Chapter 2- That Damn Hound.
In the darkness behind closed eyes, Ara had gained consciousness. "Good morning sleepy head.." The softly spoken words from Eun, made Ara quietly mumble to her self. With her senses finally catching up to her, she could feel a soft warmth enveloping her. A small weight on the side of her ribs, and a leg resting between her own. She opened her eyes to see Elesis bosom quite close to her face. Elesis had pulled Ara closer, and snuggled her. With unsure eyes,she moved back slightly, looking at Elesis' face. Elesis was still asleep, but her expression looked pained. Ara gently lifted Elesis' arm off her side, and slid back slowly. After quietly removing her self from Elesis' grasp, Ara sat up on the edge of the bed, and looked down at Chung. He hadn't move much, as his back was now pressed up against his cannon, and looking as if he was about to suck his thumb. Ara quickly covered her mouth, to keep the laugh that wanted to escape contained.
Ara gently pushed her self off the bed, and wandered over towards the dresser. With a quick glance out the window, Ara tied her hair up into her usual twin pony tail style. The smoke was still rising from the inner city. With a sigh, Ara moved towards the bathroom entrance, and crouched next to a small wooden basket. She had taken the opportunity to wash all of their clothes, while Elesis had showered. Ruffling through the neatly folded clothes, she found her black, and white cheongsam, and entered the bathroom. Not bothering to close the door, she stripped herself of her one peice black silk nightie. After slipping on her fresh attire, Ara wondered back to the bed. She looked to Elesis, and then Chung wondering if she should wake them or go collect breakfast. Deciding to wait, she sat at the bed's edge. "Eun, I can't help but feel nervous. I know I obtained these demonic powers to fight the demons... but something about this doesn't sit right with me." Ara silently tried starting a conversation with the Fox spirit within her. But she only received silence. "Eun?".
Ara grew even more nervous at the silence within her head. Eun usually answered her right away. She began to twiddle her fingers, hoping something would help take her mind off things. "It's alright my dear. You have me, and your friends. No matter what comes our way. You, and I have our promises to keep after all, we can't let a couple of demons get in our way." Ara perked up as she heard Eun's soft soothing voice from within. She nodded, and grinned. "Of course! You're right..." She sagged once more thinking of her companions. "But... I still worry. Elesis... She isn't really herself lately. I'm not sure what to do". "It's not your place my dear. Think of what she has been through. The best you can do is support her." Ara could feel Eun's hesitance about their current subject. When they had found Elesis not too long ago Eun had warned Ara about Elesis' state of mind. She had changed, and was flowing with dark energy.
Their conversation was interrupted when Ara felt a hand suddenly land on her right shoulder, then what felt as chin on the other. "Ughh. You're up, and ready I see." Elesis droned out as she pressed herself against Ara's back. Ara's face pinked , and she faintly tensed up. She turned her head ever so slightly to get a look at Elesis own face. She looked rather ragged. Elesis' eyes clouded with heavy bags under them. The blush left Ara, as she questioned Elesis. "You look horrible. Did you not sleep well? Perhaps you should get more?". Elesis groaned, lifting her chin from Ara's shoulder. "Mmmm. Nah, I'll be alright once I get moving." Elesis shut her eyes, and wrapped her arms around Ara's waist. Nestling her cheek into the back of Ara's head. "Hmmmm...Such a cuddly fox girl. Oh... So tense." Ara blushed once again, and was thinking of a way to escape."What curious behavior. Is she possibly...?" Ara internally growled, and flushed out Eun's voice. Ara was about to speak, but her attention was grabbed by the movement in the corner of her eye. Chung had gotten up. Ara turned red with embarrassment. Chung was standing there red himself, and blue eyes wide.
Ara quickly moved herself out of Elesis' grasp, and turned to face her. She nudged her head towards Chung, hoping Elesis would get the hint. Elesis, who had whined at Ara's departure from her 'hug', cocked her head to the side, before slowly turning her sleep drugged gaze at Chung. She half smirked, and nodded. "What are you so embarrassed about Chung? Never seen girl time before? Would you like a hug too?" Chung flinched, and quickly turned to face the opposite direction."E-e-e-Elesis. It's not that. I-i-i-its just that. Well. I thought girls liked that sort of thing in p-p-private." Chung stated nervously while he did his best not to look at the two young women behind him. Elesis chuckled loudly, and shook her head. "Chung, if it was that sort of 'girl time', I would of put out to the curb first." She stated matter-of-factly. Elesis glanced at Ara, and winked, who in response turned the other way as Chung did to hide the returning blush. Getting the response she wanted, Elesis laughed, and stood from the bed with a long stretch. "Well. That was fun. Let's get ready, and go get breakfast."
After a short time of getting dressed to face the day, the trio went back down to the tavern, and to their table from yesterday. After ordering a family size portion of eggs, and pancakes, Elesis turned her attention to Chung. "After thinking about it for a moment., a lot has happened. I hope the others catch up before we begin cleaning this mess up. Anything we can take to make this easier is welcome." Chung nodded, but slunked in his seat. "That would be nice. But I haven't heard any news besides what we already knew before we had left. They are overrun with nasods. It might take awhile. That is why we went on to fin..." Chung cut his sentence short, noticing the dark angry expression Elesis' had suddenly sported. Her crimson amber-ish eyes sharpened. Chung instantly regretted mentioning their recent past. Ara, also noticing, decided to try, and change the subject. As if on que, their waiter had suddenly appeared, and placed their plates down in front of them. "Ahh! Thank you sir! Let's eat!." Ara happily took her fork to her eggs, and began to eat. Smiling while she chewed.
Chung followed suit, and Elesis shook her head. She let a feint smile out from the seemingly innocent Ara's actions, and began to eat as well. After a few moments of awkward silence, Elesis sighed. " I'm sorry. I try to keep it restrained. But... " She shook off the thought, and continued eating. The others nodded in understanding. They were pretty sure they would be the act the same as well, if things went down for them how they went down for Elesis. But Elesis knew her companions had their own personal issues they needed to sort out, and she couldn't drag them down along with her because of her own poor attitude. After finishing off her last pancake, she gently placed her fork down on the circular glass plate with a little 'clunk', and stared intently at Chung. Her hands clasped together atop her lap. Chung soon noticed Elesis stare, and paused. He cocked his head to the side, waiting for some sort of statement or question from Elesis. After a few moments of awkward silence, Elesis took in a long breath, and exhaled."Chung. You want to be my next 'fox girl'?" Ara began laughing while Chung gawked, and pushed himself back into his chair.
Everyone had finished off their breakfast, and had began a pleasent conversation about how pretty Elder city is. When suddenly the taverns doors were abruptly forced open. The loud sound of the doors smashing into the walls catching everyone insides attention. Vanessa , leader of the Velder knights who were left, quickly rushed in. She stopped mid stride, until her eyes caught the trio sitting at their table. She pushed forward, and quickly stopped at their table. "Captain Elesis! A issue has arisen! We need you, and your companions immediatly!" Without a responce, Vanessa turned, leaving as quickly as she entered. The others looked at each other, and hastily followed, jumping out their seats. Once they caught up to Vanessa, Elesis strode up next to her, and kept her pace. "What's happening? What is the situation?" Vanessa said nothing, until they arrived at what they had set up as the war tent. She slapped a finger down on a map placed atop a table in the middle of the tent. "Residential area three. The demons have made a push."
"The demons are pushing towards our camp border. They are destroying everything, and killing any of our knights in the way. Scouts report that the outer defenses wont hold much longer. If we don't do something fast, they will breach the camp. We need to take the offensive. We have too many civilians here to protect, to form a proper response if the demons were to breach." Vanessa let them absorb the information for a minute before continuing. "It seems, a demon officer is the one who has enticed the push. He is large, burly, and looks as if he is a fan of bondage. They say his name is Uno Hound. We need to defeat him, and push to secure Hope Bridge as soon as possible. We need to secure a path for our knights still out there to retreat." Elesis stared at the map for a moment, and looked to the east gate. She looked calm as could be, but then suddenly exploded with anger. She let out a furious snarl, and kicked over the table. With one swift motion, she turned, and headed towards the inn. "Ara, Chung! Let's go!"
The group had ran back to their room, and was prepping themselves for battle. Chung was fully garbed in his blue, and white armor, which was modified for his new fighting style. He summoned his twin white magnums from his guardian stone, and inspected them. Ara was meditating, and consulting with Eun, waitin for the time for their departure. Elesis left the bathroom, now in her new blood red attire. She flicked the hair out of her face, and looked to her companions. Ara snapped back to reality, and looked to Elesis. She noticed how the new vest like corset was complimenting Elesis slim, and toned body. The skin tight red, and black leggings showing off her powerful, yet elegant legs. Ara did her best to keep her composure as Elesis serious, and deadly toned voice reached her ears. Elesis grabbed her claymore, and turned towards the door. "Come on. We have a massacre to attend to..."
The trio left their room, packs, and weapons in hand. Once they reached the street, the camp was in a near state of panic. The knights were rushing to get civilians in their homes, taking the other town folk who were evacuated in. The three companions rushed to the eastern gate, where Vanessa was waiting for them. Elesis stopped next to Vanessa, and nodded. "We are ready, open the gate. We have demons in need of death..." Vanessa, not knowing what else to say, nodded. She waved for her knights to open the gates. The men, and women worked to un-barricade, and open the large wooden gate. Once the gate door began to rise, Elesis rushed forward, her friends close behind. Vanessa could feel the intent to kill, not only from the demons, but from Elesis as well. She watched as they walked past the suburbs entrance, and waved an order to her knights to close it. She stared at the companion's backs as the gate slowly cuts off her view of them.