The Ookubi Introduces Itself

„Come out now, little girl. There is nothing that can betray my eyes for long", the creature said with a smug tone in its voice.

Lily chose to stand up a heartbeat later and turned around to the speaker. He was obviously already waiting for her, a grin of satisfaction on his lips. „Now that's a good girl." It spoke to her as one would to a dog. Lily's anger instantly rose to a growl in her throat. She had had enough of that! In the mansion she just escaped everyone had treated her like an abomination, and now this truly hideous creature was talking to her like to a common pet! Without letting the creature out of her sight, she reached to a hidden pocket in her dress, slid her fingers around the hilt of a dagger and flung it faster than eyes could track the movement towards the creature, even though the movement sent a stabbing pain through her side. But the gain was worth the toll. The target never saw it coming and before it could move aside, the dagger struck home with a rich thud, only the hilt sticking out of the broad bony chest of the creature. Yes!, Lily thought with satisfaction. But the triumphant glimmer in her eyes quickly disappeared when she became aware that nothing happened. The creature didn't flinch, it didn't moan in pain and it certainly did not hit the forest floor.

„What…", she began.

„Are you done now?", the creature asked while slowly pulling the dagger out of its chest. Where the blade had pierced the body a hole remained. But not for long as Lily watched in disbelieve as black matter filled and sealed the hole until no one would suspect that it had ever been there at all.

„What… What are you?", she replied instead, not really answering his question.

„I am your personal demon."

„What? You're not a demon", she said, narrowing her eyes to mere slits. At least, she hoped that that was true. She hoped, the creature wouldn't know that she didn't know much about her own kind.

„Oh, so you know better what I am than me, is that it?", the creature asked indignified.

„I know what a demon looks like, believe me. And you are not a demon", she said and hoped to sound convincing enough.

„It hurts to hear that, you know?" Did the creature just… sniff?

Lily shook her head to clear it. Please don't notice that I don't know what I'm talking about!, she thought. „I don't care. What do you want from me? Seriously. "

Be tough. You're a demon. You're menacing, she told herself.

Now the creature did erect itself and Lily saw that she hadn't been far off with her guess.

And while the creature regarded her thoughtfully, she decided to examine her opponent a bit closer.

The creature's face was very thin and wrinkled, its eyes of a dark green. Its broad mouth was packed up with pointed, dagger sharp teeth and around its neck lay a pinch collar. It had a broad chest with the rips showing and a slim waist. Its stomach and its emaciated skull looked like it endured famine. That made her heart sting for a moment. Maybe this creature had to suffer too under the hand of a cruel master…

Beside that, its skin was as white as limestone mostly covered in a black leathery suit which showed rusty red stains here and there. She then realised that she had first mistaken the suit for the skin.

The creature's outside appearance was weird enough, but there was something else disturbing and it took her moment to realize what it was: The absolute lack of any warmth that all living creatures gave off in some extent. That made her wonder…

All of this she grasped in a few moments as she had been used to do that back at the mansion. There she had to be very aware what kind of person was standing in front of her or it could end badly for her. That reminded her… Could it be that…

„Ah… Yes… That's good", spoke the creature then, evidently waking up from its contemplation and interrupting her chain of thoughts.

„What?", Lily asked.

„I was sent to escort you to a certain place", it replied.

„Sent?", Lily asked and narrowed her eyes. „By who?"

She already had a suspicion. But it was impossible. Even though her so-called father was certainly sinister enough to send a monster after her, it was also true, that he should be long dead by now.

Could it be that he somehow survived and was now out to get revenge on her? Impossible. Or was it…?

„I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you", the creature said.

Why? Because your employer happens to suffer from a heart failure due to having been stabbed in the neck with the pointy end of a sword?, Lily thought and snorted.

„Where are you supposed to escort me to, then?", she asked.

„Sorry, can't tell you", the creature said with a shrug.

Lily groaned frustrated.

„You know what, if you're being so vague about it, I don't believe a word you say", she said

„You don't?", he asked.

„I don't", she replied. „For all I know you're not even real. You could be a product of my imagination."

The creature looked down at her and grunted. „Well, that's too bad. Because I was sent to accompany you, so that's what I'll do."

Even though, her mind making all of this up, was the most likely explanation, she didn't allow herself to forget the other possibility. That it really had been her father who'd sent this thing to find her.

She wouldn't be too surprised if that man would survive a pierced throat. She could imagine him running on bile instead of blood.

Yes, that sounded more like the man she grew up with… So naturally, she was not inclined to go back to that place. Ever.

She turned around and walked away from the creature.

„Hey, where are you going, girl?", the creature called after her.

„Sorry, can't tell you", she called back.

„What?"

She grinned when she heard his voice peak incredulously.

Then she could hear the creature sigh but didn't stop to look back at it. Instead, she just kept going. With every step she put more distance between herself and that cursed mansion.

For a long time, she didn't hear anything else, so that she came to think that maybe that was all there had been to it. Or maybe she really had just imagined the weird creature. A mere projection of her own paranoia and steadily weakening mind due to the blood loss.

But then she heard it again. The off, rustling sound of the feathers, the creaking of leather and old bones, and yet, as she noticed only now that she paid attention to it, the complete lack of any panting or even breathing sounds.

„So…", she began. „You decided to stay with me a little longer, yes?"

„It would appear so."

„And are you going to steer me in a specific direction?"

„ …I don't think so."

That made her look back at the creature. „What do you mean?"

„Well, obviously I can't force you to go anywhere", he said simply.

Lily narrowed her eyes in suspicion. „You bet that's right."

But it made her wonder.

„Don't you get punished when you come back empty handed?", she asked.

„Only if I come back, I guess."

That made her stop dead in her tracks. „No."

„What?", he asked, still the innocence become flesh.

„You can't stay with me!", she exclaimed.

„But I can't go back without you or else I will be punished, just like you said."

„I don't care!"

„You're so cruel. It's not my fault if you don't go where you're supposed to", he said sullen.

„Well, then make me!"

„But you said I can't."

„You are ten feet tall. I'm sure you will think of something!"

Somehow that made the creature shut up for a while. Back with her own thoughts she wondered… What was this creature anyway? It was certainly nothing she had ever come across before… Also she had the distinct feeling, that „it„ was a „he". The voice had a male tone to it and also she couldn't see anything feminine about its body.

Although she enjoyed the silence very much, the question kept nagging at her, so at last she had to ask.

„Listen…", she said.

„Hm?" He truly sounded as if she had just ripped him out of deep thought. Maybe he actually had been thinking about what a ten feet tall creature could do to bring a not quite six foot girl home and avoid punishment. Which made it all the more important to get to know more about this fellow.

„Who exactly are you? I've never seen anyone like you…", she began.

„That's because we usually don't fly around these part of the world. We rather stay in our home region", he explained.

„We? Who is we?", Lily wondered.

„Well, that would be the Ookubi kind…"

„Ookubi?", she interrupted him.

„Well, yes… roughly translated it means ‚Death Spirit'…"

„That sounds like a child made up the name of your species."

„Would you please stop interrupting me?" He suddenly sounded annoyed.

„Oh, sorry, please go on. So you're a Ookubi, too, I take it?"

„Yes, I am", he replied. She waited for him to say more, after he had reacted so annoyed to her interruptions, but when he remained silent for minutes she turned her head around to look at him. The Ookubi seemed to pay no attention to her as he kept an eye on the surrounding forest.

„ …So?", she finally asked.

„So what?", he asked.

„Don't you want to say more?", she prodded him.

„No."

„Why not?"

„Well, I answered all your questions, did I not?"

„Yeah, I guess so… But…"

„But what?"

„Ah… Nothing… Nevermind." This was infuriating! Why did he snap at her when he didn't really have anything more to say? Lily growled and decided to ignore the Ookubi for now. There were more pressing matters at hand. The sun was setting, and she had to find shelter before it would be too dark. She hastened her pace, regardless of whether her self-assigned companion could keep up or not.

Sadly, he could. But at least he didn't ask why she had picked up the pace. Well, she probably wouldn't have bothered to explain it to him anyway.

***

After a while she managed to find a cave carved into the rock of a steep cliff. Whether it had been carved by man or by nature she couldn't tell, but also, she couldn't care less.

Lily lit a small flame on the palm of her hand to lighten the dark inside of the cave. She cast a secret glance in the direction of the Ookubi, expecting him to be shocked or at least surprised to witness her abilities, but to her own surprise she couldn't detect any such reactions on this face.

Since she didn't quite know what to make of this, she decided to walk around, the flame still on her palm and scare off any critter that might already have taken this place for their home.

When she'd made sure that the number of occupants was cut down to the two of them, she went about to pick up the dry sticks that littered the floor with the hand that was not maintaining the flame. Those sticks would make a perfect campfire. For a second, she wondered why there were so many sticks in here, then she thought that the critters she had shooed away must have brought them in to build their nests with. She was sorry having to take them apart, but she needed the fire because the night could get very cold now that it was almost October, and with that wound the cold could get very dangerous even for her. And also she wanted to be able to keep an eye on this ‚Death Spirit'. Who knew what such a creature would be up to?

When she was satisfied with the amount of sticks, she had collected, she brought them to the center of the cave where the ceiling was the highest, piled them into a pyramid and lit them with the small flame she had cautiously carried around the whole time. When she was sure that the fire would stay lit for a while she sat down on the floor with a sigh.

The Ookubi looked at her curiously, then sat himself beside her in a cross-legged position and thus filling the remaining free space between them.

Lily's muscles almost instantly stiffened, and she tried to move away, but the Ookubi already leaned over in a confidential manner, leaving her nowhere to edge towards to… So she just sighed again and submitted to the situation she wouldn't be able to get out of unless she gave the Ookubi what he wanted.

„…What is it?", she asked, adding an edge to her voice.

„You know, I could help you with that", he said calmly, pointing to the wound she was still clutching.

„… I don't need your help", she said stiffly. „I'm fine."

„You don't look it", the Ookubi said. „You rather look close to dying. Believe me, I'm an expert in such matters."

„Are you now? Well, anyway, it takes more than that to kill me. This is just an inconvenience. It'll be fine in the morning", she insisted. She didn't really believe that the wound would heal so quickly, but she guessed that it would at least hurt less and that was close enough to „ being fine" for her.

„Well, if you say so…", he said with his voice trailing off as he continued to rest his eyes on her.

Lily endured it for a while, then, when he didn't stop gazing, she asked impatient: „What now?"

„Oh… I've been curious, that's all", she Ookubi answered nonchalantly.

„ …About what?", Lily wanted to know.

„About you of course. I thought you would be just another girl and nothing worth my attention…", he began.

Lily growled. „What did you say?"

„But I was wrong", he hastily concluded. „Obviously."

Lily decided to say nothing this time. Instead she took a longer look at the creature next to her. And again she caught him grinning.

Finally she said. „ … You're kidding."

„I am certainly not", he replied sincere.

„But then why are you grinning?", she asked confused.

„I'm always grinning. That's just what my face looks like."

That reminded Lily of something she had read about as a child. „Yes… I've heard about you", she said slowly, still thinking about the memory.

„You did?", the Ookubi sounded surprised, but proud.

„Yeah… You're the one sitting in trees and confusing little girls until they take wrong the road and end up with a man as mad as a hatter. You are leading me back h… to the mansion, aren't you?!", she had almost said ‚home' there but managed to stop herself in time. She had to be careful with her choice of words. No matter what this ‚Death Spirit' said, it could still be that he was in the service of the man who had styled himself as her father but who had done terrible things to her when he had been alone with her.

With a shudder she remembered the many thongs and knives and needles, that he'd used on her for his experiments.

She couldn't trust his creature. As soon as he thought she might be wanting to go back she wouldn't hear the end of it. Or he could even make use of these huge wings of his to simply carry her off, return her to the mansion and be done with his job.

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and regarded the Ookubi with mistrust. „Spill the beans, Ookubi. You are trying to mislead me, are you not?!", she hissed angrily.

The Ookubi looked truly taken aback. His notorious grin faded a little and she noticed a tiny glimmer in his eyes of which the meaning wasn't quite clear to her, but which made her rethink for a second. She tried to hold onto her anger a little longer, but she could already feel it cool down. „Ugh, don't look at me like that. Just tell me what you are already!", she growled.

After an awkward silence the Ookubi replied toneless. „Ryon."

„What?"

„It's Ryon", the Ookubi repeated. „I have a name. And I'm not the ‚Grinning Cat'. What you are referring to is a different plot."

„ …A different plot? What do you mean?", she asked.

„Yes", he replied simply.

„What do you mean by that?", she asked again, but this time the Ookubi didn't reply. Cautiously she looked up at him. Although she couldn't read his face because of the grin he obviously had very little control over, she could tell by the lack of serenity in his voice that he was hurt. Something she had said had hurt him. And that made her feel bad - even against her best intentions to dislike him. She didn't know what to say, so she simply said: „I'm sorry… Ryon."

„… It's getting late", Ryon said after a pause, and then a little softer: „You should get some sleep."

Now that he mentioned it, all the anger that had fueled her spirit faded away and she suddenly felt terribly tired. She nodded slowly and curled up on the sand padded floor, cautious to keep the wound away from the sand. Her intentions to monitor the Ookubi were completely forgotten, and it didn't take long for sleep to overwhelm her.