Chapter 1 – Huntress
Stepping through the cool grass Suki kneels to look at an impression in the soil, finding that it had the distinct markings of a boot of a wary passerby. Judging from the next steps impression with the crushed grass and strewn pebbles around it. She touches the ground, it's neatly packed at the toe and not so much at the heel, he must've been in somewhat of a hurry to get there and he knew where he was going. She gazes in the direction of the stranger's path, her eyes wandering to a tree off in the distance near a brook in the midst of the massive field surrounded by woods on either side. "That must be it." She says to herself. In a somewhat elusive thought she transforms into her small red fox form, walking on towards the stranger through the tall grasses.
Once she is in leaping
distance of the stranger she finds him asleep, leaning against the
tree for support. She sniffs the air for the smell of blood and finds
none. Most likely because he was healing himself as he slept for his
clothes were somewhat ragged with stab marks. She pounces him for the
fun of it and he catches her in midair with a swift movement of his
arm. He tosses her gently and sits up while she lands, his fangs
shimmering as he smiles. "And who might you be?" he asks.
"I'm
Suki. What's your name?"
"My name's Legat, so you want to
fight do you?" he asks. Suki smiles impishly in her vulpine form.
Legat thinks to himself just how strong a little red fox can be and
charges at her. Suki remains sitting until he's close enough and
bites his leg. "I didn't need that leg anyways. Now let go
please." Suki lets go and takes a playful defensive stance with her
tail wagging. "Hmm, well then…" he says as he unsheathes a
sword and jabs it into the ground, sitting behind it afterwards.
Suki's eyes gleam for a moment and she stands attentively in front
of him. Legat remains sitting on the ground and Suki takes the time
to groom her left forepaw, finding a seed and pulling it out of her
fur. "Well, this is an interesting fight. Here puppy?" he says.
She walks up to him and drops the seed into his hand. Legat pets her
on the head. She backs off slightly to sit back in front of him,
channeling her energy into the seed that has now grown into a rose
vine, loosely wrapping itself around him and lightly pricking his
skin with its thorns.
"Hmm, this can't be good but look at the
nice roses."
Suki licks the blade of his sword and the vines
constrict even further as her tongue bleeds while Legat remains
seated on the ground, letting the blood slowly trickle downwards. He
pulls out a small blade and, in a moment, is free of the vines; blood
dripping from his body. Suki moves aside and casts a foxfire spell at
him.
"I always liked it hot," he says before casting a rain
shower to save his hair. Suki transforms to her halfbreed form: her
body that of a human but her fangs, claws, fox tail and ears still
remaining, clothed in one of her favorite fighting outfits, the aqua
color of her shirt accentuates the redness of her shoulder length
hair. She unsheathes her dual scythes and takes a loose defensive
stance.
"Careful, you could put someone's eye out," Legat
says mockingly and she lightly smacks him in the jaw with the handle
of a scythe. "That's… that's not fair," he says before
grabbing the slightly bloody sword from the ground. Taking a full
swing to stop about a centimeter from her neck, gently scraping it
with the blade. Clearly surprised by the maneuver Suki remains still,
taking the bite of his sword along her neck. Legat remains
motionless, looking into the eyes of his foe. Winking, he slashes a
tear on her cheek and watches as a single drop of blood falls down
her face. Suki leaps backwards to sheathe her scythes for a katana
with a jade hilt.
"Jade is kind of
fancy for you isn't it?" he taunts. She leaps over him and lets
her sword fly, cutting his back from the shoulder blade to his lower
back and charges yet again. Only to be parried by his own
sword.
"Damn that was a good coat and shirt," Legat says as he
kneels with his sword in the ground, a slight look of pain on his
face that disappears as quickly as it had come. Slowly he gets up and
readies for another attack.
Suki takes the opening to attack him
with her sword, flipping to his side and parrying as he counters.
Pulling at the metallic string that had found its way around his neck
in the maneuver. Causing it to tighten and dig deep into his skin.
Legat pulls out a small dagger and cuts the metallic string along
with some of the flesh on the left side of his neck. Then lunges
towards his attacker to place the dagger in her thigh, grabbing his
sword afterward and watching attentively. Suki pulls the dagger from
her thigh and quickly throws it into the calf muscle of her opponent,
and takes a defensive stance. He grabs the blade lodged in his leg
and rips it out with a reckless shudder as blood is spewed into the
air, and places the dagger back into its sheath. Afterwards he
quickly rips his already torn shirt into a small ribbon and wraps it
around the wounded leg. Hobbling forward with his blade drawn, eyes
glaring with pain, anger, and hope.
Suki lets out a long sigh to
calm down and loosens her stance a bit, her cold emerald eyes
starring into his challenging glare. Thrusting her strength into a
flesh searing blow, she renders his right shoulder nearly
useless.
"Ha! Good thing I'm left handed… Oh shit, no I'm
not," Legat says. Gathering as much energy as he can, he runs at
full speed, tapping the heel of his boot to release a blade from the
toe and thrusts the toe of the boot into Suki's ribs. Following
with a slice to her lower chest, blood gathering together like metal
to a magnet to form a small lake at the feet of the
combatants.
Suki's head swims, she unsheathes her daggers and
lets them fly, landing a direct hit to his left hand and thigh. Legat
slowly gathers himself and staggers to get away. Looking over his
shoulder quickly while using his sword as a cane, catching a glimpse
of the once innocent red fox. Suki charges ferociously at him, pauses
and Legat forcefully jabs his sword into his lower right side to
pierce Suki in the middle of her stomach. She coughs up blood and
falls to her knees, her eyes gleaming for a moment before turning to
a shimmering gold color, her face now baring demon markings along her
jaw as well as her arms. Pulling the sword out of her stomach she
skewers his right leg and foot with it.
Legat lays in the puddle
of blood wondering what brought this on and if this is the end of it
all, "No.. No it can't be.. It can't," he says to himself.
Looking slowly around at the darkening sky to his 'enemy' if
that's truly what they were… just looking for something to hold
onto.
Suki transforms into her true demon form, her fox form, and
walks up to him within hands reach, licking the blood off of his
fingers. He makes out a slight smile, barely enough to be recognized
as one. She licks a wound on his wrist and it heals mostly, only a
scar remaining and looks to him for a moment before returning to
healing his wounds.
"You put up a good fight."
"I just
wanted to have some fun," he replies. When she finishes the minor
cuts she stands beside him and closes her eyes, channeling her demon
energy into him to heal the remaining wounds.
With a smile he
flashes his fangs, "There's no need for that but thank you."
Suki
smiles, "Oh I know, but it's the thought that counts,
right?"
"Sometimes… Sometimes it's the thought that gets
in the way."
She nods slightly, "Very true." After a few
minutes of sitting in silence she jumps into his arms and sniffs his
neck, biting it and lapping up the spoils.
"Ah, the biting of
the neck is such common a thing for me," he says.
"Yes, as it
is for most demons," she replies, nipping at the wound on his neck,
causing it to bleed more.
Legat closes his eyes and heals the
wound; Suki remains sitting in his arms, resting her muzzle on his
shoulder. He picks up his sword from its resting place on the ground,
sheaths it, and whispers to the fox, "Hey, I think you owe me a new
shirt and coat."
She smiles, her fangs showing, "I do don't
I?"
"Well if you
would…"
She briefly licks his chin in a canine gesture of
apology and a knapsack appears at his feet with the requested
clothing. "See if they fit."
He cuts off the ruined shirt and
coat because it would've taken too much an effort to take them off
normally, seeing that it's scraps of fabric anyways and opens the
sack.
"Um, they're pink…"
She laughs, "The little
imps must've changed it."
"Sure, you just wanted me to try
it on. You know it."
She swats him in the
face with a paw, "Sure… Believe what you'd like."
"I
will."
Suki hops onto the
ground next to the bag and pulls out the garments – a pink shirt
and coat with a matching kimono at the bottom. "Now that's not
funny but I do like the patterns on the kimono. And pink is
definitely not my color."
"Well then what's with it?" he
asks.
"I'm sure my sister has something to do with this joke..
Her and her little minions."
"I'll manage
without them. I can just make what I need later," he says.
She
jumps onto his shoulder and sits.
"What's this all about,
hmm?"
"Oh, I smell a crystal and I might share it with you if
you don't mind helping me slay the behemoth." After a few moments
of silence she asks, "We going or not?"
"Yes."
She sniffs the air,
"Ooh and a tonberry too. They can be tough little buggers but their
flesh is the best around."
"Indeed," he replies with a
grin.
"Shall we hunt?" Suki asks before hopping off his
shoulder and dashing off through the thickets, leaving him behind.
Seeing no point in answering he whispers, "Yes."
Suki pauses
when she smells the scent of the tonberry even more so than before,
her tail curling around her right flank, ready to spring at any
moment. Legat thinks to himself, "Mmm tonberry."
Suki licks
her mouth and pounces, grabbing the lantern and its weapon in the
same leap. Legat walks up behind the defenseless monster and taps it
on the shoulder. "Sorry," he says before grabbing the tonberry's
knife from Suki and thrusting it through its head. Suki pounces the
still writhing tonberry and licks the blood from the knife wound,
biting the flesh and enjoying the fresh treat. Legat watches nearby
smiling at her small feast. She pauses to turn and talk to him and
the tonberry moves, she kicks it with a hind foot and it goes
limp.
"Do you want some?"
"It's dead and I don't
drink from the dead," he replies.
"Oh, right…" She trots
into a field nearby, "Lets get the crystal then."
"Lets,"
he replies and then says, "Lead the way."
