Anju's mother didn't take any time to gently close the door to Anju's room, but instead slammed it shut as she entered angrily, once again enraged. "Anju, wake up!" She reached down and grabbed one of the girl's horns, yanking her upwards, "You went into the well again, didn't you!"

Anju yelped in surprise as she was rudely awakened. She inwardly sighed upon realizing that it was just her mother... again... bitching at her. Something poked at her brain, but she wasn't quite sure of what at that moment, other thoughts currently flooding her mind.

"And what if I did?"

For some reason, any idea of holding back aggression today seemed non-sensical.

Her eyes narrowed and she roughly dropped the horn, then stood back to glare down at her daughter. "What if you did? I'll lock you in this house for the next week if you talk back to me like that again. Just WHAT are you doing down there!"

"You'll do what?" Anju replied defiantly, quickly standing up from her bed and giving her mother a glare to return the one given to her.

What was it that she was supposed to remember today? ... It was something important... She was supposed to see Kafei today? -Well, she did that every day, so it couldn't be that...

She was already twitching however, trying to hold back a rage that would send her mother across the room so she could once again escape to the well. How funny... she'd never guess that one day she'd hope to be "escaping" to the well.

"I said I'd lock you in this house for a week." Her mother stood up to her, barely reaching above her height, glaring down at her, "And if you pull a little "hit" like you did yesterday, you'll never leave this room again."

A week... what was it about a week ago that seemed to make today important! She was excited... kind of happy... expectant...

Oh no.

Cerulean eyes widened momentarily in a shocked remembrance, before narrowing menacingly at her mother.

"And what good would it be for me to stay here!" she started, her eyes stinging.

"You wouldn't be going into that well anymore, that's what. And you wouldn't be getting impregnated by some...out of town nomad no-gooder!" So, true, she had just kind of made up a story to satisfy her curiosity about Anju's whereabouts, but...that didn't matter. She was in charge, after all.

"Oh. What makes you think he's some 'out of town nomad no-gooder?" she asked, a smirk coming across her face; the hurt she felt upon realizing that her mother had forgotten her birthday was being slowly replaced by another feeling. A darker feeling.

"And... I still don't know what you expect me to do around here... today."

She began to demand that Anju go gather her cuccos, but that would mean her leaving the house. "You will sit in here all day and all night. You will not leave...for anything. And if I come in here tomorrow and find you gone, so help me, I'll..." She'd...what?

"You'll... what?" she grinned, bearing down upon her mother. With a slight push to the woman's shoulder she advanced. "Bitch about and completely forget her daughter's birthday?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. After this, within the next moment, Anju had her grip tightly around her mother's neck.

"But wait..." she began softly, " ... you already have." And with that, she pushed back, causing the woman to sprawl out across the floor. Unwittingly sneering at her mother, a predatory growl left her mouth.

Her eyes widened as Anju grabbed her neck, and she began to gag as she was thrown down on the floor. She began to resist and get up to chastise her more before she noted the unnatural growl. At this, she was silent, staring up at her in horror.

"I know you've heard about the stories. They were bashed into my brain as a girl, so they were bashed into yours too." Anju began, grabbing her mother by her hair roughly. "You've heard what was underneath the well." she stated, throwing the woman back against the wall again at the end of her sentence.

She cried out as she was thrown against the wall, then sunk down to the floor, processing what Anju was saying. "Whatever it is, it's dead. Don't be insane." She replied bitterly, moving to stand up again.

"Then WHAT IS THIS!" she screamed, bringing her newly formed claws down across her mother's shoulder just as she began to stand. "Tell me, what are these!" she continued, pointing to her horns. "How did I get these!"

As she ended another sentence, the claws came down upon the woman again, this time to her cheek. "TELL ME!"

She screamed at the first set of claws, and then again at the second. She sank back against the floor, covering her head with her arms. "I don't know! Stop this!"

"Do you want to know? Hm?" Anju asked, a drop of honest curiosity coating her voice, raising her claws up for her mother to clearly see. After a moment, she growled again, grabbing the pathetic pair of arms that were used as a shield, yanking them up so that her mother stood. Her other hand came upon her mother's neck again, and this time gently tapping the woman's skin with the tips of her claws, rather than clasping down upon her mother.

"The evil under the well fucked me." she admitted her tone now nearly playful -had it not been the devious tone that oozed from it. She was taken aback for a moment, surprised at herself. She had never used such language; she only heard the carpenters utter such words every now and then…

The older woman swallowed hard, cringing slightly as if in confusion as she looked at the girl. She stretched her neck out a bit, gulping as she felt the claws there. "...what?"

"The evil. Under the well. ... Kafei. He and I…we lie together…every night. We have been over and over...for the past SIX MONTHS!" She yelled into her mother's face, awaiting her reaction. It was too soon to move, she had to see her mother's face before she proceeded in ripping her throat out.

Her mother cringed again, mouth gaping slightly in heavy breath as she stared frightened at her daughter, unsure of what to think or say.

"It was people like you that killed everything dear to him." she began softly, looking at her mother, almost compassionately.

"... Like me." she finished, bringing her claws sharply across her mother's throat, blood instantly sprouting forth, some getting onto her hand and chest.

She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Just blood. She sank to the floor again, reaching up for Anju.

"What?" Anju asked, a slight laugh surprisingly leaking form her lips. "What do you want me to do? Sit here in my room all day and do nothing? Alright." she spoke moving to sit down upon her bed momentarily, before jumping up. "-No wait, I know! I should go out and collect my cuccos! Right? They must be running amuck around the village. Like they do... every day." deadpanning the end of the sentence, she walked toward the door, cerulean eyes flashing back to her mother, bemused.

"Or... I can go back to Kafei," she began, smirking, "and thank you for wishing me a happy birthday. Now don't move, we'll have a party when I get back." she finished, before walking out the door.

Anju grinned, slamming the door behind herself as she stepped from her house. She was greeted by cold rain on her face, feeling the semi-dried blood become moist again and roll down her cheeks. She smiled, refreshed at this, and then broke out in a run towards the well, feeling incredibly…happy and liberated…for some reason…

A happy giggle left her lips, before she broke out into a dash to the well. Practically hopping down there; she skipped through the cold, dead walls and putrid water. The ReDeads just looked on with slight confusion as Anju passed, waving joyfully to each and every one of them. It wasn't much time before she came to the door of Kafei's chambers, and grinned excitedly as she opened before her. Jubilantly, she made her way into the darkness.

Kafei quickly found a giggly and quite cheerful Anju in his lap, who was busy planting kisses along his cheek and neck. Eyebrow arching in question, garnet eyes gazed down to the girl. "Anju... It's only been a few hours since your last visit. Aren't you-", the shadow spirit was cut off by an abrupt kiss on the lips. Instantly returning it, his arms found his way around Anju's waist as he leaned into the kiss. Giggling, she pulled back after another moment.

"What's brought this on?" Kafei asked, smirking. Anju just grinned in reply, before deeply kissing him. Hands sliding up her back, he pulled her closer, kiss growing in passion by the second. However, it was cut short as Kafei sniffed the air, it brought his face to her chest.

"Why, Anju... You smell of blood." he stated, in slight surprise. At first, he looked at her to see if maybe she had been injured again. Seeing that she had not, he looked up at her with curiosity. "Well..." she began, before bursting into a fit of giggles. Kafei didn't wait for an answer for long, moving his lips beside her ear gently. "I like it." With a whisper, he licked her ear. Anju swooned in his arms, before moving to kiss him again. She waited no time to push her tongue past his lips, to his surprise, as a hand slipped into deep-violet hair. With a slight moan, he gripped onto her and returned the kiss. A few more heated moments passed, before Anju began to breathily speak against Kafei's lips.

"My mother... just forgot... my birthday..." was muttered, before the kiss ended.

"Today is your birthday?" Kafei asked, leaning back.

"Uh... yes." Anju responded, still rather breathless.

"Then why do you smell of blood?"

"Oh..." she giggled, "She forgot my birthday, and I killed her." Anju brought her hands to her face, and giggled into them excitedly. A shiver passed down Kafei spine. A few moments past with them like that, before they both acted on an impulse and were kissing again, Kafei gripping onto her lower back as it arched her body forward against his. Anju's hands raked through Kafei's hair, and a soft moan left her lips. He had no idea why the thought of the girl killing her mother was so... appealing, but it was. And she had no idea why the fact that she killed her mother excited her so.

They continued to kiss long past the moment in which Anju ran out of air, and she nearly slumped forward into him, gasping for air. Kafei's features moved to be of someone deep in thought for a few moments, before he slightly smiled. Within that instant, a cucco appeared before them, standing in front of the seat.

"Anju, look." he said, gesturing behind her. Anju curiously glanced behind her, only to jump back into Kafei slightly. "Oh!" she started in surprise.

"Happy birthday." Kafei said, before leaning in and slightly nibbling on her ear. The bird stood there, slightly confused, but pecked on the ground as if that would help it understand it's new surroundings. "Kafei!" Anju began, turning to look at him with a surprised look on her face. "Uh... I mean... master..."

Kafei pretended to not hear her call him by his name, and then leaned down to pick up the cucco. He was hesitant at first, having not seen a cucco since his days as a boy living in the village, but he soon got used to it. Anju giggled slightly, but then shivered and covered her upper arms with her hands.

"What's wrong?" Kafei queried, noting this strange behavior. Blinking, he tilted his head.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just kind of allergic to cuccos." Kafei raised an eyebrow, then looked to the cucco.

"But…you raise them, don't you? You told me that once..." He looked down almost as if ashamed, and then let the bird go.

"Well, I do. I just can't really…touch them." Kafei raised a brow and suppressed a sigh.

"Well if I'd known that I wouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine!" Anju interrupted, placing a hand on his cheek and smiling, "It's…the thought that counts."

The…thought? The fact that Kafei had more or less just given her a present then hit Anju, and she was silent for a while. After a few moments, Kafei had the cucco vanish again, and he looked to Anju, who was staring at him, inquisitvely.

"…what?" At this, Anju snapped out of her daze and looked at him.

"Oh…nothing." She smiled bashfully, and then placed a brief kiss on his lips. "I suppose I should get to undressing."

She began to push her vest off, but was stopped as Kafei's hand fell on her own.

"No, that's alright." He stopped for a moment as if internally struggling. Alan had been giving him 'advice' the other day, and…well, it was about time he used it, "I mean…wouldn't you rather go for a walk?"

Anju blinked.

"A…walk?"