Greetings! I seem to have a fire lit under me, because I can't seem to stop writing for this. :)
First of all, I want to thank whomever has been giving me the anonymous reviews so far. I'm glad you're enjoying this, and I welcome you to give me full, honest reviews. :) It's nice to see my writing is being appreciated, as rusty as it may be. ^^;
Anyway, without further ado...this chapter focuses on friendship; particularly the bonds between Dante, Trish, and a wounded Lady. Please R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry, or its characters. They are the property of Capcom. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes, only.
Friendship
The moment the double doors opened, Dante leapt from his chair, and rushed over to help Trish with her burden.
Three hours prior, the demoness had left the Devil May Cry building in search of Lady. The human demon hunter had failed to check back in with her and Dante as she had promised to do so. Becoming worried, the duo agreed that Trish would go out and search Lady's usual haunts, and Dante would remain in the office, awaiting her call, or for Lady to come through the doors. Of course if she had, Dante would be giving her a serious talking to, making him and Trish worry like this!
Those three hours had not been kind to Dante; his mind wandered over all sorts of possibilities-and none of them were pleasant. Despite knowing Lady was a formidable warrior, he couldn't help worrying. Not because she was human, or even female; no, he knew far better than that. If he had ever entertained the thought, Lady would be sure to help him be rid of it…with a very precise shot to the head.
No, the legendary devil hunter was worried because, as things currently were, it was possible Lady had come up against a foe she wasn't prepared for. Demon activity had been at an all-time high as of late, and many of them had even caused Dante to break into a sweat. These weren't your run-of-the-mill lower class demons; these were much stronger, though not quite at the level of Demon Lords.
Whatever was going on in the Underworld-most likely another power struggle-it was spilling over into the human world. Again.
Shaking himself, Dante took Lady gently from Trish's arms, and carried her over to the sofa. Laying her on it, he inspected her thoroughly. The dark-haired woman was riddled with scratches, bruises, and deep gashes. Dante bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from flying into a rage.
Exchanging a look with Trish, whom looked every bit as livid as he felt, he took several deep, calming breaths.
"Where was she? Did you see who did this to her?" He asked, stepping over to his desk, and began rummaging through the drawers, pulling out a first aid kit.
"I found her in the alley behind the library downtown," Trish answered, grabbing the kit from him, "as to who did this, I don't know. Whoever it was long gone by the time I found her."
The voluptuous blonde headed over to her fallen comrade, Dante leaving her side momentarily in search of a wash cloth, along with a needle and thread. Once he found what he was looking for, he decided to grab some pain killers from the medicine cabinet. Lady would need stitches, but he wanted her to be as comfortable as humanly possible; she'd already suffered enough, by the looks of things.
With the necessary equipment in hand, he headed back over to the sofa, where Trish had already set to work on bandaging Lady's minor wounds.
"Fortunately, she hasn't lost a lot of blood," Trish commented, wrapping the gauze around Lady's upper thigh, "I was able to heal a few of her more serious wounds, but I didn't have enough energy to do all of it." She looked up at Dante apologetically, her eyes wide with sadness.
Dante placed a hand gently on Trish's shoulder, letting her know she wasn't to blame. Without another word passed between them, the devil hunter set to work. Kneeling next to Lady's still form, he threaded the needle, and began stitching up a large gash on her right shin.
Lady moaned, stiffening. "Shit…" Dante muttered under his breath. He stopped what he was doing, and put the cold cloth on Lady's forehead. The heterochromatic eyes fluttered open, and she attempted to sit up.
Hit with what was presumably nausea, she slumped backward, Trish grabbing hold of her to keep her from falling back too quickly. Lady put a hand to her head, breathing shallowly.
"What…what happened?" she stammered, looking between her blonde friend and the half devil.
"Trish found you unconscious behind the library," Dante replied, "when you didn't check in, we got worried."
"Do you remember anything?" Trish asked her, a note of concern catching in her throat.
Lady was silent a moment, her eyes going unfocused. "I was researching that species of demon that attacked the public school two days ago. Then I left….and…"
Dante and Trish both leaned closer in anticipation, though neither dared rush Lady in recollecting what had occurred.
"I didn't even see or feel them coming," Lady finally murmured, "I was jumped from behind. They must have been hiding behind the donation bin. There were three of them, taller than you by at least three feet." She looked at Dante when she said this.
"Had you seen their type before?" Trish asked, deciding that now was a good time to give Lady the pain killers. Giving Dante a look, the red-clad hunter headed to the small kitchen in the back, coming back with a glass of water in hand.
Lady took the pain killers gratefully, gulping two of the potent pills down eagerly. "No," she finally replied as she handed the glass back to Dante, "they were dark, nearly black. Their upper bodies were thick, covered in spikes…" she trailed off as she tried to think of more, but found she was becoming drowsy.
"It's okay, Lady. You just get some rest, alright?" Dante said soothingly, fluffing the throw pillow beneath her head. Lady gave him a weary smile, and just like that, she was out.
Dante looked over at Trish. She was absently chewing on her thumbnail, her eyebrows contracted in a mix of concern and anger.
"It's not much to go on." Dante spoke up, Trish snapping out of her musing.
"No, I'm afraid not," she sighed, "I guess we'll just have to wait until she's better."
Dante nodded, and began stitching up Lady's wounds again. Trish grabbed the wash cloth, and headed to the bathroom, rinsing it with fresh cold water.
The two continued to mend Lady in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
One thought was shared between them, though; whoever did this to Lady was going to pay, ten-fold. The human devil hunter had proven her mettle, time and again. She was a valuable asset to their team, as well as a good friend.
"Yup," Dante muttered to himself, Trish only half listening, "as soon as Lady is well enough, I'm going to find the son of a bitch that did this…and we're going to have ourselves a nice little chat…"
