"Is that a man? That means I'm not alone in this dump!" the young blond-haired man said as he rushed to open the door, dismissing the danger.
The man stopped in his track when the door squeaked open. It had been loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain. Without uttering a word, the mysterious wanderer pointed the torchlight towards the hut.
"Uhm... hello!" the boy at the side of the door exclaimed, waving his hand and attracting the attention of that ambiguous figure. "You can't keep walking in those conditions under the storm... if you want, I can offer you shelter" he repeated, ready to test whether that strange dream allowed him to interact with people.
The hooded man came up again while the torch's faint flame wavered without ever going out.
"Hello to you, farmer! I don't usually accept invitations like that, but... thank you very much. These black clouds popped up all of a sudden and... well, I was not prepared" the man promptly answered, who, after getting close enough, allowed the farmer to catch a glimpse of his face from under his hood.
"Grrr... sscreek" the Nekage growled, remaining behind its master, who turned to keep it quiet.
"Hey, be quiet! Don't scare this man!" he exclaimed, inviting his pet to move away and back off.
"Oh, but you're a tamer too! Phew! That's why you weren't afraid to let a stranger into your house!" the hooded man interrupted, crossing the door and closing it behind him.
Water flowed from his long tunic, wetting the floor under his feet, and the stranger lowered his hood, finally revealing his appearance.
The short black hair and an uncultivated beard made the young homeowner assume that his guest was older than him. When he unfastened his coat and lifted it from his shoulders, suddenly, something that had remained hidden there, sheltering itself from the rain broke free. It flew until it rested on one of the ceiling beams.
"Grrargh! Grragh!" the Nekage panicked, taking refuge behind its master's legs and making the scales of its skin curl as he watched the flying demon who had just entered their house.
"Hey, what's that thing? A parrot?" the young man asked with an astonished air, looking at the demon of his guest, who was wiping its perched wings over their heads.
It was a brightly coloured bird, the size of which did not exceed that of a small parrot. The blue beak was small and curved towards its swollen chest. Two large feathers popped out of his head, extending backwards, almost the entire length of its body.
As pupil-less as those of the Nekage, its small yellow eyes were surrounded by two stripes of darker, almost black blue lines. The feathered and colourful wings were perfectly identical to those of a tropical parrot, while the two birds of prey's legs were hairy and equipped with thin and long claws, similar to those of a badger.
"Uh? Have you never seen a Waromu? Well, maybe they're not very common in these areas, but on the other side of the Southborne Mountains, there are whole flocks of them!" the man replied, amazed that his interlocutor was so shocked. "Oh, what a beautiful specimen! Your Nekage is really gorgeous! I've never met one with such red eyes!" the wanderer continued, lowering himself to the little lizard pet and extending his hand toward it.
Nekage, Southborne Mountains... what the fuck is this guy talking about? Did he really ask me if I'm a Demon Tamer? Me? the young householder thought as he continued to look at his guest without speaking.
"Oh, well. Now it's much better," the wanderer said after hanging his wet tunic by the fireplace. "Excuse me for my rudeness. I thank you for your friendliness and kindness. My name is Enatsu, and I'm a trader from Silvertide Village, on the other side of the mountains!" he continued, bowing to who had offered him shelter from the rain and extending a hand towards him, ready to make his acquaintance.
"Er... I'm glad to meet you, Enatsu!" the farmer replied, not knowing what to say. "Um, yes! Sorry, my name is... well, my name is..." he stammered, striving to remember his past, but to no avail.
Just as he tried to dig into the deepest archives of his mind, a timeless and seemingly meaningless images appeared for a moment before his eyes.
A glass resting on a dark wooden table was filled with a yellowish substance, and behind it, a bottle was resting, full of the same thing.
'Yoichi – Fine Whiskey'
This was the inscription on the label of the glass bottle which he was drinking during what seemed like the last moments of his most recent memories.
"Yoichi! My name is Yoichi!" he exclaimed, shaking Enatsu's hand and taking a long breath.
"Nice to meet you, Yoichi and thank you again! You know... you haven't answered my question before! Is the Nekage yours? Are you a tamer?" Enatsu asked again, insisting on that information.
"Um... yes, I think so. There's actually a reason why I behave so strangely, and I beg your pardon. I think... I think I've lost my memory!" Yoichi replied, touching his back, almost as if the mere thought of not remembering things made him anxious.
*tzzz*pfff*
A strong smell of roasted meat quickly expanded throughout the hut, and as Yoichi remembered leaving the three half-rotten steaks on the fire, he immediately ran to the fireplace. "Fuck... they were going to burn!"
"Well, they don't smell so bad!" Enatsu commented, hungry for even the slightest piece. "If I may ask..., what do you not remember exactly?"
A deep sigh followed that question. "Anything. I don't remember anything about my past at all. I woke up in this hut with this weird little pet staring at me from the bed. The bizarre thing is that it obeys all my command and..."
"Hey, hey, wait a minute... do you really not even remember your Oracle?" the trader asked, sitting on the ground by the fire.
"My what?"
"Your Oracle! Oracles are the demons linked to our soul! If that Nekage obeys your every order and does anything to defend you, that means... it is your Oracle Demon!" Enatsu replied, chuckling.