Ake(Ah-Kay), The Survivor:
“Memories… They can be good or they can be bad. I often don’t know what to think of mine. Sometimes they don’t feel real. I experience memories as fragments. Scattered pieces that drift within my mind and need help being molded together. I have a partner that has been with me since day one, as far as I know, who helps me put the pieces together. Her name is Kasha, and she is a demon. Being friends with a demon would normally be odd, but not when you’re a demon yourself.
Kasha and I came from the underworld. The journey we went on to get out is still a bit hazy, even for Kasha who doesn’t lose her memories like I do. In moments like these where I feel like I can recall my past more easily, I can still feel the atmosphere of that place. There was a sense of overwhelming heat at all times, but your body felt cold to the touch. You would shiver and shake as you watched fire dance around you. For people like me and Kasha, you would be in constant fear of torture and being mistreated. We longed to get out…
As I said, it’s hard for either of us to remember all of the details, but opportunity presented itself and we escaped. Surprisingly, despite this demonic presence on Fenrir - no one has come looking for us. I guess we were so irrelevant down there that no one thought to look. Never-ending abuse meant to last an eternity and yet those who used us as punching bags didn’t notice we were missing? I fear one day they will, and they’ll come for us. When that day comes, we need to be ready. We need to be stronger.
Kasha and I are different from your average demons. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not but given the chance to grow and survive, we have potential to become strong… Really strong. Each time I face an adversary stronger than me I grow in strength whether I win or lose. While Kasha becomes stronger the more and more, she comes in contact with the souls of the people I defeat. Together we will endlessly grow more powerful until there is no opponent that can defeat us.
So how do two demons like us become friends? Well, in the rare instances we weren’t being tortured in the underworld, we formed a close bond. Kasha was a skeleton, constantly forced to put herself back together and I was her… pet.”
-----
Kasha, The Hunter:
“Ake(Ah-Kay)… Ake… Good, you’re awake. Don’t say a word yet, let me do the talking. I assume you don’t recall our agreement since this seems to happen every time you die.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“I… Died?”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“It’s been happening on and off since we escaped from the underworld. We have a special arrangement, you and I. I don’t know what god made us, but I know we’re not like most on Fenrir. I’m sure you’ve noticed your cat tail swaying through the opening of the chair you’re on and those annoyingly cute cat ears on your head. I’m also sure by now you’ve noticed something wrong with my arm. It’s decaying, as will the rest of me if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain.
I mentioned our arrangement… It’s simple, really. I am the most skilled hunter on Fenrir, you are a skilled fighter. Obviously not the strongest since this isn’t the first time you’ve died, but we’re working on that. You see, every time you die to someone stronger than you, you absorb some of their power and become stronger.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“I think I’m starting to remember. You’re… Kasha. We’re… Demons.”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“Right, you’re remembering faster than normal. What else do you remember?”
Ake, The Survivor:
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“When we left the underworld, we didn’t look like this. I was more… Feline. You were more… bones. Then we evolved.”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“And fight after fight, things changed. Every opponent you defeat, I grow stronger by absorbing their life force. An essence of their soul becomes a part of me. However, every time you fight an opponent stronger than you and lose… You sap some of their power and become stronger. So, the next time you run into them, you will most likely beat them.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“Who was my opponent? Some things are still foggy.”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“It’s a bit… complicated this time. Your target was a girl who can absorb the magic around her and use it as she pleases. However, I’m not sure she fully understood her power.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“She caught us by surprise?”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“No, sadly, she wasn’t the surprising part. She was traveling with a mercenary named Jeck. He’s the one that put you down this time. I couldn’t track him or sense him for some reason, so I had no idea he was going to be there.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“Then it’s him we have to find first before we go after the girl again. Have you been able to get any information on Jeck while I was out?”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“A bit. Luckily, we found this place to hide your body when you’re down, so it gave me time to do some snooping. Jeck is closer to us, more specifically me, than I expected. He’s spent his last few years in the Deadlands as one of Aradia’s puppets. It’s almost as if he’s both human and demon.”
Ake, The Survivor:
“Hmmm… So, what you’re saying is… it won’t be easy to kill him.”
Kasha, The Hunter:
“Afraid not. But we have the most important advantage: Time. We can try and try again until we get him.”
Ake, The Survivor:
(She’s feeling a bit more like her evil self at this point) *She laughs - a bit maniacally* “He doesn’t stand a chance!”
-------
Kasha, The Hunter:
“Ake and I are not your traditional demons. What people would consider ‘evil’ about us; we consider survival. This world gave us nothing in life and even less in death and we do what we need to do to experience tomorrow in a way that isn’t constant pain and disappointment. The irony in all of that is it makes us sound more… human. Ake wants to evolve, to survive and to grow stronger. I just want to hold on to what little humanity I can cling to.
It sounds silly and even Ake laughs at me when I talk about it, but this strange phenomenon I am capable of producing is what drives me to keep pushing forward. In the underworld I was a skeleton. Bones dragging on the unforgiving terrain beneath my feet. My cat companion beside me as I tried to find a way out of this never-ending hell. When we got to the surface, we enjoyed the fresh air for a moment before a group of Fenins found us. They immediately thought we were monsters and wanted us killed. They broke me apart…
But Ake would not stand there and let us be cast aside any longer. She slaughtered them. As she put me back together, I could feel the souls of her victims lingering. I could feel myself feasting upon them and with each taste a part of my humanity returned. Thanks to her I am flesh again, not just bones. I can feel, I can breathe… I have hair! I can enjoy food or a treat and feel full. I can feel things in general that I couldn’t remember feeling for the longest. With Ake by my side, I can live again.
However, there is a bit of upkeep involved in our survival. When Ake loses and ‘dies’ I have to forfeit some of that life to bring her back. Even if she doesn’t die, I deteriorate over time so to sustain my humanity I must continue to feast. Ake needs to fight to grow stronger and I need sacrifices to remain human. We are a perfect match because neither of us feels guilty about what we have to do to survive. That’s why I became a hunter. I track down the targets for Ake and I help her get stronger. Sometimes it requires a bit of a sacrifice from me, but it’s worth it to get those souls.
You would think one of us would feel bad for these people sometimes, but it’s hard when you’ve been treated like dirt your entire existence. A thought process like that makes us dangerous. It makes us the villains in the eyes of many here on Fenrir. It makes us trouble for those considered to be ‘good.’ Ake and I see it differently. These feelings, these thoughts, this need to live and survive… All of these things just make us human.”