Cursed (solo)

Koga's hooves made no sound against the soft grass of the park as he wandered aimlessly. Another night of hunger, of killing that seemed to have no point beyond survival, and an uncomfortable bloodlust that told him to tear into every living thing that was weaker than he. "Why do I exist?" Koga thought aloud. He slumped, parking his large frame onto the first step of a metal playscape for young children. Chronic depression had become a defining characteristic of his life. Ironically, despite the mental anguish it caused, it was proving to be one of the few things capable of stopping his ravenous hunger. Why had he been cursed with this fate? So far as he knew, he was the only such beast in the world, a specter from nightmare that was chained by its sentience, by its knowledge that it could be nothing more.

Koga's fist hit the metal pole beside him in frustration; it bent slightly under his strength. Wetness began leaking from the eye-holes in his Hollow mask. That was another thing Koga thought unique about his circumstance. He seemed the only such monster even capable of tears. His muscular shoulders shook as he gripped the edges of the step he sat on tightly, his wings furled and unfurled rapidly - they might have taken him into the air had he not been holding on so very tightly to his seat. And then, he felt a spot of warm on his back.

Koga spun around quickly - he had sensed no danger, but perhaps this was a new kind of being that would pose a threat to his cursed existence. His black eye sockets saw nothing. "Are you crying?" a high-pitched voice asked him. Koga looked down to see the soul of a small child, probably no older than 5. His eyes were milky white - obviously blind. Koga was surprised - he would've thought such an easy target might already have been consumed by one of his more feral 'cousins.'

"Yes, child," Koga's voice was rough, full of the fear intrinsic in every aspect of a Hollow. He winced as soon as he spoke, somehow knowing that even though he could not see Koga, the child would run, gathering from his voice that Koga was somebody...no, something to be avoided at all costs.

Koga saw the child start at the sound of his voice, but he did not run. "It's not so bad, Mister. At least you can see, you know? I can't. People just brush me off because of it, they always have. They don't know how to deal with it. It's gotten worse lately, you know." He sniffed, and rubbed at his blank eyes. Koga blinked in surprise; the child spoke quite well for someone his age. "So please don't cry. It makes me feel like crying."

"I...won't," Koga said, and he got up. At his full height, he towered over the small boy.

Apparently, the boy sensed him moving, and stepped forward, grabbing Koga's hand as he did so, almost cutting himself on one of Koga's claws. "Please don't go! I want you to stay with me! You're the only one that's talked to me for ages. And - you can help me see and get around ok. Please?"

Koga stood still for a long while before speaking again. "You don't know what I am, child. I am not a good pers- I am not a good thing to go to for help. Not unless you want something killed." He removed his hand gently from the child's. "Thank you for speaking to me. I don't think anyone else would have. Or could have."

"But...I thought we were friends..." the boy's face scrunched up, obviously fighting back tears. "I got you to stop crying. That's what friends do! You can't leave, we're - we're friends!"

Koga was at a loss. Inside, a tremendous battle was taking place. On one hand, this boy was the first real human contact he had had in his whole miserable existence. But on the other - Koga could not guarantee his safety, even from himself. Even now, as his depression lifted, he could feel the pangs of hunger urging him to take this boy as an appetizer and go find some real meat. "I must go. I will be back. Stay here, and run if you sense something like me, but that does not speak. I will find you."

And without another word, Koga spread his wings and leaped into the sky, putting as much distance between him and the boy as he could, for he could feel the wild hunger building up in him exponentially - had he stayed another moment, the boy would be sliding down his gullet. In chunks.

To be continued...

His wings beat furiously against the air to propel Koga like a missile across the sky toward another flying Hollow, which although it hadn't noticed him at first, had now done so and was meeting his charge head on. Like him, it was semi-humanoid, though it resembled a gargoyle more than anything else. Its wings beat just as fast against the air as they raced toward each other in a dangerous game of chicken.

Just as they were about to collide, Koga flipped on his side, bypassing the gargoyle. "Ala del Pecado." His wings beat, and sent several blades of purple directly at the gargoyle Hollow's passing back. The blades severed both the gargoyle Hollow's wings, and it plummeted like an anvil. Folding his wings in, Koga dove down and followed.

But then...the gargoyle flexed its body, screamed, and a new pair of wings burst from its wounds, and after flapping a few times to slow its descent, it shot up toward Koga, too fast for him to react. They crashed into each other; Koga used the horns on his head to try to butt the gargoyle off, but it held fast. Locked as they were, neither could keep airborne, and they began to fall again. "Capa del Infierno." Koga's body erupted into purple flame which seared the gargoyle's flesh - it loosened its grip briefly, and Koga wriggled free, aiming a slash at the the gargoyle's abdomen as he did so.

The cut landed, and this time, the wound did not heal, though it didn't look particularly serious. The fires on the gargoyle's body died out as it fell past Koga, but Koga quickly dived down toward it and collided with it again. That was when the gargoyle Hollow turned to stone, gripping Koga in such a way that he could not escape its fingers. Sensing no other option, Koga turned over and over in the air, hoping that it would be the gargoyle who hit the ground first.

But then...the answer was obvious. "Forma Fantasmal." He became incorporeal, and slipped through the gargoyle's grasp, and it hit the ground hard. Cracks formed all over its body, and Koga wasted no time, lunging forward and headbutting the Hollow right in its cracked chest, which shattered, revealing that its stone qualities extended only to an outer layer. That was all the opening Koga needed - he turned and slashed at the spot - the gargoyle howled in pain. Then, with a beat of his wings, he sent a pair of blades right into the gargoyle's chest, causing it to collapse, dead before it hit the ground. The meal was much appreciated, now he could get back to the boy.

Koga practically tore his wings off getting back to the park, where mercifully, he found the boy waiting. "You're back!" he cried as soon as Koga touched down, running forward to hug one of Koga's hairy legs. "What kind of pants are you wearing? These feel weird," he asked.

"They're...a new fashion," Koga improvised. Somewhere, deep inside himself, Koga promised that he would keep this boy safe. That was his God-given purpose, to prove that one could master one's bestial monstrosities and become a face for redemption. "Do you need food?" Koga changed the subject. He figured that since he did, this boy probably did too.

"No, you know it's weird, I haven't been hungry for a while now," the boy responded.

If he could have smiled, Koga would have. For once in his sorry life, he had purpose. He had something to live for beyond the bloodlust, the hunger, the insatiable desires that had plagued him for centuries. All his troubles seemed worth it, now that he had his young charge.

To be continued...