My ached head... [Obs/JJ]

The day was just starting. The sun was slowly rising above the horizon and slowly covering more and more of the ground with its early morning rays. One of them, sneaking between a gap in the clouds, pierced through the leaves just to land on Saya's face, forcing her to frown and groan.

And the woman had plenty of reasons to groan, too. With a large dent in her chest plate, a piece of rock jammed into her back, and a ripped-off pauldron, she looked absolutely miserable. Her sword clenched in her hand still. Not used in the last fight. Because she did not fight. She ran. And it was...

A disgrace...

Saya let out a sigh, blinking a few times, shaking off the slumber, and looked up. The sky above was very clear, very few clouds in the air. A light breeze was ruffling through the grass, and making her hair flutter a bit in the air. It was very messy from having rolled down the hill, gathering many sticks and stones. Her body hurt, too.

But she'd live. Live to fight another day.

The quietness and tranquility of the place was getting to her though. Just... sitting there, mesmerized by the world around her, and perhaps forgetting that she was just a speck in the great scheme of things. The woman reached into her backpack for her medkit, only to find it mostly empty.

Ohh... right... I left ... at the fireplace.

Another sigh, as Saya thunked the back of her head against the tree she was perched up against. It was stupid... I should have never stopped going. Would've made it to the city in time and then... Maybe would have found someone else...

The thoughts slowly moved through her head, as the mercenary put her sword back in her scabbard, and slowly started picking the twigs out of her hair. Patiently bringing it back to what it used to be. It's not like there was a hurry anymore. And besides...

"Maybe I should stay here... Under this tree..."

"Pretty day, pretty day, ahahaha!" The small child had laughed to himself, running along the forest floor. His bare feet pressed against the soft ground and leaves as he flailed about, enjoying the feeling of the sunshine. He had managed to get away from Sonny... again. This time, he had spotted a color of bird he had never spotted before.

Rasuca continued running, until he got to a big tree, where the bird had stopped to rest. "Ah...! Uh..." He had tried climbing the tree, but he kept failing. His mouth turned into a small frown, before wrapping his limbs arounf the trunk. With small grunts, the child began to scale the tree, an impressive amount of strength and dexterity assisting him as he rose up its trunk.

At last, he reached the branches, chucklimg as he carefully inched his way out to where the bird had landed... chirrrp, cheerep, cheep

The bird flew away from Rasuca as he watched, leaving him stuck in the tree alone.

"Aaaaaaw." The child let out, resting on his back on this branch as he frowned. The branch felt sore against his back, and not confortable... at least, at first.

After all, the child was at least part snake.

As Rasuca rested in tbe tree, the soft sounds of the forest ran through his head. He was tired from running after the bird and climbing the tree. He might as well just rest here for a moment, after all... the tree was so green. The sunlight was so warm. It all felt so tranquil, so peaceful...

"Mmmnnaah...?" The child let out, feeling the tree shake slightly. His small mouth opened into a great big yawn, leaning up from his comfy spot on the branch. He felt no soreness or discomfort from his nap. He was not aware of how long he had been napping there. "Aaa... Aaaaahnnn..." The boy let out, finally looking down beneath his spot in the tree.

A woman appeared to be resting there... but to Raauca, what mattered was that scent. Oooo. The child giggled softly as he began to slide around the branch, climbing on over above the resting woman. She smelled of blood. Lots and lots of blood. It made Rasuca a bit hungry.

Directly above her, he flexibly shifted until he was holding onto the branch with both hands... and then he dropped out of the tree. He landed unceremoniously on the woman's lap, or directly in front of here if she moved.

"Hi... Hi! Rasuca, me. Name is... Ra-soo-saa. Hi! Why you smell like, uh... like, uh... red... uh... blood! Huh?"

A little bit of rest would help take some of the pain away.

For a being always on the run, making a beeline from one meal to another, a moment of stillness was cherished, peaceful. Saya breathed out, closing her eyes, and tuning in to the nature around her. The wind, the leaves, the branch cracking above her head. The sound a person holding onto it... Wait... what?

*POMF!*

"Oof..."

Saya grunted, feeling someone, or something fall from the tree, and right on top of her. Instinctively, her hand reached for the sword, pulling it out and seeking to strike with the pummel, to the side of the intruder's head. But she stopped inches away from the temple, as the woman realized that it was...

"A child?"

From a tree? Where did he come from? The woman's eyes remained wide, as she looked at the boy. White hair, bright eyes, white clothes. The boy looked so... sterile. As if just had been pulled out of a washing machine. No ordinary child, no doubt. But right now, Saya was not in the mood to be suspicious. Nor in the shape for another fight. She pulled the blade away.

"You ssshould not drop on people like that..." - the woman muttered. Not that it mattered much to the boy. He introduced himself, and showered Saya with questions. Much like a child would. He could smell blood. The woman looked down, feeling the dent on her chest. It was making it hard to breathe, pressing against the diaphragm.

"I fought... I lossst. Now I ressst." - she explained simply, with a shrug.

He does not need to know the details... And I just ate. He's not in any danger... - Saya thought to herself. The thought of another kid falling victim was ... unsettling.

"Rasssuca... Where are your parentsss?" - the woman's forked tongue briefly escaped between her lips. She did not look at the boy, but rather past him. Not wanting to move much. And not minding him occupying her lap like that.

Rasuca's eyes were wide, blinking at the shape of the pummel that had come to a halt just before his skull. One of his small hands reached up, pressing against it as he tried to understand what it was. His reaction was rather extraordinary. He did not seem afraid in the slightest; completely calm as he inspected it.

What she said, though, made him turn back to her, a pouty look on his face. "Nuh-Uh! I'm uh, uh, uh... one, two, three... fou, fiii... six! Siiix. I'm Rasuca!" He protested to her declaration of child. Nobody in his home ever called him that; sometimes Yasuko had, and Sonny had told her that he was a kid, not a child.

The way she talked, though, immediately got his attention. Rasuca moved close to her face, inspecting it with his wide eyes. "You talk like my dad! And like Hebi! Tssss, sssss. Ssssss." Rasuca imitated, a grin spreading across his face as he thought of his papa and his father's pet snake. "Tssss, sssz, ahahaha!"

Her words, though, drew Rasuca's attention to her wound. "...Uh oh! Rasuca let out, his features falling as he examined the damaged part of her body. "Blood, blood... Dad said... momma said... uh, uh... uh..." Rasuca tried to remember... before reaching his fingers directly into the wound.

"Better, better, ah, ow, ow..."

It had to have hurt like hell. Rasuca's own expression had fallen somewhat, as if he too were in some form of pain. The small child's expression was one of a lack of understanding in the pain he was inflicting to her. But... as his fingers stayed within her, something extremely peculiar began to occur. Rasuca's very flesh began to mingle in with hers, the cells that made up his skin interacting with her own.

The flesh from around her wound shifted and changed, as strange lines from it thinning appeared. Rasuca's own hand slowly drew out of the wound, his face beginning to relax as his fingers reformed from her repaired flesh. Rasuca looked at them for a moment, glad that the pain had stopped. For her, as well; the pain would have numbed completely, and her body had been restored to what it was before... if a small bit paler in that one spot.

"Better, better~" The child stated in a sing songy voice. It would be rather unfortunate if she interrupted the process; once his fingrs had gotten inside, it would feel like tearing out a part of her own body if she attempted to interrupt him before he finished.

Over the entire process, Rasuca's body had changed significantly. His cheeks had thinned, taking on a more feminine quality. His clothes had grown more baggy, and his eyes had grown considerably more silver. His hair had the largest change, reaching past his shoulders..

And turning the same color of blonde as her own.

He seemed completely unphased by what he had just done, his new head of hair shifting from side to side as he rocked back and forth in her lap. "Uh, um... Momma said... she and dad would, uh... go on a day... day-ta. Daaaaay... daaaayteeeeeh. Then I saw a, uh, um, a... a... a bird! Sonny is, sooooo lazy. He back behind, waaay behind!" The child attempted to explain, his memory quite accurate, even his speech skills were not yet up to snuff.

His expression changed once again, leaning back in her lap. "Dad tells me stories! Lotsa stories! What the story of you? And blood? Huh?"

Saya smiled a little, hearing the boy reaffirm his name and age to her, and hearing him start to parody the way she spoke. Chuckling, and flickering her tongue, a bit, as he did that way. Though what the boy said made the woman wonder. His parents speak the way I do? Are they... like me? - she wondered. A scary thought. The last time she saw another Sueki was back home... The two holes on her neck, covered by a band-aid, responded with an ache. The smile vanished from her face. And then, she felt pain shoot through her body.

"Ungh..."

It felt like being stabbed with something dull. Saya looked down, only to discover that the boy stuck fingers into her wound, causing it to bleed again. "Sssstop it..." - she groaned, placing her hand over his wrist. "Dirty fingersssss..." - the woman tried to pull them out, but, to her amazement, the fingers felt ... stuck, as if grown into her. She did a few weak pulls, but the pain shooting through her chest every time she did so made the woman reconsider.

This was no ordinary boy.

"Relinquissssssh me." - Saya hissed, violently.

And so the boy did. Pulling his hand away, and pulling away the pain. The Sueki looked down, and her eyes widened, as she noticed that the wound was ... gone. Healed in a matter of moments. She brushed her hand over the spot a few times, only to realize it was gone. But strange things continued, as before her, the boy, Rasuca, started to morph. Slowly taking appearances similar to... herself. A quiet gasp frozen on her lips, as Saya stared in amazement for the transformation to become over. Even running her hand through his long hair, to make sure they were real.

A... shapeshifter?

The world was full of strange things. Full enough for a blood-sucking creature like herself to appear 'normal' in comparison.

"Amazing... you are not an average boy, Rassssuca. Are you? But then again... nobody isss these daysss." - Saya released, closing her eyes again, and resting her head against the tree. The little boy did not go away anywhere. Having escaped his babysitters, he seemed content just sitting there and heckling the small-time mercenary for stories. Namely, the last one she was in. The woman sighed, lips thinning, cheekbones appearing to move under the skin.

"I ... bit more than I could chew. I thought I could win a fight, when the person in question turned out much stronger than I was... She could kill me by throwing a rock..." - Saya said, pointing towards the dent in her armor.

"I managed to run away, but her ssstone hit me and knocked me out. I rolled down to this tree, and... then you found me." - a small smile appeared on her face again.

"Ssssay, Rasuca. Could you help me undo the beltsss holding my ssshell together?" - Saya reached back, awkwardly grasping at some of them. She was used to getting her armor off by herself. But it was still horribly uncomfortable. And though the wound was healed, the dent was still making it hard to breathe.

Rasuca really was just trying to help her. While he could see every part of her from where he was sitting, he did not necessarily understand all of it. He particularly did not understand the bandage around her neck; in his world, his dad would just stitch up any injuries the boy received.

"Nuh uh." Rasuca replied, his fingers wedged deep within her. He did not believe his fingers were dirty. They may not have been the cleanest after climbing that tree, but they certainly not what he would call 'dirty'.

"Uh uh. You be better. Lots better." Rasuca replied, a surprising amount of determination accompanying his developing vocabulary. He forged on despite her tugging, letting her skin mingle with his as her flesh properly reformed.

Rasuca was fairly happy after she had been reconstructed. He felt like he did a good job, and she seemed much more lively now. She even ran a hand through his hair, which he did not really understand. In Rasuca's world, changing to look like whoever he was playing with was just a fact of life. He did not really have any other playmates his own age; so he never got to see how other kids failed to transform when they were held. He saw his parents touch a lot, but they already looked pretty similar, and his momma would change her appearance a lot even without touching anyone. He stayed still as she ran her fingers through his hair, expression just a bit confused.

"Ah, um, uh.. Average?" Rasuca's brow furrowed, trying to remember. That was one of the words his dad had taught him. "Um, uh... between, nuffin... and uh, uh, moooost? Uh... boy, I'mma boy. Nooo." The child concluded at last, shaking his head. He did not think he laid anywhere between nothing and the most of boys. But then again, he did not know what the set of 'boys' fully comprised.

Rasuca was completely silent as she told her story. He seemed completely enraptured, sitting peacefully in her lap as Saya repeated the tale. Despite what they already had been through, Rasuca still had not asked her name. But for him, it did not seem to really matter what her name was.

He liked her story. It had action, with her fighting someone super strong and then running away. And it even ended with her smiling. Smiling because of him, even. That made the boy put his slightly more feminine than normal hands up against his cheeks, smiling back.

"Oh! Uh, uh..." Rasuca's body shifted, head looking past behind her. He leaned in, blinking as he somewhat reluctantly rolled out of her lap. It was a lot colder on the ground. Rasuca successfully navigated behind her, plopping onto the ground as he inspected her belts.

He was a much quieter than before, examining them. They were like the logic puzzles his dad gave him all the time. Rascua reached a hand out, gently tugging on one, feeling how it reacted under his small hand. At last, he smiled, making a happy noise as he moved.

Each belt came undone in one motion, Rasuca's face a beaming smile as he stood back up on his short legs. "All done~ All done~ Ahahaha!"

Strange boy...

And yet, so capable with undoing those belts! Saya was about to explain how to do it, but the child seemed enthralled by the challenge! And, soon, enough, she felt the carapace loosening on her chest, before falling neatly into two halves, one of them landing in her lap. Leaving her in the dark gambesonShe smiled, nodding.

"Thank you, Rassssuca. You are quite capable! You could become a ssssquire one day."- the Sueki praised the boy, as she inspected the armor. The dent in the chest was ... repairable. She pressed against it with a knee from the other side. A few pushes and strikes with a fist from the other side managed to fix it somewhat. There was still a dent left, though much smaller, and less dangerous. The hole in the back, however, wasn't.

"Uhhh... will have to sssee an armorsssmith about thisss later..." - Saya sighed, looking at the boy through the hole. Such a small problem to worry about. Just one of many. And yet, it felt nice worrying about such a little thing. Her eyes focused on Rasuca again, who just stood there, grinning. The woman wanted to give him something, but...

Oh yeah... I forgot my backpack near the fireplace. Just when I...

The cheery expression dissipated from Saya's face. She breathed in, now that the armor was not obstructing her diaphragm and the hole did not make her feel pain. Carrying the armor plates under her arm, the woman made a motion for the boy to follow, if he wanted.

"We sssshould probably find your babysssssitter. He must be worried that you are gone. What doesss he look like?" - she said, as she walked through the reeds she ran so desperately through, yesterday.

Perhaps one good deed for the day...

The smile she gave him made Rasuca grin back, his shiny white teeth showing as he lightly laughed. He was just so happy that he had done a good job. But he did not really know what the other thing she said was, so he tilted his head.

"Um, what's a, a.. squay? Squiaaaaay. Err. Squay-ar?" The child asked, before jerking a bit as she punched into her armor. She seemed distressed that it had a hole in it, like Rasuca's family was when he got holes in his pajamas. The sound of the clanging metal bit into the boy's ears, so he covered them up until she was done.

He absolutely could not understand it when she said she would need to see an 'armorsmith'. The level of her lisp was too high in that regard. Then, the smile vanished from her face, and Rasuca copied her, blinking.

"Uh...?" He asked, a feeling of unease moving through him as his feminine blonde hair shifted to one side. Without hesitating, Rasuca padded along after her, matching her pace fairly easily. "Um, uhhhhm.. Sonny! Sonny is a, a, bones! Skeleh... skelaaaaah, skeleton!" Rasuca got out, his face and body animated as he tried to communicate the appearance of his babysitter.

"He, is, uh... soooo lazy! Dad calls a him 'lazy bones'!" Rasuca explained, his voice changing significantly as he imitated his father. A much smoother, deep voice replaced his nomal one, for just an instant. "And uh, uh... 'smiley face'." Once again, the child's voice shifted, plodding along with the woman in the general direction he had entered the forest from.

Fairly soon they would enter a clearing, with a park visible on the other side of it. Perhaps the boy's caretaker was located there...?

"Ssssquire, ssssilly."

Saya chuckled, hearing the boy's attempts to pronounce the word. "It'sss a kind of perssson who usually follows a warrior around and helpsss them put armor on and off." - she explained, as the two walked towards an extinguished campfire and a few logs around it. Having a squire would have been nice... - the woman thought to herself. Preferably with an unending blood supply. I wonder if such exist...

An idle thought, that's for sure. Though the word of the boy's babysitter made Saya arch a brow. "A sssskeleton? Your parentsss sssure pick the weirdesssst caretakersss."

But then again, in a world filled with blood-sucking monsters, soul-eating monsters, ghosts, demons, and everything in between, the woman could not really single out skeletons as somewhat overly unusual. Her thoughts shifted again, as she looked at the old campsite, memories from yesterday floating in. Something metal hit against her boot, making the woman look down.

"Oh... My shoulder pad..."[/color] - Saya crouched down and picked it up. The shoulder plate was covered in dust, the belts that were supposed to hold it in place torn off, and an imprint in form of a fist denting its surface. [b]"Not ssssure if I can repair that..."[/color] - she sighed, carrying it with her still. A pang of guilt stung from the inside. It was here where she had committed sin.

There was more 'loot' to be found around the place. One of which was the very girly childrens' backpack of pink color, with a white cat on it, which Saya used during her hasty retreat. The girl who beat her up so soundly did not seem interested in it, or its contents. The woman picked it up from the ground and dusted it off, before reaching inside, and pulling out... an apple.

[b]"Do you like applessssss, Rasssuca?" - Saya would ask, before tossing one to the boy. "I ssssupposssse I ssshould bring you to your sssskeleton, before continuing my journey.

One good deed for the day, at least. Like a spoonful of honey in a barrel of grease that was her karma.

"Pbbbpt." Rasuca stuck his tongue out at being called silly. He knew that word - his ma did it quite a lot. Her lisp was still a bit difficult for him to work through, but he was able to mostly decipher what she said. "Assi… an assis… an… assssssis-tant?" He asked, having finally got the words together. He did know what armor was - that word was in a lot of his papa's stories. He blinked at the campfire, his nose twitching at the unpleasant smell that always accompanied such a thing.

"Huuuh? Sonny not weird. Nuh uh." Rasuca said, shaking his head as he plodded behind her. "Aaah. Some…times?" Rasuca guessed that there were some times when Sonny acted unusual. As if he did not believe that what Rasuca's parents did was right. The way he looked at them when they tried to do certain things or proposed others. Most of those things, however… were quite monstrous. Not that Rasuca correctly understood that; he simply saw Sonny's reticence toward those actions as unusual.

"Ooo! Wazzat?" Rasuca asked, his eyes perking up as he saw her lift something off of the ground. Getting a closer look, he could clearly make out the imprint of a fist on it. "Oh! Oh! Can I have it? Give me?" He asked, hopping up and down a bit as he tried to reach her arms. He… apparently wanted her shoulder pad, if she did not.

But… his jumping paused for a moment, something else catching his attention. That feeling that had shot through her; it seemed to have affected Rasuca as well. He could not particularly explain how or why he felt the way he did, but he felt a kind of… emptiness. Something was definitely off, and maybe it was with her. He looked up at her with his wide eyes, before following her gaze about the place.

"Cat! Kitty, kitty cat!" Rasuca let out, seeing what she had lifted up off of the ground. He quickly scurried on over to inspect it further, poking at the picture of the cat on it. "Apple? Apple… Uh… Uuuuh…" Rasuca reached up, holding his hands for her with a smile. "I'mma… uh… dunno. Doooooon't. Know. Tasty?" He asked her, his little hands reaching for the fruit… and hopefully for that cool looking piece of metal with a hand's imprint on it.

"Uuuh. I know!" Rasuca let out suddenly, waving his arms about. "Fly, fly! Help a me, uh… fllllly!" Rasuca giggled, jumping up and down off the ground. He put both of his hands on his side, before making a sweeping gesture as he tossed himself chest-first onto the ground, further dirtying his pajamas. "Aaaaaah, hahahaha! Fly! Sonny allllways sees me fly!" Rasuca explained, standing back up as he kept jumping about, pointing out at a nearby ravine, the tops of trees visible within his sightline.

"There, there! Fwooooh! Help a me fly!"