Mission Open #1: The Price of Humanity
.
.
.
Lie Ren has arrived to the trading town of Shion. He hovers up the town with his airbike, sensing the tension in the air.
This is not good. With how much tension building up here, a Grimm may spawn in the town's vicinity.
Ren had left Kuroyuri before Soren's and his crews arrival. He had left a message to inform where he will be going at home, so Soren will have to catch up while Ren does his own investigation.
More people had gone missing each week. The alghouls had either grew more ravenous or their numbers are multiplying. Whichever it is, they need to hunt it down quickly before it grew stronger.
Ren fly down to the town guards barrack and gather the reports which the guards had compiled. He read each of the victim's profile and then he visited both the victim's home, last location they were seen and their last known track of movement before going missing. Each information will help him map out and triangulate the alghouls zone of activity.
In the room he rent at the inn, he checked the town map several time, analyzing each of the common route used by the victims. Each date of disappearances, the weather of the day, everything.
He jot down some notes and sticked it beside the map on the wall.
KNOCK KNOCK
Ren's senses went alert. He waits and sense the presence behind the door. One feel like a mist, unclear and undefined. Ah, must be a new Aura user.
One has the scent of rose and blood. And death. Her presence feels scattered.
And the last one.
"Soren!", Ren let his guard down and open the door. "So you have arrived. What took you so long?"
"Oh that?", Soren chuckles. "Some ginger stole my airship. Hahaha!"
Ren quirked an eyebrow. "Really? You don't look like you're mad about it.", Ren then raises his hand for a handshake. Soren took it.
"Oh, I was expecting it. Just waiting an excuse for me to enslave that guy later. Pilot's wage is expensive to pay, you know?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. No worries, I got things handled. Knowing the area, he will have to stop at Mistral's black market to sell off the ship. It's going to be a fun trip retrieving it back later, dude. Now let me introduce you our new trainees."
"hi!", Ruby salutes with a bubbly attitude. "I am Ruby Rose and I use a large scythe with high speed movement!"
Then, Jaune give his own salute. "My name is Jaune Arc! I am new to this, so I can only use basic level of Sword Aura! Please take care of me!"
Ren nodded and shakes their hands. "I am Lie Ren. I mainly fight with archery but I am also good at using a knife. I also know how to use Wind magic."
"Alright, let's take a seat everyone. Now Ren, brief to us what's going on."
"Alright.", he nodded. "Now, the disappearances begin…"
)))))))))))))))
PANT PANT
DRAPPP
The young girl falls down the ground, her foot caught by a root. She rolled down the ground and hastily get up to continue running. She doesn't care how many scratches and bruises she got all over her body.
She has to run or she will die!
The forest is dark. The moon is covered by the clouds, cutting off the only source of light in the night. The young girl crashed into trees over and over again but she didn't care.
She has to run or she will die.
She glanced behind her. Smoldering amber eyes are hot on pursuit, easily keeping up with her. That woman… no, that creature! It could have reached her, caught her over a dozen times, but it didn't.
It is toying with her.
The young girl's foot caught by the root once again and an audible crack echoes across the silent woods as she falls down one final time.
This is it.
She cannot run, so she will die.
The smoldering amber eyes gazed down on her, looking disappointed that she has finally caught up to her.
"Aww…. You poor thing. What is your name, sweet lady?"
The young girl stutters, but she answered.
"Ci.. Cinderella…"
"Cinderella?", the creature looks barely human and she stinks like rotten corpse. It smiles, showing her rotten, yellow teeth. "Names, what a nice thing to have. To have a name is to have identity. Purpose. A week ago, I have no name. No purpose. No identity. All I did was consuming carrions mindlessly. But now, I am conscious. I have a mind of my own. I have a sense of identity, hazy, but it's there. And more importantly…"
The… thing caress her cheeks tenderly. Despite it hunting her down for the past half an hour, she can sense no malice from her.
No, if anything, she sensed love.
Why does a monster feel love for a human? A prey?
"More importantly, I gained humanity. Do you know that if a ghoul eat enough fresh mortals, it can gain sentience? Sapience? Humanity?"
Cinderella shakes her head. She would have peed herself if she hadn't already did while on the run. Why is this monster keep talking to her? Please! Someone! Save her!
"Cinderella, I want you to know that I meant no harm for you. I wished that you escaped me, but… *sigh* you had bad luck and you fall down, breaking your ankle. I want you to know that I thank you. I love you. Let me…. Kiss you."
The thing kissed her with its teeth, and chomped her lips off. It moans with pleasure as it chews on her lips. Cinderella screams till her throat bleeds but no one hears it. No one will come to save her.
Her fate is to be eaten alive by this newborn alghoul.
She was eaten piece by piece slowly, treated tenderly with love. Bits of her arms. Chunks of her thigh. A chomp at the tip of her breast. Slowly, the amber-eyed alghoul consumes her tenderly. Lovingly.
Sensually.
"Why….", Cinderella croaks her final word. It was slow but eventually she ran out of blood to stay conscious. At the final moment, she wants to know.
Why her.
"Sweetheart.", the alghoul licks her right eye and suck it out. She shivers in ecstasy as the sweet eye fluid popped in her mouth.
"It's because you are a good person, sweetheart."
"Wha….?"
The thing chuckled.
"I watched you from afar as you walk 5000 steps a day into the cabin in the woods to take care of your ill father. He is a useless drunkard and a foul person, but it doesn't stop you from loving him and treat him as human. You understand that he was broken by grief over losing your mother and so you are patient with him. Slowly, your father are healed from his heartbreak. Oh, how I worry for him now that you will not be there to take care of him anymore."
Cinderella couldn't understand. If so, then why her? Why not eat a real scumbag instead of her..
"You are a good person, Cinderella. That makes you prey. Evil consume good, Cinderella, that is the natural order of things. Even if I have consumed human and gained their humanity and morality, I have no choice but to keep eating good people like you to keep it. Even if I understand good and evil now…. I am still… an evil creature."
The thing with its ugly rotting face smiles sadly.
"Sorry sweetheart. If its any consolation, I want you to know that….", it smiles lovingly. "you are so delicious, Cinderella."
CHOMP
GLUG
GLUG
.
…
…..
………
The morning sun rises, illuminating the once dark forest. There, a grotesque being shed its skin. From its former fleshy husk emerge a beautiful voluptuous lady.
Her eyes are smoldering amber. Her hair are raven-black locks. Her bosoms are aesthetically large and perky. Her bottoms are round and thick. Her thighs are juicy and tender
If you ask anyone that this thing with the body of a goddess used to be a rotting undead creature scavenging on the rotten marrows of animal carcass and the occasional dead mortals, they would say you are making a rude joke. She now looks completely indiscernible to any mortals down to the very scent.
"Happy birthday.", another thing clapped behind her, greeting the birth of a brand new alghoul.
The amber-eyed alghoul bow gratefully to its benefactor. "Thank you for saving me from my ill fate, mister…."
"Please, call me Uta.", the handsome red eyed alghoul insist.
"Ah, Uta then."
"Have you picked a name for yourself?"
The naked newborn alghoul glance to the bloody patch of grass. Not even a single bone remains. To be grateful for her sacrifice, the thing had eaten all of her body down to the last nail.
"This girl fall as she runs from me, and then she was caught and consumed by me. I think I will honor her for this. Because of her, I completed my transformation and be reborn. Cinderella's Fall. That is my name."
Uta chuckled. "Indeed, we should honor our preys. We should always be thankful to mortals that nourish our humanity. However, your name is too odd. How about Cinder Fall? Now that sounds more natural."
Cinder nodded, satisfied with her new name. She took the new clothes Uta had brought her and wore it.
"it's a bit tight on the chest."
Uta sighed. "Sorry, I usually prepare clothes for males. I am not used to get one for females. Then again the girl we had given you was gifted on the part. Alghouls take the appearance of the last person we eat before complete metamorphosis except the colour of our eyes. She was a very beautiful girl."
"indeed she is.", Cinder agreed.
"The settlements are on high alert now. Since our small group has been consisted of males, the Hunters are hunting down any suspicious males they can find. That is why we made you a female. You will be able to capture supplies for us while we distract the Hunters."
"The Hunters…. Will they be a problem?"
"Hmph! They are weak. Nothing to be worried about. Their heart is impure but their flesh do contain power. We will provide you good meal to empower you. An alghoul will get the magical trait of the first meal they eat after metamorphosis, so, do you have any specific trait in mind?"
Cinder Fall took a moment to think. "The girl's father… He used to be a glass craftsman, isn't he?"
"yes." Uta nodded. "He do possess magic to control glass, though he used to prefer to make glassware by hand before his retirement."
Cinder Fall smiles. "Well, Cinderella is now part of me. It is only right for me to reunite her with her father as part of my flesh. Give me his flesh, Uta. So that I can honor Cinderella."
Uta smiles. "to think you will eat even the foul meat of that terrible human just so you can honor the sacrifice that give you your form. Cinder Fall, you are an honorable alghoul."
Cinder Fall smiles like a saint.
"I am simply doing the right thing."
.
.
.
(((AN)))
Was stuck in writing SAANIN, so I decide to make this prologue for the next arc of DL.
Post Season 2 Cinder was trash, so here we have ghoul Cinder. She is a very nice person and always appreciate her foods.
I import some Tokyo Ghouls character just so that I don't have to invent OCs from scratch. Though I honestly forgot how Tokyo Ghoul characters act like so their mannerism are pretty much OC. Hope you don't mind this.
Depending on how bad I am stuck at SAANIN, I may write this arc for the meantime. The next chapter will go back a few days to where Jaune and frens arrived at Kuroyuri and Roman stole the Rust Bucket. All according to keikaku.