[fic] bulletproof naked: FIRST ENCOUNTER

[elydesia]

Title: bulletproof naked (wip)
Chapter: FIRST ENCOUNTER
Author: haruka (kiwa-chou) elydesia
Word count: 1,094 words
Rating: K+
Summery: Where Desmond first meets the tamer.

bulletproof naked by 【キワ蝶】

FIRST ENCOUNTER
Everyday it was the same. Fights all over the world broke out; about demons, about Tamers, about Hunters. Fights between the hunters and the tamers happened every single day, but all of it was done underground, hidden from the media.

The knowledge of demons existing was common knowledge. So were the tamers who caught and fought along side them, and the hunters who caught and killed them. The tamers believed much could be learned from the demons, but the hunters would have none of it. Strictly speaking, hunters not only got rid of demons but also the tamers who used them.

Most often times it was the government who hired hunters to get rid of tamers who were influential. One prominent tamer in particular should be receiving his due soon, too: Tor Jack Cromwell. Fortunately, he hadn't even come close to the countryside where Brownlee Vocational College laid... but Desmond knew, once that Cromwell tamer grazed by, unrest would hit the peaceful countryside.

Desmond Martell was an internationally influential demonologist, Brownlee professor, and partially smitten with the idea of demonologist/tamers.

Within his mind spun wild ideas of how glorious he could be in the local bars and pubs if he had demons on his side! However, that was not how the demons should be used, he knew. Being a well educated demonologist, he knew the tamers were taught from a young age to not use demons for personal gain. Hunters, however, were taught to revere demons and those who involved themselves with the scum as lowlife needed to be gotten rid of.

This vastly different outlook on life resulted in two very disagreeing parties, which in turn gave the whole world a huge headache.

Softly broken from his internal monologue, Desmond stopped in his tracks. He had been patrolling the college grounds for signs of outsiders when he heard gentle whispering. Wondering what it was, he carefully listened and walked toward the voice. As it grew louder and clearer, Desmond became baffled.

Halting behind a tree, Desmond spotted a girl sitting down in a small clearing. She was whispering words of reassurance in an Ancient tongue; a more recent dialect used often by demons and their tamers.

He took a step and must have made a sound for she spun around suddenly with a dagger held defensively. It was then when he spotted an injured kirin sitting behind the girl.

Desmond raised both his palms in a defensive manner and began to take slow, cautious steps toward the girl. "I have no ill intention--"

"Shut up!" she shouted. "You're the one here for the kirin, aren't you? Well, you're not getting her!" The girl was fast. Within a heartbeat she lunged for his throat. He grabbed both her forearms and used her momentum to fling her over his head. She somersaulted in the air to land upright and was about to go for another strike when he began a hurried introduction:

"No, no, no! You have this all wrong. I am Professor Martell. I live and work on these college grounds. I would never want to harm such a beautiful demon as a kirin."

She stopped in her tracks, a few feet from him. "Professor Martell? Desmond Martell of Brownlee?"

He smiled. She finally recognized him. But still, he did not recognize her as one of his students. Surely she was just a freshman in one of his classes; she did not seem so young to be past her first year at Brownlee.

"If you really are Martell, then where is your badge?" As soon as she spoke he pulled out the unused badge all Brownlee staff were required to wear. She scowled.

"Fair enough. You are Professor Desmond Martell, faculty head of demonology at Brownlee Vocational College." He felt strange to be addressed in such a way by someone who was most likely just a student he didn't remember. "Please, Professor, take the kirin back to her clearing before the moon rises. That is when--"

"Tonight is the full moon. The kirin go back to their land of birth to partake in traditional customs. ... I am familiar with it all, girl."

"I am not girl," she growled.

The professor crossed his arms. "Then what am I to call you?" She shook her head.

"Don't call me anything. Simply return this kirin, and I will be in your debt."

"How will you repay me if I do not learn of your name?"

Her head lowered and her shoulder hunched over. "Are you serious? Don't even bring that up." She slipped the dagger back into its home at her thigh and walked over to the kirin. "Rise," she whispered in that ancient language and it stood unsteadily. She turned to him, then. "I will know if you don't bring her home, Professor."

"Don't change the subject. You know who I am. It's only polite to let me know your identity, also." Desmond took a step toward the girl and the kirin.

There was no time for him to react as a large albino wolf appeared out of mist and jumped on him, effectively pinning him to the forest floor. "Hey, what's going on?" It growled as the girl began to speak:

"Do not take me lightly, Desmond. You do not need to know who I am. You only need to know I am an effective Tamer, and if you do not bring this kirin to her home, I will eat you alive. I promise. ... Off, Avior!" As commanded, the wolf climbed off the college professor, who sat up in awe.

He always admired the tamers and the ruthlessness that charmed and captured the hearts of their demon companions. Upon learning of the girl's special prowess, Desmond stood and said, "If that is the case, then I'll do as you instruct me to. Where is the kirin's home?"

"The basement of the college."

All of a sudden, Desmond was all cheery, glad to be in presence of a real live tamer. "Odd place for a kirin nest, isn't it?"

Official tamers rarely popped up in the countryside, so ever since he left for Brownlee he's rarely seen them.

"Don't discount its worth. You of all people should know the value of the land Brownlee sits on," she said and turned to leave.

Desmond did not try to stop her. He had the feeling he would see her again, that this would not be their last seeing of each other. The very thought of seeing her again made him excited, and that bothered him a bit.