by SRSilverhawk

 

          Disclaimer: I don't own Ushio, the Beast Spear or Tora or any other character from the show. They belong to Kazuhiro Fujito, A.D. Vision and it's associates.  So don't sue me.   The demon slayer, Cy Binaka and her monster, Vix belong to me as does Cy's monster-slaying sword, Tevriyre.

           

            Author's Notes  1) This, essentially, is my own little universe, Vix, Cy and the Tevriyre are my main characters.  Though Ushio, Tora and co. will make their necessary appearances when and where it's needed; this will really be Cy and Vix's show.  At least, until I get my hands on some more dubbed tapes.

 

                                  2) This story is set at about the end of the Anime series, Asako and Mayuko know about Tora, the Beast Spear and Ushio's after school hobbies.  The story begins at around the beginning of the new school year. 

 

 

Enjoy the story.

 

Chapter 1: Shadows and Monsters

             In faint moonlight, a man runs, fleeing a trio of unknown somethings that stalk him in a very peculiar form and with a very clever ruse.  The man knows of only one of his hunters.  The others, the two infinitely more dangerous ones wait, watching everything that transpires from their snug, exotic perspectives.  Though the foolish interloper runs fast, the deadly somethings intend to play their game and have their prey.  And come Hell or high water, they will let nothing stop them.

 

 

            Tsurumaki stopped, breathless; was it still behind him?

 

            He cursed himself mentally again for taking that stupid bet from his bar friends:  'Go and cut an inch of fur off the tail of the Binaka estate's watchdog and bring it back here,' they had said. 'It's only a little lapdog, it'll only bark, it won't be able to catch you even if it did chase you.' Tsurumaki's former friends had convinced him that the Binaka's watchdog was no more than a little temple dog, unable to do more than nip his ankles should it attack.

            "I should have known, from those paw prints, that what they had was no tiny temple dog." He softly panted to himself.  The footpad print, alone, he remembered, had been bigger than his palm.  The four toe prints had those deep nicks in front of each toe and there was no mistaking those nicks as anything else but claws, long, strong claws.  Even stranger was that human-like handprint a little ways in front of the monstrous paw prints.  The hand was at least twice the size of his own; it had three fingers and a thumb, all tipped with razor claws.

            The bushes beside him rustled softly, as though something was trying to approach undetected. Tsurumaki, startled, jumped back against the iron fence he had climbed over to break into the estate and froze, staring into the darkness where the sound had come from.  From a thick lilac bush stepped a lithe, long-eared cat, "No, it's not a cat," Tsurumaki voiced to the empty air, relieved; this was assuredly, not what had been following him.  

 

            Indeed the slender creature before him could not have been any cat any human would have called a cat, nor did it appear dangerous.  It's ears were shaped like a jackal's but much longer and were held straight back against the animal's neck and shoulders.  It had a cat's wide forehead and almond shaped eyes, but a muzzle like a fox's pointed nose.  It's eyes were a strange combination, one eye was the fierce copper-red of an angry cat, while the other was like all colors but none in particular, like the lazy, glassy color in the eye of a sleepy blue-eyed dog.  It's slender body was covered in thick fur like a cat but it's belly had a tuck in it like that of a greyhound, giving it a lean, streamlined, sprinting look.  It had the long, running legs of a racing dog but with a hint of a cat's razor hunting claws hidden in the toes of each tiny, dainty paw.  Finally, Tsurumaki saw the strange creature's furry tail; it flipped lazily back and forth and was long and flexible like a cat's tail but held a dog's proud, alert poise.

 

            The cat-dog stepped further out of the bushes and was immediately bathed in soft moonlight. Tsurumaki gasped in awe as the full beauty of the little animal was revealed.  Out of the obscure shadows at last, the creature's colors looked almost alive with their intensity and gloss.  The white moonlight seemed to ripple across the lustrous copper and black calico patches of the creature's back and sides, while the soft light limed the snow-white of the creature's smooth jaws, throat and belly.

            Tsurumaki reached down reverently to touch the beautiful being, when it suddenly pricked one ear forward and stepped back, instantly afraid.

            "No, no..... I'm not going to hurt you." Tsurumaki soothingly said, when a very loud crunch reached his ears.

            At the sound of the crunch, the cat-dog snapped it's ears back, bared it's short fangs and chirped, a short, whistling, birdlike cheep.  The cat-dog then hissed loudly, turned and fled through the bushes. Tsurumaki looked longingly at the bush where the little mammal had fled through, and then stood up, ready to defend himself against whatever had made that crunching sound.  

 

            Tsurumaki looked, then he looked again, there was nothing there, there had never been anything there. Tsurumaki relaxed a fraction of an inch, confused by this odd turn of events.  The bushes where the cat-dog had disappeared into rustled, Tsurumaki whirled around, thinking the little beast had returned. And a deep, feral growl acknowledged his movement, tilting his head slowly and upon cautiously looking up, Tsurumaki suddenly froze with terror at what he saw. 

            Less than thirty inches above his head glowed a huge pair of eyes, one molten blue, and the other blood red.  Both eyes bored angrily into him for a moment longer, then they slowly blinked closed together, disappearing completely from sight. Tsurumaki suddenly fancied that he heard a rich, silky voice softly say, "Foolish one."  Then he felt a sudden rush of movement, a deep, vibrating crunch, and then a slow, warm, darkness enveloped him, and he knew no more.       

 

 

 

*    *    *

Three Days Later:

 

......this is the twenty-second person to go missing in the past three weeks.  All of these missing persons seem to have absolutely nothing in common.  Yet all have disappeared without a single trace.  This station urges the viewers of this broadcast to keep looking for any sign of these missing people.  This is Misato Takenawa signing off." 

 

 

            The screen abruptly darkened as a boy turned his television off.  With a tired sigh he picked up the cup of warm tea he'd been sipping on and stepped outside.  The breeze was cool but not chilly, Ushio took another sip of his tea. 'Just like clockwork, soon as the snow starts to melt, they all come out of the woodwork.' He morosely thought. 'Oh well, I thought it was getting too quiet around here, anyway.' 

            Ushio suddenly had an odd thought and said out loud, "Speaking of quiet.  TORA! Where are you-you big throw rug?!" 

            A sudden rapping of large knuckles on the top of his head stopped the temple boy before he could say anything else.  A deep, harsh growl made the boy spin around to look up at the tawny, furry shape that rested above him along the edge of the roof.

             "Must you be so loud, Brat? I try to doze around this time of the evening.....  Hmm, I see you've brought that damnable thing with you again."  The monster said with distaste, with an annoyed growl he slipped through the substance of the roof and padded soundlessly through the doorway.

            Ushio stood blinking for a moment and looked at his side, yep... there it was.  All eight feet of the Beast Spear was leaning against his shoulder.  He still carried it around, even when there was really no need to, like right now, it still went everywhere with him.  That always struck Ushio as odd and Tora's wasn't about to tell him why it went with him anytime soon--

            "Hey Brat, you going to stay outside all night?  If you are, close the door, you're letting all the heat out."  Tora barked from within the house.

            Ushio jumped slightly at the snarling tone.  Then, grumbling with barely concealed venom, he stomped into the house, sliding the door shut behind him.

 

            Tora was too busy raiding the refrigerator to notice as Ushio walked past him; as Ushio strode past the monster, he grinned wickedly and counted down in his mind, 'Payback time'.

 

            'Three.'

 

            'Two.'

 

            'One-'

 

            "SHIT!!" The monster yelled as the shelf he'd been poking around in suddenly had a little revenge of it's own, and spilled the contents of a very full bowl of Chinese soup over the monster's claws and arm.  Tora managed to catch the bowl as it fell, before it shattered on the kitchen floor....  and was rewarded for his efforts by having the rest of the soup hit him in the face and chest.

 

            Ushio, of course, was in the living room by this time (like all intelligent pranksters), trying his best not to laugh out loud at the monster's chagrin, but a good percentage of that laugh spilled through anyway.  Tora, being the opinionated monster that he is, immediately and correctly came to the conclusion that the boy was the one behind his sodden pride and without a word launched himself at the smirking teen.

            Ushio was aware of the demon feline's onslaught, barely in time to drop his tea and spring off the couch, spear in hand, to meet his attacker.  He dodged Tora's first strike by pure luck alone, slipping underneath the flying monster and bolting for the door, feeling the Beast Spear thrumming and singing; the singing changed in intensity and Ushio felt the wave of heat that signaled the metamorphosing of his form.  Out into the moonlit night the two disappeared; a few moments later the sound of claws striking steel and vengeful roars of something human yet in-human, and of something completely alien beat a tattoo into the otherwise quiet night.

           

            Shigure Aotsuki leaned against the doorway of his room, listening to the clangs, and hisses and.... the breaking of many things terra cotta.  Shigure sighed, "I'm gonna hate to see tonight's mess in the morning."  Shigure simply shook his head and went back to bed. 'They can be such children.'

 

 

*    *    *

   Much Later and Elsewhere....

 

             A stag lunged through the dark thicket of gorse and bramble, crushing the brittle, frozen branches with the force of it's headlong flight.  Nostrils flaring, eyes wide, hooves pounding across the ground, the brawny deer fled in panic from it's pursuer.  The deer could just barely hear the swift, cushioned footfalls of the deadly predator, but he could definitely hear the taunting, breathy growls it made to spur him faster.  The stag lowered his branched antlers and bulled ahead, breaking into a clearing with a frightened toss of his splendid head.  Now the animal galloped across the damp meadow, each leaping step kicking up great clods of moist earth.  Stretching, reaching in long strides, the stag accelerated with a frantic burst of speed.  Darting and veering from side to side, the great creature lunged over the grassy terrain, his hoof prints nothing but a scar of darkness across the landscape.

            And closely following that advancing scar was a fast-moving shadow, furry and terrible; paws barely touching the ground as it pursued it's prey.  At the edge of the clearing it stopped, ears pricked, odd-colored eyes narrowed, muscles quivering in excitement.  It would wait, it need not run too hard, the deer would not flee much farther, and it would be dead long before it could have the chance.

 

            The stag slowed, suddenly afraid of the calm silence behind it.  Breathing raggedly, he whirled flashing his antlers at the darkness behind him.  Nothing... no movement,.... no sound,.... just quiet, sleepy night.  The stag raised his head slightly; his breath beginning to even out, a little glimmer of hope began to tickle his chest.  For a moment he thought he had out-run his pursuer--

            --a rough chuckle brought the stag out of his reassured halt.  Unsure as to where the laughter had come from the stag jumped, then swung around in circles, brandishing his antlers in an attempt to warn off his unseen tormentor.  The stag twirled uneasily again, when a pair of silver eyes suddenly stared level with his own.  Below the eyes the stag could see a glistening row of shining ivory, and a pelt the color of sienna mixed with burnt umber, shading to charcoal in the darkness.  The stag stepped back, blinking; the watching silver eyes and huge tan form abruptly disappeared.  The stag snorted again, and rolled his eyes in fear, unsure of where to run.

            The final attack came swiftly then; there was no warning.  No noise, no scent, no shadow of presence.  The stag had no time to either turn or even scream in mortal fear.  Metal-hard talons flexed, needle-sharp tips gripping and shredding the flesh of the shaggy shoulders.  The once-mighty stag stumbled forward from the predator's weight, forelegs snapping like twigs under the pressure, but before the deer's knees even touched the ground, a razor-sharp set of shining ivory had closed around the muscular neck, biting down hard, and breaking the hapless animal's spine in two.  

 

             The tawny creature looked down at it's prize, then over at a second powerful shape which sedately approached the kill from where it had watched, amused, in the shadow of a thicket.  The tawny beast stretched sore muscles and stepped off the warm body of the stag, pausing to preen and lick at a few shallow wounds it had received long before this hunt.  The tawny beast only feigned grooming it's claws, all the while it's true attention was directed at the second creature as it inspected the cooling mass of venison; looking for any subtle sign of approval or discontent.  The second creature smiled slightly at the kill, "Game over." it said, very pleased, and very impressed.        

 

            Hello, this is my first U & T fanfic so don't be too hard on me.  I'd love to know what you think of this so by all means R & R.  I've just started work on chapter 2, it'll take some time to finish it, but it's getting there.  Also the title of this story is subject to change, I just can't find a good name for this one, if you think of anything let me know.  If I use it, I'll dedicate the name to you in the story.  As always, I'll reply to all the reviews I receive, but if you want a real long E-conversation it's better to E-mail me at SRSilverhawk@aol.com 

 

Until the next installment, fandom universe.