Re:War (Discontinued)

Chapter 6: Lost Child

It was early evening when we finally arrived at Shirobashi, we could've gotten there faster by using the trains, but as the letter said, the chance of an attack was much higher. We were just as lucky to find assailants in the forest however...

We stopped by an inn to spend the night. The meeting was tomorrow, and we were going to return immediately after. Father's men were suspicious of Scarlet. The attackers came not long after meeting her, and they ran without much of a fight. But their suspicions quickly disappeared after they remembered that Scarlet saved my hide.

Scarlet was highly reluctant to set foot into town however. Shirobashi was a populous region, so it wasn't hard to see her fear. Brushing against anyone would kill them, no one could touch her, nor could she touch anyone.

We only managed to get her into the inn after father bought her a large cloak. She wore it, flipped up the hood and pulled the sides of the cloak to cover herself as much as she could, staying near me the whole time. Only when we made it to the inn did she calm down.

It was fortunate that her curse wasn't poison. The curse only worked with direct contact, and could be mitigated with clothes. If it was poison, she'd kill everyone she touches, as well as poison the things she touches, like water and food. But still, it was terrifying to think of the things she had to go through.

In the inn, she sat in an isolated area, which was right next to my bed. She didn't dare to go near anyone other than me, and sat close to me while we were eating. I had to find a place with little people to eat so she didn't get scared.

Later on during the night, I took a bath, nothing special there. Scarlet however, with no due disrespect, kinda stank. She hadn't managed to take a bath in a while. So... father made me bathe her, simply because I was the only one who could touch her.

Not to say Scarlet couldn't do it herself, but she wasn't used to using baths, and I was basically there to help her. I needed one as well. Leaving Kuro outside the showers was seemed like a good way to escape her annoying tendency to make commentaries on my actions, but it was apparently... not.

What? You think not being near me is enough to avoid me?

It would appear as such!

Still, a 47 year old man bathing a-

SHUT UP!

"Master?"

"Y-Yes?"

"I.... I think you should leave me be, in the forest."

"But why?"

"I understand your concerns for me, Master. But you know I bring death to anyone I touch, it's safer for everyone if I stay in the forest. So once you return to your home, I will remain in the forest. But don't worry! I... Fenrir and I can move to any point in Tendo easily. I can teleport as long as Fenrir is with me..."

"Fenrir... he's not part of your powers?"

"No, Fenrir is a spirit. He brought me up when I was a child lost in the woods. He... found me. Fenrir is... my parent of sorts."

"So... the forest, it's your home?"

"Yes, master."

"I understand. You can go," I smiled.

She smiled a little. But... I could almost feel her pain and sadness. She had no one to be with, no friends or family, just Fenrir. And she had to go through life alone... all because of this curse of hers.

Kuro had explained it to me after we reached the inn, regarding Cursed Puppets.

"It's not that hard to understand, Raibo. Like Puppets, Cursed Puppets need large amounts of mana to survive. But Cursed Puppets go through a different stage of birth. The hosts reject the spirits during the conversion of human to Puppet, and this results in the spirits being more aggressive, in turn resulting in these Puppets being much more powerful, but generally more likely to go Berserk and usually has almost always bear curse with them. Hence the name."