"Bye, Kaa-san! I promise I won't be back until the barrel is completely empty!"
The barrel rattled on Tanjiro Kamado's backside as he made his way down the mountain, the fresh snow crunching against his sandals. The sky was murky and overcast, with not a single bit of blue breaking through the ever-oppressive cover of dirty gray hanging over his head like a dust-stained curtain. His family knew he would probably be in the village for hours more than planned, so they had already started gathering wood.
In the meantime, Tanjiro swiftly made his way across the familiar path to the village. The barrel had gotten heavy on his shoulders, but he didn't mind.
Suddenly, though, the boy stopped upon encountering a faint, but distinct smell. So faint, in fact, that were it anyone but Tanjiro, it wouldn't have been perceived at all. The smell of rotting meal, innards completely eaten over by acid and bile, bloated vessels bursting at the ends, waxing blue and waning red, blood pouring out like from an upturned gourd.
It smelled of death.
It also smelled of something else, though. Something that he had no name for, but somehow caused his skin to feel like it was being pierced by ten thousand needles.
Something that wasn't natural, but doubtlessly cruel.
He swiftly picked up his pace.
~~~
"...overcast. How fortunate...."
Somewhere out in the withered trees, resting against the gnarled, twisted bark, an unnatural creature watches its prey head down the mountain.
There were spiraling orange patterns all over its skin, and horns that curved in to form an almost perfect half of the moon. Through four slit ovular eyes, with blood-red irises, pupils as empty and void as the night sky above a busy cityscape, and nauseatingly orange sclera, the predator watches his prey scurry along. Every inch of his body, from the tiniest minnow to the smallest pore was aching to pounce at the boy right then and there at his flight.
But now was not the time. The boy was on his guard, and he had gotten too close. Plus, there were whispers in the air of a roaring river trawling through the area. He needed to wait for a more opportune time to strike, ideally when the boy came back up the mountain. He had observed a cottage resting up near the summit, bustling with activity from a content, happy family - perhaps he could have them afterwards, once he was done digesting.
But that was a meal for another time. Right now, Besides, there was far too little meat on the boy to fill him. Far too little blood to quench him. He needed time to prepare his meal.
~~~
Tanjiro didn't even look back once as he left the village with his empty barrel, his mind still clouded with thoughts of the smell he had encountered earlier in the day.
He'd been much more brusque than usual with the villagers, quickly making his rounds and selling the charcoal he had without any further diversions. He could smell the concern the other villagers had at his disquieted state, but he didn't have time to assure them. He really didn't mean any offense, but he couldn't forget that smell. That putrid, malicious smell. It felt like an omen.
An omen of blood.
He needed to get back home as soon as possible.
On the way back up, the snow seemed to mount and accumulate with each passing step, making it all the more difficult to trudge up the mountainside. Fortunately, the barrel was light enough where Tanjiro could make it up and past these bumps with ease. He was glad that he managed to sell everything quick enough that it was still light outside, though the sky was still overcast with a curtain of light-grey clouds. Here and there, stray bits of sunlight managed to poke through in desperate corners, but they were always fleeting, disappearing long before they could grow to anything more than a sliver.
Hopefully, if he managed to keep this pace for long enough, Tanjiro could make it back home to his family before-
He had only just suddenly caught on to the stench of death before he was suddenly tackled with an otherworldly force. With little time to do anything other than scream, his barrel flew off his shoulders, as Tanjiro skidded across the snow before landing with a harsh slam on his back. On top of him, with claws pressing painfully onto his shoulders, a monstrous creature with stared down at him, it's slit, crimson eyes staring down at him in a nauseating mix of bloodthirsty agitation and clinical appraisal.
Instantly, Tanjiro froze, his eyes shaking, and his body completely locked as he realized just exactly what he was facing. He had heard of them from stories his mother used to tell him when he was little: demons.
"Hm..." the demon muttered, looking upon its prey with dull, yet eager eyes. His claws squeezed against Tanjiro's skin, who tried his best not to cry out as blood seeped out of the thin, puncture-sized wounds. "You're firm. But...you could stand to be a bit...more...."
Just then, his mouth opened up in a wide gluttonous smile, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and a long, roiling tongue, saliva gushing out like a fountain.
"More...filling!"
Before Tanjiro could even process what had happened, a sharp, dagger-like nail had been thrust deep into his shoulder. Right afterwards, his body suddenly convulsed, his blood boiling like agonizing fire through his veins. He couldn't even cry out in pain as the demon yanked his finger out of the wound, completely helpless while the demon looked down, as though waiting for something to happen.
Whatever it was, he didn't get to find out in that moment, for the demon suddenly screeched and bolted straight for the woods, leaving Tanjiro prone and writhing on the ground.
The pain he was currently experiencing throughout his entire body was so great, he couldn't even bring himself to feel any relief of confusion at this sudden, miraculous turn of events. However, he was still present enough to note that a stray beam of light was now shining on his tattered, blood-stained chest, from a tiny opening in one of the clouds above him. Somehow, he had a feeling that he had been saved because of that light, though the sudden smell of a rushing river had him wondering...
Tanjiro immediately threw those questions out of his mind. He didn't have any time to waste. A blessing like this wasn't left to chance; it was a sign that he had to get moving.
Very slowly, Tanjiro fought through the blistering fire that was ripping through his body, turning himself over to his chest with one single, agonizing push. With gritted teeth and tears flowing down his eyes, he willed his arms to move, dragging himself up the path on inch at a time. It was clear now what that omen had been, so he had to get back to his family as soon as possible before it was too late! They were all in danger!
~~~
This wasn't good.
Though Giyu Tomioka had managed to dispatch of the demon relatively quickly thanks to the element of surprise, he couldn't remain here for long. He had heard reports of demon activity in the area, so he needed to act quickly, before it was too late.
However, as the demon slayer left to continue his hunt, as Tanjiro crawled his way up the mountain, whatever the demon had jabbed the boy with continued to work its way through his blood. In reality, it was a demon art, a power specific to the demon that allowed it to control the size of any victims it jabbed with its blood. However, the demon had been killed before it could finish growing Tanjiro to the desired size, leaving no one to mediate the outcome.
There was no telling what effect the demon art would have on Kamado Tanjiro. What was certain, however, was that it would come to drastically alter the course of Japan's history, if not the entire world.
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