Feudal Japan: A Slash RP Revived

It's the year 1577, two years after the Battle of Nagashino, when the current daimyo of the Oda clan, The Demon King Oda Nobunaga, was steadily taking over Japan. After the slaughter of the Takeda cavalry, Oda continued with a variety conquest battles as he crushed his opponents, bringing the hammer down hard on his foes.

Of course, there are many opposed to the warlord's attempts at control, from the shogun to the other province rulers, to the common peasant or even an oni who had crossed into this world. While some provinces live in blissful ignorance of the wars waging just outside their borders, other places have become war-torn husks, and one lively cities have become ghost towns as people flee from the destruction.

As the war threatens to tear Japan apart, small resistance groups have popped up, with both humans and oni teaming up. Even smaller bands of heroes have also been formed, as skilled warriors start to take matters in to their own hands. Even beneath the obvious war between the humans, though, oni and human still do not get along in perfect harmony, and some of the monsters are only the war to their advantage, to feed and gain power.

In the midst of this chaos, it will take a miracle, or a group of true Heroes, to put an end to Oda's takeover.

The wolf-eared spirit sat on the rooftop, watching the humans below simply go about their daily lives. There was nothing to be concerned of, nothing that the normal humans would worry about.

War was war.

It would never change.

She slid off the roof and onto the street, slowly walking with them on the path out of town.

With her youthful appearance, the oni making her way down a city alley would be.. well.. she still wouldn't be mistaken for a normal child. She was far too pale, and wearing a short kimono with a slightly elegant design, not to mention the katana strapped to it. Oh, there was also the horns. They weren't exactly subtle. Still, the presence of demons was a common thing in this era, and while most didn't broadcast their presence, the human populace was perfectly aware of their existence.

That's why she didn't bother hiding herself as the oni leapt up out of the alley and up onto a low wall, stepping across the slats on her toes, feet bare. How boring. This town was boring. The war hadn't yet touched this place, at least not physically, so there was no screaming or stabbing or anything. At least this place had good sake. Ah, Ginjo. She loved it's light and fruity taste. it was especially nice when a human had their fill of it before she took their blood but.. beggars can't be choosers. She took a swig of the bottle and grinned, then stuffed it into the sash of her kimono, holding onto the top of it as she leapt across rooftops, landing in front of the city's exit gate.

Myoji was standing off against the boss of an enemy bandit group. The boss was now alone save for the three men next to him.

"Stand back," The bandit king said, motioning his men away, "This man killed over half our men single handedly. His head is mine!" The three men did so and the bandit king stepped forward.

Myoji sighed, "Why are the pretty ones always so stupid~?" He asked, and the bandit king looked confused before suddenly all the torches in the tent they were in went out, and there was some screaming. With the little lighting left that one might be able to see by, they might see a massive gap of black appear behind the bandit king, before he got swallowed up.

"Sorry, but we have been fighting for too long today, so no time to play," Myoji said, looking bored as the torches were relit by his men.

The three other bandits quickly threw down their weapons in surrender.

"Get out of my way, Ireahime; I don't want to hurt you," said the woman Ireahime knew as Fukiyu Fukimora; whom she had believed to be her maid.

"I don't want to hurt you either, but if you try to kill my husband; I'm going to have to cut your head off," said Ireahime. "I should have known you were a ninja from the start; Fukiyu Fukimora is such a fake sounding name..."

"Why do you protect him? You know you'd rather bed me than him any day of the week!" said Fukiyu. "I can free you from any commitment to him; just let me by, and I'll slit his throat, and we can run away together..."

"Tempting, but no," said Ireahime getting into a fighting stance. "He may be terrible in bed, and not at all attractive to me; but I'm NOT gonna let you kill him,"

"Then I'm sorry, Ireahime, but you shall have to die," said Fukiyu, charging forward with her kodachi drawn.

Ireahime dodged.

"Hold still so I can make it painless!" saikd Fukiyu, swinging her blade at her former lover again.

Ireahime dodged again.

"DIE DAMN YOU!" yelled Fukiyu, as she started swinging her blade wildly, not caring where she hit as long as she drew blood.

However, she made the mistake of blinking; during which time she found that Ireahime was no longer in her line of sight, and that the kodachi was no longer in her hand.

"What the fu..." she started to say, before she felt Ireahime's arms around her, and felt cold steel at her throat.

"You satisfied me well during the time we had together," said Ireahime, kissing Fukiyu's neck.

She then slashed the kunoichi's throat with the kodachi, and let her fall to the ground.

"Perhapse in the next life I'll look you up," she said, as she walked away.

Before anyone had noticed her presence, she was already gone.

Okami was on her way to see how else things could be moved to action. There was already unease and dissension and anger in the ranks, soldiers unhappy, warlords bracing themselves against the march of the Demon Lord.

She walked along the road, whistling softly to herself.

Myoji smiled as he left the rich people who had paid for his services. Normally he doesn't charge much, but since these peole had more money he figured it was fair that he charge proper payment. He and his men would eat well tonight...

They walked into a nicer town, having changed into proper clothes to hide who they were.

As she was standing by the gate, the oni noted a group of men walk in who didn't seem to notice her. How odd, that she could blend in so easily one moment and then be as subtle as a bull in a china shop the next. Still, these men made her turned and leap back onto the city gate again, watching them from above. They looked interesting, even if they dressed in unassuming clothing. Perhaps they could alleviate her boredom somewhat.

Leaping across rooftops, she kept pace with them easily, her feet barely making a sound as she walked across the slatted houses and low walls that separated sections of the city. She took another sip of her beverage and smirked, a fanged tooth glinting in the bright moonlight. The moon was hanging eerily close to the city, illuminating it well enough even without the lanterns, but the people of the city didn't seem bothered by it or chose to ignore it, lighting paper lanterns to dissipate the white-blue glow.

Myoji, being the experienced soldier he was, didn't need one of his men to tell him about the oni, and so shushed him.

He thought to himself as to why one would follow him. Does it notice his scent? Does the darkness give off some odd aura that attracts onis? He didn't think so, but still. He had only ever met one before, besides himself, so he wouldn't even know what one would want following him.

However, his men were getting nervous. Some of them still weren't entirely certain of the new power Myoji has shown, and were scaring themselves by telling each other stories about various onis killing men.

"Hey, hey! We're celebrating, aren't we?" He asked, laughing loudly to get their attentions. "First round," He said, jingling a large coin-purse, "Is on me, heheh," Some of the men smiled, one saying "You're the man, Myoji-Sama!" but they didn't all look much better. He held back a sigh as he turned, keeping up his smile.

He decided to let the Oni be for now, as they were coming up to the bar they wanted to go to.

As the men started the look uneasy, the Oni could smell their fear all the way from the rooftops. Only the one that seemed to be the leader, the one that laughed loudly as if to prove a point, didn't seem as worried about her. He was either a very strong man or a very stupid man. She was tempted to assume the second, as it was common knowledge that a human wasn't as knowledgeable as an Oni that has lived for over a hundred years, but this man had followers. That must mean he was at least a little powerful.. so he was probably both stupid and strong, by human standards.

He had this weird smell about him, as well. Like there was something in him of great power.. and it was quite nice.

Skipping across the rooftops, she let herself get lower, no longer bothering to hide her presence as she had obviously already been seen. She landed elegantly on the roof of the bar they were heading towards and sat down, placing her hand under her chin. She was curious if one of the weaker men would pee themselves if she jumped down, but she decided to wait until they got a bit closer. Until then, she was content with watching them squirm under her red and black gaze.

Myoji looked up at her, and gave her a devilish glare. He then raised his hand and made a motion. Even though the men were scared, they understood. They scattered out as Myoji stepped forward, his eyes on her. He didn't want to fight in the middle of town, especially with the lights on all around. Even if his men got to all the lanterns in time... would he be able to beat an oni?

He sighed, and spoke, "Do you have business with us?" He was at this point rather agitated at the fact that his night had been ruined, but hoped he could save it by avoiding conflict.

"No particularly, no." The Oni spoke with a tone of voice that could be taken as either a boy or a girl, though the way the short kimono she was wearing was tied low in the front didn't leave you in mystery about her gender for long, even if she was a bit flat-chested. Leaping down off the building, her sleeves fluttered a bit before she landed right in front of Myoji. She was, at the very least, a couple head shorter than him. Like a child, her height certainly wasn't an intimidating factor.

"I was actually curious and was wondering in you would mind if I joined you for a drink." She gave him a grin that might've been friendly if it didn't come off as more of a smirk. She glanced over at the men at the closest lanterns. "Your men don't look like they have very good blood, though.. I'm pretty sure one of them is about to piss their pants. Fear tastes terrible." She laughed, one hand tucking the thumb in the sash of her kimono, the other hand hanging by her side.

"Your men seem to be a rather flinchy bunch. Are they afraid I'm going to eat their eyeballs or suck out their souls or something? Like a said before, fear ruins the meal, so they shouldn't worry." She finished glancing around her and looked back up at Myoji, having to crane her neck a bit and take a half-step back.

Myoji seemed angry, but he calmed himself down, to keep up morale. If even one of his men actually pissed themselves... it would ruin the name of the Shadow Mercenaries.

However, the men were certainly scared, but then Myoji spoke up, "Sure! The Shadow Mercenaries aren't afraid of one Oni! We'll have a drink, and I'm sure you'll find yourself respecting us and our glory soon enough!" He then smiled, ignoring the voice inside him that said to kill the thing in front of him and smear the gore all across the town.

He would not listen to that darkness anymore, and in fact he was letting the Oni join them purely in spite of the darkness.

The Oni smirked a bit, the fear still coming off the men in waves, even as the leader tried to calm them down. "Hm. Thank you for the warm welcome, then. Hopefully your men will help you in showing me this 'glory' you're talking about." They certainly didn't seem glorious at this moment in time. Still, maybe they'd surprise her. Maybe.

"You may call be Kuro, by the way," the Oni said in an off-hand sort of voice as she turned around to face the bar, waving a hand in the air dismissively. "Or, by all means, continue to call me 'Oni'. It doesn't much matter to me. Well then, let's go in to this fine establishment, shall we?"

Going on ahead, she was curious to see if they would really follow her in for flee. Either way, she got a table suitable for fitting all of the men around from a waitress, which was conveniently located near the bar. In thanks, she gave the young girl an affectionate pat on the cheek with a white, clawed hand, which made her skin turn pale out of fear and made her stagger away quickly. Kuro took her seat at one of the corners of the table, closest to the exit.

Myoji motioned to the men, and gave them a reassuring smile. "Hey guys, listen. If we do this, not only do we get to party, but we'll get to brag about drinking with an oni and survive! So lets do this!" A few of the men cheered up at the thought, and a few others murmered in agreement though they were still scared.

A few at the back simply shuffled forward, faces pale. Myoji had to hold in another sigh. He loved these men to death, but they were too superstitious~

They all went in and sat, Myoji taking a seat near Kuro and there were a few seats empty on her other side.

"So Kuro, tell me a little about yourself. I haven't had the pleasure to aqcaint myself with an oni that was so, ah, friendly,"

After making sure her husband was ok, and making sure the house guards were on alert; Ireahime changed into her "drinking clothes", and headed for a nearby bar.

She needed a drink.

Kuro looked up at the men entered, raising an eyebrow at Myoji, slightly impressed that he was able to get the men to come inside. As they came in, she had to hold back laughter at the blank seats next to her. Really, now. These men were like a bunch of old ladies.. though their flesh might be a bit more tasty then an old woman's. The fear was rather intoxicating, after all.

The Oni leaned forward slightly, removing her sword from her belt and setting on the floor next to her pillow-seat on the empty side. With a swivel of her hand in the air, she summoned a waitress to the table. One of the benefits of being an Oni, that and all of the more weak-willed people had left the bar, clearing up a lot of space and reducing the irritating chatter.

She took her drink order from the waitress, giving her the empty bottle that was attached to her hip to dispose of. She turned her attention to Myoji as her spoke, propping her head up on her hand, elbow on the table.

"About myself, mm? I'm nothing too spectacular, I suppose.. I've just been around long enough to learn a little self control. Can't remember most of my early life, but I would guess I used to rampage and slaughter like all good little Oni do." She smirked and laughed a bit.

Ireahime walked into the bar.

"I need a drink," she said.

Myoji looked at Kuro with a curious face, and ordered himself his drink. The rest of the men got a drink as well, and a few started chatting amongst themselves. Myoji actually let his sigh out this time.

"Well, don't mind my men. They are a proud bunch, but they have not been around many Oni, I apologise on their behalf for their rudeness," He let his expression relax, "That's an interesting tail I suppose. I've heard that you live longer than humans,"

Worthy of noting is the fact he kept his katana at his hip, letting them hang from it there slightly tapping the ground.

The Oni raised a hand without look up as the waitress returned with her drink, taking it from her and letting her quickly scurry away. Taking a sip, she noted the fear starting to dissipate, if only just a bit. How cute. "Hm.. this would really taste better with some raw meat.." she said, making it seem like she was mumbling to herself, but she said it quite loud enough for at least the nearby men to hear her.

"It's quite alright, that's not uncommon. Most Oni don't tend to broadcast their presence, since we tend to attract people that stab first and ask questions later. That's probably why most of us eat humans first and don't bother to ask questions." She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. "Yes, we can live to be at least 800, I believe. That's the oldest I've heard of. Technically, I'm considered young at only 172."

"Anyway. What about you? What's your name and.. the name of your little band of companions?"

One pale ear twitched as a woman came into the bar, announcing.. the obvious. Turning her head, she smirked, her white teeth nearly matching her skin. "Then just ask one of the rather skittish waiters for one."

The men all cringed slightly at the mention of raw meat. Myoji frowned. He would ask her to stop, but that just makes them all seem weaker.

Instead, he let her finish her statement and then after a moment of thought, during which she addressed some newcomer woman who walked in, he said, "My name is Myoji. We are a band of mercenaries, and have saved many towns from bandits and killed many warlords looking to use small villages for resource gathering. We are known far and wide as the Shadow Mercenaries," He was stretching the truth a bit at the end, as in fact they were not well known because of the simple fact they worked in the shadows.

Ireahime, meanwhile, sat up at the bar, and ordered a drink.

"Give me the strongest thing you've got," she said, not caring that it was somewhat of a cliche.

Kuro looked.. visibly irked by the woman ignoring her. Humans. Calming herself back down, she turned to attention back to Myoji. She wasn't worth the irritation.. there were plenty of waitresses to mess with, after all.

"I haven't heard of you." She stated bluntly. She'd seen many mercenary groups come and go in her time, but these must've passed under her radar. Still, if his claims were true, that was pretty skilled of them. "So you're a heroic band of mercenaries who.. I'm going to assume from the name.. attack from the shadows?" Not the most original concept, but this group seemed unlike most others, especially its leader.

"You know who else attacks from the shadows? Ninja. And they're probably better at it," said Ireahime, as she started to drink her sake.

Myoji was about to answer Kuro when the other woman made her comment, "Oh yeah? You think ninjas can attack from the shadows better than me?" He smirked, in fact he seemed to enjoy the comment. one man among the others laughed a bit, even.

"Yeah, we fight in the shadows, from True Darkness," Myoji said.

Kuro glanced between the woman and the men and smiled. Ooo. It seemed to be getting rather interesting rather quickly. "Ninjas versus shadow mercenaries.. that would be an interesting battle to see.. though it would most likely end up with all of you hiding in the shadows and waiting for the other to attack, yes?" She, personally, didn't mind using the shadows to her advantage, but she wasn't afraid to leap out and fight barehanded if she had to. Made it interesting.

As the woman and Myoji began what could turn out to be a lengthy or at least uninteresting argument, The Oni entertained herself by calling over the skittish waitress from before and letting her sit in her seat, then plopping herself in her lap. Ah, the joys of being an Oni knew no bounds. The poor woman looked like she was about to cry.

Aya and Zakuro had been in the bar for a while now with the hanyou downing sake and chewing on barbeque while Zakuro simply ate barbeque since he was wary of alcoholic beverages because alcohol interfered with his clairvoyance (how he was able to even be in the bar... well, Aya had her ways). They barely noticed when a couple of black-clothed men entered the bar, but when the oni appeared, Aya stiffened and her eyes narrowed.

"Are you going to do something stupid?" Zakuro asked his companion.

Aya gave the little boy a weak glare and shook her head slightly. "I'm not that stupid," she said, ignoring Zakuro's disbelieving snort. "She's much older than me and much stronger too. I have no chance in hell."

"At least you admitted it," Zakuro said, sipping his water.

The two settled into their meal again, keeping an eye on the men and oni. Aya listened in on their conversation with her enhanced hearing and when it got to ninjas, she couldn't help but feel insulted that they seem to be looked down upon by the men.

"Damn men and their gigantic egos," Aya muttered darkly before taking a sip of her sake.

The Oni decided to release the poor waitress after she promised more to drink, handing her the second empty bottle and receiving a third. Downing half of the bottle, the pale Oni's cheeks started to turn a little pink, her body starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. Her mind, though, was still clear. You didn't get to be 172 without building a strong resistance to drink, after all. Still, she liked to act the part a little, for effect, and she decided that the men needed to think that she was was a little intoxicated so that they could relax. As nice as the fear smelled, she didn't want to cause any of the men to snap and force her to destroy this pleasant little bar. Either way, she had lost interest in the conversation for now.

Grabbing her sheathed sword, she stood up and leaned on the weapon like a cane, her mouth twisted into a lazy smile. Taking a staggering half-step back, she downed the other half of her drink, then went ahead and walked up the bar herself, being sure to make her steps a little uneven, and keep her sword sheathed as she used it to keep herself upright. As she reached the bar, she nonchalantly sat on one of the seats next to the woman and her young companion, chewing away at barbecue. What a waste of good, raw meat. Still, it did make her a bit peckish.

"Oy!" she called, getting a chef's attention. He looked uneasy as he walked up to the Oni, a rather strange customer to have in his bar. "Do you have any raw meat? No no, not you or any of your employees," she waved her hand dismissively at the look he gave her after her request. "Like.. maybe a pig? Or a cow? Fresh and red, preferably. Also, I could use another bottle of sake, if you don't mind, of course." She set the empty bottle on the counter and gave the man a toothy smile before he went off to fill her order.

"For all you know, there could be a ninja among your men right now," said Ireahime. "They're sneaky bastards..."

The wolf-eared creature walked past the bar, feeling the presence of oni and humans alike. Hearing the loud snarling for fresh meat made her stomach growl. When did she eat last? Days? Maybe.

She hadn't passed a battlefield in a long time... usually there were dead to feed on but not lately...