Sorry for the wait.
At the emergence of the strange-looking woman, Pell didn't hesitate at all, immediately jumping in front of his sister, fists held up in a rough facsimile of a boxing stance.
"Go get Naruto," he said shakily to Nell.
Then, louder, "Hey, who are you? What do you want?"
The woman only chuckled menacingly, swaying as she stood on the river bank.
"So precioussssss," she hissed, "Little knight, jumping to protect his lady… very gooood. I like that…"
"She's my sister!" exclaimed Pell hotly.
"So?"
There was a blur of motion and suddenly, the woman disappeared.
"Huh?" started Pell, half-turning to Nell in confusion.
Half-turning, because he felt something sharp on his neck, stopping him from turning all the way. Gulping, he cautiously directed his eyes downwards as much as he dared. Pressed against his jugular was a huge, razor-sharp barb on what seemed to be a smooth purple tentacle.
A tail?
"N-nell?" he asked, "Are you okay?"
There was a pause, then, reassuringly, his sister's trembling voice responded, a little shaken up, but steady.
"I-I'm okay, Pell."
"Neither of you two delicious dumplings move, mmmm'kayyyy?" came the slurred voice of the strange woman, who clearly was not human, "Let auntie Evelynn think about the best way to go around this… hmmmm."
"W-what do you want with us?" asked Nell.
"With you? Little girlie dumpling? Nothinnng. Maybe if you were a bit more grown up, little dumplings. Especially you, boy, you look like you'd grow up to be absolutely scrumptious. Oh I'd definitely love to hurt you in a few years."
Evelynn pressed herself against Pell and ruffled his hair fondly while she licked his cheek.
The boy shuddered, part in disgust, and partly because the sensation against his bare back made him realise that the blackness covering the woman was not actually clothing. Prepubescent as he may be, the feeling was enough to make him feel funny. And in a situation with basically a knife to his throat, he really wasn't in the mood for this strange feeling.
"Our big brother Naruto will get you if you hurt us!" he announced bravely, "He's really strong."
"Oh…" said the woman, positively moaning the word, "His name is Naruto. Rolls off the tongue… I like it…"
"He's an assassin!" warned Pell, "He'll kill you!"
"Oh, but I'm counting on him to try. These last three months, I've been looking for him. Scouring the roads between Piltover and Demacia, looking for a trace of a shadow of that man. I've not stopped to feed, or pleasure myself, or have any sort of fun… for three months. If he doesn't live up to my expectations, oh, I don't know what I'd do."
"What expectations?"
"I want him to hurt me. I want him to fight-"
However, she didn't get to say much more, because there was an ear-splitting crash behind them.
BOOM!
The barbed tail at his throat withdrew reflexively, and Pell spun around to gauge the situation.
What he saw made him to forget to breathe for a moment.
It was Naruto, angrier than he had ever seen before in his life.
Long blond hair whipped around in a violent wind and blue eyes blazed with power, their glow leaving a trail of slight afterimages streaming after every movement.
He was not so much standing on the river bank as floating, his heels levitating above the ground, toes pointing slightly down. Behind him, trees groaned as they succumbed to having huge holes blasted through their mighty trunks, a final testament to the fury and desperation of the godly being that had torn through them in order to protect what he cared for.
A tempestuous wind had risen up, howling and wailing while buffeting everything in the area, bending branches back and sending leaves flying like clouds of biting gnats. The water in the river was twisting in unnatural ways, disrupted from its normal flow to alternately retreat away and rush towards from the tall blond standing on the bank, as if his mere presence was enough to warp the very laws of the world.
He was wearing nothing except a loose pair of rough trousers, and this only showed off the tensed muscles, the balled-up fists, the clenched jaw. His bare torso revealed an intricate black pattern inked on a taut stomach- strange, archaic symbols and graceful interconnected lines stretching over his belly in a circular design.
His body was emitting some sort of aura, a blue-tinted steam that swirled around him like regal divinity given form.
"Oh, yesss," hissed Evelynn in glee upon seeing this sight, "This is what I came here for, this is what I wante-"
She never got to finish her sentence, as Naruto jerked his hand and a huge beam of brilliant white light burst forth, striking her and sending her hurtling backwards to violently strike the other side of the riverbank, sending up a huge spray of dirt and rock as her body met the embankment.
A cloud of dust particles had risen up from the gargantuan impact, but within the gloom a shadow could be seen stirring, accompanied by a low groan.
With a roar of displaced air, a second beam of light blasted into the shadow, blasting a crater into the ground and sending the body skidding through the soil. The limp ragdoll came to a slow stop, its momentum halted by the unforgiving earth it had been unceremoniously dragged through.
Naruto started to float unhurriedly across the river towards the unmoving body lying in the grass, one hand still slightly smoking.
A clone burst into life on the near side of the river and immediately leapt to the still-shocked twins and started to usher them away.
Naruto's mouth was set in a hard, unamused line as he watched out of the corner of his eye as his clone finally snapped the twins out of their awed state and got them to start running away in earnest.
Hearing about this demon and her deeds from Lamb and Wolf had been horrible enough. The fact that someone whose entire existence revolved around hurting and killing others was absolutely repulsive to him, let alone that this fucked up world had decided to 'bless' her with its magic. He had thought that only pure-hearted people who wanted to protect others like Caitlyn and Janna became Champions. Even the handsome guy, Jayce, loved his city and would protect it to his last breath, despite his supposed dickishness.
How could… this monster be chosen as a Champion as well?
And while these thoughts were running through his head, Naruto suddenly remembered that Lamb had said that 'the demon harlot' was in the area right now. The horrible possibility that she might happen upon the twins who were currently out of his sight dawned on him, and he felt himself break out in goosebumps at the terrible scenario. Fearing the worst, he had immediately started to take in nature chakra, relying on the enhanced senses to make sure his precious charges were okay.
And he could feel it, crowning on his senses like a supernova. Next to the familiar presence of the twins, was a lurking shadow, a beacon radiating darkness and desire. It was a twisted chakra signature, warped by sick pleasure and tainted by an ocean of blood and a symphony of screams.
He hadn't wasted any time.
Using the fading remnants of the scant nature chakra he had managed to gather to boost his speed, he burst off towards his kids, uncaring of any trees or branches in his way. He was burning through chakra like nobody's business, pouring every drop he could mould into his legs, converting it all into raw speed, even calling on the wind to speed his journey.
Finally blasting onto the scene like a meteor, Naruto had to draw on the wind to steady himself and keep himself from tripping into the river from the sudden braking.
To his immense relief, the two children looked unharmed. Shaken up and disturbed, but for now, unhurt.
And between them…
It was a naked woman, crouched in a defensive stance, staring at him.
No, he corrected himself, noticing the blue skin and the pair of barbed tails poised to attack, not a woman.
It was the demon.
For some reason, she was staring at him with a strange sort of demented fascination, her inhumanly golden eyes gleaming with undisguised joy. Her mouth was stretched in a feral grin, showing off elongated canines.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Naruto didn't want to hear anything from her.
Not while she stood in between the twin pillars of his world.
A blast of pure chakra roared its defiance.
"Ugh…" groaned Evelynn.
Her head was spinning, and she couldn't get her bearings. Something was ringing in her head, and her eyes couldn't seem to focus - everything was dark, no matter how she blinked.
She couldn't see anything!
Then, a moment of panic later, she realised that it was because she was face first in the ground.
She raised her head blearily, only to wince in pain as a million pain receptors suddenly screamed their protest.
Her left cheek was under assault by a stinging, numbing pain, like it was simultaneously being frozen and burnt at the same time. A drop of dirt fell off her forehead and onto her nose and Evelynn dully realised that being dragged along the ground by her face had rubbed it raw and exposing it to the air was a bad idea.
What happened? she thought, her head still a mess.
Deciding that lying in the ground like a worm wasn't her best look, she flopped around onto her back.
Only to scream in agony as her left arm erupted in an all-consuming nova of pain.
No, it wasn't only her left arm – her whole body was a cacophony of suffering. Her entire left side, having been brutally used to carve a trench in the unforgiving ground, was worst affected - a constant source of intense agony.
Evelynn slowly, almost reluctantly, let her gaze trail down her ruined body, taking stock of the situation.
It wasn't pretty.
The entire left side of her body was one big raw gaping wound. Blood was steadily streaming into the dirt, proving that despite her skin colour, she did indeed bleed red. If the worst recorded case of road rash wasn't enough, the two areas where she had been hit by those blasts of light had been pierced right through, a sizable hole the size of a fist allowing someone to see right through her – one on her left shoulder and one at her right lower back. She was sure if she didn't have such high magic resistance, she would have been wiped off the face of Runeterra for certain.
But that wasn't all.
Her left arm, caught between her ragdolling body and the unforgiving ground, was completely mangled. The shoulder was dislocated, and the whole limb was scraped raw, but the fragment of bone sticking out of her upper arm and the way her forearm was lying limply, bent unnaturally, exceeded that in spades. There were at least two breaks, and her arm was nothing but a sack of pain and blood right now.
She moaned, her head going white with dizzying pain.
Morbidly, she wondered why she hadn't passed out yet. The extra resilience afforded to her by her blessing had its perks, but right now it was forcing her to live through every last second of unending agony.
She dimly sensed Naruto alighting in front of her head and tried to turn around to look at him.
Big mistake.
Trying to move her body in any capacity made all the pain redouble in intensity, and she couldn't help but throw her head back and howl.
This isn't what she had wanted!
She didn't crave pain, she wanted someone to hurt her. She wanted someone to dominate her, to treat her callously, not blast her to death from a distance with magic! Being punched in the stomach, being choked, this was fine – great actually, amazing. Basically being thrown into a meat grinder and having her body torn apart? Not so much.
What had happened?
Why did Naruto react so strongly? Why did he decide suddenly that he should obliterate every trace of her from existence? Surely he didn't know of her reputation… her usual jaunts rarely left survivors to tell the tale, after all.
She didn't have too much time to ponder, as an unseen force suddenly seized her and lifted her bodily into the air, the movement eliciting another scream of pain.
"You have some nerve, going after kids…" came an ice-cold voice, "That's low, even for a demon. Any final words?"
Evelynn cracked an eye open, immediately spying the blazing ball of intense heat held in the hands of her blond captor.
"I… wasn't going for them," she croaked, tasting blood in her mouth, "I… don't prey on… children."
"Even if I believed you," said Naruto, his voice belying anything but, "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kill you for all of the other lives you've taken, children or no."
Evelynn stirred slowly, feeling the haze in her head slightly dissipating as the world's magic slowly repaired her body and took the edge off the pain.
"I… was looking for you…"
It was at this that Naruto paused, a flicker of confusion appearing in the mask of resolute anger.
"Me?" he repeated, "Why me? We've never met."
"W-we have…"
Slowly, painfully, she shifted her facial features into the fair-haired ballgoer from the Grand Ball in Piltover, wincing as her wounds stretched and stung at the transformation.
A look of recognition appeared in Naruto's eyes and he reeled back as if struck.
"You!" he exclaimed, "What? Why?"
Evelynn didn't know what possessed her in that moment. Maybe she was still delirious from the pain… maybe she was still shaken from her near-death experience. Maybe it was just a hare-brained idea had just taken root in her head and she was just dazed enough to seriously consider it.
"I… I think I've fallen in love with you…" she said, her golden eyes staring straight into his cerulean ones.
It worked.
Blue eyes widened, and Naruto actually stumbled back, losing control of whatever magic he had been using to keep her aloft.
She fell bonelessly to the ground, but, half expecting this, managed to switch into her Demon Shade as she fell.
A burst of strength and magic filled her upon entering her enhanced form, and she immediately scrounged up enough magic to blast herself backwards in a powerful undirected teleport.
A couple of hundred metres back, she appeared, crashing against the trunk of a sturdy tree with a harsh thud.
And there she lay for the rest of the day, unmoving and invisible, allowing the natural regeneration of her demon nature work together with Runeterra's blessing to heal her wounds, her mind still working on what had just happened.
The twins looked up as the grim-looking Naruto clone accompanying them faded away. They had enough time to trade a look of worry before the original entered the clearing, a pensive look on his face.
"Naruto!" called Nell happily as Pell's face fell into a relieved smile.
"Hey," smiled back Naruto, ruffling her hair playfully.
"Everything alright?" asked Pell.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, "Did she hurt you in any way?"
Pell shook his head with a frown.
"No," he said, "She said we were… too young for her? She said… she said she was looking for you."
"Hmm," remarked Naruto, the pensive look back on his face.
"She looked weird, Naruto – she was all blue and had these sharp tail things coming out of her butt. And… and she wasn't wearing any clothes."
The poor boy was blushing bright scarlet as he recalled this last detail but soldiered on regardless.
"Do you know what she was? Was she one of those animal people? Like, a lizard person? Or a chameleon person? What are they called again? Va… Vas…"
"Vastaya," supplied his sister helpfully.
Naruto wrinkled his brow, completely confused.
"No idea what you're talking about."
"The vastaya are animal people," Pell tried explaining, "They're like people… but like animals too."
"Uh huh," said Naruto at the utterly unhelpful description.
He cast a long look back at the woods, but then turned back to his charges.
"Nah, I've no idea what she was," he said, "But let's get moving anyway."
"You… you didn't kill her?" ventured Pell.
Naruto shook his head mutely.
"She's slippery, that one."
Evelynn woke up to the uncomfortable feeling of a tree root poking her in the back. Perhaps sleeping curled up against a tree trunk on the forest floor hadn't been a good idea. She sat up, noticing it was the middle of the night.
Her eyes felt gummed up and she absentmindedly reached up to scrape away the gunk from the corner of her eyes. Her throat was horrifically dry, and the inside of her mouth felt like actual sandpaper.
She tried clearing her throat and licking her lips to produce saliva, but it was of limited help.
"Here," came a voice opposite her.
She froze.
Slowly, carefully, she looked up, her natural night-vision letting her see in perfect clarity despite the gloom of the night.
He was sitting up against a tree trunk barely an arms-length away, an unreadable expression on his face.
Don't even think about trying anything funny, his eyes seemed to say.
He was offering her a canteen, which after a moment of hesitation, she took, careful not to make any sudden or unexpected motions.
The cold river water felt heavenly to her parched mouth, and after a wary mouthful she tossed caution to the winds and drank deeply, draining the rest of the canteen in a series of desperate gulps.
She handed the canteen back, noticing that her wounds had completely healed while she had been asleep.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
The man accepted the canteen wordlessly, and it disappeared from his hand with casual grace, blinking out of existence the moment it touched the black glove.
Evelynn stared at the space where it should have been for a few moments more, before her gaze travelled up to look at his face, which was studying hers intently.
Her golden eyes met his cerulean ones uncertainly, before they dropped to stare somewhere near his chin. Mirroring her discomfort, the shadows that covered her body started to shift and move, expanding to cover up a fair bit more of her body than she usually showed.
They sat like that for several long moments, him staring at her with that unreadable expression, mulling over some thoughts, and her staring pointedly at his chin and wondering what she had gotten herself into.
"…so," he said, after a while, "What do I call you?"
The words were soft but his voice was loud in the calm forest night. Evelynn blinked her golden eyes slowly and made eye contact once again.
"My… my name is Evelynn."
"Evelynn," he repeated, rolling the name in his mouth, "Ev-e-lynn."
He seemed surprised, for some reason.
"What?" asked Evelynn, surprising herself at her bluntness.
He started and his blank mask cracked to show a hint of embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just – I… uh… I didn't expect your name to be so…"
He seemed to fumble for a word.
"… pretty," he finished lamely.
"You don't think I'm pretty?" asked Evelynn with a sardonic smile.
He jumped to disavow her of this thought.
"Oh no! You are! Very pretty! I just thought it would be more… y'know… demonic? Not something any girl off the street might have."
Evelynn just shrugged, not having anything to add.
"I'm Naruto, by the way."
"I know," she said shortly.
It was strange.
For some reason, she was having a conversation. A normal, boring conversation. Like a human. None of her words were loaded with sexual intent or were bearing double-entendres and hidden meanings. She wasn't lacing her words with honeyed tones, wasn't charging the atmosphere with lust and tension.
How long had it been? She actually couldn't remember the last time she had talked to someone as an equal, not as a target or enemy.
She didn't have any friends. Everyone from the Under was basically an enemy, even if they didn't know it yet. Every demon for themselves was the law there. Evelynn knew that if the situation called for it, they would turn on her without a second thought, so she, in turn, kept them at arm's length.
And there was none to be found in this world either – everyone was either a plaything, or an enemy. People were hers to break, there to give her pleasure. She wasn't human or vastayan or yordle or anything. She was more than that – she was above them. Why deign to talk to them as equals, then?
No, in her long existence, Evelynn couldn't think of a single time she talked like this to anyone. As one being to another. No games being played, no ulterior motive. It wasn't even a friendly conversation – it was just normal.
It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was definitely a little strange, a bit uncertain.
She would have been more comfortable as her usual self, but to be honest, she just wasn't feeling like it right now.
She felt drained.
What had the last three months been for? She had been looking so hard for this person, to explore this new fascinating feeling… and had almost died for it. She was a feeling a profound sense of loss, like there was a great big hole in the pit of her stomach.
The dying part wasn't really an issue – although she hadn't felt her own mortality ever since she received Runeterra's blessing, the feeling was still familiar from her old life in the Under, where she lived every moment on a knife' edge.
No, the feeling was crushing disappointment.
She had had a tantalising treat dangled in front of her, promising untold pleasures entirely new, and had it promptly taken away. After she had scoured the Twin Cities in search for someone who could grant her a path to this alternative pleasure, and found nothing, her hopes had finally soared when she thought she had finally been granted a miracle in the form of a newspaper article. She then found the one who had first introduced her to this new obsession, who had started her on this road… and yet… when she made that final leap, she had found herself dearly wanting.
For the first time in a long time, Evelynn felt empty. Her usual thirst for suffering, pain, and sexual gratification was nowhere to be found, and instead she just felt like a hollow husk, bereft of direction or purpose.
"Why do you kill?" asked the blond man.
She looked up at him, her golden eyes steady. This wasn't a conversation she really cared to have right now.
"It's what I exist for. It's what I've always done. And…"
A pause.
"…I like it," she said stonily, "I'm not human like you – this is just how we are."
The human didn't recoil or make any other visible reaction.
"Why did you say you loved me?" he asked, emotionlessly.
Evelynn laughed callously.
"I lied," she said, a slight mocking tone entering her previously flat voice, "To throw you off, so I could escape. What, did you think it was true? You fool. I don't even know what the word means. 'Love'. Such a human concept."
Her voice turned cruel and contemptuous.
"Why are you here talking to me, you bastard? If you're going to kill me, kill me."
The human hopped up suddenly to squat on the balls on his feet. Startled by the unexpected action, one of Evelynn's lashers flicked out defensively. However, a gloved hand caught the powerful appendage firmly and lowered it forcefully to the ground without so much as a blink from its owner.
In spite of herself, Evelynn felt her heart skip a beat, the shadows covering her body shifting slightly in response.
"We good?" asked the man, not bothered by the incident.
Evelynn nodded and pulled her lasher back behind her.
"You said you were looking for me," continued the man, "Back at the river. And Nell and Pell said you said the same thing to them. I saw your eyes. You weren't lying. Why were you looking for me?"
"Why does it matter?" asked Evelynn bitterly.
"I want to know."
"Because I wanted to kill you, after you beat me up at the Ball."
"You lie."
"Fuck you," she spat.
"Tell me the truth."
"Because that skank Caitlyn told me you were a good lay and I wanted you to fuck my brains out."
The man's cheeks coloured only slightly but his gaze remained steady.
"The truth," he said again.
"No."
He didn't say anything, but only continued to look at her with those blue eyes, eyes that seemed to pierce her soul. Eyes full of power and confidence. Eyes that infuriated her.
"Fuck you!" she hissed, "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. You don't get to question me, human. I do what I want. Don't get uppity, you limp-dicked fuck. I went after you because I wanted to!"
"Why were you looking for me, Evelynn?" asked the man again, calm in the face of her expletive-laced tirade.
"Don't say my name!" Evelynn shrieked and struck with both lashers, sending them both whipping towards the impudent human's neck.
In response the man only flipped backwards, dodging both lashers and staying out of range. He landed back in the sitting squat that he had started in but stood up soon after.
"Fine," he said, "Goodbye."
He turned and left.
Evelynn stared at his back, chest heaving. She watched until even her sharp eyes could no longer pick out his shape in the gloom before she finally moved.
Slipping into her Demon Shade, she crawled over to the trunk of a nearby tree.
There was a burning, prickling sensation inside her, drowning out the hollowness of before.
She gave a choked sob before drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Pressing her face into her knees, she did her best to ignore the fat drops of liquid on her cheeks as she sat there, invisible, in the lonely night.
"How was it?"
Naruto looked up to see Lamb sitting casually on a low tree branch, her bow laid across her thighs. Nearby, Wolf floated above the ground, drooped low. Low rumblings came from his chest every now and then and his muzzle twitched intermittently, briefly giving glimpses of a mouthful of sharp teeth.
"How was what?"
A quick gesture of the hands indicated the clearing he had just left.
"What did you talk about?"
"Oh, just some stuff," said Naruto vaguely waving his hand.
"You didn't kill her."
It was a statement, not a question.
"How do you know?"
Lamb just turned to look straight at him, the eyeholes of her mask glowing with otherworldly light.
"We would know."
"Riiiight."
"Why would you leave her alive?"
"She poses no threat to me, and she has no intention of hurting Pell and Nell. And to be fair, I was the one who attacked her first, today."
"She will kill others. Does that not bother you?"
"Does it bother you?"
"We do not care. We are Death, and we claim all. Our hunt is eternal, and all-encompassing."
There was a pause, then Lamb continued, this time without the bassy timbre and glowing eyes.
"Although I will admit I do not like her personally, because she always gives Wolf the most exciting hunts. And so many, too."
Naruto looked back at where he had left Evelynn.
"I will make my own judgements," he said simply.
"Do as you will," said Lamb, "Nonetheless, congratulations on taking down a Champion of Runeterra. We are not usually easy to best. For a mortal to do so with such ease is a credit to your name."
"You're one of these 'Champions'?"
"We, Kindred,are."
Naruto stared at her for a bit. He still didn't really understand the significance of these beings, these 'Champions', except they were imbued with all sorts of magic and were chosen by… the planet? That bit was still a bit iffy to him. How can a hunk of rock and water choose anything?
"Cool," he said finally, reaching out and ruffling her hair.
"Don't pat my head!" growled Lamb leaning back to move her head out of reach, "You have entirely too little respect for Kindred!"
"Well, you didn't turn up when I needed you most, so…."
Lamb tilted her head curiously.
"What do you mean?"
Naruto's temporary dark look evaporated into a more light-hearted one as he grabbed Lamb around the waist and swung her around.
"Don't worry about it, it doesn't mean annnnything!"
Her question forgotten, Lamb pushed at Naruto's arms and shoulders.
"Let me go!" she demanded, "How dare you treat me like a child!"
"But you're soooo cuuuute!"
Naruto whirled her around before depositing her on her feet and ruffling her hair energetically.
"Gah!" exclaimed Lamb, darting away from Naruto as soon as she shook off the dizziness, trying to fix her fur.
"Say, what's the deal with that, anyway?" asked Naruto.
"With what?" asked Lamb warily, staying a healthy distance away.
"You call yourself Lamb, so shouldn't you have wool? But it looks more like fur to me? And you've got hair on your head…"
Lamb looked at him as if he were stupid.
"What kind of Lamb walks on two feet?" she asked slowly, "Or has hands that can wield a bow? I am no true lamb, it is my name because it is what I most resemble."
"Yeah, apart from the fur and funky ears and feet, you look pretty similar to us," said Naruto, "Do you have a human face under that mask?"
Lamb's hands flew to her mask.
"I… suppose…" she said slowly, "This mask represents who I am, as one half of the Eternal Hunters. I've never thought to take it off. But the shape does suggest that it would be fitted to a human face…"
"Did you have parents?"
A sharp shake of the head.
"No. Wolf and I came into existence when Runeterra took her first breath. We watched life as it first emerged upon her, and we hunted it, as with everything that came after."
Naruto clicked his tongue.
"Huh…" he said thoughtfully.
Lamb peered at him, curious.
"What are you pondering, human?"
"So you've hunted everything since the beginning?" Naruto asked.
Lamb nodded in the affirmative.
"Do you remember everyone you've hunted?"
"No, not with detail. Do you remember every meal you've eaten?"
"What about wars – do you remember wars? Surely, with all the… with all the hunts going on…"
"Wars, yes… we remember. We remember them well. Feasts aplenty. Each one more memorable than the last."
Naruto grabbed Lamb by the shoulders before she could react, eyes wild. She started, not expecting the sudden movement.
"What-"
"Do you remember a war with one side wearing these?"
Lamb looked at the piece of cloth adorned with a metal plate that was being brandished in her face. Her slender fingers plucked it from his grip and she inspected it closely. She had a long memory, much better than a human's, but…
"No," she said finally, her fingers running over the strange engraved symbol on the metal, "We've not seen this before."
She handed it back, and watched it disappear into the wind.
"… how is that possible?" came the quiet voice of her human companion, not directed at her, but to himself.
"What is?"
He turned to her, opened his mouth, then seemed to think better of it.
"Nothing," he said, "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."
Lamb frowned.
"Hey!" she called.
Her only response was a backwards wave over the shoulder and an exaggerated yawn.