#soh jun

The moon shone brightly over the forest, illuminating the woman walking on the dirt path.

Her footsteps were soft and unhurried, despite being a beautiful young walking on a dangerous road at night. There was an aura of confidence about her that seemed nearly deadly.

The woman regularly patrolled this road, which led to her hotsprings inn. The entire valley was hers; Sakura no Tani had been in her family for generations, passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter and ever since her mother died, it was hers to maintain and to guard.

Hence why she was walking at night. Foolish bandits liked to think that simply because this valley was run by a female inn owner, they could muscle their way into the peace and take over. It never failed that she was attacked at least twice while on her route.

It also never failed that those same bandits' eviscerated bodies were found on the road leading out from the valley, on the edge of the nearest village. Blood dripped from her fingers and mouth in the morning and her employees and the village residents had long since stopped asking.

After all, their lives were simple and peaceful, but unimaginably prosperous. If their bloodthirsty guardian doesn't turn her hunger towards them and instead towards those who would disturb their blissful existence, then what would they gain with protesting?

A rapid succession of footfalls snatched her from her thoughts and she turned her head towards the line of trees that she heard them from and not a second later, out burst a young man. He was no older than her; in fact, he seemed like a few years her junior. His black hair was greasy and unkempt, like a river of oil. She noticed the flecks of blood in it as well and the larger stains on his person. Some were on his face, but most of it was on his chest and hands. One of which seemed to grip a sword.

He finally looked at her and she was mildly surprised to see his eyes were a demonic shade of yellow. It pierced her soul and when it found that she would not be shaken, he growled, taking a step towards her. But instead of rushing at her like a wild animal, he merely fell flat on his face, passing out before he even hit the ground.

She looked at him with a look of disdain and interest. Not many have surprised her like this. It made her wonder about the condition of this man. If he was possessed by a demon, she would simply purge it and allow her village to nurse him back to health. If not, well then...

Before she had a chance to check, she heard another set of fast moving footsteps coming towards her. With these, she could feel the malice rolling off of their owner like miasma. She reached for both her bow and knife as a second man burst through the woods, panting and snarling like a rabid wolf. The second man looked at the first and smiled that screamed insanity. He didn't even notice her and instead reached for the first man.

He jumped back when an arrow flew at him, narrowly missing him by centimeters and seconds. His attention snapped to her and she finally felt a quiver when looking at this man. He had the same -

No...she thought, looking at his eyes again, more clearly. He was fully possessed by whatever resided in the other man and he reveled in his demonic power.

"Who are you? And why do you get in the way of me and my Katsuo-Kun?!" He screamed, spittle flying everywhere as he drew his sword and pointed it at her.

She merely narrowed her eyes and said nothing, keeping her focus entirely on the threat in front of her. He laughed suddenly. "You won't say anything?! Fine then! I'll make sure everyone knows that your final words were your screams!" He threw himself at her, sword poised for the killing.

He was immediately struck by a lightning bolt and thrown back into a tree. The force broke the tree and the place where he was hit was burned and still sizzling. He was dazed and coughing blood, but still mobile.

When he lifted his head, he was shocked to see a golden, nine-tailed fox floating above the bitch. Balls of lightning hovered over the both of them, protectively and as he gazed back at his Katsuo-Kun, he saw a couple of lightning balls over him too.

He turned back to his Katsuo-Kun and got up slowly, sword still in hand. He hobbled over to his Katsuo-Kun when another ball of lightning hit the space between him and his Katsuo-Kun.

"Leave." A melodious and ethereal voice said, power dripping from it. His eyes went back to the fox-witch and her familiar. "Leave this place and never return." The fox said, it's blood red eyes trying rip his soul asunder. "You are marked with the crest of my family. Never set foot in my valley again or be destroyed."

In the distance was the sound of people, and a lot of them. While he had no problem slaughtering a few idiots, this witch and her familiar posed serious problems.

Live to fight another day, he decided, as he sheathed his sword and ran away, swearing to kill the witch and skin her fox.

When Daiki came up the hill, the sight of his mistress with her bow drawn, a fallen man on the ground and another man running towards the valley entrance and exit was something unexpected but a more welcome sight than what he had imagined when he heard thunder on a clear night. He and the villager men he gathered up breathed a collective sigh of relief when she lowered her bow and turned to face them.

She smiled; meant to be reassuring but coming off a bit more menacing than she probably meant.

Probably.

"I am sorry to have worried you all." She spoke. She pointed to the fallen man. "Retrieve Doctor Kyou and have him look over this man. Then bring him to the inn and set him in the room next to mine." She started on the way the other man had ran to.

"A-ah! Sakurai-Sama, do you require assistance?!" Daiki called out, running a few steps towards his mistress.

"No." She said firmly, not looking behind her at the Kondo. "It would be best that you turn to the village and tell the men and warriors to stay on alert. Protect Doctor Kyou's with your lives."

Daiki stopped and gazed at his mistress with fear and awe. This woman was dangerous in the best way and he would gladly give his life for her.

He bowed and said "Yes, Sakurai-Sama!" He turned back to his group and started barking out orders; the Hyuga born villagers knew better than to defy Daiki, a Kondo or not. He was Sakurai-Sama's right hand mistress and to go against him would go against their bloodthirsty guardian.

She walked the path to the valley's entrance, the demonic miasma like a breadcrumb trail leading her towards him. Her hand gripped her bow and Raiden walked along beside her, his tails swishing back and forth in aggravation.

"How dare this human demon walk into my valley and dare threatens my human." He huffed, his lightning balls dancing around him.

"Settle yourself, Rai-Kun. It was none of our business and we could have handed the other idiot over to the first and be done with it." She gave him a look before continuing. "But yet, your fragile ego could not handle a mere human whelp playing demon insulting me, like I am a mere maiden."

Raiden growled. "Silence! Your mother had more respect towards me! I daresay your grandmother as well, even though she too had a mouth on her."

She laughed and pat his head lovingly. Though a proud creature, Raiden could not rest a head pat from his beloved human.

Their moment was interrupted by a long howl, tinged with madness and evil. She looked up and saw that the man was looking down on the valley from a ridge and she could feel his evil raking over her form. Then, as the dawning sun slowly crept above the horizon of the valley, he was gone, the same howl washing over the valley.

She and Raiden watched his retreat and knew that he would return...

Back at the village, Daiki tried to calm down the once fallen man.

After Doctor Kyou had checked him over, the old man was nearly knocked out by the awoken man's panicked flailing. It had taken Daiki and his brother Daichi to carry him over to Sakurai-Sama's inn. It caused more than a few of the now awake villager's stares, but given how much strangeness happens in this valley, this bit of silliness was more than welcomed.

But now, Daiki was thinking about making the man pass out again. He couldn't stand the shouted threats much longer.

Thankfully, the door slid open and revealed his mistress. The Kondo bowed low, his forehead pressed into the floor. "Sakurai-Sama! I apologize for the mess, but this man will not calm himself!"

She had on a navy blue with royal purple cherry blossom patterns and a pipe, smoking drifting out of the unusually large bowl, which was decorated with a fox next to a cherry blossom tree. Her considerable bust was nearly falling out of her kimono and her unusual pale green eyes reminded him of freshly cut bamboo. She looked like a hostess but if the way the Kondo was acting, she was the owner of this in.

"That's quite alright, Daiki. You are dismissed but tell Akiko-Chan that need some miso and rice. Also tell her to make a couple of dumplings for your trouble." Her voice held an air of absolute authority and her aura spoke of someone who was not to be messed with unless you had power: and a lot of it.

The Kondo, Daiki, thanked her and he walked out of the room, giving him one last ugly look before closing the door.

He turned to the woman and snorted. "Are you the owner? Because I have a few choice words for you and many quest-"

"You were running from another man, your eyes telling me of an unwilling demonic possession and his eyes of a more than willing one. You were injured and I chased off the other one. You are safe and he will not be able to step into my valley without fatal repercussions." She told him, not waiting for him to finish. She sat down across from him and smoked on her pipe, looking at him with a look he wasn't sure he liked.

His mouth was agape as she said she chased off Jun and that she could basically kill him if she wanted. He could feel her power and cringed, scooting back a bit. "Who are you?" He asked.