The Moon's Descendant (Demon Slayer x Male Reader)

Chapter 5: They're in the trees!

You reached the village after traveling for a while. It was a small village at the foot of a mountain, with a small creek running through it. The mountain itself wasn't very large, but still noticeable in the relatively flat landscape surrounding it. On it grew a vast forest with deciduous trees at the bottom as more and more pine trees appeared the closer you looked to the top. Around the village were fields full of a layer of water and sprouts just surfacing - it had only been a month or so after planting the rice seeds. As you walked along the path so saw nothing out of the ordinary, except for the faces of the people working in the fields. They looked gloomy, sad and terrified at the same time. It was just after noon when you reached the small town, so you still had plenty of time.

You set foot in a tavern that simultaneously functioned as an inn and walked to the bar, taking your half mask off. 'What can I get you?' asked the bartender in a monotonous voice, without looking up from the bar he was cleaning with a rag. He was an old man, his hair mostly gone and grey in the patches he still had. His stature was short and round, like most people behind the bar. 'I would like a cup of green tea,' you said. 'And information on the demon wrecking havoc.' This caught the old man's interest and finally looked up at you. 'What does that have to do with you?' he asked with suspicion. 'What do you think?' you retorted and he looked you up and down, then snorted a bit. 'They send a young runt like you?!' he said, condescending you. 'Does everyone here act like you?' you asked, confusing the man. 'Because of that's the case I'll just leave you all to that thing.' You were about to leave the inn when the bartender yelled 'Wait!', making everyone look at you. You got kinda uncomfortable with everyone's attention on you, especially as you wore a katana and none of the other patrons carried a weapon. You turned back to him and made your way over, your steps clearly resounding throughout the room. As you did so you heard whispers from the other costumers.
'Is he a demon slayer?'
'He's so young!'
'Finally someone to take care of it.'
'Can he do it though?'

'Can we continue?' you asked him as you stood in front of the old man's nose once again, as he waved his hand to the other people, practically ordering them to continue on with their day, which they did. 'Look kid, I don't know anything about that thing personally,' he told you. 'But what is made clear is that it's extremely dangerous.'
'Do you know someone who does?'
'Kahera-san. He's sitting there third table to my left from the wall. Maybe he'll help you. Your order will be delivered there too.'
'Okay,' you said and almost walked away, but were stopped by the man once again.
'The pay,' he said sternly and so you threw the amount of money that the tea costed on the counter. You then turned and left for the man at the table, apparently called Kahera-san.

'Can I sit here?' you asked friendly. The man looked up, his empty eyes crossed your (E/C) ones. 'Yeah, sure,' he said absentminded, as he sipped from his sake. A young waitress brought you your tea, you thanked her and took a sip. The soothing warm liquid calmed you down a bit. Despite slaying over 50 demons, you still were a bit nervous when going to kill one. Most of which were nothing more than small fry that barely ate a handful of humans, but you had a bunch that this one would be quite strong. 'You probably want to know more about that demon, don't you?' His sudden question caught you off guard. 'Yeah,' you answered a bit surprised. 'So, what do you want to know?' he asked.
'How many people has it eaten or killed?'
'Over 50 went missing and 10 turned up the next morning, dead.'
'So, worst case it has devoured 40 inhabitants?'
'I suppose so.'
'How does it work?'
'I don't really know. It happened so fast.'
'Can you tell me what happened?'
'I was walking with my daughter through the woods, like we do every evening. Even after the first attacks started we continued on with it, because we thought "that wouldn't happen to us", but apparently it did.'
'I see. Continue on.'
'Then suddenly a tree started moving and my daughter was gone. I was so scared I directly ran away. I haven't seen her since.'
'I'm sorry for your loss.'
'Thanks. I hope it helped you to get that bastard.'
'Don't worry about that. It certainly helped.'
So a tree moved and his daughter was gone huh, you thought. Maybe it has tree based powers? You would have to ask further.

It wasn't a huge success. Apparently, Kahera-san was the only one that escaped from the demon and the only surviving person that witnessed its powers in some way. However, what you did figure out was that everyone disappeared in or close to the forest, which meant that the demon didn't actually enter the village and this giving you an area to scout out for its shelter. Meanwhile, it had gotten quite dark as dusk set in. You walked through the village in the direction of the mountain, keeping your eyes peeled for any abnormal shapes or sudden movements among the edge of the woods. So far you saw nothing out of the ordinary. The slight breeze blew through your (H/C) hair and made your sky night haori dance a bit. Your steps were silent, as was your breath. Despite the decorations on your haori you managed to be quite camouflaged against the heaven of darkness above you. You walked normally into the forest, like an unsuspecting traveller or villager, making leaves crisp and branches snap under your feet in an attempt to lure it out. That's when you saw it.

A branch of a nearby tree swept in an unnatural way straight towards you, which you dodged quickly and saw the demon as you did so. It had the size of a normal human, but it certainly wasn't. Its hair was green and made out of leaves, while the fingers on its left hand were jagged and pointy, like the splintered branches of a tree. Most noticeably was its skin, it was dark and tough, like it was made out of bark. It would be perfectly camouflaged in these surroundings, if it weren't for your excellent eye sight. 'Oh a human managed to dodge my attack,' it remarked, more amused than anything else. The branch retracted and the demon got ready to attack you again, as you grasped the handle of your nichirin blade. You both stared into each other's eyes. The battle was on.