It was pretty much dark outside, but clouds were starting to come in from the distance; they covered up the winking stars with their dark mass. Konekomaru peeked around the cover he had put over the entrance to his little cave and his lips tightened into a thin line. He really hoped it wasn't going to rain. He had a fire and a blanket, so he wasn't afraid of it being cold or anything, it was... something else. Shaking his head, he pushed the cloth aside and went out to get what he was going for. The cloth was a kind of camouflage cover, one of the extra things that had been included in his pack to help him along, despite his one useless limb.
There was a tiny bit of light, and the river wasn't too far, so he could just run and fill up his little pot with water from the river to make his dinner. He didn't want to use any of his bottled drinking water to cook with, so he had decided to use the river water. Boiling it would rid it of any germs that may have been in it anyways. He felt a weight on his shoulder, surprised at how quickly he had gotten used to Gale perching there. Still, it was better than Gale silently landing somewhere and surprising him when it spoke.
Going somewhere? Konekomaru nodded as he took a few steps.
"Just getting some water to make my dinner with." Dinner was a small instant curry packet that had also been put in his bag due to him not being able to forage for food very efficiently. He had drawn a small magical barrier around the entrance to his cave, so he didn't worry about any demons coming by, looking for the scraps from the smell. Gale had been able to slip through it very easily, but that was probably to be expected, since the barrier was only meant to keep away lower-level demons.
Would you care for me to go with you? Gale seemed to cock its' head slightly. Konekomaru shook his head, he hadn't stopped walking and he still did as he spoke.
"I'm just getting water, I'm fi-" he stopped right in mid-sentence and froze completely, inhaling a breath sharply. The hand holding the pot gripped the handle, beginning to tremble slightly. His eyes widened and his senses seemed to spike, he was listening carefully to his surroundings. His heartbeat seemed to echo throughout the forest, it was the only thing that he could hear, it pounded in his head, beating against his chest from the inside. His breaths became shorter, more gasps than breaths, making noise as they came in and out through the mouth instead of the nose. As if he had forgotten how to breathe normally and was working hard just to keep oxygen coming in and out.
Gale's interest was piqued now. It recognized this kind of behavior, and all of the signs could point to only one thing, fear. The boy was afraid of something, but what? Then, Gale heard the noise that it had heard earlier, but had thought nothing of until the boy had exhibited signs of fear. It was a low rumble, coming from the direction of the looming clouds. As soon as the sound made itself heard a second time, Konekomaru turned the other direction and walked back to the cave as fast as he could, water seemingly forgotten.
Hm? What about fetching water? Konekomaru got inside the cave as quickly as possible and closed the camouflage cover behind him.
"I decided just to use some of my drinking water, I can always get some more later." His sentence was rushed, like someone who was trying to hide something by speaking so quickly. Gale said nothing more, and watched as Konekomaru prepared his dinner, looking anxiously at the cover over to the cave entrance from time to time.
–
It was still during the night when he awoke. Konekomaru was awakened by something, but he wasn't quite sure what. The fire was still lit, though a bit low. Despite this, it still gave off sufficient warmth, keeping him from feeling cold. He reached to add a few more of the sticks he had gathered earlier to the small blaze, when he realized what had awakened him. A brief flash of light seemed to come from around the cracks of the camouflage cover. The sound of rain could be heard from the other side. He dropped the sticks onto the small fire and did a one-armed crawled over to the entrance, peeking outside.
A sound like many drums going off at the same time filled the air, at the same time, another flash of lightning lit up the sky like zig-zags of cracks on breaking glass. Konekomaru immediately ducked back into the cave, going to the back of it as fast as he could. He pulled his knees up to his chest and covered his ears with his hands, yelping a bit when the sound of thunder still reached his ears. His bulky cast made it hard to use one hand, so that just made it harder to try and block out the noise. He closed his eyes, blocking out the flashes of lightning, but he couldn't escape the sound of thunder. He started whimpering out of fear, he could feel himself shaking as the thunder and lightning raged on with the rain.
Go away, he thought pleadingly please just go away. I hate these thunderstorms, I hate them. He made a small, frightened cry as the thunder boomed out again. Why won't it just stop and go away? He was acting like a child, he knew it, but he just couldn't help it. For as long as he could remember, he had hated thunderstorms almost more than anything else. Even now, if one happened when he was alone or at night, he would hide under his bed or in the closet; anything to get away from the awful noise and flashes. He whimpered a bit more, his eyes felt hot and on the verge of tears. One was already gathering at the corner of his eye and was threatening to drip down his cheek.
What would be the matter? Konekomaru didn't even open his eyes to look at Gale, he just kept his head down and clutched his hands over his ears. Now wait, are you perhaps, scared of the thunder and lightning? Konekomaru didn't even speak, he just nodded slowly, whimpering when the thunder boomed in the sky once more. I see... Konekomaru heard nothing from Gale for a minute, but felt a kind of warm weight settling on him. It was kind of like someone had just laid a thick blanket over him. Soon, despite his fear and the noise outside, he began to feel warm and sleepy. Even the sound of thunder that terrified him so much seemed somehow more muted. His eyelids began to droop and he leaned his head against the wall of the cave, feeling more relaxed. Go on and sleep, I shall keep watch while you do. Konekomaru closed his eyes, rubbing away the few tears that had gathered in his eyes.
"Thank you," he whispered quietly. In what seemed to be no time at all, he did fall asleep. Gale, however, was a creature that needed no sleep. It was happy, though, because the boy had, somewhere in his heart, begun to trust him. Perhaps Gale could use this fear to control the boy further, these little thunderstorms seemed to frighten him almost as much as the dreams with the blue flames that Gale had observed.
Until then, it was time to create more nightmares.
–
Amaimon stood under a cover of tree branches, watching the rain as it fell. This made things rather inconvenient. The rain dampened the smell, making it harder for him to hunt his quarry. Patience was not a big virtue for him, even as the 'King of the Earth' as he was so called. Prince was probably more like it, considering who his father was. In his lap, Behemoth watched the liquid falling from the sky as well. Rain never occurred in Gehenna, so it was something that the two just watched.
"So, you can't smell it either Behemoth?" The hobgoblin in his lap snorted and wriggled. "I see, yeah, I can't either. It's kinda' pretty to see, but it's boring, because now we have to wait until it stops to go out looking again." He petted his familiar on the head with one hand, and chewed the nail of the other. "Yeah, I know that the Gale is close, but I don't know who it's possessing. Scent is kinda' familiar though, someone that I've encountered before... whoever they are, their scent makes me mad." He thought about it a bit more as he stared at the rain. "I feel like I wanna' kill 'em, maybe I should."
However, after he said this, he remembered his brother's words. You won't kill them Amaimon, you will bring them to me. Remember, if you kill them, then I kill you, understand? Amaimon leaned his head back and looked at the tree branches above, still gnawing on the thumb-nail.
"Oh yeah, but big brother told me not to kill the person the Gale is possessing. That's no fun. Hm... maybe I should just really hurt them, big brother never said anything about that. You think I should do that Behemoth?" Behemoth was currently scratching itself with its' own hind leg, most likely relieving itself of an itch. "Yeah, you're right, I should do that. Alright then." He brought both of his hands together. He made one into a fist, placed the other over it, then pushed on the fist, producing a loud 'crunch' noise as his knuckles cracked. "When I find whoever is possessed by the Gale, I'll just beat them to near-death." He smirked in a way that was almost evil. "Big bro never said anything about that."
–
It wasn't a dark place that he found himself in, but everywhere he looked was black. Konekomaru pushed up his glasses with his one hand and looked around. Everywhere there was blackness, it was all he could see anywhere. But it wasn't dark, if he put his hand in front of his face, he could see it clearly as if he were in a well-lit room, his pale flesh contrasting against the dark environment. He seemed to be the only one there, completely alone... No, wait.
He squinted a bit and, in the darkness, he found that he could see Bon and Shima not too far away. The two of them had their backs turned to him and appeared to be conversing about something that he couldn't quite make out.
"Bon! Shima! Hey!" He called out to them, but the two didn't even seem to notice him. He waved his good arm back and forth, but he still received no response. "Guys! Hey!" He called out once more, but they seemed to not hear again. He lowered his hand as realization dawned on him. They're ignoring me. "BON! SHIMA! OVER HERE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, but they gave no recognition that he even did anything. My God, they are ignoring me.
He tried to go forward, to go up and ask why they were ignoring him. However, he ran face-first into something large and solid. He winced and backed up, then moved forward once again, cautiously this time. He held his good arm out in front of him, and stopped when he felt it press against something. It was like an invisible wall, he couldn't get past it. He stepped backwards, not believing his senses. Suddenly, just like before, he bumped right into something. It was like he backed into an invisible wall, just like the first. The same thing happened on either side. It was like... like he was trapped inside a big box.
He saw someone going towards Bon and Shima, then stop and join in their conversation. Konekomaru recognized them, it was Rin Okumura. His teeth were sharp and he was covered in blue flames, looking like a monster from his worst nightmares. Still, they just kept talking, like they didn't notice how evil and horrible Rin looked, even while right amongst them. Konekomaru went to the wall closest to the small group and began beating it with his one fist, hoping to get their attention.
"Shima! Bon! Don't talk to him! Get away from him!" They didn't hear him again, why didn't they hear him? "SHIMA! BON! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HEAR ME!" But no one did, he was ignored, alone, isolated. His number one fear, even before the thunderstorms. He couldn't handle it, being completely isolated from everyone, having a complete and total sense of abandonment. "GUYS! Listen to me!... Please..." No one really was listening to him, he was being ignored completely, even though he was right there. Not knowing what else to do, he knelled down, buried his face in his arms, and cried.
–
In the real world, Konekomaru was still asleep, curled up like a sleeping kitten. Tears dripped silently down his face, small pearls that collected and hung on his jawline before falling down to earth. While this was a totally silent affair, his sleeping face was far from peaceful. His features were heavily laced with emotion, showing all of his anguish and sadness, even in deep slumber.
Gale was pleased. Its' work was being done very smoothly, almost seamlessly. Perhaps just a few more days. A few more nights of nightmares, some proof that the boy had distanced himself sufficiently from his old friends. Of course, sufficient caution would have to be taken in order to avoid being killed or captured by Mephisto or one of his drones. Still, it was worth it... oh yes, all of that fear was definitely worth it.
Aww, I feel so bad for Konekomaru, even though I'm the one writing this about him. Some of you are probably wondering about why there were two chapters posted today. Well, the main reason I did this was inspiration, to be honest. The thing is, I wrote this chapter before the one before this one, but I wanted to give Konekomaru a bit more background info before going on. Well, now you know my reasoning. I hope you all continue to read faithfully, and I shall have the next chapter up as soon as possible.
Next chapter, Amaimon finds Konekomaru, and Gale along with him. And Amaimon remembers something that may just put little Koneko's life in danger.
Hope to see you all again soon!
