Chương 6: Passing time and a new companion
(So, before you start reading this chapter last chapter I said that the villagers would go to Anima but after looking at a map of Remnant realised it would make more sense for them to go to Sanus and no doubt the villagers would have realised it too.)
(Two days later)
It was early morning and Daemon had gotten up to see off the villagers who were leaving for Vacuo. Apparently due to the distance it unlike viable to be able to travel to Anima and acquire transport for the whole village's population. This caused them to change plans for where the settlement would relocate. A pair of villagers with a small boat had been sent to secure transport for them over a month ago when his grandfather's illness had become more apparent. This had been necessary as they had no other way to communicate with the rest of Remnant. They had returned the day after his grandfathers death with news that a bullhead would pick them up from the coast using a bullhead but it would only be able to take them to Vauco.
Daemon decided to help a few villagers load the last few items onto the wagons of some the more elderly villagers. While helping a few of the villagers attempted to make a last effort in convincing Daemon to leave with them before ultimately giving up upon seeing how resolute he was in his decision. Several of women smothered him hugs and wished him well while some of men shook his hand and said that they hoped they would see him again.
After two hours most of the villagers had left in a large line with wagon laden with their meagre possessions. Living on the unarmed continent was hard and there was no room for luxury and no one found any shame in leaving now. Instead, their seemed to be a positive energy that surged through the caravan of villages. Daemon found himself happy about his as it would make it easier for them to travel to the edge of the continent and board a ship as they were less likely to get swarmed by grimm with the lack of negative emotions.
As the last wagon was joint the caravan the village elder walked over to him and gave a piece of paper with some writing on. "I had the men I sent to procure our transport get me a scroll. This is its number should you ever be able to or want call me do so. I will make no attempt to ask you come with us as I know you will not be convinced. But please look after and live a good life my boy. Also" The village elder then embraced him in a light hug that Daemon reciprocated before saying "I will make sure to come and see you all one day" and breaking the hug.
The old man gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder a before handing him a duffle bag saying "Here it had most of the villages medical supplies. We all agree that you would need them more than us and that we could restock when got to Vacuo if not when we move through the rest of Sanus to get to Vale. We all agreed that would be our goal when we leave. We aim to resettle in Sanus our original idea was to settle near Vacuo however we realised it would be difficult to survive in a desert so instead we will attempt to settle closer to Vale. It was a shame we couldn't get transport to Anima but it is probably for the best anyway. Anyhow take care Daemon." With this he began walking off to join the rest of caravan.
After a couple of hours Daemon decided against staying in the village. Now that everyone had left it felt unnaturally quiet and left Daemon feeling unsettled. For the first time since his rebirth, he felt alone, a feeling that weighed heavily upon his mind. Daemon shook his head clearing his mind of such thoughts as he remembered that negative emotions would bring down a swarm of grimm upon his head.
Daemon decided that he wouldn't stay in the village for the night like he had originally intended to. Instead, he would leave for the clearing tonight despite the wet and slight muddy ground. The previous night a heavy storm had passed over the village and area around it. It had passed within a few hours. However, a few trees that he had spotted had snapped and fallen and some of the houses had been damaged that proved despite its relatively short duration it had be vicious.
While it would be hard to gather fire wood due to the storm the previous night, he would able to manage with his semblance or failing that he had about 50 cut trees in his inventory for he ever needed them. He was reluctant to use the wood he had however as he wanted to save it for an emergency.
Daemon spent a few hours roaming what remained of the village before leaving. He would miss the small village despite himself he had grown attached to small settlement. However, he did not delude himself into believing that he could remain there. No, he had to leave and he would go tonight.
Daemon proceeded to leave the village and slowly strolled through the woods until he came to the edge of the clearing when he suddenly caught notice of a slight whimpering sound. Cautiously Daemon summoned his steel sword having decided not to Stalheim sword unless the situation was dire. He followed the sound to small hollowed out tree stump of a tree had clearly snapped in the intense winds the night before and what he saw inside surprised him.
It was a small wolf like, puppy sized creature laying on its side Daemon however hesitated to call a wolf due to its unique appearance. Its fur was an inky black, reminiscent of a grimm's own fur, with a deep crimson hue on the front of its chest running up his neck as well as underbelly and paws, the fur surrounding the area its claws would be as well as the inside of its ears were a brilliant light red . Its eyes however were mesmerising a brilliant gleaming ruby that shone with intelligence and hint a hint of pain.
The small pup noticing Daemon studying it forced its self into a crouching position and soft growl leaving its lips as attempt to scare Daemon off afraid that he might attack. However, before Daemon could anything in response one of pup's back legs collapsed forcing it to the floor with a gentle whimper its eyes full of pain and fear as it knew it couldn't defend its self should Daemon attack. Daemon looked closer and saw something he hadn't noticed before, the fur on its right hind leg was darker than the other and the fur was wet and sticky suggesting that the area was injured.
Daemon took a step closer to the injured pup causing it to let out a small grow and backup in the hollowed stump. Seeing this Daemon dropped his knees and held out an open hand to the wounded pup putting away his sword a gently coaxed the pup towards him with gentle encouraging words "Come on little one I won't hurt you. I might even be able to help heal you." While not understanding what Daemon was saying it understood the gentle tone of his words and couldn't feel any malicious intentions from him.
With this the little pup crawled forward and sniffed his hand before giving it a gentle lick. Daemon stroked its head as it pushed its head back against his hand before gently picking up in his and holding against his chest. The puppy felt light in his arms as it struggled slightly before then burrowing into the warmth of his chest. Daemon then gently carried it towards the clearing where he then summoned a blanket from his inventory before gently resting it on the blanket.
Daemon quickly summoned a tent and some fire wood before starting a fire. As he did so he heard the little pup's stomach rumble. Hearing this summoned a cooked steak from his inventory and used one of his knives to cut it into bite sized pieces before slowly hand feeding the and discretely checking the pups gender and realised that it was a girl.
Slowly thought through several names for the girl as he felt he couldn't just keep calling her pup. He discarded ideas like Huntress, Artemis and other similar names before his thoughts went down a new track. Examining the puppy yet again he thought she looked a little demonic at a glance and while fluffy and cute now he was sure she would look regal and menacing. He then thought of a name he had heard of in his past life for the Queen of devils 'Lilith'. He also remembered it meaning 'Ghost, night monster or of the night' all of which would be fitting for the what the little pup would likely grow to be.
He finished feeding her before then gently spoke "Hey girl, how do you feel about being called Lilith after all I don't want to just keep calling you pup or girl." The pup then tilted it head to the side her little fluffy ear twitching before her tail started to wag and she gave a happy bark before panting happily. Daemon gave the first true happy smile he had given since his grandfathers death, chuckling before asking "So you like the same Lilith then?" He received another happy bark as her tail started wagging even more enthusiastically in response her ears twitching.
Daemon was amused by this reaction and as such called out "Lilith" causing the pups ears to twitch and her to let out yet another happy little bark. He then started fussing over her and stroking her before catching sight of her wounded leg.
He gently sat down and pulled Lilith on to his lap speaking soothingly "Let's have a look at this leg hey Lilith." Gently running his fingers over the wound causing Lilith to let out a small yip and her ears to flatten against her head. "Sorry girl." Daemon gently stroked her head to calm her down before pouring some water from a water skin that he had summoned from his inventory over the cut. It was deep but thankfully not very long or wide being only 3 centimetres in length and maybe half a centimetre wide. He gently cleaned and washed the fur around the wound causing Lilith to give a whimper of protest. He quickly finished before gently drying the leg and wrapping with a bandage from the medical kit given to by the village elder.
He sat stroking Lilith's head trilling to decide if she would need further treatment or maybe stitches yet as he went to finish this his mind blanked his hand stopping mid-stroke upon Lilith's head as she stared at him confusion in her ruby eyes. He began to speak unconsciously, his voice echoed with power sounding like many people speaking in unison, laden with meaning.
"For it is in passing that we come to understand our own being. It is through this we come to understand our own paths, ever branching and filled with peril. It is through this journey that we rise beyond our limits as we seek the victory promised. May not time not weaken you or death bind you. With this I release your soul and share your burden as I invite you to join this journey by my side."
As he finished a brilliant ruby aura burst out of Lilith as he felt a connection formed between the two. He felt her joy and happiness, he felt for an instant her instincts had always led her and how this was a large part of her. He felt a myriad of different thoughts, feeling and sensations go through his mind but none were his own. Lilith then crawled out of his lap and began to run at a slow pace still obviously affected by injury to her leg but obviously excited and energised .
His grandfather had described this once when he had asked about the chant used to awaken aura and how it affected the people involved. His grandfather had told him this.
"Daemon that is question that is incredibly difficult to answer but I will try. Everyone's chant is unique to them though there often similarities like allusions to life, death and the soul. The chant is a statement of one being and some have even been known to change over the course of someone's life as their motivations and personality change.
The other part of question is harder. It is a strangely intimate interaction where you can feel the depths of the other person, or in some cases animals, soul. The thing that makes them uniquely them. Obviously, this would form a bond but the strength of the bond is often dependent on the closeness of the two involved. This bond is something that can be embraced bringing the two closer together."
Remembering this Daemon quickly focused on the bond that had just formed and focused on the bond embraced it. Lilith stopped running around and stopped to look at Daemon and tilted her head at the boy feeling what he was attempting to do. She was unsure before thinking to herself 'The human has helped me, he treated my wounded, he gave me food and just gave me this weird energy. He also warm, he feels so warm. That's it, it's decided he is MY human' unconsciously raising her nose into the air before she began to copy what Daemon was doing and started embracing the bond.
As they both focused on the bond their auras began from flash in unison, as this happened Daemon and Lilith both felt the connection become even stronger. They could now communicate more effectively but send their intent through the link. Daemon realised this Lilith sent through the link she wanted to be picked up. It wasn't words but more abstract thoughts and emotions that somehow translated into understanding what the other what. With this realisation Daemon quickly walked to Lilith before picking her and cradling her to his chest as he walked back towards the fire he had started and sat down placing Lilith in his lap.
Daemon looked around as night began to fall, it had been a long day. He was happy however; he had a new companion so he wouldn't be alone. While Daemon didn't know what type of wolf or wolf like creature, she was she had a soul. This meant despite her appearance Lilith couldn't be a grimm. He was even enthusiastic with his new ability to communicate with Lilith through the bond that they now shared.
Suddenly a thought came to mind as remembered that aura was meant to be able to heal or at the very least speed up the healing process. Excited he started to attempt communicate this idea to Lilith through the bond only to feel her confusion relayed back to him through the bond. He shook his head as he realised only simple thoughts or intentions could be relayed maybe in the future, they could use it for more but right it couldn't. With this in mind he began to focus on the idea of her red aura and the wound closing. A moment later her ruby aura flared and he watched as the wound began to slowly close up and seal. And instant later a flash of excitement so intense that it disorientated him blasted through their link. He couldn't even bring himself to be upset feeling Lilith's joy and excitement.
Feeling hungry he summoned another steak from his inventory and began to eat when he felt a slight nudge to his leg and looked down to see huge wide ruby eyes stare up at him lovingly paws perching her up on his leg. A slight surge of hunger and delight echoed through their link telling her she wanted some as well. As those big ruby eyes bored into, he let out sigh before summoning her a steak as well unable to refuse her begging. He realised then and there his new companion was going to be spoilt beyond believe and just sighed before giving a light chuckle at the thought.
Having eaten Daemon felt tried and decided he would now go to sleep; it had been a long day. As such he opened up his sleeping bag which was beneath his little open-ended tent close enough to fire. Before he got in, he put a few large logs on the fire so it would burn until morning before getting into the sleeping bag. As he went to close his eyes a small sad little whimper at his feet caused him to look and see Lilith looking at him with sad little teary ruby eyes, fluffy ears drooping, chin rested on her front paws. Sighing understanding what she desired he open up the sleeping bag and patted his chest with an indulgent look on his face causing her to instantly scramble her way up to his chest and curl into ball on his chest her face tucked just beneath his chin. He gently closed the sleeping bag.
That night Daemon fell asleep with a light warm weight on his chest and small little snore leading him into his slumber.
(The next morning)
Daemon woke bleary-eyed and felt a intense warm weight centred directly over his sternum which caused him to lift his head and stare at small little black and red ball of fluff on his chest, her silky fur tickling his chin and neck. Suddenly, Lilith's eyes shot open bright gleaming ruby staring into a soft glowing silver before Lilith suddenly lunged forward causing Daemon jolt back slightly before Lilith started to lick his face all over, her tail beating happily on his chest before he picked her up, hands on side of her stomach. He sat up still holding Lilith in front him as she squirmed.
Daemon stared her in eyes then with an amused voice asked "And what do you thing your doing? Hmmm?" Suddenly she broke from his hold and jumped at him licking his face yet again until he pushed her away laughing. "Yes, good morning to you as well Lilith!" He then ruffled her ears and got up and summoned some twigs to get the fire going again.
Daemon then decided to try something out of his inventory that he hadn't yet tried, mammoth steak. He pulled one out and it looked and smelled incredible and so he took a bite out of it and a sudden juicy meaty taste exploded in his mouth as he almost moaned at the taste. He suddenly noticed Lilith nose and ears twitching looking at food in front of him. He kept eating until she came in front of him giving him sad loving puppy eyes in hopes of having some of the delicious smelling meat. Daemon however decided to play a little joke and instead started to take any bite hearing a little whine that he pretends to ignore before taking yet another bite and giving and even louder moan to which Lilith's whines grew even louder before realising g and what he was doing pretending to sulk seeing this decided he would take one more bite and then give her some.
However, Lilith had different ideas the second he raised the steak to take another bite she quickly lunged grabbing the steak and running to the other side of the clearing with the steak in her mouth before staring at him as she started to chew into it. Smugness redacted from her body and through their connection. She gave him smug wolfish smile and then started to munch away at her prize. Daemon had already eaten his fill and as such let her have her fun. After she had eaten enough, he started to playfully chase after the little thieving pup laughing the whole time until almost an hour later, they both laid down tired after they had finished their little game of tag.
After laying their for an hour, both having drunk plenty of water to rehydrate, Daemon decided to attempt to teach the hyperactive little puppy to meditate in order help her better use and control her aura. Brother gods bless her, she tried she really did and it was adorable, attempting to sit there perfectly still fluffy fur all puffed up, ears twitching at every sound and tail giving a small twitch every few seconds. He couldn't help but laugh causing the little cub to jump and started to nip at his chin , hands in indignant anger at being laughed at. An adorable pouty look on her little face.
He decided to try a different method of teaching her how to guide and brought out some small plastic dodgeballs that he had taken from the house. He communicated that he wanted Lilith to use her aura to block and deflect the dodgeballs when he threw them at her. The first few she failed to block drawing annoyed irritated growls from the little pup. However, she learnt quickly and within a couple of hours was able to block it every time.
Now she had gotten this good he pulled some tennis balls out of his inventory. He was able to throw them harder and faster than the dodgeballs. While it took Lilith a few attempts she mastered this level even faster until finally Daemon drew out the wooden bow his grandfather had got him and blunt arrows. Understandably, but Daemon and Lilith were a little weary of this practice, but, yet again Lilith mastered it within two hours. By the end both were exhausted by the time that they had stopped their exercises. Daemon rewarded her for her hard work by giving her mammoth steak and watches with a huge smile as she ravaged the huge lump of meat in front of her.
They then spent the rest of the afternoon laying in the sun testing the strength and amity of their bond. As they practiced with it, they felt that it slowly grew stronger, the change was barely noticeable, but it was noticeable. They spent the time relaxing until the sun began to set and night began its gradual encroachment.
That night Daemon started another fire and pulled a roasted goat leg from his inventory tearing pieces off to share with Lilith who due to eating a whole three person serving of mammoth steak wasn't particularly hungry. After eating he opened his sleeping bag and laid down holding it the sleeping bag open, Lilith immediately scrabbled into to his chest circle a couple of times before laying down and tucking her nose into his neck gently sniffing so that she could smell his scent before falling asleep tired from her day of training. Daemon gently closed the sleeping bag over the both of them before slowing drifting to sleep himself.
(The next morning)
The next morning Daemon woke up and felt Lilith asleep on his chest. He decided to let her sleep another hour as she must be tired. Half an hour later the lupine puppy woke, she stood and shook herself ruffling up her fur and making her look even more adorable. A mischievous glimmer appeared in her eyes as she stared at Daemon and prepared to lunge to only to be caught in mid-jump by Daemon who grabbed her and stood up before then placing her down and summoning a normal steak by which in Skyrim terms meant enough for two grown men before cutting it in half with sword and laying half down in front Lilith who immediately started to tear at.
Something just occurred to him that hadn't really sunk in prior every time he summoned food it was in the right condition to eat, hot like it just came out of an oven or slightly cooler if it suited. He then realised that it seemed like his inventory kept things in the state he it was in when he put them into his inventory. He then remembered the molten drops of ebony from his grandfathers tombstone and out they came still molten. He put them back in and imagined they coming out cool and surprising they did. Putting them back he tried to pull them back out molten again but they were cold still. This made Daemon realise that his inventory could maintain heat or it cool an item down but it couldn't heat it. Eh guess that's what his semblance is for anyway.
Daemon pulled himself from getting lost in his thoughts and quickly finished his food. Once he had he told Lilith to stay where she and walked to the tree line and gathered 10 branches each thick and sturdy, roughly the size and thickness of a baseball bat. Having done this he walked back to Lilith and showed her the sticks and communicated through the link that he wanted her to bite one as held it in front her. Although confused Lilith quickly obliged and managed to bite through the stick after about 5 bites.
Seeing Daemon held out the next one and asked her to bite it again just this time with her aura active. Lilith did as she was asked and managed to bite through it one single bite causing the wood to shatter and splinter into pieces causing Daemon smiled. He held out yet another stick except this time he gently enhanced this one with aura to make it tougher and more durable. He held this one out for Lilith for activated her aura and bit into the stick only to leave a few teeth marks. She froze having expected this one to break just like the last one causing Daemon to smile.
He managed to explain to her through their link that he had enhanced it with aura to make it stronger and that in order to break it Lilith should channel aura into her jaw muscles and teeth. Sadly, this was all he could do to explain the process to her and the rest she would to learn by herself. After almost an hour with no success Daemon could feel her frustration and anger at her lack of progress and her inability to bite through the stick. Daemon gave a sigh and put the stick down before picking her up making her snap angrily at him. He gently stroked her and told her to calm down.
He sat down with her in his lap and slowly explained through his bond with her that she shouldn't be so frustrated and that she didn't need to make instant progress, instantly achieve some form advancement. He slowly felt her calm down and the tension leave her. After spending half an hour relaxing, he stood up and asked "Lilith, do you want to give it another go?"
Lilith automatically agreed so he picked up the stick and gave it a small enhancement just like before. Unlike previously she didn't just jump in head first and attempt to bite through it. He then watched as her aura flared up and then a minute later, she finally lunged and bite into the stick and for the first time almost went through. This time she when she bit again, she did it away from her last bite and this time bit clean through the whole stick.
Daemon could feel her joy at achieving it through the bond as swooped down to wrap her in a hug. When he put her down again, he asked if she wanted to try again on a stronger twig to which she agreed.
Over the course of the next 5 hours they worked their way through all ten sticks and even another seven he had to go and gather. Within five hours Lilith had almost mastered the technique and was able to bite through the sticks up to nearly his maximum level of reinforcement. He also tried it on a bar of steel he quickly made using a steel ingot and his semblance to make a steel bar which he reinforced to about three quarters of his maximum and Lilith managed to tear it in half. This surprised him but afterward he showered her in praise and affection for her accomplishment in doing so.
In just two days she was able to almost master basic control and direction of aura in a way that would take most, aside for himself, months to achieve he couldn't be prouder. That night he gave yet another large mammoth steak as he seems to be her favourite and then watched with fondness as she finished it. After this he summoned another that he cut in half, throwing half back into his inventory and eating the rest for dinner.
After that he started his nightly routine of setting up the fire and placing two large logs on it. Except this time, he used his ice magic to form a simple basin which he filled with water from his inventory that he used to wash himself as well Lilith who struggled and squirmed in protest the entire time as he cleaned her. After that he put on fresh clothes from his inventory using his semblance to dry off quickly.
Having gotten ready, he climbed into his sleeping bag inviting Lilith to join him who immediately did so and began making herself comfortable. He closed the bag and laid looking up at the sky. His mind racing with thoughts of how tomorrow would go. Tomorrow he would save Summer Rose. Tomorrow he would do something that had the potential to change the fate of this world, whether for better or for worse, well he would live to find out.
All Daemon knew was that, tomorrow would change. EVERYTHING.
(Hey guys this was meant to be a shirt chapter but I got a bit carried away. I was asked about an awesome pet and here she is. Next chapter you find out what she is? Although please guess I am interested in seeing what people come up with. Also don't worry she will get stronger later right now she is still technically just a baby but is already fairly strong. I have kind of gone with a familiar bond kind thing as I thought it would more interesting.
Also, next chapter we finally see Summer Rose. Yay.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter)
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D1ablo_5016
D1ablo_5016 This was way longer than it was meant to be but it was fun to write so I hope you all enjoy it. Also please try and guess what Lilith is. I did drop a hint but I really want to see if anyone can guess what species she is.
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