Prisoners of our own Making

Raz kept the reins steady, keeping sure they follow the dirt path and retreading their previous steps. From behind, the hunter sat up to rest his wound with two Nekomatas keeping him company, filled with resentment and restraint. Sat beside him was a clothed young woman with light amber eyes and beautiful autumn hair. Several hair strands were waving with the wind and tickling her face, making her twitch and tuck her hair behind her hair.

He noted that the childish one kept white hair, an odd color seeing how her mother shares brown hair like Dimyri. The middle one, KuliKuli seemed to have a more dominant silver-white coloring with brief patches of brown hair and brown spots on her skin. He noted that he too shared the same hair color as Dimyri, but felt like he had many questions in mind as they silently rode back.

"So... Dimyri, that is your name?"

She moved her eyes to his direction, facing forward. "Yes,"

"You are... a cat?"

"Yes, I am or was until last night. I don't know what happened but suddenly I lost my attributes and traits and now I share the same as your kind."

"That is mine to blame." Leone butted in from the back. "It was the seal I placed on you."

"Well that seal wasn't supposed to turn me into this!"

"Actually it was." He responded, grabbing her attention. "It was... another failure, I guess you could say. It doesn't matter anymore, he knows so..."

He paused, digging into his pocket before fishing out what seemed like a silver flask. Giving it a jiggle, he felt the volume contained within before passing it to her hands. "Drink it, and you'll retrieve your normal form."

"Wait." KuliKuli interrupted, "I have a friend who could use that. She's like us kind of, but also like you. Could your seal keep her human forever?"

The Hunter shook his head. "What you are referring to is a curse. in which I cannot say. It's not my magic, I don't invent it I only wield the simple ones I can learn of. I'm not... gifted, in the ways of a seeker or a magician. It's not my preference so it is of no concern to me, but to your friend I would advise she seek a way to break the curse instead. The strength of a curse is one not to be trifled with others, else you may find it to produce ungodly side-effects."

She nodded, her ears dropping low as she understood his words. "I see, thank you."

Leone kept a hand to his side, being careful not to open his wound further. The bleeding had stopped for now, but one wrong move could have his dagger slip in further. He was being careful about that, keeping a grip to steady himself should they traverse over any more bumps.

"Your friend, how did she get cursed? Must have pissed someone off to have that."

She shook her head. "She never said, she dodges the subject if ever we bring it up."

"Understandable, I would imagine their is trauma in that story. You have my condolence."

Syri frowned, shuffling forward to face him. "Why are you being normal now?"

"Syri-"

"No, I want to know why he's treating us like normal this time! You spend all this time hunting us down and now that you've won you-you drop this act as if you were just a humble traveler?"

Leone turned his head, spitting out of the side over the wagon. He snorted and cleared his throat.

"Because, child, I'm simply doing as my contract demands. Like you, I am tethered down by a fate with a twisted sense of humor."

"All this for a contract, use that as your excuse not to let us go."

Leone turned his head to stare her in the eyes. "I was brought in and raised from a young age of five, I have no parents or knowledge if they lived or were killed. I don't even know if they wanted me. The Hunter's Guild took me in, by force or permission perhaps, and raised me with the sheer intent to kill. That is my purpose, for thirteen years all that was taught to me, my means of survivability, my skills, knowledge, everything! It all revolves around monsters, more specifically monster girls. My only job? To answer the call of a hunter, written and sealed by contract, a contract which I am to fulfill. Should I break that contract, I will be stripped from the Guild, cast out and branded a traitor, and thrown out like trash if they decide not to kill me first."

KuliKuli and Syri kept quiet, with Syri slumped back with a less aggressive expression. None of either one's tails were moving anymore, as Leone continued to talk.

"So forgive me little one, if I am to be called careless or monster ironically by monsters for being a hunter. But I've no choice in what is decided for me, like you I too do what I do to survive. Do not mock me for what I endure, we are each prisoners of our own making."

"We don't have to be." KuliKuli mentioned, "We are prisoners as long as we allow it, but we have the means to break free and choose our own life."

Leone scoffed with Raz giving a light chuckle up front. "You speak of prisoners but I have just been freed, have I not? With our path set, our journey thus begins to gift the gods their satisfaction. Soon, your kind will be reunited and thus, the ritual may commence."

"Keep telling yourself that, about not being a prisoner." Leone muttered under his breath. The wagon shuddered as they skipped over a small dip in the dirt, making the hunter wince. KuliKuli kept a close eye on his wound before looking up at her sister.

"Where did you get the herbs to heal him anyway, Dimyri?"

She turned around. "In the crates they had the ingredients for them. Must have brought them in from MiMi's belongings, I guess."

"You are observant, but mistaken." Raz mentioned, "We wanted to ensure none of you were lost beforehand, of course we hadn't planned on losing a select few of you. Fortune is in our favor, perhaps the gods smiled down to us for here we are now, may they lead us down the rightful path as Perdilius had predicted."

Dimyri rolled her eyes. "How did you know those herbs heal us?"

"We have our hunter to thank for that." Everyone looked back at him with Leone looking away.

KuliKuli thought of something before asking, "But how did that work on you, I-I thought it only heals Nekomata's or their mates."

"How indeed.'' Raz wondered.

Leone shrugged. "Just lucky I guess. Why dwell on it further?"

KuliKuli narrowed her eyes, an idea emerging into her head. No, that would have been silly... mother would have mentioned that, and it would have undone everything else they believed until then. Too much concern was already on her lap, that suggestion would throw them out of the curve and leave her with more questions and rage instead.

Leave those feelings out for later.