Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Celine sighed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she stared down at the open file, papers strewn across the surface of her desk. She had felt the Honmoon ripple slightly around a private school in the Gangnam district, and thought this girl could have been one of the new hunters, but with some more in depth digging and a couple of sleepless nights following the private school student around, she concluded she wasn’t connected to the Honmoon, setting her back on the hunt for the other two thirds of her girl’s trio. Couple that with many nightly patrols following the pink ripples across the crying silvery threads meant Celine was having a shitty night following on from an already shitty day.

She leaned back in her chair, pressing her thumbs into her eyelids, feeling the near painful pressure against her sockets as she tried to force the throbbing headache to disappear, only for it to return two-fold when a soft knock brought her attention away from her work. She stood up, rolling her bandaged shoulders out before turning the knob to reveal Rumi. Standing there in its thin nightshirt, one sleeve hitched up just enough to expose its patterns, gleaming faintly as it stared up at her through long purple strands with tears in its eyes, one glowing just enough to pierce through the shadows of the hallway.

She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth as she consciously loosened her hand on the door, pushing it open just a bit more to let it into her office. It sniffled, shuffling in and stopping by her desk. She sighed, letting the girl climb into her chair, letting it wiggle around slightly to get comfortable and, in the process, shaking the hem of the sleeve back down to cover its marks back up. She rested her hands on the girls shoulders, stroking her thumbs along her covered collarbones as she knelt down to look at Rumi’s face.

She was met with those mismatched eyes, glossy and shining with a wet film as it stared back at the older woman. She quickly flitted her gaze down, breaking the accidental eye contact. Its cheeks, Celine noticed, were dry. Red and blotchy yes, but dry despite the water welling in its eyes. She tore her eyes away from its face, nodding her head towards her desk.“Would you like to help me with some of this?” She offered, keeping her voice soft and even.

Despite not facing the girl, she could see her turn her head in the corner of her eye. Taking it as a good sign, she continued, hoping the next thing out of her mouth would convince her fully.

“It’s about your future bandmates. I’m not entirely certain, but I’ve been looking into this girl and it could be a good chance she is.”

That got her.

Rumi roughly scrubbed at her eyes with her arm, pulling herself closer to the desk to look at the papers. She kicked her feet a little, furrowing her brow as she slowly read through the file’s description. Honestly, Celine was pretty sure this student wasn’t one of the third, but it had gotten her charge to stop looking at her like a kicked dog so she would count it as a win.

She moved herself behind Rumi, watching over her shoulder as she placed her hands on the backrest of her office chair. The girl straightened up slightly when she felt her fingers brush against her covered shoulder blades, leaning back just enough to feel them press more firmly into her flesh. Celine’s jaw twitched, and she pulled her hands back to rest only against the cushioned leather. They stayed like that, silent in the small, unusually cluttered office broken by the ticking of her wall clock and the occasional sniff from the young girl as the light of dawn slowly filtered in through the wooden blinds.

“Celine?”

She broke the silence with a hesitant call, tilting her head to stare up at her mentor, who avoided her eyes to look at the information laid strewn on the wood. She had an obvious inflection, not yet completely used to the way the romanised version of her name sounded. Celine turned to her all the same. “May we see 엄마 today?”

GET AWAY FROM HER-

Wait, Celine please -

She swallowed thickly, glancing at the clock.

“Now?”

Rumi pressed her lips together, dipping her head low.

“Please? If it’s not too much trouble.” She added hastily, waiting for her elder’s decision.

Celine stayed quiet, thinking for a moment before sighing and moving away, hands falling back to her side.

“After breakfast. Come.”

She opened the door, holding it ajar as Rumi slide off the chair to patter silently out of her office, footsteps completely soundless, only alerting its position from the creaking as she stepped into the wooden hallway that the older woman had intentionally re-installed strangely after a few too many jump scares from the girl. Celine swallowed, shutting the door behind her as she followed it to the dining area, moving to the cooking nook shoved into the corner as it sat next to the low table, waiting to be told what to do.

She could feel its eyes burning into her back as she gathered some leftover rice and a block of tofu, cutting it into chunks and bending down to pick up a pan stored on the floor.

“Rumi-ya,” she called out, knowing the girl perked up despite continuing to face the counter as she spooned the rice into two bowls, “can you get the sesame oil.”

Rumi scrambled to her feet, quick to obey the order.

“Don’t run.”

Celine poured the oil into the pan, heating it up and dropping the tofu in. She gestured for the girl to stand back, feeling less crowded as she backed out of the kitchen corner to watch the oil bubble up around the blocks.

They both stood there, staring at the spitting pan as the crackling and smell of frying tofu filled the room. Celine felt a couple drops hit her hands as she turned them around with some chopsticks. She placed them down to pick up the bowls of rice, wordlessly handing them over so her charge could put them on the table.

“Should I cut up some kimchi Celine?”

She let out a positive hum, hearing the isolated creaking follow it as it went to grab some scissors, a small dish, and the bag from the fridge. She placed the tofu on a plate, picking up some utensils as she passed the drying rack, and carrying it over to the table.

Rumi was already there, quietly accepting the offered cutlery for her to place down neatly next to her bowl, waiting for Celine to sit down and grab the first tofu to start eating.

They ate in silence, finishing the meal quickly and clearing the table. Celine left the child to wash up as she trudged back to her rarely used bedroom. She changed her clothes, having stayed in the dirt stained fabric for far too long for her liking, before heading back out to find the girl waiting by the door, already in her shoes and a jacket despite still being in her sleep clothes. She allowed it, not bothered to put this off any longer.

They crossed the courtyard into the surrounding forest, Rumi falling into place slightly behind her as they walked along the well-trodden path, their breath fogging the air.

They broke through the shade of the trees into a clearing, following the path up to the worn stone steps. Absentmindedly, Celine made note of the undergrowth creeping in and swallowing some of the stone plaques located closer to the edge. She’ll send the girl to clear it in a few days.

They turned off the stairs, walking along the small strip of grass, and stopped in front of Her grave, the red flowers next to the stone wilting from neglect.

Wilting.

Red. Dripping down.

Blood.

Dripping.

On her hands. On her blades. On Her.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

nononononononoNoNoNoNoNoNONONONONONONOPLEASEPLEASENOTHERPLEASEIDIDNTMEANTO-

She knelt down beside it, staring at the name engraved into the stone. She didn’t know why it wanted to see Her, but it didn’t usually ask for much, so she could fathom a guess. Still, it was easier to indulge it in a small ask like this. Besides, she hadn’t visited in a while, at least this allowed her to see what maintenance needed to be done on the gravesite.

They didn’t speak. Why would they need to. No words could be said that hadn’t already left their lips. Well. That’s not entirely true on Celine’s part. But the child wouldn’t be able to handle that truth. And Celine wouldn’t be able to handle the fallout. So they don’t speak. They shouldn’t.

And yet. It still broke the silence with that voice. So mockingly similar. So cruelly different.

“I’m sorry 엄마.”

Oh.

Celine choked back the rock in her throat. God, how she wished she could cry. But she lost that ability on That Night. Had choked and sobbed and shrieked until she drained herself dry. The last of her tears were buried beneath her now, laying dead in the dirt with Her, clinging to Her clothes, staining Her skin. And so, her eyes stayed dry, as did the child’s beside her, both staring at the remnants of the woman who gave them life.

She stood first, brushing off her trousers as Rumi followed her lead, understanding she had pushed Celine too much for today. They had overstayed their welcome. She moved first, making her way back to the steps. Celine lingered, watching after Her daughter before glancing down at the camellias. She’ll get her to change those too.

She made a move to the stairs, only making it one step before a rustle behind her caused her to whip around.

Celine narrowed her eyes, staring up into the canopy of the trees at a shadowy spot in the crook of one of the branches. A flutter of black and white darted through the greenery as the bird took flight, a series of flaps echoing from its perch as it disappeared deeper into the woods.

She hummed, turning back to the path to follow after her charge, brushing her fingers a final time against the cold polished stone. I’m sorry, Mi-yeong.

Chapter Text

He rumbled softly, head swaying softly from side to side as he heard the strings of Singer’s bipa being gently plucked. He wiggled his paws, dangling them off the edge of the roof as the hot clay warmed his underside. A rush of wind passed over his head and a quiet scratch sounded next to him. Oh. 호랑이 slowly turned his now hatless head to look at the other spirit, a low churr sounding out in greeting.

까치.

Yes?

My gat.

What about it.

He blinked. Then rested his head back onto his forelegs. Oh well. They could share the gat then. She seemed to like it a lot, and he liked seeing his friend happy, especially with how rare its been after she was left masterless.

Why are you here?

Can’t I just come visit a friend?

He narrowed his eyes, the glow shining down on her like a spotlight. She noticed, the three eyes facing him darting to the side as she looked upwards to avoid his stare, contemplating before letting out a chirpy sigh.

Fine. She acquiesced. I… saw her.

His pulled his legs in to lay more upright, turning towards her as his eyes widened slightly with curiosity. The girl?

She nodded, settling down a little more and getting comfortable on the heated tiles, folding her wings against her back with a small flutter.

I was nearly caught. The Hunter almost recognised me. She spat out, a hiss building in her throat.

Ah. The girls Packmother. 호랑이 had heard about her from the magpie, mainly between a string of curses and insults during many pacing rants that left the bird hoarse and exhausted.

I thought you’d seen her before. He rolled over onto his flank, pawing at 까치’s side and nudging her over. She huffed, letting him hook a claw into her feathers to gently right her back onto her feet. What’s different this time?

I saw her fully this time. She hopped onto the pad of his paw, pacing along his leg. He shifted to rest on his belly, paying more attention now.

Not just a glimpse, I saw her. They were near Her grave. The Hunter doesn’t usually let her go outside the walls, nothing was even special about the day.

She clacked her beak a few times, pulling slightly as his fur as her small talons dug into him.

And…

And? She squawked, fluttering her wings to hit him gently. What do you mean and?

Why are you so quiet? The first time you ever caught sight of the girl after That Night you were gushing. Why so hesitant? He continued batting at her, playing with her tail feathers as she glared at him with all six of her eyes.

She looked sad.

That’s not new.

She smacked his nose.

More sad than she usually does. She settled back down, pecking at his other paw when he tried nudging her again. And I want to meet her. Properly. I guess I just realised I probably won’t be able to. She won’t go back to Her grave without her watching. And when she is left alone she will have already internalised the Hunter’s teachings.

He stared at her, tilting his head.

So let’s wait.

She frowned, stepping away from his nearing face. What do you mean.

Let’s wait for her.

Before she could protest, he opened his mouth, lifting her in his jaws as she chirped wildly, flapping around with the free wing hanging out between his oversized fangs. He sat up, feeling the threads of the Honmoon split apart as he started sinking down into the blue light, the bird still struggling and screeching as the barrier swallowed them whole.

They floated through the mist, paddling through as he floated along, peering through the strands to find the destination. A pull caught his attention and he swivelled his head around to catch a second vibration surrounding a forest clearing. Wading closer, he nearly recoiled at the sheer strength of Hunter scent he picked up, and she started thrashing more violently. He grumbled, adjusting his grip on her before leaping through into the human realm, landing on a patch of brambles.

He flattened the bush beneath him with his feet, patting it down and settling on the thorny branches as he rumbled out a purr, accidentally rattling 까치 around in his maw. She pecked at the roof of his mouth, forcing him to drop her with a yelp.

She shook the drool off her feathers, glaring up at him as she chattered in disgust.

Now my gat’s wet.

Our gat.

She rolled her eyes, turning to face away from him, looking at the gravesite instead.

It was a strange sight for 호랑이. He rarely looked around graveyards, preferring to stay around people and their songs, only travelling to them when his fellow spirit used to invite him to tag along with her master. He hadn’t been to one in ten years. For 까치 though, it was a familiar place. And a messy one too.

She hopped down from the squashed undergrowth, giving herself a once over before gingerly unfurling her damp wings to flit into a nearby tree.

She’s not going to show up, you know.

She will. Besides, He stretched his legs out, flexing his claws against the leaf litter before tucking them underneath him as his tail flicked smugly, you can’t use the Honmoon like I can.

She groaned, throwing her head back hard enough to nearly topple over.

Great, now I’m stuck here. She grumbled, shoving her head down into her puffed feathers. What’s your big plan, genius? Wait here until she comes back with the Hunter and gets us killed? We’re masterless. We’ll actually die.

We won’t be killed. He chuffed in amusement at her irritation. Anyway, you said the girl looked sad. It’ll probably only be a day or two until she comes back.

So they waited, reluctantly on 까치’s part, but still.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

A day passed. Then another. Then a third.

The magpie had gotten restless about 3 hours into waking on the second day, and had started gathering fallen twigs and creeping moss, building a small nest after 호랑이 nearly crushed her in their sleep when he rolled over while she was resting on his back.

You don’t need a nest though. He warbled, confused. Are you laying eggs?

She stole some of his fur to use as bedding after that.

On day four, she took to chattering in his ear, dodging his paws when he tried to bat at her. It was a fun little game to him, and he liked chirping back at her when she tugged at his ear, her talons barely piercing through his thick pelt as she balanced on his head.

On day five they ended up sleeping through the morning, only waking when they heard a series of snapping wood and the echoey whoosh of a something being tossed before it hit 호랑이 on the forehead. His gaze followed the broken branch as it dropped to the space between his paws, staring for a moment before looking through the foliage to see where it came from, dimly aware of 까치’s frantic flapping as she beat her wings, trying to contain herself in her excitement.

He felt her before he saw her, a thrum in the air as the barrier’s strings rippled out, a sense of wrong filling his body. It was strange, feeling the ingrained wariness of a Hunter clash with the innate safety from a demons presence within the same being.

And then he saw her.

Cub.

She was a small little thing, much leaner then he expected, with tanned, sun spotted skin, well, from what little was showing. Despite the heat and humidity, the Cub was wearing long clothing, only showing her forearms from where she rolled her sleeves up to the elbows. What a silly cub, not dressed properly.

The Cub was crouched in front of Her grave, dusting the fallen leaves and thin twigs from the base surrounding the headstone. How neat of her. How responsible, cleaning this place, showing respect. He couldn’t see her face with her head facing the ground, strands of her purple hair falling out of its ponytail and curtaining her features.

She seemed to pause for a moment, looking around before reaching out to brush her fingers against the stone, lingering as she traced the engravings.

How sad. 까치 was right about Cub being so sad. That’s all he could really sense on her, her scent sour with loneliness.

When she stood up, her foot knocked into the flower pot next to her, causing it to wobble. Then topple over.

Oh.

What a clumsy little thing. He should go help her. His little Cub needs some help.

No. No no. Wait, 호랑이! Stop! You can’t- what the fuck are you doing?!

He stepped forward, ignoring 까치’s calls for him to stop as she tried pulling at his tail between her claws. He batted her away and ambled through the undergrowth to help his Cub, rumbling out a little greeting chirrup.

Chapter Text

The half demon trudged back through the woods, this time alone, and carrying a couple of tools in a bag it hefted over its shoulder as the dim light of dawn filtered through the trees, dappling the ground. Arriving at the clearing, it let the bag drop with a thump, massaging the muscle along the joining of its neck and shoulder as it tried to get rid of the ache that was starting to twinge.

It rummaged through to find a folding saw, starting over at the larger branches and fallen tree limbs it couldn’t move.

Celine had told it to clear the Hunters resting place, and so, for the next few days she gave it some time off training to fix it while she ran errands. It hoped guessed it had something to do with the other two Hunters, but Celine did not say and so it did not ask.

It threw its weight into the saw, pushing it through the final bit of wood and watching it snap off the main trunk to hit the grass below. It gripped the bark, finding some divots and valleys to use as handholds, and tugging it to the edge of the clearing, shoving the pieces of the fallen tree into a corner to carry back to the hanok later to store as firewood for the boiler.

It started on the vines next, tearing them from the ground with its bare hands. It felt the occasional thorns rip through its palms, blood bubbling up underneath the scratches but never emerging. It paid those pricks of pain no mind as it continued to clear the overgrown plants from the plaques, uncovering generation after generation of previous Hunters. Row upon row upon row.

It continued through the morning, the sun beating down on the back of its neck. Despite being alone, it still hesitated before rolling its sleeves up, even with no patterns showing.

cover those up.

It steadily made progress, tediously working its way up the steps to each new level, each containing a three sets of three. Always three.

Its eyes flicked upwards, higher, catching sight of Her grave. She stared, hands still working as her attention started to drift. 엄마.

No.

It wrenched its eyes to fix back onto the moss being crushed in its vice grip. It forced its fingers to relax, letting the lichen crumble down to join the other debris.

It couldn’t go see Her again. It shouldn’t. A being as unnatural as it should not be allowed such a human thing as wanting.

It buried itself back in the laborious task it was given, wanting hoping knowing it needed to make Celine satisfied.

not proud. never proud. she was never proud of it

As it sunk back down into the numb monotony of the repetitive motions, it tentatively let its mind start to wander again.

Soon its own headstone would be carved and engraved with its name by its own hand, waiting for it to be buried beneath it. Soon it will have claimed a place amongst the Hunters past, maintaining its own plaque until it couldn’t anymore. And soon, they will come. Her Bonded will arrive and will set their markings next to hers. And they will be one, in life and in death.

Drip.

It straightened up, staring at the blood trickling from the gouges on its palm, catching against the torn flaps of skin as it spread through the creases of her hand and ran over the sides.

They would not be one. Its Bonded would not want to share their souls with a soulless being. It would take and take with nothing to give back. No soul, no bond, nothing except its life. Nothing except the guaranteed certainty it would give its life for its Bonded. It was the least it could do for stealing the position from a deserving human. But even its life would never be enough to be granted forgiveness. No demon deserves a connection as strong as what the Honmoon gave. Not even a half demon.

She couldn’t help but turn back to it.

Her grave. Next to two others yes, but only accompanied by one, not two. Unfinished. Broken.

It wondered if Celine ever wished to join them, to be buried beneath her own stone to rejoin her Fallen. It knows it would if it were allowed to wish. It was a selfish being like that. Even having never met them, it knew it would never be able to leave its Bonded devoid of a third. However undeserving that third is. However inhuman it is. It knew in its selfish heart that it would crawl back to them, even if they beat it bloody and turned it to ash, because it could not bear the rejection.

I don’t want to be alone

Celine, please-

It felt its legs bringing it closer, unable to stop moving until it stood back in that same place it had almost a week ago, staring down at words chiselled into the stone by Her own hands. The wilting camellias were even more shrunken and dead then last time, but, unfortunately, it hadn’t brought the new ones, having not planned to approach this set until the next day. it didn’t like not following plans, but just for this moment, she didn’t care.

She crouched down in front of it, wiping her injured hand off on her clothes so she doesn’t ruin the plaque in the grass. She tossed a broken part of a branch off into the forest, brushing away some of the leaf litter and bracken, deeming it good enough for now. She raised the fingers on her cleaner hand to trace the imperfect furrows and valleys, mouthing out the sounds of the hangul.

She lingered for a moment, unwilling to pull away, but ultimately stood to return to its duties. As it stood, it knocked into the pot, causing it to teeter on the edge before thumping down on the grass.

It sighed, beginning to bend back down to pick it back up, but before it could move, a low rumble sounded out from its right. It whirled around, reaching to draw a blade from within the folds of its clothes. While demons rarely ventured this far in to Hunter territory, Celine had always drilled the importance of being armed and ready.

Only, the half demon is currently neither. Because it was stupid and forgot to grab its knife.

It still wasn’t good enough human enough able to draw its weapon from the Honmoon, meaning it was usually sent off with the next best thing. Wouldn’t turn anything to ash but it would leave enough time to get away. Except, of course there wouldn’t be any ash. Because she forgot the fucking blade.

Piercing orange eyes cut through the shadows, slowly lurching towards her. She gripped at the hem of her shirt, backing away as it moved forward, revealing a hulking blue form. Its fangs curled outwards, forming tusks that curve out of its open, drooling maw, hanging open with heavy pants. Its thick tail whipped around behind it as it stepped closer, another snarl guttering out like an engine.

She clenched her teeth, fighting back a whimper in her throat as she stumbled away from her mother’s grave, tripping over Celine’s plaque and falling backwards. She shoved herself off the ground fixing her eyes back onto the demon as a little hissing growl sputtered into existence, fuelled by her last ditch attempt to get it to stop moving closer.

It didn’t.

In fact, she’s pretty sure she just saw its pupils dilate at her pathetic sound.

What a fucking way to die. Killed by a blue tiger at the ripe age of ten without ever having known her Bonded or even summoned her weapon. What a way to end her mother’s legacy, mauled and bleeding out over Her grave, turning that pristine marble red. Staining Her all over again.

But. No. She wasn’t growing cold lying in a pool of her own blood. Nor was she torn apart by the fangs of a demon. The tiger sat down. And stared at her.

And kept staring.

She furrowed her brows, unsure of what else to do other than just meet its gaze. As soon as she did it broke eye contact.

“Oh come on…” she huffed. She’d put a lot of effort into looking at it.

Its eyes snapped back onto her and she let out a yelp that she quickly swallowed, leaning away as it kept fucking staring, observing her like one would a circus act or stage performer. It seemed to give up on trying find what it was looking for, because it turned its head away again, now focusing on the tipped over flower pot.

Its eyes darted to her, as if making sure she was still watching, and it put a paw on the clay, dragging it upward slowly until it was balancing along the rim of the bottom. And then it let go. She winced at the clatter but it didn’t look like it cared about the sound, because it started pulling at it again. Always switching between watching the pot and watching her. After the fourth time she had enough.

“Stop! You’ll break it! Please, don’t do that…” She trailed off, noticing it stopped trying to right the pot to look at her, its massive paw still resting on it. She could see the tips of its black claws peeking through the fur.

It gently lifted its paw, setting it behind the container and giving it a nudge, rolling it to her. And then it put its foot back down on the ground, dragging it backwards in a slow, exaggerated fashion. Then sat back, waiting.

She looked down at the pot at her feet, then at his paw, then picked up the flower pot and set it back down, upright this time.

It let out a chirp, eyes dilating as it ducked its head to stare at the standing object. It peered up at her, and bounced up, stalking towards her again, forcing her to scramble backwards until her back hit the stone of a grave.

“Wait- wait- I stood it up, that’s what you wanted, right?”

She shut her eyes, cringing back as she brought her shoulders to her ears, bracing for it to slam into her.

It doesn’t. Instead a warm weight settles on her legs and she feels a rough, wet tongue rasping against her hand, licking up the dried blood she’s sure she tracked pretty much everywhere at this point. Great, now it has a taste for her blood. Also demon slobber was definitely not good for her multiple open cuts but right now she couldn’t think about that, focused on the fact that a demon was currently lying on her. And also crushing her legs.

It nosed at her fingers, encouraging her to stroke its head as its purr rattled through her bones. She played tentatively with his fur, running her fingers through the strands and tracing the black dots running down the centre of its forehead. It looked back, calling back into the spot it emerged from. A magpie’s warble echoed back and she paused her movements.

“Are there more?” She asked, withdrawing her hand. Well, trying to. It bumped her when she tried, catching her hand gently in its teeth and bringing it back.

It let out another call, this time with an underlying growl that made her muscles tense. Instead of a response, the second demon emerged, swooping low above their heads to rest on the tombstone next to her. Huh. Apart from the little hat it looked like a magpie. That and the four extra eyes but given that the first demon was a blue tiger with tusks this did exceed her expectations.

It let out a pleased rumble, to which the magpie hissed at it, preening itself while the tiger stretched out further onto her legs, practically forcing her to continue stroking him while he lapped at her other hand, cleaning it like her hand was a kitten.

And so, she stayed right there as the sun drifted lower in the sky, harsh heat giving way to a cooler breeze as blue turned to orange and the day started to give way to night. She didn’t know why she dread having to leave, gathering her discarded tools and a couple large pieces of sawn wood as slow as possible while the duo circled her, the magpie tugging at her hair and the tiger blocking her, pressing her against trees and bushes as she continued her journey back.

Eventually though, they had to fall back, the strength of the Honmoon surrounding the property too great for them to even try going near. They stayed just behind the treeline, evident by the faint pinprick glow of orange and yellow shining through the brush as it returned home to an empty house, a situation that had been becoming increasingly more common as its mentor stayed out later and later. Celine hadn’t mentioned if it was allowed to use the stove or not. No matter. It could go to sleep without food. It shouldn’t feel hunger anyway.

Despite itself, she couldn’t stop a spark of excitement for tomorrow.

Chapter Text

CUB!

호랑이 bounded down the worn steps, his claws scraping against the stone as he scrambled down to the girl emerging from the woods, who returned the gesture by dropping her bag and bracing against his body slamming her backwards.

So needy… 까치 sighed, stretching out her wings before launching herself from her branch, flying over to land on his head, only to get immediately thrown off by his bouncing. She huffed and settled down on one of the cut logs that was still sitting next to the path.

She stared at the thin girl, taking in the sight she’d waited for for years. She couldn’t get enough of it. Finally, finally, Rumi was here. In front of her. And she wasn’t trying to kill them. She fluttered over to her, hovering over her to not startle her before perching, shifting around to get comfortable, trying to hide her giddiness as being back on someone’s shoulder after so long. She buried herself further into the hollow of her clavicle, twisting her head around to tug at Rumi’s hair tie.

She turned to look at her, getting the message and letting her hair down from its braid, to which 까치 was promptly swept up in a purple sea. She could hear 호랑이’s chattery laughter as she fought against the waves, ending up tangling herself in a bit more.

You should see yourself, you look so stupid right now, what a great first impression.

Shut up! She broke free with her feathers sticking up in all sorts of ways and her gat hanging half off her head, glaring at him as she shook off the rest of the hair. And it’s not a first impression, its a second.

Whatever first impression you did make has just been ruined by that.

She clacked her beak at him, but was jostled around when she felt Rumi’s shoulder start shaking, and looked back, realising with a start the girl was smiling, covering it with her hand. She sulked, ruffling her wings in mock annoyance and narrowing her eyes.

“Sorry, sorry. I don’t mean to disrespect. You just look a little funny, that’s all.” She pressed her lips together, clearly still trying not to smile, and she felt fingers brush over her head, smoothing the feathers back down. She trilled at the sensation, closing her eyes and leaning further into it, chasing her hand when she tried to pull away to fix her gat.

Look who’s the needy one now. He rumbled, sidling up to circle around her, pressing against her entire body and nearly toppling her.

Careful! She hissed, fluffing her tail up as she tried to balance. Rumi cupped her body in her hand, pushing her back in to place as her other hand went to pet 호랑이. Good, now he’s too distracted to make her fall.

You worry too much. He purred, rubbing his face against her chest. I wouldn’t knock her over. And even if I did, she’s so small I could catch her easily.

Not the point. She flapped her wings in his face when he got too close, making him jerk back at the sudden gust of wind in his open eyes.

He blinked, shaking himself off before ducking his head low to catch her hand again, nudging it up until she got the message and held it still, letting him push back the sleeve to inspect the unwrapped wound and scratches from the day before. He licked it, letting out a displeased whine as Rumi’s fingers twitched, trying not to move.

What is it, let me see. She hopped off her spot down onto his head, settling between his ears as he lifted her to see the damage. It was red and raw, weeping blood from being rubbed open by the bag strap she carried through the forest.

Cub hasn’t wrapped it, I don’t think she knows she should. Maybe her Packmother didn’t teach her how.

Well if she didn’t then she isn’t a very good one.

She went to her wrist, using it as a perch to glare at Rumi in the eye. She looked away, gaze darting away.

“What? It’ll heal quick, what’s the matter?”

She stamped her foot, careful not to catch the skin with her talons, trying to get the message across as she twisted to gently poke the back of her hand before facing her again. 호랑이 pawed at her shirt, claws snagging lightly against the fabric.

“Don’t do that, you’ll rip it. Celine won’t like it if I came back with ruined clothes.” She tried to push him away but he just kept his claws sunken in to the shirt.

Look, Cub. He tugged once more with his paw, before letting it go and batting her injured palm, sitting back down and waiting. See? Wrap it.

She glanced between her shirt and her hand, finally clocking what they wanted her to do. Her eyes widened and she tried to pull back.

“No! No, I can’t! It’ll get ruined, I just said Celine-”

까치 pecked at her wrist, cutting her off. She stomped again, fanning her tail feathers as she stared Rumi down. Not negotiable, Little One.

She pleadingly looked between the two, before she seemed to crumple, sinking down to lean on 호랑이 as he guided them into some of the shade on the edge of the clearing, gingerly setting her down to lean back against a tree. Pressing her chest with his paw for a moment to get it into her head not to move. He still laid his head on her legs, just in case. She brought out a knife from her pocket, hesitating until she nipped at the girl to get her to move, to which she brought the blade to the fabric to cut a strip from it. 까치 picked up one end, holding it in place so Rumi could securely wrap it without much slack, tucking the spare cloth in.

“Can you let me up now?” She asked, shoving at his face to try and move the behemoth, failing, of course. “I do have work to do, you know. Can’t lounge around all day like you do.”

He huffed, lifting his head painstakingly slowly to fully emphasise his displeasure at her pushing him off, but still followed her as she went back to her work. 호랑이 and 까치 stayed with her the entire day, watching her work until they decided she should rest and he would force her to take a break by lifting her up by the back of her shirt and moving her into the shade to avoid the sun, lying across her to keep her there as she preened Rumi’s hair for a while.

Soon, too soon, dusk came once more, and she had to leave. She gave them both one last pat before turning to head back. Just like the previous day, they had followed her as far as they felt comfortable with, only stopping when the Honmoon’s magic felt too strong for even them to break through without travelling through it.

They stayed at the edge of the forest once more, watching as she disappeared inside and waited until the faint light switched off, finally plunging the property into the complete darkness of the night. They turned back to return to the gravesite, preparing to settle down to sleep. Well, that was the plan. Instead, 까치 couldn’t actually rest because the tiger kept spinning in circles, his fat paws stomping around.

Oh, calm down. She’s just gone to eat and sleep, not march to war. She’ll come back tomorrow, this place is still not clean enough.

He sat down, drawing his tail tight over his paws as he tried not to shift and pace. He managed about 3 minutes.

Nope. I need to go see Cub.

She groaned, stumbling up and falling onto his head as he sunk back down into the Honmoon. Damn you, 호랑이.

It opened the door, sliding it to the side as it took off its shoes to leave next to Celine’s. So she is home tonight. It shoved its hand into the pockets of it’s trousers, hiding the makeshift bandage as it beelined towards the kitchen, where hazy light was seeping through the paper on the door. It turned the knob, bowing its head slightly as Celine turned to look at it.

“Rumi-ya.”

It perked up, waiting for another command.

“It’s late. Sit, I’ll bring you something to eat, there’s some left in the pot from my dinner.”

It smiled, consciously keeping it small as it tried to spread further, padding to the table and plopping down silently as it watched her gift it some of her food.

“Thank you, Celine.”

It picked up the spoon, keeping its right hand hidden in its lap as it slurped at the soup, eating for the first time in the past two days, trying to slow itself down so Celine wouldn’t notice its gluttony.

“How much have you cleared?”

It looked up, swallowing it mouthful. “Just over half, I think. After clearing I will need to polish the stone and then it’s finished.”

Celine hummed, washing the pot and ladle in the sink.

“And what happened to your clothes.”

It froze, clenching the spoon between its fingers. It kept its gaze fixed on the bowl.

“I- I injured myself on some bramble, its just an improvised wrap until I could come back and treat it properly. Didn’t want to get any blood on the graves.”

It felt the floor creak and dip slightly next to her as Celine crouched down, dragging its hand from its resting place to pull the scrap fabric away, putting it to the side. She tilted its hand, examining the wound, now scabbed over with some slight beading from the cloth sticking to it as she took it off. She tugged its sleeves up further, now taking both hands in hers to look at the superficial marks from the labour.

“Next time, don’t rip your clothes apart to wrap it if you don’t want to stain anything. Just wipe it off until it stops bleeding and continue, no need to bandage something this shallow.”

It nodded vigorously, taking her advice to heart. She ran her fingers over the cut before letting its hands drop back down to carry on eating, throwing a parting “Wash up and go to bed. Good night.” before leaving it alone.

It did just that, cleaning its dishes before swiftly showering in the cold sputtering water, lying down to rest on its thin mat, padding the blanket around it so it didn’t overheat as it curled into itself, hugging its legs to its torso. It fell into a dreamless sleep, too tired to notice a blue glow emanating as a hole opened in the floor, orange eyes peeking out with a magpie sitting on the blue head.

See? Absolutely fine. Even clean and fed, by the looks of it. Now let’s go.

But Cubs bandage’s gone.

She was unwillingly turned as he rotated his head, seeing the uncovered scab, nearly black with blood.

…I’m going in.

No- Oh come on!

He closed up his portal behind him, leaving both of them stuck in the Hunter’s house. He padded close to her, floorboards creaking in agony at his colossal weight as he nosed the blanket away from her, curling around her so she was nestled securely against his underbelly. Despite her complaints, 까치 couldn’t help fluttering closer, sitting next to her head and settling into her sprawled hair.

I still don’t think this is smart in the slightest.

It’ll be fine. If her Packmother gets close, we’ll be gone before she can even walk down the hall. Now sleep.

He slapped a paw over her, squashing her into the floor and laying a foreleg over Rumi in the process, pulling both of them closer into his furry mass.

So, they slept. A halfbreed girl with two wandering spirits, motherless and masterless, curled together in a pile. If they were lonely, well, at least they could be lonely together.

Chapter Text

She curled into the warmth surrounding her, nuzzling into the soft mass with a quiet hum. Did Celine come in to cuddle? She used to go to her before they spread when she was crying and she would cradle her in her arms to make her shut up to help her go back to sleep. not anymore

She whined, burying her face into the rumbling body. Fur. She jolted up, scrambling away from whatever she was trapped with, a startled squeak slipping from her mouth as a chirp sounded out from the space next to where her head had been resting. The magpie’s head poked up, blinking its eyes groggily as the tiger extended a paw, reaching blindly for her with a displeased growl at being woken up.

“The fuck are you two doing here?”

The bird waddled over, hopping onto her knee despite her attempt to shoo it away.

“No! You can’t be here, Celine will kill you!”

The blue demon rolled its eyes, languidly stretching out before padding over, the floorboards screaming beneath its feet, causing her to cringe back at the sheer amount of sound this stupid cat seemed to produce. It tried to nudge her, purring like it wanted to get caught, but she shoved it back, shushing it as she tried to listen out for Celine, only to hear nothing. No creaking hallways, no opening doors, nothing.

She’d left.

She didn’t know why that realisation loosened the tightness in her chest, but she brushed it off, shaking her head to get her hair out of her face, grumbling at the messy strands. She really didn’t want see the practicality of long hair, but Celine had never told her to cut it so she never did. Lucky for her, she didn’t have to deal with it long before she felt something rough and wet slap her forehead and drag up, pulling her hair out of her face and slicking it back.

This fucking cat.

She grimaced, gingerly wiping off as much saliva as she could and flicking it back in its face, making it stumble back with rapid blinks as the magpie warbled with a smug grin, fluttering its wings in amusement but quickly switching to a squawk when it fell off her knee. She stifled a grin, standing up to exit the room to wash her hair out and get ready to go back to the graveyard.

The two demons followed her out, getting momentarily stuck in the door since the tiger couldn’t fit through the opening without rotating sideways. So it just sunk into the floor, the Honmoon strings lighting up as it swallowed it whole, only to spit it back out on the other side of the door, right in front of her in the hallway. She stared, baffled, as it sat down, licking its paw casually.

“Demons can do that?”

The magpie shook its head, pointing its beak at its friend.

“Only the tiger?”

It tilted its head, bobbling it around. So kind of. Huh, alright. She snuck over to the bathroom, keeping her feet light on the wood to keep the squeakiness to a minimum. The tiger immediately destroyed that quietness by stomping on the floor like it owed the demon money. A growl stuttered from her throat as the sounds grated at her ears, but she choked it down, trying to smooth out the scowl darkening her face. she washed her hair out in the sink, pouring water over it to scrub out the demon drool sticking in the waves. She felt the magpie clamp down on her forearm, guiding her hand under the faucet to clean the healing injury.

“I can do it myself.” She mumbled, letting it hold her twitching palm under the stream. “I lost the wrap, sorry. Celine took it away, I think she wants to sew it back on to the shirt.”

The bird looked up at her, chattering as it walked up her arm to tug on her nightshirt.“I’m not cutting this one up.”

It shook its head, thinking for a moment before tapping her palm and wiggling its body around in a circular motion. It’s like it was trying to make her crack a smile. It glared at her through half lidded eyes, unamused, but it couldn’t continue for long, quickly moving to rub against the underside of her jaw. Her snicker died in her throat. She blinked, swallowing back the lump in her throat and resting her shaking fingers to hold it closer. It chirruped a final time before pulling away, and she let her hand reluctantly slip back down to her side.

“If you’re asking, yeah, there’s bandages. But Celine told me not to wrap it. Anyway it’s basically healed.”

The tiger snarled behind her, but she brushed it away, walking back to her room to grab some clothes, glancing out one of the windows on her way back. Good, it’s still dark, she hadn’t slept too late. She closed the door, picking up the bag of tools on her way out.

Except when she slid open the front door, she was met with a wall of blue fur.

“Oh for the love of-”

She was cut off by a chuff and the demon picking her up by the back of her shirt. A yelp sounded out and she writhed in the air, instinctively baring her fangs teeth as her legs curled up. It turned around, backing into the door frame, splitting the threads as it phased back in to the house. It briefly dropped her to bring its head inside before pulling her back through the door and scruffing her again. She hissed, trying to swipe at it as it carried her over to the kitchen, the magpie pulling the door open. It set her gently down inside, blocking off the exit and trapping her in the room.

Their message was very clear.

“You two suck.” She grumbled, picking up Celine’s note.

Nothing much was different, it said the usual stuff. Celine had gone out and she doesn’t know how long she’ll be gone, keep working on the clearing. The only notable thing added was a tacked on ‘Don’t injure yourself by being inattentive or careless, I trained you better.’

She waved the paper in front of the demons, letting them read it. “See,” she poked at the writing, “nothing about eating.”

The bird snapped its beak, fanning its tail and spreading its wings to appear bigger. The tiger just clicked, flashing its fangs as it lay down in the doorway, still big enough to easily come up to her shoulder, even when sprawled on the floor.

She growled, stomping over to the fridge and wrenching it open, ripping a packet of tofu apart to bite into it, chewing the mouthful vigorously.

“Happy?”

They just continued to stare. It grit its teeth, sinking its canines back into the block to tear another chunk out. It could feel its gums start to itch and it squeezed its eyes shut, forcing its elongating fangs back into the recesses of the tissue, nearly gagging at the sensation of them internally sliding against the roof of its mouth.

God it hated the feeling, that wet slick sounding out as it rubbed against the flesh, thin demonic fangs forcing its way into a human mouth that tore and broke and bled. How it could feel its premolars sharpen and stretch into points and tug at the roots.

Bite. Bite. Bite

Sweet red blood flooding its mouth

Celine, please-

IDIDNTMEANTO

The magpie darted over, chirping at its evident distress. It tried to finish the food in its mouth it can’t be wasteful, but it felt like a brick weighing down on its tongue. It collapsed in the corner, shaking its head as it buried its face into its knees, the tofu held limply in its hand.

“Don’t make me, please. She- I can’t.”

The blue tiger pushed its way into its little shield, laying down to press against its torso as it smacked the food out of its hands. Despite itself, it whined, reaching out for the half eaten block, Celine wouldn’t want any waste, but the big cat just held its arm down, keeping it stuck against the floor. Its ears were flattened against its skull, and it warbled out a mournful apology, rubbing against its shirt.

She whimpered, clutching fistfuls of its fur as she shoved her face into his pelt, feeling herself start to relax as it cloaked her in its scent. She heard a soft thud and turned to see the bird demon neck deep in the tofu block, munching at it. The tigers chitter made it look up with a head tilt, chirping back at it before getting another beakful.

“You’re not thinking of feeding that to me are you?” She reached out to weakly scratch its head, making sure not to knock its hat askew.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost it like that.”

It nosed at her loose hair, settling down against her neck with a small bit of tofu in its mouth. The tiger nudged her gently, lifting her to her feet by her collar and carrying the maintenance bag over in its jaws, crouching in front of her. The magpie tapped her collarbone again and again, making her sit on its back. The Honmoon opened below them, and they sunk down.

She shut her eyes as a bout of nausea hit her, causing her to keel over and clutch at its fur. She shivered from the cold despite her long clothing, trying to flatten herself further into its warm blue pelt. She could feel its muscles moving beneath her as it strode along, quick to get to its destination. Soon, they were padding back out into the human world, now at the grave with the sky just shifting to a purple and orange as the sun broke the hidden horizon. She sucked in a deep breath, fighting off the last wave of dizziness.

Oh, right. She was supposed to clean Celine’s generation today. She managed to avoid the layer the day before, putting it off. She was starting to regret that decision. She rolled up her sleeves, putting her hair up in a simple braid to start clearing out the final bit of foliage, settling in to the monotony, trusting it to let her stop thinking. Stop feeling.

It shouldn’t do anyway. Demons don’t feel anything, after all.

Chapter Text

Celine pulled her shoes off, banishing her sickles into the Honmoon and brushing some stray ash from her shirt, not wanting to track any into the house. She straightened the other pair of shoes, arranging them neatly next to hers. She didn’t expect the girl to be awake so late, well, early, she supposed, so she wasn’t surprised by the silence sinking through the air as she made her way to raid the kitchen for any left over scraps anywhere. The child was a stickler for routine, which she supposed was a fortunate trait that aided her obedience.

Rumi must have cleaned up after her dinner, what with the pans and utensils already resting in their designated places. She never seemed to leave any leftovers, good for a lack of waste and more storage space, annoying as shit right now, especially since there weren’t any other remaining food. She closed the fridge door, settling with the fact that she wouldn’t have any food, she was too tired to do anything other than sleep right now.

She collapsed down onto her mat, not bothering to change out of her clothes as she buried her head face down into her pillow, feeling like she was melting through the floor as she almost instantly started drifting off as her body shut down.

“Come on, Celine! What’s your Korean name? You must have one.”

She shoved Soon-bok off her with an eye roll, causing her to thump against the ground as she finally got her to stop shaking Celine’s arm like a madman. Despite the slight fall, she was still smirking up at her, sitting back up and pouncing back onto her group mate, knocking her backwards off the rock she was perched on, her hands trying to press her shoulders down.

" You gotta tell us though! Bonded don’t hide things from each other.” She whined, pouting slightly.

She quirked an eyebrow, resting back on her elbows. “You know I can push you off. Very easily.”

“But you won’t.” Her friend sat back smugly, just daring her to try.

She just groaned, throwing her head back to exaggerate the sound, letting herself lay sprawled in the dirt of the training area.

“Oh, let her up, Soon-bok.” A smooth voice floated through the clearing, a light mirthful undertone lacing around her words.

Mi-yeong was leaning against a long wooden staff, staring at them with a smile she was attempting to cover, pressing the back of her hand to her lips. She let out an outraged gasp, scrambling off Celine to rush the other woman, only for her to slide out of the way, spinning around the thin pole she stuck in the ground and pulling it out with her as she skidded away.

“Give my jahng bong back!” She tried summoning it back into her hand but it barely budged, happy to stay in the older Hunter’s grip.

Celine caught the corner of Mi-yeong’s eye, and she gave her a small grin before going back to dodging their Bonded’s increasingly desperate attempts to snatch her weapon back. Celine dropped low, taking the distraction in stride to stalk closer behind Soon-bok, biting her lip to stifle any giggles that might escape as Mi-yeong continued to secretly guide her closer to where Celine was crouched.

“Lean on your own stick, it’s longer anyway-”

She let out a choked gasp as she was tackled to the floor, feeling a weight pressed against her back as Celine crowed victoriously. She felt arms sling around her neck as Mi-yeong approached, dropping the jahng bong next to the restrained woman.

“Here you go.”

She growled, grabbing her weapon and squirming under Celine, striking behind her, but she just grabbed the length of the staff, readjusting and pinning her more firmly by fully sitting on her back, smirking up at the third member who was using her shoulder as an arm rest while cackling at Soon-bok’s current position. She brushed her off, leaning down next to the youngest’s ear, her breath ruffling the stray flyaway hairs that had been loosened by the chase.

“If you really must know…” She hummed, softly running her fingers through her hair and scratching at her scalp to make her relax.

She twirled some locks around one of her digits before letting go, getting up to her feet, keeping a hold of her staff, “You can find out when you’re able to beat me in a sparring session.”

“Oh, COME ON!”

Celine’s eyes opened, Her laughter echoing in her ears. It was still dark outside, hot too, as evident by the blanket she had kicked away into the shadows during her sleep. She always hated those dreams. Blood she could handle. She’d heard that Demon’s anguished cry more times than she could remember, intertwining with those infantile wails, rending at the anguished, roaring song of the Honmoon as amber eyes glowed with hatred and grief. It shouldn’t sound like that- demons don’t feel- but that sound, god, it was more human and alive than Celine herself could ever be again. That she could handle. It was familiar. She knew it was her fault, she had ruined everything, she knew that.

But those moments, when she was still living, still a person, still human, just tore at the hollow of her chest, ripping into the air where her Bond had once resided, where her Fallen’s souls had been wrenched from hers.

She didn’t know why she stood up, why she walked through the halls to the girl’s room. Why she opened that door, going to sit on the floor. Why she couldn’t stop staring.

Rumi was so quiet, so still. Always had been, when left alone. Almost too silent. And yet, on That Night, its sobs were the only ones that lasted, splitting the world with the sheer wrongness of its being. A creature that should have never existed, that should have died the moment it was conceived, the moment it was born. And yet, despite all odds, against all laws of nature, here it was, sleeping, breathing, living. While she sat in her rot and decayed bonds and bathed in Her blood, it had ran and played and laughed and sang.

She reached forward with trembling fingers, hovering over its blank unfeeling face, tracing the contours in the air above its skin.

Damn, did she want to hate it. Want to slice its neck open, pin it with her sickles and break it apart, flay those sin filled marks from its bones as it writhed with agony. Want to watch that tainted blood drain out its hanging body until it ran white with purity. Want to choke it out as it stared up at her through its tears, finally letting them fall down those dry cheeks, let them cut rivers into its flesh. Want to cradle its dying body in her arms as she drove a knife through its heart, to feel its painful, watery moans rattle its ribs as she watched its struggling weaken and stop.

She ran a thumb lightly over her brow, breath hitching when she pressed closer, curled against her leg with a hum.

How could she. When she had slept with this baby on her chest because she would cry when she couldn’t see her. When she had been the only one there to witness her crawl, stand, walk, the only one she had stumbled to just because she wanted to be held. When she had let her into her bed after a nightmare about her patterns. How she had been there to keep her still when she thrashed and snapped her fangs in blind terror. How could she ever hate this girl like she so wanted to when she was the only thing in this world that mattered.

She wanted to hate it, destroy it, bring balance back to the world that was thrown off its axis, fulfil her duty as a Hunter, put it down like an injured hunting dog. it would be a mercy after all, freedom from a hopeless existence with only one ending . Faults and Fears. But Rumi was both. A demon and a Hunter. Alive and dead. Celine’s Fault and Celine’s Fear. And the only thing left of Celine’s Treasures. And the only thing she has is tainted, ruined by the sin of its birth.

Celine dipped low, touching her forehead to Rumi’s temple, sucking in a slow breath as she stroked her head, scooting her back onto her sleeping mat, ignoring her hand twitching out in her direction. She had pushed her blanket away in her sleep too, having discarded it in a heap near the corner. She picked it up, shaking it off and detaching the dirt and stray blades of grass from it, folding it perfectly and laying it down next to Rumi’s pillow. She’ll talk to her about cleaning up properly when she got the chance.

She shut the door, stepping through the hallway to leave the house, lacing up her boots and disappearing into the shadowy surroundings outside the property walls, summoning her sickles with a flash of light. Celine couldn’t be near that girl right now.

Chapter Text

Celine was gone.

She had left, no note, no final parting words, just an empty space where she should be. It had cried out, a mournful, pitiful sound that clawed its way out its throat to pierce the air, calling out for its only Pack. How pathetic. It should be working, completing the simple task its Master had laid out for it, following instructions like it was trained to do. Instead it was curled in her room, buried underneath her clothes and marking itself with its Master’s scent.

Why should it care anymore. She was gone. What was the point in duty and obedience and making her proud when she wasn’t even here to see. Why should it finish its job when she wouldn’t be there to give it the approval it lapped up like a starving mongrel.

Why had she left? What had been the final straw? Perhaps she just got sick of being around it, having to raise a demon, the thing that killed Her.

It whined, clinging to the lapels of the jacket that drowned it in its folds. It didn’t pay mind to the knowledge that soon her scent would fade, and it would be truly alone. It couldn’t think about that, not when it could close its eyes and pretend she was there, wrapping it up in her forgiving arms. It clenched its jaw, feeling the tugging slide and dull throbbing as its fangs threatened to break out.

It heard the padded thuds of the tiger’s pawsteps as it approached once more, tongue rasping at its hair as it tried to groom it, attempting to pull the coat off to reach more of the matting and tangles.

“NO!” It jerked its head, baring its teeth at the spirit with a hiss, a tear sounding out as its claws unsheathed, digging into the fabric as it pulled it tighter around itself. Its fangs lengthened instinctively as it pulled back its lips, stabbing into its gums as it snapped its jaws, flooding its mouth with blood that overflowed, running down her chin, dripping on to the clothing.

It mewled, blinking back tears at the sight of the small holes. It ruined it. It barely paid mind to the cat nudging her, trying to slip under her arm. It had ruined it. Was that the only thing it could do? Ruined its 엄마, ruined Celine’s love, ruined this jacket, ruined its own fucking shirt. Everything it had infected with its touch was ruined.

It heaved, gulping at the stale air as it tore the coat from its shoulders, chucking it to the opposite side of the room with a growl. The magpie tried to hop closer, offering up a chirp, but it received a snarl in reply, blood staining the wood grain as it huddled into a corner. It knows it looks disgusting, a panting, drooling mutt with blood frothing from its rabid maw, but it didn’t care. What was there to care about now that its Master was gone.

호랑이 whined, pawing at her. Why couldn’t Cub let him take care of her, couldn’t she see she needs his help? To clean, to eat, to sleep. Where was her Packmother? The scent of the Hunter was still strong, only stale by a day or two, but it was clear Cub wasn’t old enough to fend for herself- couldn’t she see how small and dull Cub’s claws were, how she didn’t know how to handle her teeth?- and she definitely hadn’t been left for this long before if she was acting like this.

Do something!

How, 까치. What the hell am I supposed to do right now? She’s not even reacting to us.

I don’t know, she’s your Cub. She’s calling for her Pack, so go be part of her Pack.

She fluttered back up to the girl, undeterred by the muffled growl that started back up as she grew closer. While he couldn’t curl around her like he wanted to, he supposed he could lay on her lap if she let him. Cub seemed to like that the last few times he did that, though she wasn’t hugging her knees those times so it might be a bit more difficult to squeeze his head between the gaps. Cub needs to clean her face, she really was clumsy with her teeth and claws. His little Cub just needs to be clean and calm. Just for now. Eating can wait for later, just until Cub was ready.

Having anything sticky in his fur felt awful, so he’s sure she would feel much better if he groomed her hair. If she would actually let him continue. While the coat was out of the way, Cub was still very sad, she probably wouldn’t want him to crowd.

He lumbered towards her, settling down close enough to reach her with an outstretched paw. She didn’t move, so he inched closer, feeling the floorboards dip under his weight, until he was able to sneak a paw between the gap of her arm and her side, now letting it sit in her lap. Cub hissed, baring her little needle teeth, his silly little thing still pretending to be grown. But of course, she didn’t fight it, and so 호랑이 curled his claws to wrap around her forearm, pulling it away so he could see her face.

She snapped at him again, growls morphing into a whimper as her fangs sunk deeper into the puncture wounds and more blood seeped between her pressed lips. Little Cub, too small for her teeth, growing into her flesh rather than curving outwards. He’ll help her fix it soon.

Cub, please, he rumbled, trying to get her to meet his eye, please look at us, Little One.

She didn’t, only choking out another Pack call. It shook his bones, ringing through his body as he shivered, and he heard 까치 screech a reply as his own response warbled out, answering their girl.

Only, she didn’t seem comforted, more panicked in fact, at their returning cries. 까치 flew onto her shoulder, uncaring of her aggressive reactivity. It was getting too out of hand. She shoved herself under her jaw, knocking their gat to the floor as Cub jerked at the contact, dry heaving and gulping erratically while flinching away from the magpie’s nuzzling.

Get some food and water, she won’t calm down soon so we may have to make her eat, but it’s better then letting her starve any longer. After that…

Her yellow eyes pierced into him as she spoke, an unusually grim tone settling over her words. Go find the Hunter.

The tiger left it too. It didn’t stop it, didn’t reach for it as it leapt into that blue light. It wouldn’t force the spirit to stay with something as grotesque as it, though it did make its chest burn at the fact that even a demon didn’t want to deal with it. It should be happy, this just solidified what it was, further proof for its theory of why its Master left.

It wanted to tell the magpie to go too, save some time for it, let it go without pretending to hesitate, but it couldn’t get the words out, feeling them clog its throat when it tried. Another thing to add to the ever growing list of shit it was failing at. It was tired of this. All of it. It just wanted to rest. To fall asleep and open her eyes to Celine shaking her awake. It tried picturing her worried face, one she wore like a second skin, directed at it for once. No. She wouldn’t look at it like that. And now she never will.

So it just sat there, gaze never leaving the empty mat and tossed aside clothes that littered the floor. Its Master always knew best, she had left it, it was a lost cause. A demon was one thing, a demon Hunter was another. And a halfbreed that broke the laws of nature? The biggest sin of all. Nothing it had done or would have achieved in the future changes that fact, changes the toxic sludge burning through its veins and searing its patterns into its skin.

It felt something rest against its knee, and, looking down, saw a tiny hat sitting there, along with the now hatless magpie. It nudged it closer, picking it up in its beak to hold it out. Oh. This it could do. It could manage this simple task. It could please it.

It took the hat from the demon, setting it properly on its head and tying it back on under its chin. It did it. Yes, it could still be trusted with orders, no matter how simple. It had done good. It could be good. It had helped. That’s what it’s supposed to do, isn’t it?

The bird clacked its beak, shaking its head to dislodge it once more, causing it to shrink back. No, it had been wrong. It didn’t do it right, not even this simple thing. It clenched its teeth, feeling the elongated canines grind against the flesh walls of its punctures. It did it wrong. It fluttered back onto the half demon’s shoulder, bumping their heads together and digging its talons into its collarbone. It’s not leaving.

They stayed entwined together, mostly silent apart from an occasional call when it dares hope that gets a singular trilling response from the bird perching on it. It wasn’t sure how much time was passing, but eventually the floor opened back up, bathing the duo in a light blue glow.

It perked up, scrabbling to the hole as the tiger re-emerged, carrying a couple of plastic bags. It instantly dropped the bags, at least making sure it didn’t bowl it over when it slammed into it. The blue demon herded it to the bag, rumbling proudly at the contents. Looking in it, it was pretty clear it just stole a bunch of stuff from a variety of places and brought them back, given the amount of instant ramyeon, partially defrosted packets of tteokbokki, and the odd bundle of vegetables with teeth marks in them.

The magpie shoved some food towards it and it growled, cringing back. It should eat, really. The tiger went through all this trouble to gather everything, it would be disrespectful to not at least pretend to be grateful, but it couldn’t even start to stomach the idea of eating.

Not until Celine came back. Until she told it if it was allowed. If she did return.

The tiger was licking at its hair and face, cleaning off the grime and blood and sweat. It wrinkled its nose at the sensation of its rough tongue dragging across its neck, but quickly forgot when it gently bit its nape, causing it to go limp and dangle slightly from its jaws.

It lay it down, nosing at the fabric to form a makeshift nest for it to get more comfortable before straightening up, chuffing once and turning away once more.

The hazy lull that had fallen over it was shaken off as it started to open another portal, crouching to jump into it. Its chest tightened, its ribcage splintering and driving cracked bone into its lungs with each attempted inhale. It couldn’t breathe, a reedy whine breaking free. It was wrong. It was all wrong.

“No. No NO!” It wailed, lurching forward to clutch at its pelt, burying its face into the blue fur as it sunk to its knees. “You came back! Why are you leaving again?! No, please, what did I do? I can still fix it, please, give me a chance…”

It felt its claws sink into the dense coat as they slid out against its will in response to her desperate babbling. Fuck, it felt pathetic. It was pathetic. A future Hunter begging a demon to stay. But it would do what it could to keep it here. To not leave like Celine.

It felt the tiger press its muzzle against its sternum, guiding it back to the pile of clothing on the floor and nudging it to lay back down on top of it. It rubbed against it, scenting it one last time before backing away slowly, gently crooning as it did to try and placate its continuous whine.

She wanted it to stay. She knew it wouldn’t.

So she watched it leave once more, crushing the bird spirit in a hug, while it nipped at the line of her jaw. It can’t go too.

호랑이 bounded through the mist, following the singing threads of the Honmoon as he wades through the strings, feeling the warning tugs of danger pulling his soul away from the direction he was rushing towards. He didn’t pay the fear any mind. He can deal with the Hunter as long as she helped Cub.

He was trying to move quick, but he was sure it had already been over a day since he started. He was trying his best but the Packmother moved swiftly, leaving behind the aftermath of hunts for him to stumble across. By the time he did, she had already moved to the next one.

Honestly, he didn’t really know how to get the Hunter to return with him being killed, and he really didn’t want to leave 까치 and Cub alone. So that’s how he ended up with a struggling water demon hanging from his mouth as he trotted along the thrumming lines leading him to the woman.

The thread ended here.

He dropped the demon, pinning it with his front paws, one over its mouth, and peered through the Honmoon to see the greying woman asleep under the branches of a drooping tree, facing out to a massive, high class house. What was the Hunter doing, sleeping near the city when she had a cub waiting for her back at the countryside?

If he could without consequence he would smack her upside the head with his massive paws at her irresponsibility, but right now he couldn’t, because the low ranking demon under his feet had renewed its efforts, spurred on by the sight of the remaining Hunter, muffled cries seeping out from under his pad.

He growled, leaning down to get closer to its face as his glowing eyes illuminated the fear etched into the lines of its features. Shut up. A squeak escaped it as it quieted down and he turned back to watch the human.

You’re going to wake her and then run. You will run back to the countryside, and you will go to the Hunter’s residence. I don’t care what happens to you after that, make sure you don’t die before you reach it.

“But-”

He bared his fangs, snarling at it until it was nodding frantically, scrabbling against his legs that were restraining it. Cub needed them back. This demon’s banishment would be nothing compared to what his Cub will do if they don’t return.

Good. Do not disappoint, demon.

Celine panted, leaning back against the bark of a tree as the last of the ash drifted off to be picked up by the wind. She hadn’t expected the demon to shoot off, nor did she expect the unusual lack of confrontation that they usually had. No matter. It was gone now, and Korea was one demon freer.

While her observation period had been cut short, she did get enough information on the girl. Enough to find it a notable lead. But she would need to make sure Rumi was trained enough, human enough, to be around her Bonded. Though, she would need to work on that soon. Her Rumi couldn’t be taken from her by them. They wouldn’t understand her patterns.

She pushed off from the wood, trudging back to the hanok, now only a couple minutes away. That demon must have been going for Rumi then. They were getting bolder.

Celine frowned. She’d look into it later.

The crunching of gravel and slide of a door made it perk up, whipping its head around. It stilled, listening out. Floorboards started to creak. It scrambled up, throwing itself out of her room to chase the sound, slamming into the thin walls in its haste, claws scraping against the wood. It crashed into her body, soaking up her warmth as it clung to her legs, nuzzling into her with reedy whimpers filling the air.

Celine was back.

Chapter Text

Celine stumbled back, her arms instinctively wrapping around the figure as it charged into her, feeling its claws prick at her legs through her trousers. She had to stabilise herself as it rubbed its face against her, letting out those piteous little trills that made her force back a cringe. She kept her arms around its sharp, bony frame- was it always so thin?- , mainly for balance, stroking a hand through its greasy hair as it tightened its grip. She didn’t know why it was acting so strangely, why it looked so wrecked. She felt her sickles resting just off to the side, the buzz in her mind growing stronger as the strands started to solidify in her free palm.

“Rumi.”

It rested its chin against her stomach to meet her gaze, looking up at her through the darkness with that golden glow like she’d hung the stars when its name fell from her lips, smiling that wide, flat grin that threatened to tear it’s cheeks apart, stained red around the roots of its teeth. It was still kneading its claws against the back of her thighs, a rumbling sounding out from its throat that vibrated against her skin.

“Why are you acting like this.”

It stilled, its face twisting into a blood-flecked rictus before slowly dropping as the sound faded away. Its vice grip loosened, allowing her to step back out of its embrace. Its hands twitched and followed after her, but it got a hold of itself and they dropped to rest limply in its lap, subdued. Good. It could still control itself.

“You left. Now you’re back. You… you don’t hate me.”

It was never one to skirt around fact.

“You didn’t eat.”

It shook its head, still staring with wide, open eyes. How honest. Celine did appreciate that aspect she’d trained into it.

“You didn’t tell me to.”

Oh.

Celine didn’t expect that. Her girl eats, doesn’t it? it always eats. When she asks, it always eats. She knelt down in front of it, still crouched a distance away to maneuver quickly if it lunged again, but it just flattened itself to the ground, slinking hesitantly over to her until it was close enough to brush against her side, immediately melting into her when she tugged it into her lap. She wouldn’t bite again.

“What do you mean, Rumi?” She soothed, scraping her nails along its scalp.

“Didn’t say I could. No note… Didn’t know if you’d come back. ‘M sorry I didn’t finish cleaning… Made a mess too…” It mumbled, hiding its face in the side of her neck.

She sighed, holding it closer, rubbing the lines of its shoulder blade over the stained clothing, tugging at the hems of the sleeves for a moment before bringing her hands back to its shoulders.

“It was irresponsible of me to leave you without a warning, I realise that. I should have left a note. But, Rumi,” she pulled back to look it in the face, avoiding its golden eye, “you can’t just fall apart the moment I leave. You’re old enough to look after yourself and control your- features without me having to coddle you. I won’t always be there.”

It wilted, averting its gaze finally and falling back into that familiar, safe, blank state, its fangs and claws retreating back into their sheaths, almost looking like a normal girl.

“Sorry, Celine.”

She turned her head back to her and held it in place, pressing against her jaw joint to open her mouth with little resistance. It was a song and dance they had grown used to in Rumi’s youth. She pulled back her lip, running some of her fingers along the inside of her mouth until she felt the inflamed punctures, along with the responding jerk at the stinging pressure against the open wounds. Not too deep, they’d heal quickly now her teeth were back to normal.

She pulled her fingers out, now slick with red-tinged saliva that she wiped off on her trousers, and stood up, carrying her girl in her arms.

She really was too light, fuck, how long had she been skipping for?

She held Celine closer, and she could feel her smile against her skin as her fingers fisted the back of her shirt.

“Come on. I’ll get some food in you.”

She carried Rumi down into the kitchen, everything exactly the same as how it was left. Maybe that pot moved, it might have been closer before. Had it? She kept a hold of her as she opened the fridge, switching her to one arm to use the other to look through the untouched food.

“I’m going to need to put you down to cook.”

She whined, pulling herself closer, but Celine let her drop anyway, letting her land on her feet. She still clung to her side, a hand holding the back of her shirt like a child. Celine allowed it.

She let Rumi stay close while she pan fried some tofu not meat. never meat and put the plate on the table.

“You can eat it.” She said, waiting for her to let go. She didn’t.

She stayed pressed against her leg, using one hand to eat while the other stayed wrapped around Celine’s dangling wrist, dull claws nails digging in as if she would disappear at any moment. Well, she kind of did. She supposed it was her own fault she was acting like this. She’ll endure it.

She sat down next to her, staring as she ate the small chunks with her hand, waiting for her to finish.

“Rumi-ya…”

She pat her thigh when she got her attention, inviting her down with a crooning lilt. She’ll apologise, yes. Rumi will like this as a ‘sorry’, she always asked her to do this when she was younger.

She rested her head against Celine’s knee, hesitant and cautious, going slow as if she would refuse her Rumi at any point. She ran her fingers through the purple strands, carefully splitting it into three sections and twisting them around each other. God, she’d missed this feeling. Threading the hair into a braid, having her Treasure’s head resting in her lap, feeling her melt at her ministrations as she smoothed down her black ha-

No.

This is Rumi, not Her.

Remember that.

She tried not to finish as quickly as she wanted to, reminding herself it was for Rumi, she had to make it last for her, no matter how much she wanted to rip her hands away from the bla- purple hair and wash them with soap until they bled.

Eventually though, it finally ended, and she could guide Rumi out of her lap to sit upright. The braid was a little lopsided from the angle she was working at but it was tight and secure enough to be satisfactory.

“Celine?”

She turned to face the still sitting girl, looking down at her. “Yes?”

“I may have made a mess in your room. I-I can clean it up, I just, I just wanted to let you know.” She bowed her head in apology.

It couldn’t be too bad. Not anything worse then when Rumi was still teething. And she was right. It wasn’t as bad. But it sure was a close second.

He entire wardrobe door had been ripped from its hinges, laying discarded to the side as all her clothes were strewn across the floor, collating into a pile over her sleeping mat, everything stained with at least a few spots and sprays of blood and drool. Many of them had holes and tears in them. What really caught her eye was the food laid about. Granted, still in its packaging. Wasn’t that great of a consolation. Where the hell did she find injeolmi?

“Did you-”

“I didn’t mean to… I just- you were gone so I, I went to try and find you and I couldn’t. And I-” She cut herself off, pressing her lips together as her eyes darted to the side.

“What. What did you do.”

“I just, I don’t know how but I was in the city, I don’t know which one. And I was trying to find you but. You know. I just thought, like, if I made something for you, you’d come back. but I, uh, I didn’t reach that stage. I-I can clean it up.”

She hastened towards the mess of vegetables and packets on the floor, gathering them up in her arms.

“People saw you like… That?”

She didn’t answer.

“Rumi.” She grabbed her upper arm over the patterns and pulled her back to face her. “Did they see you.”

“No. No, I wasn’t- I wasn’t like that yet, it was when I got back.”

She hummed, letting her go to continue picking the food up. “Good.”

She could see her preen at the praise.

“Did you… pay for it?”

She froze. “Uhm. No… I kind of forgot.”

Celine groaned, massaging her temples. No matter. She couldn’t even remember which city she was in, no way she remembered where she got them from. Besides, she always had memory gaps after an episode. There wasn’t anything she could do about it now, just hope that no one saw her or recognised her.

“Just go put them away and go shower. Get some sleep.”

“But-”

“I can clean up the clothes. Probably have to wash all of them anyway.”

She flinched, backing out of the room and swiftly running to store them in the kitchen. Celine sighed, gathering all the clothes up to sort through how ruined they were, a stray black feather floating to the floor. Huh. Rumi must have picked it up outside.

It lay down on its mat, stretching out. Celine was back. And she braided its hair. Yeah it had to undo it to wash it but still, she braided its hair. She carried it and touched it and let it touch her. It rolled onto its side, curling up to fall asleep, now relaxed as her scent flooded through the house once more. Everything was right now. Except. No, something’s off. It heard the parting of the Honmoon and a blue glow shone through its eyelids. Now it was right.

The tiger padded around her, grooming her freshly washed hair, mussing it up with its rasping tongue and letting out a quiet churr. It curled around her, hugging her to its chest with its forelegs. She chirped, burying into it. A responding song filled the air as the magpie settled on her head, sitting over her ear.

Yes, it was all right now.

Chapter Text

“Get up.”

It struggled to push itself up against the hard sole of Celine’s boot pressing down between its shoulder blades. It clenched its teeth, forcing its growing fangs back into their sheaths.

It swung the saingeom behind it as it tried to twist, making it far enough to knock the pommel against her shin before she slammed its hand back against the floor, making the blade clatter to the ground, skidding out of reach and returning back into the Honmoon, and pinning it on its back this time round.

It growled, baring its teeth in frustration as it tried to wriggle its way out.

“Don’t do that.”

It snapped its mouth shut, sharp tips scratching its gums as they receded once more.

“Control yourself, Rumi.”

“Yes Celine.” It mumbled, going limp as she let it go to stand up, clearly having won this round. And the round before that. And the one before. And almost every single one since they started training at all.

The only time it was able to get an upper hand, well…

Rumi! STOP

Blood welled up between its teeth

Wet tearing and chewing sounded out over wracking sobs

It doesn’t know whose

It hadn’t won for a long time.

It stretched its hand out, shaking off the thrumming ache pounding in the tips of her fingers. It scratched the itching line of red scoring the length of its forearm, picking at the drying blood crusting over the wound and sticking to the flaps of fabric that were once a sleeve. Celine had gotten it with her sickle after its guard had dropped, a merciful price to pay for such an egregious error. She had gone a bit deep though, and she’d apologised while cleaning as much as she could without pulling the remaining sleeve up further. They had spread. Now reaching just past the joints of its elbows, clawing down to the middle of its forearms, it had limited Celine in what she could help with, and so it had been sat down to learn how to properly take care of itself. It did make sure not to treat injuries in front of her though, she didn’t want to see its patterns for a reason.

The cut was gaping, allowing it to have a view of the white dermis before it had been slowly flooded with red. It peeled a dried droplet of blood from its skin, thumbing it in its palm. Technically, it could eat it, it wouldn’t be pleasant, sure, and the taste wouldn’t be the same, but it is blood. It ran its tongue along the inside of its mouth, catching the slight tang of iron from the small nick from its fangs. It could. Another little taste.

Celine, please-

IMSORRY

It wrinkled its nose, crumbling the dried fluid between its fingers and flicking it off, brushing the clinging remains to the ground. No, that’s a disgusting thought.

Celine called for them to restart and it tugged its gloves back on, picking up its sword and getting into position.

“Begin.”

호랑이 poked his head out of the opening he made, staring at the door for the 7th time.

She’s still out, you know this.

Yes but what if this time she comes back earlier. We have to be there when Cub comes back, she’ll be sad if we aren’t.

She huffed from her spot up in the low wooden beams of the ceiling.

And why can’t I come with you to check on her progress? She’s my Fledgling too.

Because what if Cub comes back and I’m still on the way to keep an eye on her. You are here to welcome her back and she will have one of us there so she’s happy.

You are the worst shape for a spy.

I can use the Honmoon.

까치 rolled her six eyes, flapping her wings at him.

Just go check on your precious little Cub.

He purred, sinking back down to peek out at his Cub. She was looking a little worse for wear, still trying not to show her dull little fangs as she panted up at her Packmother. She had grown a bit since the first time he saw her, having started eating a bit more once the Hunter actually started feeding the cub properly, and had started to fill out her lanky limbs, the muscles growing slowly with more definition. She’d gotten tanner too, spending more time outside doing yard work and training under the summer heat. She always shooed him away from trying to drag the heavy stuff when the Hunter wasn’t looking.

Still, even though she’d grown over the past few years, she was still such a clumsy Cub. Her paws were still too big for her to move around cleanly, which was clear by how she had been pinned to the ground once more. She was still small enough for him to catch. Perhaps she always will be.

He growled, smelling the heady scent of old blood mixed with sweat burning his nostrils. Cub needs a groom. Cub is hurt. He knows she will get hurt learning how to hunt, it’s natural for cubs to be clumsy and get hurt. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make him annoyed. The smell had clung to her since the start of the day and seemed to be an underlying constant in her scent.

Cubs don’t smell like that.

He waded over, swimming through the Honmoon, and by extension, the floor, to stop next to where she was resting, still only showing his eyes. She spotted him, and tries to suppress the smile that threatened to stretch across her face, nudging him with her foot in lieu of a verbal greeting. He rubbed what he could against her legs, flicking his ears.

Hi.

She kept her eyes off him. Smart. Packmother was still around.

“We’re finishing up soon. Ending early.”

He was right. I win 까치.

“I think it’s because she’s found the others. I think she needs more time to go out and talk to them and everything, but she won’t tell me.”

He tried not to trill in excitement at the prospect. His Cub would get more Pack. And there’d be more cubs for her to play with. That would be good for her, she would stop trying to act all grown then, start acting like a cub. Cub can stop trying to control herself. Cubs can’t control themselves, it was normal, cute even. He just wished Cub didn’t try to pretend she could.

“Whenever I ask she says I need to be better, then I can control myself in front of them. Also I need to get better with my weapon before meeting them. Set a standard, you know?” She picked at the tassel hanging from the blade’s handle, playing with it.

He still remembered when she’d summoned it for the first time, it wasn’t too long ago anyway, but, oh, he could still hear her cries of agony and hacking sobs as the Hunter tried to pull her hand away from the glowing hilt, that crackling, that sizzle. Sometimes he could still smell it infecting the air. Still feel the Honmoon throbbing around him in tandem with its Chosen’s pain.

She was still swinging the tassel around. He tried not to stare, following the flailing strings. Cub is playing. He wants to join.

“Calm down, Blue, Celine would freak out if she saw you. I’ll see you soon, only a couple more rounds.”

He still nudged her leg, scraping his fangs against her calf before sinking back down, flicking his tail goodbye. He hummed to himself, padding through the mist and tumbling out into their room, startling the magpie who screeched and fell off her perch to land on his head.

호랑이!

What? He groomed his paws, pointedly ignoring the glaring bird. She is coming back early, by the way. You owe me.

We didn’t bet!

I get the other cubs.

NO!

She pecked him, squawking into his ear in indignation and tugging at his fur. He batted her away, snapping his fangs at her.

I want at least one!

No, I won the game.

But it’s not fair if you have three Cubs and I only have one Fledgling-

The door opened and they dropped down into the Honmoon, peering through the threads.

“Blue? Birdie?”

They shot out of the portal, slamming into their girl and knocking her to the ground. 호랑이 purred loudly, grooming his Cub as the silly thing tried to protest, shoving at his head.

“Stop that, it’s gross!”

You’re dirty!

She glared, wiping off as much saliva as she could. “You’re making it worse.”

You are cleaner now.

He rested his chin on her torso, rumbling throughout his whole body, feeling her relax under him as she brought her arms as far around him as they could go and twisted her fingers into his pelt, kneading at his sides. 까치 hopped onto his back, glaring down intensely at her arm and landing on her head to nip her cheek.

She yelped, grumbling at the magpie, “What? I was going to but you guys tackled me.”

She then turned to him, pecking his nose, making him rear back with a hiss.

Oww! That hurt!

It should. Let her up.

He rubbed his nose to get rid of the throbbing ache, whining quietly. Cub chuckled, scooting closer to him and sinking back down into his side.

“Oh poor baby, huh. Birdie is soo mean to you isn’t she?” She pouted at him as she stroked his forehead, scratching behind his ears.

He leaned into it, warbling sadly and drooping his ears and tail. 까치 scoffed, rearranging her wings on her back as she rolled her eyes.

So dramatic all the time.

He wailed, falling into Cub, making her giggle. Good. Cub is happy. He licked her arm, taking advantage of his position to hug it to his face with a paw so he could clean off the cut curving around the side of her forearm. Cub can’t get infected, that would not be good.

“Oh, come on!” She complained, “Why do you always do that? 3 years and you still don’t listen, honestly…”

The other spirit let out a cawing laugh, only to squeak when Cub stole their gat from her head.

Hey!

“You get it back when I clean this properly, don’t laugh at my misery.” She gestured to her wound, getting up to wash up in the bathroom.

She clacked her beak, fluttering up to land on her shoulder and follow her Fledgling. 호랑이 let them go on without him. He’d been seeing Cub on and off the entire day, she should spend some time with His child alone. Funny bird, saying she’s not needy, honestly, she was even more attached than him.

He rolled out, stretching his back and curling up on the mat, waiting for them to return.

She finished wrapping the bandage around her arm, watching the blooming red spreading on the lower layers before hiding them under a fresh covering of white. She secured it, patting the area of her injury with some dull slaps.

“Good enough?”

Birdie made a show of inspecting it, opening her four other eyes to fully critique, before nodding and settling back down on her shoulder with a chirp.

“Glad I didn’t disappoint.” She pulled her sleeve back down and sliding the door back open.

“Celine said I can eat today while she’s out, you want to join me in the kitchen?” She asked, scratching her head and tying the gat back on.

She nodded vigorously, tapping her feet to try and make her hurry up. She ended up jogging lightly to the kitchen, careful not to jostle the magpie too much, and opened the door, waiting for a moment for the blue portal to open up and bring Blue into the room too, knowing he’d heard the squeaking doors.

He churred, rubbing against her before sitting next to her chair, resting his head on the table.

She tugged off her remaining glove, stretching it out with a small wince. She still couldn’t get the full motion back into it, what with more shining scars than actual skin, couldn’t feel much through it either, Celine thinks she never will, but no matter. She just won’t be able to feel through it. At least she could write with both, well, one hand now. When she was good enough, could handle the Honmoon like a Hunter and not a demon , she will be let around her Bonded, and she will be able to pretend she can feel. Celine was training her well for that.

She forced her fingers to grab the pan handle, lifting it to put it on the stove and tossing some tofu into the pan, breaking some off to feed to Birdie when she chattered hungrily.

“Ok, greedy bird.”

That got her bit.

She took the pan off the stove, turning it off and grabbing a pair of chopsticks, eating straight from it and occasionally tossing a piece for Blue to try and catch, which didn’t work most of the time, but it made her giggle when he had to paw it off his muzzle to eat it. Silly tiger.

The sound of the front door opening sent a wave of breathlessness through her chest. Celine’s back. The two spirits sunk down into the Honmoon, leaving it alone in the kitchen, already facing the entrance when she appeared in the doorway.

“Hello, Celine.” It gave a small bow, hiding its defective hand behind its back. No need to give another reminder of its failings.

“You’re eating. Good.”

It suppressed the trill rising in its throat, settling for a practised, normal smile as it nodded. It pulled out her chair, offering her seat for her to collapse in to.

“Rumi…” She was hesitant.

It stared, trying not to frown. Its Mother Master mentor did not usually sound so unsure. It hummed an acknowledgement.

“I need to leave.”

Chapter Text

God damn it, why did one have to be in America, of all places. Celine let her head fall back to hit the plane seat, barely cushioned by the flimsy headrest. The flight was near empty, what with it being a week day, but she didn’t give a shit about how comfortable she was, how much space she had, how she could get through the airport without being recognised. Rumi was alone.

Her Rumi was alone.

She sucked in a sharp breath, pressing her lips together. She’d clung to her like a child the entire week until she’d snapped at her she shoved her and pulled away she shoved her. Celine didn’t mean to, she just couldn’t stand how much she was touching her.

It was still kneading its claws against the back of her thighs

It hit the ground. It’s kneeling at her feet, forehead touching the ground. It’s bowing.

Sorry, Mas-

Celine.

Damn it. She didn’t want to leave her alone for so long, especially on such a bad note. She’d left that bear on the table as an apology. Kids liked that sort of thing. Rumi did, when she was still toddling after her like a dog begging for scraps. Always carrying that bird toy around. A magpie. She buried it in the trash when she turned 5. The girl forgot about it eventually.

She ran through her instructions she’d left with the bear in her head, drumming her fingers against her thigh. Train Hunting skills. Practise choreography and singing. Start at 6, finish at 7 latest. Don’t go outside the house after dark, don’t go outside the grounds at all. Eat. Sleep.

Yes, her Rumi would eat. Hopefully. She should be trained enough to kill a demon or two if they got too cocky in her absence.

Oh fuck, she hoped she wouldn’t come back to a limp corpse.

He stretched out on his back, exposing his belly to the sun as Cub continued to go through her position, practising the choreography the Hunter had given her before she left. He was watching her through his cracked lids, observing lazily.

She stumbled on a step, her foot sliding as she twisted and lost her balance. She growled, hitting the side of her thigh with a fist.

He growled back a warning. Don’t do that, Cub.

“I’ll get it next time, I promise.” She got back into the first position, preparing to run through it from the beginning once more.

Not what I meant.

까치 landed on his chest, sitting down to watch their girl start again.

How long left?

About an hour until it gets dark.

The magpie hummed, stretching her wings. I’ll start to keep watch outside the walls then.

You’re not as big as me though. He batted at her body, knocking her down gently to prove his point. It’ll be better if I go instead.

I have more authority. My Master may be dead but His name still holds weight.

With that she flew off, leaving him with his Cub. His clumsy little Cub who just fell again. He rolled over to stand, padding over while she lay on the floor, seeming to accept her position as she stared up at the sun.

He lay a paw over her face. Don’t stare at the sun. Not good for your eyes.

She peeled it off, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. His Cub was so cute when she tried to be scary. He leaned down to nose at her foot, the one that kept collapsing. Cub cringed away, pulling it closer to her as she sat up, holding it in her lap.

“It’s fine, I don’t know why I keep failing. I can try again.” She tried to stand, only to be pulled back down by his claws snagging into her clothing.

“Don’t you dare.”

Sit back down.

She huffed, slumping back to the floor with her arms folded, pouting. 호랑이 licked the warm ankle, trying to cool down the heat emanating from the joint.

“Can I get up now? I don’t want to waste any time, I need to get it perfect.”

You have days until your Packmother comes back. Take a break, Cub, you’ve not stopped since the morning. He lay a foreleg over her lap, keeping her in place while he continued to soothe the ache in her ankle.

“It’s not broken, you know? I’ll be fine in, like, 10 minutes.” She said, trying to push his head away from her foot.

Doesn’t matter. Cub is hurt. You will walk when it is better, not before.

She groaned, falling back to lay on the floor, closing her eyes this time. Good. She’s learning.

She stood up after a while, and this time he didn’t fight her, letting her lean on him while she tested her weight on her foot. After deeming it good, she let go of him to run through the dance, giving him a little scratch behind the ear before starting.

He lay back down, watching her once more as the sky darkened into a blazing orange and the snarls of demons echoed from the forest beyond the walls.

Hopefully 까치’s pulling of rank would be able to deter them, at least for now. He didn’t want to get up to banish some more, he wanted to sleep with his Cub.

Celine leaned against the bathroom sink, nursing a nasty claw mark. She knew the demons would follow her, they’re always drawn to the scent of a Hunter, but she hadn’t expected so many. She thought they would be more enticed by the newest generation, though, she supposed, only one had been completely claimed, and the girl didn’t have a soul worthy for Gwi-ma to consume. That left her with the strongest marker for them to track.

She scrubbed the drying blood off her skin and threw her jacket back on, leaving the coffee shop to trudge along the street to the rental car. Perhaps she should’ve flown directly to the west, but flying to Washington D.C. was the quickest flight she could book.

She cracked her back, slipping into the driver seat and turning the key. Maybe Rumi was doing better in terms of comfort.

It buried its nose in the soft fur of the bear, breathing in its Masters fading scent. It didn’t mean to. Really. It didn’t mean to push her too far. It just wanted her to stay. It never should have wanted, it learned that lesson so many times. It never learns, it was always too desperate, too greedy. It always took, it always pushed too much. She went away again. Blue went away. Birdie left.

They were coming back. They were demons like it but they weren’t as selfish as it. They were nice, they weren’t it. They would come back, they always did. Always looking out for it even when it didn’t deserve it. Always so fucking selfless.

It bared its teeth, trying not to sink its fangs into the stuffing. don’t ruin this too

She was coming back. She said she was. Its Master was not one to lie. She told it it was dangerous to the Honmoon, its voice had shaken the threads. She said its father was vile, perhaps he was. He was a demon, after all. He passed that down to it. That vile blood pumping its veins and staining its flesh with poison.

It whimpered, bringing the bear closer as spasms wracked its body. Its marks were burning again, bubbling under its skin with a searing heat it couldn’t even cry about. They were spreading, it could feel it. Cracking its skin apart to push up to the surface and expose more of its true nature to the world. They were splitting it open. It’s too much. It wanted them gone.

It needed them gone.

She groaned, stepping out of the car to stretch out at the pit stop. She pulled out her phone, tapping in a number she’d grown familiar with over the past couple of months. It only took a couple of rings.

“Ah, Mrs. Jeong, I have crossed the border into California. I shall arrive in the next day or two, depending on certain factors.”

Shit. The Honmoon pulsed pink. Still on her tail then.

She could hear the woman on the other end but her words fell on deaf ears.

“-make sure she’s home then.”

“Yes, thank you. I’m so sorry, I need to go, something urgent came up with-” Damn it, what can she say. “-my charge. She’s still in Korea, something happened between her and her temporary guardians.”

“Oh, sure, yeah absolutely, you deal with that. Goodbye Ms. Kim.”

She hastily spat out a goodbye, hanging up and ducking back into the car. She could see a demon stalking along the sign. Time to go. She slammed her foot on the pedal, speeding out of the stop and throwing a sickle as she passed the creature, feeling it return to its place in the Honmoon as it sliced through its mark.

Guess there won’t be as many rests as she planned for.

She wailed, wriggling around as she tried to reach the ground that was incredibly far away.

“Let me go down!”

He didn’t move, staying completely still.

“I know you can hear me, you stupid demon! Put me DOWN!”

호랑이 shook his head, swaying her along with it as an amused chuff resounded out. The branch he was standing on creaked as he walked along it. 까치 peered down from her little nook, watching her Fledgling cling to the tiger when he dangled her over the side.

Careful.

I always am.

The absolute liar.

He gently set Rumi down on the wood, pressing her down with a paw so she lay flat, still scrabbling to grab on to something.

You’re going to fall if you move around. He rumbled, keeping her down as she finally wrapped her bandaged arms around the branch.

She whimpered, slamming her eyes shut when she caught sight of the forest floor below her.

호항이- She hopped onto his head, peering down at her Fledgling. She’s scared. Should we go down to a lower branch?

I thought you wanted her to get more comfortable with heights. She did say she wanted to go higher.

“Give me a second.” She ground out through clenched teeth.

She sucked in a breath, breathing out gradually as she cracked her eyes open, swallowing at the sight of the ground. She sat up, keeping steady with her hands still pressed against the bark, claws peeking out to sink into the wood.

“I’m fine, it’s not the height. Just a bit, you know, nauseous, I guess. From yesterday. Still not fully back yet.” She bit her lip, arm muscles twitching.

까치 landed on her shoulder, nuzzling into the crook of her neck. Rumi reached up slowly to stroke her back, scarred fingers trembling and curled as swirling blue thrummed under her palm.

“It’s not your fault, you guys were out. It’s alright, I just overreacted.”

She hissed, shoving her head deeper into the underside of her jaw.

You never overreact, Fledgling.

“Are you sure Celine won’t know I’ve gone outside the grounds?”

They both glared at her.

“Ok, point taken. We do have to be back before dark though.”

She swung her legs, rocking back and forth as she looked out over the canopy of the surrounding woodlands, picking at the edges of the wraps running up the entire length of her arms. She’ll need to change them soon, 까치 could see the red starting to bleed through the gauze when the girl scratched at the wounds. She keeps opening them.

Hopefully the Hunter will stay gone for a bit longer. Yesterday had been terrible. At least Rumi can leave when she wants. At least she can think for herself.

Perhaps the girl will get better if the Hunter stays away. Perhaps not. Right now she just wanted to stay with her Master’s child. 호랑이’s Cub. Her Fledgling.

She drummed her pencils against the edge of the desk, mouthing along to the Sunlight Sisters as she spun in her chair. She felt something warm thrum under her skin and opened her eyes to the familiar strings of music dancing around her. It always happened, ever since she was a kid drowning out the world with music. A comforting friend in her head. Her appa thought her head was wrong.

She heard the doorbell ring faintly through the song, and muffled voices suddenly became clear as she took off her blasting headphones, catching the end of the conversation.

“-ussions regarding your daughter, Zoey. May I come in?”

Chapter Text

He stood guard outside the walls, snapping his teeth when a growl emanated from the nearby bush. He had been right, they were growing bolder the longer Cub’s Packmother was away, but there were fewer of them hanging around. Most were lower ranking demons that could be easily intimidated, but a few had tried. He banished them quick. His Cub shouldn’t be more stressed than necessary. However, she should develop some skills. She was a future Hunter, and while she was very skilled in her own regard, she still had a few things to learn. She was still a Cub, after all. And a very small one too. She was his Cub. She would learn how to Hunt like his Cub. Like 까치's Fledgling. 

He padded back into the compound, sitting back down to wait for her to notice his return. She always got so sucked into her training.

까치 looked at him. Why are you back?

I think Cub is ready to try it. He whispered back, causing their girl to turn towards them.

“What are you two talking about?” She continued to slash at the burlap sack, gloved hands tightening against the hilt.

호랑이 circled her, guiding her away from the dummy. She could attack it all she wanted later. He tugged off her glove, lapping at the faintly glowing burns, ignoring the buzzing of the Honmoon against his tongue. It could fight his touch all it wanted, he was going to soothe his Cub.

Her skin was red, and a couple of blisters had formed. She really needed to stop trying to rush herself.

까치. She looked at him. Go get her thicker gloves please.

She nodded, flying off into the house. He continued to fawn over the injuries, careful not to lick too roughly, he didn’t want the blisters to burst. The magpie came back, carrying one of her gloves and dropping it on his head in front of her, allowing Cub to pick it up easily.

Luckily, it seemed she was too worn out to fight them, and simply pulled her hand away from him to slip the garment on, wiping the spit off on her trousers first. Satisfied, he crouched down in front of her, waiting for her to get on.

Once he felt her weight settle on his back and her fingers fist his fur, he stood up and leapt, solidifying the magical threads below his paws to carry them higher over the wall and into the trees. He kept them high, bounding through the woods with his fellow spirit soaring next to him, both their eyes trained on the forest floor and lower branches. He couldn’t have any others follow them, it would ruin this, He felt Cub bury her face in between his shoulder blades and a sigh warmed the spot, her fingers loosely curled into his fur, having relaxed from their vice grip. She was trembling.

No.

Purring. Cub was happy. Content. Safe.

He continued galloping and weaving through the branches. He knew where he was going. They’d prepared it especially for her. He dipped down, landing on the ground with a slide that made his Cub stir.

“Huh?”

The demon was right where they left it, dangling by a foot from the trap 까치 had helped him set up. It’s bound body immediately renewed its struggling as soon as it caught sight of them and their girl.

Look, Cub. You can practise banishing it!

He smacked it with a paw, knocking it back and causing it to sway back and forth. Cub looked very wide eyed. He trotted over, circling her and nudging her over to it.

“How the hell did you guys do this?” She asked, still staring at it.

I did most the work. She preened her feathers, sitting in a low branch of a tree. Go on, Little One. Don’t worry about it. It’ll just reform in the Demon Realm, no harm done.

“A lot of harm done!” The demon flailed around, nearly whacking Cub in the nose if she hadn’t stepped back to avoid it.

호랑이 snarled, fangs brushing its cheeks as he stepped into its space. Watch it.

It shrank back as much as it could, glaring daggers at his Cub.

“It’s taken souls, right?”

Oh how sweet. Cub was still giving it a second chance. She was so young still, silly thing didn’t realise these kinds of demons only steal. He nodded, slapping it once more and rumbling as he watched it swing. Only takes souls.

“Ok…”

She summoned her weapon with a flash, and he felt that familiar instinct to run, to attack and fight. There was a threat. But he didn’t follow it. Nor did 까치. Why would they, she wasn’t a threat. Not to them. To the demon, however, that’s a different case.

It writhed in its restraints, hissing and spitting in her face as she pulled her arm back, winding back to strike. “I’ll tell Gwi-ma about this!”

No you won’t. The magpie fluttered to Cub’s shoulder, settling with a smirk. Not with who my Master was.

“Your Master’s dead!” It growled, baring its teeth in a sneer.

Cub looked between them, a confused expression spreading across her face.

And this is His daughter. You know not to cross His kind. You won’t tell a soul.

It snapped its teeth, seething as the glowing blade sliced through its neck, exploding into dust and leaving the restraints to hang limply, ends trailing against the dirt.

Cub looked back at him and down to 까치.

“I did good?”

He purred, approaching her and leaning in to her side.

You did perfect. Next time we’ll hunt harder prey to catch.

Celine tried to block out the rumbling engines, as well as the teen practically vibrating next to her. Thankfully she’d been mostly manageable on the drive to the airport, and it had only been two and a half hours. At least Zoey seemed excited at the idea of training under Celine, though she supposed that would be inevitable, given the faint sound of her own voice leaking from her headphones during that drive. Fucking Christ, how she wasn’t deaf was a miracle.

“How long is this flight?”

She turned to meet the girls shining eyes, beaming up at her with a wide smile. Huh. She has a smile like Rumi’s, only more human, only with more emotion. Easier to read. Good, that would make interactions easier with her.

“About 12 hours.”

She faced the back of the seat again, staring into the scratchy, stained fabric with the hum of the engines filling her ears.

And the faint tapping of a pen against paper.

Celine glanced to the side, watching through her peripherals. She was hunched over the creaking food tray, furiously scribbling into one of her 6 notebooks she’d brought along in her carry on, tongue peeking out just barely between her teeth. She was bopping her head to a beat that was, thankfully, quiet enough she couldn’t hear it, while scratching out words and writing sideways in the margins, filling up the page with lyrics.

She had to stop the corners of her lips from curling up. Zoey is a promising girl.

Please come back.

The bear had lost her scent. It smelled like iron now. It played with the stiffened peaks of clumped fur, stuck together with dried blood. At least it’s still red. Parts of it are still able to pass as human. Not all of it. Not enough of it.

It chewed on the toy, tasting the stale blood stain the inside of its mouth. The soaked bandages itched, hardened and stuck to its throbbing gashes. It couldn’t take them off. It would bleed everywhere again.

Its hand pulsed with the rhythm of its heartbeat, glowing with a searing heat that seeped into its flesh, spread through to throb through its veins. Perhaps it was trying to purify it. Burn away the infection. Make it human. The Honmoon couldn’t have a Hunter that could destroy it, what was the purpose of that. Hunters were supposed to strengthen it. It would do the opposite.

A warble rang through the still air, and it felt a hard beak tug at its hair tie, Birdie’s weight landing on its back. A whine clawed its way out, calling for the second spirit, who rasped at its hair, cleaning the strands. A leg reached across, wrapping around it and pulling it closer, a churr sounding out as Blue rubbed his cheek and jaw against its head.

She whimpered, burrowing into his side as she reached out for Birdie, hugging her close to her chest with twitching fingers alongside Celine’s bear.

It was enough for now.

Honestly, Zoey had probably already annoyed Celine to the point of hating her, which, not ideal when she was an actual idol. A goddamn Sunlight Sister. She tried to stay as silent and still as humanly possible, she practically turned into a statue in the back of the woman’s car.

She glanced down, tracing the lines of her sketch, hastily scratched into the page next to her rambling lyrics. A Sunlight Sister. Celine. She’d noticed her, seen that video. She thought Zoey was talented. Worth something.

The car slowed to a stop on crunching gravel outside a huge mansion. Holy shit it was big. Bigger than any house she’d seen in Burbank or when she’d visited her halmeoni.

“Wait here.” Celine stepped out the car, slamming the door.

Well then.

Zoey stared out the window after the woman as she disappeared into the house. Was it not hers? Must not be if she made her wait in the car. She unbuckled the seatbelt, rubbing where it lay against her neck, and lay down, turning up the volume on her headphones. She’d turned them down when around the former idol, paranoid about her hearing her own songs being played. She’d look like such a fangirl. She didn’t want Celine to get weirded out by her. She was a new start. A chance to be liked by someone, be seen as cool or amazing. The video was a good start, she just needed to keep that image up.

She couldn’t disappoint Celine.

Celine stepped through the door into the empty looking house. She knew better. The Honmoon thrummed in the air, a single thick thread pulsing with light and pulling her through the halls.

She reached a door and gave it a sharp rap, waiting outside for the door to be wrenched open by the glaring, scraped up teen.

“What!?- Oh. Hello. Sorry for that.”

Mira backed out of the way, stepping aside for her to enter.

“We’re going?”

“Have your parents accepted?”

“No. But they’ve given up trying to fight me on it. Said they’ve got more important shit to do.”

Celine tried to keep herself from reacting to the curse. She may not be the best influence on Rumi.

“So you’re ready to leave?”

She scoffed and opened her closet, revealing some luggage haphazardly buried under some spare bedding. “Have been for years Ma’am.”

She took the larger bags from the teen, hefting them over her shoulders and leaving without waiting to see if Mira would follow. She knows she would.

She emerged and opened the car trunk with the key fob, setting the belongings into the remaining space. Zoey’s head poked up and looked at her, peeking through the headrests.

“There’s another?”

She nodded, straightening up and fixing her clothing despite nothing being out of place.

“She’s coming now.”

Right on cue, Mira came out with her remaining luggage, a small bag stuffed to the seam, judging by how much strain was being placed on the stitches.

She threw it into the trunk, letting Celine close it back up, and slid into the seat on the other side of Zoey.

As Celine got back into the driver’s seat, she heard the girl try to start up a conversation.

“Hey! I’m Zoey!”

“Zo-ey?” Mira’s voice curled around the syllables, unused to the sound of the ‘Z’. “You got a Korean name too or just Zoey?”

Come on, Celine! What’s your Korean name?

“Just Zoey, I think! If I did have another name it’d be a bit awkward to introduce myself. Could you imagine telling someone one name, then someone else another then having them meet? They’d be so confused.”

She shrugged, slouching down into the leather as she crossed her arms, settling in for the journey. Celine could see Zoey deflate slightly, turning away to look out her own window. That one was so expressive.

She started the car again and drove off, taking the two towards the countryside.

Mira leaned her head back, trying to stretch out the crick in her neck as she held back a wince as another jolt of pain ran through her temples. They’d been driving way to long for her liking, with only one stop to get lunch. Zoey had tried to talk her ear off at the start of the ride, but that had died down once she asked her to be quiet. The scrap she got into earlier was not the best idea in hindsight. She’d won, of course, but having a headache while on a bumpy road, trying to stave off motion sickness was not the best combination, especially not with someone trying to hold a conversation.

The sky was turning orange, the sun setting slowly. She wasn’t sure if it was just her but it felt like Celine was speeding up. She cracked an eye open, squinting at the dashboard. Nope she was definitely going faster.

“I should warn you,” Celine met their eyes through the rearview mirror, catching their attention, “there is another already-”

“Rumi Ryu right?”

Shut up.

Zoey shrank back, realising she’d just interrupted the idol. “Sorry. It’s just that- you took her in after Mi-yeong…”

Celine hummed, brow furrowing.

Mira clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to slap a hand over the younger girl’s mouth. Stop fucking talking. You’re provoking her.

“Yes. Rumi is there. The place you two will be staying at is my residence. You will be training alongside her.”

She sighed wearily.

“The reason I tell you is to warn you. She has not been around people a lot, much less around those of her age. She may act… strange. Don’t take it to heart. I shall explain more about what is expected of you when we arrive, maybe she will be able to explain it in better terms for you to understand.”

She rolled her eyes, slumping back into the seat. Great, another weird nepo baby she has to deal with. She thought she agreed to this to escape them. At least Zoey was nice. A bit much but she seemed optimistic. And genuine. Much better than the rich kids her parents forced her to be around.

The American yawned, forcing her eyes back open. She was tired. Expected, given she’d flown from the States. Not a problem for Mira, she could just let her pass out. More peace and quiet. Yeah, just ignore her and let her sleep.

Ignore it.

Let her sleep.

“Hey.” She nudged her with an elbow to get her attention, causing her to jerk up with a start.

She patted her shoulder. “Here.”

“Oh, oh no I- I couldn’t, it’s alright-”

“It is alright.” She cut off her stammering, placing a hand on her head to pull her closer. “Go to sleep.”

She felt stiff for a moment before exhaustion won and she slumped into her arm, adjusting her head to rest better against her, drifting off into sleep with little snores heating Mira’s skin near where her mouth lay.

She sighed, leaning her head on top of hers and closing her eyes once more.

Yeah, she could get used to Zoey.

Chapter Text

Celine was back.

And she wasn’t alone.

It felt the Honmoon buzz around it, renewing the throbbing in its hand. Underneath the call of Celine’s familiar note, it could sense the faint hint of two strange thrums, unfamiliar and yet so recognisable.

Bonded.

Its Bonded were here.

It scurried down to the darkening courtyard, claws scrabbling against the roof tiles as it left Blue’s side. Celine would not like the idea of it on the roof. It dropped down, brushing off its clothes and fixing its hair, tugging its rolled up sleeves back down to its wrists as it forced its claws and fangs to retract back to rest under its flesh. It couldn’t make a bad first impression. Not for its Bonded. They deserve only the best.

It checked the fresh bandages, making sure no blood had seeped through from its climb down. Good, they were still clean. Cleanish. Ok. Ok. She was ready. She was fine, this would go fine. They will like her. Celine will be satisfied with her for being so put together. She can tell her about killing her first demon outside the walls, or that she ended up switching her gloves for thinner material it still burns. Yes, she would be pleased with the progress she made. Maybe not about the bear though. That’s fine, she could just hide it until she asked. And she wouldn’t.

She could be a normal girl. For them.

A magpie had been flying alongside them for a while. Mira kept catching sight of the white wing bands between the blurring trees looming over them when they were still in the car. Celine had stopped a ways back and told them to walk, which she felt was a bit unfair given how long the drive had been and how stiff it made her. She’d had to wake up Zoey too, which made her feel like she’d kicked a puppy what with the way the half asleep girl pouted at her.

But that bird kept following them. She could see it in the higher branches of the trees, a misshapen lump of shadows looking down at them.

“Let me take it.” She grabbed one of her bags she kept adjusting, slinging the strap over her own shoulder and shifting her other luggage around to carry the extra weight comfortably.

“Oh, uh, thank you. I- yeah, thanks.” She hurried up to walk in step with Mira, looking up at her.

She cleared her throat, pointedly looking forward in front of them. The woods still had a bit of light streaming through, though it was getting progressively darker.

“This way.”

Mira nearly chucked a bag in Celine’s direction when her voice piped up, her heart beating out of her chest as she turned to catch sight of the former idol on her left. Zoey was not as good at controlling herself, squeaking and practically crashing back into her, causing her to stumble and nearly trip over a couple of roots.

“Oh! Sorry- I’m so sorry, let me-”

She cut herself off as Celine picking up to dropped bags, disappearing down a near invisible foot path off to the side. What a weird woman.

It turns out the residence was both very close and very far. Because it was up a fucking hill. Along a path that could barely count as an actual way to go. God damn it, Celine.

When they reached the doors, they were panting, collapsed over the luggage they’d thrown on the ground while the woman stared at them, waiting for them to recover.

“Jesus Christ, why do you live in the middle of nowhere?” Mira groaned, head hanging limply down as sweat dripped from the strands, seeping into the fabric of the bags.

“I’ll explain later. Let’s go in.” She turned away, opening one of the doors and freezing.

Huh? She looked up through her bangs, watching her tug at her sleeve.

“Rumi. You’re supposed to be inside.”

A hesitant voice floated through the air, quiet enough to make Mira strain her hearing, soft enough to make her melt.

“It’s not completely dark yet. I heard you so I wanted to greet you when you returned.”

Celine sighed, pulling the door further open.

“Then come help with the bags. Your teammates need a bit of help.”

She didn’t hear any footsteps but she saw a gloved hand wrap around the side of the door and a head poked out, a girl slinking around the entrance to appear in front of them.

Holy fuck her braid was long. And it was purple.

She looked so unlike the people at her school, the little skin shown tanned instead of pale, face blemished with half-yellowing bruises, faint scars, and occasional sunspots. Her clothes were simple and plain, stained with age and dirt, stitched together with visible patches and sewn repairs, and hanging off her frame, damp with sweat from the heat of the sun, long sleeves nearly covering the black gloves she had on for some reason. How the hell is she not dying?

She was different. Ugly, if she were to go by her parents standards. Well, they were always wrong.

She stilled, looking down at their bodies draped over the small heap of duffels and suitcases. Damn it, this was not a good first impression. She didn’t want this girl to see her gasping and flopping around like a fucking fish. She braced herself for a bout of snickers and thinly veiled insults.

“Pink.”

Mira blinked. What?

“You’ve-” She snapped her mouth shut, waving a hand vaguely at her. “Pink.”

“I- Yeah… I dyed it.”

She just gave a thumbs up in response, holding it there for a second as if to make sure they saw it before going back to standing completely still, arms hanging limp at her sides. The three of them stared at each other silently.

“Rumi, get the bags.”

She jerked forward, grabbing a bag and wearing one of the straps while pulling on a couple of suitcases from under them. Zoey yelped, tumbling back as she got rolled off one. The pretty girl paused, looking at the American for a moment before flashing a blank, flat smile that nearly split her face in two. They watched her flee back into the grounds, nearly all their belongings either on her, or in her hands, her braid whipping behind her like a tail.

“Come on.”

Mira stood up, brushing off her trousers and helping Zoey to her feet before following after Celine.

“She’s… interesting.”

“Did I do good?”

Celine stared at her. She tried to suppress her trembling, hiding her hands behind her back. She could be calm. She had spoken to her Bonded, helped them, followed her orders. She even smiled at them.

“Sure. Call that good.” She sighed, exasperated.

It shrunk back. What’s wrong? Had it not done good? She said it was good but she sounded angry. She ran a hand through her hair, adjusting her sleeve.

“It’s fine, as long as you don’t show your patterns everything will be fine.”

It perked up, the tightness in its chest loosening its grip. It hadn’t done that. If that was the most important thing then at least it hadn’t failed completely. It just needed to improve some areas.

“When are we telling them?”

“Tomorrow. They won’t process it well if we do it tonight. Come. You didn’t eat yet, right? Let’s make dinner while they get settled in.”

She stood up, walking out the office to the kitchen with it trailing at her heel.

“My gloves are thinner.” She looked back, glancing at its hands. “I managed to get better.”

She hummed, turning back to the sink.

“And!- And I killed a demon… one snuck in and I- yeah.”

Please respond.

“…Good.”

It preened, squashing down a smile threatening to emerge. So she wasn’t too mad at it. It could still make it up to Celine. To its Bonded. It shook its sleeves back to free its hands, reaching for the fridge handle. A hand gripped its arm.

“What happened.”

Zoey stood outside Mira’s door, rocking back on her heels as she tried to stay still. The floors were really loud, Celine should probably get those checked.

She backed up when the door slid open, revealing the other teen.

“What?”

“Uh-” She stared at the doorknob, pointedly avoiding looking at her. “Celine said we should go to the kitchen when we’re done. For dinner.”

Mira frowned, “When?”

“Like, when we came in.”

“Oh.”

They stared at each other. Well, she stared at Zoey. She kept her gaze fixed on the door.

“…Where is the kitchen.”

“Oh!” She started, whipping around and marching down the hall, “I think it’s this way.”

It was not that way.

They only figured that out after opening nearly every room in the area before turning back around, her ears burning in embarrassment. Great, Zoey. Make a complete fool of yourself in front of the nice girl who let you drool over her shoulder and carried your bag. Awesome.

They hurried to the now incredibly obvious light spilling from the open doorway, walking down the small step into the kitchen.

The meal wasn’t elaborate or fancy, just some soup and rice. She’s pretty sure she’s had this before, but she can’t remember for the life of her.

She decided to follow Mira’s lead, thanking Celine and sitting down in front of one of the places.

Celine stayed standing, saying “Go, eat.” and turning to leave.

Except.

“Where’s Rumi?”

The woman looked at her and she shrank back. She really needed to stop doing that in front of Celine.

“She apparently got injured during my time away, so I sent her off to treat herself properly before joining you.” She continued to the doorway.

Injured? How? Rumi didn’t look injured when she came to pick up their bags. She just carried them like they weighed nothing. How was she hurt?

“Is she okay?”

Celine sighed. Shit. She’d pushed it hadn’t she.

“She’s fine. Just an accident. She’ll live.” She responded curtly, ending the conversation as she left Zoey and Mira to eat.

On queue, the floorboards down the hall started creaking, signalling her approach.

Mira kept herself focused on the jjigae, tuning out Zoey and Celine. Fuck, she was hungry, and this tasted really good. She only startled out of her haze when the pretty girl sat down in front of her, picking up her own chopsticks and spoon. Wasn’t she always here? When had she come in?

She really should know her name. That’s probably important. It kept slipping from her mind.

She spotted her staring, and blinked at her, holding eye contact until Mira’s eyes started to burn.

“Hey.”

She smiled flatly, turning back to start her meal without a word. Alright then, guess they wouldn’t talk.

Zoey, though, was not in on this little deal they suddenly had going on.

“Hey, Celine-” the girl straightened up, “said you got hurt. You good?”

She paused, probably thinking for a moment, before nodding.

“Lapse of judgement, nothing to fret about. It won’t affect my ability to train, don’t worry.”

She sounded pretty too. All quiet and formal. There was something about her voice that pulled Mira in, so inviting, welcoming. She wanted to hear more.

But she didn’t grace them with another word, diving back into her food.

They ate in silence, an awkward atmosphere clogging the air. Not that Mira minded all that much. It was familiar, and her headache enjoyed the peace.

“You wanna see some card tricks?”

Huh.

Zoey brandished a deck of cards, pulling them from who knows where, and cutting them with one hand, the other still bringing the spoon to her lips.

“Why do you have-”

She was cut off by a hum, and she turned to see the pretty girl staring as the younger girl played with the cards, abandoning her stew to lean in closer with a chirp.

How the fuck did she make that noise.

Zoey, encouraged, shot the cards between her hands, and her eyes followed the deck’s path, completely mesmerised.

Mira clenched her teeth, trying not to laugh at her slack jawed expression. She didn’t want her to be offended. A small scoff still slipped out and she snapped out of it, shaking herself off and diving back into her food with a renewed vigour. Ah, shit. She could feel Zoey’s disappointment too, going quiet and setting the cards down on the table. Mira tried not to look bothered.

She’d fucked it again.

까치 snatched their gat back to wear, sitting in its place on his head. She tossed it into the air, flipping it back on to her head.

They stared at Cub’s prone form, sleeping face down on her mat. How she didn’t suffocate was a mystery to 호랑이, but she apparently found it comfortable, so he didn’t try to move her.

How did they seem?

Nice. Nice enough. She preened her wing. One of them has pink hair.

Oh? He pricked an ear up.

No, not like Rumi. She coloured it, it’s not natural.

Damn. At least Cub might like it.

Oh she did. 까치 chuckled, wagging her tail. It was the first thing she pointed out.

He licked his Cub’s covered shoulder before standing up, balancing the bird on his head.

I want to go meet them.

She sighed, and he knew she was rolling her eyes.

As long as you don’t get caught. Let me check it they’re asleep or not.

He pawed the door open gently, hooking a claw through the door handle to pull it so she could fly silently through the house. He waited impatiently, fighting the urge to pace, instead busying himself with nosing at his little Cub.

They’re asleep.

He stretched, sinking into a portal as 까치 landed once more between his ears. He poked up in one of their rooms. This one had black hair, not the pink one then. She was small, smaller then his Cub, and completely twisted. Maybe Cub wasn’t the worst sleeper. She was mumbling too, though he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

How cute.

I know, right? She’s a fast talker too, loud. Maybe Fledgling will come out a bit more with her.

He rumbled. That was a nice thought. The rare moments Cub broke her quietness were a joy to experience, when it wasn’t her hurting. A loud cub was good. It meant he could find them easier.

…Mine.

Oh fuck off.

They sunk back down into the floor, emerging in the pink girl’s room.

At least she slept normally.

Also mine.

I told you, you can’t hog them!

We made a deal!

We did no such thing!

They cut off their squabbling when the cub groan, rolling onto her side and stretching out in her sleep.

Oh, that’s a big stretch. 호랑이 extended his legs, cracking out his spine, suddenly aware of the tightness in it. Good cub, reminding him.

She’ll like me better.

He snapped back to glare at her.

I will bite you again.

No you won’t. She crowed, moving to the rafters above him.

The absolute brat of a bird.

He pulled the threads apart, slowly sinking down.

I’m leaving you here.

까치 darted back down, not wanting to be trapped in the room. Don’t you dare!

He stepped back into Cub’s room, surrounding her and wrapping her with his tail, feeling the slow rhythm of her claws starting to knead his coat with a quiet chirp. He felt the light weight of his fellow spirit settling on his head as they lay down to rest.

These new cubs would be very good for his Cub. If they prove themselves.