The Witch Hunter (Part 2)

[krystalkatzfics]

Title: The Witch Hunter

Author: Krystalkatz

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance, AU

Rating: R for some violence

Pairings: Matsumoto Jun/Ninomiya Kazunari, Ohno Satoshi/Ninomiya Kazunari,

Length: Chaptered

Disclaimer: I only own the plot... Unfortunately...

The next morning he realized it wasn’t a dream rubbing his eyes he sleepily he made his way into the village square the first thing he saw was Nino standing just outside the village gates, holding Arashi’s reins, and another horse that still seemed to have a wild edge. The villagers were whispering motioning to him with their heads. Matsu was focused on how cute the demon was in the early morning, he doubted though he would still be thinking that when he opened his mouth

“Master” He said with a bow “Your horse...”

“Thank-you, Nino”

“You’re welcome...” Nino grinned, the teasing glint in his eyes as he looked back up at him

“Is that your horse?”

“I guess, I found it running around the forest last night, and Niji agreed to come with me” The demon shrugged stroking the horses neck gently.

“He agreed?”

“Yes” Nino answered with a nod, not explaining any further “Which way are we traveling?”

“I have to go back to the halls... And tell them the witch is dead and about you...”

“That should be fun...So we travel over the mountains?”

“Are you really coming with me?”

“Of course, I am bound to you...” Nino smirked “You are my master”

“And you’re doing this because you’re bored?”

“Should there be another reason? Boredom can get irritating...”

“How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?”

“Because I would die... I can’t kill you and I can’t knowingly take you to a place where you can be killed... Don’t they teach you this in the halls?”

“There isn’t much on demon binding... Only powerful hunters could bind demons... I guess they never met you”

“It’s true that only a powerful witch hunter can survive the binding... So I’m surprised you did” Nino grinned “When shall we go?”

“I haven’t seen the elder yet, he was meant to be here by now...” Matsu murmured ignoring the comment he wasn’t at his best yesterday and guessed he’d earned some teasing, although why it had to be from a demon he barely knew he had no idea. 

“Won’t he be angry that you already took care of the witch?”

“He might be more surprised that I suddenly have a bound demon...” He said looking at Nino again

Nino laughed and led the horses to a fence tying the reins to it “He should have been here earlier...”

“So you would have bound yourself to him?” Matsu asked, surprised when he felt a stab of disappointment in his chest.

“I don’t know... An elder would have more power, but I doubt he’d be as good looking as you or as interesting...” Nino said looking over him appraisingly “It’s nice to have a young and tempting Master...”

Matsu glared at him smacking him on the back of the head before he turned away, hoping to see the elder; the villagers had already been circling, nervously looking at the hunter and ‘his demon’. The looks in their faces was already completely different from when he had arrived, the fear was still there but it was less pronounced in their faces. Some of the children were even laughing as they played. “Do you feel good? Knowing that you helped all of these people?”

“You helped” Matsu reminded him turning to face the demon again and saw him rubbing his head still grinning.

“I helped you... ” Nino corrected “It won’t be long before this land is taken by something else, it could be something worse than the witch... “

Matsu clicked his tongue he knew the demon was right, but why did he have to be so cold about it, even if he was a demon.

“Master Hunter”

Matsu turned and was surprised to see the old woman from yesterday smiling at him holding the arm of a young woman.

“How can we thank-you? This is my grand-daughter the last of my family, you brought her back to me...” She said grabbing his hand tightly, Matsu heard Nino snicker lightly “Forgive my rudeness yesterday...”

“It’s okay... I’m glad you’re okay...” He smiled ignoring the demon and focusing on the pretty girl, who was smiling shyly.

“Thank-you very much master hunter...” She said taking his hand after her grandmother had let go. “I-I... Have you eaten?”

“No not yet” Matsu answered

“Then join us... And your demon” The old woman said nervously looking at Nino who looked as if he was about to choke on his laughter.

“I’m fine,” Nino said untying his horse and climbing on its back “I shall go and see if the elder is near master” He rode off before Matsu had a chance to say anything.

Nino stopped the horse a little away from the village, getting off the horse he took a knife from his side he cut his palm, allowing the blood the drip to the floor. “Show me the way” he whispered, he hadn’t said anything to the young hunter but last night there had been a disturbing amount of activity in the air. And the animals had been restless. He watched as the blood changed and pointed him a direction. He could have done this in the village but mortals were so funny about blood magic. Seeing the path he wanted he straddled the horse again, the bad feeling growing as he moved further into the woods.

The horse stopped and Nino stared at the figure tied to the tree “Oh... I guess... We won’t be waiting much longer” Nino muttered grabbing the hunters bag not surprised when his hand started burning, “Protection charm” He mumbled quickly dropping it into the sack on the horses back. He stared at the hunter’s body again, he guessed he should untie him and gives him some dignity in death; his mind was reeling at what could have done it, it wasn’t the witch, he had been keeping an eye on her for a few days, besides even if she had given Matsu trouble an elder would have had no difficulty in defeating her. He cut the hunter free and studied the mark to see which of the three kings he followed, seeing it was the second he set the hunter alight. He watched as the flames claimed the body and then climbed onto the horses back. Whatever had killed the elder was no longer here, but he had to get Matsu away as soon as possible, he thought riding back to the village. His master was sitting on the wall of the inn when he came back, watching some kids playing.

“You couldn’t find him?” Matsu asked when he saw the demon return alone.

“No I found him...Most of him” Nino answered “I burnt what was left, as the way of the second king...”

“You... Honored the way of the second king?”

“What, his mark said he followed the second king... Should I have just left him?” Nino asked as he got down from the horse.

“No I’m just surprised...”

“Have you finished here? We should leave... You need to get back to your halls as soon as possible...” Nino muttered and then motioned to the sack “You should look through his bag first... Take it...”

“It was still there?”

“Whatever killed him couldn’t touch it... It burnt me when I tried, so I’m guessing it has a protection charm... Whatever’s in it might come in handy for you though” Nino shrugged “So did she offer you the hand of her grand-daughter in thanks?”

“You... Knew she was going to do that?”

Nino grinned again “Witch Hunters are considered powerful, even as they are now; you are even more powerful as you have your own pet... She won’t be the last to the offer you a relatives hand... Too bad though, I’m not letting you get away...Not before I at least get your virginity”

“Why would you think I’m a virgin?”

“You’re just out of the halls, from what I hear they’re pretty strict about that sort of thing... The first place most new hunters go is a brothel” Nino laughed “So unless you were a naughty boy in the halls...”

“Shut up, I’m never going to sleep with you...” Matsu snapped grabbing the elders’ bag and opening it to avoid having to look at the beaming demon. He flipped through the book he found while Nino took out some playing cards from his pocket, and started doing a magic show for the children that were torn between festinated and horrified when the cards moved on their own. The kings of hearts, spades and clubs seemed to be having a fight with the king of diamonds, the children closed in and Matsu put the book down to watch the fight which ended when the King of clubs betrayed the King hearts and then with the diamonds turned on the spades.

“Here don’t tell your parents” Nino said after the battle had finished, handing the cards out, one face card for each child that was clapping wildly. They took them nervously and put them quickly into their pockets before running away.

“Why give them cards?” Matsu asked bewildered, Nino just shrugged putting the rest back in his pocket

“Are you ready?”He asked looking up at the sky, not wanting to be caught out late; they had to at least make it to the mountains by nightfall the caves there would offer more protection than the forest.

They made it through the forest easily; there were no signs of what had attacked the elder. As they reached the mountains, the sky was already darkening and the temperature had dropped. Matsu shivered as wind whipped around him, the horses slipped on the stones so they were forced to dismount.

“There should be some caves further up...” Nino murmured, stiffening as he heard a howl,

“A wolf?” Matsu whispered Nino nodded letting go of horses reins and motioning for Matsu to do the same.

“Please try not to just sit there this time” He grinned as the howls got louder, Matsu glared at him but then nodded recalling every enchantment he’d been taught. Nino spoke to his horse and Matsu watched in amazement as it went off taking Arashi with it. The wolves bore down on them, their fangs already showing, as deep growls came from their throats “They’re not normal wolves...“ He heard Nino mutter as he snapped his fingers. The same fire circled them as with the witch, but this time Matsu noticed that Nino’s eyes had changed to a green/yellow and flashed like a cats when the light caught them. The battle didn’t last long and they made their way to a cave half way up the mountain. Nino muttered a protection spell and then sat down looking at Matsu, “Are you okay?” He asked

“Fine... They were hell hounds right?”

“No, just servants” Nino shook his head, “Normal wolves taken by hell hounds... It doesn’t matter their masters are far away and nothing can get through the protection so you should sleep...”

“Will the horses be okay?”

“Niji will look after Arashi” Nino answered with a nod looking out of the cave, as he heard a howl from another wolf. Matsu watched him silence for awhile

“Tell me about you...” He muttered, wanting to know more about the bratty demon he had found himself with.

“Why?”

“I want to know the person I’m bound with...” He shrugged

“You want my whole life... That would take more than one night, plus most of it is seriously boring...”

“So recent...”

“That’s the most boring bit... Why don’t we just sleep together?” Nino suggested with a grin, Matsu rolled his eyes “It’s a great way of getting to know each other...”

“Is sex all you think about? Don’t you want love?” Biting his lip wondering if that sounded as girly as he thought it did.

“I had a lover once” Nino admitted touching the pendent around his neck lightly, “It was a long time ago...”

“What happened to her?”

Nino let out a laugh but it was a bitter hollow sound “It wasn’t her... It was he... He left me”

“So demons can feel love?”

“Would you feel better if I said we had a great sex life?” Nino snapped glaring at him “I don’t know if what we had was love as you’d know it”

“Sorry... What was he like?”

“Sleepy and very calming, he didn’t speak often and even when he did very little of it made sense”

“He sounds... Not like your type at all...” Matsu mumbled looking at the faraway look in the demons eyes with a small amount of jealousy creeping into his heart.

“Yeah... But we did have a great sex life” Nino smirked the teasing flash back in his eye, and Matsu wondered if he had imagined the love he’d seen there. He shivered as wind whipped into the cave; the demon noticed and raised an eye brow “You know what’s good for keeping warm?” He asked

“Oh for... I’m going to sleep!” Matsu snapped laying down facing the cave wall shivering.  Nino rolled his eyes and came to lie beside him, throwing an arm over his waist

"Hey I said I didn't want to sleep with you..."

"Yeah... But you're about to freeze to death... We can't light a fire, with giving away our position so use my body heat..." Nino mumbled against his ear "And when you do decide to sleep with me, I can promise you're going to enjoy every minute..."

"I'm never going to sleep with you” Matsu snapped, wanting to pull away but having to admit the heat the smaller guy was giving off was pleasant. Nino just chuckled sleepily his grip tightening around him as he felt him shiver. Matsu waited until he was asleep before turning to look at his sleeping face, "Seriously... What are you trying to gain by being so nice?" He asked, in his days in the hall he had studied all kinds of demons; he knew most would lure the unwary but Nino hadn’t asked for anything other than to come with him. He had saved his life against the witch and again against the wolves. He just wished he’d do something about his bratty side and stop trying to sleep with him, then he would be great company, it was better than the normal life of a witch hunter of traveling from village to village alone. He wrapped his arms around Nino and fell asleep. Nino opened his eyes and smiled at him, the protection shield was draining and the heat he was having to give off would mean that tomorrow he'd have barely any energy if there was a fight, but at least he was one step closer to his goal. The wind whipped at the entrance of the cave and in the distance a wolf howled into the night as Nino fell asleep for real this time. Just as Nino said the horses were fine and waiting for them at the caves entrance when they awoke.

Nino sat on Niji, his stomach churning slightly, glaring at the refreshed Witch hunter, "Why do mortals have to be kept so warm?" He grumbled almost to himself and at least Matsu had the decency to look a little guilty

"We're almost at a village, we can sleep in the inn tonight..."

"You can, I'm not going to be welcomed with open arms..."

"Why? It's not as if you look like a demon... If you don't broadcast it you should be fine..."

"There are monks in the next village, they'll know..." Nino complained "And even if you tell them I'm bound to you the most I can hope for is a cage for the night... And that is never pleasant..."

"Do they hurt you?"

"It's what they're meant to do..." The demon shrugged “And most deserve it...”

“But you don’t?” Matsu asked with a raised an eyebrow.

“They don’t have my charming personality” Nino grinned laughing when Matsu rolled his eyes “There are many different types of demon... I’m one of them, there are others that we are bound to meet”

“Aren’t you worried you’ll be considered a traitor?”

“Not...” Nino froze his face going white as he fell from Niji, landing in a bush.

“Nino? What’s wrong?” Matsu said getting down and running to the demons side. Matsu let out a gasp as he touched his skin, looking at his hands he saw some of the skin had been burnt off the bush he had landed on sizzled and the ground around the demon was already turning black as smoke rose up.

 

A/N: Second Chapter...sorry if this story is slow moving... Hope you enjoy ^.^