The sun peeked above the horizon, sunlight falling on Kesshō's face, the warmth radiating through her skin and scales as her eyes twitched. She turned her head, shielding her face from the heat of the rising ball of flames, hiding in the warmth of darkness. A hand lightly placed itself on her head, gently caressing her hair.
"I think we should get going now." Kurai sighed as he placed Kesshō on the grass to his side.
Kesshō shuffled in her half-sleep, turning and placing her head on Kurai's leg before he could get up. Kurai sighed and gently lifted her head with one hand as he pulled out his leg. Placing her head down he stood up before she could delay him any further.
Opal walked up to Kesshō, nudging her head with her snout to wake her up, but failing miserably. Instead of waking up, Kesshō grabbed Opal and pulled her into an embrace, burying her face in the soft feathers. Opal struggled but due to her smaller size failed to release herself from Kesshō's grasp.
"I don't suppose you touched anything except the sandwiches in the bag, did you?" Kurai inquired Kesshō, her ears rising in alarm, saying all that he needed to know. "You better get up fast then," Kurai warned.
Releasing Opal at once Kesshō slowly rose up, keeping her head low and staring at the ground. Her ears being down, indicating slight fear, a detail even Opal noticed. Kurai approached Kesshō and crouched down in front of her, extending his arm towards her with a closed fist.
Kesshō looked at the fist for a few moments before Kurai opened his palm as she glanced at him. On his palm, sat a piece of chocolate, most likely one Kurai saved from the box he gave Kesshō long ago. Kesshō's eyes widened on spotting it, her head dropping down instantly. She pressed her face on Kurai's hand, barely moving it even with all the force she used, not that she intended to.
She raised her head, shifting the piece of chocolate to the side of her mouth, behind her teeth to keep it in her mouth till it melted, a strange thing she liked to do. Kurai patted her on the head before turning to Opal, who stared at Kesshō with her jaws wide open, almost drooling. He offered a berry to Opal, who stared at it half confused and half disappointed.
"It's not chocolate, but it tastes very similar, these are all I have right now, I will buy some more for both of you at the next town if I can," Kurai offered.
Opal accepted the offer and ate the berry from his hand, slowly chewing on it and not being disappointed at all by the flavour, having found what Kurai stated to be very true.
"Let's get going, the sun is already way above the horizon." Kurai pointed out as he stood up and walked to the bag, emptying it's nearly destroyed contents and bringing the bag back to the two. "I think you will be able to fit in here, Opal."
Opal nodded and jumped into the bag as Kurai brought it close to her. She shifted her body for a few moments and made herself comfortable in the bag, being able to fit her whole body in it as she coiled herself, though barely. Her head rose above the side of the bag, surveying the entire area from a safe, hidden, and comfortable position.
Kurai stood up and gestured Kesshō to follow, who chose a different option the moment he turned around. Without any prior warning, Kesshō pounced on to Kurai's back, wrapping her hands around his neck and placing her head on his shoulder. Kurai rolled his eyes at her but did not say anything and continued to walk ahead, carrying both his companions towards their destination.
They walked through the day, or Kurai did, Kesshō and Opal simply enjoying the scenery and weather. They saw many adventurers and trade wagons passing by, some coming from ahead and some going. The path seemed very long and Kurai knew very well it would take them a few days to reach their destination.
Kesshō slept through most of the journey, waking up every so often to check on the surrounding environment. She ran off a total of three times on the first day, returning shortly after. Kurai chose not to stop walking, knowing very well she would return even if he did not stop. He would have followed her if it happened to rain heavily, or mist covered the surroundings, as it could cause even Kesshō's senses to not work very well, which could lead to her not being able to find Kurai, but it they didn't encounter such weather during this journey. Opal seemed to enjoy the scenery a lot, even more than Kesshō at certain points, seemingly not having seen most of what nature offered.
Dusk fell before long and Kurai started to feel slightly tired, having been walking the entire time without any break, having only eaten some berries every now and then, sharing them with Opal and Kesshō. He already ran almost out of any sort of food and started to wonder whether any town stood nearby, doubting the information given to him as the journey seemed far too long for not having any suitable places to rest.
As night grew darker and the moon rose higher, he saw a light in the distance, growing steadily closer, faster than his walking speed. He realised it to be a wagon, most likely belonging to a trader, and decided to ask those travellers about the nearest town.
"Hello!" Kurai greeted as he neared the wagon.
"Greetings!" The wagon driver called back, stopping the wagon right beside Kurai as he got close.
"Is there any town nearby?" Kurai inquired. "My companions and I are tired and really need to have a rest."
"There is a town–" the wagon driver scratched his short thick beard– "but I don't suppose you would wish to stay there for long. A monster lives at the place and kills many people, most people in the town are moving out and those who stay are scared for their lives every night."
"It only comes at night?" Kurai questioned.
"Yes, only at night and every night," The driver informed.
"Would you mind informing me of the town's direction?" Kurai requested.
The wagon driver looked troubled for a moment before sighing. "It's in that direction.” He pointed slightly to the right of the path Kurai was following. "Be careful when you arrive there, you wouldn't want to put a little kid in danger now." He warned before taking off.
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Kurai followed the path for a short while, the city walls looming into view soon. Straying a bit away from the main road and following an old dirt path with growing shrubs he approached the walls surrounding the town. As he stood at the gate of the the town both Opal and Kesshō woke up, having been alerted by sounds which Kurai could not hear.
As Kurai entered the town he could see the signs of battle, though quite far from where he stood, he still found it easy to tell the scale of the battle. He could see a large group of people gathered at the wall, seemingly entering through an opening in the wall one by one to take shelter from the destruction.
Ignoring them Kurai walked towards the battle, Kesshō dropping down and walking beside him, her left hand resting on the sheath of her katana, her right hand prepared to draw it at any moment. Opal, not being much of a fighter remained hidden inside the bag, her head peeking out of it to keep an eye on the surroundings.
They heard a loud crash as they reached near the battle, debris flying from where the sound originated. Kurai spotted a small figure lying on the ground, some distance away from the loud crash. Peering hard at the figure he realised it to be a person, a little girl, wearing black clothes and possessing black hair.
Loud thumping footsteps were heard as a massive Werewolf charged in the direction of the girl. It took Kurai a moment to realise the girl's identity, turning his attention to the Werewolf just as he did. He gestured Kesshō to protect her just as several icicles embedded themselves in the Werewolf, a white figure landing beside Sapphire, trying to protect her. The Werewolf slammed down its fists at the two as it reached them, leaving them no room or time to escape.
"Tsuki Kenjutsu, Ni no kata: Kodokuna Tsuki." Kesshō mumbled as she performed six slashes in a heartbeat, forming a dome with crescent moon blades shielding herself along with the other two, slashing the Werewolf's arms as she did.
"That was certainly a close call for you, who would have expected you to be fighting abomination like that." Kurai laughed, coming up behind Sapphire. She tried to turn towards him but winced and stopped halfway, greatly injured from the battle. "Don't push yourself," Kurai reprimanded, "lie down and rest, leave it to Kesshō now."
Kurai gently patted Sapphire's head, crouching down beside her. Kesshō nodded and drew her katana, pointing it at the Werewolf and stabilizing her breathing as she waited for the Werewolf to get back up. As the Werewolf got up it growled in rage at it's new opponent. Kesshō let out a hiss, the look on the Werewolf's face changing to one of terror, for just a moment however, before it howled loudly and charged towards her. Kesshō also launched herself towards it, outspeeding it greatly.
The Werewolf slammed its fists at the ground, one after the other, attempting to crush Kesshō. Dodging the first hand Kesshō slashed at it, leaving a deep wound in it. Dodging the second she stabbed it with four of her phoenix tails, injecting some venom into it, just enough to not kill the beast, causing the Werewolf to howl in pain and stagger backwards, breaking its arm off and throwing it away as it realised the threat.
Kesshō's venom melted the Werewolf's arm in an instant, the large amount which her tails injected without her permission causing the arm to melt much faster than usual. The Werewolf glanced at it in horror, clearly realising it's predicament. Kesshō glanced back at her tails with a sigh, having ordered them to use very little venom. She turned back to the Werewolf, noticing a bright red glow at its chest.
The Werewolf shot multiple fireballs at her, hoping to land a hit while she seemed distracted. She walked right through the fireballs, knowing fire won't harm her. Out of desperation the Werewolf breath out a cloud of toxic gas from its mouth, blocking Kesshō's vision. Kesshō glanced around, sensing the toxic gas to be inflammable with the help of her sense of smell. She did not attempt to move out its way, instead igniting it with some fire from the corner of her lips as the cloud of toxic gas neared, causing it to explode on the Werewolf's face.
Kesshō still remained unscathed, and the Werewolf seemed to be running out of ways, clearly panicking at this point. Running out of choices it howled loudly, summoning twenty hounds around it and ordering them to kill Kesshō, or at the very least hold her off. Kesshō knew very well the hounds were weak enough to not even survive her Demonic Eye, let alone her other attacks.
The nearest hound pounced at Kesshō from behind, being impaled instantly by two of her tails before she could even turn towards it, not even bothering to as it already died. Two others attacked from her sides at the same time and Kesshō hit the one on her left by swinging her arm with a charged attack, her arm bursting right through the hound's head, causing Kesshō to wince as she felt some of the pain it did.
Her tails wrapped around the other one and threw it on another hound with great force, crushing and killing both instantly before they could even feel anything. As five other hounds pounced on her at once Kesshō took in a deep breath, planning to make it quick and painless for them.
"Yon no kata: Tsukiniji." She mumbled as she slammed her katana on the ground, creating a shockwave that killed all five hounds before they could even realise it.
The remaining eleven hounds cowered, not willing to fight her, their fear also clawing at Kesshō's heart, the most prominent being the one from the Werewolf, already planning to run out of fear. Kesshō stopped for a moment and took in a deep breath closing her eyes, calming herself and silencing the feelings which did not belong to her.
She opened her eyes, her left eye's sclera having turned to black as she activated her Demonic Eye of Destruction. The shockwave unleashed from her activating her skill killed all eleven wolves immediately, the power behind it having knocked back the Werewolf as well. Getting right back up from its position the Werewolf started to run away, unable to fight it's fear any longer.
"Don't play around anymore," Kurai commanded Kesshō, "finish it and return quick."
Blue-pink lines shot through Kesshō's legs as she launched herself forwards, appearing right in front of the Werewolf as she blocked it's escape route. The Werewolf swung it's arm towards her in desperation, but she jumped over it with ease, tilting her body upside down right in front of it.
Shichi no kata: Gesshoku Kiru.
A crescent moon blade appeared, following as her katana slashed the Werewolf's head off its shoulders, and as she straightened her body midair and slashed the rest of the Werewolf's body right in half down the middle. The blade dissipated into the ground after that, spraying the Werewolf's remains some distance due to the shockwave unleashed by it.
Kesshō held out her arm, flames bursting out from it, absorbing the remains of the Werewolf, sparing the crystal core she found in its body after breaking it, but not absorbing it. She walked back to Kurai, briefly glancing at Opal, completely hidden inside the bag.
"Thank you for not playing around this time." Kurai appreciated Kesshō and patted her on the head as she approached.
After receiving her praise, Kesshō crouched beside Sapphire and handed her the red gem, the core of the Werewolf which apparently turned out to also be a Krystallite, though not an artificial or fake one like the chimera.
"Looks like a Crimsonite crystal," Kurai observed. "Even though it's that Werewolf's core, she wants you to have it so you can recover."
"How?" Sapphire wondered.
"Absorb." Kesshō answered, confused as to why Sapphire did not know that.
Kesshō placed it in Sapphire's hand, watching as she slowly absorbed the crystal core, red lines travelling through her hand to her heart where her core is. Her friend watched it in awe, Kesshō not being the slightest bit amazed due to having done it several times before. Kesshō could tell Sapphire instantly got much better from absorbing the core, before passing out all of a sudden. Everyone looked at Sapphire in confusion as her head hit the ground.
"What did you give her?" The Winter Wolf girl exclaimed.
"She will wake up in a bit, she just absorbed too much energy at once, something she isn't used to doing," Kurai reassured. "It would still be better to take her elsewhere, the knights will be here soon enough."