Chapter 4: Hiei's first kill

"What a little runt," one demon said. "Swinging that sword around like he knows what he's doing."

"Give the kid a break," another demon with one eye replied. "He's only four, what more do you want?"

The first demon turned his attention away from a small boy with black hair practicing with a sword twice his size, and looked at his friend. "By the time I was four, I had already slaughtered an entire village. This kid has no idea what it's like to kill, to listen to the screams of women and children and laugh because you're the one holding the knife." He gazed off as he went on reminiscing.

The boy wasn't oblivious to the exchange. 'Moron,' he thought.

"HEY HIEI!" a demon yelled out from across the camp. "THE BOSS WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!"

Hiei sheathed his sword, picked up his cape, and walked toward the cliff face where the bandit camp was set up. There were small caves drilled into the cliff by the bandits so they could have more stable shelter during storms. The boy walked up to the opening in the center of the cliff, pushing aside the cloth that acted as a door.

Hiei was small, especially for his age, and next to the leader he looked like the size of a small rodent. The boy never let his size get to him though, he was still a kid and was bound to grow eventually.

"Hiei," the leader of the bandits began. "I understand you've been practicing with a sword. But now I think it's time you used it." He looked down at the demon child and smiled. He placed his hand on Hiei's head. The boy bided his time, then as the boss pulled his hand away, Hiei raised his head and bit down on the demon's middle finger. The boy didn't like to be touch and the man knew it. But instead of punishing the child, the leader only laughed. "Just like when we first found you, you little shit."

The leader sent Hiei off with a small group to a village on the other side of the cliff. They were to rob the village and kill anyone who stood in their way. The one in charge of the group was a demon nicknamed Scratch for his unkept nails. The boy noticed there was dried blood under the nails and assumed this lowlife used them as weapons. He grimaced in disgust when he saw Scratch picking his nose with his pinkie nail.

"What's the plan?" one demon asked.

"What we always do," Scratch answered. "Kill everyone then take everything."

"That's stupid," the boy said. All eyes in the group went to him. It was dark by this point, so his crimson eyes glowed menacingly like a feral beast.

Scratch regarded the boy, then decided to just ignore him. "We'll go in as usual: a straightforward assualt-"

Hiei growled; he didn't like being ignored.

Scratch turned to him. "If you don't like it, brat, then just go back to camp."

Hiei narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"Okay," Scratch continued. "If there's no more problems, then let's go!"

The attack was sloppy. They charged straight in and caused as much chaos as possible. Hiei stayed in the shadows, like he would be one of the fools that were killed by the guards. Instead, he worked his way to the temple at the north end of the village. There was bound to be treasures there. But when he got there, he noticed that some of his group had already made it there and were setting the building on fire.

"IDIOTS!" he shouted. But they couldn't hear him over the roar of the flames.

Hiei heard a woman screaming from the house next to him. When he turned she came crashing through the door, landing on her stomach. She was wearing a pink kimono that had been torn open at the front, exposing her breasts. She looked around the age of sixteen with long black hair and purple eyes. Scratch came out of the house and grabbed the back of her clothes. Hiei backed up, hiding himself in the shadows. He walked away as the woman continued screaming. He was too young to know what Scratch was going to do to her, but he had been around grown men long enough to get a general idea.

The temple and most of the village was already ablaze. Hiei had yet to fulfill his purpose in this invasion: to steal something valuable and to take a person's life. Otherwise, he could kiss his home goodbye. The leader used this as an initiation for the boy, and despite his fondness for the fire demon, the man would not hesitate to kick Hiei out of the group.

"Hold on there, kid," a voice from behind him commanded. Hiei turned and saw the man was wearing armor like the guards. The man offered the boy his hand. "Come with me, I'll keep you safe."

Hiei looked at the guard. This would be easy; the man believed Hiei was just another child from the village. Hiei prepared to lunge at the man when an arrow pierced the guard's throat. The boy saw one of his group holding a bow aimed in his direction. The little demon was starting to get really irritated now.

He ran to the nearest house that seemed to be untouched. The house was near the edge of town, so for now it seemed to go unnoticed. To further prove this point, there were still people inside. A mother and her two children looked at him in a mix of shock, fear, and confusion.

"Who are you?" the mother asked cautiously. "You're not from the village, I know all the children here."

Hiei recognized this as his chance, but he hesitated. Something about this situation seemed wrong, but how? He was ready to kill the guard without a second thought, and there was nothing to stop him now. So how come he couldn't move?

The fire demon had to force his hand to reach for the sword strapped across his back, never looking away from the trio.

"You're a bandit then." It wasn't a question. The woman looked straight into Hiei's eyes. "That is sick. Recruiting a young boy to murder."

Hiei broke away then, his resolve confirmed. He would kill this family. But for some reason he was compelled to speak, "I'm not doing this for them, I'm doing it for myself." He drew his sword and saw the fear in the children's eyes. It seemed to delight him, knowing he had control over their fate. The mother looked at him with indignation.

"Somehow," she said. "I believe you."

He attacked the woman first, mainly because she was in the way of the children. In one swing, Hiei sliced through the woman's neck with such skill despite the weapons weight. Her head went flying through the air until it hit the wall. Her body crumpled to the floor, blood gushing from her neck like a fountain.

Next were the children, a boy and a girl. The boy tried to shield his sister with his body but Hiei drove the sword through his stomach so that both siblings were skewered. Blood came from their bodies and mouths as they slowly passed. Hiei didn't mind waiting; their gargled cries were like music to him. He pulled his blade out of them and watched them lie on top of the headless body of their mother.

'Almost done,' he thought. He began to rummage through the house until he made it to the woman's bedroom. A small wooden box on a table looked promising, and sure enough when Hiei opened it there were jewels fitted into gold casings as necklaces and rings. The boy grabbed the box and put it down his shirt for safe keeping. He then proceeded to tear the room apart looking for other valuables. A loose floor board revealed a small bag filled with gold coins. Hiei grabbed that as well and proceeded to leave, passing the corpses of his victims on the way out. When he looked at the mother's head, he noticed she still held that furious expression. He chuckled and exited the house, then created a small spark to engulf the home. His mission was finally complete.

Back at the camp, Hiei was congratulated and allowed to stay. The leader even started considering sending him out on some tougher jobs.

"But maybe when you get older," the leader said, purposely ruffling the boy's hair. Like always, Hiei waited then bit down as hard as he could on the man's hand, drawing some blood this time. The leader seemed unfazed and laughed, as usual. "Now you have a real taste for blood, don't you Hiei?"

The boy didn't answer. He left the camp and climbed into one of his favorite trees, an oak that stood higher than the rest in the forest. He made it to the topmost branch and gazed out at the moon. Without any conscience thought, Hiei reached into his shirt and brought out a stone he had around his neck. Its blue surface sparkled from the moonlight. The boy stared at it for what seemed like hours, searching through the icy surface into memories.

A woman crying for her child echoed in his ears, a bitter cold wind seemed to smack his face with snow. He remembered arms holding him then letting go. He was falling. Then, there was a sudden stop as he hit a malleable surface. He instinctively held his breathe until he resurfaced.

Hiei opened his eyes to find he wasn't in the river, but in a tree. His thoughts then went to the woman he had killed and realize why he had hesitated: the woman crying for her child was his own mother. Both women had wanted desperately to protect their children but were helpless to stop a greater force from taking away their plans.

The demon scoffed at his own weakness and tucked the stone back inside his shirt.

"Fool."