Shocked by the sudden appearance of this Demon, even more tears had flooded his face as he thought she hunted him down to kill him,
Not knowing what to do as he started crying and uttering extensively, she was taken back as she meant only to stop by and say hello, not expecting this.
But it had happened, and as she heard him mentioning her probably being angry or something of the sorts, out of all of what had just came out of his mouth, she quickly shut up by simply closing his mouth shut with her hand and telling him that she had just come to see him.
It was quite simple in her head, and it worked, luck ruled in her favor, and even tho it looked like she was about to fight an owlbear, it was just her everyday weapon in case she came across an undead out here.
. . . . .
That morning seemed to be dinky and as it was one of him just overcoming the whiplash of [Sleepy Hollow], she sat next to him and pulled his head to use side, telling him to take his time and hurry up with his emotional breakdown.
She wasn't used to this or trained on how to deal with this, so she just spoke as she liked. But for him it meant a lot, it seemed like she was his emotional support and since she was also a Demon just like him, it made his opinion on their race rise exponentially.
***few hours later***
The others still had no clue about Hiro's whereabouts, but they were busy so they put him on hold as they thought it was just Mari and Hiro arguing, either way, they continued helping the village, and the only one still thinking about it was Mari.
Who was angry about it because she didn't do anything?
* * *[L:Inside the church/orphanage]* * *
Inside the church, the kids and everyone were playing in the empty Nave, from the alter's view the entire Nave had been stripped of its seating, and only 2 rows in the very front nearest to the alter were still there. This truly had been more of an orphanage and less of a place for divinity.
Standing over to the side on the left Aisle, the Demon girl had been leaning against the wall, with her weapon laid down by the door, because this was still a church and Hiro had asked her to leave it there.
So as she leaned there, just, standing there with her back against the wall for whatever reason, she just watched as the kids played.
.....
Looking at all the humans inside this building she frowned and glanced over to her weapon which had been laid next to the door.
'Ugh, there's so many of these pesky little runts, if I just kill them, then--" But as she was thinking this, one of the smaller kids ran up to the Demon and timidly held out a flower,
Looking at the little girl in disgust, she was about to react when Hiro suddenly appeared in her sight behind the little girl, and as he kneeled down next to her, he looked up, and with a benevolent tone he spoke,
"Kozimaru said you looked pretty and wanted to give you this flower, she's shy so I'm speaking on her behalf~" He said as he put his hand on the girl's back and helped her raise the flower up to the Demon girl.
Still looking down at the little human girl in disgust, she then looked over to Hiro and hesitantly, she reached her hand over and took the flower, accepting a present from a disgusting human child.
Seeing her take it the little girl beamed cheerfully and ran off happy.
Seeing her run off like that, Hiro laughed and stood up,
"She likes you" Hiro
"I don't like her" Demon girl
"Hm?" Hiro
Confused by her she took a step away from the wall and said,
"I don't like humans and I don't understand why are you surrounding yourself with them? You're an incubus, you should be–" Demon girl
But as she was about to tell him his place, he turned around sweetly smiling as he looked at the kids,
"I like them, they make me feel... Happy" Hiro
Hearing his response she sighed, he was a lost cause, for whatever reason he liked the humans, and that's something she just didn't get.
"What's so special about them? They're all weak" but hearing her, he hopped back around, facing her and simply putting out in the open,
"I'm weak too so that we have in common~" Turning back around he stepped forward and said to her behind himself,
"Anyways, bye now~"
Walking back to the kids, she just watched him leave but she didn't get him, what was so special about those kids to make him act that way, for fucks sake he was an incubus!
Or could it have been that it was because they were kids... Did he want kids of his own?
Thinking about that, her cheeks lit up like flaming Barry's, heat hit her face and she tugged on her shirt as she could feel her body getting overly hot.
"Would it be he wants kids?" Demon girl
Thinking about it a bit harder her face gleamed with a strawberry sunrise,
"I wonder if he'd want to make one with me?" Saying this out loud made her feel like a teenage girl, she quickly tried shaking it off but the thought stayed in her head for another 10 minutes before it slowly took off and left her mind.
Watching them play for half an hour they switched games 3 times and as she watched him, she found it. . .cute.
"He looks rather cute while playing with them" talking to herself she didn't know where this was coming from? She wasn't one to ponder or think randomly like this, she was a Demon of the maze arts, a apex hunter amongst sheep...
And yet she's thinking about a sheep, something she should be hunting, yet now, she's admiring it from afar.
Watching more of it she picked up on a few things, he was more casual when speaking or just being around the 3 older kids, and when he was around all the younger kids, he acted more childish, playful... He was happier?...
But then she realized what had happened and what that meant???
"He imprinted on them?" Knowing that's exactly what happened, she lightly clicked her tongue, seeing as they got to him before her.
But what did she mean by imprinted, well, it was clear he didn't see them as his mother. So it only meant that he saw them as people significant to him, trusted people to which he could rely on and attach himself onto,
"But that also means I can't kill any of them or he'll see me as his sworn enemy, and since I'm not marked in any way by him, he'll turn on me without a second thought"
Thinking about this in detail for a few dozen minutes, she looked up at him at him, and as she saw him kick a rubber-like a ball and another kid catch it from the other side of the room, getting him out of the game, she uttered to herself,
"I need him to imprint on me"
Her agendas were unclear and why she was there to see him was also unclear, however now there was one thing that she saw, and for some reason, she wanted to get closer to Hiro?
But why?
Is that even an answer...
She was in love with him, and that's all, yet for some reason, she wasn't acting rash or forceful, not forcing anything nor rushing it...
And this was the passive effect of the Incubus, it had already affected her as soon as she got in range of him and saw his teary face, it melted her heart and made her not snatch him up like a hobgoblin.
* * *
Taking a break the kids were tired, Genesis was laying on the floor panting as he tried proven he was the best and overdid himself, and both Makila and Scarlett had sat down beside him as they were exhausted,
Yet to them, Hiro, well Hiro was a bit different as had didn't need to rest like them, sure he was exhausted, but not as exhausted as them, he was still up for some more and He was truly flexing on them. . .In a way.
"How can you still stand, we've been playing for 2 hours straight?" Genesis
Putting his hand on his sides and gloating,
"Because I'm awesome that's why! Hahaha!" Hiro
"Heero, are you even human? You have so much stamina, and you're so fast?" Asking that question, Scarlett asked him and he yet again gloated,
"It's Hiro, And I'm not human, I'm a half-human, and I didn't know I had this much stamina too? So that only means, I'm great!" Not caring for a secret identity because this naive idiot was a truthful dumbass, he said that and laughed about it,
"I guess your also half cheetah then, because if I race you, no, if we all try and racing you, we all know who's going to dust who" Genesis
But as he said that, all 3 of them looked at him confused,
"What's a cheetah?" Scarlett, Makila, and Hiro asked making Genesis clench his eyes as he looked back at them and then opened his hand,
Making a shape with his hands of something long with 4 legs,
"It's a fast animal, yellow with black spots, I read about one in the churches books" Genesis
After saying that, Genesis averted the attention from him to Hiro as he pointed to the girl leaning against the wall off to the side.
"So, Hiro, who's that anyway? Why the heck did you bring her along when she's not even going to join in? All she's doing is scaring the kids with her scary gaze Genesis
Hearing his argument, Hiro looked over to her and as their eyes caught sight of each other, she smiled softly at him, and he looked back at them.
"She's uh...–" Hiro
"Cut it out Genesis, you should already know the answer, look at Heero's hands, it's obvious that, that traveler just wants to keep an eye out on Heero" Scarlett
Having a good point, Scarlett looked at Hiro's palms to see stitches and the dark scabs of deep cuts and she shivered as she looked at them so she looked up and with a friendly smile, she said,
"You have a good friend that worries about you, I'm glad to see that you have someone like that~" Talking to him in a sweat mannered tone,
He smiled and thought about a few hours back when she had lent him her shoulder and he said back,
"Yeah, I'm glad to have her"
* * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * *
Oracle:
[Yet jealousy ran deep. And love came at a price. But both... Both were equally unfair as one came at another extent, and that extent always followed something, or someone]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As it was late in the afternoon, the sun was descending from the sky and Hiro was still with the kids,
The Demon girl had left a while ago as she said that she was heading to sleep, without telling him where, she just told him that and left?
But unknowing where that was, that wasn't the time to think about it as they all reeked of sweaty boys and gals, and the "oldest" amongst them told them to head to the separation baths to bathe,
And that included Hiro, however, there was a problem with that, it's not that he had a problem telling that he wasn't completely human, it wasn't that, he didn't care how they saw him. It's the markings on his body that he didn't want them to see.
That would lead to questions and questions would lead to more questions, and the next thing he knew, he was going to be banished away from them.
Also... The humans of this village were incredibly racist, so him being anything but human would get him ditched by them, so he was better hiding his tail,
Well... That was half as much for them, seeing as there was this dog girl who the kids had accepted, but as for the 3 of them, they were kinda similar to the villagers as they didn't like beastfolk or anything none humane.
The dog girl was the very same one he had seen in the forest masturbating, and she apparently appeared to be a big deal to the church as she was the only villager trying to help them out, and since she was the farmer's daughter, she snuck them food and occasionally coin so the didn't have to resort to stealing.
"I really wish I could, but I have to run an errand, I'll excuse myself for today, goodbye everyone"
Saying goodbye the kids disappointedly said bye back to him, Genesis grouchily glanced at him and head nodded saying farewell in his own way, and Makila wished him a good night,
However,
"No, bath first, you can do that later!" She was like the mother of the group, and as she demanded he bathed first, he relentlessly agreed after trying to verbally shake her off and let him go for 3 entire minutes.
But he had a good excuse, he was shy, yeah, plan shy guy, he said he very shy and said he'd bathe last instead of taking a shared bath, and as she looked at him with squinted eye, she sighed and let him do as he pleased,
Lady luck was on his side for once and as he waited for everyone to take one and then come out all clean, he escaped.
Yeah, he rolled for deception and he got a natural 20, deceiving them and them booking it!
However he did smell, and he was very sweaty on this cold autumn afternoon, so as he left, he once again left the village, not thinking once about returning to the inn where that wretched woman he called his sister was,
And going on till he was at a shallow lake, he saw the reflection of the falling sun reflect on the water, and as it was a beautiful view, he stripped, carrying his clothes with him, and cleaning them before hanging them up on a branch to dry, before skinny dipping into the lake.
With his clothes wet but cleanish, he walked into the lake and as he felt its cold body of water on his, he drifted off relaxing his body and floating.
Not knowing how to swim, he was still good as it was shallow and he could literally walk through the lake if he wanted to.
After what seemed like a long time, it seems if he had fallen asleep and as he woke up while floating, he slashed and sunk, kicking the ground and bouncing back up as he coughed up a bit of water he swallowed,
Remembering what he was doing he completely forgot to clean himself, wait? He just realized he didn't even have a bar of soap?
I wonder if rinsing counts?
Well, it didn't matter as unlike the 3 cults of West Africa, he needed to think straight and get out of his own head.
Rinsing himself and getting the sweat and dirt off of his as best as he could, he walked over to the end of the lake, back to where his clothes were set up, and as he walked onto land, he went to the branch he left his clothes hanging on.
Getting to then they were still wet and very cold and there was no way in hell he was wearing them... But that was a problem.
Because he was out in the woods with an unknown danger that could be lurking around and he was armless and naked, he was like a sitting duck.
He needed to find somewhere safe until his clothes dried. . . . . .And he had the perfect place to go to.
Walking nude for 28 minutes, he stumbled upon an area where there were large bushes and as he heard a groan from the distance, he was 100% certain that this time it was a zombie.
Because there was more than one...
Rushing into the bushes while trying to make as little possible noise as he could to not get heard, he walked past the bush into an open area surrounded by bushes.
It was as if that area was a circle and above them was an open sky while around them was a defense of bushes.
Safely making it in without any zombies and dangers hearing him, he immediately saw someone and as he was startled, they rushed him, putting their hand over his mouth and,
"Shhh, don't make a sound" It was the dog girl, and as she was fully dressed this time, and armed with an old Rusted Mace, she looked out of breath and tired as she tried holding in each breath to make her heavy breathing not noticeable.
Hearing a loud cracky groan from behind him past the bushes, the both of them froze up and as their breathing practically stopped. . .Because they both heard a Lv.3 Tank Zombie.
That zombie had a scratchy groan and heavy steps, it was easily notable for those 2 reasons, but also because that zombie was always bulky and it was never easy to hit down with psychical or magical attacks.
Even with his original strength before he was weakened, he had trouble with this type of zombie, meaning, NOW, there was no way he could ever think of killing or even damaging it.
[Rank/Lv.3 Tank Zombie: knowledge acquired]]
Hearing the sounds of it, he could hear its heavy breath right behind him through the bushes, and as its breath was raggedy and it groaned, Hiro felt himself trembling.
"What's this?" Hearing a sour voice from behind the bushes, he heard what could have been a woman, and as she had a bad attitude, she yelled,
"Damn it we lost him!!!"
Outside of the bushes, there was an unarmed woman in traditional clothing, and as she had a mini tantrum, she turned around to see a boy with a similar appeal to her, and as he opened his mouth,
"Just kidding~" She villainously smiled.
A large monstrous hand burst out of the bush and grabbed Hiro completely, shocking him and the dog girl as he was pulled out into the open and chucked across the woods hitting a tree.
*BOOM!*