Misleading Tracks [ Maya / Siobahn ]

Maya looked back at the human, as she gestured to the loud stick.. calling it a gun? strange name.. but if that's what it was called... and the human continued saying everything hurt.. it was true, she didn't know what a braver was.. but she was told to not be always scared.. that was easy for the human to say. they were so many, they had the loud sticks.. guns.. they were tall and scary...

She lead her along, through the ice and snow... the biting wind.. and even though it was cold.. and Sio hand bundled herself up against it.. Maya had less protection on her but seemed fine, a few times the girl would suddenly turn and lead Sio a different direction... only for signs of there having been a demon passing by to be noticed later as she led them back to the path she was apparently following.

To Maya her sight was quite helpful... where Sio needed a tool to see farther.. Maya could just naturally zoom in and focus.. it meant no time was wasted when she seen something odd in the distance, it also meant she tended to see things before they noticed her small frame... it didn't make her fully safe... but it helped a great deal.

As they went through some ruins during such a detour Maya stopped and seemed to dig in a pile of rubble.. nothing seemed to be there but the small cyclops girl noticed something odd in the way the things were resting and she uncovered an old first aid kit. she grabbed it and continued on with the woman in tow..

Eventually they got to the house Cherry was letting her use "Here....cave....safe...." she said seeming more relaxed now that they were near the place.. the whole walk she had been clearly on edge.. walking in she waited for Sio to come in then she shut the door and walked to the center of the main room and started to take off her now partially frozen make shift parka.. she needed to let it thaw and dry before she could go out again... but at least she got sticks and things for making a fire... and a pot to make it in

“...This is a house, not a cave, Maya,” Siobahn noted, “But you’ve got a rough idea.”

While a bit rundown it afforded enough shelter from the freezing elements.  The first thing to do would be to warm up, so Siobahn assisted Maya in starting a fire.  She plucked the assorted branches that were tied about Maya’s discarded parka, then began placing them into the hearth situated in the middle of the room.

“...I’m Siobahn, by the way.  I’m ‘Shiv.’” She pointed towards herself for a proper introduction.  “Do you have any other friends, Maya?  Do you see a lot of humans?”

Maya looked to the Human they called it a hoos? she gestured to it with her arms "Cave...is cave" she insisted as she worked to make the fire she seen the Human making the fire she nodded as she put the stuff in the pot and she started trying to start the fire making a fire drill. Maya didn't know how this would work when she first did it but it worked... it was just a lot of work.

After some time she finished starting the fire and she smiled at the slowly growing warmth she then looked to the human and tilted her head as she asked her about... friends? humans? on hearing if she sees a lot of humans she reached to her arm.. covering up a bullet wound "Humans...hurt...." she said remembering the last large group of humans she had seen.

Siobahn wouldn’t correct Maya about the semantics of a cave; that wasn’t really important.  Impressed that the demon could use a fire drill, Siobahn also felt no need to use her precious flint stick and relied on Maya’s ingenuity to start the fire instead.  As for the mention of other humans, the cyclops pointed to a fresh wound she received.

“...I’m sorry you got hurt.  I’m looking for a human, a man, that wouldn’t hurt you.” Siobahn began to motion her hands to assist in a description; first she started with height, and hair.  “He’s this tall.  White pointy hair like snow.  Pink eyes like flowers.  Black marks around his arms.  Have you seen a human like that, Maya?”

Maya Was glad she had a fire, stretching a bit she warmed her feet near it, having unwrapped them to let the cloths dry, and the wounds on her feet were also apparent, being basically barefoot in the cold ice and snow did that to a person, though she would see a pair of what looked to be the school shoes of a little girl nearby, which Maya reached over for and put near the fire to dry. now that all the make shift parka was removed and the girl was left in what seemed to be a girls school uniform, the bandages covering wounds she had received and scars she had from old ones were far more easier to see.

As Sio started to talk Maya looked up at her, clearly trying to follow along, though the word man clearly confused her "Human....not...man?" she asked then thought she would need to maybe show her? and pointed to Sio Human...." then she pointed to herself "Not.... Same..." she said as she pointed to herself again "Not.... Demon..." her voice even inside here was low and almost like a whisper, the girl ether not willing to, or unable to talk louder.

“...So you’re saying you didn’t see a human like the one I said?” Siobahn could only raise an eyebrow at Maya’s response, in which she claimed not to be a demon or a human, and ignored the previous question. That notion sounded absurd- given that singular and enlarged eye in the middle of her head. Perhaps Maya meant she was a bit of both? Which would have definitely explained her overall appearance.

“...And you’re not a human or demon, Maya?” Siobahn asked anyway, although she doubted she’d get a proper answer with Maya’s communicational skills.

Maya listened and she could tell they were looking for someone that was obvious, but the look on the person's face told her they didn't believe her, but it sounded like they understood, "Me... no.. Human....no Demon..." she said pointing to herself that small voice continuing, "Me...Cherry... Same..." she said as she remembered Cherry saying they were the same so maybe that was the right way to tell people? Especially since this person was Cherry's friend.

She then pointed at her large eye "Maya..... See... good..... no... see... human.... Maya... Not... Look... Human... hurt... Demon... Hurt... Maya... run.... Demon... Human..." she said clearly trying to make herself understood, her stomach then growled and she rubbed her stomach a moment before reaching over to one of the branches she had brought and she opened her mouth taking a bite out of the branch as easily as one would a bite from a waffle or something.. it was quite easy for her. and Sio would be able to see the Sharp teeth that Maya had as she ate the branch before rubbing her tummy again, father in the room was a dead bird as well, clearly hunted.. and the remains of what seemed to be a rabbit.. also missing large bites taken out of it.

“...That’s why you and Cherry are good friends, right Maya?” If Maya and Cherry were the same, then she was a human with demonic qualities, or at least that’s how Siobahn interpreted it.  The next words delivered slowly by Maya were a bit more difficult to parse; however what Siobahn understood after several quiet moments was that Maya didn’t see Jack with that big eye of hers, and she had been eluding humans and demons trying to hurt her.  “...Okay.  Hard to miss someone with an eye like yours, huh.”

As Maya chomped down on a stick, Siobahn procured a dried cut of meat and chewed on it as well.  Following that she unfurled some leaves and greens she harvested, then pointed to the pot.  “...Would you like some tea, Maya?  Nice hot tasty drink?”

The small girl looked at the woman as she spoke, understanding partly what she was saying and nodded rapidly, She wouldn't say good friends, but Cherry didn't hurt her and she was the same as her so it was nice to find more like her "Yes...Cherry...no..hurt...Maya" she said, though even as she said that she was thinking of ways to make herself useful so that wouldn't change. After all she wasn't sure if Cherry was helping her because she could do something for her, or because Cherry thought maybe she could be useful later.

As she sat there eating a stick to fill her empty belly she looked around wondering if she should eat the remaining food now or save it in case she couldn't find anything else.. Then the human pointed to the pot and the sudden motion made Maya flinch and recoil a second as out of the corner of her eye she thought the human was going to hit her suddenly, but when she looked at her she seen what she was pointing at and she said something.. Tasty? she didn't know what the other words she was using where other then her name but she seemed to by trying to offer something so Maya lowered her arms and nodded slowly.

“...Cherry wouldn’t ever hurt you.  I won’t either.”  While Siobahn said that, the back of her mind screamed at her to never lower her guard.  However with someone like Cherry so trusting of Maya and vice versa, there was little to be wary of, despite the cyclops’s freakishly unsettling appearance.  Especially when Maya flinched in response to the latter question; the human and demonic hybrid seemed perpetually in fear of everything.

Once Siobahn had gathered some snow to melt alongside the herbs and leaves, the pair would share a calming respite against the raging cold outside.  While her search for Jack had been fruitless so far, the sheer fact that she ran into a bizarre friend of Cherry who had also been some sort of strangely kind human underneath a demon’s skin, was strangely comforting and fortunate to say the least.

Maya listened and on hearing she smiled this woman knew Cherry so maybe she was right... and she wasn't lying, and as the leaves and things cooked it filled the place with a calming scent and the little Cyclops let out a sound that was almost like a purr as she settled down near the fire to warm up and enjoy the smell the stuff in the pot was making. letting herself relax just a little.. as relaxed as she ever got anyway as she was still listening out for any sounds that could be danger. But she still sat there just enjoying not being hurt while with someone.. for the second time in a very short while, she wasn't going to let herself feel to hopeful... but if this was just a dream.. she was at least going to enjoy it... just a little...