His Prison

[Aiko]

At the edge of his prison cell, the demon stared hungrily at the free world beyond his bars. None beyond or even within the cell could see him as he stood in the shadowy lee of an obese tree. He was draped in black silks that billowed like oil in the air, a hood drawn over his face and casting it into shadow. The bars of his prison cell rattled like dry, brittle bones rubbing together, scratching and scratching against each other. The demon lustily extended a waxy white hand from beneath the folds of his silks, extending his slim fingers forward, tempting the limits of his prison. He stepped forward, approaching the unseen edges, all the while holding his hand forward. He immediately felt pressure exerting itself against his fingertips, like he slid his hand through thick, sludgy mud. Still, he pressed onwards. Then his fingers jammed against that invisible concrete, little jags of energy rippling out from where his fingertips grazed the prison walls. The clattering bars chattered above him, around him, as the demon’s mouth tightened. He withdrew his fingers, then jabbed them at the wall. Instantaneous pain exploded in his fingers, first from being jammed against the invisible barrier, second from an electric crackle that seared through his sensitive skin.

Displeased, Lord Keiran withdrew his fingers. The pain remained, throbbing through the little muscles and ligaments of his digits. There was no pain, however, in a few slivers of space within his fingers. In portions of his fingers, he felt nothing at all. He held his hand low, examining his smarting fingers with eyes that were still hidden in the shadows of his hood.

A banshee’s scream erupted from the demon’s lungs, carrying all the loathing and frustration and pain that he did not release for so long. The screech ripped out through the demon’s throat and seared through the forest around and behind him, and even pierced the invisible barriers, thrusting out into the free land beyond the forest. The free land that Lord Keiran could not physically influence but with his voice. With a jolt of violence, that hand flung up in a fist and pounded against the barrier. Sparks leaped eagerly from the wall as Lord Keiran was flung backwards, back into the bloated tick of a tree under which he had previously stood. With a reverberating crack, the tree shattered and splintered into itself, creating a jagged crater that extended into its center and sent cracks up the dead wood all the way through. The tree did not topple, but supported the demon who settled there, cocked at an odd angle, the hood hanging low over his face.

Eventually, the demon detected a nearby living presence. However, he cared little about the presence, except with the knowledge that he hated it. He did not pause to learn whether this being was demon, human, or even hanyou. He hated it because it was free to come and go freely through the prison walls that held the mighty demon lord Keiran.

[Rin]

(Is it okay if I join? My blind man's human, so he cna't break barriers or anything, but at least he can talk. ;D)

Daiki, the person the demon ahd felt, groaned as he walked towards the demonic aura he felt, being cautious to stay back a good 20 feet. "If you want to get attention, you could just ask. No need to make someone go deaf, I have enough problems as it is without one of my senses, I don't need to lose another one."

He sighed and smiled in pleasure, he could feel that oh, so wonderful chill of fear he got and the demonic power he felt running down his back was delicious.

"So, what are you screaming about my friend, are you hurt? Has a woman left you for another, or have you been wounded ina great battle and seek help?"
He asked, playing the innocent, not so smart blind men people usually mistook him for at first. He didnt' think this demon would buy it though, he'd just have to see.

[Aiko]

[ooc: He doesn’t need to be able to break barriers to pass through the barriers that hold Lord Keiran.]

A rank human smell forced its way into the demon’s nostrils, and though he did not physically react to it, every fiber of his inner being was repulsed, and the loathing redoubled. Humans were the greatest insult to Lord Keiran’s existence within the imprisoning forest. They could pass through the invisible barriers that held him with ease, yet very few possessed any actual power. It was enough to curdle the demon lord’s stomach like sour milk. The human was intruding, too, intruding upon Lord Keiran’s solitude. The demon could feel his presence approaching, the sense of him bright against the demon’s mind. The displacement in the air the body created was just beyond the demon lord’s ability to physically reach. So tauntingly close…

Lord Keiran refused to lift himself to his feet, but he tilted his chin slightly, so that he could gaze at the man who stood just beyond the cold clutches of forest. His eyes, sharp as a raptor’s, observed the face of the intruder, observed the cataracts in the human’s eyes. A blind man, this one was. Lord Keiran suspected easy prey, good for satiating his hunger for killing and the rage he felt burning within his limbs. After a moment of consideration, the demon decided to lure the human closer, to see what he was capable of, before laying his trap. He would know his prey intimately before destroying it. To do so, he had to lull the man into a sense of security. His first attempt at a lure would be in the use of reverse psychology.

[white]“Stay back, human,”[/white] Lord Keiran grumbled. [white] “I don’t need the help of such a filthy creature.”[/white] Such words were exactly the type that a human would expect a wounded demon would use. [white]“Stay back or I’ll kill you!”[/white] Strange, how truthful the demon found himself being. It was always easier than resorting to a lie, which was more easily detected. To complete the illusion of the injured demon, Lord Keiran allowed his hidden eyes to flit about, searching for the perfect method. Without a betraying twitch of a smile (not that the human would have seen, anyway), he shifted his arm just enough that it crunched into a half-shattered tree limb. Following the creaking sound of cracked wood was a rather convincing groan, and Lord Keiran congratulated himself mentally on his fantastic acting thus far. His cleverly shadowed eyes flicked to the human, to see how he was taking this.

[Rin]

Daiki raised a brow and took a step back. He Knew he could pass through easily enough, but he knew, from the feel of the dragon's aura, he wasn't one to be trusted.

No demon, is to be trusted when you are human.

"Very well, if you insist, but I shall sit here and rest for abit. Whether you mind it or not is of no concern."
Daiki commented dryly, kneeling and patting the ground to make sure no uncomfortable things were there. Then sat down with a sigh of content and placed his staff in his lap.

"So, are you going to tell me your name, my friend?" Dai asked, tilting his head to the side alittle, keeping up his stupid blind man act.

[Aiko]

How dull. The human was going to be utterly uncooperative. Anyway, Lord Keiran attempted to persuade himself that it was dull. However, it itched and burned at him like a mosquito bite, utterly persistent and nagging. He wanted the human to dumbly respond, wanted to lead him to the slaughter like a cow. That was what this blind stranger was, after all: a big, delicious, meaty cow, just begging for a predator to come and bite deep into its succulent flesh. To kill this human would be pleasure to hands that longed for murder. If Lord Keiran had less than total control over his body, he would salivate over the prospect.

Yet the human sat there, too far for the demon to reach.

Lord Keiran lay his head back against the mutilated wood of the tree he destroyed. A soft creak, like a dying groan, issued from the corpse, a plaintive noise. He let the hood fall over half his face, exposing only the tip of his nose, his smooth lips, and his sharp chin to the frigid forest air. His lips were pressed tightly together in a refusal to answer. He wanted the human to come forth, to investigate the demon who had suddenly gone silent.

Lord Keiran liked to play with his prey, like a cat batting around a mouse, but the human was already unwilling to partake in the game, and the demon was in no mood to go on his usual lengthy paths to getting what he wanted. His anger was swirling out of control within himself.

[ooc: Eh, sorry… no muse at the moment.]

[Rin]

Daiki smirked at the anger he sensed coming off the other. He decided to taunt the demon more, and pulled out something, it was dried meat.

He immedatly stuck a peice in his mouth and began chewing.
Daiki decided to lighten up, and threw a peice into the dmeon's domain. The peice of meat landed at the creatures feet.

"There, that is all the meat you'll probably get today." He said cooly, after swallowing his own strip of meat.

[Aiko]

The scent of uncovered meat crawled into Lord Keiran’s nostrils, as if to further taunt him. The demon ignored the smell. He required very little food to survive, and though he thought it might be pleasurable to eat more often, it was unnecessary. (Killing, however, was a necessity.) With this reasoning, the demon quelled any question of hunger that he might have had, yet he heard the soft whistle through air, followed by the dull impact of the dried strip landing on the ground.

Lord Keiran raised himself slowly, as if painfully, and regarded the food from beneath the shadows of his hood. It looked good enough for eating, and with a short intake of breath through his nostrils, he smelled that it was good to eat, without hint of rot or intentional poison. He considered it for a moment, while his senses went out to detect the man beyond the barrier. The human was still sitting. Perhaps if the demon ate this offering, it would lull the human into a sense of security. Lord Keiran lifted the meat in his slim fingers, feeling the rough texture against his skin, before sliding it between his lips.

It was as unsatisfying as ash. He wanted not this leathery strip, but the smooth, thick, liquid texture of still-hot blood against his tongue. Fresh meat was to this demon’s liking. But Lord Keiran swallowed the piece whole, feeling it scrape down his throat. He regarded the human now, and hissed a very intentionally grudging-sounding [white]“Thank you.”[/white] However, what the human would not see was that the demon’s face was smooth, his feigned gratitude having no basis in reality, though the disdain that managed to drip from his voice was real enough.

[Rin]

Daiki didn't say anything, since he had some more meat in his mouth, and wasn't a rude person by nature.
He simply raised his hand and waved it like people do when they recieve a thank you, but do not speak the reply allowed.

He swallowed and sighed.
Daiki wasn't getting much fun out of this, but he was reluctant to leave such a wonderful sensation of demonic aura just because he was bored.

So he decided to throw off this ignorant human sharade.

"It must bother you to be stuck in that barrier, my demonic friend." He commented dryly, with a smirk.

[Aiko]

Lord Keiran stared through the trees, to where the human sat, so tantalizingly close. Honestly, the human wasn’t a very satisfying specimen, not in any sense. The demon could not indulge in his blood lust, nor was the human entertaining mentally by being either clever or foolish. The man was simply… there. He existed. It was an irksome existence, naturally, but not a very interesting one. Lord Keiran wanted to kill him more than ever, simply because that was pleasing when he was bored. And then the human spoke.

The demon lord was intrigued, and enraged more than ever. Intrigued by a human who perhaps would not prove to be so dull in the end, and enraged to be reminded of the true source of his restlessness. Lord Keiran straightened from his slouched, or falsely injured, posture of sitting, in interest. As usual, he considered the pros and cons of being honest here, and decided to take neither approach for the time being. He would feel out this human a little more. He was just starting to become a little more than an annoyance. Which, in all honesty, was good for the human, because Lord Keiran suddenly wondered if he might have some use for this strange human before killing him.

[white]“How is it that you, human, are aware of a barrier?”[/white] the demon lord asked warily, pulling back his hood at last. He wanted to see the human more clearly, but wasn’t willing to stand and reveal his health at this moment. Perhaps in a short while, if Lord Keiran decided he was not going to kill him, but not yet. (Of course, if he did not kill the human, he would have to find something else to kill, which might be a bother. The demon was still undecided on this point.)

[Rin]

Daiki chuckled. "Being blind has it's disadvantages, espicaly for the human race.
But, I have been blessed with potential for spiritual abilites. I have trained and excrsied these powers.
I am able to sense auras, barriers, and use moderate rate sutras... and I must tell you, your demonic aura is quite powerful, and deliciously hair raising. It sends shivers up my spine." He said, his smirk never leaving his face.

[Aiko]

Deliciously hair-raising was a delightfully flattering description. Lord Keiran lifted his chin slightly, staring down at the man sitting beyond the trees down his slim nose. Over the course of the human speaking, the demon realized that this one was in fact a rather interesting specimen. If what he said was true, of course. The evidence did present itself, though. The human was aware that he was in the presence of a very powerful demon indeed, and also that he was on the other side of a barrier. With this as proof, the demon knew that the man spoke true when he said he had spiritual powers.

[white]“Intriguing,”[/white] Lord Keiran complimented. [white] “You are a blind man with a moderate amount of power, and with at least a decent intellect. Yes, you are a rather intriguing human. Pride is acceptable, since I would rarely grant such a compliment, least of all to one of your breed.”[/white] The demon lowered his chin again, regarding the man through his dull gray eyes that did not relay the spark of interest the demon lord saw in the human. He thought for a moment, and realized that he could use this human indeed.

After a moment, Lord Keiran stood. [white]“As you can undoubtedly tell, human,” [/white]the demon said, spreading his arms and taking a single step closer to the man, [white]“I am whole and uninjured. I apologize for the petty trick to which I resorted. You must understand.” [/white]Lord Keiran smiled, an empty yet habitual expression he used on occasions such as these. [white] “You can rightly assume that since I have reverted to honesty, I do not plan on killing you.” [/white] At least, the demon did not plan on killing the human at this time. Of course, he wanted to kill something. Perhaps he would give this human a test, to see how useful he would be, which would help the demon satiate his hunger for death. It would kill two birds with one stone, if you would pardon the expression.

[white]“I am, of course, hungry,” [/white]Lord Keiran admitted, taking another step closer to the human. The man would know he was safe on the other side of the barrier, of course, but it would be prudent of Lord Keiran to not push his luck. [white]“And I crave more meat than that sliver you allowed me. Humor me with this, human. Bring me a living animal that I may satiate myself, and perhaps I will find some way to reward you.”[/white] Like an animal, perhaps this moderately intelligent human creature could be trained with the promise of treats.

[ooc: Yay! I think my muse is returning!]

[Rin]

Daiki did not take offence to anything the demon said about 'his breed' and listend intently.
When the other requested game, he smirked. "I shall see what I cna find. I'll be back, momentarily."
Daiki knew the other was making a serveant out of him, but he didn't mind. He had no pride in being a free man or not.

15 minutes later....

Both a doe and it's fawn ran into the Demon Lord's barrier, but froze when it saw the creature and turned to fleet.
A wild boar also came racing forwards as well.

The blind man Daiki walked slowly behind the beast.
"Apparently your luck is running on my lord." He commented. "Found the boar on purpose, the deer by accident. Feast to your heart's delight." Daiki chuckled and sat down again.

[Aiko]

Lord Keiran stood for a full fifteen minutes, moving only to inhale and exhale, his gray eyes partially closed so that they were naught but slits of flinty color, barely reflective in the dimness of the wood. He controlled his lust for murder. If the man did not return with haste, the demon would find a way to kill him. He did not know how, but he would certainly cause the death of this annoying human who dared to taunt a demon. But for now, Lord Keiran curled his energy within him, letting it fester like an infection, grow like a hurricane over warm waters. Though there was no perceptible difference about him, from the time that the human left to the time he returned, Lord Keiran had gathered all his anger and hatred and power within him so that they peaked in strength.

When the first animals came bursting into Lord Keiran’s domain, the demon did not move, not even to flicker his eyes. He used his other senses to learn what he needed about these beasts, from their musky deer scent to the way their hooves clattered against the cold ground, sending dull vibrations through the earth. Then the demon’s eyes snapped open, just in time to see the base fear flicker in the animals’ wide eyes, see the way their nostrils flared as they took in the scent of the predator. He watched them as they clumsily tried to turn around, calculating just how much time they needed before they were safe on the other side of the barrier. A boar likewise came charging in past the barrier, its piggish eyes wild with terror. It would slow the deer, perhaps add another second to their escape time. They were all a mere seven seconds from turning and fleeing beyond the demon’s grasp, which was a full six seconds too slow.

Lord Keiran’s body reacted perfectly. He was an old demon, but that only meant that he had thousands of years to practice making his muscles do precisely as his mind commanded. His knees bent, and he pushed himself against the ground, flinging himself into the open air above the three animals. With graceful twists of his waist and upper body, Lord Keiran avoided tree limbs and trunks, but with a well-placed kick against a slim tree at the very edge of his land, he reversed his direction and landed firmly with both feet splayed against the ground, standing between the beasts and their escape. The move had taken exactly one second.

With arms spread wide, fingers hooked like claws, crouching slightly to prepare for another rush, Lord Keiran faced the deer, who were galloping towards him, and the boar, who was just beginning to turn its mass in his direction. The terror in the animals redoubled as they scrambled to reverse their direction, and their demon predator allowed them a few moments to scramble in the opposite direction. This was not to give them a sporting chance, but to allow for a little leisure time between kills, so Lord Keiran did not have to destroy all of the animals at precisely the same time.

The three animals scrambled a few paces away, the boar slightly ahead of the deer, when the demon decided he had given his prey enough time. He pushed off against the ground again and flung himself at the fawn, who was flagging behind his mother. In two steps the demon reached the young animal, leapt slightly into the air, and landed with both of his feet in line with the beast’s spine. The fawn toppled, its vertebrae shattered, snapping under the speed and weight of the demon. One of Lord Keiran’s bare feet had landed at the base of the neck, and as control over limbs was severed, the fawn’s legs jerked, and its fall turned comical in the brief half-second that it lasted. Then the young deer’s head was slammed into the ground, the demon’s other foot smashing the skull inward as Lord Keiran raced for the mother, who had gained little ground in the time it had taken for the demon to destroy the young deer.

*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS GRAPHIC IN VIOLENCE*
Cloak streaming behind him, Lord Keiran drew alongside the mother deer. As he passed her, he extended his one hand, feeling his fingers pulse where they had been enhanced with jewel shards. The demon punched a hole in the doe’s side, feeling her internal organs squish together wetly as his fingers tore holes in them. He dragged his hand through the female’s body, ripping a longer wound in her side, until his fist closed around her heart. For the briefest moment perceptible, he could feel the organ pulsing hotly, frantically against his skin, but he crushed it. It burst, coating his hand with fresh deer blood as he withdrew it from the female’s body. This kill had taken perhaps a second and a half, and still the deer was hurling forward, not yet realizing it was dead.

And then Lord Keiran turned for the boar, shreds of the deer’s heart still forming a slimy coat on his left hand along with all the blood. He debated in the few moments before he reached the boar how he would kill it. This should be, after all, his most pleasurable kill, though he was already satisfied with the lives he had taken. His gluttony for murder, though, would not allow the boar to escape. He decided, in short, that he would make this last death a grand show. With his bloodied hand, he grasped the onyx-colored sheath of a dagger and drew it. And he continued to draw it, as the blade stretched longer and longer as the weapon sensed the intent of its master. What Lord Keiran finally wielded, as he pulled it from the red sheath, was a sleek, scarlet katana. The demon lord raced up behind the boar, which did not even have time to register its impending doom. The demon slipped up beside it, bent at the waist, and slid the sharp edge of the katana across the boar’s throat. Deep purplish blood spurted along the blade, and Lord Keiran flicked the sword, severing the head from the boar that was already dead. The head flipped off and landed with a thump a foot away from the place it had been disconnected from the body. The decapitated boar’s chest plowed into the frigid earth, and its backside flipped up over the front, and finally the dead beast landed on its spine, blood still squirting from sliced-open arteries.

Lord Keiran halted and spun around with deadly grace. He saw the line of bodies, from the boar’s trunk and head, then the doe, which had finally keeled onto her side, and farther back, the trampled fawn. The demon stood still for a moment, his nostrils flared against the metallic odor of blood. He sucked it in as readily as oxygen, and his eyes rolled with pleasure. There was no comparable smell to that of the freshly dead! His hand, slick and slimy with blood, nearly dropped the weapon it held, so with a quaking, jerking motion, the demon lord shoved the blade home, and it transformed back into a dagger. Slowly, with steps that began unsteady as the demon’s muscles jerked but quickly grew more certain, the demon walked himself back to the barrier, which was no more than thirty feet away. He paused only to take the body of the fawn and sling it over his shoulder as easily as if it were an empty sack, and continued on his way.

[white]“Because you brought me more than I needed, you may have some of the meat,”[/white] Lord Keiran said once he was near the edge of his barrier, but still a good few feet away. He saw the human just beyond the trees. Easily, the demon tossed the fawn’s body out to the man. [white]“You have done well.”[/white]

[Rin]

Daiki caught the fawn's carcass with surprising ease, considering he'd had it thrown at him the moment he was at the barrier.

He nodde dhsi hea dand smirked. "Believe me, the pleasure is mine. I jsut wish my eyes could have seen such a wonderous display of strentgh, that sword of yours is impressive." He commented with a sadistic smirk.

He thought of what had happend and his body shivered at the feeling it rememberd when the demon's power was at such a strong level as he killed the dumb beasts.

(Even though it was just a dumb animal, I feel sorry for the fawn and it's mama. )

[Aiko]

Very little escaped the notice of Lord Keiran, as practiced as he was. He saw the look on the human’s blind face, the pleasure he seemed to have found by vicariously committing a murder. With that, the demon wondered if, though this creature was no demon, the human was like himself, a sadist, a murderer, one who reveled in power and blood. Fascinating. Now that the demon’s hate was satiated with the killing of the beasts, he was readier to accept the human’s existence, and be interested in it. The demon lord’s observant eyes noted the tremble that raced up and down the man’s body. He must have been truly affected by the deaths. After all, half of the intrigue was in the disappearance of the life, which glowed like a beacon in all of the demon’s senses until he snuffed it out.

At mention of his blade, Lord Keiran actually felt pleased, which was rare. While he could easily have waxed eloquent on the greatness of his dagger-katana, elaborate on its many abilities, boast of how he had come to possess such a weapon as this, he merely stated, [white]“Yes, it is a magnificent blade.”[/white] The demon allowed himself to finger the dagger’s hilt, which caused patterns of blood to flow along the still-warm surface. It was a brighter liquid over the barely-perceptible stain of dried blood that already decorated the weapon, scarlet as it was already.

Lord Keiran still observed the human, for his curiosity had been aroused. [white] “Will you serve me, human?”[/white] he asked abruptly. He already thought he had a use for the man, for Naraku had turned out to be quite a failure in his schemes, and it would be so much easier if the human would take a willing part in his plot.