Tell The Devil I Said Hi... [Job | Jiyu]

Job:

"ARE YOU SURE THIS IS A GOOD IDEA?!"
"JUST TRUST ME!" Kiru would yell to her companion as they held tight to the side of a large wagon racing down the old mountain pass. With every bump and tumble, the two shook, their feet hanging over a dark chasm over the edge of the path. All the while the driver was no where to be seen, and the two horses pulling the wagon were in a panicked frenzy, sprinting as fast they could down the rocky path. Behind their cart were 5 other men on horseback, all racing as fast as they could to catch up. And they were gaining. "3, 2, 1 GO!" Kiru yelled, as the man beside her let go of the wagon's side, falling backwards into the canyon. At that moment, Kiru would extend her hand and summon a massive water tendril! The white water rushed downwards and grabbed the man's ankle as he fell. Within an instant, it yanked him upwards again until he went flying back over the cart, landing right on top of the wooden wagon. With a hard "thunk" he rolled on top, but was perfectly fine. Not wasting any time, the man would get to his feet, trying to keep his balance before pushing the knocked out driver off his seat, and taking the reigns of the two crazed horses, struggling to gain control. At this, Kiru would shut her eyes and quickly leap upwards, rolling over onto the wagon's topside just as a man on his horse came riding beside. As she got to her feet, the man leaped from his saddle onto the wagon, pulling out a long knife from his coat. With a furious yell he swung it down on Kiru as she was regaining her balance. Not having a ton of time to react, the girl quickly put up both her arms to stop his from reaching her face, the sharp blade inches from her face. He'd quickly let go and strike again as Kiru sidestepped the blow. Stab, slash, dodge, duck. It was a dance Kiru had been all to familiar with She just needed to get an opening. Finally, the man hesitated for a moment, allowing the girl to swing behind him and kick him in the back. The force wasn't too hard, but it caused him to stagger enough for Kiru to get into her next position as soon as he swung the knife around again. Grabbing onto his arm as he did, Kiru pulled down on it quickly, causing a small 'crack!' sound to erupt. The man screamed with pain as Kiru proceeded to elbow him in the stomach, and whip around for another kick to the face! That impact made him stagger backwards and fall off the wagon, tumbling in the dirt behind.

"HOW MUCH FURTHER?!" Kiru yelled behind her, still watching the other 4 men on horses. "Just through here! We're almost at Cragged Skull Cave!" As the chase continued, the men began to pull out odd objects from their hips, and pointed them at Kiru. Magical weaponry it seemed. They'd begin firing at her, her slayer senses allowing her to dodge most, but a few times she needed to summon another tendril to block some fatal blows. While she had  been distracted with the shots, two more of the horse men came up and clambered onto the side of the wagon. One seemed to be a mage of some small talent, as he instantly released a ball of fire in her direction. Kiru's hands and feet began to swarm with white water as she quickly rushed in to fend off the two invaders. Within a few ducks and punches, the first man was sent flying off the wagon into the chasm far below. While the other one kept his distance, launching spell after spell at Kiru. The girl would elegantly dodge the spells, before clenching her fist and punching the air in front of her. Within an instant, a massive explosion of white water burst from a magic seal, engulfing the man completely, and sending him over the edge as well, rolling past his two companions still on horse back.

Soon the who area darkened as the wagon entered a darker cave, and now the air was a lot more damp. Using the extra energy, Kiru began to conjure up another spell as the remaining two horseman began to gain ground. However, before they could get near the wagon, a massive blue seal appeared on the ground behind the wagon as it passed, and when the horseman ran across it, the seal lit up! The ground would instantly crack and crumble as a massive spire of hot water burst from the hole! Engulfing the two horseman the same time... Seeing as there were no more chasers, Kiru took this time to regain some breath from that extended battle. It wouldn't be long before the sky would show itself again as the wagon left the cave. "Uhhh... Miss Nivani? We got more trouble..." She'd hear her driver say. Kiru would hear something off in the distance, before sniffing the air... He was right. She'd turn to lock her gaze on a large silhouette of a massive object in the air, flying in front of the setting sun. "This must be there headquarters..." She'd say, some tone of interest in her voice as she stared up directly at what seemed to be an airship. Then, Kiru would see a fork in the path ahead. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. "VEER LEFT!" She yelled. "LEFT? BUT ROSE GARDEN IS NORTH OF HERE!"
"Just trust me!" She'd yell again, conjuring a ball of water in her palms. Kiru needed to think quickly! That airship didn't look like it packed any heavy weaponry, but it probably had some wizards to make up for it. She was expecting a blast or two from it as soon as the wagon got into range. But then again, the stuff this cart contained was valuable to the clan chasing her, so she doubt they'd try anything to harm the wagon itself.

It wasn't long until the wagon quickly rolled past the airship, and much to Kiru's surprise it did nothing. It simply turned and began following. However, as soon as the demon slayer turned forward again, she'd realize their thinking... The canyon was blocked off. Her companion pulled back in the reigns as the horses screeched to a halt at the sight of the large avalanche of rocks. And the wagon would lie still in the canyon's dead end. "HA HA HA! Foolish wizards! You think we didn't plan ahead either?" A loud robotic voice could be heard, coming from a speaker on the side of the airship as it flew towards them. The propellers slowed and the object halted in mid air about 30 feet from them, before slowly lowering. Kiru could see the cockpit. Suspended by a large pod, inside she could see the man on the wanted posters. He had abnormally large goggles, and was rather short. His hair was all messy, like some sort of mad scientist. He sat in the pilot's seat with his hands on the two large levers. Soon, Kiru sensed more movement coming from behind. She turned her focus to the walls of the canyon to see about a dozen more bandits reveal themselves. Sensing some of them were mages. She clenched her fists before turning back to the man in the airship. The sun would slowly set on the horizon, as twilight entered the area. "Now then! If you want to live, I'd suggest you leave the wagon now! Before my boys here have to pull your dead corpse off of it!" He'd yell into the microphone, as the bandits chuckled. Kiru's companion the driver quivered in fear at the situation, slowly looking up at Kiru who stood tall on the wagon. "Wh- What do we do..?" he whispered. Kiru would say nothing, but simply stare up at the man in the airship with a glare. The silence lingered on for a few moments, until finally the soft white glow of the moon could be seen over the edges of the canyon. The man inside the airship scoffed. "Bah! Fine! Have it your way. Destroy them!" He barked at his men, laughing as they got their spells ready. However, something was wrong. Their boss began to tremble slightly. As they were about to attack, he coughed. "W- What's going on... Why can't I m- Move?" He coughed again, his body seemingly frozen. The entire time, Kiru stood on the wagon not saying anything but staring up at the man with a look of hatred.... Her cyan gaze slowly shifting to a crimson color. The entire group stopped in their tracks, and stared at their leader in horror. His veins began to bulge from his head, as sweat poured down his neck. As the bandits watched in a shocked horror. "... K- Kiru?" Her companion would slowly squeaked, and again he'd be met with the silence of her resolve. Her fists clenched as the man began to sputter, and cough up blood.. Unable to control his own movements.

"Wh.. What kind of Bl- COUGH! Black magic... I- Is this?" His head would tense up suddenly, as his neck bulged. His eyes widened, and looked like they were about to pop straight from his skull! And then suddenly, Kiru would crack her neck, staring up at the man. With that, he puked out a huge pile of blood, before falling over onto one of the levers. Knocked out cold... His body shifted the levers, and soon the Airship began to move again. The bandits gasped in shock as the large machine began to shift in the air. It would slowly spin, and began flying straight for the wall of the canyon where most of the bandits had been standing on top of. As the massive airship got closer, they quivered in fear, before turning and running as the large object collided with stone! Igniting a large explosion in the night! The fire climbed high as the wreckage broke apart and fell beside the wagon... Kiru still standing with her eyes a crimson color... Before finally turning back to normal. She let out a heavy sigh, and slumped to her knees. Breathing heavily, she placed a hand on the wagon to balance herself...

"L- Let's go..."


A few hours later, Kiru laid against the wagon next to her driver as the thing entered the streets of Rose Garden. He'd pat her on the arm as she seemed to be sleeping. "We're here Miss Nivani. Thanks again for helping us transport these artefacts. If those bandits got hold of them there would be no telling how much destruction they'd cause." Kiru would slowly open her eyes and gaze back at him. She simply nodded. "That is true... Just doing my duty." She'd respond. A couple minutes later, she'd be dropped off in front of the Silver Moon Inn. She'd slowly walk inside as the evening bar was just starting to get lively. The multi hair colored girl would simply walk to the job board, and take off a piece of paper. Marking it as complete, she'd leave it on the counter and order some tea... The demon slayer would proceed to sit at an empty booth near the corner of the inn, trying to regain her strength...

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It had been maybe a few days since Jiyu ended up in life threatening danger and she was kind of starting to feel a void where the adrenaline rush normally kicked in. If she was not getting into trouble? Not experiencing that delicious rush to her head?! Hime was fairly certain she was not progressing anywhere in life. The young girl had goals she wanted to accomplish, and it was hard to achieve those things if she was stuck in some state of stasis around the Silver Moon every single day. Sure The wind user was not incredibly discontent with simply waiting tables for most days, it had it’s own little rustic appeal considering her rather simplistic roots. However she was born wild and getting into trouble was something ingrained within her very being, a sort of talent if one would, and she felt like she wasn’t using her skills enough if she didn’t have to annihilate someone at least once a week or so! At the very least the wind mage was fully capable of finishing what she started when she got the itch to go get involved in something that could be dangerous. In spite of having a very weak body that could sustain ranked damage even from tripping and falling? Kaze had incredibly powerful magic, that was very clearly still growing and developing, just with one attack she did several ranks worth of damage to one enemy, three or more depending on if she had takeover’s or such active! Anyway’s none of this was important, the only significant thing was that the inugami felt she had not gotten out of the guild to do anything dangerous like a job, recently enough to keep her sated. “Makoto, go get ready, I’m going to pick us one of the jobs off the board.” and what she meant by get ready was that she was sending her kitsune to collect her weapons which currently happened to be stored in the room she often shared with Marschal, since her last job had resulted in a twelve foot giant carrying her back home after she collapsed in Motor City due to the fact any air from that place was like poison to her body due to how closely connected to her element she was. Even if she now wielded darker magic than she was born with? Jiyu had still bound her existence to the wind when she and it were pure, thus the corruption of the air quality around motor city, could easily do her in if she was held there for too long. People vanishing and dying? Had just been too good for her to resist. Also no, even if Jiyu could now be a bit sadistic, she did not like the thought of random people dying for absolutely no reason… Sure she reveled in thoughts of torturous death for those who deserved it, but the wind mage did not just want to spread malice around the world she was not some chaos spirit or something, she was just one of revenge.

“So what does the board have today?” the wind user sighed slightly as she realized she was still shorter than the job board itself. Wasn’t Izayuki or someone eventually going to fix that?! It was useless to have some mage you considered a decent power house enough to let her work constantly, and then have her be unable to read most of the jobs on the board. Kazehime huffed slightly, grabbing the sleeve of someone standing near by and requesting they place a chair at the board for her. While it was a hit to her pride to ask for help like that? It was to be expected she would need help to read every single job on the board, since she was only five feet tall at the end of the day and with her weak body she could not risk falling by jumping up and down repeatedly to read things or try to grab them. Jiyu waited patiently while the chair was brought over, slightly internally upset that the chair which let her be tall enough, was one too heavy for her weakened form to move. Once everyone had moved away from the spectacle of her needing someone’s help? Kaze climbed onto the chair and stood on her tip toes, reading the jobs at the top of the board, the one’s she had been unable to make out before. “Monster’s growing too intelligent? The fuck do they mean by that?!” One could call her kind monster’s too, so she hoped that was not a general insult, she might have to take revenge if it was, the inugami laughed it off easily as she rolled her shoulders back slightly. The sound of monster’s who had priorly been dim witted, finally learning to work together out of the blue? That sort of sounded appealing to the wind user, after-all it was a new situation that people were trying to chart out, plenty of room for unexpected danger and adrenaline rushes! In fact this thing sounded like the exact sort of mission she came down here searching for, the sort of thing she had started looking for first thing this morning when she realized herself beginning to get bored! Jiyu stood on her very tip toes, fluffy black tail extended straight out behind her in an effort to keep her balance as she started using her claws to peel the job off the board so she could take it on, hopefully before Maka got back with her stuff. Even though she was a grown woman who could do what she wanted? She feared Marschal finding out when she was taking a job, but that was an overprotective thought process on both sides, not any serious problem. Finally after a few minutes of work, she had her hands on the job, sticking it down her black halter top as she worked on getting back to her flat feet and then disembarking from the chair she had been standing on. “I should get someone to put this chair back.” after all someone who didn’t need to use it in the way she had to? Would likely trip over it.

“Thank’s Maka, can you move the chair into place while I do this?” The way Kazehime’s outfit pieced together was a very exact art, considering she hid two weapons within her armor and had a quiver/bow and arrow that stayed perfectly in place while she was out on mission’s! It was clearly no easy task to get everything into place before she set out. Jiyu was just now working on typing her fan beneath one bracer and her knife beneath the other, both hidden entirely from sight, items one would not know happened to be there unless the wind user told them. However the weapon gifted to her by the man she loved? That set was much more visible, since it would be hard to hide a bow and quiver full of arrows since she was such a small girl. To start securing her quiver and the bow? Jiyu had to first pull her long hair around to the front of her body, tying it into pig tails so that it would not be in the way when she went to get an arrow later on, once she did this the teenager untied her chest plate, slipping the quiver on and retying the thing over top of it, for added protection and lessened risk of losing it when things got hairy. The bow was much easier as it simply clipped to the side of the quiver, meaning that was the end of her equipping her stuff. During the time it had taken Jiyu to get ready? Maka had long completed her task of putting the chair back. How did a toddler fox put a huge chair back you ask? She simply transformed into her five foot tall combat form to move it with her larger mouth! Anyway’s they were both done at the moment and ready to head out on a job. However Maka did not yet quiet have the vocabulary to ask Jiyu where they were going, she just trusted her guardian figure to pick something they could both handle, though Jiyu did most of the fighting regardless of what they did!

It was on the way out of the silver moon that Jiyu noticed something different about the building, at least in comparison to the way she left things. When she had went to pick this job not even hours ago yet? No one else she would feel comfortable with asking to accompany her was present, everyone was a low ranked mage or someone who was male and she did not feel safe around. Jiyu would have nothing to do with making herself feel unsafe! Anyway’s thing’s had suddenly changed because there was a new face sitting in one of the booth’s near the back. No matter that Jiyu realized this other mage was likely recovering from another job, the wind user slowly made her way over. Why slowly? She was more aware of Kiru’s presence from scent than from sight, since Kaze’s vision sucked, it took several moments to get close enough to pick out the other mages exact location. “Kiru~” instantly the wind user sat down across from the other mage, well actually she sat on the table in front of her, once again proving she did not really know proper manners. The tone of voice Jiyu used? Was one that kind of suggested she was going to ask some sort of favor or something, it was just that girly innocent tone that did not belong on someone who had black marks painted across their face. “I have this job.” the wind user wasted no time, showing the other mage the flyer she was holding, dangling it like a tasty carrot or something, right in Kiru’s vision. Hopefully? The other mage would agree to what she wanted. “The reward is per mage, so neither of us would take a pay cut or anything, plus it would be useful to have two mages on this one, since the monster’s are suppose to be using teamwork or something, a team would be better for beating them.” and then she made her case, feet swinging off the side of the table as she looked right down at Kiru, only elevated above her by the fact the booth seat was lower than the table Jiyu sat on by several feet. “So you’ll come with me right?” the wind user chuckled slightly, kicking her feet once and jumping off the table to stand next to Makoto, glancing back at Kiru to see if the other mage was getting up to follow them.

Kiru had her eyes closed as she tried to let her magic do its work, and regain her strength. The soothing taste of the hot tea would also help as the demon slayer tried to stimulate her senses with some peace and quiet. It seemed like there was no end to Kiru's random adventures. They seemed to occur on a weekly basis now. She was either saving a town from some terror or other, or taking back stolen goods from dangerous bandits. Not that she could complain. Kiru always enjoyed helping others, even if her looks never said it. Not only that, but it was now her duty as a Rising Star. The title never seemed to matter to the demon slayer, but the magic council had recognized Kiru as a mage to beat back the evil forces of the world. And she was glad to do it, but not for anyone. She wasn't fighting for the magic council, nor for the guild. She was simply doing her part to make sure the evil keeps its distance. Even if that means fighting giant ice spiders on top of snowy mountains, or taking down massive robots when your body has been transformed into an action figure. However, Kiru's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a voice she had not heard in a while...

The girl's eye flicked open to see the cheerful face of Jiyu. A wizard she hadn't really met before, but both of their names must have been introduced at some point. Weather it was through hearing of their feats, or the fact that Kiru had been Jiyu's successor in both the Aces of Black Rose, and Rising Stars. Kiru honestly didn't know much about the girl, but Kiru could instantly sense demonic energy coming off of her. Not uncommon, however, her magic aura was strong. Stronger then Kiru's. She must've been very powerful, as Kiru could guess.

"Hm?" Kiru would simply grunt in response to Jiyu's first statement about a job. Kiru could already tell where this conversation was going, but Kiru didn't understand why this demon girl was asking her. Jiyu's next comment confirmed it, she wanted the demon slayer's help with a job. Kiru would say nothing, but simply take the flyer the girl was eager to give her, and look  it over...

Something caught Kiru's eye however.... Sentient monsters? That sounded familiar... Kiru leaned in with interest, her cyan gaze quickly scanning the contents of the flyer as Jiyu spoke. Something about this job was... That's it! A few months ago, for her ace promotion, Kiru was sent to the nation of Iceberg... There she was confronted by an entire nest of sentient spiders, all working together through some sort of dark magic. Kiru had not time to look further into the matter because she had to get an entire village to safety as she fought the Spider queen on top of a snowy peak, but she caught a glimpse of something before the monster fell to its death... Something the monster in the picture on this flyer shared similar features too. Those dark, unsettling eyes. The magic that seemed to come off them. They were the exact same as the Spider Widow! And now whoever was responsible for cursing those ice spiders was back at work, this time they were focused in Monster Land...

Kiru clenched her fist and suddenly stood up. She'd been thinking about this for the past month, regretting she never found a lead to who was responsible, but now this was the best chance she got. She'd simply walk past Jiyu. "We have to move."

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The first thing Kiru was going to learn about the girl who might have one day been something to look up to for little kids and such? Commanding her around as if you were more powerful than her was a very bad idea! Jiyu was what some would call a form of rebellious, if she did not trust someone with her very life, existence, her heart beat itself?! Than telling her what she ‘had’ to do was only going to complicate matters when dealing with her. Maka would be the first clear of this, because the little kitsune seemed terrified the second Kiru tried to tell Jiyu that she ‘had’ to get moving as if the little B-ranked mage was actually something powerful, as if she could take a single monster from an A-class mission on her own! Jiyu watched the black and white haired girl's back and could only feel rage rising. How dare she tell her that she needed to do anything!? If she was not taking this mage, than the little mage who was currently trying to command someone out of her league, well she would not even have the chance to do this, the mission was ranked above her, Kiru needed Jiyu to even gaze upon this mission! The wind user was not going to deal with treated like the second class wizard on this mission, not even for barely a single second. Eventually before they started the important part of this mission like fighting and such? Kiru would learn her place in this mission, the water user was back up not the main show, Jiyu was the one who found this dangerous adventure first and she would not have someone she did not realize as an equal or even anything near a beta nor alpha, boss her around like this! The inugami viewed her home as her pack and that meant member’s of the pack had to stay in their respective places around her, Kiru had not earned the about of liberty she was taking. Watching the other girl head towards the door of the Silver Moon? One could see the cold expression in Kazehime’s mismatched optics, the girls legs swaying once slowly. Jiyu made the choice that right now she would not get aggressive physically or anything like that. Even if she was a spirit of vengeance? She could not enact her will so freely, there were many factors to consider and nothing was right at the moment, she needed Kiru for this that was assured, Jiyu had no desire to run off on this one alone, so she could not make too many risks right now.

Let the foolish low class mage think she was in charge for now, the raging Inugami knew she could do that, if there was one thing she could do in this world it was play innocent when she was anything but, and this act fooled many people very easily. “Yes we do have to get moving.” the witch resisted the urge to rest her hands on her hips, keeping them loosely at her side’s, pigtails bouncing as she stood up on the table, the hair style swayed as she started hopping along the top of booths and jumping from table to table in order to follow Kiru towards the door. The only sign that anything had been wrong in the wind user’s head? Was when she moved past one table this coffee mug sitting on it boiled and then exploded shortly after she passed, but Jiyu knew she could not be directly blamed. After-all? She was not responsible for the occasional bad fortune that could come around spirits like herself, the guild had to accept that in order to truly accept her back into their ranks as she was now, and Jiyu very well could not change her life state. “I Do Not Make A Habit Of Making My Clients Wait At All.” of course she jumped down from the end of the booth rows, standing in front of the door before Kiru reached it, looking over her shoulder so she could watch the twin haired mage walk the rest of the way over. Once Kiru had reached the door? Jiyu pushed it open and briskly walked through, Maka leaping off her shoulder after she passed through. Instead of the wind mage holding the door, the little fox was the one who did it. Also? It was not a result of Jiyu’s slightly irritated state, but rather the fact the girl's body was too weak to really handle more than 10 pounds and if you held a door for an extended period of time it felt lots heavier than that. “Sorry that I can’t really hold the door.” it was an offhanded comment as Jiyu started playing with her pigtails.

“Hopefully you're not afraid of heights.” she could remember the first time she went flying with Marschal and he had not told her that he was terrified of heights, instead her boyfriend suffered through the flight. Jiyu still felt guilty that she had not realized his strife during that short flight. So these days? Kazehime did give some regard as to if her comrades were afraid of flying. Jiyu threw down a feather from behind her ear, the white object expanding just big enough to hold the two of them and little maka. “It’s cheaper and more efficient than any other way of getting there if you don’t mind.” she explained her reasoning as she sat on the sloped front of the feather, her tiny fox companion hopping towards her lap and curling up there.

“Also I would like to know about your normal spell range, we need to figure out how your gonna fight with me since you can’t afford to get caught up in any of my spells.” prior to her transformation her wind’s had attacked even her allies and she did not see that changing anytime soon, so she needed to make sure Kiru did not get hurt during their job.

As Kiru got up and began walking towards the door, she'd pick up on the face Maka was making after her comment, and noted it was directed at Jiyu. The Kitsune seemed to have a scared expression, one Kiru could only guess was for a predicted reaction to erupt from her master. What this reaction was would be unknown to Kiru for sure, but she could guess. The slow movement and the hesitant movement, not to mention the heartbeat she could sense from the girl. It elevated... Kiru could guess Jiyu was feeling some sort of aggravation. Kiru would ignore it however, unless it became a problem that would be. As it seemed obvious now Jiyu had no intention of showing it at the moment, and Kiru hoped it would stay that way. She didn't have time to deal with an annoyed wizard, not on this mission. Usually, Kiru would seem indifferent about her partner's feelings, but this job carried weight with it. Kiru COULD NOT afford to let this being... Or whatever was the cause for these sentient creatures to escape. Not a second time. To this day, Kiru cursed herself for not keeping a part of that Ice Widow. Whatever was causing it to become more organized with its brood would have left some trace within its body. Instead, Kiru's rage had forced the girl to drive the A rank monster off a cliff by shoving a sharpened rock through its skull. And with that, Kiru assumed her only lead for the answers had gone... But thank god Jiyu was feeling antsy, and decided to pick a new flyer on the job board Kiru had noticed. And asked her to accompany the demon girl. If anyone else had chosen that flyer and went on that job, the results could've been pretty bad. Luckily Jiyu asked Kiru, so the demon slayer could carry the urgency of this mission. Which was why Kiru would prefer if her partners would cooperate with her, regardless of reasons for their rage. If they took this job too lightly, then who knows how much these monsters could accomplish. Kiru had to take it seriously, so another incident like the one in Ice Berg could have been avoided.

These reasons being the foundation why Kiru couldn't afford to have a pissed off teammate. For whatever the reason was, petty as it may be. When people were angry, they tended to be reckless. Something there would simply be no room for on this mission. Judging by Jiyu's reactions however, it was evident she was trying to hold back any anger towards Kiru, so the demon slayer thought it would be best to not acknowledge the source of her frustration. Provoking Jiyu would only make things more complicated, and Kiru had no time to deal with her. This mission was important, so she'd ignore the demon girl's feelings for now. "This isn't for the client..." Kiru would grunt, staring ahead as her fists clenched with memories of that mission. Her eyes flashing a hint of violet for a quick moment with her anger... A side effect of her Demon Slayer status.

As the two stepped outside, and Jiyu summoned a giant feather. Her apparent way of transportation. Kiru would say nothing, but stare blankly at the object before stepping on. Kiru was never one to pass up a quicker and easier way of transport to her missions. That's when Jiyu would ask Kiru about the range of her attacks, noting Kiru could get injured if she was hit with friendly fire. "I have close, mid, and long range attacks at my disposal. However I could say the same to you. My spells can be extremely harmful to anyone in the radius." She would say, staring ahead. It was true, Kiru's spells could cause a lot of collateral damage, and even if Jiyu was a higher rank, it was higher by much. If Jiyu was caught in any of Kiru's AoE spells it could hurt her as well, especially since the girl was demonic. Not to mention they have knocked multiple mages off their feet who're ranks above the demon slayer. Something Kiru couldn't control, so she would do well to warn Jiyu.

With that, Kiru would take this time to explain the severity of this mission. These monsters becoming sentient isn't merely a random event... It's happened before." Kiru would explain to Jiyu about her previous mission solo, how she had to fight off an army of sentient ice spiders with the same magic. "It is likely the two events are connected. Which is why we have to get to the bottom of this with haste. Or I fear the situation will only get worse. I thank you, Jiyu, for allowing me to accompany you on this mission. If some other mage had gotten to it before either of us, their ignorance of the matter could prove fatal. Luckily that won't be the case. Assuming we both survive this..."

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It was a good thing Kiru had largely ignored the fact that she had somehow managed to get Jiyu very annoyed. Engaging the Inugami by revealing you knew what she was feeling somehow? Well it was a sure fire way to shatter any plans the wind user had of being peaceful. If someone who was a spirit of vengeance knew that you were aware of their anger with you? It would only elevate the need to take revenge within their body. Honestly the wind user could not help how angry she got at others, there was not a single thing she could do about it because these things were built into the fiber of her existence, she was a negative spirit born on rageful emotions. However luckily enough, due to the four faces of kami’s, the canine did not have to always hold onto the darkened emotions that entered into her body, ran through her blood and sank into her heart. Quickly after they appeared within her soul if she did not start to act upon them instantly? The fourth of her faces, Assertive, began to draw the sin and malice towards it, attracting those evil things like flies to honey, eating them, consuming them until there was no trace that Jiyu had felt them in the first place! By now that had already taken place, the process was almost done the very second she exited the building, her heart beat would be calming, her breathing rhythm perfectly calm, all signs she had been upset for any amount of time already vanishing. Honestly it was strange, unnatural, no one just lost emotions like that, but Jiyu did because her primary personality was not the one meant to deal with the negativity. Instead? Her deepest face was the one who required the dark emotions to survive and thrive. Every single time something like this happened? The fourth face took more power so to speak, moved towards being the sort of person that would be harder to deal with once she emerged, the sort of entity that was next to impossible to work with. Luckily the young woman was in control of her faces, right? Actually she was in control and that was the scary part, the faces were all the same page obedient to each other. The assertive face could not appear without the permission of the other three, but the primary face nor either of the other two could take control back from it, without the darkened side willfully retreating back to slumber inside of them. Yet none of this was anything to worry about quite yet, because there was no reason for Assertive Jiyu to make an appearance.

They were soaring in the air when the conversation on strategy finally began and the wind user could not be happier for it to begin. Silence? Was deafening to her sometimes now, since she actively had her other three faces living in her head. Honestly now that she knew about them, her head felt so full whenever she was not actively thinking about something and engaging with the world around her. “Than our best bet would likely to have one of attack with our multiple target enabled spells, and then move out of the way for the other. Whoever isn’t attacking will be a lookout for sudden enemy moves and use their more containable spells to cover for what the current main fighter can’t see coming.” it was hard to keep an eye on an entire area’s movement when you were fighting, this way they could have each other’s back without being in each other’s way. However if Jiyu had known what Kiru was, she never would have suggested this plan, the wind user had no way of knowing she was putting a demon slayer in charge of watching her back. Had she known what Kiru was prior to this mission? Heck they would not even be here together, Jiyu had a deep rooted dislike of Kiru’s kind and it was not an easy thing for her to overcome, it was not like Magna being a cerebus slayer, after all it had been demon slayers who killed her mother not dog slayers.

“Kiru, if there is one thing I do it’s survive.” she had been spared once by demon slayers, survived being beaten and abused for two years, gotten another chance after her body was destroyed, Jiyu had a habit of cheating things that should have done her in. However on missions she often simply ran into the kind of luck that translated to her being too strong for her enemies. Either way, the wind mage looked down at the space beneath her smirking slightly when she saw what was there. “My magic is not fine enough to spare just one, but if you can somehow avoid killing just one on your turn, I can possess it afterwards to learn what's going on. First thing’s first though, we’re late to the party.” the second they were in the land? Jiyu could see the hordes of monsters on the ground, easily over dozens of them, all of different ranks. “I call first dibs.” the canine laughed slightly, her existence suddenly seeming slightly darker as she jumped off the feather in front of Kiru and Maka, drawing an arrow from her quiver as she prepared to fight the monster’s running towards them. “Keep running, thats a good thing to be doing, it means you're all going to get really hurt.” the demoness chuckled slightly, pulling her bow from it’s secured place and preparing to fire, after waiting a few seconds, she let it go. At first? Nothing seemed to happen, but than some of them looked terrified as her first aura lashed out a second before the field exploded into an array of slicing wind. “Your go Kiru.” the wind user then deiced it was time to tap out with her mission partner, turning around she opened her arms for Maka to leap into. Even if she told Kiru it was her turn? Jiyu had taken out a decent amount of the hoard in her simple moves, and most of the one’s remaining were trembling and seemed to be debating on if they wanted to attack these two girls or not.

The twin haired girl would listen intently as Jiyu relayed her battle plan to her. Kiru couldn't argue with it, as it sounded like a reasonable way to about things anyways. Kiru had no doubt Jiyu's magic could cause significant damage to anyone in the vicinity, but unfortunately, so could Kiru's. Ironically, her magic was a lot more destructive then one would expect from a water user. While she did have significant healing magic as well, all of that was outshone almost completely by the offensive side of her spells. Which is the reason why so many liked to underestimate Kiru upon first glance. Their first mistake. Many knew her magic was water based, but few had actually seen it in action. So the automatic assumption formed in their heads of some peaceful, support type mage stereotyped with water wizards. As for Kiru's personal opinion on the matter, she didn't really have one. If people wanted to think that, they could go along and think that. Unless someone deliberately asked the demon slayer about her magic, or if she needed to fight another wizard, no one would really know until they saw her in action. Which usually gave Kiru a major advantage on the battlefield. Time and time again she'd encounter many wizards who tested her in combat. And time and time again, they all made the same mistake. The first thing you'd learn about her magic is that it was in no way "serene". It was a vicious cycle of heat, cold, and utter pain. Despite it's holy element, Demon Slayer magic was by no means a peaceful art... And there wouldn't be anything Kiru could do to change that.

As the two landed, Kiru would hold her ground with her hands behind her back as she watched the demon girl initiate fist blood. To say the least, Jiyu's spells effortlessly took out a large amount of the hoard that came to greet the two as they landed. This wasn't unexpected of course, Kiru could sense her magic radiating off the demon girl's body long before combat was initiated. It seemed her aura had some effects as well, evident by the terrified expressions of a few of the monsters. However, they didn't stay scared for long as Kiru would be given a turn to attack. She'd simply walk past Jiyu with her hands still behind her. As the monsters witnessed Kiru coming, they got ready to retaliate again. With a massive roar, a large ogre like creature came lumbering through the crowd, wielding a massive club in his hand. The monster would notice the two, and stop its feet with rage before charging straight for Kiru, as she was the closest.

Dark clouds began to envelope the sky, and with it, faint rain started to spit on the ground. Kiru seemed unmoved by the situation, staring blankly ahead as she continued to walk forward. The monster let out another roar before his arms raised the massive club. However, before he could bring it down on the demon slayer, he'd be halted by something... Sprouting out of the ground behind him was a massive white water tendril that wrapped around the end of his weapon. The moment of hesitation and realization displayed by the ogre was all Kiru needed. Within an instant, she flicked her hand and the tendril yanked backwards. Determined to hold on, the monster was brought onto his back with a hard "thump!" Before too long, two more white tendrils burst from the ground beside Kiru and snaked around his legs. With a furious swing, the two magic tentacles threw the monster up wards into the air, before smashing him mid air towards the hoard. The large creature tumbled on the ground and easily crushed a few of the smaller ones. The initial shock caused a few to hesitate, but then they started to get angry...

Getting into a battle stance, the hoard of monsters began charging. At this point, the rain had picked up, drenching Kiru and her hair as thunder began to rumble. As the monsters ran, she raised a hand and manifested a holy orb of water that grew in her palm. When they got about 30 feet away, the demon slayer smashed the orb into the ground! The surrounding surface began to crack and then huge rivers surfaced! They snaked all around the battlefield, as well as staggering a few of the smaller monsters. With that, Kiru would move her arms and the rivers of water would begin to rise from their streams and rush over the group. It glowed with holy magic as monsters screamed in pain and terror from the massive tidal wave of water swallowing them. Although there were still a few brave souls... And Kiru could sense them. She sniffed the air and smelt their repulsiveness nearby. However, before Kiru could turn to her partner and warn her as well, a massive figured lumbered into view, seemingly tanking Kiru's river flow spell. Armed and armored, this was a battle troll. Curious under normal circumstances, since Trolls weren't supposed to be sentient. But of course, this was the reason why the two wizards were here... The troll would begin charging, and Kiru knew what to do, but worried for Jiyu's safety if she was forced to play her card. As a result, Kiru would lift an arm if Jiyu would prepare to engage. "Get back!" She'd yell, as huge streams of water vapor began appearing around Kiru, using the moisture in the air and the water from the rain to fuel her next spell. She would shut her eyes and open her mouth, as the streams of vapor began to be sucked in. A few seconds after this, Kiru would swallow and stare straight at the Troll. Her eyes would flash white for a second, before the girl began sprinting straight towards the beast. Using an outcropping of rock, Kiru would gain some height over the beast before jumping off... And mid air she would yell. "Ocean Demon's Howl!" Suddenly, a bright blue flash would appear in front of Kiru's mouth as a huge blue magic seal floated in front of her. And with a furious scream, a massive explosion of holy water rushed out and completely caught the troll off guard! The pressure was incredible, and so was its speed! The explosion caused the massive 16 foot beast to be blown several feet back, before engraving his own shape into the rock face behind him...

As the mist subsided, Kiru would land, staring at the now dead monster. Her head completely soaked and dripping with water, her face a blank, expressionless void.

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The wind user was curious to see how Kiru would fight the monsters that were left, mismatched eyes watching carefully. As the other mage started using her magic? Jiyu started to feel uneasy, as if there was something wrong with the other girls magic, in her concern she picked Maka up into her arms, silently telling herself she was being overzealous for no reason, it was one of the monsters emitting this magic, not her partner. However when told to get back, she went back by several feet, now barely able to see Kiru the wind mage watched as she consumed water, the realization sinking further in. Hearing the shout? Jiyu realized there was no deny the fact Kiru was a demon slayer! This revelation was more than the wind user was prepared to deal with, the thought sinking in and doing horrible things to her head.

The monster’s were taken care of, at least the kind they had signed up to destroy. However now? There was a major rift in the duo that came here to deal with them, one that would be unexpected for Kiru who had likely just assumed the other girl knew what she was when inviting her on the mission. Instead of seeing a guild-mate, someone that was anyone she could trust in anyway, where the split hair girl was standing, the only thing Jiyu could see was a new terrifying enemy. The second Kiru would turn around to mention something, or ask to keep moving on in the mission, she would be able to tell something was about to go incredibly wrong on this mission. An incredible opposition when compared to the confident, powerful and slightly sassy mage who had asked the Demon Slayer on this mission, the mage Kiru had come here with was taking slow steps backwards, her body shaking visibly her eyes large and slightly watery. From the look in Jiyu’s eyes? Might not even recognize her ally anymore, because the expression in her eyes spoke of an intense fear, clearly the thing that Kazehime gazed at was not Kiru, but instead some terrifying creature that could petrify its enemies with a single glance, and it was clear Jiyu considered herself one of that beasts enemies! Thing’s were suddenly complicated and there was nothing the blue eyed female could do, except watch as the wind mage stumbled another step back and turned around throwing a feather and flying off.

Honestly it was not the slayer’s fault, Hime had simply not experienced any sort of good past with Demon Slayer’s, in fact her experience or supposed experience was extremely negative. Long pig tail styled jet black hair whipped in the swift moving wind around her, the chill eating into her bones as she found tears rolling down her face, the stress affecting her ability to fly. Eventually? The emotional hype caught up to Jiyu and she was forced to land before she could crash, yet this did not stop her running away because that was one thing the dog was good at doing! Instead of stopping she stumbled forward, getting smalls cuts from branches she didn’t bother to dodge, occasionally hitting her knees as she sniffled and bit her tongue to the point blood ran down the sides of her mouth. Kazehime struggling back to her feet every time she faltered, knowing she needed to put as much distance between herself and a demon slayer as she could, not even yet remembering that slayer was her ally. The night was dragging on and it was getting too late to continue for anyone, the sounds of monsters echoed through the forest, which was a major problem with her current emotional distress, there was no way she was logical enough to fight anything right now, she likely could not even cast a spell. If something caught the wind user? Jiyu was likely done, and she barely comprehended it, the teenager was near blacking out as she ventured further into the darkness of the decaying forest, tears damping the ground beneath her as she went.

At one point it came to a head, the wind user could not walk much longer, she could fly forever when she could get into the air, but walking was different because of her severely weakened body. If the mage tried to keep going? Exhaustion would likely get her before the beasts hunting anything alive in the forest could find her. Luck shone on the mage however because her odd optics caught sight of a cabin, not far ahead considering she could see it and her vision was very poor. Considering the ache spreading through her body? Jiyu stumbled to the door and pushed it open, she wanted to run further but the girl knew she was not going to make it any further, her body could not do it. The second she got into the cabin, passed the threshold? Kazehime suddenly fell to the ground, entirely passed out, blacked out, her body could no longer handle the stress and it thus gave in, forcing her to faint before things could get worse.

Makoto was terrified the whole time everything took place, she mostly fed off her guardians fear, because the kitsune did not know what was going on. Apparently? Jiyu had seen something she did not, something dangerous and ran away, though the fox wondered why she had left Kiru back there, the child hopped their ally was alright. The woman who acted as a surrogate mother to the twin tail, looked so fragile now with her face streaked by dry tear paths, it saddened the fox and made her whine slightly, nuzzling the teen to try to wake her up. However, nothing happened and the child realized that Jiyu was out cold for now. Maka sighed out and suddenly transformed into her larger form, pulling her friend into the building fully and closing the door with her nose, before moving to investigate the cabin, leaving Jiyu to lay. During her investigation Koto found that a bed room did exist in the structure and she left the door to it open as she returned to Jiyu, slipping the woman onto her back and walking to the room. Sharp teeth pulled the soft albeit slightly dusty sheets and quilt back, moving to let Jiyu tumble from her back to the bed before the fox went to pull the covers back over the distress sorceress, rumbling softly. “Please wake up soon.” the fox did not really know what to do without Jiyu, and she had not been able to recognize the wind user as her confident caretaker for most of the night, it worried her.

The fox left Jiyu in that room, leaving the door to it open as she returned to the open kitchen/dining/living area. Maka? Did not want to look at Jiyu like that so the fox transformed into her young human appearance and pulled a blanket out of a closet somewhere, settling onto the couch beside the door.

All of it was so sudden. The entire experience that Kiru had gone through was by far not expected at all. Not from her, and by the looks of it, Jiyu wasn’t expecting it either. But what was it? Kiru could only stare back at the other mage who’s usual calm and somewhat cocky charm had all but faded into that of a frightened child. At first, Kiru would’ve assumed that there was something behind her, so the demon slayer quickly spun her head to be met with nothing but the soft rain, and an empty field. Realizing Jiyu had been staring at Kiru herself, she slowly turned her head back, with a somewhat confused expression on her face. There was that look of fear. Something Kiru couldn’t mistake. However, unlike other expressions of fear, Kiru knew exactly what this one meant. She had seen it countless times before.... Jiyu was frightened by Kiru. There was no mistake the familiarity in those eyes. The same look so many of the others gave her when she was just a little girl. It brought back painful memories. But that still confused Kiru… Why? Why was Jiyu frightened? Why did she tremble in Kiru’s shadow? Was she so afraid Kiru’s magic would be used against her? Even if Jiyu was a demon, Kiru never intended to strike a guildmate… But surely she already knew this… Right? As the rain continued to pour around the two girls, Kiru would simply take a step forward.

“Jiyu.. I pro-” However, she was cut short by her reaction. The girl would simply stare at Kiru in horror, before backing up and summoning her large feather once again. She would watch in sadness as Jiyu departed the area, flying away on her feather to get away from the Demon Slayer. Whatever had happened to the girl… Why she was so afraid of Kiru so suddenly with no explanation… She would have to find out. Not just for the mission’s sake, but for Jiyu. Kiru felt something much larger was at work between them. Something the girl couldn’t even begin to understand. Not now anyways. However, she feared if this reaction went unanswered, the rift between them would only get wider. She stared at Jiyu as she faded into the sky. A soft expression on her face as the rain continued to pour around her….

Kiru would then begin to track down the girl… Surely she couldn’t have gotten far? Or could she? After all, she did seem terrified of the demon slayer, so she wouldn’t be surprised if Jiyu had made a run for it. Possibly back to the guildhall? Regardless, Jiyu had dog like features, and dogs were fairly easy to track with Kiru’s slayer senses. With that thought in mind, the demon slayer would begin walking. Trying to stay on the trail of her and Maka. Even if they were in the air, Kiru could still sense the familiar smell floating through the sky not far from her, so it would be enough. As Kiru walked, she would try to figure out the reason behind Jiyu’s sudden outburst. There was the most obvious answer: Kiru was a demon slayer, and Jiyu was a demon. Perhaps the wind mage had no idea that Kiru had such magic, and now feared for her life? It was plausible, but unlikely. The look in her eyes said that much, Kiru would remember. It was something else… Something Kiru couldn’t know… However, her thoughts were cut short by a dark sensation… A very familiar… Very dark sensation… She’d stop in her tracks, and turn. Nothing but the still trees blowing in the wind. Giving a concerned look, Kiru would shift her head forwards again and continue walking…

At what point do people start becoming the very things they vowed to destroy? The single question that would ring through the girl’s head her entire life… The one thing people kept asking her.. Wherever she went, it was the same question. And every single time, it was being directed to her. At. What. Point? Was Kiru truly the only one who had been asked this question? Was she really alone in her quest to transform what she had been forced to become into a force for good? As the years went on… The feeling would of the truth would only get stronger in Kiru’s mind. Truth be told, Jiyu’s reaction struck more personal to Kiru then one would think. Horrid memories resurfaced as she looked into the wind mage’s eyes, and saw herself. The village. The people who doubted her. The people who feared her. And for what? She was forced to learn a cursed form of magic? Taught by one of the most sinister and sadistic entities in this world? After all, it was never her choice. Not in the slightest. She was forced to be tormented like this. All for some dark plan in her future she knew nothing about, but did know there was nothing she could to to avoid it. And the worst part was… She wasn’t the only one.

The night would be filled with the roars and shrieks of the monsters that inhabited these lands, but Kiru didn’t seem to notice. Any attempt to attack Kiru was met with strict force as she was determined to continue her search for her guildmate. The forest was thick, but Kiru’s quest for answers blocked out any obstacle from mind as she pushed through the brush until she finally fell upon what looked like a small abandoned cabin… Jiyu’s scent was fresh… This must be where she stopped. She simply stared at the cabin from the tree line for a moment… Thinking about what she was going to do. Eventually, Kiru summoned the force to step forward. Blood still on her clothes from the battles she fought getting here. She pushed the door open, her shadow falling over the cabin’s floor. As the moonlight illuminated the white crystal in her hair, staring at the interior. Her face had a mixture of anger and confusion on it. However, were these the true thoughts of hers? Nobody would know for sure. Not unless Kiru spoke. With that, she stepped inside the cabin, seeing Maka curled up beside a door. She’d simply stare at the kitsune silently. Her face demanding an explanation of some sort, hoping the girl would be inclined to do so. If not, Kiru would simply walk past her and confront the demon herself...

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Makoto was laying on the couch in the opened front room as the door flew open due lightly harder than Kiru had intended, due to the storm raging on outside. It was sometime past midnight when the demon slayer managed to find where the demon’s had taken up hiding from her. Yet the kitsune did not know it was their ally who they had been running from so the fox did not look as if she was upset to see the split haired girl, actually Koto looked quite relieved. For most of the night Kiru had been tracking the two of them? The kitsune was worried about the ally they left behind when they fled, so the fox sprang up from the couch when the Ace walked into the building, grin on her vulpine features. “You're alright!” the creature did not move off the couch, a blanket falling to the floor as she came to stand on the arm of the furnishing. “What was chasing us?” the statement proved that the kitsune was unaware of the existence of demon slayer’s, entirely daft as to why Jiyu had grabbed her and fled. However this also showed that Kiru might have a chance to get to them, more of a chance than if Kazehime had told Maka what was going on. Of course in the state she had been in last Kiru saw her? It was likely that the wind user had not even thought about it, too panicked and worked up to even consider informing her companion of the danger she interpreted. Anyways the twin tailed creature did not know to warn Jiyu about Kiru being here, no idea that she should be raising alarm bells so the child laid back down on the couch as she watched the slayer move towards the bedroom, not attempt to stop her. Koto lay back down, curling up on the surface to get some more shut eye before they would eventually continue their job because she knew no matter how scary thing’s got that Jiyu would finish the job somehow. Little did she know this was the one time her maternal figure had no intention of continuing on, Jiyu would have to be convinced to do this one and the only one left to convince her was also the reason she didn’t want to keep going.

The room Kiru entered was medium sized, smooth dusty wooden floors, popcorn ceiling and this dark green wall painting that was whipping to reveal the faded wood beneath due to the age of the cabin. Furnishing the room was a simple dresser beside the door, the far side of the room holding a work desk paired with this tacky chair. The centerpiece of the room though was the postless bed that the collapsed sorceress lay on, thick yet very worn covers concealing everything expect for visage and long hair, oh also her bare shoulders, which was odd because she had been wearing her halter top and armor earlier, the black top’s collar should have been visible with the part of her exposed, yet it was nowhere to be seen. Luckily enough, for now, the demon slayer may not be likely to notice the small pink polka dot item on the floor since her focus was the demoness who fled earlier. It was time for the confrontation, but it would not be as the slightly angered woman thought it would be, there was no way she could force answers out of an unconscious guild mate. Kiru would not have to force anything, though because she was right about Jiyu’s fear being deeper than just the species line and terrors like that tended to come back to haunt someone’s sleep when they were stimulated. Just as the ocean slayer arrived in the room, whimpering noises could start to be heard, one’s emitting from the demoness tucked into the bed.

Beyond the realm of what the waking could see, Jiyu was caught in the land of dreams and most of the night had been peaceful, happy memories of her mother. “Mm, what are we going to have for breakfast baby girl?” it was the question which her mother asked almost every single morning, but the little girl did not want to hear it today when she realized her father was not in the bed with them! The only morning she could remember her father not waiting until they woke up to leave for his shop? Was the day her entire life changed, the day that broke her heart and left a wound that would never completely close. “We don’t need to eat breakfast this morning!” the little girl was aware of what was coming and yet unaware she was dreaming, that she could not change it. Trapped in her own sprouting nightmare the witch had no idea she was speaking out loud nor that there was someone who could hear every single word. “Then we’re going to have to go buy some bread.” the child struggled as her body went through the motions of that day, her mouth the only thing she could control. “No, Mom, We Have To Go!” everything kept going and she felt the tears rising, streaking down her sleeping cheeks as she ran bare foot towards her mother. “We Have To Get Dad and Go, Now!” yet there was no point in fighting, except for unintentionally spouting her history to Kiru, nothing was going to join. “I Know You're A Demon Mom!” it was the little girls scream as her mother tried to send her off to her father’s forge, struggling desperately as her body walked off.

It was at that exact moment that the nightmare started to wear off, and the sorceress twitched. “No! Mom, I Don’t Want To Go, I Know I’m Part Demon! He’s A Demon Slayer, He’s Going To Kill-” the woman jolted upwards, the blanket’s falling to the edge of the bed as she reached out into thin air as if trying to grab onto someone, tears pouring down her cheeks. Of course, there was also one other thing for Kiru to notice besides for her guild-mates distress and past. Somehow during her sleep? Jiyu had managed to strip off everything except her briefs and those item’s of clothing were scattered across the bed or fallen to the floor, the blanket’s scrambled to leave her completely exposed.

Kiru would simply ignore the kitsune, all for one sentence that was... "The past." She'd say, before shoving the door opening to notice her guildmate passed out on a bed, looking surprisingly tucked in. Most likely done by the girl’s yokai friend.

The room was dark, and overall silent. The only noise was the faint wind blowing outside the broken window of the small room. Standing alone in the dark doorway, the demon slayer looked over her fallen guildmate with her serious gaze… However, one thing many people wouldn’t be able to tell was that she was in fact Kiru was overall curious about what she saw… And soon heard. There in the bed the girl seemed to be struggling in her sleep. Something was obviously wrong with Jiyu, she hadn’t expected to see her here like this at all, and judging by her friend’s reaction this was in fact no normal episode. Something about Kiru triggered this reaction in Jiyu, but the exact reason still eluded her… But it didn’t seem like it was going to for long. Soon words came from the demon’s mouth as she continued to shake, and weep in her sleep. A nightmare… Something Kiru was all too familiar with. She slowly walked to the demon’s bedside, and looked down upon her.

She could see the sense of panic on her face, even as she was asleep. Not knowing what else to do, Kiru would simply lean her back against the wall, after all, what could she do? Kiru was not about awake Jiyu, as she could sense the obvious tension. And if past experience had proved anything, it wasn’t very smart to interrupt these episodes. And it seemed Jiyu needed the time. Kiru would lower her head, until finally words muttered from her mouth. That’s when it all hit home. It was clear. Everything was now. As she feared before, Jiyu was afraid of Kiru due to her demon slayer status. The familiar feeling had always been haunting Kiru in her wake, but when it came to reality she was almost never ready for. It was obvious now Jiyu had some past experience with her kind. But who? Who could she possibly be talking about? Did she accidentally mistake Kiru for the character in her past? Is that the reason for the sudden fear? All this time Kiru would be staring across the room with her eyes wide, until finally she awoke… Or so it would seem…

Jiyu laid motionless in a sitting position, her entire top ripped to shreds… String with fear at the blank wall in front of her. Kiru standing at the side, hiding in the shadows, afraid of what answer she would get to the rather obvious question. “I’m sorry…” Were the only two words that could come from her mouth. Honestly, her throat felt clogged. Kiru had no idea what to say. Only could apologize for anything that had happened to her in the past… No matter what that would be.

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The air was cold and frigid against her flesh, biting into the bared skin as she panted in her upright half asleep position. Tomorrow? She would surely wake stuck to the bed from frozen sweat. However she could not be concern about that right now, in fact, her body was about to fall back into slumber against the bed, you could see her body wavering. If Kiru had stayed silent for another second longer, the canine might not have known she was present until the next morning. However at the statement elfin ears twitched so sharply one might think they would come off, body seizing up in fear as one hand clutched the worn blanket in a death grip, weak claws unable to tear through it as her mind raced and her breathing picked up. Jiyu still didn’t see her comrade, she just saw a demon slayer and the fact she was and always had been anything except human, a monster that kind spent their lives trying to take out, whether they are guilty of a crime or not, slayers did not care.

Kazehimes body reacted before her brain could truly come up with a plan and it moved swiftly off the bed, to space under the desk, as if space cold protect her from the other woman. To some? This action would seem incredibly dense, but to be honest, it made sense when someone considered the fact Jiyu was canine, she would obviously seek out something den like when stressed to the point of only instinct. “S… S-Stay Away.” she pulled a dagger from the single arm bracer that remained on her, most of her clothing besides her underwear and that missing or torn, night hunt on the other side of the room while her fan was nowhere to be seen. Jiyu pointed the knife outwards, but even Kiru would be very aware of the fact the petite woman could not actually stab her, even without the scattered emotional state, Jiyu was physically too weak to do anything with the blade.

Apparently, the Inugami realized her mistake because she dropped her blade and simply backed herself against the wall her head and curled up with the blanket sprawled at her feet.

The entire time Kiru would continue staring at the floor, her long hair covering her face as Jiyu backed up in fear once she realized the girl's presence. The demon slayer could guess why she was so afraid of Kiru suddenly. It had happened to her before. Many times. And from the looks of it, Jiyu also shared the same experience, but from a much different perspective. Something had obviously happened to the girl at a younger age, something concerning Kiru's kind. The demon slayers. Was there really no escape from this torture? To tell the truth, this wasn't just an emotionally shock to Jiyu, but it hurt Kiru just as much.

For years she had tried to forget everything that her devious mentor had taught her, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never forget the magic that flowed through her veins. As a result, she had decided to put it to good use. That's how she entered Black Rose. She saw a guild as her only shot of redemption for the horrible magic she had been stuck with. A chance to prove her master wrong, that she wouldn't be turned into some sort of weapon to destroy her rivals. And she wasn't planning on starting with Jiyu. Not in the slightest. But of course, the girl didn't know that. She saw Kiru and only saw some sort of monster. And what pained Kiru the most was the fact that it was of her own free will. She wasn't possessed, she wasn't being influenced in any way. She saw those eyes before and knew the fear was sincere. Morpha had won. The ocean demon had proved to Kiru once again, that no matter where she went, or what she did, someone will always fear her for the monster she had been forced to become. And there wasn't a damn thing Kiru could do about it.

"I... I didn't choose this path." Were the only words Kiru could think to say. After all, what could she say? She didn't know the whole extent of Jiyu's past experience with her kind, so Kiru found herself verbally limited. However, she could guess based on the stuff she said shortly before waking up. Her family was gone because of her magic. "I know you hurt. I know you're afraid. And I know there is little I can do to change that... But when you decide to face your past, I can promise you I have no intention of re creating the nightmare you've been running from." Kiru would whisper. Truthfully, the words were also meant for herself. Saying that out loud eased her mind a bit, as she soon found every word holding a shred of truth to her own situation. But she knew it would hold truth to Jiyu's situation as well. At least she could hope. This whole experience proved to Kiru that if she could not show herself through magic, maybe her words could help ease the fear people saw in her...

As the seconds went by, soft rain would begin to hit the roof of the shack...

WC complete.

While some animals tended to back into corner’s when frightened of something around them? It also resulted in the nasty effect of them being locked in with no escape, a situation which always caused something wild and unbroken to grow more aggressive made it far more likely to lash out violently. Right now Jiyu was no better than some wild dog for the most part and it was just lucky she was not thinking fluidly enough to bother using her spells or this would become a serious and dangerous fight! Nothing eased her fear, it kept growing, but something seemed to shift about the long haired girl, her gaze looking up the fear trembling in her eyes shaking, faltering. “Running?” the word echoed through the room seeming to become a dark phrase as it faded into soundless oblivion “I’m not Running, I’m Hunting, I’ve been Hunting for years and when I find him.” No one really looked at Jiyu and thought anything malicious was there due to all of it being hidden deep inside of her, tucked into her assertive face. This scar though, the anger, rage, anguish, misery it created? All four faces shared it and agreed that the man who had caused the pain they felt, had to die. This was an expression Kiru would have never seen in passing, the look on Jiyu’s face right now it was pure but not in a good way, it was pure in the sense that only hatred burned on it, her eyes piercing as she slowly stood up, slipping out from under the table “He’s going to burn like he burned my mother, he’s going to stand there in agonizing flames like my mother stood there to protect me. He didn’t even know for sure if she was a demon!” the girl kicked the table she had been hiding beneath, flinching when she was the one hurt instead of the piece of furniture.

As a spirit of rage and vengeance? The anger was enough to distract her from the petrifying fear she had felt earlier, but just barely. Now that she was standing, the girl mostly looked like she was cursing the bruise developing on her foot, now starting to comprehend that she had stripped during her sleep and was standing in front of her guild mate mostly bare! “SHIT!” her hand reached swiftly for the blanket that was about two feet from her, pulling it up to cover her body, looking away with an unsure, untrusting, still slightly fearful expression. “H… How much did I reveal when I was asleep.” there was only really two other people alive who had a clue and she was dating one of them, thus this whole thing was difficult for her, crouching down on the ground once she’d gathered her clothing, trying to keep herself covered with the blanket while she reapplied things.

Jiyu was in the process of fixing her entirely wrecked hair when her severely hypersensitive ears twitched, eyes widening as she drew her gaze towards the window. “Get Down!” she didn’t move to help Kiru by trying to knock the slayer down because not only was Jiyu still frightened, she was incapable of it anyways! Shortly after this warning crashing could be heard as several monsters’s invaded the cabin.

Kiru would only remain silent as she continued to lean against the wall of the cabin. Staring at Jiyu with her blank face, but if one looked hard enough, they'd notice her eyes weren't normal. They reflected the same sense of shame she had always felt since she was a little girl. Everytime she had used her magic for anything, people would be afraid. Not because of its ironically destructive capabilities, but because the only way to obtain use of that magic was by being trained by the demon of the ocean... Not someone people often liked.

However, Jiyu's expression would soon change. The tone in her voice and the body language had all shifted completely to reveal something much darker. When the girl looked up to face Kiru, she wasn't the same, frightful young woman Kiru had encountered only minutes before. But something entirely different. It was honestly surprising to see and sense the rage. She was no longer afraid, but now she was angry. Angry with someone. Angry with a demon slayer. And now one stood before her. Kiru was unsure how this would play out, but Jiyu's next words revealed what she wanted to know...

A family member... How would she react? Jiyu had just spoken about her past, and told Kiru that there was someone out there who had killed her parent... This feeling was foreign to the demon slayer. She had never felt the same way Jiyu did. Because Kiru never hand any parents to begin with. So how could she comfort her at all? She couldn't tell the demon "I know how you feel." Because the plain and simple truth was she didn't. But it didn't seem like Kiru would need to say anything, as it seemed Jiyu would snap out of her trance after kicking the table she had been hiding under previously.

The girl would simply stare at the ground as Jiyu suddenly realized she was half naked, and grabbed a blanket to cover herself. When questioned, Kiru would only say one word..

"Enough..."

That's when a new scent picked up. A monster... And it seemed Jiyu noticed it too. Her shout only confirmed it! Suddenly half the room collapsed as a mighty fist was brought down upon the wood! Splinters fell all over the place as a beastly roar erupted from the dust. When it cleared, Kiru could see another Ogre, but this time he was accompanied by many smaller, man sized monsters. Kiru would simply clench her fist as white water formed around her palms. Her eyes flashed violet for a moment, getting ready as her holy aura expanded...

Jiyu had not wanted any of this to go down the way it had, asking someone on a mission or accepting to go on it with them, she could not remember which way it had started this time, the only thing she could recall it how it should be happier than the experience she was currently having, heck than either of them happened to be experiencing! Kazehime really had wanted to just go on a mission with her guildmate, and she didn’t want to hate nor fear one of her own guild-mates for something like this, but she could not help it because it was so deeply embedded into her. The wind user narrowed her eyes at the towering monster and his much smaller companions, most of them falling when she reached for one of her arrows, admitting she was entering combat and causing her aura to flare up. The female was aggravated with them and did not like what was going on at the moment, to begin with “Let’s take these out and finish this.” she wanted to go home, find Marschal and simply lay with him for days at the moment. Since she had said enough? Jiyu figured Kiru probably now knew the cry baby she always tried to keep away from people. Plus since she was reminded so blatantly of what happened to her mother so recently, she was unnecessarily angry, her rage was rising quicker than her assertive side could consume it. ‘Cool It, I Can’t Keep Up, Whats Going On Out There?!’ the female rolled her eyes, sighing out as she glanced at the demon slayer, trying to calm her breathing and even her emotions, lest she let out the assertive face.

Kiru would say nothing but clench her hands as the water quickly intensified around her palms. She'd than simply turn her head to Jiyu, making sure the girl was okay to fight. It seemed whatever fear or anger that she had directed towards Kiru only moments before was replaced with the will to fight off the common enemy. This was good. Showed Jiyu was reasonable enough to push aside their differences and past events to focus on the present. However, Kiru was sure the event that had just occurred would be brought up later. But for now, they had a job to do. After all, they did sign up for it, and promised to get rid of these monsters. That and the fact that they all seemed to be linked to a familiar magic that Kiru desired to route out and destroy, before the situation of these sentient monsters only got worse.

Not wasting anymore time, Kiru would begin to sprint towards the large beast. As she did, the creature let out another furious roar, smashing his hand on the ground in an attempt to squish the demon slayer. But would be met with only the dirt as Kiru quickly dodged, and used this new opening to scale the large beast. Before he could even react, Kiru would run up his arm and spin in the air, slapping the beast with two massive water tendrils, causing it to stagger. She'd then leap from its shoulder and roll onto the ground where she was met almost instantly with a barrage of attacks from the smaller beasts. Her aura expanded, and Kiru smashed the ground with her fist, causing a massive white geyser to crack from the earth and take several beasts down with it...

Between Jiyu's aura and the attacks of Kiru, the monsters had been taken down easily enough. Now that they did not have to worry about the monsters from before trying to murder them and Kazehimes anger kept her from remembering to be very afraid? Jiyu took the chance to actually glance around, Makoto coming to stand beside her partner as she had better vision than the wind user and was thus the one doing all the actual surveying. "there's a castle that way." her smaller voice pipped up as the wind user glanced over at the five-foot tall kitsune, moving her hand to stroke the creature's forehead slightly, nodding her understanding, using her other sense's to try and paint her own picture of the structure which lay outside her visual range. "Let's get going then." a bit more fighting might be fun for her, even though she was not particularly angry she knew there was fear and anger somewhere within her.

In a matter of mere moments, the two had completely wiped out the entirety of the group of monsters. After Kiru's initial attack, Jiyu was quick to step in as well, her aura doing most of the work as Kiru dealt with some of the stronger beasts. The very fact that they had shown up in the first place was a little troubling to the demon slayer. She had known for a while that these monsters were getting smarter, (most likely from the unusual curse that had been placed ont heir minds.) But it was proceeding faster than she could've predicted. They had somehow sniffed the two girls out to this isolated spot and began to ammass their numbers in hopes to defeat the mages inside. They did have the element of surprise, Kiru could give them that, but they still seemed too weak to do any real harm to Kiru and Jiyu.

After the battle ended, Kiru found herself standing among the rubble of the building, staring at the monster she had fell. That's when the familiar, high pitched voice of Jiyu's companion, a small Kitsune named Mako chipped into her thoughts. The twin haired girl would turn her cyan gaze towards the small creature, and then to Jiyu after hearing her response. She'd raise an eyebrow at the mention of this "castle" She could admit, she had never really stuttered the land of which the two were settled in, but she would've heard about this 'castle' by now she was sure. Regardless of whether this was a regular structure or not had yet to be seen. After all, the duo didn't really have any other leads at the moment. Kiru thought it was worth a look.

"Aye. I'd imagine if any person is the source of this disruptive magic, they'd be located in some sort of keep. That castle is our best option." Kiru agreed. She'd then stretch out her arms and begin to follow the two, keeping a careful eye to their surroundings... In case any more creatures get curious...

On their way to the castle no more animals grew curious of the dou, but there was a thick fog that started filling the area, more heavy than what was natural or considered safe. However there was no urgent reason to turn back because fog was not really something to be considered dangerous in the long run. Without a single word she ventured into the castle with Makoto at her flank navigating through the area using her senses to try and find anything that could be useful to them, eventually they came to a room lit by fires on the wall with a very high ceiling and the fog became so thick it was impossible to cross back through it. “Isn’t this grand.” the wind user grumbled then noticed the opponent they had within the room, well more so noticed the rank scent that she had been following was coming from the axe wielding creature. “Stay back until I do my thing.” the wind user sighed out realizing this opponent was strong she triggered all four of her takeover’s, glaring at the opponent as two colors of mist extended and exploded, her aura lashing out as she fired off her first attack, proceeding to fire off two more of her wind spells afterwards, using up all of her high ranked attacks and jumping back a few steps, on all fours since she had her paws active. “Go for it Kiru.” now that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way, Jiyu scampered to behind one of the columns so she would not have to see demon slaying magic again.

It didn't take long for the air to get foul, and the two wizards approached the massive citadel looming over the surrounding cliffs, surrounded by a grey and dark wasteland... The composition of the land had changed significantly from the wooded forest the two had just exited recently to a inhospitable waste that reeked of death. Only fitting. Kiru could now surmise this place held the source of whatever power was causing these monsters to grow smarter. And she hoped they were strong enough to stop it. Taking a deep breath as they entered the castle, the air grew dark, and the only light came from dim torches lit with blue flames. Black fog quickly obscured the path behind the two, and Kiru could sense a presence far more powerful than the other monsters ahead.

Sitting in front of what looked to be a massive door, was a giant armored knight. He was cross legged, a massive battleaxe resting on his legs. However, it didn't take long for him to notice the two girls. His armor clinked and echoed around the room as he slowly stood up and turned. The very ground vibrated with each step he took, his weight was powerful enough to be felt even from several feet away. Kiru could automatically sense his intentions were hostile, but she also knew this knight wasn't the man they were looking for... She could feel an even greater presence beyond the door he guarded. He was only an obstacle.

Kiru would nod to Jiyu as she quickly leaped in first, her attacks devastating. She yelled to Kiru to finish the knight off, who seemed more robotic in nature than human. Kiru would summon all eight of her water tendrils behind her, and began sprinting forwards. Just as the knight cleaved his axe through the air to strike her, Kiru would leap upwards, dodging it and spinning in the air as all eight tendrils did the same and smashed against his armor. The force was so great, it sent the knight flying backwards into the massive door! His back cracked the stone... And he fell. Kiru rolled on the ground, the tendrils vanishing as she looked back to Jiyu and nodded. The way was clear.

The two would enter the massive door to an even bigger chamber.... But something was off. Kiru felt an INCREDIBLY strong magic aura, far stronger than anything she had ever felt before! Kiru's eyes widened as the chamber lit up and suddenly a massive roar echoed throughout the room! A monster of incredible size snaked out of a giant hole in the center, and it seemed to resemble that of a dragon! Taken completely by surprise, Kiru would turn to warn Jiyu to get to cover! But it was too late. THe monster's breath released a massive shockwave that threw everyone off their feet and into the walls. The power was so great.... All Kiru could see was darkness....