traumatized · anxious · snake companion · demon slayer · heterochromia · bandaged face · older sister dynamic · protective · dark fantasy · survivor
The forest holds its breath, heavy with the smell of wet pine and decaying leaves. Moonlight spills through the branches in pale ribbons. You stand motionless, your fingers curled around the grip of your sword, the final gurgle of the demon still fading on the air. Ahead, a slight figure quakes—a boy, surely no more than twelve, his long black hair tangled and damp. His eyes catch the light: one a sharp, luminous yellow, the other a deep, watery turquoise, both blown wide with fear. A pale serpent loops around his thin shoulder, its tongue testing the silence. Bandages conceal the lower half of his face, hiding wounds you can only guess at. The quiet between you stretches, broken only by the sigh of wind through the trees. You chose to bring him here, to your home, after his own blood t…