3: Define Mercy

The joint in every scaled knuckle POPS, talons curling and stretching as bones shift unnaturally beneath shining, silver blue scales.

Shrinking into the ground at the feedback assaulting her senses, his face twists into a gruesome snarl as the scent of copper and flowers intrude her nose.

Iridescent scales surface to the bridge of his nose with haunting, molten eyes honing in for a precise blow.

Choking out, "I'm sorry for unjust blood," she turns her cheek to the road with clamped eyes.

~ I don't know why I said that. What's that mean? WHY ARE THOSE ARE MY LAST WORDS?! ~

Holding her breath in a permanent wince, she awaits the searing pain of serrated claws ripping into tender limbs until ribbons of her young, innocent flesh remain.

"Hn," sounds in her ear, sweltering heat flitting from his nares and kissing her cheek with lingering condensation.

The heavy heat of his body leaves her and she fearfully peeks around for traumatizing sights before cautiously opening her eyes.

Sitting with Tsukiyomi standing off to her side, she watches him revert to the kinder, aesthetically pleasing, humanoid form.

~ Whew. That was close! (^_^') …guess.I.don't.wanna.die.after.all... ~

"I'm leaving."

~ I won? ~

Rising to her feet with a sense of accomplishment, she radiates relief to have been blessed with a new home and someone she can rely on.

Following her new master along the wide, naturally eroded path seated between mountain wall and vine-trees, she delights in territory new to her senses.

Out of nowhere as she returns from spacing out, splendor opens around them as they finally tread a change in scenery under impossibly cloudless skies; an ocean of stars with ribbons of purple, turquoise and blue cluster around the moon.

White and purple flowers flourish beyond the rocky path that disappears into lofty, green grasses. Aromatic petals release a sweet perfume under flashing fireflies drunk off wildflower nectar.

Pink and white tree blossoms drift on the soft breeze, flying free to wish the pair goodnight.

~ These kinds of plants can't live in place, in this season, can they? And shouldn't there be nothing but clouds?... ~

A kilometer (0.6214 mi) away, white waterfalls dive into banks with smooth flowing waters that stretch far and wide in all directions.

Mist from the rapids spray moonlit rocks and greenery, creating glimpses of rainbows over croaking frogs jumping across floating lily pads.

~ No one -ever- talked about this stuff being here... Who in their right mind forbade us from coming— oh. Yeah... That guy. ~

Rich, brown eyes land on the back of the yokai lord's head as she conveniently remembers grandmother's warnings of a scaled beast with the ability to melt lands.

She rolls her eyes and nearly scoffs.

~ He's man-size. There's no way a ginormous flying serpent's hiding in there. ~

Watching Tsukiyomi turn left and move from the land to the stream, her jaw hits the ground when he steps onto the water.

Wonderment fills her with every undisturbed step along the abysmal surface before she rubs her eyes to double-check. Chuckling inward for being so gullible, the projected, watery path parts around his feet and spills from smooth, gray stone elevating from below in time to meet his feet.

~ He can do anything… ~

Lily pads and floating petals drift from the stone as it disappears into a cavern of impenetrable black in the middle of a parted waterfall.

~ (o.O') We're going in -there-?... Oh no. OH NO! I didn't think this through. *gulps* I just followed a demon back to his lair. What was I thinking?! (ToT) Help! ~

Clenching her jaw, too frenzied to breathe, she remains at the precipice of wet, gray stone with her toes clutching damp grass in contemplation.

Regret for her decision rears its ugly head at the worst possible moment, his voice jarring her nerves back into the moment at hand.

"Human," scrutinizing her through a narrow eye, standing in the cusp of darkness with glowing, silver-blue eyes, "Knowing of my hearth and absconding means a fate worse than your assailants."

The coolness of his statement sends a damaging shiver down her spine. Struggling to remain standing, she does well to hide her desire to crumble to the ground and commence fetal position.

~ Worse than -that- you say? ~

Tugging at her collar for air and glancing behind her, she recognizes that it is far too late for second thoughts.

Shaking her head to force away negative feelings clawing up her calves, she tiptoes along the wet stone stinging broken, blister-covered calluses to catch up.

~ Okay, 'Creator of Japan', Sir: I'm counting on you to look out for me since you took them from me! ~

Entering the silent void within her new master's mountainous home, they are greeted by a moist, dark space on the inside of the waterfall before it crashes shut behind them.

Inching closer to Tsukiyomi as darkness envelops them, the girl fights with her hands to keep from grabbing a hold of him out of fear.

~ You're a big girl! You don't need anyone but the gods! ~

Stunned, she spots the path forming from thin air under his feet with every step as an unknown light source brightens the stone they follow.

Holding her dress at her sides, she glances over her shoulder to find an even heavier darkness behind them.

~ I'm scared but I feel like I'm safe with him. (>_<) I don't get it! Does he really think I'd be able to "flee" this place? (O_O') I can't even hear the waterfall anymore... ~

Hanging her head in a sighing groan of despair, she notices the metal of his armor and shoes shine in the darkness.

~ It's glowing like a fire bug! HOW?! ~

A sudden growl startles her into jumping forward, colliding with Tsukiyomi's armor-clad back.

Tripping backward with an awkward cough while he remains indifferent to her outburst, she holds her stomach.

~ Why'm I so hungry?! …I wonder what kind of food he's got. What do yokai even eat?... (o.O) ~

Distressed, she remembers bedtime stories about demons stealing naughty children in the night to swallow them whole.

~ *quiet whimper* ...I can't eat human... (T-T) ~

She balls her fists at her sides with a quiet stomp.

~ Why didn't I just thank him and leave?! ~

She winces, pain throbbing up her foot and into a tingling calf. With muscles that feel like they could explode at any moment, her heart beats through the soles of her feet with every aching step.

Walking in silence for an uncertain amount of time, she rubs her eyes at the sudden shift in scenery.

~ Did we just enter the spirit world?... ~