It was quiet. Too quiet, the calm in the middle of Final Selection didn't go well together. Eira was constantly on edge, with knowledge of a possible demon attack at any time. But, it never happened. The calm stayed as the leaves rustled and trees swayed. The sunlight illuminating the green leaves that crowded the sky, almost acting as a roof.
Eira sighed and sat at the base of a tree awfully tired. Eira's blonde hair shone in comparison to the dull colours of the forest. The wind slightly massaged Eira's face as her tight grip on her sword loosened, her muscles relaxed and her body was covered in warmth. Her tiredness had finally caught up with her, her eyes closed very slowly. Her arms fell to her side and her legs stretched out as her back leaned on the wide base of the tree, the soft grass made for a good platform, the forest rung with crickets crying, birds chirping and the sunlight dancing around on the floor as occasionally the leaves made way for it to peek through.
Eira took a deep breath, she hadn't felt this calm in... years. Her sword finally fell out of her grip and plopped on the ground as her head tilted to rest on a shoulder. Eira felt great comfort, like vines were wrapping around her entire body and slowly pulling her away. Wait.
In a hurry, Eira opened her eyes, her eyes met with a hideous sight, her arms and legs wrapped by weird fleshy tentacles originating from a demon next to her, no face, no eyes, no mouth. Just a pale green figure with slight remains of arms and legs from its short and stubby body. Her head was almost forced onto its shoulder, it must've caught Eira when she was resting. She felt the vine like limbs tightened around her limbs. Her sword ached to be used as it idly watched its owner be somewhat captured. A vine went across Eira's mouth as the demon seemed to realise she had woken up. Almost suddenly, Eira lurched her body around, twisted and turned in desperate attempts, trying to scream for help.
She tried to force the vines open but she had no luck, she moved her limbs unpredictably, her goal was to stretch out the vines so much they might break. She tugged and tugged, her face had turned a bright red as she put all her strength into this. Her skin showed signs of blood flow being cut off to her right leg and left arm. They had turned an awful violet, the colour when you'd tightly tie rope around your finger and wait for a while as it turned blue. Eira's eyes started to form tears as she squirmed more and more. The demon seemed to let out a sound of excitement as a vine went around Eira's neck.
"N... No... I can.. not..." Eira felt an unbelievable amount of strength as the vine tightened around her neck.
Her eyes hurt, her lungs contracted, she couldn't breathe at all, her eyes looked up to the leaves as they swayed. Eira had a sickening thought of her corpse laying down on the floor free for any demon to devour. All of a sudden, her nose was filled with a wonderful smell of roses as she slightly heard a girl say.
"Flower breathing, Fourth Form, Crimson Hanagoromo!" As Eira felt her limbs rush with blood and her body release from the tight chokehold of the vines.
Eira's eyes took a while to refocus, but in the blur, a pink haori stood out, a girl who wore a low skirt, and held a pretty sword stood there. Her pretty look didn't match her facial expression, she looked down on Eira, both figuratively and literally. Eira shook as she got up to her feet, immediately grabbing her sword.
"T-Thank you for saving me!" Eira gratefully says as she bowed to the girl. Eira wondered what her face was like now. She had always been quite observant of people's looks, this girl was definitely pretty, her nice skin in addition to her pretty lips. Her eyes naturally had a pink hue,her eyes were kind, but they seemed to have some doubt laying deep in them. Brown hair reaching her shoulder was tied into a small ponytail, with a light blue flower hung between the hair tie. A beautiful blue flower.
"You're lucky." The girl panted as if she was exhausted, "Lucky I was bothered enough to dash 100 metres to save you... I would've let you die on a bad day."
Eira took this to heart. Her eyes widened and she gulped a bit. Her hands shook, it was no lie that this girl was incredibly strong, Eira could sense it, if she had closed her eyes, her aura was powerful, one of the most powerful she had encountered so far, although something was off about her. Her soul was lined with guilt and worry, lacing of deep red guilt all around her pink soul. Eira looked up with a determined eye.
"But you still saved me, didn't you? You're a good person regardless, doesn't matter what you would've done. It's about what you did do." Eira smiled.
The girl let out a deep sigh as she breathed heavy, she looked down and her hair ran with the wind. "I guess so."
"My name's Eira. Yours?" Eira was talking out of pure nervousness, she hid her shaking hand behind her back, the other on her sword steady. She waited for the response of the girl.
"Asumi." The girl responded. Eira loved the name, it suited her. Asumi looked up with a small hint of a smile, the warm exchange was almost immediately lost when a scream ran through the forest. The calm being broken with a familiar voice to both of them.
"Somebody fucking help!" A familiar loud voice swore, his voice pierced their ears. Eira turned to the girl who's eyes had gone wide with fear. Her soul was shaken. Eira was confused, but regardless she followed the girl as she quickly dashed to the area.
Author's note:
Asumi is back!
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