Jaynin
4th Level Red Feather
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Demon Hunter Shuni, Episode 2: Night Terror
Incubi, and their cousin demons, succubi, had been known as the demons that lay with sleeping men and women to steal their souls. This was true, but it was also reflective of the human tendency to focus solely on the worst aspect of anything unknown and blow it out of proportion. Yes, incubi and succubi could steal the souls of humans by having intercourse with them, but the truth was that it was far more difficult to do than it sounded. By no means was it automatic, and as such not the most useful thing that could be done.
However, incubi were still rightly known as creatures to be feared for those who were asleep. Their abilities generally encompassed things that suited a bedroom after hours, and their most-employed ability was to spread night terrors among sleeping humans, depriving them of restful slumber and attacking their courage while they slept. It wasn’t just the ability to spawn nightmares, but the ability to direct the dreams of humans, which incubi saw as a fine silver mist that could change color depending on what the dream was. Silver was the normal color, that of a normal dream; the thickness of the mist indicated how aware the person was of the dream in question. Incubi could thicken this mist, making it seem to the person dreaming as if they were actually witnessing the events in their dream, or they could make it change color; black for a nightmare, pink for a nonsensical, silly dream, yellow for a happy dream, red for an erotic dream, and so on.
There were dreams, of course, that did not fit so nicely into a category, and as incubi developed their powers they gained the ability to mix and match colors to better produce the dream they wanted. Sometimes, the particular dream didn’t matter so much as the fact that the dreamer remained asleep; such was the case now, as the incubus swirled his fingers through the silver mist of Shuni’s dream, thinking, mulling for a moment, before making the dream a light red, and thickening the mist considerably. A lightly erotic dream; something too heavy, and she might start reacting while asleep, which would ruin the experiments he was about to run.
So then. Being careful not to accidentally touch her kimono, the incubus gently raised the foot of the covers and peered underneath, grinning at what he saw. Excellent, both large bare feet were totally unprotected and not squished together or curled, which would make his job more difficult. He took a thin length of black cord out of the waist pouch that he wore now, storing the tools he planned to use, and with the utmost caution began to tie Shuni’s big toes together.
The incubus let a small fanged grin show on his face as the girl reacted to even that gentle touch. He had gotten the strange sense that these feet would serve to be her downfall, and if she was so ticklish as to react from a simple cord being threaded between her toes… Anyway, that was in the future, and the incubus reprimanded himself, getting back to work. The blanket was carefully folded back just so that the soles of her feet were visible; if he pulled it back too far, and her feet became cold, it could awaken her.
With the utmost care he ran his fingers up her left sole, heel to toes, and grinned wider. Shuni began to giggle, her large frame shaking with soft laughter, and her feet wiggled, toes trying to curl before meeting resistance and relaxing. He did it again on her right foot, and the reaction was much the same, with her hand reaching up to her forehead in reflex. Then he tickled both soles with a single stroke. The big girl guffawed with laughter and shook her feet somewhat, turning on her side and trying to wiggle away from his fingers.
So far, excellent results. The physically imposing girl hid a ticklish secret, and – wait a minute. The incubus frowned, glancing at the dream hovering above Shuni’s head. It had become a little bit too red for his taste, and with a suppressed sigh he swirled his fingers in it, diluting the color again. It was another problem with dreams; they didn’t want to stay in a static state, they fluxed, waxed and waned, so that in certain cases it required constant control to maintain the desired dream state. Even the minor physical agitation, likely the very act of touching her, had triggered a slide into an area he did not want.
Very well. The dream was diluted a little further this time, and the incubus gave her shoulder a gentle push to roll her on her back… and jerked his hands back, blowing on them and rubbing them together. He’d forgotten already about that damn protective kimono she wore… since it was insulated by the blanket, his hands only felt slightly singed, and the feeling was already fading, but it was still a nuisance. Slightly irritated with this girl, he flipped back the blanket and tickled her right in the center of her soles, rather hard.
It was, he realized a second later, a massive mistake. True, the girl shrieked with laughter and thrashed madly for that moment, but the dream’s mist suddenly began to thin and evaporate; she was waking up. Cursing, the demon quickly untied the cord holding her toes and stuffed it back into his pouch before making his way quickly and quietly to the door, glancing nervously at the stirring figure and knowing he could very likely be killed if she woke up… Heart thudding, fingers shaking, he slid the door to her bedroom closed as gracefully as he could and fled for his very life into the forest.
Shuni awoke a few moments later, breathing hard. She then flushed red and grimaced, rubbing her bare feet. Damned dream. Why did she have to have it tonight of all nights? Probably the stress, and the fact she’d gone to sleep barefoot. She always made a lot of noise having that dream, and she could only hope she’d awakened before it had gone too far…
Kazuo slid the door open and held up a candle, his eyes squinting sleepily as he took in the panting, muttering girl sitting up on her bed mat. “Did something happen, Shuni? A demon, perhaps? It could happen, and…”
“No, no.” Shuni flushed a deeper red and curled up, her hands around her shins. “I just had a dream, I guess. It’s a recurring dream, and sometimes… well, I’m all right, it just startles me. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Perhaps it just comes from sleeping in a strange bed, and some stress,” Kazuo offered with a kindly smile. “Don’t fret on it so much, child. You’ve already shown you’re going to be a great help to us. Please get some sleep and don’t worry about it. Good night.” He closed the door and the light receded, taking with it Shuni’s night vision. That left Shuni by herself in the darkness again, sighing and rubbing the center of her soles.
“I guess I ought not to let it bother me, like the old guy says,” she sighed. With that, she turned back over, fluffed her small pillow, pulled the blanket back up and went promptly back to sleep. The only thought that tugged at her mind was the same old annoying one that always came back after she had had that dream…
“So.” Ain narrowed his eyes and tilted his chin back, looking at the ceiling. “You say that she seems to be susceptible, yet… you could not finish your necessary experiments. This was because you acted rashly – against my express orders, may I add – and broke stealth, nearly getting caught by the demon hunter or detected by the villagers. Is this correct?”
“Yes sir.” The incubus’ head drooped and his posture sagged. He knew better than to give false information or to make things up or to gloss over his own errors. To be frank with Ain meant that you might be given a punishment and another chance. To lie meant death. Pleading was not the way to earn yourself mercy; to prove why you should be given another chance was. “I believe, sir, that given the strength of the response, it would be warranted to try it again in a more active situation, and I have an idea to how this might be accomplished.”
“Stop using the passive voice, and go on,” Ain growled. “Tell me your plan.”
“Very well. I propose that we stage another raid, but we’ll not go with the purpose of stealing more of their crops. Instead, once we get the demon hunter’s attention, we’ll have the foraging beast lead her on another chase, and once she’s in the woods, a forest imp can manipulate the growth to trip her again.” The demon stood, pantomiming the actions he described. “We’ll take care not to let her fall unconscious again, but while she’s on the ground, the forest imp can have the roots grow over her ankles, trapping them. There, I can finish my experiments without needing to hold back.”
“I see,” Ain said with a nod. “I accept, on one condition, that while you perform these ‘experiments’ you allow me to observe you so that no more foolish blunders are made.” He stood up. “You will carry out your plan tonight, understood? Now go, and do not fail again.” The incubus nodded quickly and left the room, his legs noticeably wobbling with the relief of leaving the room with his life.
Ain snorted at that kind of behavior. Killing an underling who failed grossly was one thing, but to simply dispose of demons who had simply not completed a single mission, regardless of past performance, was a sign of vanity and foolish ego. Part of demonkind’s problem was the indiscriminate killing of their weaker members. Better to use them on the front lines of some attack against demon hunters than to kill them pointlessly.
Well, that was neither here nor there, and Ain found himself again wondering about this incubus’ claims. He had instructed three other incubi to study this claim he had made, of both the itching and the tickling just to cover all the bases, and they would return in three days, so there would be no loss if this incubus found himself demoted and taken off of this particular assignment. That was all. Ain was not going to discard a potentially useful line of inquiry just because one subordinate could not make it work properly…
Besides. The thought of a proud female warrior losing to him because she couldn’t stop laughing her head off… well, there was a certain appeal to it, wasn’t there? It was, instead of the sharp warfare of battle, raiding and death, the soft, subtle warfare of psychological weakening and exploitation of weak points. It was the mark of a truly intelligent commander to be able to employ both, as well as demonstrating again that he could use alternative means to solve difficult problems…
Shuni awoke in much better spirits that morning, and cheerfully greeted Kazuo, who was busy making some eggs along with a bit of seaweed and fish for breakfast. Over breakfast tea they chatted amiably about the events of the previous night as well as Shuni’s plans for the future, and about the villagers, whom Kazuo had spoken to last night. At least they all now understood about the reason she wore a kimono, although the big feet thing, well… that wasn’t so easily resolved.
Later that day, a farmer found the broken claw fragments in his field, as well as the evidence left from the chase she had gone through last night, and that gave Shuni’s credibility another boost, enough so that she wasn’t given the once-over reserved for strangers every time someone cast eyes on her, but rather a re-evaluating look, the ‘maybe I was wrong about her’ look. It was satisfying to Shuni, who had gone through this process a few times before. Her odd physical features drew her strange looks, and then her prowess and ability earned her respect afterward. Still, she could do without the awkward opening phase of that…
There was something else Shuni had to do as well. That day, she paid a visit to the village’s tailor. “Excuse me,” she said politely, kneeling once she was inside the door and removing her shoes.
“Yes, may I help you?” he asked, a slightly grumpy-looking middle-aged man who was surrounded by various kinds of cloth, thread and needles, as well as several outfits in varying stages of completion. “You’re that, demon hunter, right?” he harrumphed, wiping his hands on a rag. “So, what… eh, what would you like?”
“Right now, nothing, thank you,” Shuni said politely. “But in the future, I may need some more socks, I only have three pairs left with me.” She blushed slightly; one way or another, she was going to have to let this guy in on the fact that her socks were just socks and not magical at all. “I was wondering if perhaps you would like my measurements now so that it would facilitate future orders.”
“Huh, well, I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He nodded and rooted around for a tool of some kind, it seemed like. With the mess all over the place, it was no surprise that it took him a few minutes to find. It looked to be nothing more than a straightedge with two sliding ends attached to it. “Here, let me see your… feet.” He coughed to cover up his hesitation and waited.
“Oh, well… yes.” Shuni stood up and sat in the chair he indicated, which was too small for her, but it sufficed for the moment. Without much pause the tailor took one of Shuni’s feet and then the other. “Hmmh, they look to be the same size, or near enough. All right, now take off one of your socks. Either one is fine, it doesn’t matter.”
“T-take it off?” Shuni asked with a start.
“Yes, take it off.” The tailor harrumphed. “I beg, er, your forgiveness, but I can’t make an accurate measurement otherwise.”
“Oh yes… of course, silly me.” Shuni blushed and removed her left sock, curling her hands in her lap and sitting straight up, taking a deep breath and readying herself… Even the touch of the straightedge to the bottom of her foot was enough to make her twitch, and as the tailor’s hands slid along it to make adjustments and measurements…
Sweat beaded on Shuni’s forehead as she curled her fingers tighter, quivering almost with the effort to stay still and not burst out into honking giggles… the tailor barely even noticed, she thought sourly, sliding and making fractional adjustments that probably weren’t even a big deal… “All right, I’ve got them.” He took a piece of parchment and carefully wrote down the numbers on the straightedge. “If you like, I can work out a rough estimate of what each pair will cost you.”
“I would appreciate that,” Shuni answered, trying to regain her composure as she hurriedly slipped her sock back on. “Thank you very much, I wish you good fortune.” Shuni left as quickly as politeness allowed and once back outside, breathed a sigh of relief. There, that was done. She’d been heartened enough by her good fortune this morning to go and do the thing she would have avoided otherwise for as long as she could, and it might have been too late then.
Well, technically Shuni still didn’t have any money to pay for a new pair of socks with, so she was still down to three and it would remain that way until she got paid, which was… when? Shuni realized she had no idea how frequently she would be paid, and it would seem ungrateful to ask before she received the first payment… she’d just have to grin, and bear it. The tailor hadn’t even noticed, she realized with a grin. He hadn’t put two and two together to realize that the fact she was asking for plain old socks meant they weren’t part of the enchanted clothing.
Anyway, that was basically all she needed to do today… it was actually kind of fun having her days free, since the demons wouldn’t come out into the sunlight very willingly if at all, so she really only had to keep herself energized and refreshed for the night…
The incubus waited in the fringe of the forest, just a few steps inside the forbidding, dark trees that were just outside of the village. In this case, he and the forest imp were about five minutes’ walk south of town, where the foraging beast would lead the demon hunter into their trap… The incubus in particular was looking forward to ensnaring the girl again, and getting even with her for causing him to look like a fool in front of Ain… the fact that he had been the cause of his own downfall was something he did not consider.
He glanced over at the forest imp, impatient for the sun to fully go down so that the operation could commence. The forest imp was a stupid, ugly creature, looking rather like a squat, small dwarf with random tendrils of vegetation and a few rotting leaves stuck to its skin, as well as a crown of long, green, matted hair that hid its face and eyes, which was just as well. It knew exactly what it should be doing, and the fact that Lord Ain was himself in waiting a short distance away squelched any thoughts it might have had of being contradictory simply to get back at the edgy, bossy incubus.
“All right,” the incubus whispered to himself when the time had come, gesturing to the foraging beast. “Go out there and make yourself known, but don’t worry about getting anything; as soon as she sees you, you run right back through here and you’re done, all right?” He petted the thing on the head as if it were a dog and pointed. At least the foraging beasts, stupid as they were, showed a pleasing kind of loyalty and obedience to their betters. Not like this stupid, smelly forest imp. Sighing, the incubus hid behind a tree and waited.
The foraging beast loped out into the tall grass that bordered the forest, keeping well out of sight until it had gotten to the fields, and then cautiously slunk towards the rows of crops, keeping itself low and looking for a towering, glowing white human. This foraging beast was the same one as had been chased by Shuni the night before; Ain had decided that a creature with familiarity with this strange new terror would be less likely to freeze with fear and be cut down. So, despite the fact that the foraging beast was understandably apprehensive, he had assigned it this job anyway.
Shuni was there. She was standing in the middle of the path, bold as brass, and sweeping her gaze out over the fields. Her confidence was understandable, which was why it was important not to let on too soon that they were working on a weakness… The foraging creature stuck its head above the rows of crops and made a raspy sound, its equivalent of a yawn. As soon as she turned, it ran. It remembered that she had throwing daggers as well as the short sword, so speed was life…
It could hear her heavy footsteps behind it, and actually the foraging beast slowed its pace slightly. It would have to include in its next report the impression that the girl, big and powerful as she was, seemed to be somewhat on the slow side… In no time at all they were headed for the incubus’ trap and safety. The foraging beast crashed through the undergrowth and sped off into the safe darkness of the forest.
Shuni was there a moment later, and the forest imp suddenly raised a root underfoot. Shuni tripped, and also on par with the incubus’ instructions, a few vines had been stretched between the trees to soften her fall; she stretched them almost to the limit before they snapped, but she hit the ground much more softly than she had last night. As soon as her face hit the ground, another root grew over the backs of her ankles, trapping her feet between the root she had tripped over and the root the forest imp had just now made.
“H-hey! What the… how did that…? What’s going on?” she cried, flailing with her arms and trying to pull herself forward, thinking that she’d just gotten tangled, but… no, her feet were trapped. She’d been ambushed, it would seem… Shuni smirked. Showed what they knew, there was nothing they could do to her, and although she could hear some movement behind her, she could not twist around enough to see. Damned baby fat on her waist!
The incubus grinned widely. Now that it was time, he found that he was rather excited… Peeling her socks off carefully, he ignored her protests and threatening shouts, and without any ado, stroked down her sole once. The reaction was even more satisfying now; she tried not to react or giggle, but it was obvious from the way she jerked and tensed that she felt it.
Shuni couldn’t believe it. How had they known to go right for her socks? How had they known the only part of the outfit that wasn’t protective…? Shuni gasped as sudden realization came to her, thinking back to when she had passed out the night before… her socks had been ruined, yes, but the way they had been sliced open was too precise to have happened when she tripped. That meant… one of them must have found her, and done some testing, and found out her Achilles heel, so to speak… The stroke along her sole came again, long and slow, and it was all Shuni could do not to burst out giggling.
Shuni’s thoughts moved rapidly, everything clicking into place to the tune of a demon’s fingernail tracing up and down her sole. Big feet were perhaps something that was a little awkward, a physical feature she didn’t care for but one she was stuck with. Ticklish feet, well, that wasn’t uncommon by any means, and even though Shuni had been tickled before, she hadn’t seen tickling as anything other than a way to make the big girl laugh and smile. Sure, she was actually extremely ticklish, but that only came into play infrequently, like when her feet were getting measured.
Where was this going? Yes, maybe Shuni looked pretty dumb, snorting and squirming as the fingertips descended along her soles in an alternating sequence, but she wasn’t going to laugh herself to death… no, she wouldn’t, Shuni rationalized to herself. Even if they tickled her so much she couldn’t breathe, then she’d black out, and they couldn’t tickle her while she was blacked out, so… why? Maybe they were just trying… oh, that must be it! They were keeping her busy giggling like a fool while their fellows went out and raided the crops… and she’d fallen right into the trap!
Ain nodded thoughtfully, watching the proceedings while hidden. The girl’s face was changing expression rapidly, from disbelieving to confused to shocked and now to self-recrimination… it did seem that the incubus had been correct about the inability to concentrate during tickling, so if nothing else he had at least shown the utility of this method… and then, like the shell of a chick slowly cracking to reveal the true form within, the girl started to giggle, and then began laughing, until her chest heaved with laughter and her body shook with the effort, one hand pounding the ground helplessly.
The incubus took his time now. The girl’s extreme ticklishness was confirmed, so it was time to move on and try to find if there was even more of a weakness hidden within the larger weakness… he wasn’t going to tickle hard, not yet. Best not to give away anything unless he could help it… remembering last night, the incubus trickled his fingers down to the center of her soles and tickled there. After a few moments, he frowned. So, it wasn’t a sweet spot after all, probably just the fact that he’d tickled harder.
Shuni was beside herself with giggling, dirt smudged all over her face as she twisted and turned, thankful her kimono would not get dirty, but the rest of her was… she’d need to take a bath after this, not only was she grinding her face into the ground, but she was starting to get sweaty with the exertion of struggling against the roots that held her captive… The demon was tickling in the center of her soles now. It really didn’t make any difference, just that he was tickling in one fixed spot instead of going over her entire foot.
The forest imp was jabbering excitedly by now, summoning a few vines to join in on tickling Shuni’s feet. The incubus didn’t mind, really… in fact, as he was noticing now, there was plenty of room on these feet for ticklers. He didn’t even need to move his hands as the vines were concentrating on the parts of her feet closer to the ground, and their tips began to wiggle against her skin…
“Uwahahaahahaahahaahaahahahaaaa!!!!!” Shuni let out a mighty cry of laughter, her body suddenly jerking hard to the side, and her fingers were clawing at the soft soil helplessly, as if to try and escape. Suddenly interested, the incubus was taking note of where these vines were –
“Ha ha ha,” the forest imp jabbered at Shuni, hopping up near her head so she could hear it taunt her. “I tickle you good! Big girl laugh and laugh until she can no laugh more!” And the forest imp used its short, stubby fingers to try and tickle her on the sides…
“Idiot!” the incubus snarled at the forest imp, looking up at it where it now danced in pain, its hands steaming and blackened. As it whimpered, the roots and vines it had been controlling ceased to hold Shuni down, and the incubus realized that tickling or no, she was going to get up and do something unless he took drastic measures… Without thinking, the incubus leapt onto the backs of Shuni’s legs, to pin them down while he attempted a frantic all-out tickling assault on her feet – but he never got there, his hindquarters and the backs of his legs hissing with steam as the figure glowed beneath him, and he too leapt away from her with a pained wail.
Shuni finally saw her chance, and with a swift movement she was on her knees, ignoring her socks for now, drawing a throwing knife and spinning around quickly, letting it fly at the short stubby thing that had tried to touch her. The knife stuck, and there was a gurgling sound for a few moments before the shrieking quieted and it fell over, dissolving like the other demon she had killed… that just left the one. Shuni drew her short sword and got to her feet.
There it was, dancing in pain and trying to hobble away from her, but because of the way its legs had been burned, he couldn’t run faster than a painful hop. Shuni was about to cut him down, but he vanished before her very eyes.... And just that quickly, there was silence. Shuni panted a little, grimacing as she realized how dirty and grubby her face was. Another thought stuck her then, and she looked around quickly before finding a white splotch in the middle of the dark forest… thank goodness. The socks were a little dirty, but not ruined like the other pair. A little washing of her socks and herself would make everything right as rain.
Besides, Shuni added, the two demons who’d been… tickling her were dead now. They couldn’t tell anyone else about what they’d discovered, and thank God they could not tell anyone else that the vines had found the absolute very worst spot on her feet. The only other person who had found that spot was her mother, she’d found it when Shuni was still a small child, and despite assurances that she would grow out of it, she never had.
Shuni’s mind was still back at home as she emerged from the forest, two more demon kills under her belt, and despite her unorthodox and unexpected ordeal, she was still in good spirits. Fortunately, her mother had been a kindred spirit, and not let her younger brother and sister know about that special weak spot. They had known her feet were more ticklish than anything, but the knowledge of that was balanced by Shuni’s massive advantage in size and power… and, Shuni thought with a smirk, the fact that her siblings hadn’t escaped the extremely-ticklish gene.
No, the only time her mother had exploited her knowledge was in a playful way, and only when the others could not see… when Shuni was being a lazy teenager, or slow to get out of bed or do some chores, sometimes her socks would fly off and her mother’s fingernails would lay into her horribly ticklish spot, all accompanied by gentle motherly teasing as Shuni screeched hysterically. It was never for long, just long enough to wake Shuni up or convince her that doing chores might be a better idea than lazing around to read.
The memories brought a smile to Shuni’s face as she opened the door to Kazuo’s house and, seeing that the old man was once again already asleep, she made her way to where a bucket of water had been set out for washing. It was cold, and it made Shuni splutter as she splashed some on her face, but within a few minutes her sweaty, smudgy face felt cool and clean, much better. It was nice to think of home, especially since she wasn’t in some kind of foolish ‘I can never go home’ situation. On the contrary, she was due for a break after completing this assignment, and she planned to visit her home, see her younger sister – her brother ought to be training by that time and probably wouldn’t be in the house much.
Her younger brother and sister, while they did try to tickle her feet to get back at Big Sis, didn’t make fun of her odd physical proportions, and her mother had always been fully supportive of her in the face of all ridicule. Her father was dead, but Shuni was too young to remember him, and from what she had picked up the marriage was not the happiest of unions, so her mother, while she did miss Shuni’s dead father, was not grief-stricken and beyond consoling. They had always looked out for one another, Shuni’s family, and as a result they were all very happy.
Well, Shuni thought wryly as she settled into bed, setting the dirty socks aside for another day’s laundry, her mother always knew how to get a smile out of Shuni, or her brother, or her sister. She sometimes would exploit her children’s ticklishness to chivvy them along or to break a blue mood. Shuni had always been curious as to whether her mother was ticklish or not, but… really, it hadn’t been all that important. Shuni was just recalling every encounter she’d had with being tickled before, probably due to the events of tonight.
Although, Shuni admitted as she pulled the covers up over her head, sometimes when she had been younger she’d let her feet stick out and be deliberately lazy. It had just been a phase; after she’d gotten past thirteen or so, she stopped doing that. Children did that, didn’t they? A lot of them squealed and screamed and giggled crazily when you tickled them, but then they just came right back for more.
So there, stupid demons. Tickling is no weapon against me.
Incubi, and their cousin demons, succubi, had been known as the demons that lay with sleeping men and women to steal their souls. This was true, but it was also reflective of the human tendency to focus solely on the worst aspect of anything unknown and blow it out of proportion. Yes, incubi and succubi could steal the souls of humans by having intercourse with them, but the truth was that it was far more difficult to do than it sounded. By no means was it automatic, and as such not the most useful thing that could be done.
However, incubi were still rightly known as creatures to be feared for those who were asleep. Their abilities generally encompassed things that suited a bedroom after hours, and their most-employed ability was to spread night terrors among sleeping humans, depriving them of restful slumber and attacking their courage while they slept. It wasn’t just the ability to spawn nightmares, but the ability to direct the dreams of humans, which incubi saw as a fine silver mist that could change color depending on what the dream was. Silver was the normal color, that of a normal dream; the thickness of the mist indicated how aware the person was of the dream in question. Incubi could thicken this mist, making it seem to the person dreaming as if they were actually witnessing the events in their dream, or they could make it change color; black for a nightmare, pink for a nonsensical, silly dream, yellow for a happy dream, red for an erotic dream, and so on.
There were dreams, of course, that did not fit so nicely into a category, and as incubi developed their powers they gained the ability to mix and match colors to better produce the dream they wanted. Sometimes, the particular dream didn’t matter so much as the fact that the dreamer remained asleep; such was the case now, as the incubus swirled his fingers through the silver mist of Shuni’s dream, thinking, mulling for a moment, before making the dream a light red, and thickening the mist considerably. A lightly erotic dream; something too heavy, and she might start reacting while asleep, which would ruin the experiments he was about to run.
So then. Being careful not to accidentally touch her kimono, the incubus gently raised the foot of the covers and peered underneath, grinning at what he saw. Excellent, both large bare feet were totally unprotected and not squished together or curled, which would make his job more difficult. He took a thin length of black cord out of the waist pouch that he wore now, storing the tools he planned to use, and with the utmost caution began to tie Shuni’s big toes together.
The incubus let a small fanged grin show on his face as the girl reacted to even that gentle touch. He had gotten the strange sense that these feet would serve to be her downfall, and if she was so ticklish as to react from a simple cord being threaded between her toes… Anyway, that was in the future, and the incubus reprimanded himself, getting back to work. The blanket was carefully folded back just so that the soles of her feet were visible; if he pulled it back too far, and her feet became cold, it could awaken her.
With the utmost care he ran his fingers up her left sole, heel to toes, and grinned wider. Shuni began to giggle, her large frame shaking with soft laughter, and her feet wiggled, toes trying to curl before meeting resistance and relaxing. He did it again on her right foot, and the reaction was much the same, with her hand reaching up to her forehead in reflex. Then he tickled both soles with a single stroke. The big girl guffawed with laughter and shook her feet somewhat, turning on her side and trying to wiggle away from his fingers.
So far, excellent results. The physically imposing girl hid a ticklish secret, and – wait a minute. The incubus frowned, glancing at the dream hovering above Shuni’s head. It had become a little bit too red for his taste, and with a suppressed sigh he swirled his fingers in it, diluting the color again. It was another problem with dreams; they didn’t want to stay in a static state, they fluxed, waxed and waned, so that in certain cases it required constant control to maintain the desired dream state. Even the minor physical agitation, likely the very act of touching her, had triggered a slide into an area he did not want.
Very well. The dream was diluted a little further this time, and the incubus gave her shoulder a gentle push to roll her on her back… and jerked his hands back, blowing on them and rubbing them together. He’d forgotten already about that damn protective kimono she wore… since it was insulated by the blanket, his hands only felt slightly singed, and the feeling was already fading, but it was still a nuisance. Slightly irritated with this girl, he flipped back the blanket and tickled her right in the center of her soles, rather hard.
It was, he realized a second later, a massive mistake. True, the girl shrieked with laughter and thrashed madly for that moment, but the dream’s mist suddenly began to thin and evaporate; she was waking up. Cursing, the demon quickly untied the cord holding her toes and stuffed it back into his pouch before making his way quickly and quietly to the door, glancing nervously at the stirring figure and knowing he could very likely be killed if she woke up… Heart thudding, fingers shaking, he slid the door to her bedroom closed as gracefully as he could and fled for his very life into the forest.
Shuni awoke a few moments later, breathing hard. She then flushed red and grimaced, rubbing her bare feet. Damned dream. Why did she have to have it tonight of all nights? Probably the stress, and the fact she’d gone to sleep barefoot. She always made a lot of noise having that dream, and she could only hope she’d awakened before it had gone too far…
Kazuo slid the door open and held up a candle, his eyes squinting sleepily as he took in the panting, muttering girl sitting up on her bed mat. “Did something happen, Shuni? A demon, perhaps? It could happen, and…”
“No, no.” Shuni flushed a deeper red and curled up, her hands around her shins. “I just had a dream, I guess. It’s a recurring dream, and sometimes… well, I’m all right, it just startles me. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Perhaps it just comes from sleeping in a strange bed, and some stress,” Kazuo offered with a kindly smile. “Don’t fret on it so much, child. You’ve already shown you’re going to be a great help to us. Please get some sleep and don’t worry about it. Good night.” He closed the door and the light receded, taking with it Shuni’s night vision. That left Shuni by herself in the darkness again, sighing and rubbing the center of her soles.
“I guess I ought not to let it bother me, like the old guy says,” she sighed. With that, she turned back over, fluffed her small pillow, pulled the blanket back up and went promptly back to sleep. The only thought that tugged at her mind was the same old annoying one that always came back after she had had that dream…
“So.” Ain narrowed his eyes and tilted his chin back, looking at the ceiling. “You say that she seems to be susceptible, yet… you could not finish your necessary experiments. This was because you acted rashly – against my express orders, may I add – and broke stealth, nearly getting caught by the demon hunter or detected by the villagers. Is this correct?”
“Yes sir.” The incubus’ head drooped and his posture sagged. He knew better than to give false information or to make things up or to gloss over his own errors. To be frank with Ain meant that you might be given a punishment and another chance. To lie meant death. Pleading was not the way to earn yourself mercy; to prove why you should be given another chance was. “I believe, sir, that given the strength of the response, it would be warranted to try it again in a more active situation, and I have an idea to how this might be accomplished.”
“Stop using the passive voice, and go on,” Ain growled. “Tell me your plan.”
“Very well. I propose that we stage another raid, but we’ll not go with the purpose of stealing more of their crops. Instead, once we get the demon hunter’s attention, we’ll have the foraging beast lead her on another chase, and once she’s in the woods, a forest imp can manipulate the growth to trip her again.” The demon stood, pantomiming the actions he described. “We’ll take care not to let her fall unconscious again, but while she’s on the ground, the forest imp can have the roots grow over her ankles, trapping them. There, I can finish my experiments without needing to hold back.”
“I see,” Ain said with a nod. “I accept, on one condition, that while you perform these ‘experiments’ you allow me to observe you so that no more foolish blunders are made.” He stood up. “You will carry out your plan tonight, understood? Now go, and do not fail again.” The incubus nodded quickly and left the room, his legs noticeably wobbling with the relief of leaving the room with his life.
Ain snorted at that kind of behavior. Killing an underling who failed grossly was one thing, but to simply dispose of demons who had simply not completed a single mission, regardless of past performance, was a sign of vanity and foolish ego. Part of demonkind’s problem was the indiscriminate killing of their weaker members. Better to use them on the front lines of some attack against demon hunters than to kill them pointlessly.
Well, that was neither here nor there, and Ain found himself again wondering about this incubus’ claims. He had instructed three other incubi to study this claim he had made, of both the itching and the tickling just to cover all the bases, and they would return in three days, so there would be no loss if this incubus found himself demoted and taken off of this particular assignment. That was all. Ain was not going to discard a potentially useful line of inquiry just because one subordinate could not make it work properly…
Besides. The thought of a proud female warrior losing to him because she couldn’t stop laughing her head off… well, there was a certain appeal to it, wasn’t there? It was, instead of the sharp warfare of battle, raiding and death, the soft, subtle warfare of psychological weakening and exploitation of weak points. It was the mark of a truly intelligent commander to be able to employ both, as well as demonstrating again that he could use alternative means to solve difficult problems…
Shuni awoke in much better spirits that morning, and cheerfully greeted Kazuo, who was busy making some eggs along with a bit of seaweed and fish for breakfast. Over breakfast tea they chatted amiably about the events of the previous night as well as Shuni’s plans for the future, and about the villagers, whom Kazuo had spoken to last night. At least they all now understood about the reason she wore a kimono, although the big feet thing, well… that wasn’t so easily resolved.
Later that day, a farmer found the broken claw fragments in his field, as well as the evidence left from the chase she had gone through last night, and that gave Shuni’s credibility another boost, enough so that she wasn’t given the once-over reserved for strangers every time someone cast eyes on her, but rather a re-evaluating look, the ‘maybe I was wrong about her’ look. It was satisfying to Shuni, who had gone through this process a few times before. Her odd physical features drew her strange looks, and then her prowess and ability earned her respect afterward. Still, she could do without the awkward opening phase of that…
There was something else Shuni had to do as well. That day, she paid a visit to the village’s tailor. “Excuse me,” she said politely, kneeling once she was inside the door and removing her shoes.
“Yes, may I help you?” he asked, a slightly grumpy-looking middle-aged man who was surrounded by various kinds of cloth, thread and needles, as well as several outfits in varying stages of completion. “You’re that, demon hunter, right?” he harrumphed, wiping his hands on a rag. “So, what… eh, what would you like?”
“Right now, nothing, thank you,” Shuni said politely. “But in the future, I may need some more socks, I only have three pairs left with me.” She blushed slightly; one way or another, she was going to have to let this guy in on the fact that her socks were just socks and not magical at all. “I was wondering if perhaps you would like my measurements now so that it would facilitate future orders.”
“Huh, well, I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He nodded and rooted around for a tool of some kind, it seemed like. With the mess all over the place, it was no surprise that it took him a few minutes to find. It looked to be nothing more than a straightedge with two sliding ends attached to it. “Here, let me see your… feet.” He coughed to cover up his hesitation and waited.
“Oh, well… yes.” Shuni stood up and sat in the chair he indicated, which was too small for her, but it sufficed for the moment. Without much pause the tailor took one of Shuni’s feet and then the other. “Hmmh, they look to be the same size, or near enough. All right, now take off one of your socks. Either one is fine, it doesn’t matter.”
“T-take it off?” Shuni asked with a start.
“Yes, take it off.” The tailor harrumphed. “I beg, er, your forgiveness, but I can’t make an accurate measurement otherwise.”
“Oh yes… of course, silly me.” Shuni blushed and removed her left sock, curling her hands in her lap and sitting straight up, taking a deep breath and readying herself… Even the touch of the straightedge to the bottom of her foot was enough to make her twitch, and as the tailor’s hands slid along it to make adjustments and measurements…
Sweat beaded on Shuni’s forehead as she curled her fingers tighter, quivering almost with the effort to stay still and not burst out into honking giggles… the tailor barely even noticed, she thought sourly, sliding and making fractional adjustments that probably weren’t even a big deal… “All right, I’ve got them.” He took a piece of parchment and carefully wrote down the numbers on the straightedge. “If you like, I can work out a rough estimate of what each pair will cost you.”
“I would appreciate that,” Shuni answered, trying to regain her composure as she hurriedly slipped her sock back on. “Thank you very much, I wish you good fortune.” Shuni left as quickly as politeness allowed and once back outside, breathed a sigh of relief. There, that was done. She’d been heartened enough by her good fortune this morning to go and do the thing she would have avoided otherwise for as long as she could, and it might have been too late then.
Well, technically Shuni still didn’t have any money to pay for a new pair of socks with, so she was still down to three and it would remain that way until she got paid, which was… when? Shuni realized she had no idea how frequently she would be paid, and it would seem ungrateful to ask before she received the first payment… she’d just have to grin, and bear it. The tailor hadn’t even noticed, she realized with a grin. He hadn’t put two and two together to realize that the fact she was asking for plain old socks meant they weren’t part of the enchanted clothing.
Anyway, that was basically all she needed to do today… it was actually kind of fun having her days free, since the demons wouldn’t come out into the sunlight very willingly if at all, so she really only had to keep herself energized and refreshed for the night…
The incubus waited in the fringe of the forest, just a few steps inside the forbidding, dark trees that were just outside of the village. In this case, he and the forest imp were about five minutes’ walk south of town, where the foraging beast would lead the demon hunter into their trap… The incubus in particular was looking forward to ensnaring the girl again, and getting even with her for causing him to look like a fool in front of Ain… the fact that he had been the cause of his own downfall was something he did not consider.
He glanced over at the forest imp, impatient for the sun to fully go down so that the operation could commence. The forest imp was a stupid, ugly creature, looking rather like a squat, small dwarf with random tendrils of vegetation and a few rotting leaves stuck to its skin, as well as a crown of long, green, matted hair that hid its face and eyes, which was just as well. It knew exactly what it should be doing, and the fact that Lord Ain was himself in waiting a short distance away squelched any thoughts it might have had of being contradictory simply to get back at the edgy, bossy incubus.
“All right,” the incubus whispered to himself when the time had come, gesturing to the foraging beast. “Go out there and make yourself known, but don’t worry about getting anything; as soon as she sees you, you run right back through here and you’re done, all right?” He petted the thing on the head as if it were a dog and pointed. At least the foraging beasts, stupid as they were, showed a pleasing kind of loyalty and obedience to their betters. Not like this stupid, smelly forest imp. Sighing, the incubus hid behind a tree and waited.
The foraging beast loped out into the tall grass that bordered the forest, keeping well out of sight until it had gotten to the fields, and then cautiously slunk towards the rows of crops, keeping itself low and looking for a towering, glowing white human. This foraging beast was the same one as had been chased by Shuni the night before; Ain had decided that a creature with familiarity with this strange new terror would be less likely to freeze with fear and be cut down. So, despite the fact that the foraging beast was understandably apprehensive, he had assigned it this job anyway.
Shuni was there. She was standing in the middle of the path, bold as brass, and sweeping her gaze out over the fields. Her confidence was understandable, which was why it was important not to let on too soon that they were working on a weakness… The foraging creature stuck its head above the rows of crops and made a raspy sound, its equivalent of a yawn. As soon as she turned, it ran. It remembered that she had throwing daggers as well as the short sword, so speed was life…
It could hear her heavy footsteps behind it, and actually the foraging beast slowed its pace slightly. It would have to include in its next report the impression that the girl, big and powerful as she was, seemed to be somewhat on the slow side… In no time at all they were headed for the incubus’ trap and safety. The foraging beast crashed through the undergrowth and sped off into the safe darkness of the forest.
Shuni was there a moment later, and the forest imp suddenly raised a root underfoot. Shuni tripped, and also on par with the incubus’ instructions, a few vines had been stretched between the trees to soften her fall; she stretched them almost to the limit before they snapped, but she hit the ground much more softly than she had last night. As soon as her face hit the ground, another root grew over the backs of her ankles, trapping her feet between the root she had tripped over and the root the forest imp had just now made.
“H-hey! What the… how did that…? What’s going on?” she cried, flailing with her arms and trying to pull herself forward, thinking that she’d just gotten tangled, but… no, her feet were trapped. She’d been ambushed, it would seem… Shuni smirked. Showed what they knew, there was nothing they could do to her, and although she could hear some movement behind her, she could not twist around enough to see. Damned baby fat on her waist!
The incubus grinned widely. Now that it was time, he found that he was rather excited… Peeling her socks off carefully, he ignored her protests and threatening shouts, and without any ado, stroked down her sole once. The reaction was even more satisfying now; she tried not to react or giggle, but it was obvious from the way she jerked and tensed that she felt it.
Shuni couldn’t believe it. How had they known to go right for her socks? How had they known the only part of the outfit that wasn’t protective…? Shuni gasped as sudden realization came to her, thinking back to when she had passed out the night before… her socks had been ruined, yes, but the way they had been sliced open was too precise to have happened when she tripped. That meant… one of them must have found her, and done some testing, and found out her Achilles heel, so to speak… The stroke along her sole came again, long and slow, and it was all Shuni could do not to burst out giggling.
Shuni’s thoughts moved rapidly, everything clicking into place to the tune of a demon’s fingernail tracing up and down her sole. Big feet were perhaps something that was a little awkward, a physical feature she didn’t care for but one she was stuck with. Ticklish feet, well, that wasn’t uncommon by any means, and even though Shuni had been tickled before, she hadn’t seen tickling as anything other than a way to make the big girl laugh and smile. Sure, she was actually extremely ticklish, but that only came into play infrequently, like when her feet were getting measured.
Where was this going? Yes, maybe Shuni looked pretty dumb, snorting and squirming as the fingertips descended along her soles in an alternating sequence, but she wasn’t going to laugh herself to death… no, she wouldn’t, Shuni rationalized to herself. Even if they tickled her so much she couldn’t breathe, then she’d black out, and they couldn’t tickle her while she was blacked out, so… why? Maybe they were just trying… oh, that must be it! They were keeping her busy giggling like a fool while their fellows went out and raided the crops… and she’d fallen right into the trap!
Ain nodded thoughtfully, watching the proceedings while hidden. The girl’s face was changing expression rapidly, from disbelieving to confused to shocked and now to self-recrimination… it did seem that the incubus had been correct about the inability to concentrate during tickling, so if nothing else he had at least shown the utility of this method… and then, like the shell of a chick slowly cracking to reveal the true form within, the girl started to giggle, and then began laughing, until her chest heaved with laughter and her body shook with the effort, one hand pounding the ground helplessly.
The incubus took his time now. The girl’s extreme ticklishness was confirmed, so it was time to move on and try to find if there was even more of a weakness hidden within the larger weakness… he wasn’t going to tickle hard, not yet. Best not to give away anything unless he could help it… remembering last night, the incubus trickled his fingers down to the center of her soles and tickled there. After a few moments, he frowned. So, it wasn’t a sweet spot after all, probably just the fact that he’d tickled harder.
Shuni was beside herself with giggling, dirt smudged all over her face as she twisted and turned, thankful her kimono would not get dirty, but the rest of her was… she’d need to take a bath after this, not only was she grinding her face into the ground, but she was starting to get sweaty with the exertion of struggling against the roots that held her captive… The demon was tickling in the center of her soles now. It really didn’t make any difference, just that he was tickling in one fixed spot instead of going over her entire foot.
The forest imp was jabbering excitedly by now, summoning a few vines to join in on tickling Shuni’s feet. The incubus didn’t mind, really… in fact, as he was noticing now, there was plenty of room on these feet for ticklers. He didn’t even need to move his hands as the vines were concentrating on the parts of her feet closer to the ground, and their tips began to wiggle against her skin…
“Uwahahaahahaahahaahaahahahaaaa!!!!!” Shuni let out a mighty cry of laughter, her body suddenly jerking hard to the side, and her fingers were clawing at the soft soil helplessly, as if to try and escape. Suddenly interested, the incubus was taking note of where these vines were –
“Ha ha ha,” the forest imp jabbered at Shuni, hopping up near her head so she could hear it taunt her. “I tickle you good! Big girl laugh and laugh until she can no laugh more!” And the forest imp used its short, stubby fingers to try and tickle her on the sides…
“Idiot!” the incubus snarled at the forest imp, looking up at it where it now danced in pain, its hands steaming and blackened. As it whimpered, the roots and vines it had been controlling ceased to hold Shuni down, and the incubus realized that tickling or no, she was going to get up and do something unless he took drastic measures… Without thinking, the incubus leapt onto the backs of Shuni’s legs, to pin them down while he attempted a frantic all-out tickling assault on her feet – but he never got there, his hindquarters and the backs of his legs hissing with steam as the figure glowed beneath him, and he too leapt away from her with a pained wail.
Shuni finally saw her chance, and with a swift movement she was on her knees, ignoring her socks for now, drawing a throwing knife and spinning around quickly, letting it fly at the short stubby thing that had tried to touch her. The knife stuck, and there was a gurgling sound for a few moments before the shrieking quieted and it fell over, dissolving like the other demon she had killed… that just left the one. Shuni drew her short sword and got to her feet.
There it was, dancing in pain and trying to hobble away from her, but because of the way its legs had been burned, he couldn’t run faster than a painful hop. Shuni was about to cut him down, but he vanished before her very eyes.... And just that quickly, there was silence. Shuni panted a little, grimacing as she realized how dirty and grubby her face was. Another thought stuck her then, and she looked around quickly before finding a white splotch in the middle of the dark forest… thank goodness. The socks were a little dirty, but not ruined like the other pair. A little washing of her socks and herself would make everything right as rain.
Besides, Shuni added, the two demons who’d been… tickling her were dead now. They couldn’t tell anyone else about what they’d discovered, and thank God they could not tell anyone else that the vines had found the absolute very worst spot on her feet. The only other person who had found that spot was her mother, she’d found it when Shuni was still a small child, and despite assurances that she would grow out of it, she never had.
Shuni’s mind was still back at home as she emerged from the forest, two more demon kills under her belt, and despite her unorthodox and unexpected ordeal, she was still in good spirits. Fortunately, her mother had been a kindred spirit, and not let her younger brother and sister know about that special weak spot. They had known her feet were more ticklish than anything, but the knowledge of that was balanced by Shuni’s massive advantage in size and power… and, Shuni thought with a smirk, the fact that her siblings hadn’t escaped the extremely-ticklish gene.
No, the only time her mother had exploited her knowledge was in a playful way, and only when the others could not see… when Shuni was being a lazy teenager, or slow to get out of bed or do some chores, sometimes her socks would fly off and her mother’s fingernails would lay into her horribly ticklish spot, all accompanied by gentle motherly teasing as Shuni screeched hysterically. It was never for long, just long enough to wake Shuni up or convince her that doing chores might be a better idea than lazing around to read.
The memories brought a smile to Shuni’s face as she opened the door to Kazuo’s house and, seeing that the old man was once again already asleep, she made her way to where a bucket of water had been set out for washing. It was cold, and it made Shuni splutter as she splashed some on her face, but within a few minutes her sweaty, smudgy face felt cool and clean, much better. It was nice to think of home, especially since she wasn’t in some kind of foolish ‘I can never go home’ situation. On the contrary, she was due for a break after completing this assignment, and she planned to visit her home, see her younger sister – her brother ought to be training by that time and probably wouldn’t be in the house much.
Her younger brother and sister, while they did try to tickle her feet to get back at Big Sis, didn’t make fun of her odd physical proportions, and her mother had always been fully supportive of her in the face of all ridicule. Her father was dead, but Shuni was too young to remember him, and from what she had picked up the marriage was not the happiest of unions, so her mother, while she did miss Shuni’s dead father, was not grief-stricken and beyond consoling. They had always looked out for one another, Shuni’s family, and as a result they were all very happy.
Well, Shuni thought wryly as she settled into bed, setting the dirty socks aside for another day’s laundry, her mother always knew how to get a smile out of Shuni, or her brother, or her sister. She sometimes would exploit her children’s ticklishness to chivvy them along or to break a blue mood. Shuni had always been curious as to whether her mother was ticklish or not, but… really, it hadn’t been all that important. Shuni was just recalling every encounter she’d had with being tickled before, probably due to the events of tonight.
Although, Shuni admitted as she pulled the covers up over her head, sometimes when she had been younger she’d let her feet stick out and be deliberately lazy. It had just been a phase; after she’d gotten past thirteen or so, she stopped doing that. Children did that, didn’t they? A lot of them squealed and screamed and giggled crazily when you tickled them, but then they just came right back for more.
So there, stupid demons. Tickling is no weapon against me.
