The Black Rose (Demon Slayer x Male Reader)

Gentle Snow

POV-(Y/n):

I was a beautiful winter's morning in the Japanese countryside. The cold quite soothing to my skin as I walked through the valley. The trees' leaves had already long since fallen; the bare branches covered in fluffy white snow. The chilled wind blew through the large branches; quickening the descent of the elegant snowflakes.

     I put my hand out, letting the pretty snowflakes land in my hand and quickly melt. So fragile...yet so beautiful. I continued to step softly through the snow covered paths, my bare feet cold but relaxed by the snow's soft texture. Truth be told; I'd absolutely love to just sit underneath of the great snow-caked oaks and meditate until I fell asleep to the serenity of nature's quiet winter.

     I could not afford such luxury though; I had a job to do. A contract I had heard about for a demon of some kind. So I continued walking my way to the village; which was tricky because I never could get used to directions in this land. Most of the villages are carefully tucked away and this one was no different.

I looked up at the snowy sky but it was completely obscured my the intertwined tree branches. Only a few small blades of light could pierce through, I had gotten into a thicker part of the woods. Oddly enough, there were different types of birds flying around and sitting comfortably on the leafless branches of the snow covered trees. I always thought birds flew away for the winter to where it's warmer. There must be a readying supply of constant food for them growing nearby, or people that feed them.

I continued my walk, though I did quicken my pace a bit. I was on my way to a job after all and this job was more dangerous to do after the sun fully sets. Not that the sun was too potent here, the winter clouds blocked it completely.

I heard a very familiar caw of a specific kind of bird. I immediately stopped in my tracks and looked to the trees behind me. There I saw a large raven; it's dark feathers devouring any ray of light that reached it. It just stared at me, not moving even once. There was something off about this particular raven, specifically it's eyes. They were a deep gleaming red hue; like blood under the moonlight. Back home is the only place I know of that had ravens like that.

I tilted my head to the left in curiosity.

The raven mimicked my movement, tilting it's head to match mine exactly.

It was trained.

The raven took flight and I immediately ran after it into the woods; against my better judgement. Any normal bird would have just flown through the branches into the sky to outrun a non-flying entity. Yet this one stayed close to the ground, flying only about 10 meters above the ground.

It wanted me to follow.

The Raven flew down a hill and into a large forest alcove as I quickly followed. It landed on a tree overlooking the alcove and I stopped. I looked where it landed to see a camp, or what was a camp. Several makeshift tents were set up; looking to be made from the blankets of locals. At the center was a fire that had been snuffed out.

I walked over to the fire and closely investigated it. The ash was cold enough to touch without getting burned, however there was warmth beneath. I brushed some of the ash aside to see still warm embers beneath the ash. Whoever had been here at this camp, had been here recently. Possibly the past few days or so.

I looked around the camp more to find footprints in the snow. The snow had lightly glazed them but not by much since the woods were so dense. The footsteps were very heavy since I could see all the crushed rocks and sticks that were underneath them, the steps even left are large indention in the ground itself.