Voiceless

5- In Which They Meet the Overlarge Dog

Sora's feet were starting to ache. They had been walking since dawn again. It had only been a few days since she had joined the demon king's group and every day had been the same. Wake up at dawn. Walk till noon. Find food while the demon king walked some more. Run with Pochi to catch up to the demon king. Rest at dusk. Then wake up at dawn and do it all over again.

For the rest of the group the days were as uneventful as they could get. No killing demons. No attacks from rival lords or rebel groups. No one at the brink of death. 'Yep. Very uneventful.' Thought Yoshihito. He had been careful not to kill anyone in front of the human incase she might be squeamish. Which had led him not to kill anyone at all. Pochi thought that this was a good thing. He didn't agree.

Even though she was tired Sora was having the time of her life. She had seen many things that she had never seen before, and she was constantly begging Pochi to explain anything new that she saw. Pochi did this obligingly. He quite enjoyed the company of the cheerful girl and was glad that lord Yoshihito had brought her with them.

It was nearly time for lunch and Sora was getting hungry. She bent down and tugged Pochi's sleeve and mimed that she wanted to eat. "Lord Yoshihito, me and Sora are going to get something to eat." The little imp said then rushed off to the woods with Sora.

Yoshihito stopped and leaned on a tree. 'Since that pesky human isn't here and the imp isn't around to scold me, I think I'll go and find some demons to kill. My skills are getting a little rusty.' He thought. "Just maybe the demons around here will be worth my time. Take as much time foraging as you want Pochi.' The demon king smiled.

* * *

"Look Pochi! Mangoes!" Sora mimed and reached out to pick some. "Be careful Sora!" Pochi warned with his eyes on some delicious looking mushrooms growing on the ground. 'Maybe lord Yoshihito would like some too..." He mused.

After managing to pick a decent amount of mangoes, Sora sat by the fire that Pochi had made to fry his mushrooms and started peeling a mango. Pochi was humming a strange tune that Pochi had said was from his hometown. He said that his village was filled solely with other imps like him. Sora had some trouble imagining a village composed entirely of little imps like Pochi. 'Maybe it has little imp sized houses and and other imp sized implements.' She laughed at the thought.

"SNAP!" Came a sound from behind them. Sora looked back startled and there behind her stood a dog. Not a normal dog mind you. This dog was twice as tall as Sora and every bit as menacing as one would expect a carnivore hunting its next meal to be. And by looks of it that next meal was going to be her.

Pochi looked back too. But the only thing he could do when he saw the enormous dog was scream "Master Yoshihito, help!" With a horrified expression on his face.

* * *

"Master Yoshihito, help!" Yoshihito heard Pochi's voice yelling in the distance. The demon lord hadn't found any demons to torment in the area so he decided to go and see what all the screaming was about. "This had better be good." He muttered to himself as he headed towards the direction of the scream.

* * *

Sora was frozen with fear. The huge dog was staring at her with its blood red eyes. She couldn't help wondering whether the red-ish tinge in its fur was actually its color or if it was blood. Even though she was frozen she couldn't help thinking that she was doing well under pressure whereas Pochi had promptly fainted after screaming like a little girl.

'They should really change that phrase.' She thought. ' You don't see me screaming or fainting. Although technically I can't scream, but let's forget about that for now. There are more important things to be worrying about. The first and foremost being that an enormous red dog wants to eat me! Maybe I should start panicking now.'

The dog growled loudly which made Sora flinch while Pochi rolled over mumbling "...Five more minutes..." 'Well at least I can have a good laugh while I'm being eaten alive.' She thought while looking at Pochi. Were all demons this weird?

Then a smaller and more brown looking appeared next to the larger one. The smaller dog tried to bark but only a whine came out. 'Aww it's a puppy.' Sora thought. Just then the large dog's head was sliced off its body. When its head fell off she saw who had cut it off. It was Yoshihito.

The demon lord looked at the scene before him. The human girl Sora was standing stock still and Pochi- wait, had he fainted? The pup was watching him, whimpering. 'My life is so pitiful.' He thought as he walked over to Pochi and nudged the imp with his foot. Pochi just mumbled something and turned over.

From the corner of his eye Yoshihito saw that the girl was laughing. But she quickly stopped when she realized that she was being watched. He turned back to Pochi and stamped his foot on the imp's head for good measure. Pochi woke up startled by the sudden impact.

"Lord Yoshihito!" He said startled. "Wait. Where's that big dog?" Yoshihito tilted his head at the bloody corpse of the now dead dog. "Oh." Said Pochi. "Pochi, I applaud you for your commendable show of courage." Said the demon lord, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure this young lady was not feeling scared at all." He said referring to Sora who was snickering in a corner. Yoshihito allowed a smile to grace his otherwise emotionless face. "Now if you allow me great hero, I will dispose of this pup also." He said while Pochi looked at the ground scratching his head.

Before Yoshihito had a chance to hurt the small pup, Sora jumped in front of it. "Now what?" He asked annoyed. Sora mimed something and he looked at Pochi for a translation. "She says: its only a pup, let it go" 'Really?' Yoshihito thought sheathing his sword. Sora mimed something else. "Translation?" He said to Pochi.

"Uh... Um... Lord Yoshihito, can we keep it?" Pochi asked timidly. "Please...?" For some reason Yoshihito had the feeling that this request did not belong to the girl entirely. 'The puppy does look strong.' Yoshihito thought. 'It may turn into good fighter one day.' "Fine." He answered, sounding bored. 'Yay!' Sora thought and hugged the small pup and the pup in turn nuzzled against her.

"What are you going to call him?" Pochi asked. "How about nuisance?" Yoshihito suggested only to get a stern glare from Sora which made him laugh. "Fine. You name him then." He said walking away. "We lost too much time. It's already dark. Lets rest here and continue in the morning."

Sora nodded and sat down on the ground and patted the space next to her signaling for the pup to sit, which it did. "Hmm... I think I'll call you Mamoru." She mimed.

"Mamoru." Pochi repeated. "huh?" Yoshihito asked. "She's decided to name the dog Mamoru." Pochi replied. 'Mamoru huh?' Yoshihito wondered. ''Protect', the girl sure has taste.'

Sora stayed up for a while thinking about her village. She wondered her friends Ami, Runa, Sumiko and the others were doing all the while scratching Mamoru's ear. The dog seemed to have taken a liking to Sora and was now sleeping with its head on her lap.

Pochi was sound asleep and snoring. Next to him, the demon lord noticed that the girl was still awake. "Aren't you asleep yet?" He asked her. Sora looked at him and shook her head. "Well, get some sleep. We start moving at dawn, so you'll need the rest." He retorted. Sora nodded and went back to scratching Mamoru's ear.

'This girl is starting to annoy me less and less.' Yoshihito thought. 'But I still wish she could talk so I don't have to listen to that imp talking for her all day long. Now that I think about it, she's much better than other humans and definitely more amusing.' He thought.

Yoshihito looked back at Sora. She was sound asleep now. It was almost midnight. He figured that no one was foolish enough to attack his group so he decided to get some sleep for a while.

Author's Note:-

I'm sick and I have nothing to do, so you get a new chapter. I don't even know why I have to keep telling you but, vote and comment! Thanks for reading!