Ailments
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Panic
"Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination."
-Christian Nevell Bovee
He knows that Master died.
Koromaru is not as unintelligent as some other animals. He knows that Master was bathed in red long ago, and the scent of death wafted off of him and the fumes of the Wheel-Box stunk the road.
Master is dead, but that does not stop Koromaru from waiting for his return, as he as always done. He loyally waits at the shrine, and goes on his walks as usual. Sometimes Gentle-Blue feeds him; she has short hair and big eyes and she is nice. Tough-Skirt is there too; sometimes he hears her snapping but she is always nice to him.
The night Koromaru defeats the Evil-Dark at his Master's shrine, Strong-Fist comes and rescues him and there is a lot of people there that he has seen before. Fancy-Red and Hat are there too, and he knows that the last person is the Alpha with one look. But then another appears, and he wonders who it is, because she is different and scentless.
She can understand him. He learns that she isn't human, which is strange at first, but eventually he overcomes it. Besides, they can converse, and that makes him happy. Her name is Aigis; it is the second name that he registers after Cerebus because he does not know how to label her.
Koromaru learns to fight with many people. Tall-Coat and Short-Boy come too; he loves Tall-Coat because he feeds Koromaru lots of tasty things.
Battle is easy for him, because of his instincts, but sometimes the Evil-Darks do things and those same, fearful animal instincts kick in.
He knows that Master is red, and that means that Master is alive no longer.
He also knows that Alpha does not let anyone die, but they have all been very injured before. Koromaru gets worried when he sees the red. The Evil-Darks are strong, and Koromaru does not want any of them to be Red like his master.
Not like Master, not like Master, not like Master—
Inside-Friend, Cerebus, does not answer.
Koromaru can only think that the Evil-Darks must not let Alpha and Tall-Coat and Aigis be red like Master; even Aigis can be red in a different way.
Red, red, red—they cannot end up like Master, not like Master, not like Master—
Howl!
Cerebus rushes forward and the Evil-Dark is gone, just like the first day that he defended Master's Beloved Place. It was defeated just in time, because the people around him are injured just as he was during that day.
Even Tall-Coat is groaning; Aigis looks like she is breaking. Blue-Alpha grimaces and raises the metal-summoner; it made Koromaru deeply nervous at first, but he knows that it brings forth more like Cerebus, and he heals them all up and there is no more red.
Cerebus howls inside of him; Koromaru whimpers. Koromaru and Cerebus both know that being reminded of Master makes Koromaru panic and Cerebus can't help calm that inner crisis, but they both know that it is for the same reason that they will not let anyone else end up like Master in a sea of red.
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End Notes: I have to admit Koro-chan's a bit hard to write, since he's not human (and neither is Aigis) and in the end he still is a dog, so he should still have animal thoughts even if he is more intelligent than most other animals. Since dogs have different color spectrums, I wondered if Koromaru should see all the different colors—does Cerebus change the way he perceives color, as well as his red eyes? In the end I just went with a bit of a broader color spectrum.
Just in case:
Master: the monk that took care of Koromaru
Wheel-Box: Car
Gentle-Blue: Fuuka
Tough-Skirt: Yukari
Strong-Fist: Akihiko
Fancy-Red: Mitsuru
Tall-Coat: Shinjiro
Short-Boy: Ken
(Blue) Alpha: Minato
Evil-Darks: Shadows
