Awakening Beast. (Hellhound's Entry)

[Balthier]

"Hey, wait!" Was what she wanted to say, but she sputtered and the words didn't come out. It sorted to move, but Akemi had never let pain stop her. Her championship high-school Kendo club could attest to that is nothing else. She could walk, but only resisted lightly, more protesting silently as the Hound picked her up. The smell of carbon, from fire and burnt things was around the Hound. That Carbon smell could permeate everything around it, sure enough. In fact some of her armor had the smell now too, to go along with the heat scoring.

She had not counted on seeing the mo ster THIS close. Nor had see been prepared to be picked up and have the girl's bare breasts pressed on her side. It felt too intimate for her for soneone she was trying to kill minutes ago. But now she was getting a different vibe. This one just seemed... ignorant of a lot, and more beastly selfishness than having an overarching evil desire. But what to do about it? Something about the Hound made Akemi think of something she had read in world literature long ago. Lenny, from of Mice and Men for some reason came to mind. That and a cross between a Saiyan from Manga her father used to let her read.

Ragnahild's words still echoed in her mind. The question being could the hound be tamed enough to be compatible with life, or was she a complete lost cause. Akemi looked into the Hounds eyes, being intimately close, to see if she could peer I to her soul deeper.

"Yes, such a good girl. Although, I'm not sure the people near by want to see you again so soon. You may have hurt some of their family. I'm pretty sure I can make it back."

Akemi paused, considering something, "Do you have family?"

[Warning]

Hellhound got a stupid smile on her face as she carried the girl, not an evil one, not a plotting one, just one of temporary joy for something. Perhaps what she assumed to be a kind of bond with a human but unfortunately one that probably didn't really like her. Not because of what she was but because of what she had done. What she represented... What she meant to the world that wanted her dead for what she was born to do. Unique to her kind, she was not entirely an emotionless demon without morals but she did struggle to understand the harm in what she was doing. Could she express regret? Probably. But what was done was done. She at least showed herself capable of kindness... In a way.

Obviously, the girl was right. In the grand meaning of things, what she had done as a sport would have made many many humans hate her for what she was. For the monster that came to their town and burned it to ashed, hurt many people and caused losses in many of the families... Homes to be destroyed, which had quite a value for many who felt safe there. An action made out of playing that resulted in unspeakable damage. And yet, with all this, when Akemi put it against her, the hound's eyes looked down at her and her ears flattened, giving off feelings of "knowing she was not a good girl at one point." This was what made her different... A demon would not have cared. For a moment, she did.

Then the last question made her slow down half way back to where humans gathered in the burned town to help the wounded... Many of the helpers were still around but too far to notice her. Blinking light being seen in the distance. So many humans who would not welcome her even if she brought a human she helped back to them. "Do you have family?", she was asked. Her eyes looked down as if that held a kind of importance, at least in human culture. If Hellhound ever felt close to anybody, it sure was not a demon. Perhaps a human or two who may have given her head pats in the past. But otherwise? She was a lonely dog in search of a purpose. Shaking her head, she slowly put Akemi down.

Hellhound figured that the girl could walk all the way back on her own but she still didn't look very happy right now, if not for whatever good moment she at least passed with her in the last minutes. Akemi made clear that approaching other humans now would only turn the encounter sour for the beast girl. She didn't plan on returning there, anyway. She was given conflicting ideas in her brain that made her unsure what to do... The hound couldn't approach humans but she couldn't go back to hell, either. Nothing was waiting for her there. Nobody except a place to sleep, which she could find anywhere. Hellhound's tail swayed around slowly but she looked sad, struggling to figure what she'd do.