Soul wandered around the village, observing the people carefully. Everyone was on edge, and quite a few were still mourning. It wasn't exactly surprising; they had all lost someone important to them so quickly and so… brutally. He could sympathize.

There was a little bar in the middle of the village named Gram's bar (Not exactly original) where he found Tsubaki. She was in the back talking with BlackStar and a few others. The guy with the bolt in his head freaks me out, and the red head just seems… insane. He wandered over to their table, thankful that Tsubaki was the first to notice him and not one of the others. "Soul! I'm glad to see you're awake!" BlackStar turned his head and looked past Soul, then moved his gaze back to him.

"Maka isn't with you?" At this, the red head seemed to spark to life, now listening intently to the conversation.

"No, she's sleepin'. Figured I'd let her after all the travellin'." The red head's shoulders slumped, and he seemed to lose interest in the conversation. Tsubaki smiled and nudged for Soul to sit down, but Soul was hesitant.

"I suppose I should introduce all of you before we start. Soul, this is Stein. He's something like our tribe's doctor." The man with the bolt in his head held up his drink in acknowledgement without saying a word. "And this is Spirit. He's Maka's father." That explains it. He wants to see his daughter.

"That's right. I hear you've been travelling with my Maka." Spirit bolted up from his seat and glared a soul, the smell of alcohol was potent on his breath. "If you touched my precious Maka in any way I swear I will-" Stein kicked the back of Spirit's knee, effectively getting him to shut up.

"Sorry about that. Why don't we get down to business? About Medusa?" Stein's voice had an almost eerie sound to it, sending shivers down Soul's spine. This guy is a lot tougher than he looks.

"Yeah, sounds good." Soul sat down next to BlackStar and Tsubaki, still wary of the two gentlemen at the other side of the table. "What do you need to know from me?"

Spirit piped up from his newfound spot on the floor, "Well for starters, how do you know her?" The image of Wes's dead body popped into his head again. Keep it simple Soul, you don't have to go into detail. It's okay just, breathe.

"She killed my brother… a long time ago." Tsubaki gave him a pitying look, while the others just raised their eyebrows. Stein had some questions.

"Is she the one that cursed you?"

Soul hesitated. He wanted to tell them everything they needed to know but he was petrified. He'd seen what Medusa was capable of. Hell, she filled many of his nightmares. Thinking over just made him feel like he was reliving everything all over again. "N-no. That wasn't her. It's a far more complicated story than that…" The expectant gazes from everyone made him pause. For a split second, he actually contemplated telling them everything, but he couldn't. Not yet, at least. "It isn't important. What is important is telling ye about what Medusa is capable of. She has only a few followers, but they're powerful. Erika, the witch; Free, the magician; and Little Ogre, the demon. They're few in numbers, but again, very powerful."

"I see, thank you Soul." Stein drank more of his beer, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He stood up to leave, but was stopped by Tsubaki.

"Yeah? What else?"

Her voice became smaller, a little above a whisper. "Medusa… we believe she is the one responsible for the monsters."

"You mean the trogs? Wouldn't surprise me. She's always enjoyed toying with the lives of others."

"Y-yes. The trogs." She sighed, "I guess you also know that those things- the trogs, they used to be people?"

"Maka and I had come to that conclusion when we found one in your home village. It still had its locket on." He looked down, the foul memory stained into the back of his head.

"Alright. Thank you for the intel, Soul. It was helpful."

"Y-yeah… no problem." Helpful? I feel like I just sent you all to your graves.

He returned to the cabin, instantly heading to the pantry to find some food. "You were gone for a long time." Soul jumped back, jerking his still-injured shoulder harshly. He clutched at it, waiting for the throbbing to stop. "Soul!' Maka was in front of him, concern etched into her face.

"I'll be fine, ye just scared me." He took a deep breath, calming himself down. "I thought you'd be sleeping." She turned her head away, trying to avert his gaze. Is she blushing?

"I was having a hard time staying asleep with no one else here." She quickly caught herself, "And it was kind of cold." A spark of mischief found its way into Soul's eyes, and Maka found herself wishing she'd kept her mouth shut. She backed away slowly, but there wasn't much room in the pantry. The wall was cold against her back.

Soul stepped forward, placing his forearm on the wall above her head. He's taller than I thought. He slouches too much. "So, what I'm hearing is, ye missed me?"

Maka tried her best to keep her wits, "I think you like to jump to conclusions too much." He smiled down at her, boyish charm radiating from him. Damn that toothy grin. With his free hand, he reached up behind her head and pulled her hair down from the braid. The rest of the strands fell loose, leaving her hair in a wavy, disheveled mess. "Great, thanks. Are you done yet?" She folded her arms, trying to look stern with him, and failing miserably.

"Nope. I think I'm just getting' started with ye." He continued to roll a strand of her hair around his finger, making her even more flustered. "Ye can try to act annoyed with me all ye want, Maka, but we both know yer anything but." A light chuckle filled the air, "'Sides, I like it when ye pout. It's kinda cute." Maka rolled her eyes. She wasn't about to let him win whatever game he was playing at, even if the way he said her name gave her butterflies.

"Mhm, yeah. Time for bed." She went to go around him, but his hand was on her cheek before she could. His thumb gently rubbed circles on her jawline as his face moved closer, hovering just above hers. A melancholy smile replaced his vibrant one. "Soul, what're you-"

"I-uh" His voice was hoarse and quiet now, and his breath was hot against her face. "Things are gonna get bad soon and I just-uh… needed to have this for a moment." She could hear him mumbling just above a whisper. "Just for a moment…"

In that moment, Maka made a consecutive decision to cut off his rambling by throwing her arms around him and pulling him in for a kiss. It was sloppy and rushed, far from what she wanted it to be, but she needed him to calm down. They would have time for better ones later, when he wasn't shaking like a leaf.

She pulled away, searching for something other than the blank expression he wore. The little spark he always had in his eyes when he was happy returned, and that was more than enough for her. He decided that a sloppy three second kiss wasn't quite what he wanted for her, so later wasn't really an option anymore. He needed now; before everything went to hell.

He leaned back in, kissing her gently. Her arms were around his neck, holding on tightly. Their movements became more feverish. He lifted her up, and she matched him by wrapping her legs around his waist. Soul moved his mouth down to her neck and found himself enjoying the way she moaned as he nibbled and sucked along her neck and collarbone. He wanted to continue, he wanted so badly to keep going, but he couldn't.

He ended their little session with a gentle kiss on her lips and helped her to the ground. The pout on her lips made him want to kiss her again and again and again. He wanted nothing more than to spend a day in bed with her as a human. That's never going to happen. Instead, he kissed her forehead and led her out of the pantry and to the bedroom. "We should sleep. There's still a few more hours until sunrise."

"You're probably right."