Kurai woke up on hearing an aggressive growl, not very loud, but loud enough to wake him up. He turned his head in the direction of the growl and noticed the little creature Kesshō brought along confronting a two feet long snake. Kurai sighed, having confirmed his theory about the little creature from this act. Placing Kesshō to the side and getting up he walked to it, finding it to be locked in a staring contest with the snake.
"You are an idiot." Kurai sighed as picked up the little dragonoid.
It let out a startled growl and turned it's head around, it's long flexible body allowing it to stare Kurai directly in the face. Kurai took it back to where Kesshō lay, still asleep due to him not being far enough. He sat down beside her and kept the little creature in his arms, having grabbed it from under its shoulders. It kept glancing at the snake, afraid of it from the looks of it.
"Don't worry, it's a highly venomous snake and could very easily kill you with a single bite." Kurai reassured with a smile, only causing the creature to get more worried. "But if you leave it be..." He sighed, turning to the snake, already exiting the mineshaft and going back into the forest.
The creature tilted it's head, not understanding why the snake left if it is so venomous.
"A snake will only attack what it will consider prey, and we are far too big to fall into that category for such a small snake," Kurai informed. "Let me tell you how to know if a snake is venomous or not. If their head is in a triangular shape, it's very likely venomous, but if it's oval then it's most likely not venomous. While this applies to most I will not say it's always true, it's best to just leave a snake alone, they don't want to bother you and it's best you don't bother them. The best snake is one left alone, as anything else will only give it a reason to attack you."
The creature's jaw opened slightly as it processed all the information just given to it.
"And what you just did is the complete opposite of what any reasonable creature would have done, unless a juvenile or a human," Kurai pointed out. "Which is why I am now very certain you used to be a human, because humans are just unreasonable creatures. I am no exception, I literally look after the one being most well suited to survive on her own, and that is very unreasonable in itself."
The creature's eyes widened, mostly because of what Kurai said first.
"So, were you a human?" Kurai inquired.
The creature nodded slowly, clearly suspicious of what Kurai would do after knowing the answer, but choosing to trust him nonetheless.
"Very well then, be a good companion for Kesshō till I can find a way to cure you," Kurai sighed. "She might be a bit dumb sometimes, but that's mostly just because she is very unaware of all the sorts of beings in the world and how to interact with them. But, I can guarantee you she will take good care of you and make sure nothing happens to you, speaking from my own experiences, the good experiences at the least..."
The creature pulled it's head back on hearing the last bit, shocked.
"Okay, I was just joking." Kurai chuckled, receiving a stare from the little creature. "Okay, it was not a joke, but there were reasons I will rather not go into detail about." He sighed, holding his head with one arm and placing the little creature down. "Just don't worry about it, she will take good care of you."
The creature let out a low understanding growl and nodded before shuffling it's way to Kesshō. Kurai looked on as it nudged and shook Kesshō trying to wake her up. When she still didn't wake up the little creature chose to resort to more aggressive methods, which happened to be biting her ear. As it opened its jaws to bite on to her ear, two hands gripped it tightly around it's midsection and lifted it into the air before it could.
"If you want to die then go right ahead." Kurai warned as he placed it to the side. "Her ears are very sensitive and her most vulnerable body part, along with her wolf tails, if you are to bite them, she will react on instinct, and most likely blast you to ashes with a fire breath attack before she even realised what happened." Kurai explained as he gently shook Kesshō.
She shuffled in her sleep but didn't wake up, grabbing onto Kurai's hand and resting her head on top of it. Kurai sighed and facepalmed himself with his free hand. He blew a whistle a few moments later, startling the little creature. Kesshō's ears stood up in an instant and she slowly opened her eyes, stretching her body before releasing Kurai's hand and pushing herself upto her feet.
"Let's get going now, we still have a long journey ahead of us." Kurai informed as he approached the cave entrance.
The little creature padded behind him, slowly due to its small size. Kesshō also followed behind, picking up the little creature when it started to lack behind, and following Kurai. She held up the creature to her chest with one arm wrapped around it while she held Kurai's hand with the other. They made quick progress towards the nearby town, not wanting to get caught in another storm. Kurai still suspected Kesshō to be the cause of the storm, but he decided to keep his worries aside for now.
The three of them travelled down the road towards the town, which loomed into view before long. Unlike many other towns with tall houses and some with buildings even, this one seemed to be much closer to a small village, flourishing due to being on a frequently travelled route. The infrastructure resembled a village with most of everything being built from wood and forest products, but from how it looked it did not seem hard to tell the place is a lot more popular than it seems at first.
People were visible all over the streets, not crowding the streets but still several people visible on every street, and they were not even at the marketplace. The marketplace, at the center of the oddly large village, having expanded greatly due to all the people needing to rest here from their long journeys, would be the most crowded place.
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While the town Kurai and Kesshō just returned from also sat at a decent travelling route, having a crossroad at the center of the village connecting the capitals of four closely allied kingdoms, and not being far from them either, led to the increased popularity of this village for land commute. It is still true the previous village takes the cake for waterways, attracting many tourists and adventurers travelling over the sea and offering a safe haven for many ships, several things Kurai misjudged about it on his first view of the town.
He reached the marketplace with Kesshō clinging tightly to his coat, being close enough for him to accidentally kick her while walking, causing him to walk as though limping. He didn't try to get distance from her however, knowing very well she could easily get lost, kidnapped, or injured at such a place.
Unlike the other streets, the marketplace seemed to be flooded with people, most likely the most people it gets since the time happened to be just about midday, one of the busiest times on most places of the continent. The people browsed through shops, many being makeshift shops made with cloth roofs and a wooden counter with wooden racks, some of them being slightly damaged even.
There were also many larger shops, some being similar to the smaller ones but simply covering a larger area, while others were entirely different. The seemingly more popular ones were either beautifully crafted out of wood, flowers and leaves, or were made of stone and jewels with several silver and metal articles.
Kurai chose not to get too distracted by all that he could deduce from just a glance, and instead focus on making sure Kesshō and the little creature stay away from any harm, a little creature he has yet to name, knowing Kesshō to not be quite good at naming.
He didn't know who the little creature used to be when they were human, but from their behaviour Kurai guessed it to not be an old or experienced person, most likely a child. The only method which could work to revert them according to him were near impossible, either bringing the poor thing to a Phoenix Elder, or to whatever mage or creature turned it into that.
Kurai preferred the second option, knowing it would far easier. Phoenix Elders were extremely powerful, some rumoured to have been on par with several Primordial Dragons, the dragons which form the base of the world. Phoenixal powers were not bound by reality and were even capable of bending it at several occasions. Obviously enough, there existed a large cost of using powers of such calibre. While Kurai remained unaware of the cost, he is aware most phoenixes were afraid of overusing their powers due to it, knowing they will 'fade away' if they do so.
He is also well aware that Phoenix elder's were capable of fixing the problem in the blink of an eye, but the problem did not lie in if they could, it lay in whether they will. Knowing that most phoenixes preferred not to use their powers, Kurai doubted they will help a human like him, though he knew there used to be one such Phoenix who would've very likely even faded away if asked of her.
Letting Kesshō do it also remained a possibility, but one he crossed off as soon it came to his mind. If there existed a cost for using Phoenixal powers of that level, and one Kurai knew nothing of except it makes the user 'fade away' if overused, he felt certain saving that one stranger is not worth risking the life of the one thing he wishes to protect the most.
Kurai sighed and smacked his own face with his right hand, his left held by Kesshō. Kesshō stared at him, startled, confused, and slightly worried for what he just did. Focus on what I have to do now. Kurai sighed as he tugged Kesshō through the crowd.
He led her through the crowd, almost losing direction at several points, needing to trace back his steps and decide new paths. He felt certain he crossed the center of the marketplace about five times in that time, failing to find the exit. Kurai grunted when he stood right beside the center of the marketplace for the sixth time. To his surprise, the crowd started to part for no apparent reason, forming a clear path from him to a side of the marketplace.
Kurai smiled with relief before gritting his teeth in annoyance as he noticed the reason behind the parting crowd. Kesshō attempted to copy his expression by narrowing her eyes, looking fierce, and cute, at the same time, mostly cute however. The little creature looked back and forth between the two parties in confusion, knowing nothing of them, except that they weren't very pleased to meet each other, one side isn't at the very least.
"You." Kurai exclaimed, spreading his arms outwards in a gesture of annoyance.
"Yes, us." Blitz smirked as Fim crossed her arms standing right beside her.
"The most useless pair in the last fight, I am delighted to know this will be a quick one," Kurai mocked.
The smirk disappeared from Blitz's face as her eyes wandered around while her mind thought of a comeback, failing to come up with anything. Fim simply stood silently, clearly hurt and angered by the remark, but attempting to not seem like it.
"Well," Blitz called out in a sassy tone of voice, "we are much stronger than we were in the last fight. You see, our master only allowed us to fight at a fraction of our power, knowing it would be too much for you if we were to go all out." Blitz chuckled. "But, rejoice, we are allowed to go all out now, and be prepared, because we are allowed to kill anyone now, even her." Blitz smirked as she directed her eyes at Kesshō. Kesshō let out an aggressive hiss, startling Blitz and making her jump slightly. "Anyways, clear out the marketplace, this place is about to receive some collateral damage for the greater good." Blitz ordered the civilians with a wave of her hand.
Many of the bystanders looked around in confusion, some raising their voices to the injustice, some demanding for them to go elsewhere and leave their shops be. Kesshō's ears picked up all the words while all Blitz and Fim heard were pointless protests from civilians, both of them giving the civilians the cold shoulder.
Kesshō's pupils narrowed to slits, similar to snakes and cats as she placed the little creature down. Kurai noticed it, knowing very well Kesshō did not like their demeanor to the innocent civilians, and clearly did not feel like letting it go unpunished. Kurai blew a whistle, attracting the attention of both Blitz and Fim towards himself, though they failed to understand who he blew the whistle for.
As Blitz's eyes settled at Kurai she felt something contact with her abdomen, before the entire force of the impact set in and her eyes bulged before she got launched far away, flying high above the houses of the town. Kesshō stood there for a moment with her leg still raised from the kick, before she placed it down on the ground, moving on to Fim instantly.
Fim barely recovered from the shock of seeing her bossy ally get sent to the stratosphere when she sensed the incoming hit. On instinct she raised both arms in front of her, blocking Kesshō's punch. While Fim managed to block one hit, it barely affected Kesshō, being much faster. Before Fim could even react to the next attack Kesshō stepped to the side and spun her heel as she hit Fim's head with a kick, launching her just like Blitz, sending her spinning through the air.
Not wanting for either to return even close to the town she launched herself after them, blue-pink flames enveloping her as she soared through the sky like an abnormal meteor strike, giving the townsfolk a spectacle to talk about for a long time. They turned to Kurai for several reasons of their own interest, but none were of interest to Kurai, and so he simply left before they could turn their attention to him, carrying the little creature with him on his shoulder as he made his way to Kesshō.