InuYasha Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Inu-Ra-Ken: Affections Touching Across Sense ❯ Preface ( Prologue )

Mist covered the forest floor. A heavy breeze, thick with malevolence, blew through the trees, moaning and softly whispering evil. Despite the evil breeze, the branches did not move. In the middle of a clearing deep within the forest, a man stood, shrouded in a heavy, black cloak. His eyes glowed red and his very skin seemed to reflect the evil beating within the forest. Around him was a circle of stones, each of which glowed bright white and pulsated with the forest.

"Ashita noeasa, ve naino."

He whispered the words softly, his voice calm but dangerous.

"Ashita noeasa, ve naino."

"Ashita noeasa, ve naino."

With each scentence, the evil presence of the forest intensified. He repeated the phrase over and over, his voice becoming stronger and louder each time until at last he was shouting the words, his arms thrown out beside him and his head thrown back.

"ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO! ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO!"

The evil within the forest built still greater with every word, pulsating and pressing down until the air was too thick to breath. The glow of the stones that surrounded the man began to grow, spreading and linking together until he was encircled within a throbbing mass of white.

"ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO! ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO!"

"ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO! ASHITA NOESA, VE NAINO!"

The pounding beat of the forest became deafening, drowning out the man's chants, building in power and volume with each passing moment.

The ball of light encircling the man exploded, sending shards of light streaming through the trees, killing whatever they touched. Intense, deafening silence fell.

"Ashita noesa, ve naino."

The man's words were again a whisper. Around him, the forest whispered back.

WE ARE HERE.

The words were not spoken, were not in any language, but still they flowed through the air dancing among the trees and chilling the air.

The man fell to one knee, bowing to the presence that surrounded him.

"Great One…"

WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED US?

The breeze blew the question into the man's mind.

"I have a request, oh Great One."

MAKE IT.

The man stood, but remained bowed, his eyes fixed on the ground

"I ask your assistance in destroying the country of Japan."

IN WHAT WAY DO YOU WISH US TO ASSIST YOU?

"I ask of thee, forces of evil, to allow me to rid that dreadful country of its champions of good. If you will take those that would dare to challenge thee and send them away, to an insignificant and alien place, I will destroy them. Transport them from their own land, where they are in their element, to a distant and insignificant place where they may be more easily defeated."

The forest listened carefully, absorbing each word into itself, pulsating with the rhythm of the man's speech.

YOU WOULD DEFEAT ALL THOSE WHO CHALLENGE US?

"Not all, Great One. I have not the power. But allow me to defeat those whom I know to challenge thee. Those I sense cost you much."

CALL OUT THE NAMES, THEN, OF THOSE YOU WOULD DEFEAT.

"Aye, Great One. I would defeat… the dog-demon, InuYasha!… the Buddhist monk, Miroku!… the Battosai, Kenshin Himura!… the marionette, Lime!… and the shape shifter, Ranma…!

WHY THESE NAMES?

"Each has cost thee much. Allow me to destroy them and they shall cost thee no more."

There was a pause. The man, still bowed, held his breath in anticipation and tried not to lose himself in the pounding beat of evil that surrounded him. If the Great One agreed…

WHAT DO YOU WISH IN RETURN FOR THIS DEED?

"Only the power I need to further your cause in other ways, Great One."

The forest considered. The man could feel tentacles of evil creeping through his brain, analyzing his motivations.

VERY WELL. WE WILL SEND THEM TO YOU. DISTROY THEM ALL.

"They shall die in pain and torment, oh Great One."

BE SURE OF IT. WE DO NOT TOLERATE FAILURE.

"I shall not fail."

The glow of the white crystals intensified once again. The brilliance of their light spread out across the fabric of the universe. The names the man had spoken reverberated within the web of time. And they came to him.

Forces of evil, come to me.