Spiel Mit Mir (Closed)

Atilla lay perfectly still, her tail curled about her nose, partially to block out the smell of garbage. It was strange. She'd wandered all the realms and still could not find her husband. Every morning she woke up somewhere new, and yet it was never to his face.
This time she woke up to a cacophonous bang and, with a jump and a squeak, she landed on all fours and looked up into a man's golden eyes. "Bless you," she greeted him plainly, her fur settling down as she allowed him to pick her up, more out of surprise than trust. "I am sorry. Is this dumpster your property?"

*

The small rodent sat in the man's hand and simply sat there blinking dumbly as he ran his hand through her thick coat. Nothing really seemed to be amiss. This fellow certainly was not a creature of the light, but then again neither was Shou or Nagi. "My name is Atilla. I serve Bleus and I am looking for a man named Shou. Have you seen him?"

*

The little murine blinked her large eyes at the man as he continued to stroke her like a common animal. She didn't mind much. This form always made her feel more safe than her human form. "I am a kami," she replied, not sure how to react to the fact that this man was probably an oni and thus bad news.
Well... if he WAS an oni, it probably wasn't safe for her to stay around. "I do not mean to bother you with my presence. I know we are to be mortal enemies," she continued modestly before jumping from the man's hand and making her way towards a hole in the alley wall.

*

The kami blinks again as she finds herself once again in the hands of the oni. She raised her back foot and scratched behind her ear nonchalantly, not panicking and not assuming the worst. "I am sorry. That was terribly rude. Is there anything else you need before I continue on my journey?"

*

With admirable courage, the truly frightened mouse kept her enlightened demeanor about her. She gave not the slightest sign of fear, though she thought speaking too quickly might give it away. Her emotions were muffled with her next, sighing exhale and she began to attempt to speak reason into the oni. "Because I have done you no wrong myself, and I have no desire to give you wrong to hold against me."

*

"I do," she replied quickly and with a passive firmness. "We do not know each other well, oni-sama. I am on a journey to find my husband, who I have regrettably let disappear into the bowels of hell without my aid in protecting him, and I cannot long abide with a man who is not my husband."
She sat backwards, so the claw no longer rested on her chin and curled her tail around her legs, hoping that her bluff would prove effective. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up this appearance of stoicness. "It is against my moral code as a servant of Bleus."
Though she'd broken a moral code by marrying an oni to begin with, she was firmly resolved not to break any more.

*

"He is strong," she continued conclusively. "And I will refuse to believe he is dead until I see evidence with my eyes. Until then, I will be loyal to him and not abide with other men."
She couldn't resist quaking at his growl, though her voice maintained its tone of passive strength.

*

"I will not be moved on the matter," she concluded with a gentle finality, backing away from the large face and the amber eyes that now took up her entire field of vision. "He is a demon, and he is the only demon I will deal with." As she spoke, she looked over the edge of his hand, as though she were planning another jump. Maybe if that hole in the wall were just a bit closer...

*

The final growl was all it took to send the little kami into a panic. Instead of running away towards the hole in the wall, however, she gave an undignified squeak and jumped, landing in the garbage and digging, trying to hide herself beneath the refuse until the oni would give up searching for her.

*

The kami dug and dug, hearing the probing claws behind her until she came to the very bottom of the farthest corner of the garbage bin. Some slimey substance now coated her once pristine fur, but she was far too frightened to care. Instead, in the darkness she pressed her back up against the thin metal, wishing she could phase through it but knowing she couldn't.
And when the hand came closer she pressed herself harder and harder against that dead end until she suddenly felt forced to lash out at the hand that presented itself, sinking her pointy little teeth into the appendage and letting go to resume her retreat. "No!"
It had been so long since she'd screamed that word as she screamed it now.

*

The hand retreated, and her wild fear gave way to relief...
...that is, until she observed a snake coming in the hand's stead. Very few things scared the rat kami as much as the site of what would be her animal's natural predator, and she shrieked in fear. There was nowhere left to retreat, and soon the vile serpent was upon her.


*

Whereas before her protests had at least been dignified, now the little mouse spirit broke out in long, quiet sobs, the white scales of one of her deepest primal fears wound about her body, restricting her struggles to the narrow realm of uselessness. "Please let me go," she cried out.

*

"Then kill me!" she finally sobbed out at the protracted intimidation. "Send me back to the right hand of Bleus, where I will be safe and happy! What are you waiting for?"
It was a reactionary statement. Now she didn't even try to hide the fear in her voice and hardly registering the stroke to her chin. Her eyes were closed shut. "I am useless to you. Why do you insist on detaining me longer?"

*

The little rodent listened with her ears flattened against her head, righteous fury mingling with the fear in her chest as her tail attempted to thrash back and forth in its confines, flagging her emotions.
But when the wounded finger was presented to her, she only turned away for a second. The fear won out and, with a painstaking reluctance, her pink tongue flicked out and she began to lick the accumulated grime and infection from the digit. It was a fortunate aspect of rat anatomy that they lacked the ability to vomit, but she closed her eyes, mentally willing herself elsewhere.

*

The little kami had no clear idea of what he meant by surrender. Surely he didn't expect her to willingly become his servant. This put her in a bind, as she could not morally lie, even to preserve herself. Thus, she simply refused to answer, her eyes closed in fear and her body trembling as the serpent released her back into his hand.

*

"What do you want from me?" she cried at length. It had a double meaning. First of all, she wasn't sure what he was asking her to agree to. For all she knew he could be asking for permission to eat her, though she didn't know why he'd need such a thing.

*

The mouse looked sadly up with her big, red eyes. "You never asked me to do anything that I remember, Oni-sama."
Much sorrow and resignation laced her words.

*

She sighed and sat in his hand, feeling the man's thumb across her back and consequentially his size compared to her. "I will agree to that for now," she stated evenly, as though she planned to change her mind later. "But I do not understand why you desire my presence."

*

The little kami was worn out, and ultimately she'd never finished her nap. Weariness descended once more, and the oni didn't appear as though he planned to hurt her. She yawned and curled up, tucking her nose near the base of her tail and closing her eyes without answering the comment on her novelty. Maybe when she woke up the opportunity to escape would present itself.

*

Atilla continued to slumber on, dead to the world, dreaming of her fiery mate and where she might find him later. She imagined the feel of his hair, the warmth of his body, the depth and safety of his pockets. She imagined how he might kill this beast who degraded her so with his insistence on dominance. She imagined how nice it would feel to be safe and warm in her lover's sinful embrace again.
The motions of the wolf-oni around her failed to even make her so much as stir.

*

The kami began to regret that she'd told him her name. Nothing seemed particularly off about the situation to her. Perhaps she was a bit naive', being born and raised in a realm of faultless purity. She appreciated being clean, however, though the "Thank you" she offered was only the most minimal and formal one required for her to maintain her courtesy.

*

Now this question she recognized as a dangerous one. The last time an oni had inquired after her human form had ended in... a compromise of her morals. It was the primary reason she felt safer in her murine form.
But the old issue of honesty reared its head. Thus, she elected simply to hop off of the counter and hide below the bed, flatly refusing, in her quiet way, to answer the question.

*

She closed her eyes and braced herself against the floor below her. Before she'd given in to fear and revealed her human self, but now she had to resist. And with that singular purpose in mind, she lay curled up on the floor, determined to maintain her rodent state in the face of this demon.

*

"I know your kind," Atilla spat, her righteous indignation returning. "No offense to your polluted ilk, but should I give up on this matter you will force me to give up on many more. So I will run from you."

*

The immobility didn't bother her as much, nor did the slight pressure around her frame. What did bother her was the sight of not one, but five snakes slithering her way with their carnivorous eyes. The mouse began to shriek in her sobbing, squeaking way. "I have a human form! I have a human form oni-sama; I am sorry!"
Fright was the curse of the prey animal, and it manifested strongly in the little kami as she cried out her apologies as she'd previously cried out her refusals.

*