Chapter 2: Travel
Just a quick disclaimer, Hana no Kishi Dakini belongs to Sho Shibamoto and Prototype belongs to Activision/Radical entertainment. All rights reserved to both parties. If you want to explore more of Sho's work, I highly recommend it, you can find his twitter or DeviantArt by searching Hi6sho.
Dreams are like an extended train of thought, like a movie within someone's mind that either goes on for the entire night or ends abruptly. To the most unfortunate degree one certain vixen was having a dream and it was a nightmare of the worst degree. Within this dream a crimson sky presented itself and the screams of city folk could be heard swelling into a hellish cacophony. Everywhere you looked you could see red and black biomass painting the walls of buildings and random vehicles. Nearby one of these vehicles lay a sign that read "Welcome to Pittsburgh"
The streets of Pittsburgh were in complete and utter pandemonium, large gorilla-like beasts were laying waste to everything in sight. Corpses littered almost every inch of the streets, Entrails and blood haphazardly splattered everywhere. You could find all sorts of organs laying about as nothing was left out, some of the corpses were ripped open like a bag of treats. Everything glistened with how many shades of red that were painting the streets, it was very closely akin to hell on Earth. These gorilla-like beasts had smooth featureless skin and faces however they sported a set of razor-sharp teeth much like that of a shark. They possessed long serrated claws on each arm and grossly muscled bodies that would make even a circus strongman blush. Last but not least, a pair of black beady soulless eyes sat atop their heads as they tore apart anything that stood in their way.
The United State's military was fighting a losing battle, many of them had already been decimated by the gorilla-like creatures. The U.S soldiers had taken to calling these creatures hunter brawlers, several minutes later the last of the U.S soldiers were crushed by the hunter brawlers. At this moment all hope seemed lost, the citizens that dared look back as they ran away saw their demise heading towards them at breakneck speeds.
Suddenly a white blur surged forward and past the fleeing crowd, a young white-haired woman sped towards the hoard of hunter brawlers with ridiculous speed. Rosa wore a frantic and terrified expression on her face as she sped up to meet the oncoming hoard. Just as she was about to collide with the aforementioned hoard Rosa transformed her hands into a pair of razor-sharp claws. The hunter brawlers immediately surrounded their soon to be victim however they were in for a nasty surprise. Rosa lunged forward at terrifying speeds, with enough speed that any inferior being would find the skin on their face forcibly removed. One by one the hunter brawlers were mutilated by Rosa, some had tried to slip past the woman however she merely transformed her left arm into a hooked whip and pulled them back into the fray.
Rosa fought with a feral yet terrified expression on her face, to her combat was something to be avoided because she hated the tension and anxiety that it brought her. She fought the mutant infected life forms for what felt like an eternity before the last of the beasts fell. Rosa stood relatively still as her chest heaved inward due to adrenaline, she was absolutely covered in blood and guts. Suddenly out of nowhere footsteps could be heard and before Rosa could react a middle-aged woman with the same white hair emerged from an alleyway. "R-Rosa d-d-dear is that you?"
Rosa spun around to meet the older woman and tensed her body as she recognized her own mother. "What are you doing here mother?" Rosa asked, how could mother still be alive?
"Never mind that dear, come we can still make it out of this alive" Rosa's mother proposed. As the older woman said that a weak smile formed on Rosa's face and she truly believed that the nightmare was over, oh how very foolish she was. The ground rumbled and before anyone could make any proper movement a multitude of black and red spikes rose up from the ground. The spikes impaled Rosa's mother from her bottom, her body sliding off the large spikes piece by piece as the older woman literally fell apart. Words could not express the anguish that Rosa felt at that exact moment, her heart felt as if it were being slowly sawn in two by tiny creatures. She let out an incredibly loud bloodcurdling scream before everything suddenly cut to black, a large hulking beast could be seen in the corner before everything disappeared. Rosa woke with a gasp, a cold sweat running down her entire body, she had large tears welling up in her eyes. Quietly she got up out of her sleeping bag and headed outside, she had to have some alone time after that terrible nightmare.
In the next mind over Dakini was also having a dream however this dream was more tense rather than a violent nightmare. Dakini sat in a mostly dark room in front of a strange creature, her eyes wide as dinner plates as she stared at her creator. A pitch-black hand reached out to touch her as the strange being spoke first. "My, what a lovely child" it said.
"My curse of ten millennia has finally brought you into this room" it continued, Dakini could only stare at her supposed creator with wide eyes and do nothing else.
The pitch-black hand of the creator reached down and patted Dakini on the head, giving her a gentle rub on the head. "You are my most beautiful and lovely creation. You have what it takes to fulfill my wish" it said.
"Now take your sword" the creator said. Another black hand approached however this time it held a hiltless sword wrapped in cloth in it's grasp. Like an infant reaching for their milk bottle Dakini made to grab for the wrapped sword and took it earnestly in her tiny hands. Just as she grabbed the sword the cloth on the sword's blade came undone and revealed a dark wooden blade.
"Your mission is to kill every last dreaded Golem in this world" a third hand reached down and joined the first hand in gently rubbing her head.
"Tragedy will come to the world. Think only of killing them. You are capable of eradicating them." The creator droned on, the second hand reached forward and brought a miniature Golem head into the middle of Dakini's line of sight. Somehow, she understood completely what her purpose in life was, much like a baby bird being imprinted on.
"Dakini, I created you for that very reason" the creator spoke. Finally, through Dakini's eyes the creator appeared in full view, it was a large creature with four long arms. The entirety of the creator's upper body was drenched in blood and what seemed like tubes connected to a life support machine were connected to it's back. The creator had dreadlocks, stripes on its forearms, and what appeared to be a skirt for its lower body. For several more moments Dakini stared at her creator and silently acknowledged her mission and before she knew it the dream had ended. Opening her eyes suddenly Dakini remained still for several moments before rolling over to her right. The sleeping bag next to her, the one that was supposed to contain Rosa, was empty. Without a moment to lose Dakini got out of her sleeping bag and headed to the next tent over in order to find Eiden, perhaps he knew where Rosa had gone.
Five minutes away from the camp she had made Rosa had found a small river just deep enough to have the water come up to her waist. Not wanting anyone to find her bathing Rosa immediately jumped in the river and in a wave of black biomass transformed until her white sundress was missing. Ever since Rosa had become infected with the Blacklight virus she rarely had the need to clean herself, her impervious outer shell of armor was also highly resistant to filth. Rosa's outer layer of cells consisted of the toughest armored cells her body had to offer, it would take nothing short of a thermobaric tank shell to even create a dent in her.
Moving with insane dexterity Rosa scrubbed every inch of her body with a sponge that she created using her own biomass. Two minutes passed and the ritual of cleaning her body had passed, another wave of black and her sundress had reappeared. The sponge had also gone back to its original liquid biomass state and rejoined her body. "Every Night is the same damn thing, a bloody nightmare" Rosa sighed.
The only saving grace from these fitful nights was how she hardly needed any sleep, at least being a Blacklight lifeform had its perks. Perhaps some therapy sessions by a professional were in order however Rosa had no idea if therapists even existed in this land, she had encountered none. Jumping out of the small river Rosa looked down at the paws that served as her feet and saw that she had made a trail of paw prints. In the next few seconds the bushes to her left shook and out came her two recently acquired friends. Once Eiden and Dakini found Rosa they waved and ran up to her, Dakini was especially overjoyed to see her for some reason.
"Hey! I'm glad we found you. Please don't vanish like that" Eiden chided, Dakini ran up and hugged Rosa.
"Sorry about that, I just had to find somewhere to bathe. I love to maintain my own hygiene" Rosa explained.
"It's alright, by the way I know this is awfully rude but I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Eiden and I'm a traveling artist" Eiden said, Eiden felt a little bit of heat on his face due to the embarrassment of having not properly introduced himself.
"Well that's nice, I'll remember that Mr. Eiden. My name is Rosa Evergreen, a pleasure to meet you" Rosa said as she bowed like a performer. The three friends headed back to their campsite and with a snap of Rosa's fingers the tents retreated back into her body as biomass. Now that the tents were gone Rosa created a shovel using her biomass and dug a hole that was six feet deep, she kicked all the stones, sticks, and logs into the hole. Wasting no time, she used her shovel and hefted all the dirt into the hole which concealed the fact that there ever was a camp in this clearing. Satisfied that no trace of the camp was left the trio turned to each other to discuss their next course of action.
"I should think that those Golems that me and Dakini destroyed were not the only ones, correct?" Rosa stated.
"That's right Rosa, however we haven't the faintest clue where they'll strike next" said Eiden, at this statement Dakini tugged on Eiden's sleeve.
"Hm? Is something the matter Dakini?" said Eiden.
Upon saying this Dakini took two steps back from Eiden and Rosa before focusing on seemingly nothing, a moment later and something began to sprout from her forehead. At a steady pace a long black horn sprouted from her forehead, her eyes dilated as she continued to focus. Using her newly created horn Dakini faced north and stiffly pointed in that direction. One short moment later and her horn retracted back into her head, with her right hand she pushed the last of her horn back into her forehead.
"Well aren't you just full of surprises young one" said Rosa, hearing this Dakini merely smiled and drew another flower in the air with one of her fingers.
"I think something is going to happen in the direction of her horn" stated Eiden.
"I believe you're right and its most likely the location of our next battle against the Sky Golems" said Rosa.
"Alright then let's move out, the quicker the better" said Eiden.
That being said the trio made their way in the direction that Dakini had indicated, north would be their next destination. Thinking about their destination Eiden took out a map that he had procured much earlier at Enoth's library. Finding their current position, he noted that if they were to keep heading north, they would eventually reach the old city of Karakuma. "Hey, if we keep heading north, we will reach the city of Karakuma" said Eiden.
"Is that so? Good maybe there'll be something of note that I can consume" Rosa chirped happily.
"Consume? You mean eat food?" Eiden questioned.
Rosa shook her head in order to say negative. "No Eiden, when I say consume, I mean that I'll eat someone or an animal. When I consume someone, they die and become a part of me. Don't you remember my explanation last night?"
"W-w-wait does that mean you've killed people before? Eiden said shakily, despite hearing this Dakini wasn't afraid because she trusted Rosa. After all Rosa had assisted her in her first battle against the Golems and her trust didn't wane easily. That was most definitely a childish amount of trust but Dakini didn't acknowledge that nor care.
"Yes Eiden I've killed people before and no I haven't murdered anyone from this land. Not too long ago I developed the ability to create a physical form from consuming someone's DNA. Be it a piece of hair or maybe a tooth, I can create a physical form based off of that genetic data alone" Rosa explained.
After hearing that Eiden breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he and Dakini could feel safe, relief that Rosa wasn't a wanted criminal. For a moment Eiden wondered why it never occurred to him that Rosa killed living beings when she consumed them, he dismissed that train of thought and saved it for another time. The trio continued their trek up north until mere minutes later Eiden's stomach once again notified him of his starvation.
"It appears someone hasn't had something to eat" Rosa said in a sing song tone, Dakini was a bit surprised at Eiden's hunger but quickly began to think of something. Crouching close to the ground Dakini scooped up two balls of dirt and handed one to Eiden.
"Oh, thanks for the mud pie…I appreciate it" Eiden said sheepishly. Dakini held the ball of mud in her left hand and made a chomping motion with her mouth. Eiden was slightly amused until Dakini began to gather large clods of dirt to shove into her mouth, she chewed and swallowed it without hesitation.
"What?" Both Eiden and Rosa thought in confusion.
After eating all the loose dirt Dakini jumped up at a nearby butterfly and grabbed it, this poor creature would be her next meal. "What?! Wait, Dakini?! What are you eating? Eiden yelled, mortified that anyone would even consider devouring objects that were universally known as inedible.
Dakini grabbed another clod of dirt and shoved it into her mouth once again swallowing something that was supposed to be inedible. After doing so she scrunched up her face in disgust, just because you could eat dirt and insects doesn't mean it tastes good.
"Obviously she wouldn't find that to be delicious" Rosa thought.
"D-Dakini do you always eat this stuff when you're hungry?" Eiden asked, Dakini gave a simple nod of her head.
"Oh, but have you eaten cuisine before?" Eiden asked once again, this statement caused Dakini to tilt head in confusion as she had no idea what Eiden was talking about.
"But you had to have at least eaten fruits and vegetables before…!" Eiden said in a mildly exasperated manner, this only caused Dakini to tilt her head further in confusion. After seeing that Dakini was bereft of any knowledge that had to do with edible food Eiden was more frustrated than ever before.
"I want her to eat delicious food!" Eiden raged internally, as this exchange happened Rosa stood beside Dakini with an amused expression. She had definitely heard of a situation like this before as orphaned African children who didn't know how to properly feed themselves existed.
"Dakini! Let me take care of your food. I swear on my nose that I will find the right ingredients to give you a most satisfying meal!" Eiden said, his pointer finger pressed up against his nose. As Eiden said this Dakini smiled and clapped her hands, unfortunately she still had no idea what her traveling companion was saying. Before they could set out to gather wild ingredients Dakini stumbled upon something she hadn't seen at all. Tugging on Rosa's skirt she pointed at the stones forming a line in the ground, on top of the stones lay a continuous line of angle brackets.
"Oh that, those are signal lines. They indicate the boundary which is affected by GBR" Rosa explained, saying this only posed another question for Dakini as she tilted her head at the latter part of the explanation.
"Oh right, GBR stands for great beetle repellent. Great beetles are large insects, some can be domesticated for food while others are dangerous because they're omnivores." Rosa explained further. Dakini traced a finger along the surface of the signal line, she wondered if she would soon be able to see these so-called great beetles.
Now that the explanations were over the trio set about looking for anything that was edible, Eiden had spotted an underwater butterfly. He quickly caught the butterfly with a small net that he had packed in his suitcase, the butterfly was known as the Sardine Monarch. The Sardine Monarch is sour and would make good for reducing fatigue which Eiden needed. Next Eiden searched around their spot in the jungle until he found a collection of twigs with thin long leaves sticking out of the ground. Uprooting the plant, he obtained several wild potatoes, these wild potatoes were known as the Enoth Cassava, they're high on starch. Turning his head slightly to the right Eiden witnessed Dakini uproot a mature Cassava plant, the entire thing must've had at least a dozen potatoes hanging on it. Eiden was unable to hide his surprise, on the other hand Rosa simply stood still and occasionally followed the two. Rosa believed both Eiden and Dakini to be completely capable of obtaining their food however she thought helping might be the right thing to do.
Walking over to a tree she looked up before reaching into the tree's Canopy, grabbing whatever hung from the tree she obtained a tomato like fruit. Returning to the other two she presented the fruit to Eiden, upon seeing the fruit he merely smiled. "That's an Amasanchibanka, Rosa"
"Really now? What I want to know is if its edible" Rosa said, her tone lacking patience.
"Oh, its edible alright" Eiden said as he nodded.
Confirming that the fruit that she picked was indeed edible Rosa went about picking as many as she could from every nearby tree. Once she had gathered enough fruits, she walked over to Eiden and placed them all in his bag, the young artist barely noticed. A short moment later Eiden and Dakini had picked up a beetle with long horns, Dakini had obtained the beetle by climbing up a tree that resembled a palm tree. That beetle was known as the Marsan long-horned beetle, it tasted like fresh fish when fried and was a long time favorite of bug eaters everywhere. The group reformed as Eiden held all the ingredients in his hand, the live ingredients were kept in a cage that he kept in his hand bag. Rosa smiled at the wild bounty as she had her arms brimming with Amasanchibankas, the group made to prepare their meal but was interrupted by Dakini.
Dakini grabbed Eiden's sleeve and began tugging, she pointed at an opening in the thick jungle that they resided in. Through the opening all three group members could see a clearing much larger than the one they had built their camp in; the clearing was home to a large herd of Pill bugs. These were no ordinary Pill bugs, they were the great beetle equivalent and they were large. To put things into perspective they almost reached the size of a small truck, each Pill bug was resting within the clearing.
"What? Are those… Iron ball bugs?! But… why are there so many?!" Eiden said in amazement.
Dakini wondered if the Iron ball bugs could be eaten so she made a biting motion with her mouth to indicate her question to Eiden. "Can you eat it? Well maybe since it isn't poisonous" Eiden said.
The two stepped into the clearing to examine the Iron ball bugs however Rosa's interest had been piqued, this was her first time seeing a great beetle as she had arrived very recently. Ignoring her two other companions she transformed her arms into hulking stone like fists and jumped high into the air, a small crater was left where she once stood. A second later and one of the Iron ball bugs now sported a gaping hole in its head, the moment Rosa impacted the great beetle there was a deafening crash and rumble. The impact also caused red and black spikes to move out from the center of the impact in a circle. Dakini and Eiden watched in awe at the raw display of power, another several seconds and the dust cleared. The great beetle died instantly and was enveloped in a mass of writhing black tentacles, this biomass was quickly drawn into the familiar shape of a kitsune.
As Rosa had consumed the Iron ball bug, she gained a myriad of memories, genes, and of course the physical form of the Iron ball bug. Everything from the memory of its birth to the gene that made up its hardy armored shell. After the rush of memories cleared Rosa turned to face her two companions who were still in awe. "You two don't need to stand there staring at me, that and staring is rude" Rosa said.
This statement snapped the two out of their trance and Eiden approached Rosa, his eyes brimming with a mixture of fear and intrigue. "Is that what happens when you consume someone" Eiden said shakily.
"Indeed, and now I have what I want" Rosa said.
Remembering what Rosa had explained to him he headed back over to Dakini, for her part Dakini was staring at the jungle. Her attention had been hooked by something within the tree line of the jungle, continuing her stare she perked her ears up as if sensing danger. In the direction that Dakini was looking at something moved, you couldn't see it unless you looked closely. Before Eiden could react, a great beetle launched itself into the air with its mandibles poised to strike him. Luckily Dakini reacted in a timely manner and rushed forward to push Eiden out of the way, Eiden narrowly avoided his own mutilation. Both Eiden and Dakini were completely shocked at the arrival of a new great beetle, it stood on all fours and had a shiny silver carapace. It's eyes and tail were somewhat shrimp like however the shell on its back was just like any ordinary beetle that you could find wandering around outside. Spikes jutted out near the top of its legs and its long mandibles had a segmented carapace covering it.
"It's a great beetle…a great Silver Agito!" Eiden exclaimed in his head, his mouth agape at having seen such a rare creature since they were almost never sighted in the wild.
A second passed by with no one making a single move before the Silver Agito suddenly rushed forward with it's mandibles swinging around wildly. Eiden scooped Dakini up in his arms and began to run like there was no tomorrow, Rosa was the only one that stood behind. Shifting her arm into a blade Rosa brought her blade against the Silver Agito, intending to only stop it's advance. Her blade had purposely been made dull in order to keep the great beetle alive, she resisted the urge to consume.
"Damn it!" Eiden shouted, he couldn't remember a time where he had previously been chased by a great beetle.
"Thank you, Dakini! I'd be dead if it weren't for you!" Eiden thanked Dakini profusely. In response to this gratitude Dakini gave a wide smile and did her flower hand gesture as usual. The two continued to run while Rosa pushed back against the Silver Agito, the battle of strength appeared to have no end.
"This is just abnormal. Great Silver Agitos should be repulsed by even the slightest scent of GBR. An actual encounter should be impossible" Eiden thought as he ran.
"I have a bottle of repellent in my pocket. Should I keep running and wait for a chance to spray it?! Would it even work on an excited Great Agito?!" Eiden thought, he was becoming more frantic by the second. Snapping him out of his train of thought Dakini poked Eiden's chin before looking him in the eyes and patting her chest. Eiden had no time to respond as Dakini jumped out of his arms and rushed towards Rosa who was still keeping the Silver Agito at bay. Rosa turned her head around to spot Dakini charging at full speed towards her and the Agito before she pushed her opponent back several meters using strength alone. As she neared the Agito Dakini slid under the great beetle with her sword clutched in her hands, she could see a second set of mandibles under its long mandibles.
Stopping behind the Agito Dakini grabbed her sword's handle and prepared to strike, her eyes dilating as she focused. Thousands of years ago people lived as nomads which was the case before great beetle repellent had been invented. Some time down the road people began to study the behavior of great beetles and that led to the creation of knights. Soldiers who were sworn to protect the people, due to their exploits these knights gained certain titles. The knight of the insect armor who wore the shells of great beetles into battle and the knight of toppling who could perceive any movement. Last but not least the knight of insect reeling, who was capable of taming great beetles and using them in battle.
As the Great Agito and Dakini were about to collide something new happened, Dakini's blade began to crystallize starting from the tip of the blade. The crystallization reached up to half the blade before Dakini swung her sword horizontally which caused the Agito to rear up and fall onto its back. Dakini had performed her horizontal swing while using her left hand to perform a hand stand, the second the Agito fell on its back she jumped high into the air. A short moment of Dakini jumping in an arc and she landed on the Agito's underside, a decisive stab to the head was delivered to the great beetle. With that attack hitting its mark the battle was over and the Agito had been slain.
Eiden could only stare at Dakini in awe, never in his life had he ever seen someone successfully take down a great beetle even though there existed legends of people doing so. "I shall title this scene…Dakini the knight of flowers" Eiden thought.
Walking towards the group Rosa saw that Dakini had gained experience, she was glad the young fox was growing stronger. "Bravo Dakini! That was a perfect battle, you really did well!" Rosa praised.
Hearing this Dakini ran over to Rosa with a big smile and jumped into her arms, the two hugged each other and smiled. Seeing this caused Eiden to smile as well because each moment like this helped warm his heart, his PTSD and depression shrinking as he became more positive. The moment was cut short however as Eiden's stomach made itself known once again.
"Uggghh, damn I need food now!" Eiden said as he clutched at his aching stomach.
Wordlessly Rosa walked over to the downed Agito and once again shifted her arm into a long blade, this time she used her right arm. She began to drag the Agito into the tree line opposite to where the three of them came from. "Come, follow me and you will be satiated" Rosa said, her tone was somewhat commanding.
The two other group members followed their strongest combatant into the jungle as the great Agito was being dragged behind Rosa. Once the trio arrived in a less dense area within the jungle Rosa set about preparing the Agito as a meal. First, she pulled apart its legs and set each individual leg aside for later, next she removed the wings cutting them with her blade. The shell concealing the wings were wrenched off the body as Rosa applied her biomass to the gap right down the middle, this gap allowed the shell to part and open. The biomass in the gap of the shell quickly hardened as it acted as a sort of glue, to Rosa this would serve a purpose later on. Setting the shell aside Rosa used her abnormal strength to pull the Agito's head straight off its body, each part would be used for later. Eiden and Dakini for the umpteenth time could do nothing but stare as Rosa did her work, they had come to rely on Rosa when it came to manual work.
Using her biomass again Rosa formed a large bowl exactly five meters in diameter, next she gathered logs by cutting down a tree. Rocks and sticks were gathered as well to create a new campfire so that the Agito could be cooked. Rosa began the tedious task of scraping out each and every iota of meat she could find within the Great Agito's body. Soon the bowl had been filled with a pile of meat that looked strange but appetizing if it were to be cooked. "Please make sure no one eats this while I look for water Eiden" Rosa said.
"Sure, you have my word" Eiden said.
Walking away from their soon to be camp Rosa used her augmented sense of smell and soon tracked down a tiny freshwater pond. There was just a little over the required amount of water needed to create a boiling bowl of water. Using her biomass once again Rosa created a large bucket and small bucket, she used the small bucket and transferred water into the large one until it was full. Commanding the biomass of the small bucket to return to her she carried the large one back to camp. Eiden and Dakini were slightly surprised to see a large bucket full of water being carried by Rosa. Now that Rosa had returned, she poured all the water into her bowl and commanded the biomass of the large bucket to return to her. She shifted both arms into blades and swiped them against each other which produced sparks until the campfire underneath the bowl lit on fire.
Now the group simply had to wait for their meal to be ready, all three companions sat next to each other and waited. While waiting Dakini used a finger and drew the large bucket from earlier in the dirt, she turned her head to Rosa and pointed at the simple drawing of the bucket. "Oh, that? It's a bucket and those things are used to carry other things" Rosa explained.
Dakini smiled and clapped her hands as she was happy that Rosa was here to answer her every question, Rosa didn't mind at all since a child needed education. Next Dakini pointed to the bowl containing their meal and looked towards Rosa again. "That is a bowl, it can also be used to carry things" Rosa said
Once again Dakini clapped her hands, it seemed that Dakini had the curiosity of a child and perhaps she was nothing but a child. She rarely talked but was not incapable of speech and her curiosity could only be attributed to that of a child. Rosa wanted to learn more about Dakini and thought about consuming her but quickly banished such an abhorrent thought, no child deserved that. Twenty five minutes later and the boiling Agito was ready to be eaten, the smell was very alluring.
Rosa reached into the bowl and took a piece of meat for each group member, the meat looked smooth. No one within the group could wait as they dug into their meal, the sound of meat being chewed was heard throughout the camp. "Th-this is delicious…the flavor, the smell, everything about this is good!" Eiden exclaimed.
"It certainly is and I'm glad we managed to kill it" Rosa remarked.
"Wow does anyone know how good Great Silver Agitos taste?! Eiden exclaimed once again.
"I highly doubt it since this creature was camouflaged and I know nobody noticed but I saw it along with Dakini. If it hides among the foliage than the chance of people finding it are slim, not that anyone would willingly look for an apex predator" Rosa said.
Listening to Rosa, Eiden had to admit that what she said made sense. A really shiny great beetle would have serious trouble hunting its prey if said prey could spot your shiny bum from a mile away. Watching Dakini eat Eiden decided he wanted to treat Dakini to the fruits that Rosa had found earlier, reaching into his bag he took one. "So, Dakini, you seem almost done with your meal…are you up for desert?" Eiden said.
Dakini for her part had a finger on her chin as she wondered what Eiden was talking about, could he present her with something she didn't know about. Showing the Amasanchibanka to Dakini she reacted by sniffing the fruit like a cautious animal. Eiden made a biting motion with his teeth and Dakini got the message, she immediately took a bite out of the fruit. After the fruit landed on her tongue she immediately squealed in happiness, shaking her legs up and down rapidly. The look in her eyes held nothing but happiness and pleasure, Rosa on the other hand smiled along with Eiden. "It's an Amasanchibanka. It looks like a Tomato, but its very fresh and sweet like a fruit. Do you like it?" Eiden said.
In response Dakini eagerly nodded her head, she wanted more of the delightful taste that proper food could bring her. "Well that's good! You can have more when you're done" Eiden said cheerfully.
Eiden turned his head away from Dakini and looked into his bag which contained the rest of the fruit, he was about to reach in when something terrible began to happen. Dakini looked at the Amasanchibanka with a smile however that changed a second later as her eyes dilated and her smile vanished. In the next second Dakini had tears welling up in her eyes as she panted, this was followed by a coughing fit as she dropped her fruit.
"Dakini?!" Eiden exclaimed, Rosa immediately took notice of what was happening and she rose up in anger.
"What did you do?! What the hell did you do to those fruits?!" Rosa yelled.
"What?! Me?! I didn't do a damn thing, I don't know what you're talking about!" Eiden shot back. Rosa hardly believed him but decided not to escalate things into violence, what she needed to do right now was help her distressed companion. Abandoning her conversation with Eiden she rushed over to Dakini who was now screaming in agony, her voice reaching far and wide. Quickly, one of her fingers shifted into a needle and Rosa injected liquid painkillers into Dakini's bloodstream. These particular painkillers were also designed on the fly to be able to put their users into sleep for a short time. Dakini abruptly stopped her screaming and slumped over in a deep slumber, her expression was one of peace as the pain ended. Rosa approached the sleeping form of Dakini and scooped the poor fox girl up in her arms. "Here, you can take care of her seeing as you started this mess" Rosa said bitterly.
Eiden was about to say something in protest but stopped as he caught sight of Rosa's hard expression, an expression that held both ice and fire at the same time. She would not tolerate any further arguments instead she pulled the Silver Agito's shell along with her. Refusing to be left alone with a sleeping Dakini, Eiden gathered the rest of his belongings and left the campsite. A short distance from the campsite Rosa set the Agito shell down on its side so that it could serve as a makeshift shelter. She used her biomass to create three sleeping bags and set them against the inside of the shell where they were covered by the overhanging left side of the shell.
Eiden quickly caught up with Rosa and saw that she was creating their shelter, he approached wordlessly knowing that Rosa didn't want to talk. Soon after the shelter had been completed it began to rain, the two plus one sleeping fox girl stayed under the Agito shell. A moment later and Dakini woke up from her drug induced sleep, her expression bore confusion before it changed to a smile. Her two best friends were with her and she could not be happier, day by day her love for Eiden and Rosa was growing. They had cared for her, fed her, and most importantly helped her combat the Sky Golems.
Suddenly the sound of thunder made itself known, the rainstorm had turned into a thunderstorm as of now. Eiden began to tremble and shake as the thunder reminded him of the thing that he feared the most, a Golem's straight thunder. "Calm down, Eiden. That's just thunder, ordinary thunder" Eiden thought to himself
"There's nothing to be scared of, but I can't help myself. Damn it…damn it…this isn't right!" Eiden continued his thought process, Rosa had taken notice of Eiden's inner turmoil but decided to let things play out instead of intervene.
"Dakini suffered today because of me! Why did I want to travel along with Dakini? Because I didn't want to leave her all by herself." Eiden thought, his trembling had not stopped.
"I thought that even someone as miserable as me…could be of use to her in some way!" Eiden thought, another thunderbolt roared in the distance.
"Why am I trembling?! Why?! Why?!" Eiden thought, his thoughts booming in his head.
"Ei…" A single syllable was spoken by Dakini, her expression one of calm and nothing else. Once she had Eiden's attention she began to draw something around the both of them in the dirt. A moment later and she had finished drawing a signal line in the dirt, the same ones used to indicate the protective boundaries of GBR. Dakini held onto Eiden's trembling hand with both of her own, a wide smile on her face as Eiden shed tears. Rosa let a soft smile dominate her expression as she observed this display of affection, Rosa loved beautiful moments like this. The two stayed like that for a moment before drifting off to sleep, Dakini lay in Eiden's welcoming arms and Eiden lay next to Dakini. Deciding to stay up for the rest of the night Rosa served as a silent vigil watching over and guarding the two.