Young Writers Society

Kyou silently followed, still mulling over their theories about their authors and their stories. Cornyx and Zion were both deep in thought; Raiden, Jane and Thomas were all eagerly chatting away. He wasn't sure where to put Li He. She was quiet now, but not in the same sense as Cornyx and Zion. There was a tenseness to their silence.

"I wonder if we'll meet any ghosts," he suddenly said, more to himself than to the others. "We have heard them, but none of us have actually interacted with one yet..."

"I'd imagine we probably will, with their presence so evident," Cornyx replies, broken out of thought, though there's still that nagging worry. He needs to tell them. There's a werewolf and a sentient shadow in the party, and, besides, they already know he's not human...would they really turn on him so quickly? He almost starts to speak again, then goes quiet - there's the possibility they wouldn't, but if they did....

"I hope they're nice, whatever ghosts we meet," said Li He with a smile.

She turned her head slightly, breathing in the scents of the people around her. Three humans, wolf, and, well, not really much of a smell for a shadow. But Cornyx . . . she couldn't shake the feeling that he was the same one she'd met before. They both smelled - demonic, she supposed.

"So, um, Cornyx. Is there . . . something we should know about you?" she asked delicately, looking him knowingly in the eyes.

He hesitates, glancing up at her, dark gaze carefully guarded. How did she know? Scent, instinct? Something else entirely? Yes, there is something he needs to tell them, but he's afraid to. Too afraid. Ironic, wasn't it? A demon scared more of himself and his prey than anything else?

"Uh...I...er..." he softly replies, unable to form a coherent sentence for several moments. "...uh...probably, yes, um...how do I say this? I...well, it's fairly obvious I'm not human, and er...I'm not entirely sure what I-I am but it's a fairly safe bet to venture that 'demon' is in the right, uh...category..."

Jane's eyes immediately began to twinkle. "Awesome!" She grinned. "Any flesh cravings?" It didn't seem to dawn on her that if he did have flesh cravings, she might be on the menu.

He shifts a little uncomfortably. "Uh, well, see, that's, er...kind of the...problem, because, uhhh...how do I say this...well, to put it bluntly, most of you are on the, er...menu...Which is a bit of a problem...I-I mean, I'm not going to do anything!" he adds hurriedly. "It's just that if I don't feed for too long then I'm concerned I might...lose control and...well..."

"I understand." Thomas said quickly. "Well, not completely- I know exactly when control is going to be lost, so precautions can be made, but I do know the feeling."

"He's being empathetic. I think we need to find some sort of solution to the problem- like finding something- preferably not us- for you to feed on. Our solution is to chain him up in the basement for a night, but I have a feeling that won't work for you."

Thomas basically flinched at the implications of that sentence for anyone who took it out of context. Jane was innocent to the current implications- probably because she would rather not think about it.

"I can't feed off, um...animals, unfortunately...that's been, er...tried...And as you anticipated, no, that will not work on, uh, me..."

Raiden watched the their interaction silently
"So uh, what happens when you do lose control?"

He doesn't meet Raiden's eyes when he answers, looking at the ground instead. "Once someone, uh...died," he replies softly.

"Oh," Kyou quietly said, giving Cornyx a worried look. He would be fine, of course, but if they weren't careful, someone else could get hurt or even killed. It wasn't a good situation no matter how he tried looking at it-

"Oh!" he cried out, this time with more force. He turned so he was completely facing the apparent demon. "You need to feed, right? On human flesh?" He gestured down at himself. "My Quirk might be a little weird, but I can't die. You've all seen how fast my wounds heal, and pain isn't a problem for me. You want to feed on me?"

Li He held back from making a retching sound. Sure, a lot of her kind were sort of evil - stories said that some nine-tailed foxes ate souls or something crazy like that (ew) - and she didn't mind messy eating that came while in her true form, but feeding on a live human . . . Her stomach turned.

His eyes almost flash silver for a moment, but it's gone as quickly as it comes. "B-blood, mostly, actually..."

Raiden gave an uncomfortable smile
"I guess that means it's settled then?"

"Blood, then," Kyou corrected himself. He pulled down the collar of his uniform, bare skin of his neck now visible to the others. "I'm guessing this is probably the best spot? There's a large vein, and it's easily accessible compared to other areas."