The Hanyou and the Demon Slayer

[Remus]

Castiel stumbled and fell to his knees with a gasp of pain. One hand went to the rocky edge of the mountain path he had been walking up, while the other hand went to the wound at his side. While it had been bandaged, he did not have the materials and herbs needed to treat the injury left by the demon he had killed. He was almost certain that the beast had poisoned him, His entire left side ached and throbbed and he could barely move that arm anymore. His vision had already begun to double and blur at the time that he fell over.

"Damn them!" he shouted to the empty skies. "Damn them all! Every last one of them!" He managed to pull himself up to a half-sitting position with his back against the mountain side. Slowly, painfully wincing the whole time he shrugged out of his outer jacket. He had two knives strapped around his waist. Perfectly hidden for when he needed to ambush an attacker. Gingerly he touched the bandage at his side and cried out in pain.

This may be too much for me he thought desperately. Had he come this far only to succumb to the poison of some lesser demon? Surely he was not that weak. His training growing up as a demon slayer had taught him ways to slow down the spread of poison when treatment was not readily available. Such methods depended on where the poison entered the body. The closer to the heart, the less time you had to survive. Castiel's wound was not that close to his heart, but still if he did not get an antidote soon, he would not last much longer.

"I'll rest." he murmured feverishly. "Just a few minutes. There's got to be a town somewhere on this mountain. A village, people, anything." He began to feel himself drifting off. "I just need to rest and regain my strength. I wont die like they did. I will not be bested by a demon."

[Neko-Nakro]

Miss matched eyes of blue and green had followed the shouting, belligerent demon slayer for a ways. It seemed he was losing strength to fight, and quickly, in these mountains it was dangerous, this place was filled with many poisonous demons just like the one that poisoned him. Luckily she carried treatments with her to help travelers, both humans and demons alike. This one seemed pretty bad though, he would need further treatment, and rest. Drawing her bow, she sensed demons quickly approaching, sighing softly she stood up on the stuck branch of the tree, pulling an arrow from her quiver. As soon as the first one showed it's ugly head she pulled back the string to it's full tension, before releasing, there was no reasoning with the creatures of this mountain, while they left her alone, this wounded man was fair game. Her arrow shot out with pinpoint accuracy. Taking that moment to leap down, landing in front of the weakened human, her brilliant black and venom green stripped hair floated down with her, Her light tanned skin flexed as she drew another arrow in her bow waiting for the next demon. Clothing in fur that wrapped around her ankles, wrist, waist and her chest region, she was almost like a wild amazonian, but she found it so much easier to move about lightly armored than dressed in a kimono when hunting for herbs and watching out for travelers. The dark green vine like markings crisscrossed and spiraled up her arms, they began to glow lightly as she tapped into a small amount of her demonic power, making her arrow glow green as she released it, showering a rain of liquid poison over the 3 other demons, the venom would soak in through the skin and cause unbearable pain, causing them to flee. Sighing softly she put her bow over her shoulder as she turned around and looked at the human who was breathing heavily, that wasn't good, she had to act fast.

On closer inspection, she could tell he was a hunter, "So you're a demon hunter huh?" she said softly, mostly to herself, Aya cautiously approached him a bit more closely, weary and with good reason. She had no idea how he viewed halfbreeds, and was safer to assume he loathed them just like any other human. "I probably shouldn't... But I can't leave you like this.." She murmured giving herself a bid of courage as she crouched down, pulling a vial of anti-venom from a small furred satchel oh her hip. Her long flowing hair covering her face as she looked down at his bloodied bandage. She had to move that hand that was covering it, but surely he would wake? Biting her lower lip, Aya slowly reached forward with trembling fingers, the tips of her weathered fingers touching his hand and she began to gingerly, and slowly move his hand, while hoping he wouldn't wake and lash out at her.

[Remus]

Castiel's eyes fluttered open the moment that Aya had touched him. A girl was crouched at his side. No not a girl. She was a demon, or at the very least a hanyou. A half breed. Her appearance suggested that much. Her hair was black with green strips, her eyes were mismatched. One was blue and the other was green. Even her clothes were odd and even her skin was odd. It was dark and covered with strange glowing markings along her arm. She dressed in furs, the furs of what he did not know. Probably some other creature she had killed in the mountains or some place nearby. She had killed or at the very least chased off the other demons that he could feel around the area but that meant little. Predators often had to chase off lesser competition before it moved on to its prey. She had something in her hand, but with his fevour and blurred vision he could not tell what it was she was holding. Castiel managed to choke out a laugh.

"Going to finish me off eh? Bad enough your friends had to poison me. Seems like you haven't had your fill of fun finishing me off." It hurt to talk and his voice was very hoarse but damned if he would let this hanyou kill him without him having a word in edge-wise.

[Neko-Nakro]

His words made her look up her hand jerked away quickly and she shook her head. Aya tried reaching out towards him again, her fingers clearly shook, she was scared. "there's no such thing as friends for a hanyou, demons hate me as much as your kind does." this time when her fingers touched him she managed to pry his hand away from his wound. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't bother with such a silly small vial, I'd just shoot an arrow through your head. This is anti-vemon for the demon you fought earlier." She gave a small smile, as she tore away the bloody bandages. "this will probably sting a little." Her tone, the entire time she tried to help, had no air of malice, but a kind gentle tone. a thumb popped the top off the vial as she poured some into the open wound. This would help bring down the symptoms and pain from the poison coursing through his body. sealing the top again she swung around, pulling her bow from her shoulder and grabbed an arrow, without hesitating she shot yet another demon that took a leap over the ledge, her arrow once again hitting right between the eyes it screamed in pain as veins from the point of impact lit up a bright green as quickly spreed down it's body in a spiderweb version before hitting it's heart. While the shot to the head didn't kill it her venom would. Sighing and setting her bow on the ground she turned around and squatted down. looking this human in the eyes she could feel an overwhelming sense of resentment coming from him, she frowned a little. "We need to get you to my home in the woods, I can treat you better there, and it would be best to move you away from such an open place before dark. You can worry about hating what I am after you heal some more." Her frown shifted back to a small smile, and something came to mind making her look down at her bag. "So you don't bleed out on your way there I guess I should bandage it up temporarily..." she said mostly to herself, grabbing a roll of bandages from her pack, when in her human form she would go to the village and trade resources with the locals, so she had a healthy supply of bandages.

Carefully she began to wrap up his wound, a firm, yet flexible tightness, this was obviously not the first time she had done this. There had been several before him over the years that she had helped despite their fear of her. It was just in her nature to help those in need, especially in such an unforgiving, and dangerous place, in a way it gave her a purpose more than just trying to survive in a harsh, unforgiving environment that forced it's denizens, often to the breaking point. She had been on the edge many times but found the strength to come back from it all, time and time again. Once Aya had finished wrapping up his wound she too the two end pieces and tied them firmly. she then turned her back to him, and pulled off her quiver of arrows, pulling her long hair to the side. "Grab on, shove aside any sense of pride unless you want to be devoured alive by the things you obvious hate the most." She said, wanting this man, who obviously wanted anything like her dead, to just climb on her back like it was nothing.

(it's hard to make her so shy right now lol She'll be more so after he recovers some, she's in "I gotta help him" mode x3 )

[Remus]

Castiel sighed. It was not as if he had a choice, he could barely move on his own let alone fight. To try to do anything at this point would be suicide. Still the hanyou puzzled him. What was she doing? Why was she helping him. He had heard of demons pretending to be on humans side before, the village that adopted him after his parents were killed tried to tell him that there were even good demons out there, but he did not wish to believe it. Now that she was much closer to him than she had been before he was able to take a better look at her. She was indeed pretty. Beautiful was another word for it, but that was to be expected from one whom had demon blood.

He wondered what she must think of him, a human who could do nothing but stare at her intently as she worked on his wound. The salve she put on him, burned and stung at first and he had winced, but the pain already had begun to numb some. He had to admit the girl did have skills in treatment, although her hands did seem a bit awkward as they moved about his injury. To do so, while at the same time being able to fend off advancing demons with naught but a bow an arrow was nothing less than extraordinary. It was her words however that gave him the most shock. She admitted that her kind seemingly had no place, stuck between to different worlds, none of which were accepting of her. Yet she seemed not to care. All she wanted to do was treat his wound.

The girl finished rebandaging his wound and offered him her arm. Castiel hesitated. Would he go with this half-demon? Her words were true, even with the treatment she gave him he was still in no shape to fight. The mountains got dangerous especially after dark. The next demon to come his way would surely finish him off. With a slightly suspicious look on his face Castiel reached up and grabbed the girl's arm.

"Why are you helping me?" He found that with her support he could manage to stand up and shuffle at a slow pace. "You know what I am right? What I do for a living...." He looked at her. For now Castiel would have to be polite and do what she told him. He would let her guide him to her home, and give him whatever treatment he needed. But while he was resting he would also be watching. This girl was an odd sort of hanyou and he was still not ready to drop his guard around her.

[Neko-Nakro]

Aya's one dark blue eye glanced at him as she helped him up a small trail towards one of the denser parts of the forest. She took her movements nice and steady, but her nervousness in being so close was obvious. "You are human, simple as that, but you hunt demons, and from your mannerisms and the way you shouted earlier I imagine without any discrimination. Plus, even though you can't smell it, your scent is masked heavily by demon blood. I help you regardless, because it gives my life some sense of meaning, even if that person can and might kill me when they recover. it's not my hands that will be covered in senseless bloodshed." She said simply before looking ahead, the forest was filled was remarkably beautiful flowers that were obviously poisonous, beautiful creatures and hideous alike lurked in the trees, bushes and waters, it was like a haven for those that were poisonous. a paradise she had cultivated. She gave a small smile as she glanced up at the canopy and watched the birds hop about with their brilliant array of feathers, singing happily, a pair were dancing together and singing back and forth in some strange courtship. "I can wish to be a beautiful bird all I want to, but such things are not the reality of the world, I must accept what fate has dealt me from birth and learn to use that to live more than simply exist." She continued to explain as they delve deeper into the woods ,the other demons didn't seem to dare enter this part of the woods, and as they came up to a hand built hut around a massive ancient tree, the reason why was apparent, this patch was clearly her territory. I wasn't a massive building my a nice sized one, perfect for her to live in and care for wounded people like himself. "let's get you to my bed, so i can more properly address your wounds." She continued as they approached the cottage like building. the lightly tanned skin became apparent, she had spent months out in the sun building her own home after being chased out of her previous one, between the time it took to gather the lumber, to figure out how to use the plants around her to keep everything together, the finished product was quite sturdy and had already survived many winters.

(imagine a cottage like this except with a huge tree coming through the center of it lol)

[Remus]

"As simple as that." Castiel huffed. This hanyou may have appeared to put on the face of an honest and good beast, but as they wolves are known to wear sheep's clothing. She was right though. The scent of demon blood must have been coating him head to toe. From how badly his wound was before the girl treated it, his own human blood would have called out every demon in the area like a piece of raw meet in a cage of rabid animals. She was still helping him though. Castiel was intensely curious as to what sort of demon she was. She had the markings of an animal yet her powers and mannerisms suggested other possibilities as well.

A lie. It must be a lie. No demon would so easily help a human without ulterior motives. He wondered about the treatment she gave him too. Sure he felt a little bit of his strength coming back to him, but that didn't mean he was cured. The medicine could also cloud his mind or affect his judgment. Castiel stared at her intently as she looked around the forest, admiring it for it's beauty. For a girl that readily admitted she knew he would kill her were he given the chance, she sure did open up to him quite easily. Telling him about the birds in the forest and that no matter how much she wished she could not change her fate. Such was true. There were nights where Castiel wished he could turn back the clock and with the knowledge he had now, kill the demons that had slaughtered his entire village and family. He too was at the merciless hands of fate and could only play things as they came to him.

The girl's house seemed to be no more than a cottage built around the trunk of a large tree. Castiel had to admit there was a strange beauty to it. It was alone here in the middle of the woods. Far away enough so that it was secluded from the outside world including the demons that roamed the area. It was if some sort of special barrier had been erected around it cutting it off from the rest of the forest, but still keeping the land itself intact and as beautiful as ever. Castiel's eyes roamed over the cottage and the clearing around it. There were no signs of anyone else there. An ambush perhaps. He would have to make a map of the entire area in his head. Both inside and outside the house as well as the surrounding area. If he could not fight this girl, he would need to run.

"Do you live here all by yourself?" he asked her suddenly for the first time speaking to her as if they were having a normal conversation. "This home....you must have built it. Was there no one around to help you?" Castiel tried to sound casual. If this girl was trying to lure him perhaps he could lure her right back.

[Neko-Nakro]

Aya listened to his tone, the first response obviously lacking in belief but she obviously was use to such statements. Partially rolling her eyes in response to his initial comment. Out to the left of the cottage was a small garden filled with a variety of both common and rare herbs, specially used for anti-venom creations. "believe what you want." She began, picking up on hints of his emotions, these were things she was use to seeing though, just another demon, no matter her origin, simply because of her blood she was deemed evil, and it forced her to be alone. She sighed at his questions softly and shook her head, "Yes I am alone." She Stated simply, her voice a bit somber.

As she opened the door, she continued "I built everything by myself, no one would help me, nor would I want it. If I am to survive alone I will do so without help, especially from those who look down on me for simply existing." Inside everything was furnished from small pots, and shelves, to an eating table with only one chair, while it was lovely, there was a strange sense of emptiness about it, lonely, there was even a single bed made for one person towards the back, the doorway to the room had the fur of a black bear, covering the doorway for privacy but also easy accessibility for her to get to her patients. This branches above acted as beams except for one that led alongside a window higher up, there was some dear furs hanging up there, well out of reach of normal humans. She would probably not sleep there much anyways probably up on the roof or at the top of the tree where she could see the sky more easily.

She led him towards her room, the most it had in it was the bed piled with furs, and a simply made wardrobe that she was working on carving into something more decadent. with a few chips here and there, some making out the shape of what looked to be a lone wolf howling towards the moon. "You will be staying in here... I have the things I need in the kitchen, so lets get you onto the bed. You will have to remove everything above the waist so i can more easily get to the wound unless you want ti to fester and become infected." She warned simply, use to dealing with any sort of rejection right off the bat, she figured she would simply state the obvious, no matter how uncomfortable it might make him feel. After helping Castiel into the rather soft fluffy bed she turned away and simply walked back through, the doorway, shoving the bear pelt to the side calmly and headed to a cabinet that had her supplies she got from the village during her times she was human. she then found some ointment made from herbs that would help to prevent infection.

[Remus]

(I'll refer to Aya as Aya from now on cause its kind of repetitive to simply refer her as "the girl" They still haven't formally met though so he wont actually call her by name )

Castiel noticed the change in Aya's tone after he asked her if she was alone. Despite her insistence that she didn't need anyone and didn't care how people felt about her. Still he detected a hint of sorrow in her voice. She had built this place herself for herself. The furnishings suggested as much. Everything was designed so that it could only suit one person. For a moment Castiel felt a pang of sympathy for her. She was despised by her own kind and thus had to built a wall around herself because of it. She was cut off in everyway from the world it seemed.

Despite it's lonesome décor, Aya's house was indeed comfy for a demon's lair. The furs were soft and warm and the bed on any other occasion would seem inviting to a weary traveler. He wondered where she planned to sleep. There was a landing type area when the tree came down through the roof, but Castiel couldn't see that as being comfy. It did however look like the perfect place to lie in wait in ambush.

He shrugged off his shirt and laid back on her bed staring at her as she went off towards another part of the house. If he was lucky, her back would be turned to him. If he could just get to the door, perhaps he would have the upper hand. There was a knife strapped to his waist. Something she did not notice during her initial treatment. If he could not sneak up on her, perhaps he could attack while she was tending to him.

"If I stay here, where do you plan on sleeping?" he asked. It was a perfectly normal question. He hoped that somewhere within her walls he could find a niche that would be perfect to attack.

[Neko-Nakro]

(yes we will need to work that in at some point xD Might have her just come out with it lol)

After finish gathering things up, she put her needle, for stitching wounds, into the small fire she had off to the other open room, which resembled more of a simple living room with furs layered in areas, sometimes she would fall asleep here staring into the crackling embers. Ayas gaze never left the small pit as he asked the question about her sleeping arrangements. "If I do sleep, which is rare with possible dangers in my home, I honestly don't know. I could be on the ground in the house or up in the tree somewhere, I've woken up on my roof, and dozed off in the very top of the tree watching the stars in the sky." In truth she had a hard time sleeping, even when she wanted to she would often be restless and wander around her home, inside and out, tending to plants or working on her carvings. Sometimes even simply letting her thoughts wander. It was a struggle to stay sane in such solitude, but what choice did she have?

Sighing quietly to herself she pulled the reddening needle from the fire, swiftly dropping it into a small container, the sizzling sound of the metal cooling could be heard clear across the room. Standing up straight, she pulled out the sterilized item and grabbed her basket of materials, she was ready for just about any kind of wound he had. This was probably going to be painful and scarring for the demon slayer, maybe snap some manners into the boy. The thought gave her a light smile as her feet made a soft padded sound towards the room.

pulling aside the fine fur covering, Aya made her way over to the bed. "I will need you to lay back." she said softly, using a hand to push down on his chest gently. The possibility of Castiel reacting negatively to her touch was already a thought in her head, but it didn't stop her, he needed to lie down. Aya wanted to be done with him as soon as possible and gain some much needed space, being so close to someone was nerve racking, it was becoming difficult to keep her composure as her naturally timid side struggled for control. As she put her hand on him, the marking on her arm came into detailed view, they weren't self inflicted, like a tattoo, but the length of the marking was slightly raised, resembling heavily of a poisonous vine. hints of dark and light green colors seemed to swirl faintly along the vein like paths. obviously if she really wanted to she could cause great harm with whatever lay beneath that skin, but she was surprisingly gentle and kind. "first thing, need to clean up that wound, then I can treat it." Grabbing some damp cloths, she was going to clean up the blood then apply her ointment after taking a closer look, making sure no demon fragments were left in his wound.