Chapter Text
“We need to leave!”
A familiar voice yelled these words to Baby Saja, but no matter how hard he tried, the sentence had lost all meaning to the young demon. He was struggling to push back the tiredness he felt every moment he was away from the attention of the fans. He could feel the weight of the tiredness pull at him with every step he took. His feet felt like they had two sandbags tied to them. He couldn’t even find the energy to move the rim of the Gat on his head that distorted his vision.
His friend and bandmate that went by Romance was dragging him by the arm through the alleyways further and further away from the stage. They were running - at least his body knew that they were running. His mind was so full of static and voices that it made it nearly impossible to focus. The voices jumped from screams of pain from their king to the repetition of sickly sweet reminders of his desire for fame.
Romance had to have been feeling the same pain as Baby, yet the pink haired man just continued forward. His teeth were clenched as he was focused on each turn. His will must have been stronger because all Baby wanted to do was cover his ears and curl up into a ball. The pain of all the voices probably would go away if they went back home. Why weren’t they going back home? Why was Gwi-Ma holding their mind’s hostage in the pain caused by Huntr/x?
“You - - - Okay?”
Why wasn’t Gwi-Ma sending them back? They failed and needed to regroup. They were always better as a team. Jinu’s power gave them their dream to come true. It can’t just all be gone just like that. Maybe they all went back home, maybe there’s still hope for them to -
“BABY!” Two hands clamped down on Baby’s shoulders and just for a moment the fog of voices and thoughts disappeared.
Romance was several inches taller than the teal haired demon. Actually, the whole team was taller than Baby. It worked with the persona and boyish features he had. All of the looks each member had was meticulously planned. Though without Jinu, Baby and Romance looked and felt no better than graying zombies. The pink in Romance’s hair was already fading in the low alley light.
“Baby, listen to me- you need to go.”
“Go? Go where?”
“It doesn’t matter. Those hunters are not going to be far behind to clean up any lingering demons from the stadium,” He shook Baby’s shoulders again to keep the focus going, “listen to me! We’ll find each other again, but you need to hide far away from here. Live as long as you can! The hunters focus are limited but if you get away from the city-”
“Though t-the fans…the others,” Baby looked behind him and received another shoulder shake.
“They’re dead! They’re all dead! Don’t let their sacrifices be in vain! Go! Just keep going! We’ll see each other again.”
Romance’s yellow glowing eyes were just as scared as Baby felt. Something in him finally clicked and he pushed through the sandbag weight dragging his limbs to place a hand on Romance’s shoulder. He squeezed his friend’s arm in a silent bond or sort of brotherly moment with Romance. He did the same to Baby and even tried to force a smile.
Baby then kept on running forward. With one last glance back he could see Romance splitting away down towards another street and what looked like a shadow of something chasing after him. He wasn’t going to cry or scream or do anything else but run. That was all he could do.
Run.
Baby.
Run.
===
“Humm-”
Baby barely opened his eyes. There was a woman kneeling down to the side of him and was looking at him quizzically. She had a fist of his gray teal hair in her hand and was lifting up his head as if she were pulling a vegetable from the ground. All around them was a field of white powdery snow that was glistening in the morning sunlight.
He didn’t quite register that his entire body was face planted onto the snow. Some part of him remembered that he was walking in big heavy steps as snow bitterly blew at the world around him. There was no real way to gauge just how long he was laying out there. From the way the snow clung to the trees and the back of his hanbok in that “winter wonderland” feel, he was probably out there for a while.
The girl pulled harder at his hair and was starting to strain his neck. He gave a weak hiss of pain, which made her smile. She had a nice warm beige jacket on with snow shoes and a bag on her shoulders. It was her face that felt a little off. She was beautiful with asian features and straight black hair, but the way she smiled felt more sly than friendly.
“Ah, so he is alive! I was concerned there for a moment, buddy.”
He squinted and realized she was wearing his hat, “Hey… that’s mine-”
She let go of his hair and his face went right back into the snow.
Clearly, if he had no energy to actually know how long he was out there, it was certain that he wasn’t going to be able to move. He then heard snowy footsteps, which he could assume was her, starting to walk away.
Wait-
Walking away?!
She had his hat!
No wait, she was going to just leave him there? Wouldn’t any human be nice to anyone in his predicament?! He cursed under his breath and waited for the lack of oxygen to knock him out once again.
Suddenly, he felt two marshmallow-coat arms wrap around his torso. A warmth quickly followed as she pulled him to her person.
“Heave-Ho,” she grunted, dragging him out of his snow coffin. The cracking of ice followed as she used all her weight to pull him back. She slipped backwards in the motion and the two of them found themselves collapsed on the ground looking up instead of down.
“There, that’s better, hum?” that sly grin once again. Her breath was warm on his face and time seemed to slow as they stared at each other. The glittery flecks of snow mixed with a warm breath of air and rosy cheeks made her cat-like eyes even more beautiful. The adoration was short lived as something hollow cried out inside him. He could sense immediately that this woman had a soul. His body wanted it - no, needed it. It was a desire beyond just having energy to keep running, it was food his kind feasted on. The thought of it made him salivate at the potential.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” her voice sounded darker for a moment as she finally released her hands from him. She snapped her fingers with both hands and a shift of magical power filled the air. So much so that he found himself dangling as if he was a marionette in the air. The woman stood up brushing off the snow from her jacket and pants.
“I had a feeling I had met a reaper. All of you are exactly the same, trying to take this precious soul of mine,” she placed a hand on her heart and gave the most convincing painful pout, “not all immortals want their life to end.”
“Im..mortal?” Baby’s voice felt raspy. How long has it been since he last talked to anyone?
“Huh, you sound older than you look,” she poked at his chest, “quite a baby face too. That’s probably what they call you, hum?”
Baby’s eyes grew wide and concerned as he stared at the strange woman in front of him. She was once again brushing off some extra snow.
“How-”
She gave a nonchalant shrug, “All reapers have a name based off of their defining features. Selling your soul kind of leaves you with barely anything else.” She was now playing with the beads of Baby’s gat on her head, swinging them back and forth, “Anywho, anywhere I can drop you off, Baby Face? I’m not heartless after all.”
The silence that filled the air made the woman feel uncomfortable. She turned to look at Baby who was just staring at her in utter confusion.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
“No, just, what are you exactly? You don’t look like a demon.”
“Ha! That’s a good one.” The silence again and she stared at him just as confused, “Wait… did your master or whatever you call him not tell you about… others?”
Baby slowly shook his head no. The magic started to loosen on him as the strings of the marionette set him back on the ground. She then swayed her arms in the air as if she were doing a choreographed dance move. In moments of her relaxing her arms, suddenly an array of fox-like tails of fire appeared behind the woman. He could count nine tails of power. He was then hit with a scent of magic that he only knew back in the demon realm. Immediately he knew that this woman was strong. Her abilities felt more akin to that of Gwi-Ma.
“I’m just a humble little fox,” she said with a smile, “gumiho, kitsune, jiuweihu, kill-that-dang-fox … I’ve been called lots of things throughout the years.”
“Fox…” he repeated just continuing to stare in disbelief. She moved her hands once again and suddenly the tails were gone. They stood there in the chilly morning air in a long standing awkward silence. She looked back and forth between him and the world around them. It was turning into a game of chicken of who would talk first.
“So… Do you want to come with me back to my cabin? I guess I can explain more to you Baby Face. Babs? I like Babs.”
“Uh-”
“Good,” she clapped her hands together with that smile on her face and started walking towards the west, “oh hey, maybe this would help you feel better?”
She snapped at her fingers again, and it was like he was standing next to Jinu on stage once again. His body felt light, his head clear, and the tiredness felt like miles away.
“Name’s Juni by the way. Gave it to myself when I was on a trip to Norway back in the 1500s.”
“I’m called Baby.”
“Ayyye, I was pretty close, Babs,” she gave some finger guns and then started walking once again.
Baby looked at his hands that felt like they had life back in them again. Romance wanted him to run… so perhaps he didn’t have to keep on running. Maybe this fox could help him find his friends again He turned towards Juni and started walking after her westward direction. He took his hat back as soon as he caught up.