Jaynin
4th Level Red Feather
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- Jul 12, 2003
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Demon Hunter Shuni, Episode 1: Easy Job, Right?
The village was nothing more than a normal, sleepy, out-of-the-way backwater village of little to no importance to the rest of the world, but always a haven to those who traveled. It was just past mid-morning in the village, but for them that meant the sun was just now peeking over the tops of the trees to the east, for they were so tall that it took the sun several hours past sunrise to cast its light directly on the village. The forest stretched almost as far as the eye could see to the east and south. To the north was a forbidding mountain range, and the east was taken up with a road to the nearest city with the village’s farms surrounding it.
The village was always slightly chilly because it took a few hours longer for sunlight to warm the streets, which was why the more productive farms were located some distance away from the village; the sun’s light fell on them first, thus allowing the plants to grow better. This morning was in the middle of the growing season, so the villagers were hard at work tending their fields. It had been a good year so far, no bad omens or anything of the sort, a nice amount of rain, and the crops seemed to be burgeoning. They were probably sufficient to cover a year or two’s mediocre harvest or lessen the impact of a total crop failure.
It wasn’t all fun and games having excellent crops, however. The forest that shaded the village was notorious as a home of demons, who made their raids on villages for miles around using that forest as a base. The village that was so near had remained untouched for quite a while, surprisingly. When it had first been established, it was built as a citadel in which demon hunters were based to hunt down the demons that lived in the forest. In response, the demons had simply stopped attacking the village, and spread out more in order to reach less-protected areas. Slowly, the fortress village had lost its importance, until it was nothing more than just a regular village.
However, the demons’ habits died hard, and they stayed dispersed throughout the forest, making the demon hunter versus demon match-up a one-on-one affair instead of large armies attacking one another. Out of respect, or fear, or simple lazy habit (no one knew why) they had largely left the village alone even after it was no longer fortified. Or rather, they had left it alone, until now. The crops had been so good this year, and even the years before that, that now the demons began to raid the farms for food. In response, the village had requested that a demon hunter be dispatched to the town to fight off the raiding demons.
This village, like many small villages, was a close-knit community, and wasn’t unfriendly, but to use the cliché everyone knew everyone else. So when the farmers beheld a veritable Amazon walking down their path that mid-morning, they knew she wasn’t a girl from the village. Fortunately, they had been told of the demon hunter’s impending arrival, and didn’t make trouble for her, although more than a few stared.
Shuni Taochi sighed, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her and concentrated on only one step at a time. She had resigned herself to the stares whenever she went someplace where no one knew her, because whether she liked it or not she stuck out almost everywhere. Idly as she walked, Shuni let her gaze sweep up and over the farmers tilling the fields to either side of the path, and noticed more than a few farmers hurriedly bending over their hoes and working furiously at the earth as her gaze swept over them.
One such farmer, though, once Shuni’s gaze had passed, looked up again, and cast his eye over the girl as she passed by, feeling a slight bit awkward to have a woman tower over him by nearly half a foot. He was not small, being average for a male at about five foot ten, but his head came up to her shoulder… although he thought about that for a moment and nodded approval to himself; a big girl like her, not just tall and lanky but filling out her frame, could very likely crush those accursed demons with her bare hands. She wouldn’t; a short sword was thrust into a sheath that was held in place by the sash around her waist.
Sash around her waist? Doing a double-take, the farmer realized this huge woman was wearing a kimono… and a pretty fancy kimono at that, made of light, breezy white silk that was almost indecent to wear in public… although, not that he’d admit to looking, but underneath she definitely wore more substantial clothing. As she strode by he caught a glimmer of pearly white earrings and a necklace as well… She was dressed more like some noble lady going to a social gathering than a demon hunter. About the only thing that was designed for utility were the plain white cotton socks and wooden walking sandals she wore. Looking briefly at her face before she walked by, he caught a glimpse of light hazel eyes, going nicely with the somewhat unruly shoulder-length brown hair, tied loosely in the back with a plain cord to keep it from getting in her eyes. So she wasn’t all fancy dress… in fact, aside from the kimono, she dressed rather plainly.
Shuni shook her head and sighed again, knowing almost by heart what was going through the minds of the farmers as she finally passed the fields and made it into the village proper, where she towered head and shoulders over all the other women in there. Here, the stares were probably accompanied by different thoughts; for the men, it was always Whoa, she’s huge and Why is she wearing a kimono of all things? With women, it was always at first a dirty glare for her nice – but not perfect – physical form, usually concerning her chest, and…
Sighing, Shuni tried to put her head down and hurry onward to the mayor’s house. The stares of some women had gone downwards, and she could hear the snickering. Of the two things Shuni wished she could magically fix about herself, one was the fact that she still carried baby fat around her waist and thighs a little bit, and the second was her feet. Not that they were ugly or rough or anything – if anything they were silken and smooth – but just that they were so… big. Not grotesquely big, not comically big, but pretty much on the high end of normal. Her cotton socks were custom-made, and she only had four pairs with her, all of which she took meticulous care of. If she ran out, she’d have to go barefoot until new ones were made, since almost no one sold socks in her size.
Fortunately her thoughts occupied her enough to distract her from the tittering until she had made it to the mayor’s house, and she slid aside the paper door, hurriedly shutting it and breathing a sigh of relief now that she was out of sight of everyone else. And she was going to have to be living in this village for some time, too. She hoped that the people would get past her odd physical appearance, else… well, that didn’t bear thinking about. Righting herself, she took a deep breath and cracked her neck before proceeding to the door to the next room and clearing her throat before asking:
“Excuse me, is the village’s leader in? I’m Shuni Taochi, the demon hunter dispatched to deal with the recent demon attacks.” Shuni was expecting a secretary or someone else who handled the mayor’s affairs to answer, but a stooped, graying, yet smiling old man slid the door aside, speaking in a raspy but not unkind voice.
“Ahh, come in, come in, Shuni did you say your name was? I’m the leader of this village, my name is Kazuo Hontsu. Please, come in,” he said kindly, indicating that Shuni take a place at the table and, for a wonder, not saying a word or giving an odd look or even recoiling upon seeing here. “I live alone, you see, my wife passed away fifteen years ago or so, and I guess I’m just waiting for my time to come.” He chuckled dryly, pouring a cup of tea and setting it in front of Shuni’s place at the table before taking his own place and lifting his own cup of tea to his lips.
“She passed away? My deepest sympathies,” Shuni said, remembering her manners and taking a seat on her knees on the cushion set up across from Kazuo. She said nothing more than that, as it seemed that this old man had accepted his wife’s death and going into it in too much detail might reopen old wounds. In that case, straight to business then. Setting down her tea after taking a few polite sips, she inquired; “I understand that I am to be staying in the village until you have deemed the problem solved. Where will my lodgings be, and will room and board be included in my salary or will there be a deduction?”
“You’re quite direct, my young demon hunter.” Kazuo chuckled again. “Very well, I admire that. No dancing around the issue with you, eh? You’ll be staying with me, in this house. Since my wife’s death I dismissed our servant and live alone, so I have two spare rooms. Don’t worry, you can use the servant’s room, no need to share your bedding quarters with a dirty old man like myself, and no need to pay for a room I’m not using anyway.”
Shuni couldn’t help but smile. This old man seemed pretty harmless, and was benevolent in his old age, staying here wouldn’t be a problem at all. “I’m very grateful for that.” She bowed politely to him while remaining seated. “I’m sure that we can work out any problems that may arise during my stay, so I think I will enjoy staying here for the duration of my contract.”
“Hmm, hmm…” Kazuo nodded as he sipped more of his tea. “Shuni, I have just one question for you… I see you carrying no pack, no personal effects of any kind… I do hate to call attention to it in such a crude manner, but a girl so big as yourself, no tailor will have clothes ready-made in your size, and a new set of clothing will take quite some time to make, as well as cost you a small fortune… I’m afraid I won’t be able to cover that under your living expenses, especially with your… tastes…” he ended, mumbling and coughing at the end.
Shuni actually smiled. For once, she could actually explain why she was wearing what she did without seeming pretentious. “This kimono is actually a family heirloom,” she said, with no small amount of pride in her voice. “I know it looks like it has no place on a battlefield or even sometimes in polite company, but for the latter I can assure you that I am quite decent, it is simply the way the fabric is made. And as for it being the regalia of a demon hunter… this kimono, as well as the earrings and necklace I wear, along with the socks, are enchanted with holy magic that makes me immune to demonkind. They cannot touch me, nor strike me with a weapon. I am essentially invincible to anything they may try.”
“Ahh!” Kazuo brightened up considerably when Shuni said that. “I was in truth wondering why they had sent someone so young to a potentially troublesome area, but I understand why now. If you cannot be hurt by them then we have nothing to fear!”
“Yes, and for reasons of safety I choose to wear this attire at all times,” Shuni replied. “Since it is magical, it also…” she giggled slightly. “It also will not get soiled, so I need not wash it.” All she needed to change were her undergarments, but she wasn’t going to say that. In truth she did carry a small-sized back on the small of her back with said undergarments in it, but since he had not seen her back yet and Shuni’s large frame hid it, he would not know. “Anyway, I hope you will understand and spread the word to your people. I would not wish to create strife by appearing indecent or indolent. I promise that I shall work hard.”
“All right. I’ll let it be known at a town meeting later tonight.” Kazuo nodded. “I’ll also introduce you to the village –“
“Tonight? I’m afraid that’s not good,” Shuni said suddenly, rocking back and hoping she didn’t appear rude. “I mean no offense, but I must conduct an inspection of the town’s layout and the possible routes that the marauding demons could take. I apologize profusely.” Shuni bowed again, lower this time, and was surprised to hear the old man chuckling again.
“Oh, don’t worry so much, child, the town meeting can wait a few days. What’s important for you is that you stop these accursed abominations as soon as possible so we can take in the harvest.” Kazuo stood up and nodded in polite dismissal. “I’ll show you to your room, then I am afraid I must attend to business. Your time is yours to do with as you wish, except that I make breakfast at sunrise, lunch at midday and dinner at sunset. Come along.” He beckoned for her to follow, and Shuni stood, feeling slightly bewildered at how smoothly everything had gone.
Soon enough she was alone in her room, with a small table and candle, and a bedding mat already made up on the floor for her. The house was, for a small backwater village, fairly nice. That meant all of the boards fit together properly and the roof was sound, the furniture was not elaborate but it was there, which was more than could be said for some families. Having her own nightstand was, for this place, pretty luxurious. Not that she’d be doing much in the way of reading, really… She’d place her blade on the nightstand while she slept, to keep it off the floor.
All that was left was to straighten and prepare herself until nighttime came. Shuni unstrapped the pack from the small of her back and unloaded her undergarments onto the floor, folding them neatly and after a moment’s consideration placing them underneath the blanket on the sleeping mat. She needed the things in the bottom of the pack… she fingered it, and was relieved to feel her two throwing daggers still in there. She shifted her pack to her right side, so she could reach it easily with her left hand.
Shuni then tossed her blanket back, ruefully considering that she could spend some time folding her few clothes, and… picking up one of the socks, she sighed ruefully. So she’d lied a little bit about her protected clothing. The earrings, necklace, and kimono, along with the gloves that went with the kimono, were indeed magically protected and would save every part of her body from demons. Except, the socks were… just cotton, not magical. The kimono came down to her ankles, and by making her socks seem to be part of the whole outfit, she could usually pass them off as part of the protection.
Besides, she rationalized, as she had so many times before, her feet weren’t protected. It wasn’t so big a deal, was it? Unless she got her ankles cut off, in which case she was probably not fit to be a demon hunter anyway, she ought to be totally fine. Besides, she thought with a rueful grin, if her feet got cut off maybe she could get some normal-sized feet. It was a thought she dismissed quickly; better big, real feet than some smaller fake feet.
Later that night, after a quick nap to refresh herself and partaking of a simple meal of stew, which gave her energy without putting something too heavy in her stomach, Shuni slipped out of the house and made her way quickly but calmly to the fields. Along the way she ran over the things she’d planned out in her mind during the day; for now, she simply had to keep them away from the villagers’ crops, and if possible she could chase one back into the forest to find out where this group was coming from. She wouldn’t try to clear them out, not yet; that could wait until later, when she had more information and a better plan.
The moon was three-quarters tonight, in a clear sky. Plenty of light to see by, which was good. Demons were a pain to find in the darkness, and even though Shuni stood out like a lighthouse on a foggy reef, due to the whiteness of her clothing, the advantage her clothing conferred on her more than outweighed her disadvantage in stealth. It could even lure the demons out by presenting a tempting target, one that they presumed might be an easy kill…
Shuni’s kimono suddenly glowed brightly, and a moment later there was a scream from behind her. Spinning around quickly, her hand on her sword, she turned to see what it was, all while cursing herself for being so careless. Invulnerability or no, she couldn’t let herself be caught by surprise like that too often. Nevertheless, she found herself facing a shadowy, quadrupedal being that was shaking one of its hands – paws, whatever – frantically and screaming… In the light of the moon, Shuni could see something glinting on the end of its paw. Those must be claws, but they looked misshapen… so that was it. It had tried to stab her through the back and broken its claw against the barrier. Well, that was just too bad.
Shuni’s first kill was very easy; the thing was thrashing about in pain and not paying attention to her, so it was a simple matter to sink her short blade into the thing’s back; she had aimed for the base of the neck, but it was hard to hit so precisely with the creature moving as it was. In any case, it let out another scream and hit the ground, festering with darkness blacker than night for a moment before simply fizzling away into the ground, the essence scattering into the night. Good, just how it was supposed to happen…
There was another one of them. Shuni was startled to see another head pop up, giving her a much better look at the creature in the moonlight. A tapered snout like a dog’s almost, but bigger, with beady black eyes and small horns sprouted from its temples, and its long, thin neck led to its body, hidden in the rows of crops which it was rooting through.
Shuni sprung towards the creature, flinging a throwing dagger with a smooth movement from her hip pouch. But the creature leapt out of the way, and began running towards the forest… Stopping just to retrieve her dagger, Shuni chased the creature into the forest, cursing once again her oversized feet. It seemed like they made it harder to run, although maybe it was just the fact that she didn’t run well normally anyway and she was just blaming her feet for it… Nevertheless she gave chase, following not so much the night-black creature but the disturbances it made in the grass and brush as it fled from her.
Soon it had passed the village and crashed through the underbrush of the forest. Shielding her eyes with her arms, she doggedly gave chase – and then wished she had not. The forest was even darker than the fields, being completely without light from the moon, and only the faint, faint glow of her clothing gave off any light at all, barely enough to see her surroundings, much less give chase. Only the sounds of the panicked beast fleeing from her gave her any indication of where she was going, and if she wasn’t careful she was going to run right into –
Deep under the ground, and not even really under the ground itself, but somewhere else entirely, the roots of the trees became twisted and gnarled, assuming unnatural positions that would have caused the trees to cry shrieks of agony had they possessed voices. But it was foolish to think that, the imposing figure seated on the throne of obsidian mused, because the trees had no voices. Not only that, but they were not exactly the same trees that had their trunks thrust up high into the sky to absorb the sunlight. In one of the universe’s strange dichotomies, the tree’s roots and its leaves fed off of different nutrients; the leaves underwent the process of photosynthesis and made energy from the sunlight. The roots absorbed the dark energy that seeped into the very soil, and fed on the near-limitless supply of power. It was, he reflected, such an interesting puzzle, perhaps analogous to the relationship of light and dark…
A lower-ranking demon approached his chamber just then, opening the low doors – everything was low here, as it had to be under the ground, annoying for one of the figure’s stature – and saluted. “Your Lordship Ain, we have… a troubling report from the foraging party.”
Ain’s dark eyes narrowed. He was the very stereotypical figure of a daemon, and very proud of his distinguished lineage as well as his appearance, but possessed of enough intelligence to hold back the legendary dark rages that plagued his class of demon. It was why he was now the commander of this important outpost, and why he was soon to rise again in the ranks of the demonic forces… In a way, he looked forward to this ‘troubling’ report. A report was only troubling when it presented some kind of problem not seen before, and if he could show himself adaptable to any difficult situations, it would simply be another feather in his cap.
“Continue,” he said in his surprisingly harmonic bass voice.
“Lordship, the foraging scout,” the imp who had opened the door said, ushering in the four-legged creature and shutting the door behind it. Obediently, like a trained dog, the creature knelt at Ain’s feet and waited. Since they could not speak, they were given the ability to transmit thoughts to those who could receive them, and in this way give reports on what they had seen. Ain looked intently into the creature’s beady black eyes…
A flickering scene, colored by emotion, appeared in his head, feeling lazy contentment as the creature and its companion made their way to the fields, expecting another easy raid, and then, a figure that stood out… A human female, at first glance – no, it must be a human male with long hair. At that size… anyway, this foolish human wore pure white clothing, making he or she – Ain thought he saw the curvature of human mammary glands at one point – an inviting target. This creature’s companion had decided to rid their assigned hunting grounds of any possible interference, and had gone straight for a claw to the back…
Ain frowned. The human’s clothing had shone with a brilliant light for a second, deflecting the attack and… yes, breaking the razor-sharp claw of the first foraging creature. It had been an easy task for the female – it was a female, despite the size – to slay it, and this creature, feeling a sudden sense of panic, had fled into the forest. The girl had given chase, but had at one point tripped on a root and fallen unconscious on the forest floor…
“Come,” Ain said suddenly, dismissing the creature with a nod as he pointed to the lieutenant who had brought him the report. “If she’s still there, I want to take a look at her myself. Maybe we can find out more about this mysterious woman and her strange power…” The imp certainly had no desire to approach a human who had mysteriously and effortlessly deflected a fatal attack, but Ain’s orders were absolute, and so he followed.
Ain and the imp materialized with a swirl of wind a short distance away from where the creature’s memory indicated the girl had tripped. Sure enough, she was still there, and as Ain approached he heard her breathing, but she didn’t move. Good, just knocked out then, enough time for him to examine her. He knelt over her, not making contact. Indeed, she was female, but if he remembered correctly, very, very large for a human female. Almost as big as a daemon female. Ain grinned at the thought.
“Lordship… look. It’s odd, her clothing is unstained, but she fell into the dirt. There are the marks in the ground where she fell.” The imp pointed to the furrows that Shuni had made falling to the ground, and Ain noticed he was right; the kimono was completely unsoiled. How was that possible? Perhaps… Ain laid a finger on the silken material experimentally…
“Aaagh!” Jerking his finger back with a cry of surprise and pain, Ain watched as the kimono’s glow faded away again. His fingertip was slightly burned. “She has some kind of protection against our kind… we can’t touch that clothing,” he mused aloud, drawing a black-bladed dagger from his waist sheath and trying to plunge it into her back. The blade hissed and bubbled, and began disintegrating just above the fabric of the kimono… Ain held it there until the blade had melted away to the hilt, before tossing the hilt into the forest. “And protection against the weapons we wield… is she invulnerable to us?”
“It would ap-appear so,” the imp said, stuttering a little bit now that he was seeing this massive, invulnerable human right before his eyes. “Wha-what will we do, Lord Ain?”
“We won’t panic,” he said firmly. “There is no such thing as total invulnerability, there has to be a weak spot.” Drawing another dagger, he used its tip to test other possible areas of attack. Hands, no… neck, no, head, no… those earrings and necklace extended the protective field. He sheathed the dagger, even though it would need reforging to sharpen its tip. “Hmmm…”
“Wait… Your Lordship, look. Her footwear; it’s dirty, and ripped,” the imp pointed out, indicating Shuni’s cotton socks. “Like her clothing should be… do you think that…?”
“Yes.” Ain laid a fingertip on the cotton socks, jerking it back quickly in case it was a ruse. Nothing. He laid his finger lightly on her heel, then pressed against it… still nothing. “All right, we’ve found something. The protection does not extend to her feet.”
“I’ll cut them off then,” the imp offered. “She won’t be able to walk or give chase –“
“No.” Ain cut him off firmly. “Humans can do amazing things even when supposedly crippled. If we waste her only potential weak point and allow her to replace it with perhaps a magical replacement that feels no pain, we shall be truly doomed. Let us see what we can do.” Placing a claw delicately into the small tear in Shuni’s left sock, he slit it expertly open, peeling it aside to reveal half of her foot; laying facedown as she was, with her toes on the ground, her instep to heel were exposed. He did the same thing with the right sock, before slitting downwards on both so that her bare feet were exposed to the air.
“Hmm… Lord Ain, may I propose something?” the imp queried. “Allow me to summon a human expert to help you analyze your possible courses of action.”
Ain made a face. ‘Human expert’… pah! What he meant was an incubus, a class of demon Ain had never much cared for. They were smug, cocky bastards, full of their own importance to penetrate and lift information from human strongholds. They were useful as spies, yes, and they were the most knowledgeable about the strange reactions of the human body… “Very well.” If it gave him a way around this girl’s invulnerability, he’d suffer their presence as long as need be.
“At once, Your Lordship.” And the imp hurried away, disappearing; he was probably glad to be away from the girl… Ain returned his attention to the girl’s bare feet, the key to the mystery, although what key to which door he had no idea, and hopefully he could get a proverbial locksmith to tell him in which direction to look… Her feet were quite large, Ain noticed. Perhaps that had something to do with it? They were definitely not feet used to a lot of walking, he realized with a smirk; far too soft for that.
“Your Lordship Ain,” a voice called quietly, fairly oozing a kind of untrustworthy slickness to Ain’s ears. He turned to see an incubus appear, kneeling and bowing his head in a human fashion. Incubi appeared to be rather much like humans, even in their demon form; their skin was grey, yes, and they had fangs, horns and black leathery wings, as well as clawed instead of human feet, but their basic form was human. This one had tousled black hair from which his short horns poked up through.
“Yes,” he acknowledged gruffly. “I sent for you, I hope your purported expertise on the human form will be able to answer my question.” Ain moved aside. “For the purposes of this examination, consider every part of her body physically untouchable except for her feet. Her body is protected by clothing which we cannot remove, nor strike with weapons; nor will you consider maiming or injuring her feet. Understood?”
“With crystal clarity, Your Lordship,” the incubus said, standing up and bowing more deeply, his wings folding around himself in a show of respect. Ain grunted acknowledgement and made room for the incubus. “Considering how to exploit the feet, is it. Hmmm… well, Your Lordship, the feet of humans contain perhaps the densest concentration of nerve endings found in any part of their body. Therefore the feet, while it may seem odd, are a good place to start if one wishes to employ some sort of torture –“
“No torture!” Ain growled. “Didn’t I just say you are not to consider maiming her?”
“Peace, Your Lordship!” the incubus said hastily, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “If I may, not all torture must end in maiming. Employing such strategies as slapping the feet with leather straps or subjecting them to heat or cold can produce rather profound persuasive effects. Or even non-painful forms of torture. I know of a few.”
“Tell me these non-painful tortures,” Ain said with narrowed eyes. “We’ll need something that can be used to disable her on the spot or used in a long-term way against her, not something that requires a lot of setting up or luck.”
“Well, once I saw a lady discipline a maid who had been disobedient by placing some ground-up plant in her stockings and making her wear them for her chores that day. She was pleading and moving in such a way that I thought it must be causing her terrible pain, but later that night, I saw not a harmful mark on her soles, and the next day, having learned her lesson, she suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Experimenting with this ground-up plant on another compliant maid, I discovered that it caused her soles to itch.”
“To itch.” Ain’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re saying this is a torture?”
“Possibly; if you are unable to relieve a minor irritant, Milord, it can grow upon your mind until it is maddening.” The incubus nodded. “Another, odd form of this non-painful torture is called tickling. I admit that I found this odd myself, but… it causes the subject to laugh uncontrollably, as well as immediately attempt to make the sensation stop. Sometimes this reflex to pull away overtakes much more important tasks and can cause humans to lose concentration as well as undertake odd changes of mood one might think totally inappropriate.”
“Laugh uncontrollably.” Ain nodded at this. “Do you need any ground-up plants for this?”
“No, Milord. You could do it yourself, it requires no special equipment at its base, although it can help restrain the subject.” The incubus winked and flexed his fingers quickly. “Unfortunately the trait is not present in all humans, but we can do nothing but try.” He ran a finger delicately along Shuni’s sole, resulting in a muffled giggle and a bit of a shift in her body before she settled down again.
“She did laugh, and while unconscious too?” Ain pondered this. “Are you telling me she will lose the ability to do whatever it is she is doing and start laughing if you… do this tickling?”
“Possibly,” the incubus cautioned. “This trait can vary greatly. I will have to perform a more detailed test to see how well she reacts to it. In the meantime, I would ask that you send someone to find a supply of a certain kind of plant for me to grind…” He gave a description of the plant, his hand resting on Shuni’s heel. “With your permission, I will continue –“
“Shh!” Ain hushed the incubus, listening to the girl’s breathing. “I think she’s starting to come around… we can’t afford to let her know of our presence. You have permission to conduct these experiments, but do it later! And make sure you remain hidden, we cannot tip our hand just yet.” Nodding once, looking at the stirring girl, the incubus stood and went with Ain a short distance away, where they both disappeared.
“Unghhh… damn it.” Shuni woke up a minute later, rubbing her head. She’d gotten quite a bump, but it was more disorientation than being clobbered that had caused her to lose consciousness. Her kimono was fine, thank goodness, although she hadn’t expected any problems. But… “Oh, no, my socks…” They were almost totally ruined, sliced open from heel to toes on both feet. “I only have three more pairs… I hope this isn’t a bad sign. Oh well… at least I got something done tonight.” Dusting herself off, Shuni made her way back to the village.
Kazuo was already asleep by the time she got back, so Shuni simply went into her room quietly, peeled off her ruined socks and set them aside to dispose of later, and snuggled under her sleeping mat, placing her throwing daggers and short sword on the nightstand for use tomorrow. Shuni was tired from running, and the dull ache from her head had subsided a bit, so she found no difficulty in going to sleep, dropping off into a deep, deep slumber…
The door to her room slid open, and closed again. Grinning, the incubus knelt by her head, whispering softly… “Let’s give you a nice dream…”
The village was nothing more than a normal, sleepy, out-of-the-way backwater village of little to no importance to the rest of the world, but always a haven to those who traveled. It was just past mid-morning in the village, but for them that meant the sun was just now peeking over the tops of the trees to the east, for they were so tall that it took the sun several hours past sunrise to cast its light directly on the village. The forest stretched almost as far as the eye could see to the east and south. To the north was a forbidding mountain range, and the east was taken up with a road to the nearest city with the village’s farms surrounding it.
The village was always slightly chilly because it took a few hours longer for sunlight to warm the streets, which was why the more productive farms were located some distance away from the village; the sun’s light fell on them first, thus allowing the plants to grow better. This morning was in the middle of the growing season, so the villagers were hard at work tending their fields. It had been a good year so far, no bad omens or anything of the sort, a nice amount of rain, and the crops seemed to be burgeoning. They were probably sufficient to cover a year or two’s mediocre harvest or lessen the impact of a total crop failure.
It wasn’t all fun and games having excellent crops, however. The forest that shaded the village was notorious as a home of demons, who made their raids on villages for miles around using that forest as a base. The village that was so near had remained untouched for quite a while, surprisingly. When it had first been established, it was built as a citadel in which demon hunters were based to hunt down the demons that lived in the forest. In response, the demons had simply stopped attacking the village, and spread out more in order to reach less-protected areas. Slowly, the fortress village had lost its importance, until it was nothing more than just a regular village.
However, the demons’ habits died hard, and they stayed dispersed throughout the forest, making the demon hunter versus demon match-up a one-on-one affair instead of large armies attacking one another. Out of respect, or fear, or simple lazy habit (no one knew why) they had largely left the village alone even after it was no longer fortified. Or rather, they had left it alone, until now. The crops had been so good this year, and even the years before that, that now the demons began to raid the farms for food. In response, the village had requested that a demon hunter be dispatched to the town to fight off the raiding demons.
This village, like many small villages, was a close-knit community, and wasn’t unfriendly, but to use the cliché everyone knew everyone else. So when the farmers beheld a veritable Amazon walking down their path that mid-morning, they knew she wasn’t a girl from the village. Fortunately, they had been told of the demon hunter’s impending arrival, and didn’t make trouble for her, although more than a few stared.
Shuni Taochi sighed, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her and concentrated on only one step at a time. She had resigned herself to the stares whenever she went someplace where no one knew her, because whether she liked it or not she stuck out almost everywhere. Idly as she walked, Shuni let her gaze sweep up and over the farmers tilling the fields to either side of the path, and noticed more than a few farmers hurriedly bending over their hoes and working furiously at the earth as her gaze swept over them.
One such farmer, though, once Shuni’s gaze had passed, looked up again, and cast his eye over the girl as she passed by, feeling a slight bit awkward to have a woman tower over him by nearly half a foot. He was not small, being average for a male at about five foot ten, but his head came up to her shoulder… although he thought about that for a moment and nodded approval to himself; a big girl like her, not just tall and lanky but filling out her frame, could very likely crush those accursed demons with her bare hands. She wouldn’t; a short sword was thrust into a sheath that was held in place by the sash around her waist.
Sash around her waist? Doing a double-take, the farmer realized this huge woman was wearing a kimono… and a pretty fancy kimono at that, made of light, breezy white silk that was almost indecent to wear in public… although, not that he’d admit to looking, but underneath she definitely wore more substantial clothing. As she strode by he caught a glimmer of pearly white earrings and a necklace as well… She was dressed more like some noble lady going to a social gathering than a demon hunter. About the only thing that was designed for utility were the plain white cotton socks and wooden walking sandals she wore. Looking briefly at her face before she walked by, he caught a glimpse of light hazel eyes, going nicely with the somewhat unruly shoulder-length brown hair, tied loosely in the back with a plain cord to keep it from getting in her eyes. So she wasn’t all fancy dress… in fact, aside from the kimono, she dressed rather plainly.
Shuni shook her head and sighed again, knowing almost by heart what was going through the minds of the farmers as she finally passed the fields and made it into the village proper, where she towered head and shoulders over all the other women in there. Here, the stares were probably accompanied by different thoughts; for the men, it was always Whoa, she’s huge and Why is she wearing a kimono of all things? With women, it was always at first a dirty glare for her nice – but not perfect – physical form, usually concerning her chest, and…
Sighing, Shuni tried to put her head down and hurry onward to the mayor’s house. The stares of some women had gone downwards, and she could hear the snickering. Of the two things Shuni wished she could magically fix about herself, one was the fact that she still carried baby fat around her waist and thighs a little bit, and the second was her feet. Not that they were ugly or rough or anything – if anything they were silken and smooth – but just that they were so… big. Not grotesquely big, not comically big, but pretty much on the high end of normal. Her cotton socks were custom-made, and she only had four pairs with her, all of which she took meticulous care of. If she ran out, she’d have to go barefoot until new ones were made, since almost no one sold socks in her size.
Fortunately her thoughts occupied her enough to distract her from the tittering until she had made it to the mayor’s house, and she slid aside the paper door, hurriedly shutting it and breathing a sigh of relief now that she was out of sight of everyone else. And she was going to have to be living in this village for some time, too. She hoped that the people would get past her odd physical appearance, else… well, that didn’t bear thinking about. Righting herself, she took a deep breath and cracked her neck before proceeding to the door to the next room and clearing her throat before asking:
“Excuse me, is the village’s leader in? I’m Shuni Taochi, the demon hunter dispatched to deal with the recent demon attacks.” Shuni was expecting a secretary or someone else who handled the mayor’s affairs to answer, but a stooped, graying, yet smiling old man slid the door aside, speaking in a raspy but not unkind voice.
“Ahh, come in, come in, Shuni did you say your name was? I’m the leader of this village, my name is Kazuo Hontsu. Please, come in,” he said kindly, indicating that Shuni take a place at the table and, for a wonder, not saying a word or giving an odd look or even recoiling upon seeing here. “I live alone, you see, my wife passed away fifteen years ago or so, and I guess I’m just waiting for my time to come.” He chuckled dryly, pouring a cup of tea and setting it in front of Shuni’s place at the table before taking his own place and lifting his own cup of tea to his lips.
“She passed away? My deepest sympathies,” Shuni said, remembering her manners and taking a seat on her knees on the cushion set up across from Kazuo. She said nothing more than that, as it seemed that this old man had accepted his wife’s death and going into it in too much detail might reopen old wounds. In that case, straight to business then. Setting down her tea after taking a few polite sips, she inquired; “I understand that I am to be staying in the village until you have deemed the problem solved. Where will my lodgings be, and will room and board be included in my salary or will there be a deduction?”
“You’re quite direct, my young demon hunter.” Kazuo chuckled again. “Very well, I admire that. No dancing around the issue with you, eh? You’ll be staying with me, in this house. Since my wife’s death I dismissed our servant and live alone, so I have two spare rooms. Don’t worry, you can use the servant’s room, no need to share your bedding quarters with a dirty old man like myself, and no need to pay for a room I’m not using anyway.”
Shuni couldn’t help but smile. This old man seemed pretty harmless, and was benevolent in his old age, staying here wouldn’t be a problem at all. “I’m very grateful for that.” She bowed politely to him while remaining seated. “I’m sure that we can work out any problems that may arise during my stay, so I think I will enjoy staying here for the duration of my contract.”
“Hmm, hmm…” Kazuo nodded as he sipped more of his tea. “Shuni, I have just one question for you… I see you carrying no pack, no personal effects of any kind… I do hate to call attention to it in such a crude manner, but a girl so big as yourself, no tailor will have clothes ready-made in your size, and a new set of clothing will take quite some time to make, as well as cost you a small fortune… I’m afraid I won’t be able to cover that under your living expenses, especially with your… tastes…” he ended, mumbling and coughing at the end.
Shuni actually smiled. For once, she could actually explain why she was wearing what she did without seeming pretentious. “This kimono is actually a family heirloom,” she said, with no small amount of pride in her voice. “I know it looks like it has no place on a battlefield or even sometimes in polite company, but for the latter I can assure you that I am quite decent, it is simply the way the fabric is made. And as for it being the regalia of a demon hunter… this kimono, as well as the earrings and necklace I wear, along with the socks, are enchanted with holy magic that makes me immune to demonkind. They cannot touch me, nor strike me with a weapon. I am essentially invincible to anything they may try.”
“Ahh!” Kazuo brightened up considerably when Shuni said that. “I was in truth wondering why they had sent someone so young to a potentially troublesome area, but I understand why now. If you cannot be hurt by them then we have nothing to fear!”
“Yes, and for reasons of safety I choose to wear this attire at all times,” Shuni replied. “Since it is magical, it also…” she giggled slightly. “It also will not get soiled, so I need not wash it.” All she needed to change were her undergarments, but she wasn’t going to say that. In truth she did carry a small-sized back on the small of her back with said undergarments in it, but since he had not seen her back yet and Shuni’s large frame hid it, he would not know. “Anyway, I hope you will understand and spread the word to your people. I would not wish to create strife by appearing indecent or indolent. I promise that I shall work hard.”
“All right. I’ll let it be known at a town meeting later tonight.” Kazuo nodded. “I’ll also introduce you to the village –“
“Tonight? I’m afraid that’s not good,” Shuni said suddenly, rocking back and hoping she didn’t appear rude. “I mean no offense, but I must conduct an inspection of the town’s layout and the possible routes that the marauding demons could take. I apologize profusely.” Shuni bowed again, lower this time, and was surprised to hear the old man chuckling again.
“Oh, don’t worry so much, child, the town meeting can wait a few days. What’s important for you is that you stop these accursed abominations as soon as possible so we can take in the harvest.” Kazuo stood up and nodded in polite dismissal. “I’ll show you to your room, then I am afraid I must attend to business. Your time is yours to do with as you wish, except that I make breakfast at sunrise, lunch at midday and dinner at sunset. Come along.” He beckoned for her to follow, and Shuni stood, feeling slightly bewildered at how smoothly everything had gone.
Soon enough she was alone in her room, with a small table and candle, and a bedding mat already made up on the floor for her. The house was, for a small backwater village, fairly nice. That meant all of the boards fit together properly and the roof was sound, the furniture was not elaborate but it was there, which was more than could be said for some families. Having her own nightstand was, for this place, pretty luxurious. Not that she’d be doing much in the way of reading, really… She’d place her blade on the nightstand while she slept, to keep it off the floor.
All that was left was to straighten and prepare herself until nighttime came. Shuni unstrapped the pack from the small of her back and unloaded her undergarments onto the floor, folding them neatly and after a moment’s consideration placing them underneath the blanket on the sleeping mat. She needed the things in the bottom of the pack… she fingered it, and was relieved to feel her two throwing daggers still in there. She shifted her pack to her right side, so she could reach it easily with her left hand.
Shuni then tossed her blanket back, ruefully considering that she could spend some time folding her few clothes, and… picking up one of the socks, she sighed ruefully. So she’d lied a little bit about her protected clothing. The earrings, necklace, and kimono, along with the gloves that went with the kimono, were indeed magically protected and would save every part of her body from demons. Except, the socks were… just cotton, not magical. The kimono came down to her ankles, and by making her socks seem to be part of the whole outfit, she could usually pass them off as part of the protection.
Besides, she rationalized, as she had so many times before, her feet weren’t protected. It wasn’t so big a deal, was it? Unless she got her ankles cut off, in which case she was probably not fit to be a demon hunter anyway, she ought to be totally fine. Besides, she thought with a rueful grin, if her feet got cut off maybe she could get some normal-sized feet. It was a thought she dismissed quickly; better big, real feet than some smaller fake feet.
Later that night, after a quick nap to refresh herself and partaking of a simple meal of stew, which gave her energy without putting something too heavy in her stomach, Shuni slipped out of the house and made her way quickly but calmly to the fields. Along the way she ran over the things she’d planned out in her mind during the day; for now, she simply had to keep them away from the villagers’ crops, and if possible she could chase one back into the forest to find out where this group was coming from. She wouldn’t try to clear them out, not yet; that could wait until later, when she had more information and a better plan.
The moon was three-quarters tonight, in a clear sky. Plenty of light to see by, which was good. Demons were a pain to find in the darkness, and even though Shuni stood out like a lighthouse on a foggy reef, due to the whiteness of her clothing, the advantage her clothing conferred on her more than outweighed her disadvantage in stealth. It could even lure the demons out by presenting a tempting target, one that they presumed might be an easy kill…
Shuni’s kimono suddenly glowed brightly, and a moment later there was a scream from behind her. Spinning around quickly, her hand on her sword, she turned to see what it was, all while cursing herself for being so careless. Invulnerability or no, she couldn’t let herself be caught by surprise like that too often. Nevertheless, she found herself facing a shadowy, quadrupedal being that was shaking one of its hands – paws, whatever – frantically and screaming… In the light of the moon, Shuni could see something glinting on the end of its paw. Those must be claws, but they looked misshapen… so that was it. It had tried to stab her through the back and broken its claw against the barrier. Well, that was just too bad.
Shuni’s first kill was very easy; the thing was thrashing about in pain and not paying attention to her, so it was a simple matter to sink her short blade into the thing’s back; she had aimed for the base of the neck, but it was hard to hit so precisely with the creature moving as it was. In any case, it let out another scream and hit the ground, festering with darkness blacker than night for a moment before simply fizzling away into the ground, the essence scattering into the night. Good, just how it was supposed to happen…
There was another one of them. Shuni was startled to see another head pop up, giving her a much better look at the creature in the moonlight. A tapered snout like a dog’s almost, but bigger, with beady black eyes and small horns sprouted from its temples, and its long, thin neck led to its body, hidden in the rows of crops which it was rooting through.
Shuni sprung towards the creature, flinging a throwing dagger with a smooth movement from her hip pouch. But the creature leapt out of the way, and began running towards the forest… Stopping just to retrieve her dagger, Shuni chased the creature into the forest, cursing once again her oversized feet. It seemed like they made it harder to run, although maybe it was just the fact that she didn’t run well normally anyway and she was just blaming her feet for it… Nevertheless she gave chase, following not so much the night-black creature but the disturbances it made in the grass and brush as it fled from her.
Soon it had passed the village and crashed through the underbrush of the forest. Shielding her eyes with her arms, she doggedly gave chase – and then wished she had not. The forest was even darker than the fields, being completely without light from the moon, and only the faint, faint glow of her clothing gave off any light at all, barely enough to see her surroundings, much less give chase. Only the sounds of the panicked beast fleeing from her gave her any indication of where she was going, and if she wasn’t careful she was going to run right into –
Deep under the ground, and not even really under the ground itself, but somewhere else entirely, the roots of the trees became twisted and gnarled, assuming unnatural positions that would have caused the trees to cry shrieks of agony had they possessed voices. But it was foolish to think that, the imposing figure seated on the throne of obsidian mused, because the trees had no voices. Not only that, but they were not exactly the same trees that had their trunks thrust up high into the sky to absorb the sunlight. In one of the universe’s strange dichotomies, the tree’s roots and its leaves fed off of different nutrients; the leaves underwent the process of photosynthesis and made energy from the sunlight. The roots absorbed the dark energy that seeped into the very soil, and fed on the near-limitless supply of power. It was, he reflected, such an interesting puzzle, perhaps analogous to the relationship of light and dark…
A lower-ranking demon approached his chamber just then, opening the low doors – everything was low here, as it had to be under the ground, annoying for one of the figure’s stature – and saluted. “Your Lordship Ain, we have… a troubling report from the foraging party.”
Ain’s dark eyes narrowed. He was the very stereotypical figure of a daemon, and very proud of his distinguished lineage as well as his appearance, but possessed of enough intelligence to hold back the legendary dark rages that plagued his class of demon. It was why he was now the commander of this important outpost, and why he was soon to rise again in the ranks of the demonic forces… In a way, he looked forward to this ‘troubling’ report. A report was only troubling when it presented some kind of problem not seen before, and if he could show himself adaptable to any difficult situations, it would simply be another feather in his cap.
“Continue,” he said in his surprisingly harmonic bass voice.
“Lordship, the foraging scout,” the imp who had opened the door said, ushering in the four-legged creature and shutting the door behind it. Obediently, like a trained dog, the creature knelt at Ain’s feet and waited. Since they could not speak, they were given the ability to transmit thoughts to those who could receive them, and in this way give reports on what they had seen. Ain looked intently into the creature’s beady black eyes…
A flickering scene, colored by emotion, appeared in his head, feeling lazy contentment as the creature and its companion made their way to the fields, expecting another easy raid, and then, a figure that stood out… A human female, at first glance – no, it must be a human male with long hair. At that size… anyway, this foolish human wore pure white clothing, making he or she – Ain thought he saw the curvature of human mammary glands at one point – an inviting target. This creature’s companion had decided to rid their assigned hunting grounds of any possible interference, and had gone straight for a claw to the back…
Ain frowned. The human’s clothing had shone with a brilliant light for a second, deflecting the attack and… yes, breaking the razor-sharp claw of the first foraging creature. It had been an easy task for the female – it was a female, despite the size – to slay it, and this creature, feeling a sudden sense of panic, had fled into the forest. The girl had given chase, but had at one point tripped on a root and fallen unconscious on the forest floor…
“Come,” Ain said suddenly, dismissing the creature with a nod as he pointed to the lieutenant who had brought him the report. “If she’s still there, I want to take a look at her myself. Maybe we can find out more about this mysterious woman and her strange power…” The imp certainly had no desire to approach a human who had mysteriously and effortlessly deflected a fatal attack, but Ain’s orders were absolute, and so he followed.
Ain and the imp materialized with a swirl of wind a short distance away from where the creature’s memory indicated the girl had tripped. Sure enough, she was still there, and as Ain approached he heard her breathing, but she didn’t move. Good, just knocked out then, enough time for him to examine her. He knelt over her, not making contact. Indeed, she was female, but if he remembered correctly, very, very large for a human female. Almost as big as a daemon female. Ain grinned at the thought.
“Lordship… look. It’s odd, her clothing is unstained, but she fell into the dirt. There are the marks in the ground where she fell.” The imp pointed to the furrows that Shuni had made falling to the ground, and Ain noticed he was right; the kimono was completely unsoiled. How was that possible? Perhaps… Ain laid a finger on the silken material experimentally…
“Aaagh!” Jerking his finger back with a cry of surprise and pain, Ain watched as the kimono’s glow faded away again. His fingertip was slightly burned. “She has some kind of protection against our kind… we can’t touch that clothing,” he mused aloud, drawing a black-bladed dagger from his waist sheath and trying to plunge it into her back. The blade hissed and bubbled, and began disintegrating just above the fabric of the kimono… Ain held it there until the blade had melted away to the hilt, before tossing the hilt into the forest. “And protection against the weapons we wield… is she invulnerable to us?”
“It would ap-appear so,” the imp said, stuttering a little bit now that he was seeing this massive, invulnerable human right before his eyes. “Wha-what will we do, Lord Ain?”
“We won’t panic,” he said firmly. “There is no such thing as total invulnerability, there has to be a weak spot.” Drawing another dagger, he used its tip to test other possible areas of attack. Hands, no… neck, no, head, no… those earrings and necklace extended the protective field. He sheathed the dagger, even though it would need reforging to sharpen its tip. “Hmmm…”
“Wait… Your Lordship, look. Her footwear; it’s dirty, and ripped,” the imp pointed out, indicating Shuni’s cotton socks. “Like her clothing should be… do you think that…?”
“Yes.” Ain laid a fingertip on the cotton socks, jerking it back quickly in case it was a ruse. Nothing. He laid his finger lightly on her heel, then pressed against it… still nothing. “All right, we’ve found something. The protection does not extend to her feet.”
“I’ll cut them off then,” the imp offered. “She won’t be able to walk or give chase –“
“No.” Ain cut him off firmly. “Humans can do amazing things even when supposedly crippled. If we waste her only potential weak point and allow her to replace it with perhaps a magical replacement that feels no pain, we shall be truly doomed. Let us see what we can do.” Placing a claw delicately into the small tear in Shuni’s left sock, he slit it expertly open, peeling it aside to reveal half of her foot; laying facedown as she was, with her toes on the ground, her instep to heel were exposed. He did the same thing with the right sock, before slitting downwards on both so that her bare feet were exposed to the air.
“Hmm… Lord Ain, may I propose something?” the imp queried. “Allow me to summon a human expert to help you analyze your possible courses of action.”
Ain made a face. ‘Human expert’… pah! What he meant was an incubus, a class of demon Ain had never much cared for. They were smug, cocky bastards, full of their own importance to penetrate and lift information from human strongholds. They were useful as spies, yes, and they were the most knowledgeable about the strange reactions of the human body… “Very well.” If it gave him a way around this girl’s invulnerability, he’d suffer their presence as long as need be.
“At once, Your Lordship.” And the imp hurried away, disappearing; he was probably glad to be away from the girl… Ain returned his attention to the girl’s bare feet, the key to the mystery, although what key to which door he had no idea, and hopefully he could get a proverbial locksmith to tell him in which direction to look… Her feet were quite large, Ain noticed. Perhaps that had something to do with it? They were definitely not feet used to a lot of walking, he realized with a smirk; far too soft for that.
“Your Lordship Ain,” a voice called quietly, fairly oozing a kind of untrustworthy slickness to Ain’s ears. He turned to see an incubus appear, kneeling and bowing his head in a human fashion. Incubi appeared to be rather much like humans, even in their demon form; their skin was grey, yes, and they had fangs, horns and black leathery wings, as well as clawed instead of human feet, but their basic form was human. This one had tousled black hair from which his short horns poked up through.
“Yes,” he acknowledged gruffly. “I sent for you, I hope your purported expertise on the human form will be able to answer my question.” Ain moved aside. “For the purposes of this examination, consider every part of her body physically untouchable except for her feet. Her body is protected by clothing which we cannot remove, nor strike with weapons; nor will you consider maiming or injuring her feet. Understood?”
“With crystal clarity, Your Lordship,” the incubus said, standing up and bowing more deeply, his wings folding around himself in a show of respect. Ain grunted acknowledgement and made room for the incubus. “Considering how to exploit the feet, is it. Hmmm… well, Your Lordship, the feet of humans contain perhaps the densest concentration of nerve endings found in any part of their body. Therefore the feet, while it may seem odd, are a good place to start if one wishes to employ some sort of torture –“
“No torture!” Ain growled. “Didn’t I just say you are not to consider maiming her?”
“Peace, Your Lordship!” the incubus said hastily, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “If I may, not all torture must end in maiming. Employing such strategies as slapping the feet with leather straps or subjecting them to heat or cold can produce rather profound persuasive effects. Or even non-painful forms of torture. I know of a few.”
“Tell me these non-painful tortures,” Ain said with narrowed eyes. “We’ll need something that can be used to disable her on the spot or used in a long-term way against her, not something that requires a lot of setting up or luck.”
“Well, once I saw a lady discipline a maid who had been disobedient by placing some ground-up plant in her stockings and making her wear them for her chores that day. She was pleading and moving in such a way that I thought it must be causing her terrible pain, but later that night, I saw not a harmful mark on her soles, and the next day, having learned her lesson, she suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Experimenting with this ground-up plant on another compliant maid, I discovered that it caused her soles to itch.”
“To itch.” Ain’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re saying this is a torture?”
“Possibly; if you are unable to relieve a minor irritant, Milord, it can grow upon your mind until it is maddening.” The incubus nodded. “Another, odd form of this non-painful torture is called tickling. I admit that I found this odd myself, but… it causes the subject to laugh uncontrollably, as well as immediately attempt to make the sensation stop. Sometimes this reflex to pull away overtakes much more important tasks and can cause humans to lose concentration as well as undertake odd changes of mood one might think totally inappropriate.”
“Laugh uncontrollably.” Ain nodded at this. “Do you need any ground-up plants for this?”
“No, Milord. You could do it yourself, it requires no special equipment at its base, although it can help restrain the subject.” The incubus winked and flexed his fingers quickly. “Unfortunately the trait is not present in all humans, but we can do nothing but try.” He ran a finger delicately along Shuni’s sole, resulting in a muffled giggle and a bit of a shift in her body before she settled down again.
“She did laugh, and while unconscious too?” Ain pondered this. “Are you telling me she will lose the ability to do whatever it is she is doing and start laughing if you… do this tickling?”
“Possibly,” the incubus cautioned. “This trait can vary greatly. I will have to perform a more detailed test to see how well she reacts to it. In the meantime, I would ask that you send someone to find a supply of a certain kind of plant for me to grind…” He gave a description of the plant, his hand resting on Shuni’s heel. “With your permission, I will continue –“
“Shh!” Ain hushed the incubus, listening to the girl’s breathing. “I think she’s starting to come around… we can’t afford to let her know of our presence. You have permission to conduct these experiments, but do it later! And make sure you remain hidden, we cannot tip our hand just yet.” Nodding once, looking at the stirring girl, the incubus stood and went with Ain a short distance away, where they both disappeared.
“Unghhh… damn it.” Shuni woke up a minute later, rubbing her head. She’d gotten quite a bump, but it was more disorientation than being clobbered that had caused her to lose consciousness. Her kimono was fine, thank goodness, although she hadn’t expected any problems. But… “Oh, no, my socks…” They were almost totally ruined, sliced open from heel to toes on both feet. “I only have three more pairs… I hope this isn’t a bad sign. Oh well… at least I got something done tonight.” Dusting herself off, Shuni made her way back to the village.
Kazuo was already asleep by the time she got back, so Shuni simply went into her room quietly, peeled off her ruined socks and set them aside to dispose of later, and snuggled under her sleeping mat, placing her throwing daggers and short sword on the nightstand for use tomorrow. Shuni was tired from running, and the dull ache from her head had subsided a bit, so she found no difficulty in going to sleep, dropping off into a deep, deep slumber…
The door to her room slid open, and closed again. Grinning, the incubus knelt by her head, whispering softly… “Let’s give you a nice dream…”
