-Day 2-

So, nothing really eventful happened. The kid I was attached to just wandered around aimlessly. The fear she had when she first saw me was steadily coming back every time she looked at me looming underneath her. She definitely just happened to lower her guard when we started talking at first, but if my shadow was talking I would be spooked too.

I didn't blame her for being this tense with me chained to her like a dog. Shadow beast sounds like a pretty dangerous animal if you think about it. Really gives you the chills just by the name alone. But it does sound pretty cool too, not gonna lie.

Conversing with her became tedious because of this though. All I got were one liners and apologies. What a nervous rack. It was starting to get dark, and seeing this girl with no apparent goal walk around and drinking from muddy puddles to quench her thirst was disturbingly painful. I always liked interacting with kids and thought I was good at doing so, despite what I've done in my lifetime.

(Draven) «Say, wouldn't it be a good idea to get a campfire going? Doesn't it get cold at night?»

(Demon kid) "Ah, no, my, uh, light magic can keep me warm. Please don't worry about me..."

This was what I was talking about when I said she's nervous. I steadily tried to calm her to assure that I wasn't an enemy, but it's difficult.

Time passes and in the blink of an eye, the day had ended. It's true that this light magic thing inside of her was able to keep her warm. I couldn't feel it myself, but I could through the Soul Unity skill. It felt comfortable at least. Exhausted after walking the entire day, she finally settled down near a large tree again, not having accomplished anything at all during the day apart from picking some berries and fruit.

But her frequent quick glances down on me told me that she was scared of stopping. And eventually I figured this was likely the best opportunity to talk to her, during her rest.

(Draven) «You know, I'm just observing and thinking about things, you don't need to keep moving for my sake.»

(Demon kid) "I- I see. Thanks."

(Draven) «Do you think I'm dangerous?»

(Demon kid) "No! Not at all! I am blessed to be saved by you, mister shadow."

Mister shadow? Hey, did she not know that that's a rude way to address someone? Whatever.

(Draven) «That's good. Look, kid, honestly, I won't do you any harm. I promise. So please talk to me like you would talk to any of your friends.»

(Demon kid) "...You promise? Are you sure? I am really weak and can't do anything by myself, so I want to be of use for mister shadow. I'm just going to hold you back..."

(Draven) «Hey, that's fine. I didn't expect you to be packed with muscles and everything. From what you've explained it's not your fault we are stuck together.»

(Demon kid) "Th- Thanks, mister shadow."

(Draven) «So, I don't think we've really introduced ourselves properly. Just sit down and talk a bit. My name is Draven, but you can call me mister shadow like you've already done. What's your name?»

She muffled herself up the tree trying to avoid my gaze. Is it impolite to ask that in this world?

(Demon kid) "It is Saria."

(Draven) «Saria?»

That sounded familiar. Wasn't that a name that was in the self-voice thing?

{ Current status:

Name: Saria }

Oh, yes it was then. What's the deal with that? Did I inherit her name or something? Either way, she nodded vigorously at my question.

(Draven) «Mhm. That's a nice name for a girl like you. And how old are you?»

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(Saria) "I am ten years of age, I think."

(Draven) «You think? You don't have parents or something around then?»

(Saria) "Parents? What's that?"

You gotta be kidding me. Demons don't have parents? Do they pop out of an egg like turtles on a beach or something? Oh yeah, that reminds me...

(Draven) «Didn't you talk about your guardian or something? Wasn't he one?»

(Saria) "Oh, Guardian! Guardian was my Guardian. He watched over me until... I, uh... Got cast out from my homeland..."

Now that intrigued me. But from the sound of it, this seemed like something I shouldn't poke into too much right now. The description of this Guardian person seemed to match with what a parent would do though, so it's just a matter of change in cultural definitions I guess. Parents "guard" over their children as well I suppose.

Being able to call her by a name was more convenient anyways. From the sudden burst of excitement of mentioning this Guardian person, a grand yawn formed on her face lasting for a couple seconds. No wonder, she had been walking the entire day, of course she was tired.

(Draven) «You want to sleep?»

(Saria) "Uhm... I'm very tired, yes."

(Draven) «I'll keep watch for as long as I can stay awake, so don't worry about... All those animals in the forest if there are any.»

(Saria) "Okay."

She slumped into a sleeping position. Man, she might be a demon, but sleeping with a tree-trunk as your pillow surely couldn't be comfortable. I hoped I could find her somewhere proper to sleep before I figured out what to do next. It took a bit of time before she felt comfortable enough to close her eyes, and she fell asleep very quickly after that.

...

All things aside though, she stood out like a lighthouse on a cliff. The area around us had gotten dark, but Saria was shining rather brightly like a human lightbulb. Or, well, demon lightbulb. Even though it was dark, I was still able to see pretty well. Must be a side effect of my new looks. I could see pretty far away like a dog or a cat in the night.

It only took a few minutes before she started snoring out loud. I really wondered how there wasn't some sort of predator that found her last night with this noise she made during her sleep.

I wasn't getting drowsy at all on the other hand. That was easy to conclude after just watching the surroundings for half an hour or two. Maybe I didn't need sleep anymore. Come to think of it, I hadn't felt like I really attempted closing my eyes at all, so I wondered if I was even able to close them.

...

The moment I closed my eyes, the scene suddenly changed. Visions of fire raged in the distance. I felt fury, incredible fury, as if I had lost something important to me.

Dark silhouettes were circling above the fire in the distance, continuing to fuel it with what seems to be their own magic. Fire, molten lava and steam were ravaging the structure below them, tearing it down piece by piece and destroying it. Maniacal laughter the likes I had never heard before came from these silhouettes.

And though the voices in the distance could be heard clearly, a voice next to me muffled in ways I couldn't understand. It was as if I had headphones on that prevented the voice of only one specific being. This being was carrying me, scurrying away from the burning wreckage. The beings that were causing the destruction in the distance paid no mind to me fleeing from the scene, completely entranced by the bloodlust and destruction they reveled in.

I screamed out for him. He intentionally left himself behind for me. I was a good for nothing. I wanted blood. Those were the only thoughts in my mind. I caused this for being born. It wasn't his fault, but he still took the blame. Why did he stay behind for me? Why did he not let me fight?

The fires were getting smaller and smaller due to me being carried further and further away from it. I wanted to go back, but the grip on me was too strong. I was small, so the man carrying me had no issues clinging on to me, even though I wanted to leave his grip. I hit him multiple times in an attempt to break free, bit into the shoulder carrying me, but he didn't falter.

Who was he? Why did he get between me and Guardian? Why was someone like him carrying me? I wanted to go back, I wanted to die. Maybe if Guardian was still alive, I could make it in time to die next to him.

The man carrying me panted heavily. He had been running for several minutes non-stop. We entered the Ashwoods some time ago. The man was at his limit and finally stopped running. As soon as he let go, I tried my best to escape his grasp, but he reacted swiftly and managed to grab my arm.

(Man) "You are staying with me! Do not go back to this accursed town! They will kill you on sight!"

(Saria) "No! Guardian is still there! I can't leave him behind! I need to help him! Let me go!"

(Man) "Your guardian is dead, demon! Your fate is somewhere else! He entrusted you to us!"

...

Abruptly, the sudden vision stopped. Whoah, whoah, what was that?! The sky is starting to get bright already! How long was I out for? Did I actually manage to somehow see some kind of vision just by closing my eyes?

What the hell... Saria was still here, unharmed, thankfully. But she was shivering. The light she used was still faintly active, so it's not the cold that was getting to her. Was she having a nightmare then? And was that vision...

I ended up piecing the puzzle together quickly and couldn't tell if this was just a "what-if" scenario that was created in her mind or if this actually is a piece of her past, maybe even her future. She talked about this guardian of hers, and sure enough, I vividly remember this person being referred to in the vision.

That's troublesome. Could I see her memories at will? I envisioned closing my eyes again just like before, but nothing. It looked like she was slowly waking up, so that would mean that I could see what she is dreaming.

That's 100% a breach of privacy. I hoped the dream police doesn't exist in this world.

But she has had it rough, huh? I really should ask her about her past at some point to see if it lines up with what I saw. If that was an event of her past, I'd really like to be a good guy for once and help teach her how to survive on her own. Raising a kid was always something on my bucket list.