Uncover~Part 4~Secrets and Stories

    The night was chilly and crisp, the crunch of leaves underfoot made you smile a bit, peering at Smoker briefly, his amber eyes always scanning around. "Always on the lookout hmm?" You ask with a small smile, kicking up a few leaves that had fallen in a pile on the ground.

    "Maybe I'm over cautious..." He shrugs peering at you. "You doing alright? Your leg bothering you?"

    "I'm okay." You hum, looking down at your leg. "Not bothering me nearly as much as it was earlier."

    "Good..." He looks ahead again. "It was a night like this when I first met a monster..." He breathes randomly.

    "Really?" You ask, peering up at him. "What was it?"

    "He was vampire, standing over some scared kid... His eyes were glowing red, even through those sunglasses he wore... I tried to take him down, but he was too strong, then again I was... Fifteen? Anyway, he broke three of my ribs with just the flick of his hand..." He touches his side. "I saved the kid but, neither of us were the same after... And later, I found out, he had been bitten."

    "Oh no..." You frown, eyes saddening as you look at him. "Are the legends true. That once you're bitten you become one of them?"

    "Yeah... It’s weird though, he didn't act any different, he just didn't like eating most foods, and got badly sunburnt. Then, one night, he just disappeared... We had been put in the same psych ward because no one believed us, so I don’t blame him for leaving."

    "Oh wow. Poor kid..." You murmur, kicking up some more leaves. "Do you think he is still around somewhere?"

    "I think he's fine, it's weird, but sometimes I think I spot him... But he's not the same age like you think he would be." He tilts his head.

    "Really? So he kept aging even after he was bitten?" You ask, looking at him again.

    "I think so... Maybe... It's not all as we thought." He shrugs, "I just hope he's not like the monster that changed him..." His fingers graze the blade on his hip.

    "I don't think he would be. Not that I know him, but it seems that he spent quite a bit of time with you and I don't think he would have ended up badly after that." He pauses, cheeks darkening slightly as he looks at you.

    "Heh... Think so?"

    "Mhmm. He is probably a great guy...vampire...you know what I mean." You laugh. He smiles at that.

    "You're pretty great yourself," he breathes looking ahead.

    "Well, thank you for thinking so." You hum, a light blush covering your cheeks. "Probably one of the first."

    "Yeah well, I don’t think they've seen you jump into siren infested water to help me out... So they missed out on that." He pats your shoulder thoughtfully.

    "Very true. I was a total badass and everyone missed it." You laugh snapping your fingers. "Darn, looks like I'll have to do some other crazy stunt."

    "Please don’t, that was surprising enough." He chuckles lowly, touching his shoulder to yours.

    "No promises. I'm full of surprises." You say, grinning at him.

    "I don’t doubt it." He rumbles. Something catches your ear then, it sounded like a cry for help. Stopping, you tilt your head in the direction of the voice.

    "Hey, do you hear that?" You ask, your eyes going to Smoker. He pauses, looking toward the direction as it sounds again.

    "Sounds like a child..." He frowns lightly.

    "I wonder..." You turn in the direction of the voice, starting to weave through trees in hopes of locating the crying child.

    "___, don’t go too far ahead." He warns, following after you quickly.

    "I won't." You tell him, but continue through the trees without stopping. The voice didn't seem to be getting any closer...or further away really. "Weird..." Smoker frowns heavily, peering around uneasily, trying to remember why this felt familiar to him. "Why aren't we getting any closer..." You mumble, eyes searching the darkness for any signs of who could be calling for help. "I'm pretty sure we would be headed right for it going this way. Do you think they are moving away from us as we move towards them or something?" Smoker stops, looking around.

    "Dammit... ___, take off your shirt." He instructs. You stop, turning to look at him in complete confusion a light blush covering your face.

    "W-what did you just say?" He blinks, covering his face briefly.

    "We need to turn our shirts inside out or they'll eat us, and I have no idea how to kill Chaneque." He says, turning his jacket inside out before putting it back on. "And for a precaution, we have to yell Juan three times." You stare at him completely unamused.

    "If you're trying to make me look stupid, I swear I will stab you with my new knife."

    "What kind of a man do you take me for? I'm doing this too." He responds with a straight face.

    "....Right. Okay." You sigh, sliding your backpack off your shoulders and pulling your shirt off. Turning it inside out, you pull it back on, grabbing your backpack again. "Now we have to yell what?"

    "Juan, three times." He instructs before you both do so in unison. "JUAN JUAN JUAN!" There's a moment of silence, then children's giggles fill the forest, steadily fading until the forest's music returns. Smoker folds his arms with a sigh.

    "That is absolutely the weirdest thing I have ever done." You say, blinking at him.

    "It was ridiculous, but it broke their spell... Unfortunately, we are lost now." He says fixing his jacket.

    "What?" You look around quickly, realizing that the path the two of you had been following initially was gone and you were now surrounded by trees that all looked the same. "That's...not good." He searches the sky.

    "I can’t see anything under these trees, let’s find a clearing, I should be able to find the star that was over our path."

    "Okay." You hum, starting to follow him through the trees in hopes that the two of you would stumble into a break somewhere with a view of the sky. He searches the sky.

    "There, that one," He points out to you. You look up following where he was pointing.

    "North star?"

    "Yep, come on, we should end up back on the road sometime." He rumbles taking the lead. You follow behind him quickly, the two of you weaving through the trees back to the road. The crunching of leaves under your feet became the only sound between the two of you, until you step down, a small clink and snap echoing as metal digs into your ankle. You go to scream in pain, but it comes out as a yelp and then a growl that rumbled through your chest. He blinks at the panther it wriggles against the trap. He looks around for you before his eyes return to the panther and soften. He goes over and kneels, reaching for you but you snap and lash at him.

    "___... I can’t help you if you bite off my fingers," He says softly. You let out a whine, trying to back away from him, but yelp when the trap digs further into your leg. Another whine leaves you, your eyes going to him apprehensively. The last people to see you in some sort of form either wanted to sell you, or called you a monster, and you weren't prepared for him to do the same. "Hey, stop moving, you're going to hurt yourself more." He says carefully reaching and gently undoing the trap and freeing your foot. "It's going to be alright..."

    Stumbling back a bit, you watch him warily. You still hadn't completely figured out how to change back yet, so you weren't sure how to talk to him. Even if you could though, you didn't know how to explain. You still weren't really sure what was going on yourself. He watches you for a moment. "Are you scared of me ___?" He asks lightly. You blink at him, lowering your head slightly. That wasn't really it. You shake your head slightly, hoping that it conveyed that you weren't afraid of him. "I'm not afraid of you either, so there's nothing to worry about alright." He lifts your head gently with a soft smile. "I'm still here. And I'll wait until you can speak to me. So relax, I’m going to tend to your leg." He murmurs before moving to do so.

    You watch him clean the blood away from your leg as carefully as possible. After a few minutes, your mind calms, and you slowly shift back to your normal form, a small frown on your face. "I..uh..." Your eyes go to the ground in front of you, a soft sigh leaving your lips. "I don't know how to explain to be honest." He peers at your face.

    "Well, it explains a lot. You just found out by the looks of it... Must've been hard for you." He breathes gently bandaging your leg.

    "Yeah...I sorta found out by accident I guess. That redhead, Kid, he and his gang grabbed me on my way home from work. I guess the shock and fear forced it." You tell him, "Ran home and the little brother saw me change back. Called me a monster..."

    "Well, things we can’t explain always seem scary... But I should know... That’s not always the case." He finishes and looks at you. "Because sometimes, they're just as scared." He places his hand on your head before picking you up bridal style. "Let's get you a bit further before we stop." You lean your head against his shoulder

    "Thank you for not freaking out...I really didn't know how you'd react. Wasn't really prepared should you run off screaming. Or you know, kill me or something."

    "You think a little thing like this would make me abandon you? You really underestimate me. I'll be here for as long as you need them." He murmurs, touching his cheek to your forehead briefly.

    "Heh, I wouldn't say that if I were you. I might have you stick around forever then." You smile, laughing a little. He chuckles lightly at that.

    "The way trouble finds you, I believe it's a possibility." He rumbles.

    "I have been a bit of a magnet for trouble recently. Seems like something crazy happens every time I turn around."

    "Yeah.. That's what happens when you're introduced to this world." He comments.

    "Well I was thrown into it pretty violently." You say, giving him a small smile. "But it is what it is."

    "Yeah, at least you're not alone." He breathes as the trees open up to a clearing. He sets you against a tree and sits down. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

    "Hmmm, I'm not sure. What did we bring with us?" You ask, moving your bag in front of you to open it.

    "Soup, beans, poptarts and .... think that's it in my bag."

    "Oooo poptarts!" You say happily, closing your bag. "I love poptarts!" He chuckles and gives you a pack before opening his own, starting to eat and look up at the sky. You follow his gaze, breaking off a piece of your poptart to eat. "So before this, what were you doing? Aside from wandering around."

    "I was... Hunting monsters.... Not creatures like you, but monsters that preyed on humans." He admits.

    "Really? So that's why you know a lot about monsters then."

    "Yeah... After what happened to us... I decided that I would try to protect others from them... But I knew little when I started..." He frowns lightly.

    "Oh, I see." You hum, shifting your gaze to look at him. "You've made it this far though. Why did you stop?" He drops his gaze with a frown.

    "I made a mistake..." He murmurs softly.

You watch him, frowning slightly.

           "Do you mind if I ask what happened?" He peers at you briefly before looking back to the sky, putting a knuckle to his chin.

          "She was cute, nice smile. She didn't have a ride home, so I offered to walk her home. We reach it, and when she opens the door. I catch the scent of death... It was strong enough to make me gag. And suddenly it hit me. She wasn't human.... I force her inside and shut the door... Then I killed her..." He runs a hand through his hair. "I turned to go out and I heard crying... A baby... I follow the sound to a nursery, but there was blood everywhere, and animal carcasses... I go to the crib and look in. A baby boy, a ghoul. He was nibbling at an animal bone, giving me the sweetest little smile..." His shoulders slump and he drops his head. "They weren't killing people. Just animals to feed their young, just like humans... I couldn't take that baby to an orphanage, they only eat meat... I couldn't kill it... Not with those eyes... So I just left.... And I've felt like shit ever since... Until I've met you.." You put and hand on his arm, leaning your head on his shoulder.

          "You did what you thought was necessary. Had you waited to see if they were killing humans, you could have ended up as their next meal." You squeeze his arm lightly before continuing. "And I don't know much about them, but just because they were only eating animals now, doesn't mean that they wouldn't go for humans later." He just sighs.

          "No I met the ones that ate humans... They didn't look or feel human like she did,..." He rubs his cheek. "And I know I wouldn't feel this way if I had been in the right." Your frown deepens and you rub his arm.

          "Don't beat yourself up over it anymore." He stands up.

          "I'm not. You asked so I answered. Are you done eating?" He adds, peering down at you.

    "Oh. Yeah I am." You nod, balling the trash up in your hand. He grabs the bags and straightens.

    "Shouldn't be much longer now." He breathes.

    "Right." You use the tree you were leaning against to push yourself up, putting a little weight on your injured leg. "Let's get going then." He looks you over.

    "Are you okay to walk?" He inquires lightly.

    "Uh yeah. I'll be fine." You nod, pushing off the tree to start following him. He nods and carries on without another word, looking ahead.

You follow behind him a little slower than normal, your eyes trained on the heels of his shoes. Silence stretched between the two of you, the only sound being the crunching leaves beneath you. He checks back on you every now and then, slowing his pace so there wasn't too much distance between you.

    You look up as the sound of crunching leaves changes, showing that you were back on the trail from before the two of you had gotten lost. A sigh of relief leaves you, some of the tense feeling in your shoulders relaxing a little. A bored sigh make makes you look over spotting an incredibly handsome man leaning against a tree on the edge of the path. Smoker stops, holding his arm in front of you protectively.

    "What do you want?" He growls.

    "Can't I relax in my own territory?" The man responds simply, giving Smoker an annoyed look. You look over the man curiously, his golden eyes drawing you in.

    "Territory?"

    "Property, territory, either way, this forest belongs to me." He shrugs. "Why are you two wandering it so late?"

    "Traveling." You tell him, tilting your head. "...how do you own an entire forest? Is that even possible?"

    "Everything belongs to someone..." He states, approaching until he stands in front of you. "What belongs to you?" He asks, golden eyes boring into a sizzle sounds and he glances at the knife on his neck, smoke coming off of the contact.Your eyes widen going to Smoker who held the blade against the man's neck.

    "N-nothing of any value. W-what are you?" He doesn't move or answer.

    "Back off." Smoker snarls. The man steps back with a glance at Smoker.

    "A hunter... Sorry, I wasn’t aware." He hums in boredom. "I am a demon." He decides to answer you.

    "Demon...so they exist too." You murmur, eyes scanning him. "You look...a lot different than what I expected a demon to look like." He smiles.

    "When you pass the threshold, everything is different. Just because I look normal on this side doesn't mean I'm not what you picture on the other side." He rumbles.

    "I guess that's true..." You nod. "At least you're not as...aggressive as everything else."

    "No... Only the dumb and hungry are aggressive." He shrugs before turning away. "I'm sure we'll meet again. And it may be useful if you know my name. I am Dracule Mihawk." He adds before abruptly disappearing.

    "Well, that was...interesting." You murmur, eyes going to Smoker. "Had you ever met a demon before?"

    "A few times they all have the same... Aura I guess is the best word for it." He relaxes, and peering at you.

    "Is that right?" You hum, peering back at the spot where Mihawk had disappeared. "That would be terrifying if you didn't know any better. It's so calming. Doesn't feel like you could be in danger at all..."

    "And that's why they're deadly." He nods. He peers at you briefly. "I'm sorry." He adds. You look up at him, tilting your head. "Why are you sorry?"

    "I'm not good at talking to people. So I come off... Irritated often... So I'm sorry about earlier..." He rubs his neck.

    "Oh. It's okay." You hum, giving him a small smile. "I understand. And...I'm sorry if I pushed too much."

    "It helped to talk about it. But no matter how many times you tell me it's okay. I still know what I did was wrong. It was a mistake, and I've learned from it..." He stops and turns back to you. "Having you here helps- Protecting you helps."

    "Well, then I am glad that I can help." You tell him, "And you have been doing a wonderful job at protecting me so far." He smiles briefly at that.

    "So... I think we're close enough to town, want to save money and camp out here?" He inquires with a head tilt. "I know it might seem like a bad idea. But it's usually not."

    "That sounds okay with me." You shrug "I've never been camping before. I mean other than that nap I took the other day. So it should be interesting."

    "Alright, let's get the tent set." He rumbles, pulling out your tent. "Here, I'll get firewood."

    "Oh okay." You nod, taking the bag that held the tent and staring at it in slight confusion. "I'll uh...get right on it." Setting the bag on the ground, you sit down next to it pulling out the parts to put the tent together. You look them all over with a sigh and start attempting to put together the tent. After a little while, you take a step back looking at it and frowning. "Yeah, that will totally work..." He chuckles when he returns.  

    "That's cute, I was curious to see how well you'd do." He sets the firewood down, looking at your tent in clear amusement. You turn to him giving a halfhearted glare.

    "I could totally attempt to sleep in this..."

    "No, I'll show you how to." He smiles at you thoughtfully before showing you.

    "That...looks much better than the death trap I had built." You murmur, looking over the properly put up tent.

    "You'll get it next time." He sets up your blanket and backpack inside. "Here you are. Sleep well." He says before starting on the fire.

    "You don't want any help?" You ask, going halfway inside the tent.

    "Nah, I'll be fine," He breathes, starting the fire and sitting back, brushing against your tent.

    "Okay. Goodnight." You hum, watching him for a few seconds before crawling inside and curling up with your blanket. He peers back at you before peering at the sky with a small smile.

    "Sweet dreams..."