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The barest crescent of a moon hung in the sky as Mira charged down her prey, ignoring Zoey's shouts behind her to stay close. It was fine, they were fine. This would only take a moment. The smallest bit of time before she could return to her fellow Hunter's side
Her gok-do illuminated the cobblestones, just barely allowing her to see where she was going and not eat shit. Hunters might be more resilient than the average person but she did not want to test the limits of that. A sprained ankle would be devastating in this moment.
The demon ahead of her laughed, a bright, joyful sound which clashed with their circumstances. Mira narrowed her eyes as she saw her dart around a corner, deeper into the park. If she thought she was getting away, she was in for a nasty surprise.
Not caring about the thickening tree cover stealing away the moonlight, Mira sprinted towards her prey. Because she was the Hunter in this situation. She was going to emerge victorious.
Purple flashed in the corner of her vision and Mira whirled around, deflecting claws off her gok-do. The demon smiled, a broad, inhuman gesture that set Mira's teeth on edge. She laughed again, dodging Mira's attempt at a strike, then her followup blow.
"You're bad at this," the demon taunted, tossing her purple braid over her shoulder. "No wonder the Honmoon is weakening."
"Shut up!" Mira growled. She hated it when demons were chatty. Hated it when they acted human. Hated it when they refused to shed their glamors. The demon tilted her head, patterns flickering, a twisted mirror to the faint light Mira's gok-do provided.
"Aw, did I strike a nerve? Come on, it's easy to see. Wouldn't it be easier to just lay down? Gwi-Ma can be merciful."
Mira didn't even bother responding, swiping at the demon again. She placed a hand on the blade, smell of burning filling the air as demonic flesh met crystallized starlight, and used the extra leverage to backflip over Mira's head.
Mira braced for pain, braced for the feeling of claws piercing her flesh, dragging down her back, but nothing happened. The only sign the demon even landed was the faint sound of shoes hitting the ground as she ran. What the fuck was wrong with this demon?
Biting back another growl, Mira chased the demon farther into the park, silently cursing her choices. Risking her concentration for a moment, Mira focused on the thread connecting her and Zoey. Still holding strong. She was fine. Everything was fine.
The sunk cost fallacy ringing in her ears, Mira's gaze darted around the trees, looking for any sign of the demon. Her striped skin made the perfect camouflage, Mira's gok-do illuminating the foliage unevenly. Was that an intentional choice on Gwi-Ma's part or just a happy accident? Did it matter?
A twig snapped to her left and Mira hurled her gok-do towards the sound. A high pitched shriek abruptly cut off. Forcing her way through the undergrowth, trepidation roiled in Mira's gut. That hadn't sounded like a demon.
Brushing aside leaves and grass where her gok-do landed confirmed Mira's fears. A squirrel was pinned to the ground, neatly severed in half, blood pooling around it.
"What did that poor thing do to you?" a voice near Mira's ear asked. Gok-do snapping to her hands, Mira spun and the demon leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the strike. "I mean demons I get, we're assholes. But a squirrel?" She shook her head, rolling under another blow from Mira. "I thought Hunters were supposed to be protectors. Shows what I know I guess."
"Would you stop talking!" Mira yelled. What was with this demon? Why was she still here? Surely she could have fled, far faster and better equipped for the night than Mira. Why hadn't she taken the many opportunities to injure Mira when presented with them?
"Where's the fun in that?" Light glinted off the demon's fangs as she smiled, not a unsettling one like last time, but somehow this felt mocking. Rage flickered in Mira's bones, outweighing the confusion. Demons were weird. But they all still stole souls. They all still needed to be stopped, curiosities be damned.
The demon back up farther, gold eyes pinched with mirth. She was enjoying this far too much. "Come on, Hunter. Going to skewer me too? Going to make me bleed?"
"Demons don't bleed," Mira snapped. "You turn into ash and that's that."
"Dust," the demon corrected, resting a hand on a tree, something odd flashing in her expression. "Hunters make us dust, Gwi-Ma makes us ash. I can be ignorant, I'm a filthy demon. You should know about your prey though."
"I know enough to kill you!" Mira hurled her gok-do at the demon. A stupid, risky move; throwing her only weapon with no backup when she had seen just how fast the demon could move.
But it worked. More or less. The demon lunged sideways, dodging the gok-do, feet tangling around tree roots, sending her sprawling.
Mira moved before the demon could recover. Swiping her gok-do off the ground, planting a foot on the demon's chest and digging the blade into her throat.
She expected many things. Claws in her ankles, to be suddenly standing on smoke as the demon teleported away, some desperate struggle.
What she did not expect was the demon to go limp, eyes sliding closed. "Please," she whispered.
"Now's the wrong time to beg for your life," Mira growled, pulling the gok-do back for a finishing strike.
"Please, just kill me."
Ice lanced through Mira, freezing her in place. "What?"
~~~~
Air exploded from Rumi's lungs as she landed in a heap. The chase had been fun, but it was over now. She was so, so tired. A boot pressed into her sternum, keeping her from regaining her breath but it didn't matter. She was so close.
The blade dug into the hollow of her throat and please, please, please, just a little deeper. Let me slip into black and find whatever awaits me. Come on, I know you want to.
The Hunter drew her blade away, reliving the pressure on Rumi's throat. No, what are you doing, come back, you need to finish what you started.
"Please." Rumi hated begging. Had done it more times than she cared to admit, knees aching from kneeling on the stone of Gwi-Ma's throne, flames dancing around her, licking at her skin. "Just kill me."
Kill me, do your duty and kill me. End my worthless life. Don't make me return to the demon realm. Don't make me face Gwi-Ma after this. Just fucking kill me.
But her plead had the opposite effect. The Hunter froze. "What?" she gasped, forcing Rumi to open her eyes, glaring at her intended executioner.
"Are you a Hunter or not? Kill me!" Rumi snarled, half tempted to grab the blade and finish the job herself.
"Why are you begging me for death?" the Hunter sputtered. "Shouldn't you be doing the opposite?"
"I'm a filthy demon!" Rumi lunged for the gok-do, trying to wrench it from the Hunter's grasp, only to be reminded of the boot on her chest, forcing another gasp of air out of her. After a beat she recovered. "Shouldn't you be happy I'm not fighting back!"
"I am!" the Hunter yelled, fire from earlier her shock had doused reigniting.
"Then fucking kill me!"
The Hunter returned the gok-do to the hollow of Rumi's throat. Yes, yes, yes, a little deeper, a little more. Just press down and all of this will be over.
Then once again the Hunter pulled back. "Why are you bleeding?"
Rumi blinked, confused. "Because you're holding a giant fucking blade to my neck?"
The Hunter shook her head, confused. "Demons don't bleed, not when struck by a Honmoon weapon."
Exasperated, Rumi gestured to her patterns. "I made a deal. Your faulty knowledge doesn't change that fact, now please just kill me."
"Trying something, little mutt?"
Every bone in Rumi's body locked up as Gwi-Ma's voice slithered into her mind. "Now. Do it now." When the Hunter didn't move, Rumi lunged for the gok-do again, feeling her fingers burn as she touched the starlight blade.
But too late. The Honmoon tore open under her, yanking her back to the demon realm. Bones cracked as she collided with stone, a screech of pain forcing its way out of her mouth.
"I thought you would have learned by now," Gwi-Ma crooned watching Rumi force herself into a kneeling position, head pressed to the stone. "There is no escape for you."
"I'm sorry," Rumi begged. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Not yet you aren't."
Pain wound it's way down Rumi's bones, patterns igniting, searing with heat, and Rumi's world became agony.
~~~~
Mira stared at the space where the demon had been but moments before, the small dot of blood on her gok-do the only evidence this wasn't a hallucination. What the fuck was going on? Why had that demon begged for death? How did she bleed?
Why did she sound so scared?
"Mira!" Zoey cried, coming crashing out of the trees. "There you are!" She stopped looking at Mira, taking in her confused expression "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Mira shook herself, dispelling her gok-do and the strange drop of blood. "Weird demon is all."
"Well at least you took care of them." Zoey looped an arm through Mira's. "Don't run off like that, what if the weird demon had been a threat?"
"She wasn't." Mira flexed her free hand, memory of the demon begging for death sliding to the forefront of her mind. "She really wasn't."