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RPC Background Stories Part Two: Second Encounter (sec. 4) |
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A few hours later, the village came into view. Kuro gave a sigh of relief and exclaimed, “Finally!”
Rei laughed and shifted the backpack she had taken from Kuro about two hours ago. She looked down the hill at the village. It was fairly large, a bit too large to be called a village. It was more like a town. As they approached the gate, a guard stopped them.
“Who are you? What is your business here?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“My name is Rei Nerio and this is Kuro. We were asked to come help with your problem with the fire apparitions.”
“Those two with you as well?” the guard inquired, pointing to two men that were walking up to the gate behind Rei and Kuro.
Rei turned around and saw that she had never seen the first man before. He was tall with fair skin and blonde hair. Beside him was someone she did recognize, however. It was Daichi.
As he walked toward Rei and her guardian, Daichi’s grip on his halberd tightened. When he was close enough for them to hear him speak without him having to yell he said coldly, “What are you doing here, Nerio?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” Kuro growled.
The man beside Daichi shifted uneasily and Rei saw him slowly move his left hand towards the handgun attached to his belt. Rei quickly pictured a rune in her mind, activated it mentally and directed a small jolt of electricity at his hand. The man gave a slight yelp of surprise and quickly moved his hand away from his gun.
“I suggest keeping your hand away from your gun,” Rei said quietly but coldly.
Daichi looked over at the man and asked, “What did she do to you, Bakar?”
“She shocked me,” the blonde man grumbled.
“Excuse me sirs, but what are your names and what business do you have here?” the guard said to Bakar and Daichi.
“My name is Daichi Somai.”
“I’m Bakar Kiba. We’re here to assist you with your fire demon problem.”
“You’re with them, then?” The guard said as he jerked his thumb in the direction of Rei and Kuro.
“We are not!” Rei and Daichi shouted at the same time.
“Why is the Nerio Clan here to kill demons?” Bakar asked.
“We are hoping not to resort to violence,” Kuro said, speaking for Rei since she was occupied with a contest between her and Daichi to see who could glare at the other the longest without blinking.
“What were you going to do then?”
“Make an attempt at peaceful negotiations with them, what else?”
Daichi let out a roar of laughter at Kuro’s statement. Rei let herself blink then folded her arms across her chest. “What’s so funny?”
Daichi regained his composure and replied, “Demons are monsters and are beyond reason. Why do you think we demon slayers exist?”
Anger flashed behind Kuro’s eyes and he began to shake slightly with the effort of restraining himself from bashing Daichi’s head in. He clenched his fists by his side and said through gritted teeth, “If demons are monsters and are beyond reason then maybe I should Ignore Rei’s commands and kill you now.”
Rei put her hand on Kuro’s arm and said softly, “Calm down. He’s not worth it.” Rei turned to the guard and asked, “May we go in now?”
The guard nodded and moved aside to let them pass. Rei gently pulled on Kuro’s arm and led him inside the gate. Daichi and Bakar followed them inside. When the gate was closed and they were out of earshot from the guard, Kuro yanked his arm out of Rei’s grasp, spun around and punched Daichi square in the nose. Daichi’s hand quickly went to his bleeding nose and he issued a long stream of colorful curses before saying, “What the hell was that for?!”
“Kuro! Why did you do that?!” Rei shouted.
“That was for landing Rei in the infirmary for two weeks because of that electric shock you gave her,” Kuro snarled. “I told you That I wouldn’t let you walk away unscathed.”
Daichi growled and grabbed his gun wit his free hand and aimed it at Kuro. “And I told you that I wouldn’t be as kind to you during our next meeting as I was during our last.”
“Would you two just give it a rest already?” Rei grumbled. “Look, I know this idea probably won’t work, but since we all came here for the same reason, why don’t we at least attempt to work together?”
“Absolutely not!” Daichi and Kuro shouted in unison.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Bakar said calmly.
“But, Bakar, she’s a Nerio! And that guardian broke my nose!”
Rei sighed. “Would you like me to fix your nose for you?”
Daichi backed away from Rei as fast as he could. “No way! No magic!”
“What’s wrong with magic?”
“I hate magic!”
“Do you want to go through life with a messed-up nose? Because that happens sometimes when someone’s nose gets broken.”
“Daichi, just let her fix your nose,” Bakar said.
“Fine,” Daichi huffed. “Just don’t you dare mess-up!”
“Oh, I wasn’t even considering that possibility,” Rei mumbled quietly to herself. She took a book out of one of the bags Kuro was carrying and flipped through it for a minute. When she found the spell she was looking for she gently moved Daichi’s hand away from his nose and began reading the incantation.
The language of the incantation was unlike any Daichi had ever heard; yet it felt strangely familiar. It also somehow sounded wrong when Rei spoke it, like she wasn’t supposed to be able to speak it. Something about Rei’s voice made Daichi slip into a trance-like state. For a moment Daichi felt as if there was nothing else in the world besides him and Rei. When Rei had finished healing his nose, Daichi was still in a trace.
Rei finished the incantation and put the book away. She looked at Daichi and waved her hand in front of his face. “Somai? Hello? Anyone home?”
With a shudder, Daichi pulled his attention back to what was happening. His hand went to his nose to make sure it was in one piece. “Fine. We can work together as long as you keep your guardian under control,” he huffed as he and Bakar turned to go.
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 Kyokiri · Fri Aug 17, 2007 @ 09:13pm · 4 Comments |
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