A Freak of Nature

It was a surprisingly quiet day at the Butterfly Estate, no slayers had come injured from a mission the night before and the few that resided there were simply there to train or take care of minor injuries.
Residing in the estates garden was a group of young demon slayers, they had just finished their training for the day and were sitting quietly on the engawa. The most notable of the group was Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy who was known throughout the corps for his numerous encounters with upper rank demons.

He was accompanied by Genya Shinazugawa, the younger brother of the menacing wind pillar. Sitting beside him was Zenitsu Agatsuma, a slayer most notable for his incessant whining and cowardice attitude.
The final member of the group was Inosuke Hashibira, a borderline feral boy most known for his overly inflated ego and destructive habits. Inosuke lay sprawled out on the cool dirt of the garden, his usual pig mask tossed to the side without care as he stared up at the sky in silence.
The bright afternoon sun highlighting his delicate features, a stark contrast to the boy's brash behavior. “Is he okay?” Genya asked, breaking the silence at last, “Yea, at least i think so?” Tanjiro said looking at Inosuke with a confused expression.

Zenitsu simply rolled his eyes “I think this is the most normal he has ever been” the peaceful moment was soon disrupted by Matsuemon, Tanjiro’s Kasugai crow. “East! East! Two demons have been spotted heading east! Head there at once!” the crow shrieked loudly. Chuntaro, Zenitsu’s Kasugai sparrow soon joined in chirping loudly.
Inosuke suddenly leaped up from the ground with an excited laugh as he quickly put his boar mask on “Alright! Finally something to do!” he exclaimed as he bolted around the side of the estate towards the front garden.

Genya and Zenitsu exchanged tired glances as they picked up their swords and followed Inosuke’s trail with Tanjiro following close by, attempting to kindly shoo the screeching birds away. As the boys made their way to the front garden of the estate they walked past Aoi who was hanging sheets out to dry on a clothing line.
“Heading out on another mission?” Aoi asked “Yes, two demons have been spotted heading east” Tanjiro replied, relieved that the birds had finally ceased their insistent squawking and instead perched themselves on top of the tall bamboo fence.

“Please try to keep the injuries to a minimum this time, especially you” Aoi said in a stern tone, Tanjiro sheepishly smiled as he waved goodbye to her, quickly rushing out the manor’s gates to catch up with the other boys.
By this point Inosuke had already sprinted halfway down the path and was yelling for the others to keep up, shouting about how they were too slow to keep up with ‘The King of the Mountains’ . Genya rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance “Let's just get this over with”

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Night slowly set in as the group of demon slayers arrived at where the two demons were last seen. It was at the edge of a vast tightly packed forest, a perfect hiding spot for demons to take refuge in from the sunlight.
There was a small dirt path at the entrance of the forest, just small enough that most people probably wouldn't notice it. Tanjiro took a few steps towards the start of the path and took a deep breath in through his nose “I'm definitely getting the scent of two demons” he paused before taking another sniff “and two horses?” the other three boys exchanged confused glances

“Why would demons have horses with them? That doesn't make any sense!” Zenitsu stated “Are you sure that's what you’re smelling Monjiro?” Inosuke said in a confused and frustrated tone “Demons don’t need stupid horses, they already get around fine!”
“Guys look” Genya said pointing to the dirt path “There's hoof prints in the dirt, maybe they brought horses to blend in more?” Tanjiro nodded in agreement “Maybe, but if that's the case then these demons must be capable of blending in with humans”.
Zenitsu shook his head “Oh no, don't tell me it's going to be like that Obi demon we fought at the entertainment district!” he said trembling with fear

“I'm not sure but we have to try and find them either way” Tanjiro said before beginning to step onto the path, followed by Inosuke bolting after him into the forest with Genya and a very reluctant Zenitsu following suit. “If we follow the tracks it might lead us to them” Genya said “Or it's going to lead us right into a trap” Zenitsu exclaimed nervously “Zenistu’s right, we shouldn't rush into a fight without knowing what we are dealing with”
Tanjiro replied. “Who the hell cares! The King of the Mountains can handle any Demon!” Inosuke Proclaimed as he sprinted full speed down the path cackling,

“Inosuke wait up!” shouted Tanjiro as he ran after the boar headed boy. “He's gonna get us all killed” Zenitsu dead panned
“Probably” replied Genya as the pair followed close behind. Inosuke eventually came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the path “What is it Inosuke?” Tanjiro questioned “The tracks stop here, they must have gone off the path” Inosuke remarked “Well which way did they go?” Genya asked,
Tanjiro sniffed the air and turned to the right side of the path and noticed a small opening in the brush “Through there, the scent seems like it's going through the brush” Tanjiro stated.

Zenistsu peaked through the brush “But what if it's some kind of trap?!” He shrieked “If it was a trap you would be able to hear them coming?” Genya said bluntly, Zenitsu paused for a moment “That’s not the point” he said in a much quieter voice. Before any of them could say anything else Inosuke bolted forward into the brush and shouted “Hey! There's more footprints back here!”
“Inosuke’s right, there's more footprints and the scent is getting stronger” Tanjiro said
“Of Course im right!” Inosuke said proudly, Zenitsu rolled his eyes at his statement as the group ventured off the path and into the woods further. The tall trees had blocked out most of the moonlight, encasing the forest in near complete darkness.

“Are you sure we are heading in the right direction?” Genya asked skeptically, “I'm Sure, the scent is leading into the clearing over there,”
Tanjiro said, stepping over a fallen tree branch. As the young slayers stepped out into the open field they could see two figures under the moonlight, there were two horses grazing on the abundant grass that filled the field.
The taller one was a dappled grey color with a dark grey mane and a white tail, the shorter horse was reddish brown in color with a long black mane and tail along with a thick white marking down the front of its face, both horses wore saddles on their backs along with various other equipment strapped to them.

The grey horse raised its head and looked up across the field and stared at the slayers before taking a few steps forward, seeming unsure of them.
The red horse suddenly raised its head as the grey horse walked away, the red horse let out a snort and stomped its front foot into the dirt. This did not halt the grey horse's apparent curiosity as it continued to walk forward towards the slayers,
it stopped just a few feet away from the boys with its ears eagerly pricked forward. The boys looked between each other in confusion for a moment before Tanjiro slowly stepped forward and offered the back of his hand to the horses muzzle, the horse eagerly sniffed his hand and only seemed to take the gesture as an invitation to come even closer, walking past Tanjiro to sniff the top of Inosuke’s boar mask.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!” Inosuke exclaimed as the horse used its teeth to get a grip of the mask and pulled it straight off his head.
Genya and Zenitsu couldn't help but chuckle as Inosuke attempted to reclaim the boar head from the drastically taller horse, but upon Inosuke beginning to chase the poor animal it swiftly dropped the mask and trotted back to the other horse.
It was then that Tanjiro had noticed two figures sitting in a tree close by, the figures both wore veils that concealed their face and head, similar to the attire of the kakushi.
“In the tree! The demons are hiding in that tree!” Tanjiro exclaimed, drawing his sword.

Inosuke cackled and charged towards the tree “What cowards! Hiding in a tree can't save you from me!”
“Wait you moron!” Genya shouted as he reached for the gun on his belt, suddenly the red horse charged forward and cut off Inosuke’s path to the tree, causing him to come to a screeching halt. “Hey! Move outta the way!” Inosuke shouted as the horse snorted in response “stupid horse” he grumbled as he attempted to run past the horse but it continued to turn and cut him off.
Genya quickly raised his gun to the two demons in the tree and pulled the trigger, unfortunately for the slayers the demons were able to quickly jump out of the tree and avoid the shot.

The sound of the bullet seemed to startle the two horses and caused them to take off running back into the forest, leaving just the two masked demons behind. The pair slowly stepped forward towards the slayers and into the moonlight,
The taller demon wore a demon slayer corps uniform and carried a black and gold sword on his hip while the shorter demon wore baggy clothing that resembled the corps uniform but without any kanji embroidered into it along with a purple sword placed on her hip.

Inosuke wasted no time and charged the pair immediately, laughing as he raised his swords to strike. Only for his sword to be blocked by the sword of the taller demon, the force of the impact between the two swords was enough to send Inosuke sliding backwards back towards the group, causing him to bump into and nearly knock over Zenitsu who let out a yelp of surprise upon impact.
The two demons dashed forward towards the group of slayers with their swords drawn, the taller demon's blade was black and gold like its scabbard while the shorter demon's sword was a vibrant purple.

The slayers quickly split up to avoid the attack, drawing their swords to face them, the shorter demon quickly swung her sword towards Tanjiro who swiftly deflected her attack with a swing of his own.
Meanwhile the taller demon lunged towards Genya, raising his sword to strike. Genya quickly raised his gun and fired, shooting the left half of the demon's face off.
The demon's sword lightly grazed Genya’s left arm, just barely breaking skin. The shorter demon continued to clash with Tanjiro, the sounds of their swords only being interrupted by the loud bang of Genya’s gun.

The shorter demon turned her head to see her companion’s face being blown off, Tanjiro and Inosuke rushed forward as the demon momentarily halted but were ultimately deflected and sent flying backwards into the forest from a powerful kick from the demon.
The shorter demon quickly rushed to her companion’s side to assess the damage as the taller demon regenerated his face, gently peeling away the blood stained cloth to reveal the other half of the taller demon’s face.
The taller demon was as pale as snow, with short spiky black hair and pointed ears. His eyes were slim and a cold turquoise color with two black markings resembling flames on each of his cheeks.

Zenitsu knew that face, he would recognize him anywhere. It was Kaigaku, an older apprentice of his teacher who had a habit of relentlessly mocking and belittling him to the point of tears.
A million questions were racing through his head. How was Kaigaku, a fellow slayer turned into a demon? When did this happen? Why did it happen? How many people had he devoured? Why was he traveling with another demon? Zenitsu stared in horror as Kaigaku turned to face him alongside the demon girl
“It's a miracle you managed to survive this long, Zenitsu” Kaigaku spoke coldly with a smirk on his face.

“How… Why…” Zenitsu said hesitantly gripping the hilt of his sword, “That’s a story we don’t have time for. So why don't you go and run away like the coward you've always been”
Kaigaku said with an annoyed expression. Suddenly Inosuke and Tanjiro dashed forward from behind the two demons. they easily dodged the attack, and turned to swing their swords once more.
Genya raised his gun again, this time aiming at the shorter demon. The gun fired with a loud bang that caught the demon’s attention, she quickly ducked down to dodge the bullet. Inosuke quickly swung his swords at the demon's neck in an attempt to decapitate her, but she quickly raised her sword up and blocked his attack.

Inosuke continued to strike with his sword as the demon matched his pace with her own deflections. Tanjiro sprinted behind the demon, raising his sword to strike at the demon's neck. The demon turned and used her left hand to grab the blade of his sword as it swung towards his neck.
Zenitsu gripped the hilt of his sword and drew his blade before dashing towards Kaigaku as Genya raised his gun once more. Zenitsu raised his sword to strike Kaigaku’s neck but was halted by Kaigaku’s blade. Kaigaku planted a firm kick to his chest and sent him sliding backwards.

Genya fired the last of his bullets at the two demons, Kaigaku dodged them withe ease but the shorter demon was too occupied with fighting off Tanjiro and Inosuke to react in time and a bullet went straight through the back of her knee,
severing the rest of her leg while the second bullet struck her right shoulder causing her to lose her grip and drop her sword.
The demon dropped to the ground with a hard thud as she attempted to regain a grip on her sword.

Kaigaku turned his head at the sound and quickly attempted to dash forward to help his comrade, but his efforts were cut short as Zenitsu darted after him and managed to slice his right arm off causing him to drop his sword.
He quickly turned and grabbed his sword off the ground with his other hand as his arm began to regenerate. The other demon was unable to stand with her one remaining leg and she didn't seem to be regenerating as the two slayers closed in.
Tanjiro couldn't help but feel a little bad for the demon's predicament as she lay bleeding out on the ground unable to regenerate, Inosuke on the other hand showed no such remorse as he raised his sword to strike at her neck.

Kaigaku managed to regenerate his arm and quickly grabbed the other demon and was able to carry her away from the slayers and set her down a few feet away, propping her up against a tree. Tanjiro wondered why the two demons were working together,
After all, it was often considered taboo amongst the demons for them to seek out help from one another. Kaigaku gripped his sword and turned to face the slayers, darting forward towards the group ready to attack.
Inosuke and Zenitsu rushed forward first with Tanjiro and Genya following close behind, the slayers knew that he wouldn't be able to fight them all at once so they all rushed in at the same time.

Kaigaku did his best to block their attacks and keep them at bay but this was certainly more than he could handle especially with his companion unable to regenerate and aid him.
Their swords clashed continuously neither side was willing to give up but it was still too much for the demon,
The slayers had managed to corner him and just as Zenitsu was about to land a final blow to his neck a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and down through his arm causing him to stumble backwards just enough for Kaigaku to run past him and back to the other demon.
Zenitsu turned to look at his shoulder which was throbbing in pain, only to find a serrated throwing knife stuck in his right shoulder.

The knife’s blade was a dark grey with a wooden handle that had very intricate floral  patterns carved into it.
The wound was gushing blood, staining his yellow haori. Tanjiro bolted over to Zenitsu in a panic, trying his best to keep his friend calm as he racked his brain to try and figure out what to do. About thirty feet away were the two demons, the shorter demon's injuries were now wrapped in blood soaked bandages as she leaned herself against a tree to balance herself as she stood with Kaigaku next to her.
Inosuke and Genya wasted no time while Tanjiro was occupied attempting to keep Zenitsu from accidentally making it worse.

Kaigaku bolted forward, his sword clashing with Inosuke’s own swords in an attempt to keep the slayers back.
As the battle continued the sun began to rise over the horizon, the forest slowly being painted in the golden light. Kaigaku makes a swift kick to Inosuke’s chest and dashes back to his injured companion “We've got to go, now” he said panicked
“I'm only going to slow you down, neither of us would make it back in time. You need to go” the demon girl said in a hushed tone “I can't just leave you here "
"You have to” just as he was about to argue the sun slowly rose higher and higher, forcing him to reluctantly run away in search of shelter.

The demon girl leaned back against the tree, sliding her back down to a sitting position as the sun finally rose over the small field, bathing the blood soaked grass in a golden hue. Genya turned his attention back towards Tanjiro, who was finishing bandaging Zenitsu’s shoulder as he complained about how much it hurt. Inosuke stood next to the two,
mocking Zenitsu for ‘being a weakling’ and how ‘The king of the mountains could survive much worse than a knife to the shoulder’.
Genya sighed in relief, apart from Zenitsu’s shoulder the group had made it out mostly unscathed.

Genya watched Tanjiro’s gaze shift from Zenitsu to the tree where the demon girl had been sitting. Tanjiro’s face shifted from frustrated relief to pure shock and confusion.
Genya followed his gaze and looked to the tree. There sat the demon girl leaned against the tree with her eyes closed bathed in the morning sunlight, but she did not burn.
The girl opened her eyes to find four pairs of eyes looking at her like she had just walked on water.
“How the hell is it doing that!” Inosuke shouted “I thought only Gompatchiro’s sister could do that!”. The demon girl didnt move, her leg was still bleeding through the bandages, staining the grass in a ruby tint.

“If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with,” she said in a hushed voice. She was so tired, she couldn't bring her body to fight if she wanted to. “Sounds good to me!” Inosuke said as he began to match over to the girl,
“Wait!” Tanjiro said, grabbing Inosuke by the shoulder “I think the master would want to see this”
“I agree, we should wait for him to decide what to do,” Genya replied. The demon girl struggled to stay awake, her eyelids growing heavy as she attempted to focus on the slayer’s conversation.
Her body felt so tired she couldn't even keep her head up as she reluctantly shut her eyes and slipped unconscious.