ｏｎｅ ｗｉｓｈ | ｅｉｇｈｔ ｓｏｕｌｓ

[daifuku]

𝘛𝘈𝘒𝘜𝘔𝘐 𝘒𝘈𝘡𝘈𝘔𝘈
| the spy | cismale | twenty-three | location the old hq / shrine | mentions [ish] ryu, hina, morana | tags ─ |


The outdoors were quiet, or at least, quieter than any place with humans around. Birds whistled and fluttered around, their wings creating the tiniest of whooshes. Leaves rustled, branches creaked, and in the distance, the hints of rushing water were almost inaudible. Strolling about with silent grace was Taku, ways away from the village where he resided. Backpack packed with snacks and a blanket, he planned to go out and eat his brunch by the old shrine of the famed eight warriors. It wasn't the first time he had made the trek to the shrine, despite the distance. It took him an hour or two to get there, but he had always felt a connection to the place, even if admitting that made him sound crazy. Well, if he was honest with himself, he was a bit crazy. Somehow he convinced himself he was born with 50 year old memories; memories of being one of those eight. When he was a child, his insistences were brushed off as overimagination and admiration. When he was a teen, escapism and immaturity. And now as an adult, he accepted these notions, and ignored is memories as well. Although it was still strange how vivid and personal his memories were. How did he know the itty bitty details? He definitely did not think he had the mental capacity to come up with such an elaborate delusion. The specifics of everyone's appearances, a childhood that wasn't his own, a story behind his missing finger─ surely he couldn't have made those up? It's not like he could have consulted the legend either. What type of legend recounted every single detail of a person's life? Especially the one member who used to be an enemy. But, then again, he could just be that crazy. I mean, I do have white hair, he noted, with a dry chuckle in his head. Guess I'm beginning my premature descent into an eccentric old man.

The door to the shrine was small, and dare he say it... homely. It was probably very disrespectful to consider a memorial of dead people to be cozy, but it was his truthful opinion. He rarely went in though, since he knew everyone did their rituals and such. His family was never that enchanted by the old tale, so he had no idea what to do, and it'd likely be an awkward experience. Staying outside of the shrine, he slipped off his bag and pulled out some plain bread to snack on. It was a little stale, chewy and undercooked. The stand he had bought it from was for sure a scam, but he was not about to go fight for his money back. Leaning on a tree trunk, he began ripping off small bites and gazed at the structure in front of him. Out of unconcious habit, he had chosen a spot out of plain sight, pretty much hidden unless you looked very close. Not that he was complaining though. Keeping a low radar was quite preferable to the other options. He enjoyed his meal, savouring how at peace he felt. Until, of course, there were some mild disturbances. First it was sure, but soft footsteps, a pause, and then more footsteps, this time shakier. Then, quiet murmurs and voices. Nothing too out of the blue, he supposed. Just the normal bunch, paying their respects.

But then, all of a sudden, the sounds of retching and gagging filled the air. Taku flinched and cringed, beginning to feel light-headed and ill himself. What in the actual hell? Who let a sick person go on a shrine visit? He considered peeking into the shrine for a brief moment, but did he want to see the contents of someone's stomach? Nope. Not at all. Especially when he was trying to have a meal. Though he really didn't feel all that hungry anymore. Shoving his bread away, he slumped to the ground and leaned back. He'd just enjoy the nice weather for now.

[Aniki]

► ℝ𝕪𝕦 ℕ𝕠𝕓𝕦𝕪𝕠𝕜𝕚
the cursed warrior • male • twenty-eight • location: the old shrine • mentioned: yuki • tagged: hina
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Ryu was finishing up his prayers when he heard the creak of the floorboards. Someone had entered the shrine while he was in the middle of the ritual. He held his breath listening as the person slowly walked into the shrine. Perhaps it was a villager or a traveler who decided to come pay their respects. Maybe they were new so they did not know that no one was supposed to enter the shrine while he was there. He slowly pulled one of the halves of his spear out of its holder.

"Excuse me," The voice was female. He turned around holding the part of his spear loosely by his side. Standing before him was a young woman with brown hair and bright blue eyes. Her clothing was nothing he had ever seen before. Ryu narrowed his eyes trying to figure out if she was an enemy or not. She rushed on apologizing for interrupting him telling him if he has seen her friend. Frowning Ryu thought back on those he saw today. No one wore something similar to what this girl was wearing.., wait no. There was one person. Ryu let out a soft curse.

The ghost of his love. Thinking back on it she was wearing strange clothing. It didn't register at first because he was so shocked to see her again. He knew it was too good to be true. It was clear that this was the act of a pair of demons or ghouls. Faster than the girl could blink he has his spear in one piece and was standing in front of her with the tip barely touching her throat.
"You have made a great error, demon, showing up here of all places." Ryu hissed.

[Speak]

ｙｕｋｉ ✹ ｔｈｅ ｐｒｉｅｓｔｅｓｓ

[gender] female [age] twenty-one [ location ] definitely a dream [mentioned] ryu, hina [ tagged ] morana

Could you doze off in a dream? Yuki's eyes were fluttering closed as she felt herself relax in the warmth of the sun, the familiar sounds of the villagers daily life a distant hum. Yuki knew that there was often a danger or a demon in her dreams but this time she truly felt at peace, maybe that was silly but Yuki found it hard to recreate this feeling in her real life. No matter what nothing compared to this, it felt like sometimes her real life was a movie played in sepia tones while her dreams were in full colour. Startled from her thoughts by a loud clatter, Yuki sat up and looked around only noticing a dark flash out of the corner of her eye before everything once again faded into silence and stillness. A slight frown creasing her brow Yuki turned back to her view of the village hoping that whatever it was, was just an animal or something.
Her own theory disproven when she heard a soft chant, Yuki turned back towards the shrine her curiosity peaked. She'd never heard this chant before and yet something pulled her to the sound, maybe it was something in the words but also the voice. Where had her subconscious pulled that voice from? Standing just outside of the shrine Yuki hesitated to look inside, it was in her own dream but she still felt guilty eavesdropping, the muffled voice becoming voices as someone else seemed to have entered the room. Still hovering by the door Yuki didn't know what it was that was stopping her, something inside her was preventing the girl from simply peeking her head in. Taking a few steps back Yuki took a deep breath, what was that? This was her dream, it wasn't real no matter how real it felt. About to try again yuki's attention was pulled towards quiet retching coming from further back in the shrine.
Stepping around it seemed that the door she'd exited from was still open and tucked in the corner she could just make out a crumpled figure. Yuki took a few steps into the room thankful that the sun was still shining through so she could make out the figure, "Ma'am do you need help?" she asked wondering briefly if this person had always been here? Her figure was familiar but before Yuki could think on it any further all the young woman saw was the barrel of an air rifle. Frozen for only a moment Yuki's eyes went wide, hands in front of her she stumbled back only to be met with the edge of the floor and with a shriek she fell to the ground just outside the shrine. How could this be in her dream?! Scooting away panicked Yuki felt petrified a million things running through her head, was this really a dream?

[Espeon101010]

𝖧𝗂𝗇𝖺 𝖲𝖺𝗌𝖺𝗄𝗂
◈ female ◈ 23 years ◈ swordsman ◈ location: unknown ◈ mentioned: ___ ◈ tagged: Ryu ◈
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The first thing Hina noticed about the stranger was the weapon he held in his hand. His eyes looked as if he were assessing her, more than just her outward appearance, too. This was a strange man. The second thing she saw was the way he was dressed. It was peculiar, not something she had seen anyone else wear-even if they lived at a shrine. Perhaps he had an obscure role or a specific duty that called for that sort of attire. She saw his face become more pensive as if he were considering her request. His soft curse gave Hina a split second of warning to react to his unprovoked attack. Immediately, she dropped the bag containing Yuki's gift and her Kendo equipment, hands flying back up on instinct. She grabbed the shaft of the spear with both hands, feeling the tip of the blade at her throat. Looking down the length of the weapon to the dark-haired man, she met his gaze and recognized he was an experienced fighter. Not only was he skilled with a spear, his gaze told her all she needed to know. He would cut her down without hesitation if given a good enough reason. "You have made a great error, demon, showing up here of all places." Demon? What was this guy talking about? Surely he didn't really think she was lying. "What? I'm not a demon. I'm just looking for my friend, Yuki. That bag there is the gift I was going to give her." Spear pointed at her was steady, and he clearly had no intention of lowering the weapon anytime soon. Despite her racing pulse, Hina found her own body was calm and composed. Her brain was freaking out- she had never had a spear pointed at her before, or even threatened in such a way, yet she wasn't shaking from adrenaline. In fact, she felt something close to the focus she experienced during her kendo matches. Almost a sort of detached assessment of the situation while her body responded, seemingly on its own at times. This was one of those times.

A scream pierced the tense air between herself and the stranger and Hina recognized Yuki's voice immediately. Twisting the spear in her own hands as she pulled away, Hina threw the end of the spear to the side. Grabbing her shinai as an afterthought, Hina untied her equipment from the sword as she dashed to where she had heard her friend. It had come from the back of the building. The door was already open and Hina came through, sword at the ready. She quickly took in the scene, Yuki on the floor and another stranger, a woman who clearly did not work at the shrine as the man with the spear did. She was pointing an air rifle at Yuki. As she entered the room, the end of the gun flicked up and pointed at Hina. "What do you think you're doing?" What was with the people in this shrine and pointing weapons at everyone? Hina slowly stepped away from the doorway, not wanting to give Spear Man an easy target from behind. Not taking her gaze off of the woman before her, she just hoped that Yuki was okay.

[`kosmic]

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００１ 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓, 𝐈 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐌 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 x─────────────────
xx ⊰ xsakura ' demon slayer ' 20 & f x──x tagsx takumi, everyone xloc xold hq/shrine xword count x1,059

xFeet hit the hard forest floor, the woman bending at her knees slightly to balance out the force. Bright green and pink
hair flowed around her face before resting back across her shoulders and her back in waves. The hem of her black skirt
was slightly disturbed as she returned to a normal standing position, moving across her thighs and the back of her legs.
One hand moved to rest against her white belt where a sheath was tucked in, the other wrapping around the grip of the
katana that currently resided within. x She stood quietly in the clearing of the forest, it mostly dark aside from the faint
sunlight that shown through the canopy of trees. It was silent, even her breathing was hard to hear. xx The light breeze
blew her skirt and white haori ever-so-slightly, ruffling the trees as well. The strange woman's eyes were only opened a
bit, as if she was relying on other senses that weren't her sight.xShe stood completely still, the rise and fall of her chest
wasn't even noticable. Any onlooker would've thought she looked crazy; wondering what the hell she was doing exactly.
However, those familiar with the demon slaying art would know exactly what's happening.

xx"Gotcha," she suddenly spoke, a smirk dancing across pink lips. xxxx In just a split second, the katana was suddenly
removed from its sheath, the woman twirling around on one foot; her clothing and hair following her quick movements.
With a quick leap backwards and slicing her katana into what seemed like thin air, Sakura could finally rest. x She stood
and watched as a demonic creature appeared in front of her, 'a red substance leaving its blackened body where she had
sliced just moments ago. A gurgled sound left the demon as it fell back to the ground, dead and gone. With a small sigh
leaving her lips, Sakura slid her blade back into its place on her belt; "Good riddance," she muttered to herself. 'Demons
of all sorts soiled this world, but thats why Sakura Hoshiko existed. xx She was here to exterminate any and all demons.
While there was many who believed that some demons deserved mercy and that they aren't all "bad", 'xSakura had been
raised with the opposite mindset. xx She had been raised on stories of demons only being blood thirsty and terrorizing
villages, so she only knew a life of hunting and defeating them. And even better, the young woman had turned out to be
one for the best demon slayers of her generation── surpassing even those older than her. 'xx She's never tasted defeat
herself; there's definitely been some close calls but she always pulled through in the end.

xxWith the nasty demons flesh now gone, only thing left was its bones on the forest ground. Sakura turned away, hands
leaving the grip of her katana. xx She left the clearing almost immediately as if nothing had happened, making her way
through the forest until she was standing just outside it. xxSlowing her pace, emerald green eyes came to rest on a very
familiar shrine in the distance.xxShe has visited it several times in the past, having always felt some kind of odd pull on
her heart toward it. Which was strange since her family had no connection with it. xxx Just like many others, Sakura was
familiar with the tale of the Great Warriors however her xxfamily of demon slayers weren't always too fond of them since
they did have a demon and half-demon in their ranks. x'Still though, while it has been awhile, Sakura would often sneak
off from her clan to visit the old shrine. Her village was just up the mountain from here so it wasn't too much out of the
way. From her distance, xshe caught sight of a figure laying just outside the shrine but what mostly caught her attention
was the little demon bouncing around nearby. She sighed loudly, those things were so annoying.

xxPicking up her pace, x the demon slayer was now making a bee-line straight for the shine and the demon that played
around outside it. She was there in no time at all. With little regard (or at least it seemed like it) of the male who was still
minding his business enjoying the weather, Sakura drew her katana for a second time and leaped forward. x She landed
just inches away from the male, though her feet were light on the ground,xand went straight for the demon that couldn't
have been bigger than a cat. xWhich meant it didn't take much for Sakura to kill it, the demon gone just as fast as it had
appeared. With it gone, Sakura put her blade away and now turned toward the male who she probably freaked out. "Ah...
sorry 'bout that! I hope I didn't frightened you too much," she said, xher voice soft and friendly as she spoke, the serious
expression in her face now replaced by a smile and brightened eyes. "You probably didn't notice but there was a demon
right next to you, those little suckers are hard to see sometimes," she laughed softly, xx now rubbing at the back of her
neck. The woman then crouched down so she was at eye level with him, x tucking her arms between her legs and chest.
As she studied him momentarily, she couldn't shake the feeling that he looked awfully familiar, like they had met before.

xxJust as she parted her lips to say something more, a scream pierced the air, coming from inside the shrine. xx Sakura
immediately stood back up, knitting her brows: "What's going on?" she asked aloud but she doubted the stranger beside
her would know. "Come on lets go check out," she then said, already peeling away from the male to make her way to the
back of the shrine where it sounded like the shriek came from. And she was right. xx She skidded to a stop at the scene
before her── some kind of standoff? There was several weapons drawn and being pointed, 'xx a girl on the floor clearly
frightened. "Well... this doesn't seem very shrine friendly," she spoke aloud, x'x laughing nervously and scratched at her
cheek. She ultimately decided to keep her weapon tucked away but would be ready incase anything with south.

[Kotayle]

─────────[GӨ]GӨZΣ─────────

Demon | What is age? | Location: the shrine | Tagged: Everyone
⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈⚈

___As he watched from a safe distance, Go rose a brow as curiousity perked his interest on the scene happening below. He had been told about his friends possibly returning one day, and it would have been a major coincidence they had all been brought here in the same day time seemed to slow around him, if it hadn't been them. As Go neared, still keeping his distance, he knealed behind a bush and tried to look everyone over without being noticed, as people didn't take too kindly to him, or his kind very well. A horrible sound seemed to echo from the shrine, someone was sick, but he couldn't be sure if it had been someone from this time or the last. He couldn't see the sick person, but what he could see, was a few familiar faces.
___Gogoze had been fortunate to keep his same devilishly handsome appearance- if he did say so himself- almost as if he had been frozen in time. These people at the shrine, however, didn't look exactly like themselves... There were small discrepancies in their appearances. If they looked the same, or so much the same, wouldn't they have the same memories from before? Apparently not! Go thought to himself as he watched Ryu put his spear right up to Hina's throat. Go jumped over the bush he had been hiding behind and rushed over, ducking under the spear before rising, his arm waving in a circular motion to knock the spear away from Hina's direction.
___"What are you doing! You're all friends, or have you forgotten!" he spat, his head turning to the other pair inside the shrine and feeling an equal amount of shock. "Drop that!" he growled, pointing at a girl who was holding the riffle. She looked a lot like Morana, but again, somehow looked different. Turning to a girl who looked similar to Yuki, he smiled a little weakly, he didn't realize he would have seen her in such likeness so soon. In their past life, they had been fast friends, fast to the point Go actually thought he may have had feelings for the priestess. It was unnatural as a Demon to have such feelings for her, but once she had expressed her feelings for Ryu, Go had of course stepped back from the situation. Did Ryu even recognize her and why was he attacking Hina, surely there was some confusion.
___With Hina out of direct harm's way he looked to Ryu with complete confusion. "Do you know who she is- or me- or hell, do you know who you are? Are you even called Ryu?" he asked, genuinely curious about the level of awareness they all had. I can't be the only one who remembers... he thought to himself. It had been a curse, within a blessing... was he still being punished for his crimes in his first life? "And you!" he threw his hands in the air, moving from Ryu towards Morana, briskly snatching the air rifle from her grasp. "What is this? Did it come with you from toke-ee-oh?" he asked, looking the weapon up and down, as he hadn't been too familiar. "And why are you sick? Were you poisoned?" Go asked, quickly covering his sensitive nose to the vomit smell that filled his nose, he had so many questions and no one was bearing any answers.
___As Go looked around, he realized everyone was coming together. Ryu, Hina, Morana, Yuki, and just behind all of them, Sakura and Takumi, but if they were all here, where was his brother?

[Aniki]

► ℝ𝕪𝕦 ℕ𝕠𝕓𝕦𝕪𝕠𝕜𝕚
the cursed warrior • male • twenty-eight • location: the old shrine • mentioned: everyone • tagged: hina & sakura
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Ryu snarled when the white haired man stepped between him and the girl. One look at the man he knew he was a demon. The energy he was giving off was dead giveaway. Before he was able to do anything the demon had turned away. He was yelling about being friends with those around him. When he turned as asked Ryu about his name, he felt his hackles start to rise. Ryu watched as the white haired demon went from person to person, scolding as he went. When he turned to the ghost of his lost love Ryu nearly snapped. Calm yourself. It will do you no good to act without thinking.’ Ryu took a deep breath calming himself down. He let himself look at those around him. Of course the one who looked like Yuki (no matter how many times he looked at her it was like someone was stabbing him in his heart) felt familiar. As much as he hated to admit it the white haired demon look familiar as well. There as something about his voice. Looking over the shoulder of the demon he saw a pink and yellow haired girl with a surprising big grin on her face.

”Sakura?” He thought he whispered but it wasn’t until he felt the other’s eyes on him that he realized he said it louder than he meant to. He could recognize her anywhere. For the first time since the chaos started he smiled. Her spunkiness was something that he would never forget. Everything clicked. He looked around at everyone once again, but this time his eyes were wide with shock.

”Hina?” Ryu choked when he realized who he had his spear pointed at. He shook his head trying to gather his thoughts. Yes, he knew that all of this was possible. He had been told the legends and had the memories… At least most of them. But seeing everyone in one place?

”How?” Ryu directed his question to the white haired demon. He clearly had a better understanding of what the hell was going on.