A/N: for animeandmangafangirl :) I reallllllly hope you like it xD
This story is going to have a fair bit of violence and stuff, so just a fair warning the rating may change and some beloved characters may die at any point in the story.. sorry not sorry ;P
The Demon and The Witch
~ Contract ~
In a world, unlike our own, deep within a forest of fluorescent trees was a glass cottage which was the home of a middle-aged woman, who was at this moment mixing together herbs and spices into a pot of boiling water over the fire in the middle of the room. Beside the fire a young girl of five or six wrapped tightly in a heavy red blanket watched her grandmother carefully, just waiting for the write moment to ask her a favor. She knew her grandmother became intensely focused on the tasks in front of her, and that she should not break her concentration unless it was an emergency.
Her grandmother turned to and fro, quickly collecting vegetables and fruits and plants of varying sizes, colors and shapes, placing them onto her table to chop, dice, peel, and grate. She worked fast-paced, carefully dropping handfuls of ingredients into the pot, stirring it occasionally, and then preparing the ingredients, her hands a blur as she chopped up the stocks and peeled all of the fruit nicely.
Sometimes her granddaughter was afraid she might hurt herself in the process of everything - what with that large blade the size of her arm, and the even scarier yellow blade which seemed to never dull, as she had never seen grandmother ever even brush it against the knife sharpening rock. But how could a blade never need sharpening? It's an arrogant, un-dullable blade. Her grandmother answered once. This only confused her more.
"And the final ingredient.." Her eyes snapped open, as she saw her grandmother reach into the tall glass jar on the highest shelf, scooping out a spoonful of sparkling grainy substance and pour it into the pot.
"Sugar." her grandmother smiled bitterly, brushing her dainty hands on her apron before removing it and laying it on the back of her rocking chair.
It makes everything sweet - it's one of the secret ingredients of love. Mrs. Akari explained to her once.
"Now Hinata, what shall we do while we wait for the soup to cook?" her grandmother asked, smiling brightly.
"A story!" Hinata blurted out immediately, her eyes shining. "Grandmother tell me a story, please?"
"Oh, why I believe I've told you every story I know." she protested, sitting down in her rocking chair.
"Nu-uh!" Hinata shook her head. "You only told me the ones in books. But you and mumma always share stories about the - the demon." she whispered, clutching the blanket around her tight.
"The demon?" It was then that her grandmother's face changed and that distant look of longing came across her face for a moment. She shook her head gently, saying, "Well. I suppose I would have to tell you this story one day or another. If you insist, I'll tell you the story. The story of the demon and the witch."
Once upon a time...
"H-hocus pocus!"
"Where's the magic?"
"You're not a witch! You're a fraud!"
The people on the street jeered at the petite, small statured girl in the black cloak. One man threw the core of his apple at her, making her cringe and shrink back from the crowd. She took a deep breath, attempting one more spell in front of them.
"T-the flow-flower will bloom Upon the hills in May Winds of fate bring the sweet perfume For it-it-it is child's play!"
A moment passed and a gentle breeze passed, brushing her long strands of dark hair into her eyes, but the sweet scent of flowers did not follow.
"Get out'ta here, ya freakin' poser!" a man grunted, pushing the small girl down onto the muddy ground.
Others shook their heads, whispering things to one another and looking at the girl, scowling at her.
A young boy even picked up a dirt clod and threw it at her, while another walked past her, spitting on the ground in front of her face.
The girl lay there, her eyes closed tightly. She merely lay still, blocking out the sounds of their jeering and counted in her head to one hundred and twelve. That was how long the jeering would normally go on. Everybody had left, she thought, as she no longer heard their voices, sitting up and opening her eyes. But when she opened them, she found that a pair of blazing golden eyes were boring into hers.
"Wh-wha!" she shrieked, raising her hands in front of her face, afraid to be seen by those eyes.
"Calm down, witch." a pair of strong hands lowered hers - the man with the fiery eyes wasn't mere inches from her face anymore, and his eyes were more gentle, with the smallest glint of mischief in his eyes. He had bright red hair which would compare with the color of an apple, and a smile that would have made the witch feel butterflies in her stomach, if she wasn't already feeling nervous because of him. He didn't look that terrifying now that he wasn't too close to her, in fact he actually kind of looked handsome, he must be a prince, or a knight maybe, the witch thought.
"Geez, they really weren't kidding. You're the most cowardly witch I've met." he chuckled humorously.
She took that last thought back - he wasn't a prince nor a knight. He was an angel in disguise - a demon. He was a demon.
"... what do you want from me?" she asked carefully, bringing her hand slowly behind her back..
"Hm," he smirked, standing to his feet, looking down at her, sizing her up. "Okuda The Witch of The Glen.. I hear you can kill anything with your potions."
"You're asking help from me?" Okuda asked. She stared at him, shock evident on her face. No one ever asked for her help - no one believed she was a powerful witch or could prove to be useful. She felt very touched for a moment, but then she snapped to her senses and remembered she could be dealing with a demon - and no one made deals with demons. Not even witches.
"Well there's no one else around. I want your help in killing a monster that has been alive far too long in this world." he said, all humor gone from his tone, pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from under his black cloak and unraveling it in front of her. "If you do, I will give you anything you desire. All you have to do is sign this contract."
"So Okuda said to the demon - oh, the soup's ready now." Hinata's grandmother stood from her rocking chair and stirred up the pot before collecting two bowls and spoons. She filled both bowls with soup and gave one to her granddaughter, and then set the other down on the table.
Hinata took the soup and held it close to her chest in both hands. "Grandmother, what did Okuda say?" she asked eagerly.
"Well - hm," her grandmother smiled, looking out the cottage window. "I think we'll save the next part of the story for when your brother gets back from chopping wood. I need a little time to remember the rest of the story. You should eat your soup quickly so you can help your brother put the kindling in the woodshed."
Hinata pouted, but ate her soup as her grandmother requested, a little too quickly as she burnt her tongue. She got to her feet and unwrapped herself from her warm blanket and put on her boots. "I'll go wait for brother outside. Thank you for the meal grandmother, it was delicious like always."
"You're welcome, sweetheart." her grandmother smiled, handing her cloak to her and watching her leave the cottage and run down the path. She smiled, watching the girl cover her head of red locks a bright smile on her face, and a glint in her eye. "She's just like her grandfather."