| Sacred Traditions [closed to Raidou and Tsume] | [Jun. 29th, 2008|02:49 pm] |
[Immediately follows Sacred Balance]
They'd slept a great deal later than they normally would. Tsume had woken once in the early morning when the boy beside her began to scream. It took a little while to calm him down, and longer still to hold him close and tell him it would be all right, explain that he couldn't go home now, that they'd find a new family for him. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep.
Aoi watched, then curled against Raidou's chest and closed her eyes.
It was almost eleven when they finally set out for Konoha, the two children on Kuromaru's broad back. He couldn't run at full speed; neither of the cubs wanted to be tied down, and Tsume couldn't blame them. But they couldn't hold on very well, either, and while sleep had replenished a great deal of her chakra, keeping them on that way would wear it down by that evening. So Kuromaru ran slower than he normally would, sticking to the forest floor, occasionally grabbing the cubs with chakra when he needed to.
It saved strength, but slowed their travel. Even as the forest grew more and more enlivened, Tsume found herself tensing. She wanted to be home, where it was safe. Not thinking about attacking demons and villagers who'd sacrificed their children. Flanking Kuromaru's other side, Raidou looked as edgy as she felt. He'd pulled free a kunai to twirl absently, only to put it back when the boy started to cry.
Still, they were uninjured--other than the ones inflicted in their impromptu spar the night before--and that was a plus. If anything wanted the children, they'd have to go through herself or Raidou before they even got to the four-legged demon with a mouthful of fangs. He'd protect the cubs as ferociously as any human would.
Then Kurmaru yowled and staggered. Both cubs toppled in a slow-motion slide, the boy's arms locked around Aoi, her fists buried in Kuromaru's ruff. They were tipping toward Raidou; Tsume left him to catch them and dove for her whimpering familiar. |
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