Crows Like Shiny Things (Hinakage)

Purifying a Demon

Kiyoko hurried down the steps of the shrine, wind in her back. She had to tell someone about this. This wasn't just her imagination, that wasn't just something she could have done off as her mind playing tricks on her. The chills she had near the shrine and the edge of the forest, the white feathers that kept falling near her, all of that could have been a simple coincidence but this, this was something much more. Much more different. And real.

With the bracelet tucked safely in her bag, Kiyoko jumped down the last step, taking a left towards the village. She could hear shouting in the distance, the gleam of torches lighting up further away. This could not mean anything good.

And with her breaking now into a full sprint, soon the voices became clear. Much to her horror, there was one voice she hadn't expected to hear within the village ever again.

Kageyama Tobio, standing guard in front of the forest. Arms outstretched, covering a way too familiar feathery mass- Hinata Shouyou. The girl went pale; the entire village was there with them!

"You won't hurt him. I won't let you."

Kageyama's voice had never been so silently furious. Hinata was cowering behind him, scared that the moment he tried to take off, a well-thrown spear would bring him back down again.

"Stand aside, Tobio. Those... demons... they will bring nothing but misfortune over us."
"Then how come I am standing here, alive, just because of them?!"

Kiyoko started to slow down. Panic began to set in. What could she possibly do to deescalate the situation? Kageyama's mother slowly stepped past the mob that had formed, towards her son. Her eyes lingering on the creature behind him, she slowly turned, facing the crowd.

"Tobio is... Tobio is right. Who decided that this boy is evil incarnate? Look at him... and Tobio is alive because of him." While welcoming the support of his mother, it almost made Kageyama even angrier. How come that this was the moment she decided to stick up for him, and not when he was being exciled? No. He wouldn't have met his family if he wouldn't have left the village.

Hinata let out a soft distressed chirp. At this very second, he was regretting all his lifechoices that ended him up in this moment, all those dreams he had of exploring the world, right now he preferred his home, hiding away with his flock, living a peaceful and secluded life. But he was here, right now, and he had to act. Somehow. Right?

A blessing of the spirits.

Kiyoko reached into her bag. The bracelet. It was a hunch, but whyelse would the spirits bless her with a gift like this? And those symbols... a language she had never seen before, and couldn't fathom their meaning.

But maybe Hinata could.

Kiyoko took a deep breath... before shouting at the top of her lungs.

"LET ME PASS!!!"

Silence washed over the crowd, and the startled elders moved aside in an instant. Glares were thrown her way, full of suspicion and yet, curiosity.

"I... I think I have something that can help this situation."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" one of the elders retorted. Kiyoko held out her gift- showing it to the elders before her.
"I don't know what it is. I don't know where it came from. But I prayed for fortune and peace, at the shrine, and I received this blessing. I... I want to see what it does. Maybe it can help."
The elders frowned at her. A blessing of the gods? They didn't know what to make of this. But if it was the wish of the spirits, they would oblige this weird request. A small nod to the other onlooker, and they formed a small path for Kiyoko- letting her pass.

"...what the fuck are you doing Kiyoko...?!" Kageyama whispered at the approaching girl, who helplessly shrugged in return. She had no clue what she was doing, either, but she felt it was the right decision.
"T-to be honest, I have no idea..."
Brushing past the boy, she crouched down next to the bird- holding out her hand with the bracelet. Both locked eyes for a moment, and Hinata gave her a slow nod. He knew what she wanted. Grabbing the bracelet, Hinata almost dropped it the instant it touched his skin. A surprised and somewhat frightened chirp came from his throat; while the onlookers gasped and whispered between one another.

Hinata shifted a little. He felt... lighter. Not as heavy as before. He slowly slipped the bracelet over his hand and onto his wrist. Something was... different. Wrong.
Finally, one of the elders spoke up.
"It has been purified...!!! The gods have cured this godforsaken creature...!!"

Hinata looked into the faces of his two friends, pale and shocked. As he stood up from his crouched position, something was definitely amiss. There was no sound of his wings on the sand below. No noise of feathers brushing over the dirt, no feeling of the heavy weight on his back.
"What did you do?!" Kageyama screamed at Kiyoko, who recoiled in shock.
"I-I don't know?! I-I-" she choked out, eyes unable to leave Hinata.

Hinata looked down at himself. What was so shocking about him just putting on a bracelet?

His wrists... beforehand covered in stray feathers, now spotless. That was... concerning. Hinata stretched out his arms before him, inspecting his skin. The feathers... they were all gone.
"Kiyoko, you have purified this demon- we need to talk about this, throughly. That... was beyond our practices."

The elders began to disperse the villagers- a plan was crafted. If the spirits could be saved, was it worth burning down their village?

Kageyama was glaring daggers at Kiyoko. Kiyoko was staring at Hinata.

When Hinata turned to look at his back, he let out a scream.