The white mononoke reeled from the impact of the water. Too late he had noticed the pillar of water bearing down on him and in the split second before he too had been engulfed, he had as watched the child and the other s.h.i.+nshou were swept away. He hadnt given any thought to the other s.h.i.+nshou. They had all seen worse. The problem was the child. He was a human, and humans had different limits.

If for nothing else, Seimei would be most distraught if anything happened to him. Narachika might be a little angry, but he would get over it. But Seimei,it would break his heart to lose his grandson.

After some frantic pawing and twisting, his small black claws finally gained purchase on the muddy bottom, and he propelled himself forward, homing in on the powerful aura of the monster, a strange p.r.i.c.kling sensation that was as clear in water as it was in air. He found the boy with the monster near the middle of the bay. The boy that was entangled in the thick black tendrils that issued from the monsters was limp and blue. He wasn't breathing.

The dark waters of the bay lit up as crimson light surrounded the small body of the white mononoke, and the s.h.i.+nshou known as Touda took this true form. The dark tendrils fell away with a slice of his taloned hands, as the boy's boy drifted free of the monster's grasp.

"Heh..... where the h.e.l.l did you come from ?" Touda sneered as he faced the monster. Enshrouded in searing flames, Touda had never been one for mercy; now he solemnly raised his right hand at the monster his flames coalescing in his outstretched hand.

Gou Ookami merely glanced at him and laughed, a strange gravelly chuckle. "Plan to use your flames under water? Hilarious."

He s.h.i.+fted a little to pull himself to his full height, a dark s.h.a.ggy behemoth that towered over Touda.

"and what do you plan to do with that little silver light of yours.....hmmmm? "

Touda gritted his teeth, his flames where not to be underestimated, and he'll be more than glad to demostr...........

Wait.......... did he say "silver light?"

What silver light?

To his knowledge, the seal that Seimei had bestowed, the seal that bound him, was gold. Reflexively, Touda reached up to touch the seal, running his fingers across the golden ring at his forehead to feel a slight engraved pattern across the surface.

Strange, he hadn't remembered the engraving. In fact, he was sure it had been smooth. 

Touda's pause did not escape Gou Ookami, for he was one who preyed upon the hearts of men. With a smile, he crouched, his eyes lighting up as he summoned his aura, pulling strength from thousands of victims to surround Touda.

Touda's hands stilled on his seal as he noticed too late the p.r.i.c.kling sensation that seemed to snake around is body. The pressure of the monster's aura felt like pins and needles, burrowing into his skin and entwining his heart like a wreath of th.o.r.n.y vines. The power to burrow into the deepest recesses of the heart.  That was the power of Gou Ookami. Touda's eyes widen as he doubled over in pain,  feeling the spines forcing their way into his frantically beating heart. His vision began to blur as aura constricted his heart, forcing itself into the deepest recesses of his mind. Doubled over in pain, his body spasmed and trembled, but he took no notice. Touda was far away, his slitted yellow eyes were dilated and unseeing as the contents of his mind tumbled chaotically like the churning waters of the bay. Memories galloped through his mind, tumbling over ideas, concepts, time seemed to run backwards, and then fragmented with out reason until the concept of time itself seemed to cease to exist.

Touda's lips trembled as he mumbled incoherently, his hands clawing through his hair.

Gou Ookami gave a please smile... "I wonder where your memories will leave you. Dont worry.... they will all fade eventually. I wonder who you will be then?........ Oh, the day your companions will see you as a stranger..... truly a monumental occasion. "

Gou Ookami had taken a step toward Touda when suddenly, a tremor ran through the water, severing his grip over the s.h.i.+nshou at his feet.

Another tremor shot through the water, knocking the monster off balance as the water swirled around him.

Touda's eyes grew wide as the tremor pa.s.sed through him, severing the monster's hold. His golden irises faded as his eyes bled into an angry crimson.

These memories.... this darkeness.... where did they come from? Did they belong to him ?

His chest felt tight, as though his heart was being rent to ribbons.

There was a sound.... some one was calling for him.

His right hand felt warm, and he stared uncomprehendingly at the warm colorful glow entwined around his hands. Strange....what is that? (Trans-note: his own flames.)

...........the ground s.h.i.+mmered with a silvery light, and white flowers drifted on the soft breeze.........the sound of rain as it pattered on rooftops............the pounding of his heart that rang in his ears......

Touda's hands fisted in his hair as the seal around his head glowed with a strange silver light and became crisscrossed with cracks.

There was a voice...... a voice calling for him.......a voice as clear as a bell.......his eyes, squeezed shut in pain snapped open.

He couldn't remember the child's name.... his face, no matter how much he tried the memory flowed away like water before it could be grasped....... no matter how much he tried........

................it was almost as if he was under a spell of some kind...................

........no matter how much he tried........... it always slipped away...........

It was like a nightmare that washed over him without end, but no matter what happened, no matter what he went through, he couldnt forget.....he wont forget.... he didnt want to forget........ that voice.

Touda's flames raced forth, las.h.i.+ng from his body in vicious blades as dove forth to engulf everything around him.