What was left of the battle field returned to normal. All the trees contained their green leaves, flowers bloomed once again, and the weather was normal. With the demon's battle gone, Alistair's battle wouldn't be written in history. Even as a fable it would be a far stretch back in his home.
Somehow most of his wounds lost the sensation of pain. He was sore no doubt about it but he still managed to move on his own. It might've been frostbite that froze all the entrances of his wounds and cauterized the blood. Or it was because of the girl.
He was propped up against that tree that was once covered in blood. Whoever this girl was, she was an expert in medicine, or at least field medicine. A mixture of oils were applied along the span of his arms and chest and applied pressure with bandages.
Underneath his injuries laid a pure purple bruised chest. His muscles were torn and his blood bled from the inside. His lungs suffered from both sides of action, nearly impossible to I flare and when they did they asked for death. A crushed sternum was definitely in effect as well as a possible a collapsed lung.
Yet the girl at his side kept him calm, aroused, and feared at the same time. It was those eyes matched with that smile, a solid purple eye pair that he never once saw. And with a smile like hers, it made it impossible to tell how she felt without words. Feared, cautious, safe, nothing was the right one.
Only one sentence was spoken between them. And her voice settled the doubt he had in his mind. As uncertain he was of her, her voice made him calm. Still hesitant but trusted her nether the less.
The last tighten of his wrists made him flinch. His body jerked into him as his head curled the same way. The woman giggled at his reaction to the pain.
Alistair blushed, his eyes went wide and stared forward at his realization of what he did. Her soft hands caressed his and patted his back hand. "How cute." Her eyes locked in with his after she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.
"You can talk now." She said. "The oils should have revived the flow of oxygen through your system by now."
"What the hell was that? He kept calling me a 'Demon Slayer'." Alistair asked, his voice still deep and scratched.
"Your face and voice speaks as if you're not from around here. Does your land have people abnormal from the regular population?" She asked, never once did she break eye contact from him. Which ultimately freaked him out more.
"We're all the same in my land, I lived in a castle but essentially it's the same as here. Whoever this guy was, a uh, demon, that he called himself isn't like our people."
"So your home doesn't have demons. Then why do you have this weapon? You seem kind've dumb carrying something you don't understand."
The smile on her face now irritated Alistair. It was like she didn't see him as an equal or just wanted to make fun of his incompetence. "I don't understand it but my family left it to me before they left for here." Alistair nodded over to his sword. "There's a small piece of paper inside the guard. Pull it out."
She still smiled as she got up and pulled off the paper he described. She sat right next to him again and unrolled it on the ground. It was a map with boundaries lined around the bodies of land. A curved line of 'x's was drawn all over till it reached a small island on the corner of the map with another 'x' on it.
"For the past eight months I traveled here and tried to find my parents. Of course learning Japanese as a child should've told me to come here first but I didn't see the connection till two weeks ago. But anyways. My mother and father smithed that sword shortly before their trip east. I need to find them."
"You did come to the right place. The metal your sword is made of is only constructed here. A rare material with the ability to kill demons. The only thing to exist to kill them."
"Rare metals usually requires rare blacksmiths." He looked at the sword with the butterfly guard. He finally noticed the look to this girl. Her butterfly hairpiece that kept her purple ends up, the style her komoto was in. It was cute in his eyes. His immediate reaction was to cough on the siliva he nervously downed. "Um, I need to find the blacksmiths that can use it. Maybe they know something of my parents."
She stood back up and looked down at Alistair. "I'll need to take you to the master before any choice can be made."
"Choice? I just need to know somebody who can continue my path."
"You ignorant boy." She snickered.
Alistair grew in anger. He crossed his legs and used the muscles to push himself up without the use of his arms. Her head was just at the size of his chest, he used this height in an attempt to scare her. But her smile still held as she tilted her head up to look at him.
"I can't go back empty handed. Their notes, journals, colleagues, all led me to here. I'm at a dead end till I find these blacksmiths."
"The trade is a secret in my profession. Only a handful of people know how to do it and are extremely protected. Someone in your state couldn't lift a finger to get that information."
His back arched down till his forehead connected with her's. "I don't care about the process. The materials. I came for my family. I want to bury them the way our ancestors did years ago."
"Maybe if you tell my master that, he'll give you a hand. But speaking like that won't get me to help you either."
He bit his tongue in an attempt to hold his anger. He knew his intimidation had no effect on her, not with his arms out of action at least. "Please."
"Okay! Follow me." Her body twirled around like a princess, again causing his mind to wander with her. The mix feeling of emotions was like nothing he ever saw. It was beautiful.
"I'm sorry, I never caught your name. My name is Alistair, girl's stare, and my friends call me Ally."
"Does that line usually work on the women in your land?"
He smirked, he realized her skills also translated to how independent she was from everyone else. She didn't see him as anyone special than a person with a sword. "It worked once, my dad taught it to me to be fair though. What's yours? I'd like to call you more personally."
"Kocho."
She bent down and tried to pick the sword up with no avail. Now it was Alistair's turn to get the upper hand laugh in. He tilted his body over the weapon and grabbed the handle. "It's about twenty kilos in weight. A small girl like you should've had the strength to do it. No need to flirt with me with strength."
"I just wanted to see your face wince like how I tightened your bandage."
"Hardy, har lass." He whispered, sliding she sword into the sheath on his side. He looked down at the ground after he realised the joke she made. The sword's blade was slice in half and was cracked from the left over chunk down. Instantly, he pulled the sword back and and inspected the ruined weapon. "Fuck."
She laughed again. "I'm surprised it took you this long to realize your predicament."
"Let's just go." He grumbled.
She kept her promise toward Alistair and brought him to another location by night. It was a home surrounded by purple flowers from the entrance to the end of the property.
For Alistair, every book he read described a place like this in Japan. A rectangular home made of one flat material that allowed the utmost sunlight through. It was a beautiful home in every sense, the perfectly laid gravel with stone paths, blossomed trees, and a rich smell engraved in everything.
Not even the silence was a disturbance to him. Compared to the loud stone floors from boots clanking down each hall, servants called and calling in every direction. It was nice and smooth on his ears.
The two circled to the back of the property. Where the only difference was a open back end of the home with the roof still completely over it. Two other people stood in stance at the back end as well.
Kocho's hand waved to the first guy she saw. A moody fellow, his back was toward the two and head sunken down to the small pond. "Hi-oh!" Her voice called to him.
The boy with black hair turned back to them. His face was plain, bored, even tired while it being only midday. A sword was hidden at his hip as well. It was left sheathed and unattended, but his shoulders showed how ready he was to use it.
Kocho sped off ahead while she continued to wave at him. "Tomioka! We've arrived aren't you going to greet us and say hi back?" She called out.
The half naked man in nothing more than a kilt caught up to him. The man was also a quite bit smaller than him. Not quite a foot but didn't meet his eyes. And half the size in body size. Without a sword of Alistair's, this man had all the advantages either way.
"My mother use to warn me; 'when one armed man brings you to another, they aren't there to kill you'." Alistair narrowed his eyes into the bored stare of the other. "So you the master?"
The girl laughed and playfully smacked her stiff palm onto his head. "Tomioka isn't even the strongest one here. Or the most liked."
"People like me." He shyly spoke.
"Is she it?" Alistair pointed at the woman with her arms in front of her. All colorfully pink and green.
"She's not him either." Tomioka answered. "He's not here yet."
Alistair fixed his attention to Kocho. "You'd said I'd meet the sod."
"I sent him a message before I saved you so he'll be on his way. We'll just have to wait for his arrival."
"You're lucky Kocho and the master was near. Or else it could've been longer."
"And that you're near my home! I can properly heal you then."
A grin grew on Alistair's face faster than he could react. Tomioka's face also showed a change, not through wrinkles or gazes, a shift in the soul. "I'd like that, lass."
The next thing he knew, he was twisted around and knees pinned to the ground. His face instantly shifted into anger. There was no feeling then the pressure of two hands. He snapped his head back and pinned the hand around his neck. His left grabbed the other on his calf, and his other firmly wrapped wrapped around their neck.
In one fluid motion the used both his arms and flipped the person over his body. Alistiar hesitated at the sight of green and pink. He never noticed her sprint a handful of dozen yards without a single sound. Yet here she was pinned on the ground with his arm around her neck. Her right arm kept her head just off the ground while the other snuggly locked in his chest.
He looked around for the two others, both of them in the same position as the girl. His head swerved forward; twin children in height, hair, and eyes covered both the sides of a heavily scarred man. His face covered in a purple burn and eyes white out.
In Alistair's home, scars showed the strength in a person. In or out of battle told their family their willpower to continue. He could be the weakest soldier on the field but the utmost respected.
Alistair released the woman after realizing his fault. The respect for this man was higher than everyone else, conversation, or battle.
"Kocho, please introduce me to this man." His voice was soft, unaffected by the injuries he faced. Like his soul was untouched by the darkness in his mind.
"He's Alistair from a foreign land. The rest is something I currently do not know."
"Sir Alistair, would you mind filling in the details?"
Alistair stood up with his arms behind his back, his back stair and puffed, his legs together, and eyes on the master. "Lord Alistair Cornet. Second son of Alistair Cornet and Leana Cornet. I come from the province of Scotland, a land surrounded by water from the west of this and the main land."
"Lord you say? In which sense does that title hold?"
"Politically none. My family's people merely give us that title in honour. We control a very small section of the country free from other's control. As it stands it's held throughout Scotland as a sign of respect, sir."
"I too give my respects toward your cause. My family runs defending others from the occupation from others. In a way I share the same title as you. I welcome you to my home."
Alistair went down to one knee with his right arm on his knee. "Sir, pardon my rudeness. With introductions out of the way, I'd like to run straight to business, sir."
"I understand the pressure you must be under from being so far from home. But with my family, their safety comes first, as something you must understand."
"Of course, sir."
"My biggest concern is what each of my children hold. The sword you used is exclusively held within my family with no outsiders knowledge of it. How is it that you came here with one without any knowledge of us?"
"Nine months ago I received a crate from an unknown sender contain journals of my family's records and this sword. And eight months ago I retraced their steps to here. The sword I hoped brought me to wherever I needed to go. And I hope I'm right."
"You are right to come here for answers of your sword, but coming here does not bring answers to your parents. I have no knowledge on them or how they obtained the sword. I await on the reply on one man that may know of why they contained one of our weapons."
"Don't mind mind my rudeness, sir. But it sounds as if there is a part you're leaving out."
"As I can't risk these secrets being revealed on the outside. I extend a invitation to join the Demon Slayer Corps. Since normal means of trials cannot be performed in the time span we have, abnormal ones must be taken if you decide to join."
"As long as it brings me to my family, I do what I must. But please understand that I can't stay when my business ends here. My return home is important to me."
"I do and accept. Under oath I hope you keep the information to yourself as you travel back."
"Please inform me what it is I must do."
"Since you have already have physical participation of each other, a simple skirmish to determine your position here." Alistair turned to the woman to his right. "Mitsuri Kanroji."
