"Delphine~?" A voice echoed, almost musical in tone. And I could feel as she tensed, her hand grasped the hilt of the instrument she wielded. Her gaze parted from mine and towards the source of noise.
"I know not your name… nor the grudge you hold. So I give thee one chance, leave, do so and you will not die."
Her voice was rustic… almost ancient within my senses. Only when her knees tensed, her hands placed me down to the ground. As if she trusted in my goodwill to not flee.
But the other did not flee, she saw it fit to approach the dangerous beast that was that girl. Yet somehow... somehow my instincts told me otherwise.
No, not that she wasn't dangerous, for she was... to the highest degree. But there was a sort of trust between my own body and hers.
A silent laugh echoed in the back of my throat. Quietly I scurried away from the fight, somehow… instinctively I knew that this would turn into a battle. One that this crimson eyed girl would win.
Either way, I had no desire to be here any longer than necessary, and as such I took off in a slight jog. Each paw heaved over the next, in a slight rhythm that only grew faster and faster.
Until I could no longer see that girl, nor the other that had seemed to be in search of that crimson eyed girl.
"Delphine…"
I tested the name on my tongue once more, and felt how my tongue rustled between my maw. The seemingly endless discomfort it wrought. Not the homey and warm feel of 'mother' nor the powerful roar of 'Okami', my own name.
But a discomfort that only seemed to grow the more I tested the name. The name of the person that had saved me? No, was such praise worthy of her person. Or was it a mere platitude of my own mind.
Still... the question weighed heavily upon my mind.
Why had she… was there such a benefit of my own person…?
…
[Delphine pov]
A quick glance to my behind found it bereft of any presence. A sigh exhaled from the tip of my mouth. The sword at my side was fully unsheathed, set in a familiar stance.
It may not have been intentional, and merely a reactive instinct of a past life, but what I had prepared was not some common art such that it could be taught in this dead end sect.
No, it was a degraded holy art that would be prized as the greatest treasure one may come upon. Merely the stance I took was enough to intimidate the girl who had the misfortune to see me as some non-threat.
Her pupils dilated and my stance shifted accordingly, I had read her movements and shifted the Ever Flowing River Sword to react.
Thus was the purpose of the River Sword, to be as swift and adaptable as a river. To never look back and rage with adaptation. For a river could be gentle, could lead to some lifegiving pond. Or it could be rage incarnate, where the unfortunate - who had found themselves within the currents - would be drowned without a doubt.
She - for I knew not her name - was one in the same. Either form of the River Sword would do, but for her… I need not think of defense.
"Heh~" She awkwardly laughed, her voice scratched by the fear she felt. Yet still she held that arrogant look of hers. As slowly, ever drifting towards my form, she pointed that sword of hers to me.
"Do not blame me."
They were neither noble nor honorable words. Neither. For they were simple platitudes to my consciousness who had not yet accepted death. For that wriggling mass of kindness wanted to overlook her actions. Let her go with but a warning.
Only as I took one step forward, the river raged, water seemed to form within the air. It dictated my path. Yet by the time her eyes could comprehend such sophistication, she was already bereft of such a possession.
Her head flew to the side, blood burst out of the stump left of her neck. And when next I sheath my sword - first washing the blood from it - she had kneeled down. Her body dead, as dead as the blank look her eyes told.
"I warned thee"
To the dead, there was no need for words, yet I still spouted a lick of tongue. A disdainful expression, for the one so foolish as to come at me with such haphazardly placed intent.
I had no quarrel, no discourse with her. But…
A sigh echoed from my lips once more. A quiet touch of frost, despite the tempered sun, it was still cold enough for the air within my breath to freeze.
And with it I kneeled down, my hand against the dirt. A trail of bloody footprints that ended quite near here.
We had already been told of our objective. To bring back as many spirit crystals as we could. The universal currency among cultivators.
Of course they were split into levels as well. Each in correspondence with the level of the beast killed. And each a different color. A dark black was the lowest of the low.
For the simple reason that it was the most impure. Who contained Qi of the lowest order. Downright harmful to consume.
Yet each level further brought purer and purer results. All until it become completely transparent. Only that was never seen, not even within my lifetime, for it was the peak of all. Not something someone of my stature could see let alone use.
However they still had use, for both resources, that could be made into elixirs and weapons. Each more useful than the next.
It was why I did not bother to stash the crystals within the given bag. As undoubtedly I would be forced to give it to the proctors, given a meager supply of points - used to exchange for items - in return for value that was hundreds of times more useful…