starter for @thecursedpriestess // demon!bankotsu verse guest muses; @refinedmetal @jakotsutowielder *suikotsu
Stoked flames enveloped broken fragments of energy infused steel as Renkotsu hammered his leader’s prized halberd back to its original form with purposeful and steady strokes. The battle on Mount Hakurei between Bankotsu and Inuyasha had shattered the heavy blade but it was not irreparable, and the difficult task of resurrecting Banryu had fallen into Renkotsu’s skillful hands. The strategist intended to compensate for his betrayal at Hakurei through making use of his talented craftsmanship, and Bankotsu needed someone who knew their way around a forge.
Bankotsu tapped his foot and crossed his arms. “Are you done yet, Renkotsu?” he stressed impatiently, “Kikyo will get worried we’ve been gone too long.”
“Calm down, oo-aniki,” Renkotsu grunted, then his features broke out into a self assured smirk. “I’ll make Banryu even better than it was before!” Renkotsu declared, punctuated by another echoing clang.
A final sizzle filled the cavern as the heated metal was submerged in a pool of cold water and cooled, before a complex system of pulleys retrieved the heavy weapon and presented it to Bankotsu, who grinned at his own reflection in the nostalgic blade. He reached out his hand to grasp the leather bound hilt and felt a familiar surge of demonic power course through his veins and Banryu pulsed--it’s sanguine heartbeat responding to the call of it’s master--and a fiery orange glow coated the polished steel . . .
Without warning, the warm hues of crackling demonic energy were conquered with blazing red highlights and Banryu began to shake violently in Bankotsu’s grasp. The mercenary yelled in alarm and his cobalt eyes widened at the sudden change in aura. Rapidly, crimson waves of wrathful power raced through his veins and possessed his mortal body with hellish fire and Bankotsu felt his thoughts dull and his actions slip away from his own control. The years old companion rebelled against its partner’s will and roared with untamable spirit.
Instantly, waves of raging demonic energy filled the cavern and blasted Renkotsu off his feet, the shocked tactician quickly losing consciousness from the immense malicious pressure which was concentrated within the narrow, closed space. Blazing explosions rocked the underground cavern and Bankotsu’s clouded mind thought of only one thing: blood.
Leaving the cavern and finding himself racing towards the peasant village nestled outside the forest which surrounded Renkotsu’s forge was a blur and Bankotsu’s consciousness found itself suspended in limbo as a malevolent spirit forcefully took possession the mercenary’s body, mind and soul. Blood roared in his ears, and then quickly afterwards soaked his newly repaired blade, the dying screams of common farmers, housewives, and innocent children only fueling the uncontrollable inferno which blazed within Bankotsu’s body. He barely registered the faces of the people he cut down--contorted with agony and fear--as they crumpled to the dirt, the mass destructive power of Banryu blasting stone buildings to ruins like sand castles.
