@Ktyhrea
"You saved my life," Adam heard. He was panting, and it was only now that he felt her hand in his. "D-Did they h-hurt you?" He looked over at her, happy that she was here and hadn't run off. "I-I'm sorry," he got out. He knew he was bleeding, but didn't know what to do. The true pain hadn't settled in yet because of the adrenaline he still had from the fight. There were multiple things he was sorry for. That he had lied to her. She probably thought he was just a mutt, which is why she was being so kind to him.... He was also sorry that they hadn't gotten to the village. The village.
"B-Bandages? W-where we were going?" he asked. He finally found her eyes, looking into them. He found himself smiling, before the adrenaline faded away and the pain settled in.
At first, Adam only gave grunts from the pain. And then it got worse, and he started to give yells of panic. He tried to sit up, making it worse. He gave out a scream. The tears fell faster from his eyes.
And then, that strange man who they had seen in the village walked out. He clapped, and told Adam he should be more careful. Adam sneered at him, still not trusting. And then he healed him. Adam got up quickly, sheating his knives that Sparrow had dropped.
"C'mon, Sparrow. Let's get to that village."

"You two look like you could use an escort. If you'd like, I could go with you. I happen to know more than just healing." This seemed like a good opportunity to to visit the lower village. Did they act differently? Did they have different products? Did they interact differently? Only one way to find out. That, and potentially saving the lives of a couple of kids would do good on his mind.

"My name is Ysran. So, will you have me? I'm heading in that direction anyways, and those demons you just killed my have some more friends."

Sparrow watches as Adam's body glows. She desperately wanted the cloaked man to stop touching him, as his cries of pain echoed through the trees, but something told her it would end soon. As quickly as the glowing began it ended, and Adam jumped to his feet. Sparrow stood as well, stepping behind Adam and taking his hand. Her eyes narrow and she meets the unknown man's gaze. "You assistance is appreciated but unneeded." The words come out like daggers. "You shouldn't be here. Quit following us," she snaps, her voice shaky from the earlier events. Her grip on Adam's hand grows tighter, drawing courage from his strength. "C'mon, Sparrow. Let's get to that village." The words hang in the air for a moment before Sparrow nods, turning on her heel and leading him deeper into the forest.

Once she puts some distance between them and the mysterious man she stops and turns to Adam. "I'm not really sure what happened back there," she begins, tears glistening in her eyes, "but I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I was going to lose you." Her arms wrap around his neck and she rests her head on his shoulder, hugging him tightly. It had been only a day, and yet she felt like they had been friends forever, and that losing him would be close to the end of the world. In her mind she could see him fighting with the demons. In that form he frightened her, there was no doubt, but he was protecting her and there was no doubt in that fact either. When he looked at her with his glowing red eyes, she could still see him, the part of him she was beginning to fall in love with.

@Lord Orgasmo @GoodLuckTuck

@Ktyhrea
Sparrow lead them away for a moment, and then stopped. She told him she was glad he was okay, and hugged him tightly. Adam stood there for a moment, frozen as she rested her head on his shoulder. He shouldn't be doing this. Whatever "this" was. But he knew. It was a friendship that would slowly turn into something more. Finally, he slowly wrapped his arms around her. And sighed.
"I feel I should tell you the truth," he softly said. He unwrapped his arms from around her. He didn't hold her hand in fear of how she'd react. "I lied to you about my parents. They didn't die from demons. Well, they did, but..." He gave another sigh, ripping off the band-aid. "I killed them, and I'm a demon. Fully demon." He looked away from her. He knew that demons had haunted her past, and it was only fair to tell her that he was such.

Silence.
.
.
.
Sparrow takes a slow breath, her eyes staring at the ground.
You don't look like a demon." The words are a whisper.
"You don't act like a demon either." Her eyes, still glistening with tears, rise to meet his.
"Demons don't protect people. They kill them. They killed my mother. They tried to kill me. You're not one of them. The words come out quickly, her heart starting to race.
"You're not a demon. You're lying. A half-breed, maybe, but not a demon. I don't believe you." She quiets then, her eyes lowering again. Her hands shake and she balls them into fists, frustration and disbelief welling up inside her. "Don't lie to me..."

Her eyes close and she falls to the ground, shoulders shaking as the tears she had been trying to hold in was over her cheeks. Never once does she look up at Adam. Instead, she pulls her knees to her chest and soon her crying turns to weak whimpers. Not a demon. Not a demon. The words repeat over and over in her mind. Adam being a half-breed she could cope with. The king allowed half-breeds in the city and encouraged others to accept them, but if anyone found out what he really was they would likely never let him return. She had been so drawn to him and felt like they shared a special bond. Does him lying change how I feel? The question spins her head, making her dizzy despite not having moved at all. No.

@GoodLuckTuck

@Ktyhrea
"You don't look like a demon."
"You don't act like a demon either."
"Demons don't protect people. They kill them. They killed my mother. They tried to kill me. You're not one of them. You're not a demon. You're lying. A half-breed, maybe, but not a demon. I don't believe you. Don't lie to me..."

Adam looked over to Sparrow, watching as she curled up on the ground. As she began crying, it shook Adam's core. He slowly walked over to her, cautiously leaning down next to her. He doesn't want to do anything that would do wrong by her.
"B-Believe it. I was a demon, created to look human. How do you think half-breeds happen, Sparrow?" It hurt him to see her like this and hurt him more to know that it was his cause. He opened his arms to her, in case she needed comforting. He didn't know what to do. Why were humans so complicated? "Please, Sparrow," he said her name in vain.

Demons don't give hugs," she mutters, moving closer to him and curling up in his arms. She felt safe. Safer than when she was by herself. Her hair falls over her face and she rests her head on his chest, relaxing almost entirely. "You may have been created to look human, but you can't deny that you have human emotions. Demons don't have emotions like we do, right? They couldn't. They're ruthless beings of pure evil. That's not you." Sparrow says this all while staying as close to Adam as possible, listening to his heartbeat.

@GoodLuckTuck

@Ktyhrea
Adam's heartbeat was faster than that of a human's, and Sparrow would be able to hear it. "I was just an experiment. I guess I didn't turn out how they wanted." He gave a laugh, just holding Sparrow. Eventually, he fell back and took her with him. He looked up at the trees.

There was a slight breeze and the branches above Sparrow and Adam's heads swayed in the wind. Sparrow snuggles close to Adam, tracing veins up and down his arms in an absentminded manner. "I'm glad you didn't turn out like they wanted. I like you the way you are. I mean um, uh, you're a good person the way you are..." Her cheeks turn Rodney and she sits up, laughing under her breath out of nervousness. "You know what I mean..." Looking over at Adam she smiles, the pink in her cheeks brightening as she does.

"Did that guy, Ysran right? Did he actually heal you? If he did then we can still head over to the old camp, it shouldn't be too far away now. If you're still in pain we can go back to Sanctuary." Sparrow stands up, brushing off her skirt and running her fingers through her unruly hair in a weak attempt to tame it into a more acceptable style. She turns her eyes from Adam to the trees. In the distance the trees open into a medium sized clearing, and a handful of shacks lay in shambles next to a few lean-tos and one very small house.

@GoodLuckTuck

@Ktyhrea
He gave a hearty laugh, watching the embarrassed Sparrow.
Adam looked down at what was left of his shirt. The wounds had definitely stopped bleeding. There were scars where they used to be.
"I guess so. Now, let's head over to this highly-spoken-of abandoned village. Maybe we can find me a new shirt," he teased, smiling. He stood up with her, and held out his hand. He was still being cautious with her.

Sparrow grins. "There's nothing saying you actually need a shirt," she says with a wink. Her eyes glint mischievously and she takes his hand, leading him through the trees. The clearing opens up before them, and broken boards litter the ground. "Like I said back at Sanctuary, most of the good stuff has been taken already, but I haven't looked inside the house yet. Maybe there are some old clothes there?" She casts a hopeful glance in Adam's direction before making her way towards the house. Gray paint peels on the outside, and not a single window was still intact. The wooden door was missing, and a screen door hangs on its hinges in the doorway. Sparrow lets go of Adam's hand to open it and step inside.

The scent of death was like a wall, and it made Sparrow's nose wrinkle up in an extremely unpleasant way. She covers her nose and mouth with the edge of her cloak and furrows her brows. "Still want to look in here?" she asks, her voice muffled by the fabric of her cloak. The sound of many flies buzzed further in the house, but the staircase to her left seemed mostly intact. Instead of waiting for Adam's reply the bounds up the stairs. At the top was a hallway. And in the middle of that hallway was a body. Sparrow freezes, her eyes wide and her mouth falling open.

The limbs had been pulled off but the body was still intact. It was also fresh. A few days old maybe, which meant that whoever did this was likely still close by, they would need to hurry. Shaking off the shock and covering her mouth with her cloak again Sparrow slips inside the nearest room. She walks to the dresser with quick purpose, pulling out the drawers in a calculated way, not wasting any time. Only a few items remained inside: a faded blue dress, some black slacks, a white shirt with multiple dark stains, some of which looked like blood and other which looked like coffee. Sparrow tosses the items on the dusty bed and pokes around the rest of the room. "No books," she concludes with a frown. At least not in here. I'll check the living room before we go back out but I'd rather not stay up here any longer than I have to. That body is giving me the creeps. You're welcome to look around more if you'd like though."

@GoodLuckTuck

Eden smiled softly and laughed at the comment Brielle made about His hair then carried on with the rest of the conversation. "Yeah I've been taking care of them a lot more recently, thanks for noticing. And we'll, I could go for a 1v1 session out in the woods. It would be like old times! When we used to pretend to be guards."

He'd greet Luciel then promptly give him a friendly nod of the head. "A half breed eh? The whole village used to think I was one of those because no one really knew my parents. So don't feel out of place, even though I'm human I'm aware of how many of the villagers must look at you."

Eden finishes his muffin after making the comment and looks down at husband watch on his arm. "AH I don't have much time, I gotta go soon!"

@Ktyhrea
Adam blushed, giving a laugh as they made their way through the forest. As they walked into the crumbling house, Adam's smelling senses were overpowered. He could smell that something has died her recently. His theory was confirmed when they found the limbless body in the upstairs hall. As Sparrow moved around it, he stayed in the hall and stared at the body. His demon nature was still deep within him, and as he snapped back to reality he felt himself drooling.
"That body is giving me the creeps. You're welcome to look around more if you'd like though."
"Yeah, it's creeping me out on my own level too...," Adam replied, following her downstairs into the living room. He shook his head. He couldn't go down that path. "You like to read?" Adam questioned Sparrow, trying to distract himself.

Aya considered the half-breeds position, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to actually live in the village after all. Though it would be a good idea to have a good relationship with the village so she would stick around to at lease get that interview with the king. As the male gestured to her food she shrugged and began to inhale it as if she hadn't ate a hot meal in a good while. Luciel might notice that Aya's teeth were mostly human, however, her k-9 teeth were sharp and fang like.

Finishing the food on her plate she stood and placed the place in its proper place before returning to the male half-blood. "Oh, perhaps proper introductions are in order. My name is Ayailla but you may call me Aya if you wish." she offered.

She turned to the female guard as well to also introduce herself, "If we are going to be spending the whole day with each other it could be beneficial to us both if you were to give a name, I would hate to have to refer to you has 'Human Female Guard'." Human female guard sighed and decided that this day was never going to end. "Names Sylvia..." she says as though it literally brought her pain.

@Hawlin

Sparrow nods in reply to Adam's question. They had come back downstairs together and she was now looking through the living room. "Yeah I do. My mom used to read to me when I was a kid. After she was killed and we moved to Sanctuary my dad taught me." She tosses a pillow from the sofa on to the floor and grins. "Victory!" Sparrow straightens up and in each hand she holds a very old looking book. She sticks one under her arm and flips open the second; the pages are crisp and crinkle as her fingers brush against them. "Two households, both alike in dignity, (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. I think it's a play? It's written like one." Sparrow shrugs and closes the book, flipping it to see the spine and dusting it off with the edge of her cloak. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Shrugging she tucks the book under her arm with the other one she had found and turns to face Adam. "Should we keep looking around? We might be able to find you some clothes," she says with a smile.

Sparrow jumps in surprise when the hinges on the screen door creak. The wind outside, which had been a mere breeze when they were laying in the forest earlier, had picked up the pace. Setting her books back on the sofa she walks over to one of the windows; broken glass crunches under her feet and she places her hands on the window sill. "We should probably get what we need and head back soon, just in case a storm hits. I'd rather not be trapped in this house with a dead body if the weather gets bad," she laughs, turning back to Adam with a grin on her face.

@GoodLuckTuck

@Ktyhrea
"Should we keep looking around? We might be able to find you some clothes?."
Adam shook his head. "Nah. There's something about this place. I don't really like it...," he trailed off, looking at the 'book' that Sparrow held.
"Reading," he said, trying out the word for himself. "I've never done 'reading' before, actually," he confessed. The hinges on the door creaked, and Sparrow jumped a little. Adam was immediately there, by her side. "Are you alright?" he asks, before she walks over to the window and mentions a storm. Adam shrugged.
"I mean, it wouldn't be that bad," he said with a small smile. Then, he remembered the body upstairs and how he felt hungry. He shook his head. "Actually, you're right. We'd better get going."

Brielle chuckled "oh yeah..." she reflected on those times for a moment, "I used to be terrible.." It had seemed so long ago that the two of them would run off into the demon riddled forests to sparr. Surprisingly never having an incident happen while out in the wild. He was far better at close range and typically won - but Brielle had advanced with him. Eventually throwing Eden on his ass a few times.

Her stomach twisted a bit when Eden made the comment towards Lucile. It was actually really his influence that had her soften up on halfbreeds. They had many arguments and long talks about why she shouldn't hold the rage with her. The King also holding relevance in her change of heart. She of course, as shown with Lucile, still had her moments of disgust. But the memory of when she too, thought Eden may be one when she was younger - rang through her sharply. Brielle admitted this later after they became friends - too which she will argue it was a Young and dumb mentality to have.

In the midst of her and Eden talking about what to demonstrate for the youth - she noticed Lucile had moved away from her and to another demon. Her lips pursed in a disapproval - she walked over and noticed the female guard a sense of relief. Brielle looked back to Eden as he mentioned being late, "hold on". As she got closer, she became more aware of the features of the other half demon. Gripping her bow instinctually, it was still so unnerving seeing certain halfbreeds. The claws really unsettled her. Brielle walked over to the female guard and started talking to her curtly - turning to Lucile promptly with a smirk. "How do you feel about her watching you? I'm not a guard and well," she looked over to Sylvia who shot her daggers of now having the responsibility of two halfbreeds. "I'm going to escort Edens class to the forest, and train" she explained, though she didn't owe him one.

"Yeah, and maybe you should do your assigned job for the day so we don't all starve...." Sylvia uttered. It was apparent the two weren't the closest.

@Lightning@WhiteMoths@Hawlin

Cough Cough

He removed the rocks and dirt above him. What happened? Digging his way out of the rubble he saw around. His eyes widened, everyone in the monastery was dead..wait, no, there was one more left alive. Crowley, his second in command. He made to call him but the only thing that he could manage to get out were mouthfuls of dust. With a meek voice and an outstretched hand he started calling to his friend when a scream pierced through the smoke all the way to the clouds. They had Crowley. 2 demons had him by the arms while another one was casting some strange magic on him. A black circle with runes appeared out of thin air in front of the man then it started descending onto his chest. The demons ripped open his chest piece and exposed his skin where the circle started merging with him, burning him. Screams, the screams were like acid to Numenor's ears. After it was done, the female demon who was handling the magic cut her own wrist and forced her tainted blood on the warriors mouth.
"Cage him with the others"- she said and the 2 demons dragged him away.
There were others? Maybe they were still alive, he had to get to them. Looking below his waist, a huge boulder was keeping his legs in place. Thankfully, he could still feel them. He tried to escape but to no avail, only causing some rubble to fall down which alerted the demon.
"Hey, I think I found one more over here"- she said as she approached. Feeling around with his hand he felt the handle of his dagger but it was almost out of reach. As the female demon approached he struggled to get a hold of it. Not a minute later the 2 demons came and lifted the rubble as easily as lifting a piece of paper and dragged him to the middle of the area, where Crowley had been.
"He seems to be unconscious, tchk no ear treat this time."- she said as she prepared the spell. Her words flew around the deserted place like dark whispers in search of a listening ear to corrupt.
"Done.."- she said as she started to focus the sigil on his chest, like she had done to Crowley. If there was a time to act this was it. In an instant he got to his feet while performing a leg-sweep on the demon to his left which in turn released his grip on his shoulder. Right after, he reached behind his back, unsheathed the dagger and drove it through the right demon's skull from below, all the while the other demon was still in the air. Just as the female demon was about to scream he slashed her throat, preventing any sound from coming. During that slash, the magic circle that was in the air made contact with his arm, giving a stinging pain. After all these actions the demon in the left finally reached the ground which was followed by a stab to the heart. The female demon turned to run only to slip on her own blood. She barely had time to look back as the edge of the blade disappear through her neck and emerge from the other side. All her world started to turn upside down and swirl around as it faded into darkness as her head fell to the ground and rolled before stopping.

He had to find the others and free them, killing every single one of those sons of bitches along the way.

Tactlessly, Luciel watched his first truly known comrade eat. His eyes found her fangs, though were disappointed by her molars and locked hinge of a jaw. Truth be told, he felt slightly worse with knowing that even more blatant halfbreeds were less monsterous, and the thought came out as a hand lightly touched his own cheek in what could be considered thought and consideration. Envy took him, and a small exhale of a hiss took the place of what was almost a frustrated growl, forked tongue flickering for a moment.
"Luciel...I, guess I vill respond, if I know I am beink addressed" he replied to her introduction, too lost in thought to lie about a nickname he didn't have.

The exchanging of names was a bit awkward to watch, since the escort that his newfound associate had was hardly the noble beast that he'd come to rely on from Brielle. That being wholly known, he had no claim to say a word to the human who begrudgingly introduced herself. No nod, no words, the human was not his concern and received only the time it took to look at the in acknowledgement of their presence before turning away a second later as Brielle approached.

In the process, Luciel was met with the strangeness of Eden's comment. His parents not being known? Like any other outsider? Luciel disgustedly empathized, though not for the reasons most would assume and in ways he was far from proud of. Briefly, the halfbreed's lips parted to speak before stalling out, having nowhere to begin save for lowering his head in an expression of sympathy. He was uncomfortable with being around people for this specific reason, but needed to carry himself with some manner of civility if only to distract himself, offering a small, appreciative, closed-mouth smile for Eden until overhearing Brielle and his associate's escort going at it.

"She is not watching me. I have someone for that" Luciel replied to Brielle's question, watching the guard rather than turn his head to whom he spoke to. However, her claim to shift the burden of his presence onto the guard spurred some kind of hostility.
Both of the women were wrong in either composure or facts, a volatile nature which Luciel found highly unappealing.

After his treatment and unjust, comments made against his character, this last petty exchange between humans was enough to finally test the cleric's patience. Without a word, he took a few deliberate steps to retrieve where he set down his sacks of produce, returning in just as few steps that could be counted on one hand. "Miss Brielle returned from her hunt with sacks of produce offered in tribute from a mutt. Land and larder brim with meat...and she saved me from once more being robbed by your guards..." Luciel spoke with calculated deliberation as he held the sacks and unceremoniously dropped them between the group, holding eye contact with Sylvia, "Her hunt yielded what farmers need months to provide."

After a moment, Luciel folded his hands behind his back and stretched, relieved of the burden that would take two or three people to haul away.
Looking between the two humans, he dismissively sniffed before stating in a nonchalant manner, "Goodbye, for now. Thank you for breakfast" and turning to leave after offering a bow.
True, it was a power play, though one he intended to see through since a lessen couldn't be learned unless there was a price paid; hostility casts out civility. He had once chipped a rock down to nearly a blade, how hard could it be to fancy a tool by such means?

@Lightning@WhiteMoths@LadyinInk