it, decsending on the roof. Tatsim turned and faced Sho, and spoke " This way, do not dawdle." Sho then leaped over the building, and followed Tatsim. Tatsim didn't even bother to leap, he just teleported building to building, until they made it to the edge of the whole city. Tatsim stopped, noticing that the Demo Slayer actually managed to catch up with him, he said " We must head into the forest, deep inside lurks the creature, in an underground caver. It's very simple." Then Tatsim descended to the ground, and was followed by Sho. After ten minutes of walking they were already deep inside the forest. Completely surrounded by trees, and darkness, Tatsim sensed something approaching them. The forest was so thick, and dark, that they could not see. " Stand your ground, their's more than one of them, maybe more than a dozen." Tatsim said. Sho replied, " I know, I can sense it as well, I am a Demon Slayer after all. They're Demons, I can smell they're wrecthed stench from a mile away. These are not ordinary demons, they seem to powerful....."

The awful stench of the demons flooded Sho's senses. The storm that had accompanied his fight with Tatsim had finaly begun to cease, the last of the raindrops making their way through the thick forest canopy. Darkness had engulfed the two of them, keeping Sho from being able to see but a few feet in front of him. The stormclouds were blocking out the helpful moonlight, accompanied by the tall trees of the forest.
Sho could sense the presence of many demons in the immediate area, attempting to surround himself and Tatsim. He looked around, scanning his circle of vision, yet in vain. It's too dark, I can't see them. But perhaps... Sho closed his eyes, opening his senses and widening his awareness.

Crickets chirped under the leaves..... raindrops fell from the trees..... the afterstorm wind blew through the forest, rustling Sho's hair....

Come on... anything out of the ordinary.... anything to give away a position...

Owls hooting in the treetops..... mice scurrying into their holes....

A twig snapping.... a leaf crumbling.... anything... Sho strained, opening his senses even more, expanding his aura.

Tatsim's breathing, steady but short..... my own breathing, deep and controlled... and....wait...something else.... where is it....

Sho's eyes burst open. "There!!" He gripped his sword and spun around. "Reverse Suzaku-giri!!" Another energy wave flew from his blade, slicing into what seemed to be complete nothingness. Suddenly, ear-splitting screams pierced the dark, rending apart the silence; three disturbingly shaped heads heads rolled across the forest floor, leaving behind a trail of blood, stopping at Sho's feet.
Sho looked beside him in search of a disturbed look on his companions face, but Tatsim had already unsheathed his katana and was dashing in the direction the heads had come. The moment he disappeared into the shadows, more screams tore apart the peace. Sho readied his sword and followed Tatsim, a look of anticipation on spread across his features...

Tatsim, using his senses, steadily moved accross the grass. Using his sense of sound, he could hear the sounds of the grass rustling and the twigs breaking. This told Tatsim whether a demon was near him. He was so concentrated on the movement of the demons, that he did not bother to look if his.....former partner was behind him. Suddenly, Tatsim spun around in a circle, grabbing the picth black arm of the demon, and with all his might, he pulled on the arm as he spun. Almost immidiatly the arm was ripped right off, blood gushing out everywhere. But Tatsim knew the demon was not done yet, he then horizontally slashed his sword at a demon, cutting it in half. Tatsim then sensed a difference in the area around him. The pattern suddenly ended, there was no more rustling, no more noise. It seemed to him that the demons soon became aware of their methods, they were getting smarter. All that could be heard was silence, they had to be on there guards. Tatsim after taking a few silent steps, he was stabbed on the shoulder, as Tatsim let out a roar full of rage. Tatsim then spun around with his sword, missing the demon by inches. Tatsim was only getting more frustrated, as Sho kept his guard up, as well as his patience. Then another demon bit Tatsim on his right shoulder, giving Tatsim enough time to react. He then clenched the face of the demon, and then squeezed the face with all his anger and strength. The fingers of the assassin sinked deep into the face of the demon, as the blood was squeezed out of the demon. But right before the head burst open, Tatsim was attacked by another demon, but was stopped by Sho. Sho's sword had sliced the head of the demon off by a vertical slash. If they were to reach the lair of the Master Demon, they would have to defend their own lives, and last out through the night.....

" You should watch more closely." Sho said in monotone after decapitating the demon that was about to attack Tatsim.

"I do not require your help against sub-average demons." Tatsim replied, matter-of-factly. Sho shrugged him off and attacked a nearby demon. He immediately sliced it in half and then did a "Suzaku-giri" to destroy the remains.

He soon realized something strange about the demons. Their attack style was changing. While at first they had relied solely on the cover of shadows to attack, now they were forming parties and.... they're trying to separate us! Sho could no longer find Tatsim in his sight-range. The only thing in sight was a wall of demons, all wearing bloodthirsty looks and eyes full of malice...

(sorry, I'm kind of tapped out)

(edit: If a mod sees this, can you please lock this thread. We are doing something else and will not be able to continue this for a while even though we are not finished. We will pm you when we are able to continue.)