Ren had just started walking through the snowland when he saw someone lying ahead. They were in the same earthy kimono, but in a moment, they rose from the ground.
Ren had tightened his grip around his sword. Even after recognising the jade hairpin around their hair, he didn't let go. It was just a momentary ache that coursed through his chest.
"Talk to me if you can. Prove to me you're not dangerous."
No reaction came after seconds, as though Ren had just mumbled to himself. But that silence only validated his suspicion. And he bet Aiko herself wouldn't hate him if he took the necessary step.
Because she might have become a mutant as well.
But right then, Aiko glanced back. They locked eyes; surprisingly, everything looked normal. Especially the eyes.
A gentle wave swept across the summit. Ren nodded.
"I see then."
***
They soon moved on.
Every knight behind the Great Wall knew Ren often lost and grew back one or two body parts. They considered it normal.
Not necessarily out of negligence, at least for some. But for the fact that he heals almost immediately.
But despite everything, one person won't see it that way.
Ren stared sideways at Aiko, his gaze steady. He could read worry all over her face.
"You can look now. It's not as bad anymore."
Aiko looked at his damaged arm, then at his face. Ren forced a gentle smile with a tilt of his head. Yet, Aiko won't drop the stern face. She pressed her lips together before mumbling,
"I'm jealous. If I lose an arm, I can't regrow it, unlike you."
Ren raised his brows and stared down at his arm. Over the couple of minutes, the arm had regrown, tissues falling into place, veins weaving into one another like fibres. Till it was just his smallest finger that was yet to regenerate. Everything else was in place, as though the arm had never been cut off to begin with.
"How did you end up on the summit? I forgot to ask."
A long pause dragged between them. For a moment, Ren reconsidered the fact that he was ready to kill her back then if she had become a mutant as well. Wasn't that an issue now?
Aiko started, her wording spaced and slow as she was clearly piecing everything together.
"It was dark when I opened my eyes. But it was like my body was playing tricks… just like a clown, I don't know, everything suddenly cleared up. The light… snow… mountain… they all fell into place in seconds. B-but there was this bizarre thing…"
She paused for a moment and glanced back. Ren stared in the same direction, but he assumed he was too dim to grasp the reference.
He asked her.
"What's bizarre?"
Aiko stuck her finger towards a distant ice cliff…
"Over there. It's still there."
Ren looked between her and the cliff many times. But still didn't get the catch to it.
Just when his lips parted to speak, Aiko cut in.
"Right there." Her finger trembled as she pointed at the cliff. "The roots… they moved like veins."
Ren blinked.
"My take on this is that things might be related to the disappearance of everyone in here. It tried to take me."
Ren raised his brows.
"Oh-oh, looks more like a serpent than a normal root."
A gentle wind gusted past them.
Ren stepped forward, eyes fixated on the top of the cliff. There, a long black thing he had for a second imagined to be a jagged stick rested. When he looked very closely, he figured he was right to say that it was a black snake. A serpent, to be precise.
Ren could imagine actually seeing its eyes glow red, despite the distance. He mumbled to himself.
"It tried to take you…"
Aiko nodded.
"Yes. I fell off the cliff when resisting…"
"... But it didn't come for me. That's enough for me." Immediately, Ren turned his gaze back to Aiko. "Take the bait."
"Huh?"
"Go back onto the cliff and let it take you. I'll follow closely behind to see where it's headed. If something seems wrong, I'll do my best to protect you."
Aiko blinked. Ren breathed out…
She nodded her head and affirmed.
"Alright. Let's do this. Even if you sense danger, don't separate us immediately. We might miss a golden chance if we panic too early."
Ren swallowed a little. Talking about her life and death with such a relaxed face? Samurais are trained to be fierce, not stupid. What's even behind her level of trust?
Aiko gave him an eye before dashing back to the cliff. She didn't have any weapons to defend herself.
Snow boomed beneath her shoes as she leapt onto the cliff. That was the moment Ren started moving as well. The black serpent had already tied Aiko's leg with its tail... and drawn her deep into the next bamboo forest before Ren made it onto the cliff too.
He dashed behind it without wasting a second.
POW-POW-POW!!!
A thundering sound shot through the air countless times as the serpent raced through the forest, hitting both itself and its refuge against the trees in its way. In the meantime, Ren noticed something strange.
'Why is it so long?'
But before he could get a hold of that, he saw Aiko spout blood. Her head slammed against a tree. Her body thrashed violently on the ground, and every breath she took was like thunder in Ren's ears.
That was when he ground his teeth, then held his sword upwards.
"I bet this on you!"
TWISH!
In a sudden burst of speed, Ren approached the serpent. Thick dark light traced the arc of his sword. He managed to draw much closer after struggling to catch up. In that split second, a sharp breath escaped his lungs. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the black serpent - eyes glowing vibrantly, just like the serpent's itself.
But he shook that off and ground his teeth. Then, he sliced the serpent at some length from the tail.
SLASH!
The serpent's body halved, with Aiko tossing sideways with one part.
RAHHH! The creature itself cried. A rain of green blood fell to the surface in an endless stream.
However, the other half connected to the head won't stop moving. And so, Ren followed closely too. But before he did, he reassured Aiko.
"Hang in there!"
After minutes of chasing the serpent, Ren found himself closing in on something. A wide-branched tree. His brows creased. Because this tree told so much that he couldn't even doubt anymore.
Thus, he closed in on the serpent and sliced it in two again. It slumped onto the floor, non-moving.
Ren stopped, breathing heavily. Sweat trickled down his face. He swallowed, walked forward, and stared up at the tree.
It was overly dark, having branches with serpent-like ends. Many samurai in tattered, blood-covered robes were clung to the long fangs of each serpent-like branch. Their faces were enough for Ren to conclude each of them had seen something greater than hell.
As a matter of fact, one of them had half of his face cut out. Blood had dried up at the edges, and bugs gathered inside the head.
It was creepy. But Ren didn't throw up.
He stopped inches from the tree. He stared around before shouting out.
"I know you're here. Moboroshi-gami. I thought you had promised to kill me."
His gaze was steady.
… Ren's voice echoed down the alley.
The sky grew dark before he knew it, so much so that he couldn't see his own shadow anymore. Lightning crackled through the sky. Ren actually saw blood streak down the face of one of the hung samurais.
"Do I have to call it out? Uhn? That you're just a hideous little spirit. A complete… coward."
WHEEW-WHEEW-WHEEW!!!
A strong wind suddenly rushed at his face. Ren had raised an arm before his face to block dust, squinting his eyes so hard. Flashes of light crossed his sides in seconds…
The branches shifted, as though something massive stirred behind them.
Suddenly, a deep, feminine voice groaned out of nowhere.
"YOU HALF HUMAN HALF PIECE-OF-GARBAGE! How dare you?!"