[center][h2][b][color=f7941d]Rengoku Hinotora[/color][/b][/h2][/center] [hr] [sup][i]En route to the Daikaku Shrine...[/i][/sup] The soothing scent of green tea filled the air inside the limousine with what should have been an aura of relaxation, and yet... Hinotora didn't feel very relaxed at all. Sitting amongst at least three Hashira-class members of the Demon Slayer Corps along with the snoozing leader of the entire Tokyo Branch, she found herself tense enough to have to focus on her breathing to stay calm. [i]Click-shink. Fhwish. Shoo. Fhwish. Shoo.[/i] She didn't let it show on her face, but her unease was written large by the way she toyed with the flame of the lighter in her hand. Rather than tapping her foot, Hinotora "fidgeted" by being productive, as the lighter's flame flickered, swelling and waning in size in time with her breathing. Really, this arrangement wasn't too unusual. As the Tsuguko of the Dragon Hashira, she'd attended at least a couple meetings of this caliber before. And even though Jae-jiji was rather casual about the whole arrangement, there were still some minimal standards they were both expected to meet. But even so... Even though this was ostensibly supposed to be a standard high-security pickup for critical demon slaying supplies, something felt different. On paper, Hinotora knew this was important, important enough that the entire matter had been referred to as immensely confidential, but to have Takaya personally involved? [color=f7941d][i]Is this normal, to have this many high-profile figures involved in this?[/i][/color] she wondered internally. It was her first time being involved in this process, so she honestly wasn't sure. Even though she'd handled many of those selfsame rare materials at some point in the Butterfly Mansion, she'd never been shown where they were sourced from before. [color=f7941d][i]Privileges of being a Tsuguko now, I guess...[/i][/color] Shaking her head, Hinotora was prepared to dismiss her concerns as paranoia, when the sleeping Takuya's Raven abruptly broke the silence with a dreadful announcement. Hinotora felt a chill crawl up her spine, as the Raven announced the true reason for such a gathering of powerful figures. A prediction. Worse, an official [i]Prophesy[/i]. A foretelling of an ambush, of a massacre, of an inevitable conflict with the motherfucking [i]Upper Moon 4[/i]. And though the Prophesy foretold victory, it also predicted a pyrrhic one. The police would get involved? People would be captured? What about the delivery of critical supplies? Was the Daikaku Shrine about to be compromised?! A pyrrhic victory could mean far too many things for comfort. Literally anything was on the table. Would they kill the Upper Moon but lose the Shrine? Or would they save the Shrine but allow the Upper Moon to escape to try again? There were too many unknowns, and also... [i]Shink.[/i] Hinotora's eyes hardened, as she closed the lighter in her hand with finality. Capture was unacceptable. If the police -and thus the demons- managed to capture "all but one" here, they would have dealt a colossal blow to the core of the Tokyo's Demon Slayers. Who would escape? A Hashira? Takaya? Herself? Prophesy or no prophesy... that could not be allowed to happen. With that in mind, even with so precious little time to come up with a strategy to deal with an unfamiliar foe in an unfamiliar battlefield... [color=f7941d][i]I don't care how absolute those prophesies are, I'll find a way through...[/i][/color] [hr] [sup][i]Shortly before the bloodbath...[/i][/sup] Hinotora was somewhat surprised to have Takaya approach her more clandestinely with special orders. She had to withhold a grimace at the need to protect that fuckwad Sun Hashira, but even so, she withheld her distaste and nodded in acknowledgement... even if confusion swirled inside her at what Takaya said next. Muragarasu? Fucking [i]Keodis[/i]? And Onsen?! What?! Those factors on their own already might have been concerning, but the volatile Water Hashira's involvement in the situation made the whole thing dangerously explosive. But more importantly... [i]After she was done?[/i] Was Takaya saying that [i]she[/i] was the one that was going to escape police capture? That was... Considering how she might approach things, Hinotora couldn't say that didn't make sense, but she was a bit confused. If everyone else got captured, who exactly was she supposed to bring with her to the Onsen afterwards to defuse the Guen bomb? Was Takaya saying that his prophesy would actually be wrong? [color=f7941d][i]Did he... lie about parts of it to manipulate the other participants? Is this underhanded OPSEC? Is he lying to me right now even in order to push me down a specific path? Is the prophesy itself misleading? Hearing it back then, it would sound like we'd get captured at the Shrine... but what if I'm actually leading the survivors into a trap at the Onsen? Surely, Takaya would know that though, right? Even at his most extreme, he wouldn't just toss us blindly to the slaughter, right?[/i][/color] Too many unknowns. Honestly, she really hated the concept of prophesies. Of the Fated. Of the Inevitable. [color=f7941d][i]Fuck that shit. I'll make my own destiny, damn it![/i][/color] Instead of voicing all those uneasy questions, however... [color=f7941d]"If that's what you desire, Ubuyashiki-sama,"[/color] Hinotora simply nodded, lips pursing. [color=f7941d]"I'll do my best to see as many of us survive as possible."[/color] Worrying about what happened after the Shrine battle could wait. After all, nothing was truly certain, right? For now, Hinotora decided she had to focus on surviving. She was about to get involved with a clash with an Upper Moon, after all. Even more dangerously, she was being asked to most likely intervene very directly, given where she suspected the Sun Hashira would most likely get himself in trouble. [color=f7941d][i]I'm being asked to potentially go head-to-head with an Upper Moon, even if only briefly. Can I do it? I've never even encountered a Lower Moon Consort, but my training with Jae-jiji seems to imply promising things. Yet... what does that matter? No post-Muzan Upper Moon has ever been slain, even with multiple Hashira against them. If I do this...[/i][/color] Hinotora's eyes hardened, as she steadied her resolve and grinned, feeling her body thrum with each breath. [color=f7941d][i]Screw that. I'll survive. No matter what it takes, I'll do what needs to be done and make it out. So, I'm being faced with an Upper Moon? So what. I'm the motherfucking Phoenix Breather, damn it! It would be pretty embarrassing if I died to something like this, wouldn't it?![/i][/color] [hr] [sup][i]Present day...[/i][/sup] As soon as the sentry's dying cry split the air, Hinotora was moving. [color=f7941d][i]Third Phoenix Form: Fire Bird's Spirit...[/i][/color] Heat roared through her limbs like wildfire, sharpening her senses like a razor and sending strength surging through her bones, as she whirled around, coat whipping with the motion, and drew her longsword in the same flash of motion. Wide eyes quickly catalogued the jerk of falling bodies, the way foliage began to sprout in bloody displays. She saw them flicker through the air, arrows that were near impossibly thin, carrying ridiculous force for their size, as they stuck in targets rather than penetrating straight through them. Other arrows were aimed not at specific targets but at areas, as they exploded in- [color=f7941d][i]Shit![/i][/color] A swarm of petal-shaped flesh shrapnel roared in from all sides, accompanied by a billowing ominous pink mist. Hinotora's eyes flashed around, seeing the Hashira deftly defend themselves, but... what about Takaya?! Lunging for Takaya's position, Hinotora fell back on old basics and added her efforts as supplementation to Kenzo’s. [color=f7941d]"Fourth Flame Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!"[/color] she bellowed, her sword igniting in a burning spiral, as Hinotora twisted around Takaya's body, trailing a curtain of billowing fire that crashed into the incoming mist and petals and burnt them to cinders before they could reach the Tokyo Oyakata. Finishing her motion with her body placed defensively between Takaya and the direction of the "arrows", she then shouted, [color=f7941d]"Get out of sight quickly, Takaya-sama! I'll cover you!"[/color] Thankfully, Takaya seemed to have indeed prepared for this, as he moved with surety towards what Hinotora suspected was a planned destination, given his Clairvoyance. The Tsugoku accompanied him until she was sure he was out of an open line of fire, before swiftly returning to the fray. [color=f7941d]"Fourth Flame Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!"[/color] Charging into the mist and deadly petals, Hinotora leaped overhead and wove between scrambling monks, trailing flames with another use of the Flame Style, as she did her best to burn away the mist and petals before they could reach whatever victims the former Wind Hashira’s own impressive defense wasn’t quite able to cover. Between breaths, however, one arrow landed and exploded far too close for comfort, pink mist flooding over Hinotora's position with the sickly scent of blood, as she twisted in a whirling flip to evade the storm of sharp, cutting petals that lanced out towards her. A prick at her right wrist made her eyes narrow, as she felt her lungs protest at inhaling the mist. Immediately, as hyper-aware of her body as her Phoenix Style made her, Hinotora detected the nature of the demon's attack. It worked fast, terrifyingly so, a poison entering her bloodstream with each inhalation, bristling with infectious menace. But far more concerning, however, was the actual wound she had taken. As with the monks being attacked around her, she could see the wound begin to spout flora, as tiny wildflowers began to grow on her skin, spreading out from the point of infection. Looking around at those less lucky than her, Hinotora could already see many being twisted irrevocably, locked in a state of horrified agony, as they were transformed into plants inch by inevitable inch. [color=f7941d][i]What a terrifying Blood Demon Art... So, this is what the prophesy must have meant by "Art"... [b]How ugly.[/b][/i][/color] [color=f7941d]"First Phoenix Form: Furnace Breathing! Second Phoenix Form: Flaming Rebirth!"[/color] As she leapt out of the worst of the mist regardless, Hinotora focused on her breathing, stoking the flame burning in every cell of her body, as she sent a blast of cleansing heat rushing through her veins. The wound on her wrist sputtered, a burst of golden fire leaping from her flesh and incinerating the flowers blooming from her skin, the blood in the wound coagulating in a searing crackle, as it began to quickly heal over. All the while, the poison in her veins was flushed out in a flash, either burned up by her internal fire or absorbed by her Sakasachi blood. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hinotora centered herself, before diving back into the fray. A greater sense of confidence surged through her as well at having survived that. Honestly, if she had been any less proficient... Well, she wasn't sure even most of the Hashira here could have survived infection without amputating the infected area outright. [color=f7941d][i]Is this why Takaya-sama assigned me to protect Ryunosuke? Because my Phoenix Style makes me one of the only people that can get close enough to help him and get out alive? That... is a lot of pressure. Speaking of which...[/i][/color] Her eyes barely caught the flicker of his movement, as the Sun Hashira blasted away in a blur of fire and fury, impacting a distant rooftop with a thunderclap. Immediately, the rain of demon arrows halted, as the Hashira clearly engaged the Upper Moon in close combat. Hinotora's eyes widened. [color=f7941d]"[i]Holy shit[/i], I'm supposed to catch up to [i]that[/i]?"[/color] she muttered incredulously under her breath. Eye twitching, she cast her gaze around at the wounded and dying, remembering Takuya's orders. [color=f7941d][i]You can't save everyone, huh...[/i][/color] Grip tightening on her sword, Hinotora rushed towards the front gate. Time was of the essence, and as much as she disliked him, the Sun Hashira was a critical asset. Allowing him to die would be a massive blow, both in hard power and morale, especially so soon after the last Moon Hashira's death. But even so, even if she didn't have time to stay back and help everyone... [color=f7941d][i]There's something I can still do to save the most people possible.[/i][/color] In a flicker of movement, Hinotora was outside, eyes scanning until she located the allied demons Takaya had brought along and more specifically... [color=f7941d]"Hey! Hold still!"[/color] she called, as she rushed up to the demon responsible for the barrier, flames beginning to flicker around her body. [color=f7941d]"This is going to hurt like [i]fuck[/i], but we need you in action, so sorry in advance!"[/color] [color=f7941d]"Fifth Flame Form: Flame Tiger!"[/color] Raising her sword into a high guard, Hinotora lunged at the barrier demon, flames exploding off her body in a burning corona shaped like a tiger. Her searing blade lanced into infected flesh in a multitude of slashes, sending scorching heat blasting into the demon's body, burning out the poison swimming in his veins and incinerating the arrows pinning him against the wall. Unfortunately, this obviously left the now mangled demon in a state best described as "crispy", but Hinotora didn't really have any better options. Catching the allied demon's body before he could fully fall, Hinotora tossed him over her shoulder and blurred into motion, running towards the other side of the shrine. [color=f7941d]"Hey, somebody come guard this guy! I got the barrier demon! Also, if anybody has some blood or a spare limb to offer, he might need a pick me up to regenerate!"[/color] To the demon she was actually carrying, as she finally set him down on the other side of the compound, she smiled apologetically. [color=f7941d]"Again, [i]seriously[/i], you have my utmost apologies, but we [i]need[/i] you -if at all possible- to get your barrier up again. The Sun Hashira is keeping the Upper Moon busy, but I don't know how long until the attacks on the compound continue. Before that, we need the defense up again. Can you do it?"[/color] Casting a quick glance around, Hinotora nodded in satisfation. With how she had repositioned the barrier demon, he should be out of the Upper Moon's line of sight and ability to attack now. If he could just get his barrier up again, the Shrine's occupants would have a chance to start treating the wounded in mass, rather than staying on defense. In this way, Hinotora hoped to give the most people the chance to survive, assuming the monks had any way to deal with or mitigate the Upper Moon's poison and infection until she could return to do more intensive care.