Jaynin
4th Level Red Feather
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Demon Hunter Shuni, Episode 5: Beyond a Shadow
Underground there are no windows, no portals to the outside world to let in light. Humans experience total darkness only rarely, such as when hiding inside a closet or other small, confined area. But most of the time this darkness is self-inflicted, and with that the knowledge that one can make the light return at any time by simply turning an knob and pushing the door open. Even the greatest of natural darkness, the night, is not truly total darkness, because the light of the moon allows humans to see vague shapes or in some way allow them to be guided by their eyes.
Given this state of affairs, when total darkness is inflicted upon a human, it can cause very many emotions, usually among them a sense of panic and detachment, a sense that nothing around oneself is real. Because humans rely on their eyes as a chief source of information about their environment, it is only natural to begin questioning the reality of a situation when there is no visual feedback at all. Of course, if one were to be floating in a literal sea of darkness, then the disorientation would be complete. In the case of this particular human, metal shackles and a cool stone floor provided him a link with reality, told him that he was somewhere, still existing, just without light to confirm that fact.
Why he was here, he had no idea. The young man had lived a rather carefree existence before this time, and had one day found himself simply snatched out of a field in the blink of an eye. He assumed that a few days had passed, for he had slept a number of times, but he had no real way of knowing how long it had been since his capture. At first he had screamed, screamed his lungs raw, then as it became painful to do so he simply whimpered, the period of initial shock lasting until he collapsed from weariness. The chain that held him did seem to be rather long, allowing him to pace his room to a degree, and letting him reach the thin but welcome bedding mat in one corner of the room.
After awakening, his senses somewhat back in order and beginning to adapt to the loss of sight, the young man had searched his confinement a little more thoroughly, but this search had revealed nothing that he had not noticed before. And so he had wandered around a bit, eaten the meal that he had nearly knocked over while pacing – it must have been brought in while he was asleep, and tasted of thin gruel. Still, it was food, and it quieted his stomach enough to allow sleep.
The light which entered the cell was dim, but its appearance was sudden and seemed like the sun to someone who had been in total darkness for a long period of time. There was a muttered word, and the light suddenly flared up, causing the man to cry out and slam his eyes shut, protecting himself from the light. Disoriented and rather weak as he was – this man had never been especially strong before now – he did little to resist as he was unhooked from the chain and marched along a hallway. His eyes still would not open, and so his steps were stumbling and faltering, but finally he was ushered into another room, and he was pushed against the wall, so that his back was against it and he was standing upright.
This time his wrists were shackled directly to the wall, slightly above and to either side of his head, arms outstretched. Whatever it was that produced the blinding light was left in the room, and there was the sound of a door closing quickly, then a minute later, opening and closing again slowly. Cursing his eyes, the young man tried to open his eyes and just get a glimpse of whoever had presumably just come into the room, but it proved a futile effort. He was forced to squint at the floor, but he did manage to catch a glimpse of a pair of legs…
“You’ll be safe here, my love…” Shockingly, it was a human voice. Whose it was, he had no idea – female, but that was all he could make out. My love? Why had she said that? He had no lovers… no one who he might even suspect of harboring feelings for him… was this just a trick? Belatedly he remembered that demons, as demons he suspected his captors to be, could use illusions to trick even the most steadfast mind. His mind, unfortunately, was not as steadfast as it could have been. “No, I am human…” How had she known what he was thinking? It had to be a demon…
He felt a soft, warm hand caress his cheek. It definitely felt human… but there was no way a human would be down here. Was there? “I’m sorry you had to go through that, my beloved… things will be better now, you won’t have to stay in that dark cell anymore.” The voice grew closer to him, whispered now and caressing his cheeks, his ears… “It will be all right… just a little while you will have to stay down here… it’s not safe outside, yet.” Warm, soft, and definitely human-seeming lips kissed his jaw, then again, on his neck… his throat… The young man shuddered, very confused now. It had to be a demon, didn’t it? No girl would be this forward… he let out a small cry as the hands drifted to his shoulders, gripping hard for a moment and digging the fingernails into his skin.
“Just to be certain, I’ve marked you as mine,” she said, stepping back quickly. Just as soon as she had started getting close, she had pulled back, almost as if she had allowed herself to forget something and then remembered it. In his mind the young man cursed, his eyes were just now starting to get accustomed to the light a little better… but as he looked up, still squinting, all he saw was a glimpse of a cloak fluttering around the door before it slammed shut, and he was alone again. At least now there was light…
“I’m awake,” Shuni repeated, blushing and feeling extremely embarrassed at her current state. Her kimono was folded and set on her nightstand, so it was obvious to anyone that she was not wearing it. Only the blanket protected her modesty, and it seemed as thin as the silky gauze worn by dancers in a brothel… “Forgive me, there was a bit of… trouble before, and I deeply apologize for my current state of immodesty…”
“Please, Demon Hunter,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a blush of his own, holding up a forestalling hand. “I should be the one apologizing, entering into a lady’s bedroom unbidden… but, I could not wait any longer to talk with you again.” His face seemed to change from embarrassment to something… different in that moment. “Oh! And I had almost forgotten… here.” He took a moment to dig through a satchel, then presented Shuni with two cloth objects… Shuni’s eyes widened, and she took the objects from the tailor’s apprentice with something approaching reverence. “The worksmanship is poor,” he admitted, and Shuni had to agree; the new pair of socks he had just given her had crude stitches and were made out of a thin, worn material. He’d probably had to pilfer some from a discard pile, but…
“This is… thank you very much,” Shuni breathed. “I had not expected you to have them finished by tonight… I owe you a debt of thanks,” she said, bowing to him in a slightly awkward manner, given her position. “Well…” There was a pregnant pause, in which neither Shuni nor the boy had the courage to proceed onto the topic at hand. “What is it you wished to speak to me about, apprentice?” She fidgeted, blushing as soon as the sentence was out of her mouth. It seemed much too formal, yet… she wasn’t sure what to call him. To be honest she had forgotten the proper title… luckily, he seemed not to care.
“About… what happened earlier today,” he said, smiling that smile again, the smile that made Shuni feel as forward as a courtesan… “You seemed distraught, Demon Hunter. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way… perhaps you thought yourself too forward, but you are not much older than I, and Demon Hunters are people too, are they not? You mustn’t blame yourself for things that are part of Nature. I…” He took a deep breath, suddenly halting his discourse and blushing, turning his eyes to the floor. “I am sorry if I overstepped myself, Demon Hunter, but I felt that it needed to be said…” He looked up at her again, smiling shyly, and waiting to hear her reply.
Shuni had been struck with a sense of massive relief as he had spoken. Thank Providence that he was a kind and understanding boy… if he had been too quick to talk, Shuni might have found her stay in the village to be highly difficult after the incident. He was waiting for her to answer, as well he should… he had done her a great favor by taking responsibility and possible recriminations out of the equation, so why was she not answering him? Her mouth seemed stuck, her brain wouldn’t generate the words for her to speak… it was as if something else were trying to emerge to the fore and was subordinating all other thoughts to itself. Giving in, Shuni let herself relax for a moment – and then gasped, blushing a deep shade of red as the image, more of a feeling than a conscious thought until now, took form… Crimson-faced, Shuni realized that in the back of her mind, she had wanted – been secretly hoping – that he would now slide the covers from her feet and tickle her…
“Not at all,” Shuni finally managed to gasp out, more aware than ever that she wore only her undergarments beneath her bedsheet. “I thank you for your kind words… I had indeed been worried what you must think of me,” she said, trying to put aside that ever-growing urge to subtly hint to him what she wanted… Part of the problem was that Shuni, having trained so much as an adolescent to hunt demons, was particularly innocent of how to handle boys. To be sure, she had giggled and chatted with other girls about the subject, but all of them had been far too busy to (legitimately) include a boyfriend in their schedule. This was not to say that male demon hunters (who slept in gender-specific quarters, as the girls did) did not try to sneak in for late-night visits, but this kind of behavior had been kept to a minimum as the males were often just as tired as the females after a day’s work. But so it was that Shuni had very little experience with them, and as such, her awkwardness was manifesting itself fully now…
“I’m glad,” the tailor’s apprentice said, sliding closer, until he was seated right next to her, still kneeling politely. “Demon Hunter… I was curious…” With a slightly trembling, quivering hand, he reached out and touched her body through the sheet, his fingers resting lightly on her stomach. “Demon Hunter, are you… ticklish elsewhere, too?”
“Yes, I…!” Shuni gasped softly, chuckling and trying to push his hand away gently. “I’m ticklish everywhere,” she said with a smile, holding his hand in both of her own and coyly setting it back at his side. “But as you noticed my feet are the worst… Please!” she gasped out, another playful giggle coming from her lips as the boy again tried to tickle her torso. “Please, if we’re too loud the village elder may wake up…” Biting her lip to stop the chuckling, Shuni again tried to put off the boy’s hands, which were lightly skimming about and fairly easily evading the slow defense of Shuni’s own arms.
“Oh, that’s quite cute, Demon Hunter,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a slight grin. “It’s a pity you always wear your kimono, you have a lovely figure. But I understand that you must always be on your guard lest the forces of darkness attempt to take advantage of you in a moment of weakness.” His hands withdrew from her body, and Shuni, whose giggling had yet to abate, pulled the sheets closer around her.
“It’s kind of you to say so,” Shuni replied with practiced modesty that her upbringing had cultivated. “But I’m afraid my figure is not at all feminine, my breasts are too big and my feet are as well, my waist is too thick and I’m much too tall to be a proper woman…” The denial of praise slid from between Shuni’s lips without thought. It wasn’t even that she felt these things – in fact, though she would not admit this to anyone, she was happy her frame was built more strongly, because to have had her breasts on a ‘normal’ female body would have left her with frequent pack pains. But they fit her as she was just perfectly.
“I think you are wrong, Demon Hunter, but I’ll say no more about that,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a soft smile. “However, it is getting very late, and if I’m discovered out of doors at this hour then I’ll be in serious trouble… I’ll try to talk to you tomorrow if I have time.” Shuni simply nodded, what he said was the sensible thing to do, and her own comment about noise beforehand was accurate. Kazuo was an old man, and likely to be awakened by even a slightly loud noise. He had thus far been kind to her, despite her eccentricities and irregularities, and she had no wish to risk that kindness with an impulsive notion. “Oh… wait a moment.”
“Yes?” Shuni asked, looking up at him again and shaking herself out of her reverie.
“This is something else I found, the tailor said he had gotten it along with a purchase of cloth in the city market last time he visited.” And the youth presented Shuni with an anklet of black beads. “He said it was supposed to be a good luck charm meant for his wife, but the merchant didn’t know that his wife died off some time ago. The tailor kept it, of course – he’d never throw anything away – but refused to wear it himself, because it’s a woman’s decoration. I asked him if I could have it, and he agreed, because he has no use for it. I want you to have it,” the boy said, laying it on the nightstand where Shuni’s clothing was folded up with shaking hands. “G-good night, Demon Hunter,” he said, withdrawing quickly after that and leaving.
Shuni had to giggle softly. A good luck charm, hmm? It was probably just some trinket that the merchant had been tricked into buying and was trying to foist off on someone else, but it had been a gift, and it seemed as if it would fit her. She decided that she would wear it tomorrow. Smiling, Shuni fluffed her pillow and adjusted the sheets, feeling strangely calm as she closed her eyes. She was asleep within a few minutes, but looking rather happier than before.
“I did it, just as you asked.” The voice spoke, trembling slightly, fearful.
“Good, good. You will be able to deal with her as you promised?” This voice spoke with the tones of authority.
"Of course…”
“Very well… so long as you stay true, your prize will remain within your hands.”
A smile. “Thank you, my Lord.”
“Do not tarry here. Go, lest someone suspects you.”
Shuni awoke the next day with her good mood intact, and as she dressed in her white kimono, she found herself humming a nameless tune and tapping her foot cheerfully. There was no real reason for her to be so elated, she reflected, but perhaps the release of worry from last night had buoyed her spirits. Whatever the reason, she did not question it, and smiled to herself as she put on the black ankle bracelet. As she had suspected, it fit her almost perfectly. Maybe the reason no one else had been given this anklet was because it was far too big… well, it was her good fortune now, and Shuni was determined to make the most of that.
“Good morning, child,” Kazuo said as she came into the dining room for breakfast. “You seem cheerful this morning.” Far different from her worried preoccupation of the previous day, he didn’t say. If she had resolved the issue which had concerned her in private, best to let the issue remain private. He had no need to pry into her personal details. “I heard that there was a bit of a fracas in the fields last night.”
“What happened?” Shuni said, pretending innocence so smoothly even someone who had been there in the fields might have believed her. “I heard nothing last night, I slept extremely well. Was there a problem?”
“Oh no, just some petty jealousy rearing its head,” he said. “You wouldn’t have even noticed – one of the village girls stole your necklace last night, apparently from your bedroom, and meant to make off with it. But her father caught her and returned the necklace at sunrise before he went to do his chores. So I’m not surprised you noticed nothing.” With that, he chuckled and poured himself some more green tea before eating breakfast.
Shuni smiled. “Ah, I’ll have to thank him. I wouldn’t even have noticed had you not told me…” Oops. Shuni did nothing but blush lightly and smile, the routine of putting on her necklace in the morning had been so automatic she hadn’t even remembered it was supposed to be missing. “No, part of the reason that I am in such a good mood is that the tailor’s apprentice gave me a gift.” Shuni squeaked and put her fingers over her mouth, blushing more deeply and realizing only too late that such a thing might not have been the best to say aloud, especially in front of this old man…
“Ahh, yes, I understand,” Kazuo replied with a dry chuckle, no recrimination in his voice at all. “I’d imagine any girl would wake up woozy and giggly in that case. No, don’t worry, child, I was young once too. Just be sure to keep your dealings with him decent, or at least where no one else can see.” That comment made Shuni blush to the roots of her hair and quickly finish the meal before making a hasty bow and retreating out the door. Sometimes the old man’s frankness was a little too much, like an embarrassing parent who tried to show they were up to date but failed miserably…
Shuni was outside and walking among the fields a short time later, keeping an eye on things ostensibly, but really just enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Tonight, she decided, she’d get to work on her plan, although she did realize as she walked that the anklet would have to come off, because it clacked slightly with every step. Such was life…
“Excuse me, Demon Hunter.” The voice was short, stiff, and formal, but it was also the voice of a young female. In fact, it was a familiar voice… “Please allow me to apologize.” Shuni turned to face a rather striking girl tilling fields with a hoe, who had stopped her work to mumble in Shuni’s direction. “I know you probably do not recognize me.” That was true; this girl had beautiful ebony hair kept in a high ponytail, along with forelocks that fell to her shoulders, a bust that was neither too small nor too big for her, and graceful, willowy tanned legs. Her eyes were dark, brown it seemed, and they avoided looking at Shuni as she spoke. Shuni figured this girl to be the village beauty. Certainly, Shuni did feel some stirrings of jealousy, wishing her figure was more refined and not chubby around the waist…
“I wish to apologize to you for my actions last night,” she said woodenly. “I was the one who stole your necklace.” Ah… yes, Shuni remembered now. Or, more specifically, she remembered the girl in the burglar’s mask who had made off with her necklace and been caught. “Please accept my humble apology.” Her eyes darted off to the side, and Shuni suddenly realized they were within earshot of her father, who was nodding and listening. He didn’t exactly look pleased, but he did seem to be grateful that his daughter was apologizing profusely without an untoward degree of coercion. His requirements apparently satisfied, he went off back towards the house, a quarter of the field left untilled. Clearly it was the girl’s punishment to perform the extra work.
“My father might have made me apologize and grovel before you,” she went on in the fiery tone that Shuni remembered from last night, “but while I’ve learned not to stoop to such petty means, rest assured that I’m by no means done with you.” She let her hoe drop to the ground, eyes ablaze with determination as she looked at Shuni. “But I’ve decided to let it be a contest between women, honorably. We’ll let him choose who he wants.” The girl looked Shuni over, head to toe. “Demon Hunter Shuni, I, Akari, do hereby make this challenge.”
“Challenge?” Shuni asked skeptically. So, Akari was her name. “I see…” Shuni was about to dismiss this foolish notion of dueling over a boy, when… “What was that?”
“Don’t distract from the issue, Demon Hunter,” Akari said, looking around nonetheless – “Where’s my hoe? HEY!” She pointed, and Shuni turned. “What is that? Hey! Come back here!” Akari gave chase, because… for whatever reason, Shuni was not sure, her hoe was hopping away, as if being carried by something that was moving too fast to see, but not too fast to follow… how was that even possible?
“Akari, wait!” Shuni called, running after the girl and the fleeing hoe. It was headed straight for the forest, and now all sorts of warnings were cropping up in Shuni’s mind about where this might be headed… only now, the trap was not being laid for her, but for Akari, who did not enjoy the protection Shuni did… She had no choice but to give chase, and to hope that she could help Akari avoid whatever it was the demons had in store for her.
Immediately Shuni discovered two things; one, Akari was quite a bit faster than she, her lithe frame built for running more than Shuni’s overlarge and awkward features. Second, for whatever reason the anklet was making it more awkward than usual to run, the decoration seeming to weigh down Shuni’s left foot. But that was of course total nonsense, she’d held it in her hand this morning and its weight was a few ounces at best. Probably it was just the way it made her give her ankle a slight twist before every step so as to avoid tripping over it. But whatever the reason, Akari pulled ahead of Shuni and made it into the forest ten seconds ahead of the demon hunter.
Still, Akari was not too hard to follow, the least reason for this being that she was shouting and cursing at her fleeing hoe almost constantly. Shuni had no idea how she had the breath to do that and run at the same time, but still she gradually pulled ahead of Shuni. The larger girl didn’t give up, however, gamely pursuing the farmer girl and knowing that there would be a sudden stop entered into this equation at some time. She only had to keep going until then.
They were at a point where the land became hilly, and Akari was frequently out of view over hilltops before cresting the next hill and coming back into Shuni’s field of vision. The hills were even tougher on Shuni, and it seemed like there were lead balls tied around her left ankle now, though surely that must just be fatigue and – Shuni suddenly slipped, ignominiously sliding down the mossy hill on her rear end, legs extended out in front of her as if she were on a slide…
Shuni had intended to use the impact on the level ground at the foot of the hill to regain her balance and spring forward, resuming the chase. What she hadn’t anticipated was how her left foot made contact with the ground and kept right on going into it, thrusting a little more than a foot into the ground before coming to a stop. Her right leg, however, had stayed on top of the ground, and Shuni came to a stop, her left leg sunk to almost her hip into the ground, and her right leg resting atop it, stretched out fully, as Shuni sat on the base of the hill.
Wasn’t this just perfect, she groused. Likely the ground at the base of each hill was soft due to water saturation from runoff due to the hills, and her rapid impact had caused it to give way.
Or, Shuni realized with a sudden start, somehow she’d fallen into yet another trap… Her left foot felt as if it were in a cavern of some kind under the ground, a hollow space, and there was clearly something down there, because her sandal had just been slipped delicately from her foot… Shuni squealed and tried to pull her leg out, but it felt weighted with stones, and she accomplished nothing more than to tire herself.
Beneath the ground, in what was indeed a demon trap, the lamia who’d had a previous run-in with Shuni chuckled softly to herself as she watched the trapped foot wiggle. There was no way she’d pull her foot out of this, not with that cursed anklet weighting her down. Really, it was just too simple… the lamia’s only regret was that she’d be unable to hear firsthand the results of her work, but they’d be simple enough to guess, she thought with a chuckle as her fingernails lightly grazed the fabric covering the demon hunter’s foot.
Shuni let out another squeal, trying to cover her mouth and stop laughing before anything had really even happened. The way she was positioned made the hill itself a comfortable back-rest, but in that position lay a danger of inertia… however, struggling to free herself before she had the strength to do so was an even greater danger, so Shuni laid back, gulping and trying to steel herself to the ordeal to come, loosening her kimono just slightly to make breathing easier.
The lamia was comfortably curled up on her tail, and resting her head comfortably in the palm of one hand while two others teased the sides of the foot sticking out of the earthen wall. In a way, this was a more effective mode of working, because she could more carefully observe the reactions of Shuni’s foot, and thus discern which touches were most effective, and where… Of course, with the demon hunter girl being as ticklish as she was, sometimes it was just a matter of surprise…
Shuni squealed and squeaked with every touch, be it gentle or firm, slow or quick. She was trying not to make too much noise, but that wasn’t succeeding very much… “Demon Hunter, what are you doing?” Shuni looked up, red-faced, as Akari crested the hill just in front of her, hoe in hand. “For some reason the hoe just stopped moving over this hill… I was wondering where you were, but it looks as if you got stuck.” Then her face took on an expression that told Shuni exactly what she didn’t want to hear, making the demon hunter shake her head furiously to ward off the thoughts now running through Akari’s mind.
“Well, since it’s just the both of us out here, I’m sure we can take some time to reach an agreement,” Akari said cheerfully, sitting cross-legged by Shuni’s right foot and removing the sandal. “What’s the matter? You’re already laughing like crazy…” Akari paused, and took in the situation, and Shuni’s position. “Oh. I bet some worm or crawly creature is all over the foot stuck in the ground. You just don’t have any luck, do you, Demon Hunter?” Akari laughed and, unlike the lamia just a few feet below, stripped Shuni’s sock from her foot immediately, although she did show the courtesy to fold and place it atop the sandal she had set aside.
The lamia was teasing beneath the ground, something Shuni could feel but not communicate coherently, as her attempts to speak were always defeated by Akari’s baby-talk teasing. “Aww, already laughing too hard to talk, Demon Hunter? Pity you can’t tell me how much it tickles, because I bet it’s unbearable.” The lamia had Shuni’s sock rolled up to expose her heel, and was only exposing more skin at a slow pace, but thoroughly exploiting the exposed area and nothing more, leaving Shuni on a knife’s edge as the dancing claws of the snake-woman came closer and closer to her weaknesses…
Akari was wasting no time, however, and knowing Shuni’s weak spot, was scratching at that with cruel precision. “It’s such a good thing I found your spot, Demon Hunter, now I can get you going in no time at all.” Not only was Shuni shaking the ground with her wild attempts to struggle free at this point, Akari had also plucked a small, fuzzy plant from the ground that was busily exploring between Shuni’s toes. Though Shuni caught and snapped the fragile stems with her toes, it left fuzzy residue in places she couldn’t rub out, and the plant was growing with abundance, meaning it was just the work of a moment for Akari to pick a new one.
Shuni’s left foot, beneath the ground, was now stripped of its sock as well and suffering the attentions of twenty-five fingernails, not a few of which danced across her small weak spot, but fortunately she was already laughing far too much, breathlessly pleading with Akari, to react any more than she already was. For her part, the lamia was now curious as to why the Demon Hunter had gone crazy with the laughter she could now hear through the ground before she had even really gotten started…
Akari shifted position, to get Shuni’s foot in her lap and stop its attempts to roll out of her reach on the ground. But when she did so, the thin layering of earth between her and the hole below also gave way. “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa—what the?!” Akari screamed as she ended up in a position that was the mirror image of Shuni’s, one foot gone into the ground at an angle up to the thigh, and her other foot extended outward.
The sudden thrusting of another foot into the small space startled the lamia sufficiently that she stopped tickling Shuni for a moment, as had Akari in her shock and attempts to wriggle free. Akari, unlike Shuni, was not weighed down with a cursed anklet, and her efforts bore fruit – until the lamia’s tail curled around the leg slowly wriggling back up to the surface and pulled it back down. Well, what was good for the goose was good for the gander, so…
“PLEEHEHEHEEEHEHEEHEEZE!” Akari squealed as her sandal and sock were removed and she too felt the brush of wicked claws on her sole. Shuni had only time to smirk momentarily before other claws were tasked onto her foot, fewer than before, but more than enough to get her laughing again.
The two girls’ laughter pealed out into the forest air, mixing together in a not unpleasant way. The reduction had allowed Shuni to get herself back under control, get her breathing a bit steadier, and even though she was hysterical with laughter, she saw an opportunity. Quickly, while Akari was distracted – frightened, too, but squealing just as loudly as Shuni – the demon hunter removed the other girl’s sandal and sock, and promptly went to work on her foot.
“NOHOHOHO!! STOP!!! PLEHEHEHEHEEZE!” Akari screeched, unable to take what she had been unknowingly inflicting, and her tickle-crazed mind was only able to flail helplessly as she felt the Demon Hunter’s nails join the whatever-it-was below the ground. It was clearly no crawling creature natural to the earth, but something else, with evil intent… a demon! “Shuni, save meheheheEEHehehehehee plehehEHHEHhheeeeze!!!” Akari begged.
Shuni did have the presence of mind to realize when enough was enough, and so she stopped her revenge on the other girl, then noticed the tickling on her foot had stopped. Furthermore, even though Akari was still giggling, she was winding down, catching her breath… why had the creature stopped? “D-Demon Hunter, what is this?” Akari asked, gulping.
“I think it’s a demon…” Shuni said, unwilling to expound on the weakness they’d exploited since her arrival at the village. “But I – AHHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Suddenly the tickling was back again, viciously exploring her foot at a frenzied pace, then after about ten seconds, it had stopped.
“Demon Hunter? Shuni, what happened? Shuni? Shuni! I – HAHAHHHEEHEHEEEHEHEHEH STHAHAAPPIT!!!” Akari’s voice had grown increasingly panicked after the silence, only to burst out in sudden hysterics. Soon it became clear what the new pattern was; silence for a varying period of time, sometimes mere seconds, but other times stretching on into an entire minute or even several minutes. It was totally random, and they were both on a blade’s edge the entire time, especially since the lamia was not willing to be so predictable as to alternate.
Still, they talked in hushed tones during the silence, quickly examining and discarding options, thinking ideas, debunking them and starting anew, trying to find some solution to their predicament as quickly as the ticklish panic infecting their brains would allow. They could find no answer, and as the minutes stretched on, Shuni could only hope that someone from the village had seen them run into the forest. She couldn’t think of anything else…
“It’ll be time in a few minutes.” The voice was not unexpected to the lamia, but it was something of a disappointment.
“Oh, if you insist, Vorkaan… but I was having such fun, even had a bonus drop in on me.” She turned and smiled at him.
Vorkaan snorted. “A bonus? What do you mean? Never mind. Just be sure to follow your instructions when the time comes… understand?”
“Of course.” And with that, Vorkaan vanished, leaving the lamia alone under the ground with two bare feet growing from the walls.
Underground there are no windows, no portals to the outside world to let in light. Humans experience total darkness only rarely, such as when hiding inside a closet or other small, confined area. But most of the time this darkness is self-inflicted, and with that the knowledge that one can make the light return at any time by simply turning an knob and pushing the door open. Even the greatest of natural darkness, the night, is not truly total darkness, because the light of the moon allows humans to see vague shapes or in some way allow them to be guided by their eyes.
Given this state of affairs, when total darkness is inflicted upon a human, it can cause very many emotions, usually among them a sense of panic and detachment, a sense that nothing around oneself is real. Because humans rely on their eyes as a chief source of information about their environment, it is only natural to begin questioning the reality of a situation when there is no visual feedback at all. Of course, if one were to be floating in a literal sea of darkness, then the disorientation would be complete. In the case of this particular human, metal shackles and a cool stone floor provided him a link with reality, told him that he was somewhere, still existing, just without light to confirm that fact.
Why he was here, he had no idea. The young man had lived a rather carefree existence before this time, and had one day found himself simply snatched out of a field in the blink of an eye. He assumed that a few days had passed, for he had slept a number of times, but he had no real way of knowing how long it had been since his capture. At first he had screamed, screamed his lungs raw, then as it became painful to do so he simply whimpered, the period of initial shock lasting until he collapsed from weariness. The chain that held him did seem to be rather long, allowing him to pace his room to a degree, and letting him reach the thin but welcome bedding mat in one corner of the room.
After awakening, his senses somewhat back in order and beginning to adapt to the loss of sight, the young man had searched his confinement a little more thoroughly, but this search had revealed nothing that he had not noticed before. And so he had wandered around a bit, eaten the meal that he had nearly knocked over while pacing – it must have been brought in while he was asleep, and tasted of thin gruel. Still, it was food, and it quieted his stomach enough to allow sleep.
The light which entered the cell was dim, but its appearance was sudden and seemed like the sun to someone who had been in total darkness for a long period of time. There was a muttered word, and the light suddenly flared up, causing the man to cry out and slam his eyes shut, protecting himself from the light. Disoriented and rather weak as he was – this man had never been especially strong before now – he did little to resist as he was unhooked from the chain and marched along a hallway. His eyes still would not open, and so his steps were stumbling and faltering, but finally he was ushered into another room, and he was pushed against the wall, so that his back was against it and he was standing upright.
This time his wrists were shackled directly to the wall, slightly above and to either side of his head, arms outstretched. Whatever it was that produced the blinding light was left in the room, and there was the sound of a door closing quickly, then a minute later, opening and closing again slowly. Cursing his eyes, the young man tried to open his eyes and just get a glimpse of whoever had presumably just come into the room, but it proved a futile effort. He was forced to squint at the floor, but he did manage to catch a glimpse of a pair of legs…
“You’ll be safe here, my love…” Shockingly, it was a human voice. Whose it was, he had no idea – female, but that was all he could make out. My love? Why had she said that? He had no lovers… no one who he might even suspect of harboring feelings for him… was this just a trick? Belatedly he remembered that demons, as demons he suspected his captors to be, could use illusions to trick even the most steadfast mind. His mind, unfortunately, was not as steadfast as it could have been. “No, I am human…” How had she known what he was thinking? It had to be a demon…
He felt a soft, warm hand caress his cheek. It definitely felt human… but there was no way a human would be down here. Was there? “I’m sorry you had to go through that, my beloved… things will be better now, you won’t have to stay in that dark cell anymore.” The voice grew closer to him, whispered now and caressing his cheeks, his ears… “It will be all right… just a little while you will have to stay down here… it’s not safe outside, yet.” Warm, soft, and definitely human-seeming lips kissed his jaw, then again, on his neck… his throat… The young man shuddered, very confused now. It had to be a demon, didn’t it? No girl would be this forward… he let out a small cry as the hands drifted to his shoulders, gripping hard for a moment and digging the fingernails into his skin.
“Just to be certain, I’ve marked you as mine,” she said, stepping back quickly. Just as soon as she had started getting close, she had pulled back, almost as if she had allowed herself to forget something and then remembered it. In his mind the young man cursed, his eyes were just now starting to get accustomed to the light a little better… but as he looked up, still squinting, all he saw was a glimpse of a cloak fluttering around the door before it slammed shut, and he was alone again. At least now there was light…
“I’m awake,” Shuni repeated, blushing and feeling extremely embarrassed at her current state. Her kimono was folded and set on her nightstand, so it was obvious to anyone that she was not wearing it. Only the blanket protected her modesty, and it seemed as thin as the silky gauze worn by dancers in a brothel… “Forgive me, there was a bit of… trouble before, and I deeply apologize for my current state of immodesty…”
“Please, Demon Hunter,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a blush of his own, holding up a forestalling hand. “I should be the one apologizing, entering into a lady’s bedroom unbidden… but, I could not wait any longer to talk with you again.” His face seemed to change from embarrassment to something… different in that moment. “Oh! And I had almost forgotten… here.” He took a moment to dig through a satchel, then presented Shuni with two cloth objects… Shuni’s eyes widened, and she took the objects from the tailor’s apprentice with something approaching reverence. “The worksmanship is poor,” he admitted, and Shuni had to agree; the new pair of socks he had just given her had crude stitches and were made out of a thin, worn material. He’d probably had to pilfer some from a discard pile, but…
“This is… thank you very much,” Shuni breathed. “I had not expected you to have them finished by tonight… I owe you a debt of thanks,” she said, bowing to him in a slightly awkward manner, given her position. “Well…” There was a pregnant pause, in which neither Shuni nor the boy had the courage to proceed onto the topic at hand. “What is it you wished to speak to me about, apprentice?” She fidgeted, blushing as soon as the sentence was out of her mouth. It seemed much too formal, yet… she wasn’t sure what to call him. To be honest she had forgotten the proper title… luckily, he seemed not to care.
“About… what happened earlier today,” he said, smiling that smile again, the smile that made Shuni feel as forward as a courtesan… “You seemed distraught, Demon Hunter. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way… perhaps you thought yourself too forward, but you are not much older than I, and Demon Hunters are people too, are they not? You mustn’t blame yourself for things that are part of Nature. I…” He took a deep breath, suddenly halting his discourse and blushing, turning his eyes to the floor. “I am sorry if I overstepped myself, Demon Hunter, but I felt that it needed to be said…” He looked up at her again, smiling shyly, and waiting to hear her reply.
Shuni had been struck with a sense of massive relief as he had spoken. Thank Providence that he was a kind and understanding boy… if he had been too quick to talk, Shuni might have found her stay in the village to be highly difficult after the incident. He was waiting for her to answer, as well he should… he had done her a great favor by taking responsibility and possible recriminations out of the equation, so why was she not answering him? Her mouth seemed stuck, her brain wouldn’t generate the words for her to speak… it was as if something else were trying to emerge to the fore and was subordinating all other thoughts to itself. Giving in, Shuni let herself relax for a moment – and then gasped, blushing a deep shade of red as the image, more of a feeling than a conscious thought until now, took form… Crimson-faced, Shuni realized that in the back of her mind, she had wanted – been secretly hoping – that he would now slide the covers from her feet and tickle her…
“Not at all,” Shuni finally managed to gasp out, more aware than ever that she wore only her undergarments beneath her bedsheet. “I thank you for your kind words… I had indeed been worried what you must think of me,” she said, trying to put aside that ever-growing urge to subtly hint to him what she wanted… Part of the problem was that Shuni, having trained so much as an adolescent to hunt demons, was particularly innocent of how to handle boys. To be sure, she had giggled and chatted with other girls about the subject, but all of them had been far too busy to (legitimately) include a boyfriend in their schedule. This was not to say that male demon hunters (who slept in gender-specific quarters, as the girls did) did not try to sneak in for late-night visits, but this kind of behavior had been kept to a minimum as the males were often just as tired as the females after a day’s work. But so it was that Shuni had very little experience with them, and as such, her awkwardness was manifesting itself fully now…
“I’m glad,” the tailor’s apprentice said, sliding closer, until he was seated right next to her, still kneeling politely. “Demon Hunter… I was curious…” With a slightly trembling, quivering hand, he reached out and touched her body through the sheet, his fingers resting lightly on her stomach. “Demon Hunter, are you… ticklish elsewhere, too?”
“Yes, I…!” Shuni gasped softly, chuckling and trying to push his hand away gently. “I’m ticklish everywhere,” she said with a smile, holding his hand in both of her own and coyly setting it back at his side. “But as you noticed my feet are the worst… Please!” she gasped out, another playful giggle coming from her lips as the boy again tried to tickle her torso. “Please, if we’re too loud the village elder may wake up…” Biting her lip to stop the chuckling, Shuni again tried to put off the boy’s hands, which were lightly skimming about and fairly easily evading the slow defense of Shuni’s own arms.
“Oh, that’s quite cute, Demon Hunter,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a slight grin. “It’s a pity you always wear your kimono, you have a lovely figure. But I understand that you must always be on your guard lest the forces of darkness attempt to take advantage of you in a moment of weakness.” His hands withdrew from her body, and Shuni, whose giggling had yet to abate, pulled the sheets closer around her.
“It’s kind of you to say so,” Shuni replied with practiced modesty that her upbringing had cultivated. “But I’m afraid my figure is not at all feminine, my breasts are too big and my feet are as well, my waist is too thick and I’m much too tall to be a proper woman…” The denial of praise slid from between Shuni’s lips without thought. It wasn’t even that she felt these things – in fact, though she would not admit this to anyone, she was happy her frame was built more strongly, because to have had her breasts on a ‘normal’ female body would have left her with frequent pack pains. But they fit her as she was just perfectly.
“I think you are wrong, Demon Hunter, but I’ll say no more about that,” the tailor’s apprentice said with a soft smile. “However, it is getting very late, and if I’m discovered out of doors at this hour then I’ll be in serious trouble… I’ll try to talk to you tomorrow if I have time.” Shuni simply nodded, what he said was the sensible thing to do, and her own comment about noise beforehand was accurate. Kazuo was an old man, and likely to be awakened by even a slightly loud noise. He had thus far been kind to her, despite her eccentricities and irregularities, and she had no wish to risk that kindness with an impulsive notion. “Oh… wait a moment.”
“Yes?” Shuni asked, looking up at him again and shaking herself out of her reverie.
“This is something else I found, the tailor said he had gotten it along with a purchase of cloth in the city market last time he visited.” And the youth presented Shuni with an anklet of black beads. “He said it was supposed to be a good luck charm meant for his wife, but the merchant didn’t know that his wife died off some time ago. The tailor kept it, of course – he’d never throw anything away – but refused to wear it himself, because it’s a woman’s decoration. I asked him if I could have it, and he agreed, because he has no use for it. I want you to have it,” the boy said, laying it on the nightstand where Shuni’s clothing was folded up with shaking hands. “G-good night, Demon Hunter,” he said, withdrawing quickly after that and leaving.
Shuni had to giggle softly. A good luck charm, hmm? It was probably just some trinket that the merchant had been tricked into buying and was trying to foist off on someone else, but it had been a gift, and it seemed as if it would fit her. She decided that she would wear it tomorrow. Smiling, Shuni fluffed her pillow and adjusted the sheets, feeling strangely calm as she closed her eyes. She was asleep within a few minutes, but looking rather happier than before.
“I did it, just as you asked.” The voice spoke, trembling slightly, fearful.
“Good, good. You will be able to deal with her as you promised?” This voice spoke with the tones of authority.
"Of course…”
“Very well… so long as you stay true, your prize will remain within your hands.”
A smile. “Thank you, my Lord.”
“Do not tarry here. Go, lest someone suspects you.”
Shuni awoke the next day with her good mood intact, and as she dressed in her white kimono, she found herself humming a nameless tune and tapping her foot cheerfully. There was no real reason for her to be so elated, she reflected, but perhaps the release of worry from last night had buoyed her spirits. Whatever the reason, she did not question it, and smiled to herself as she put on the black ankle bracelet. As she had suspected, it fit her almost perfectly. Maybe the reason no one else had been given this anklet was because it was far too big… well, it was her good fortune now, and Shuni was determined to make the most of that.
“Good morning, child,” Kazuo said as she came into the dining room for breakfast. “You seem cheerful this morning.” Far different from her worried preoccupation of the previous day, he didn’t say. If she had resolved the issue which had concerned her in private, best to let the issue remain private. He had no need to pry into her personal details. “I heard that there was a bit of a fracas in the fields last night.”
“What happened?” Shuni said, pretending innocence so smoothly even someone who had been there in the fields might have believed her. “I heard nothing last night, I slept extremely well. Was there a problem?”
“Oh no, just some petty jealousy rearing its head,” he said. “You wouldn’t have even noticed – one of the village girls stole your necklace last night, apparently from your bedroom, and meant to make off with it. But her father caught her and returned the necklace at sunrise before he went to do his chores. So I’m not surprised you noticed nothing.” With that, he chuckled and poured himself some more green tea before eating breakfast.
Shuni smiled. “Ah, I’ll have to thank him. I wouldn’t even have noticed had you not told me…” Oops. Shuni did nothing but blush lightly and smile, the routine of putting on her necklace in the morning had been so automatic she hadn’t even remembered it was supposed to be missing. “No, part of the reason that I am in such a good mood is that the tailor’s apprentice gave me a gift.” Shuni squeaked and put her fingers over her mouth, blushing more deeply and realizing only too late that such a thing might not have been the best to say aloud, especially in front of this old man…
“Ahh, yes, I understand,” Kazuo replied with a dry chuckle, no recrimination in his voice at all. “I’d imagine any girl would wake up woozy and giggly in that case. No, don’t worry, child, I was young once too. Just be sure to keep your dealings with him decent, or at least where no one else can see.” That comment made Shuni blush to the roots of her hair and quickly finish the meal before making a hasty bow and retreating out the door. Sometimes the old man’s frankness was a little too much, like an embarrassing parent who tried to show they were up to date but failed miserably…
Shuni was outside and walking among the fields a short time later, keeping an eye on things ostensibly, but really just enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Tonight, she decided, she’d get to work on her plan, although she did realize as she walked that the anklet would have to come off, because it clacked slightly with every step. Such was life…
“Excuse me, Demon Hunter.” The voice was short, stiff, and formal, but it was also the voice of a young female. In fact, it was a familiar voice… “Please allow me to apologize.” Shuni turned to face a rather striking girl tilling fields with a hoe, who had stopped her work to mumble in Shuni’s direction. “I know you probably do not recognize me.” That was true; this girl had beautiful ebony hair kept in a high ponytail, along with forelocks that fell to her shoulders, a bust that was neither too small nor too big for her, and graceful, willowy tanned legs. Her eyes were dark, brown it seemed, and they avoided looking at Shuni as she spoke. Shuni figured this girl to be the village beauty. Certainly, Shuni did feel some stirrings of jealousy, wishing her figure was more refined and not chubby around the waist…
“I wish to apologize to you for my actions last night,” she said woodenly. “I was the one who stole your necklace.” Ah… yes, Shuni remembered now. Or, more specifically, she remembered the girl in the burglar’s mask who had made off with her necklace and been caught. “Please accept my humble apology.” Her eyes darted off to the side, and Shuni suddenly realized they were within earshot of her father, who was nodding and listening. He didn’t exactly look pleased, but he did seem to be grateful that his daughter was apologizing profusely without an untoward degree of coercion. His requirements apparently satisfied, he went off back towards the house, a quarter of the field left untilled. Clearly it was the girl’s punishment to perform the extra work.
“My father might have made me apologize and grovel before you,” she went on in the fiery tone that Shuni remembered from last night, “but while I’ve learned not to stoop to such petty means, rest assured that I’m by no means done with you.” She let her hoe drop to the ground, eyes ablaze with determination as she looked at Shuni. “But I’ve decided to let it be a contest between women, honorably. We’ll let him choose who he wants.” The girl looked Shuni over, head to toe. “Demon Hunter Shuni, I, Akari, do hereby make this challenge.”
“Challenge?” Shuni asked skeptically. So, Akari was her name. “I see…” Shuni was about to dismiss this foolish notion of dueling over a boy, when… “What was that?”
“Don’t distract from the issue, Demon Hunter,” Akari said, looking around nonetheless – “Where’s my hoe? HEY!” She pointed, and Shuni turned. “What is that? Hey! Come back here!” Akari gave chase, because… for whatever reason, Shuni was not sure, her hoe was hopping away, as if being carried by something that was moving too fast to see, but not too fast to follow… how was that even possible?
“Akari, wait!” Shuni called, running after the girl and the fleeing hoe. It was headed straight for the forest, and now all sorts of warnings were cropping up in Shuni’s mind about where this might be headed… only now, the trap was not being laid for her, but for Akari, who did not enjoy the protection Shuni did… She had no choice but to give chase, and to hope that she could help Akari avoid whatever it was the demons had in store for her.
Immediately Shuni discovered two things; one, Akari was quite a bit faster than she, her lithe frame built for running more than Shuni’s overlarge and awkward features. Second, for whatever reason the anklet was making it more awkward than usual to run, the decoration seeming to weigh down Shuni’s left foot. But that was of course total nonsense, she’d held it in her hand this morning and its weight was a few ounces at best. Probably it was just the way it made her give her ankle a slight twist before every step so as to avoid tripping over it. But whatever the reason, Akari pulled ahead of Shuni and made it into the forest ten seconds ahead of the demon hunter.
Still, Akari was not too hard to follow, the least reason for this being that she was shouting and cursing at her fleeing hoe almost constantly. Shuni had no idea how she had the breath to do that and run at the same time, but still she gradually pulled ahead of Shuni. The larger girl didn’t give up, however, gamely pursuing the farmer girl and knowing that there would be a sudden stop entered into this equation at some time. She only had to keep going until then.
They were at a point where the land became hilly, and Akari was frequently out of view over hilltops before cresting the next hill and coming back into Shuni’s field of vision. The hills were even tougher on Shuni, and it seemed like there were lead balls tied around her left ankle now, though surely that must just be fatigue and – Shuni suddenly slipped, ignominiously sliding down the mossy hill on her rear end, legs extended out in front of her as if she were on a slide…
Shuni had intended to use the impact on the level ground at the foot of the hill to regain her balance and spring forward, resuming the chase. What she hadn’t anticipated was how her left foot made contact with the ground and kept right on going into it, thrusting a little more than a foot into the ground before coming to a stop. Her right leg, however, had stayed on top of the ground, and Shuni came to a stop, her left leg sunk to almost her hip into the ground, and her right leg resting atop it, stretched out fully, as Shuni sat on the base of the hill.
Wasn’t this just perfect, she groused. Likely the ground at the base of each hill was soft due to water saturation from runoff due to the hills, and her rapid impact had caused it to give way.
Or, Shuni realized with a sudden start, somehow she’d fallen into yet another trap… Her left foot felt as if it were in a cavern of some kind under the ground, a hollow space, and there was clearly something down there, because her sandal had just been slipped delicately from her foot… Shuni squealed and tried to pull her leg out, but it felt weighted with stones, and she accomplished nothing more than to tire herself.
Beneath the ground, in what was indeed a demon trap, the lamia who’d had a previous run-in with Shuni chuckled softly to herself as she watched the trapped foot wiggle. There was no way she’d pull her foot out of this, not with that cursed anklet weighting her down. Really, it was just too simple… the lamia’s only regret was that she’d be unable to hear firsthand the results of her work, but they’d be simple enough to guess, she thought with a chuckle as her fingernails lightly grazed the fabric covering the demon hunter’s foot.
Shuni let out another squeal, trying to cover her mouth and stop laughing before anything had really even happened. The way she was positioned made the hill itself a comfortable back-rest, but in that position lay a danger of inertia… however, struggling to free herself before she had the strength to do so was an even greater danger, so Shuni laid back, gulping and trying to steel herself to the ordeal to come, loosening her kimono just slightly to make breathing easier.
The lamia was comfortably curled up on her tail, and resting her head comfortably in the palm of one hand while two others teased the sides of the foot sticking out of the earthen wall. In a way, this was a more effective mode of working, because she could more carefully observe the reactions of Shuni’s foot, and thus discern which touches were most effective, and where… Of course, with the demon hunter girl being as ticklish as she was, sometimes it was just a matter of surprise…
Shuni squealed and squeaked with every touch, be it gentle or firm, slow or quick. She was trying not to make too much noise, but that wasn’t succeeding very much… “Demon Hunter, what are you doing?” Shuni looked up, red-faced, as Akari crested the hill just in front of her, hoe in hand. “For some reason the hoe just stopped moving over this hill… I was wondering where you were, but it looks as if you got stuck.” Then her face took on an expression that told Shuni exactly what she didn’t want to hear, making the demon hunter shake her head furiously to ward off the thoughts now running through Akari’s mind.
“Well, since it’s just the both of us out here, I’m sure we can take some time to reach an agreement,” Akari said cheerfully, sitting cross-legged by Shuni’s right foot and removing the sandal. “What’s the matter? You’re already laughing like crazy…” Akari paused, and took in the situation, and Shuni’s position. “Oh. I bet some worm or crawly creature is all over the foot stuck in the ground. You just don’t have any luck, do you, Demon Hunter?” Akari laughed and, unlike the lamia just a few feet below, stripped Shuni’s sock from her foot immediately, although she did show the courtesy to fold and place it atop the sandal she had set aside.
The lamia was teasing beneath the ground, something Shuni could feel but not communicate coherently, as her attempts to speak were always defeated by Akari’s baby-talk teasing. “Aww, already laughing too hard to talk, Demon Hunter? Pity you can’t tell me how much it tickles, because I bet it’s unbearable.” The lamia had Shuni’s sock rolled up to expose her heel, and was only exposing more skin at a slow pace, but thoroughly exploiting the exposed area and nothing more, leaving Shuni on a knife’s edge as the dancing claws of the snake-woman came closer and closer to her weaknesses…
Akari was wasting no time, however, and knowing Shuni’s weak spot, was scratching at that with cruel precision. “It’s such a good thing I found your spot, Demon Hunter, now I can get you going in no time at all.” Not only was Shuni shaking the ground with her wild attempts to struggle free at this point, Akari had also plucked a small, fuzzy plant from the ground that was busily exploring between Shuni’s toes. Though Shuni caught and snapped the fragile stems with her toes, it left fuzzy residue in places she couldn’t rub out, and the plant was growing with abundance, meaning it was just the work of a moment for Akari to pick a new one.
Shuni’s left foot, beneath the ground, was now stripped of its sock as well and suffering the attentions of twenty-five fingernails, not a few of which danced across her small weak spot, but fortunately she was already laughing far too much, breathlessly pleading with Akari, to react any more than she already was. For her part, the lamia was now curious as to why the Demon Hunter had gone crazy with the laughter she could now hear through the ground before she had even really gotten started…
Akari shifted position, to get Shuni’s foot in her lap and stop its attempts to roll out of her reach on the ground. But when she did so, the thin layering of earth between her and the hole below also gave way. “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa—what the?!” Akari screamed as she ended up in a position that was the mirror image of Shuni’s, one foot gone into the ground at an angle up to the thigh, and her other foot extended outward.
The sudden thrusting of another foot into the small space startled the lamia sufficiently that she stopped tickling Shuni for a moment, as had Akari in her shock and attempts to wriggle free. Akari, unlike Shuni, was not weighed down with a cursed anklet, and her efforts bore fruit – until the lamia’s tail curled around the leg slowly wriggling back up to the surface and pulled it back down. Well, what was good for the goose was good for the gander, so…
“PLEEHEHEHEEEHEHEEHEEZE!” Akari squealed as her sandal and sock were removed and she too felt the brush of wicked claws on her sole. Shuni had only time to smirk momentarily before other claws were tasked onto her foot, fewer than before, but more than enough to get her laughing again.
The two girls’ laughter pealed out into the forest air, mixing together in a not unpleasant way. The reduction had allowed Shuni to get herself back under control, get her breathing a bit steadier, and even though she was hysterical with laughter, she saw an opportunity. Quickly, while Akari was distracted – frightened, too, but squealing just as loudly as Shuni – the demon hunter removed the other girl’s sandal and sock, and promptly went to work on her foot.
“NOHOHOHO!! STOP!!! PLEHEHEHEHEEZE!” Akari screeched, unable to take what she had been unknowingly inflicting, and her tickle-crazed mind was only able to flail helplessly as she felt the Demon Hunter’s nails join the whatever-it-was below the ground. It was clearly no crawling creature natural to the earth, but something else, with evil intent… a demon! “Shuni, save meheheheEEHehehehehee plehehEHHEHhheeeeze!!!” Akari begged.
Shuni did have the presence of mind to realize when enough was enough, and so she stopped her revenge on the other girl, then noticed the tickling on her foot had stopped. Furthermore, even though Akari was still giggling, she was winding down, catching her breath… why had the creature stopped? “D-Demon Hunter, what is this?” Akari asked, gulping.
“I think it’s a demon…” Shuni said, unwilling to expound on the weakness they’d exploited since her arrival at the village. “But I – AHHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Suddenly the tickling was back again, viciously exploring her foot at a frenzied pace, then after about ten seconds, it had stopped.
“Demon Hunter? Shuni, what happened? Shuni? Shuni! I – HAHAHHHEEHEHEEEHEHEHEH STHAHAAPPIT!!!” Akari’s voice had grown increasingly panicked after the silence, only to burst out in sudden hysterics. Soon it became clear what the new pattern was; silence for a varying period of time, sometimes mere seconds, but other times stretching on into an entire minute or even several minutes. It was totally random, and they were both on a blade’s edge the entire time, especially since the lamia was not willing to be so predictable as to alternate.
Still, they talked in hushed tones during the silence, quickly examining and discarding options, thinking ideas, debunking them and starting anew, trying to find some solution to their predicament as quickly as the ticklish panic infecting their brains would allow. They could find no answer, and as the minutes stretched on, Shuni could only hope that someone from the village had seen them run into the forest. She couldn’t think of anything else…
“It’ll be time in a few minutes.” The voice was not unexpected to the lamia, but it was something of a disappointment.
“Oh, if you insist, Vorkaan… but I was having such fun, even had a bonus drop in on me.” She turned and smiled at him.
Vorkaan snorted. “A bonus? What do you mean? Never mind. Just be sure to follow your instructions when the time comes… understand?”
“Of course.” And with that, Vorkaan vanished, leaving the lamia alone under the ground with two bare feet growing from the walls.
