A Knight and a Demon [Dubh/Kuro]

It’s been a week and a half since he left Savage Skull to go on different jobs across the region. His return was unexpected as he took the secret tunnels rather than go to the entrance. Perhaps he was trying to avoid most of the guards and the guild members from seeing him as he emerges through the secret stone door; he looked around to make sure nobody sees him come in. The secret path he took was originally made for Harrigan to escape in case of siege and only a few members know of such route.

The halls were empty and nobody is around. He was carrying with him a sack of corpses of dead rats so to contribute to Sinali’s experiments. It is weird to see him with such sack of dead rodents and he’ll probably wait till dusk. In the meantime he stashed the sack in the utility closet and prayed that no one comes here before he returns. His suit caught a bit of scent of dead corpses and had to come to his temporary quarters to change but on the way he managed to bump into a little girl who recently joined the guild. They this year’s new arrival of members, hopefully the bump didn’t hurt the little one.

“!!! Oh, my pardons are you alright? Its my fault I didn’t see you on time.” Dubhlainn picked her up for her to stand up straight. “Your name is Kuro correct? What are you doing here in the boy’s dormitory? Were you looking for someone?” Kuro worse a black loose fitting shirt and her eye patch, her hair is riddled with patches of white that looked like as if her pillow exploded on her. Dubhlainn took liberty into removing a bit of the feathers on her hair at least. Judging from her appearance she just recently woken up.

It was indeed hard to tell what Dubhlainn is feeling as of this moment since he always carried a stone faced expression. To Kuro he appeared intimidating but his action says otherwise. Judging from how she reacted, she was confused, probably had a lot of things going on in her mind which have lead her here. Well her strange nature has some charm as Dubhlainn would like to think of it, the part about her wearing an eye patch raises questions that Dubhlainn would like to ask but frankly reserve at a later date. Her face is covered by her frail hands, was Dubhlainn scarring her too much? He wouldn’t blame her if she’s afraid of everyone since all its members give off an eerie aura; sometimes it’s hard to tell whether they wanted to be friends or enemies. The one with the eye patch, that’s what the grunts have been gossiping these days, it was rumored she had something unique in her though Dubhlainn couldn’t tell what it is.

“You seek the eatery, shall I take you there?” A general question to help her but the real question that he wants to ask of her right now, he couldn’t ask her directly since she might agree to the answer already so he had to express his question in another way simply by offering his hand to her.

Is she afraid of Dubhlainn? If she did took his hand now it means she's not afraid, on the other hand if she didn't she still fears him all the same. Of course regardless of the outcome he'd direct her to the eatery.

At first she hesitated probably trying to decide whether to trust Dubhlainn or not but if Dubhlainn were to be asked that question, he wouldn’t trust himself either it’s hard to predict what’s on his mind and considering her appearance and age it’s natural for her to have fear. She was afraid of everyone and it was noted that she tends to hide in corners where she wouldn’t be noticed or looked down upon considering how frail she could be that is according to the grunts. His Chivalry and intentions were made clear but all that achieved at this point is confused her but she took his hand anyways. Did she take it because she doesn’t fear dubhlainn or was it really because she was so anxious of what would happen if she refused to shake hands? It is hard taking care of a mouse but a mouse when alone would be overall frightened of everything that moves, even a small drop of a pin could send it running.

Fear is something that she had to overcome at some point or she will never survive in the guild. Kuro wasn’t the only one worried about rumors, Dubhlainn earned some respect himself among the grunts and any sign of weakness could cause them to be arrogant.The moment he made contact with her hand was the moment when he knew something went wrong. He felt a bit light; he felt mana consumption on his body by the time he made contact with her hand. A portion of his mana was gone and contact with her hand must have something to do with it. It surprised them both and her reaction was enough to tell Dubhlainn that it wasn’t intentional and if it was she would have kept quiet about it. There were many oddities in Savage Skull, Kuro is no different though there was hatred between mages, respect between each other is and overall must or that is what he believes Savage Skull is and this little girl fear is her own way of respecting her fellow guild mates.

Upon having to separate touch, he examined his hand to see traces of his own mana on it. It was the first time this thing happened to him but was this an ability? If it is ability… its that of a Demi-human for that mages having to drain mana with just touch is not a common sight. Regardless Dubhlainn didn’t bother to ask why but assumed it was just her nature to do so and fear must be hindering her control over her magic.

“Let’s head to the eatery and get you out of the boy’s dormitory.” That was all he has said as he rested his hand on the back of her shoulder. He didn’t answer Kuro’s apology but it seems that it didn’t matter to Dubhlainn anyways. It would probably make Kuro nervous if he didn’t answer much so perhaps an assuring tone of voice will calm her down.

“I’m Dubhlainn.” He’s a man of few words though if he really didn’t accepted Kuro’s apology he would have left in annoyance besides she was a child that joined the guild out of her own volition knowing it might do her harm than good. He’d thought that she didn’t belong here but everyone always has a legitimate reason for joining. “If you’re hungry then I’ll treat you to a warm meal.”

With that both of them started to walk towards the eatery.

Dubhlainn was given a little insight and deduced that her abilities may have been one of the reasons why she joined Savage Skull but he can’t help but shake the feeling that Kuro here is a Demi-human of sorts, the question is what race of demi-human does her power refer to? Dubhlainn himself was generally called as such because he was fused with demi-human essence which embodies the darkest concepts of Demi-humans themselves however he doesn’t even know what mix of essences was he fused with. Having an ability to tell demi-human from human comes in handy at times since a part of the compounded essence allows him to tell the presence of such beings but it has been decades since he last encountered Demi-humans such as the Minotaur or the Harpy. He’s utterly confused whether it’s his senses kicking in or that he was just fatigued and worried of what will happen to the sack of rats he left.

He didn’t utter a word and only responded with a nod and a relaxed expression on his face. In fact he entered the eatery and decided to go with her together; completely unaware of the internal struggle Kuro is having right now. Allowing her to go first he can’t help but move his lips but no sound escaped from them.


A few of their fellow guildmates were present here like usual atmosphere. Dubhlainn had to keep a close eye on Kuro for any reaction. Her ability from earlier sparked his curiosity as he slowly reverted to his stone face expression. “Kuro did you make the right decision in joining this guild?” To be honest Dubhlainn really wanted to know her intentions but he rather not step to anything personal yet. He can’t directly tell her that he knows something about her or sensed something about her but he has to confirm it, otherwise there would be confusion.

Her fear is understandable probably because Dubhlainn’s intentions were unknown to her or it was the fact that he kept following Kuro. He’d thought that he’d at least interact with a handful of members; Kuro would be one of those chosen. Her words says it all but it was not clear that it was either a lie or truth because Kuro here looked like that she was obliged to answer, she must have been afraid of punishment or whatever it maybe worries her greatly which is why her hands are constantly shaking.

He took a small sip of coffee as he paid close attention to Kuro as she answered, she avoided eye contact with him, though he can’t tell whether she’s lying or not it was probably purely out of fear for him. Her words barely made any sense to him who was she referring to “us”? Does she have friends around here? It was uncertain because when she came, she was all by herself. His hand hovered across the table to slightly raise her chin as his eyes met hers, noticing her eye patch.

“Kuro…” Dubhlainn spoke monotonously.

“Would you like to go on a quest with me tomorrow?” A direct proposal, unfortunately his question may bring confusion to her and to those eavesdropping on their conversation. Dubhlainn would simply want to get to know her a bit better as well as a chance for Kuro to open up a bit. It’s hard to tell his expression since he wore a stone face.