Chapter IV
An empty, narrow space of nothing spanned out as far as the eye could see. A sea of black, only broken apart by the small form of white standing within the very center of it all.
No matter where he looked, the scenery remained the same.
He couldn’t see a thing, his vision engulfed by that continuous, endless, black. It was as though he were the only living thing in existence.
Even if he walked, nothing changed.
Even if he ran, his legs wouldn’t take him anywhere.
A sense of frustrating helplessness began to settle over his chest, like a dark, murky cloud of turbulence.
Would he simply disappear here? In this bleak, barren, nothingness??
It was as he began to wonder such a thing...That someone suddenly appeared within the empty space, almost vividly reflecting in his darkened vision, back facing him in the distance.
That person...He knew that person.
Hope began to fill his chest, uplifting him as he rushed over to that person.
Surely...Just surely…!
But then...Just as that person turned around...Just as he had seen their face...Just as his hand touched them, they suddenly crumbled to dust before his very eyes.
No.
Once more, he saw familiar faces, but no matter who he touched, the result was always the same. They all crumbled away.
As though merely being touched by his hands alone, was what destroyed their very existences.
No...!
Over and over, they all disappeared before him, rejecting his very presence.
He cried out desperately as they crumbled, one by one, until he was once more alone in that empty void.
But no sound would escape his throat.
No matter how he cried in despair.
There would no longer be anyone to answer him.
Suddenly, a dark, gray ceiling reflected within blurred vision.
Staring up at that ceiling listlessly, he eventually pushed himself up into a sitting position, the feeling of something wet slowly dribbling down his cheeks.
Absently, he reached up to his face, realizing tears had begun streaking down.
...A dream.
He pressed his palms against his face with a heavy sigh, furiously rubbing away his tears.
He felt pathetic, crying from nothing more than a dream. Even if that dream...No, he decided not to think about it.
He rubbed the underside of his wrist against the back of his ear, smoothing out the slightly ruffled fur.
That’s right. He needed to pull himself together. If he were to simply engross himself in his grooming like this, he would calm down soon enough. So he did just that, carefully grooming the fur along his ears and tail, his stirred emotions and thoughts going distant.
Occasionally, his ears would twitch as he picked up on sounds from beyond the dark room, a soft knock resounding from the other side of the door.
“...You awake?” Eon’s voice could be heard before he simply let himself in without awaiting a response. Perhaps he had picked up on the fact that Max was awake now...Unfortunately, however, since Max hadn’t had the time to respond, Eon walked right in on him while he was in the middle of grooming still.
Wrist rubbing at his floofy ear, tongue peeping out of his mouth, it was no doubt a curious sight.
“…” Eon simply stared him down, his expression void of any detectable emotion. “...What are you, a cat?”
“...No.” Max frowned, the tip of his tail curling in embarrassment.
Again, an awkward silence passed between them.
This always seemed to happen. More often than not, the two didn’t seem to know how to keep a decent conversation flowing.
But Max didn’t blame Eon for this.
No that...Was surely his own fault.
“...Get ready, you’re going out shopping with me.” Eon, once more, was the one to break the ice with his sudden comment...Actually, it was more of a demand. “I need to make sure to stock up on things you can eat too.” He added in when Max shot him a curious look. “...Unless you’d rather starve?” He grinned, tossing that extra comment over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, his gray-black tail swaying behind him.
Max’s ears flicked back in response to being teased, but he got ready and hustled right on out of the room regardless.
Somehow, he was struck with the impression that Eon had come up with a roundabout excuse to spend a bit more time around him.
And perhaps that wasn’t entirely that far off the truth, either.
Finishing with getting dressed, he left the bedroom, making his way down the short hallway, and into the living room...And to his surprise, there appeared to be some rather sudden, furniture changes compared to what he saw just the previous day.
Along the back wall, there now sat a comfy looking couch, a small coffee table just in front of it, and some other, miscellaneous furnishings throughout the living space. It felt far more homely, and less empty.
...He was entirely certain that none of these existed within this house before today.
Perhaps Eon picked up on the fact that Max was questioning these sudden changes, for his tail was swaying restlessly behind him.
...It was a rather comical thing to witness, really, especially given how he was entirely straight faced the entire time. As though he hadn’t realized his tail was giving him away rather spectacularly.
The tail never lied, after all.
“I see you’ve been busy this morning.”
Normally, Max would have just let it slide, but maybe, just maybe...He was feeling a tad bit mischievous.
Just a teeny tiny bit of payback for all that constant, incessant teasing wasn’t so bad, right?
The base of Eon’s tail visibly stiffened, having cast Max a little glance over his shoulder.
“...The place was starting to feel a bit empty, is all.”
“Mhmm.” Max hummed, his tail trembling with sweet satisfaction.
Eon frowned, but he didn’t exactly have a rebuttal, considering he did set himself up for this one.
It was more than obvious that he made these sudden changes to accommodate to his new, house guest.
As true as it was, he’d never admit it out loud, though.
“Just get outta the house so I can lock up already.” He shot back, hustling Max out the door so the two could begin their walk towards the market.
Even though it was still somewhat early in the morning, the market was already amass with the hustle and bustle of people.
There was just so much to look at, and Max couldn’t resist glancing this way and that as they walked, careful to not lose sight of Eon’s back. He was certain if he did, he would be swallowed up by the crowds.
Suddenly, a pleasant smell brushed against his nose.
Various vendors with delectable looking fruits, vegetables, and fish he didn’t recognize were lined up closely to each other.
Particularly the fish caught Max’s attention, and he naturally gravitated towards that kiosk without thinking as he stared down their wares, almost aggressively, in fact.
He didn’t know what any of these fish were, but they looked incredibly tasty, his stomach grumbling in response.
Eon paused in his tracks when he suddenly realized Max was no longer trailing after him.
His initial reaction was worry, to his surprise, but soon enough, he spotted Max off just a short ways behind him, and in front of a particular kiosk.
As for the owner of that kiosk, he looked rather disgruntled, and understandably so. Max was practically drooling over his wares, staring them down fervently.
Come to think of it, he couldn’t recall seeing Max eating anything the previous day, given how hectic it had been...So the poor guy was probably ravenous by now...But that being the case, Eon couldn’t really understand why Max just didn’t say he wanted to buy some.
“...You like fish?” He finally spoke up after watching the curious display for a few more moments.
Max immediately straightened his back, perking his head up, and folding his ears back before he turned his gaze down with a hesitant nod.
“...You sure you’re not a cat?” Eon crossed his arms with one of those smug grins of his, spread wide across his face.
“Do I look like a cat?” Max hissed, folding his ears flat against his head, displeased about Eon poking fun at him.
“No, but you sure act like one.” Eon shot back smoothly, tail swaying behind him in amusement at Max’s reactions.
Max’s fur swelled out in protest, clearly frustrated for a moment before turning his face away with a wry grin.
“Well at least I don’t look like someone vomited color all over me.”
“V-Vomit--At least I have color.” Eon retorted, clearly taken aback by Max’s rebuttal. “What happened to you? Lose your color from all that hissing and spitting of yours all the time?? You’re all bark and no bite. You may talk big, but you’re more like a little, yipping Chihuahua.”
Max’s eyes narrowed, staring daggers at Eon.
Eon gestured for Max to come at him with his hands.
“What you gonna do, attack at my legs? You don’t look like you’d be able to reach anything else.”
That absolutely did it for Max. One insult too many. He looked about ready to pop a blood vessel, and truthfully, he wanted to bite that smug look right off of Eon’s face.
Eon hadn’t entirely been serious, but he did look more than ready to take Max on, that triumphant grin still playing about his face. Like he was just getting the biggest kick out of this.
Max didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, but there was something comical about his attitude, and Max couldn’t suppress the little snort that escaped his throat.
“...What are you, a kid?” He couldn’t stop the small bit of laughter that broke free at how eagerly Eon was egging him on. He just couldn’t help himself.
Eon had been taken aback when Max suddenly broke out into a bit of laughter...But his surprise was for reasons entirely unrelated to the sudden, de-escalation.
“...That’s the first time.” The sudden words found themselves coming from Eon before he was even aware of it.
Max blinked, not understanding Eon’s random comment.
“The first time you smiled.” Eon said, having been strangely taken by the sight. “It suits you. Much better than that gloomy look of yours.” He blurted out, immediately feeling embarrassed with himself, the tip of his tail curling. “...Anyhow, since that’s what you like, I’ll grab some.” He added in stiffly, purchasing some fish from the flabbergasted shopkeeper, having been awkwardly caught in the middle of their small skirmish.
...Just what was he saying, exactly?
He supposed he had just been a bit surprised.
So he could smile like that too.
Bags of fish in hand, he returned towards Max, about to open his mouth to say something, before a sudden, ringing noise interrupted him.
Not understanding the source of the noise for a moment, he eventually realized the sound had been coming from the communication device stowed away in his knapsack.
“...What is it?” He questioned, feeling oddly relieved by the sudden interruption, walking away so he was out of earshot.
Max’s ears twitched as Eon stepped away, taking some sort of call.
Like Eon, he had been caught off guard by his comment, staring fixedly on the cobblestone ground as he toiled over his words.
...The first time he smiled?
Max supposed...It had been a long time since he had. In fact...He couldn’t seem to recall the last time.
When was the last time he had smiled so openly??
Before he could contemplate the subject any further, Eon suddenly returned to his side, looking a bit annoyed somehow.
“What happened?”
Eon looked hesitant, but he opened his mouth to answer regardless.
“...There’s a Demon running rampant along the city outskirts. I guess the other Hunter’s are having trouble with it.”
“...Hunter’s?” Max tilted his head to the side.
“Ah...That’s the sort of unofficial term for those who work for the Society. Hunter's, soldiers, call them whatever you want.” Eon explained with a shrug, realizing Max hadn’t heard the term before. “You don’t have to come along this time...After all, you don’t even have a weapon assigned to you yet.”
Max opened his mouth to speak, but he fell silent for a moment, losing his words.
“...I don’t need a weapon though.”
“What was that?” Eon questioned, not quite catching Max’s, little mumble.
“...Nothing.” Max curled his tail, shaking his head. “I’ll go. At the very least, I’ll make sure to stay out of the way.”
“If you insist.”
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