crowspace | For coldestsmile.

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For coldestsmile.

Koriko had, in truth, not been that bad.

Waking up from Koriko to find herself back in Mogeko Castle, that had been bad. Having to fight her way through Mogeko Castle a, what, third time? That had been aggravating. And throwing herself through the portal on the top floor, to find herself in a world of constant war between angels and demons-

Well, at least she already knew somebody there. Sherbet recognized her, and that meant she was sticking close to him for as long as he didn't get sick of her. So far he hadn't dumped her out in the cold (heh).

It's not that she couldn't defend herself... it's just that she wasn't going to be going up against a demon and winning anytime soon, as much as she trained. At least she wasn't sitting around doing nothing.

As harsh of a world as this was, it wasn't the castle, and that counted for something.

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She can't help but let out a little 'eep' when he picks her up, but otherwise she's very still - she definitely doesn't want to be dropped. It looks like a looooong way down.

Honestly, it's hard to trust that he won't drop her, but she doesn't think he'd take her this far to get rid of her here. So though her heart's pounding, she bites her lip and doesn't say anything.

Awww, that is such a cute noise you make when you're startled, Yonaka. He can't help but grin a little wider at it. It amuses him. How precious! But he's glad she's being still, he's had to carry struggling people, and that's never any fun. He'll keep a tight grip on her, though, and set her down very, very gently on a decaying stone path across the gap, now that they've crossed it, wings flexing a bit from the sudden use.

"Here. Even a proper path for you, my lady," he says as he sets her down. "Let me know if things get a little too warm for you, or you get tired. I can probably help a little."

Honestly, he should be annoyed, but this entire thing is just amusing him.

Yonaka: did not fall to her death in a massive chasm. Check. She feels better already.

Once he sets her down she turns to look at him. She's not too warm, except in her face a little. "I'm okay right now. --But thank you. You're being really nice to me. If there's ever anything I can do..."

... Sherbet pauses. Something she could do? He could think of all kinds of awful things, but he won't say them. Even he's not THAT bad.

"You can help me find some frozen yogurt later, and I'll consider it square!"

... There hasn't been a lot around lately, you see, and it's very important to him!!!

"To be honest, I'd feel kind of bad if I was mean anyway, since you were so nice to me when we first met." Most people aren't... very nice to him... hahahahah... ha.

"You can make it yourself if you have an ice cream machine, and if you don't, maybe we can hold up a Mogeko for it. They probably have junk like that."

Yonaka's a little more red now. She didn't think she was especially nice to him, was she...?

... He can't help being amused by her being red. It's cute. But he thinks someone like her should know better than to hang around him too long; liable to get grievously wounded, someone that fragile.

"There's machines for it?" A whine is edging into his tone, now, though; he hadn't been aware you could just make it THAT easily. "Man, I've been deprived... this isn't fair! I am all for holding one up when we get back. I always wondered where half their stuff came from, anyway."

That would make him so unbelievably happy. But also, it would probably keep her away from people like Rigatona, who didn't tend to hang out in the room the Mogekos tended to set up shop, so!

"Alright, then it's a date- plan. It's a plan."

Yonaka is the most obvious person to ever have a crush.

"My knife is pretty good against Mogekos, so I'd even be sort of useful there."

... Oh wow that's a bad idea, he realizes. Terrible idea. He will probably die horribly. To be fair, he's less likely to die horribly sooner than some of the others given what he does buuut... Eh, well. He doesn't actually mind it much. He just doesn't want to break it to her that he'll probably be leaving again immediately.

So he'll pretend he didn't hear that. Being someone's fixation has always kind of been something he's wished about, anyway.

"You never did tell me how you ended up being so adept with one. Is that common with humans?" He honestly isn't sure, but he admires that she seems so skilled. There being an actual path here is nice, though; it means he can just so of give his wings a moment to stretch out and not have to go flying up again to get his bearings or anything. But he also knows the area decently enough that this path is recognizable...

But but crushing and it's not like she doesn't expect to die horribly sooner or later too!

"Not really, not in modern times. The short story is that I was kidnapped to Mogeko Castle and had to kill a bunch of Mogekos if I wanted to live, and after that I tried to keep my skills up."

... But he'd feel bad if you died horribly period, Yonaka. People dying horribly that he's supposed to be taking care of from any standpoint is him failing his job. Don't go and die horribly somewhere, please. He tucks his gloved hands into his coat's pockets, glancing at her briefly as he walks.

"So your world's peaceful, then, right? ... Random, weird abductions aside. Just humans?"

"Just humans, and, hm. There's wars between humans, but my country hasn't really been in any wars for as long as I've been alive. So I don't know if you'd call that peaceful or not."

Yonaka walks alongside him, fidgeting with her skirt.

If he notices her fidgeting, he opts not to comment on it. So they did fight. Huh.

"Well, ultimately, even peace times have their problems. But I suppose what humans lack in magic and innate ability they make up for with craft and guile, or something like that? That's what I'm always hearing, at least."

He suspects Yonaka proves this. Or maybe it's just a testament to her character, that she survived this long without any powers and just a knife. It's quiet, though, even for a wasteland. Something about this is bothering him. Since that last batch, they haven't seen any demons. Either they're congregating in the nearby outpost, or they've missed a patrol. He's really hoping it's the former.

"Mmmm, hey, can you burn easily...?"

"About as easily as anybody else, I guess..."

If Sherbet has ice powers, then demons probably have fire powers, which means-

"You think we're gonna run into some demons soon?"

It is awfully quiet, but Yonaka thought that was just because the fighting had scared away the normal sounds you'd hear - birds and such.

... Well that's worrisome. He'll pull her aside, then, and hide behind an outcropping of an old stone wall, probably someone's base or home or something. His voice is a little quieter, now.

"There were things in this wasteland. There still are. Not much. Remnants, mostly. But it's too quiet. If they haven't been too disturbed by my mess earlier, or are just getting alerted, that would mean either there's a patrol coming this way, or--"

... Or not far behind them, a messenger who'd finally noticed HEY, A BUNCH OF YOUR MEN DIED has come to the outpost, flying overhead. He points upwards. Fortunately, they're decently hidden, there, and seem to be overlooked, but...

It's funny. Bat wings and ridiculously curly horns... everything, about what you'd expect of, you know, stereotypical demon. Very warm colors. Yellows and oranges, in solid blacks, as far as clothing goes. Eventually, he finishes his sentence:

"--Or they noticed I made a bit of a mess earlier. ... Finally."

Yonaka nods her head, completely silent, not trusting herself even to whisper quietly enough. She soon has her knife out of its sheath and at her side.

She doesn't know how well she'll stand up, but she can at least try.

He considers the situation. If he keeps making messes like this, they're gonna start making waves way backwards, and realize that his God sent out one of the STRONGER angels after them.

This would be bad. A sudden recoupling of forces later, and the fighting will become more bitter... and recon will be nearly impossible. On the other hand, making them think a bunch of units were performing strikes somewhere farther away, to get them to move their units there, might be more useful for later on...

He has to debate it for a moment, realizing he can't just afford to go nuts either way. He has hostage material, and that aside, he's also got to keep Yonaka's safety in mind. He knows that knife is pitiful in comparison to most demons. So he makes the decision himself.

"Stay here. I can't risk you being compromised. I'll be back." He'll distract them--send them off in the wrong direction, then duck back this way when they're not paying attention. With enough going on, they'll pass by and not notice her scent or anything, and they can slip by undetected. That's the hope, anyway.

She doesn't want to let him go without helping him. But she knows she wouldn't be any help anyway - more a detriment. She has to listen to what he says, and stay here until he comes back - when he comes back, definitely.

"...Be safe."

He'll give her a little wave--and then shoot up in the air ahead of them. No problem, nothing he hasn't done before. There is a lot of bright lights, screaming, and banging noises as he darts off in the opposite direction, being followed by a rather large crew of people screaming all kinds of things, from obscenities to asking the others to wait up, to yelling about freedom or something or another.

About four or so minutes go by after this. He has not come back yet.

He just failed to account for the fact one of them might stay behind. Here's hoping Yonaka is really prepared to use that knife, because it seems all the demon sees is something to eat. At least it's not Cranber. He can't risk running back to check on her until he's sure the coast is clear.

She's worried about him, but-

Once Yonaka knows she's spotted, all thoughts of Sherbet are pushed to the back of her mind. Survival is the most important thing right now. She won't end up dead just yet.

...

If Sherbet ever does come back, he'll find a very bloody Yonaka and a decapitated demon. (She's not sure where the vital organs are on them. She had to be sure.)

Oh, he's coming back. Just a minute or two later than he'd've LIKED, mostly because they kept looking for him in actually smart places. Imagine that. ... He'll have to be more careful. His wings are a little singed, as is most of him, but when he comes back to her in a mess, he's. More than a little worried. He's gonna heal her just to be sure it's not HER blood she's covered in, because man, he really dropped the ball on that one.

"You okay...? I miscalculated. ... I didn't think one of them would find you."

His fault. ... Although, he has to say, there has never been anything sexy about her to him until he's seen her covered in demon blood like that.

It's some of both of their blood, and she sighs in relief when she's healed and the pain goes away.

"I'm fine. More importantly, are you okay? You had to deal with more of them than me."

... He whimpers. But it's not because he's in pain. He holds up the long piece of cloth around his neck.

"One of them singed my scarf!" And also his wings, and maybe his face a bit, but mostly that was the point of wearing the layers: so he wouldn't end up fried. He REALLY liked this scarf. ... Oh well...

"A-anyway, we should... get moving..." His poor scarf. RIP scarf. "Maybe also get you cleaned up, at some point."

She has to try not to snicker at his distress, and mostly succeeds. Even if his scarf is kind of a silly thing to focus on, he's been good to her, so she shouldn't laugh at him.

"That'd be nice, but don't make it a priority or anything. Not the first time I've been covered in blood."

It's a really stupid thing to be focused on, but he cares more about that then he probably ever will his own body. If he gets horrendously injured, usually, he can heal it. Usually. Except for that one time.

"We should hurry before they return, anyway."

It's bust now, so he'll offer that poor scarf to her so she can at least wipe her face off, before they hoof it. He'll have, like, a funeral pyre for it later or something... a funeral boat? Something. Her having demon blood on her might be useful, though. It'll help cover her own scent. He knows how to mask his own, what way the wind's blowing, all of that. So he can figure out a path from here... past that little outpost.

She wipes her face off and carries the scarf along as she follows him further down the path. Picking up her pace isn't hard - she's better at sprinting than marathons, but she's still a pretty fast walker in general.

"How far is it to your territory?"

For coldestsmile.

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