Finished a wip I had of Yama and I made sure to remember to show you guys here lol
(But if you follow my tiktok and insta *wink wink* then you may have seen it earlier. *cough* @senpaililas on both *cough*)
Also this chapter is a bit longer than usual so strap in.
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It was time.
Time to make contact with the Outsiders.
(Y/N) couldn't lie that she was nervous. After she and B awoken from... whatever B calls it, she learned that they had only been under the trance for at most a minute. It felt longer than that when they were inside.
But once the Chief, Jules, announced that they were preparing to leave for the island, (Y/N) quickly went to find the Head Keeper regarding her coming along.
It took some time to convince the older woman. (O/N) understood the demon girl's reasonings for wanting to come but it just felt dangerous considering who the Outsiders were. But after some pushing and reasoning, (Y/N) was able to convince the older woman to let her come. Except...
She had to stay in the truck. This wasn't (O/N)'s orders, it was Jules.
If getting approached by a Zone wasn't already bad enough, if the Outsiders saw them traveling with demons it would make their case look all the more worse. That's why Dog, Tuca, Vam, and Yama weren't coming.
But Jules saw the benefit to having (Y/N) there. He just didn't want her upfront. If he decides that her case is needed, he'll let her come out.
Before they left, however, (Y/N) she wanted to tell Yama about what she was doing. She imagined he wouldn't be too pleased about it but she still wanted to tell him. It's just...
She couldn't find him.
There wasn't much time to look for him before the small Zone group began making their way to the island but the camp wasn't huge. Finding the doctor should've been quick. She wasn't able to search for long but he should be back by the time she returns. Maybe he was out doing something again.
(Y/N) sat in the very last truck with B and Tyr. Her hand held the rails as the vehicle bumped every now and then. She was watching the passing city while the cousins played rock, paper, scissors next to her.
"Rock, paper, scissors- SHOOT!"
B threw up rock while Tyr had scissors. He groaned dramatically while B laughed, having lost to her several times in a row.
They looked up at her and glared. "How do you keep winning?! This isn-"
B's eyes were slightly glowing but they quickly dimmed as Tyr widened his eyes. "You're cheating!"
"Pshhh no I'm not! You just suck." B scoffed but couldn't help her mischievous smile.
"You're reading my mind again! That's cheating!"
"You're being delusional."
"And you're being a cheater!"
B rolled her eyes and turned to the demon girl. "(Y/N), tell them that I'm not cheating."
But (Y/N) didn't answer. She was staring into the buildings of the city with the usual downcast expression she's come to adopt. She was lost in thought.
Tyr leaned close to B's ear and whispered. "Is she ok?"
B sighed as she could take a guess about what was causing her friend's sullen state. "That doctor guy."
"The one your mom knows?" They asked and B nodded. "But didn't he-"
The truck started to slow, drawing the Capturers' attention. They both climbed up to look towards the front and saw the look of a broken gate ahead of them. But when they both looked around some more, they were also on a super long bridge. It had a couple of ransacked vehicles and debris strewn across but the large river that separated the city into two was now just under them. And up ahead was the large abandoned-looking island.
The cousins immediately became nervous. So did the rest of the team.
"Are we here?"
B looked down to meet (Y/N)'s eyes who started to climb up with them. She soon saw the island too. Her question being answered.
"You think they noticed us coming?" Tyr muttered.
The trucks weren't by all means silent but they weren't ridiculously loud either. And it was only four of them but the island should have been able to see them coming.
Once Capturers began exiting the trucks, B and Tyr soon followed but (Y/N) stayed where she was. She watched the Capturers stand around the second truck in line while she could see the Chief and two other Capturers approach the gate.
(Y/N) started to feel nervous as well. She lowered down a bit to stay out of sight.
"The hell is this?" Someone shouted.
Everyone looked up to the top of the gate to see someone standing there looking down at them all. It was an older man who held a gun similar to the Zones but just a bit more ragged.
The Capturers must have noticed the gun as some went to lift up theirs but the Chief held his hand out to hold fire.
"I suggest you Ground dwellers get to stepping right now before we have a problem!" The man yelled down to them.
"Not until we have a chat. Put some differences to the side for an equal cause." Jules called up.
"We have a lot more than differences." The man threw his gun over his shoulder as he started to pace back and forth along the gate. "Now like I said, turn your trucks around and go before we start to have some more differences!"
(Y/N) squinted her eyes against the summer sun and looked at the man closely. He wore a tank that showed off scars on his dark arms but a heavy pair of pants with the tail of a demon attached to the back. The majority of his face was covered in a mask that... obviously came from a large demon. A chill ran down her spine at the thought of wearing that.
But then (Y/N) saw another person from the small team begin to approach the gate. Her eyes widened when she saw it was (O/N).
B began to look tenser as she watched her mother approach the gate.
"May I speak to Miri or Fate, please?" The older woman called up. The Chief carefully moved an arm in front of his wife in case he needed to pull her back. But at the mention of the names, the man up top stopped. They couldn't see his face but he spent a couple of seconds staring down at the woman.
The Outsider's grip on the gun tightened. "Who are you?"
"My name is (O/N). I stumbled across your people many years ago." The Head Keeper spoke. Her she rest her arms behind her back as her tone was just a bit uncomfortable. "I was the Ground dweller traveling with two demons if that helps."
The Outsider looked like he was studying her. The silence was very telling. He then turned back and started talking to someone on the other side of the gate before he looked back at the Zone as he started to leave.
(Y/N) watched the ordeal from where she was in the last truck. Despite the surprise she got from hearing what the older woman said, she looked towards the gate as a loud and grating sound came and soon the gate began to slide open. The Chief took his arm and moved his wife behind him while the two Capturers with him held up their guns but still held their fire upon orders.
The giant gate split into two as the mechanics of it pulled the heavy metal apart. On the other side was the same Outsider from before but he was now joined with more armed and demon-wearing people.
Once the gate was opened enough, the man started to march out and approach the Chief and his wife while some of his people followed him out. They kept their sights on the rest of the Capturers and vice versa.
The man stopped a few feet away from the Zone. Since he was closer, they were able to see that the mask he was wearing only had one eye hole in it. And the brown eye they could see was glaring at Jules intensely before looking down at the woman behind him.
The two watched each other and (O/N) couldn't deny that the man's glare wasn't off-putting.
"They dead?" His rough voice spoke.
(O/N) stepped out from behind her husband a bit, she kept her eyes on his. "They're dead."
The man's eye closed for a few seconds before it opened again. "Good. Fate wouldn't stop wondering about you."
The Head Keeper soon smiled and went to go hug the man. "Miri!"
He accepted her hug, glad to see that she was alive. But then he looked up to the rest of the Zone. "So what's this?"
His tone was still defensive. Despite him being familiar with one of them, he didn't know all of them. And they decided to approach his community.
(O/N) went to go stand next to her husband. "We're not here for any issues. Just a proposition."
"For what?" Miri spoke as his eye looked up to Jules with a stern look. "We don't work with your people."
"Trust me." Jules crossed his arms. "You'll want to. It's the Elitist."
"What about them?" Miri narrowed his eye.
B leaned against a truck as she watched her parents and the man talk. So far this was going well. But she wasn't going to let her guard down. She sees the guns that they're holding. Most of them old models of the ones the Zone is currently equipped with. She started to feel eyes on her though as she glanced over and an Outsider watching her. They had a feminine figure despite the grotesque mask she wore.
The Outsider watched B before shifting her gaze over to the other Capturers with a roll of her eyes. B narrowed hers.
Minutes passed as the three talked and (Y/N) listened from where she was. She thought Miri looked familiar until she realized this was the leader of the Outsiders her father spoke to and made deals with. Remembering how her father found the leader creepy, (Y/N) started to see why. The demon mask, tail, and glare in his eye made him look absolutely wild. Even the other Outsiders had the same vibe. They all looked ready to perform an attack upon the first chance.
"And you want our help?" Miri tsked as he shook his head and turned away. "We don't work with Zones. (O/N), it's nice seeing you, but we have a code we stick by and your people ain't in it."
"But we're both after the same goal. You're aware of the damage the Elitists are doing to your fellow communities right?" (Y/N) asked.
"Yeah, I am. Most of them fled to us." He gestured towards the island. "We have our own plans for those fuckers. We don't need your people's help."
Jules huffed. "If this is about what happened 300 years ago-"
"It is." Miri grunted.
The Chief started to look frustrated. "That was back then. None of us had anything to do with what happened to your ancestors. We didn't even know that any of that happened until recently."
That seemed to displease the leader as he tsked and turned away. "It was nice seeing you, (O/N). But you and your people get off my bridge."
They weren't getting anywhere at this rate. The Head Keeper placed a hand on her husband's chest to tell him to calm down before she approached the leader. "Miri, wait."
He sighed and turned back to her. She gave him a serious look. "You and Fate were ready to welcome me into your community despite where I came from."
"That's because you had too much stacked against you that we didn't think you would ever make it back." He shook his head.
"But you still helped." (O/N) reasoned. "Look we're not asking for our people to be friends. But we need to be on each other's side against the real enemy. The Elitists have already attacked your fellow communities and they'll continue to do so. We both want to stop them so let's help each other make sure of it."
Miri turned to her fully but didn't say anything, his brown eye looked down at her sternly but she had his attention. She glanced back at the trucks to see (Y/N)'s head peeking out from the last one before turning back to the leader. "Look we have someone with us who's from one of the communities. And the Elitists... they changed her."
"Changed her?" Miri questioned as he looked around the group but they were all Capturers.
(O/N) sighed as she looked back to the demon girl and gestured for her to come out.
(Y/N) hesitated but slowly made her way out of the truck. Guess it was time for her to make an appearance.
Miri looked up once he saw the figure of a girl appear from behind the trucks. He almost thought she was a human just like them but soon he saw her eyes, her claws, subtle details that most would miss upon first glance. The Outsiders must've noticed too as they all quickly pointed their weapons up at her. (Y/N) quickly staggered at their reaction as B and Tyr quickly moved to stand in front of her.
"That's a demon?! You brought a demon here?!" Miri questioned, his voice rising.
(O/N) moved her hands up as she tried to diffuse the situation. "Let me explain, ok? She's not just a demon."
"You have 5 seconds to get your people and that thing off my bridge!" Miri furiously told. "We're done here!"
(O/N) tried to get him to listen again but the man turned back towards the gate without another word. Showing that he was finished with this whole discussion.
The other Outsiders all prepared for any trouble if the Zone didn't do as their leader told but they all had their attention on the demon who started to look less fearful and more determined.
She pushed past B and Tyr who both tried to reach out for her but she avoided their grasps. When she walked past the Chief and Head Keeper, they both looked alarmed as (O/N) called out her name.
When Miri heard the name, he glanced back but saw the demon girl marching up towards him and quickly whipped around to him his gun at her. She stopped just in front of the barrel as her milky (e/c) eyes glared up into his single brown one.
Seconds went by of them just watching each other, awaiting the next move. But as Miri started getting a better look at her, he started to find some familiarity in her features.
"You knew my father. (F/N) (L/N)..." She spoke, having to hold back her grief at saying his name. "You worked with him. You traded your weapons for our animals."
She could see his eyebrow underneath the demon mask furrow as his single eye narrowed down at her.
"You knew him... You knew him, and my mother, and the rest of my community. So you know me too." She walked forward just enough for the barrel of the gun to press into her chest as she stared the older man down.
"How..?" Miri's voice was low but filled with disbelief. He remembered (F/N) occasionally bringing up his kid. A daughter who helped with the animals and had a love for books. Although he hasn't spoken to (F/N) in a while, he started to see his features in the demon before him. But how?
"The Elitists..." The Head Keeper spoke up as she approached them and placed a hand on (Y/N)'s shoulder. "They destroyed her community. Killed most of everyone and turned the rest into demons. Including... her."
(Y/N) could feel her lip start to tremble but she clenched her hands into fists to hold herself together.
"And if we don't stop them, your community could be next." (O/N) then placed a hand on the gun and carefully pushed it down. "An innocent girl in there can have the same thing happen to her. Which do you care about more? An unfortunate incident that happened centuries ago or the future safety of your people?"
The man let out a deep breath as he looked down and seemed to be in deep thought. The Head Keeper's hand gave a reassuring squeeze to (Y/N)'s shoulder as they awaited Miri's response.
Eventually, he started to turn back as he went to go discuss with his group. "Give me a minute."
It wasn't a no. (O/N) was starting to become hopeful at this. As she watched the leader go, she leaned closer to the demon girl with a proud smile. "That was risky but brave."
"Thank you..." (Y/N) muttered as she looked to the ground.
After a couple of minutes of discussing with his team, Miri eventually returned back to the Zone and looked from the Head Keeper to the Chief, and finally to (Y/N). "I'm sorry."
She gave him a meek smile as she nodded.
"I'm going to have people who are heavily against a partnership with a Zone. It's not just me you have to prove a case to, it's all of them." Miri stated as he spoke to the Chief. "I don't know how your people do it down there, but we don't force these things onto ours."
"If it's a partnership that's beneficial for your future, then it's necessary." Jules countered. "If us working together can guarantee your community from being spared from destruction, then you need us. Both of us combined is better than none."
Miri huffed as he shook his head and threw his gun over his shoulder. "Then what are your plans? Let me hear them before I go talk to the others."
(O/N) felt relief from hearing this. It's not a confirmed 'yes' yet but it means Miri was willing to hear them out and get others on board. She turned to (Y/N) and gave her a smile before gesturing back to the trucks. "You can head back to camp. We got this from here."
"Are you sure?" (Y/N) asked as she received a nod from the older woman. "I'm sure. Have B and Tyr go with you. We'll be back soon."
There wasn't much else she can do here anyway. She helped prove the Zone's case enough. That's all that she wanted to do. So (Y/N) gave in and started heading back to the trucks. The Head Keeper gave her orders to the cousins despite their concern of not wanting to leave but she reassured them that everything was fine.
So the cousins begrudgingly lead (Y/N) to a truck and hopped in before making their way back to camp.
Arriving back in one piece, B and Tyr let (Y/N) know that they were going to stay near the truck and keep it ready with their radios on in case something happened. (Y/N) understood and entered the camp by herself and made her way over to her bag. Since she was back, she was going to go find Yama and let her know she had returned... and also prepared for a lecture from him about going near the demon-wearing humans.
But as she got closer to the duffel bag that she left near the carriers, she stopped once she saw a piece of paper slip into one of the pockets.
She looked around. Only seeing workers going about their tasks, Tuca and Vam having come back from scouting, Dog wasn't in sight but she was sure he was just tucked away somewhere again, but no Yama...
Lowering down to the paper, she pulled it out and recognized it as the paper from Yama's journal. She recognized the size and discoloration from anywhere.
As she opened it up, the first word that she read was her name.
'(Y/N). I didn't want to do this. My heart didn't want to do this. But you're becoming too important to me that I can't let this continue on.'
Her heart started to grow heavy as she read the words and soon her fingers began to tremble.
'I know that you're doing what you think is best but I can't watch you throw your life away. My brother was just as dead set on his goals and it eventually killed him. And I don't want to experience the same pain I felt from him all over again. It hurts to even do this but I can't stick around anymore. I know you'll be upset but this is for the best.'
A tear trailed down her cheek as her hands gripped the paper tighter. This didn't feel real. She didn't want this to be real.
'I love you enough to not hold you back from what you want. I just hope you'll understand.'
She let the note drop to the ground upon reading the last line. Her heart felt like it was breaking with each letter that he wrote.
'Your partner, Yama.'
B sat atop the hood of the truck as her eyes stayed glued to the direction of the island. Her foot tapped impatiently against the metal and her fingers tightened over her gun.
"They'll be fine, B." Tyr spoke after having to listen to her tapping foot for the last seven minutes. "Soon they'll be back and-"
They didn't get to finish as an emotionally wrecked demon rushed past them. They both widened their eyes in surprise as they saw (Y/N) storming in the direction of the city. B immediately jumped off the truck as Tyr ran to grab her arm. "(Y/N)! WAIT- WHAT'S WRONG?!"
She didn't answer them as she was determined to go. Her tears were like waterfalls as they streamed down her face. Sadness, anger, betrayal, rage, and heartbreak all coursed through her as she wrenched her arm away from Tyr and continued storming toward the city.
She had to find him. She had to find Yama before he was gone forever.
B rushed out in front of her and wrapped her arms tightly around her so she couldn't shake her off. "(Y/N), wait! Just calm down! What are you doing-"
"Let me go!" The demon sobbed as she started fighting against the Capturer.
"Just calm down! You can't go out there by yourself!" B had to force her legs into the ground to keep herself stable against the flailing demon.
Tyr came up from behind to help his cousin hold the demon in place. It took both of them against (Y/N)'s strength to keep her from moving another step. With how hard they were holding her, (Y/N) finally started to give up.
Her eyes looked to the city in desperation. In pain. She choked back a sob as she fell against B and cried into her shoulder.
Tyr slowly let go after making sure she wasn't going to run and B quickly went to comforting her. Her arms wrapped around her and she slowly rubbed her back as she looked at her cousin in both shock and confusion. It was so sudden and they didn't know what to do.
"He left... he left- me..." (Y/N) struggled to say. She held onto her friend tighter and shook so much.
"He?" B asked before she soon realized. Tyr seemed to understand too as they both glanced back toward camp to look for the blond demon. But he was nowhere in sight...
"Oh no..." B whispered as she went to comfort her friend.
"I'll go ask around. See if anybody saw him." Tyr spoke as he turned toward camp to get some information.
Several blocks away, deeper into the large and quiet city, a single bird landed on the edge of a roof and picked at a few twigs from the overgrowth with its beak to use them for a nest.
As it grabbed a stick, it heard footsteps approaching and quickly flew off into the sky as a demon walked past them.
Red eyes glared down into the ground, a hand gripped the sleeve of a bag tightly, and a black tail trailed lifelessly behind its owner.
He did it. He left. Just he always does.
This is just who he was. He was meant to be a loner. He wasn't meant to be around others. Especially someone like...
Her.
Yama could feel his teeth clenched together and his eyes never once not furrowing at the ground as he tried to ignore the pain in his chest.
Just like how he tried to ignore the pain he felt when he saw his lifeless brother all those years ago. Seeing what this corrupt world led his twin to and not wanting to be there to see where it will take his first love.
He doesn't deserve her after leaving her like this. She'll find someone better. Someone who wasn't him.
Yama began to sense something and soon stopped walking.
He expected to run into another demon but not this soon. The doctor let out an annoyed grunt as he turned around and met the gray eyes of the tall and toxic demon who grinned widely at him.
Yama narrowed his eyes at him as Xed's only seemed to get wider.
"What do you want?" The doctor growled.
Xed pulled his hands up as he clasped them together. "You know what I want. Or rather, who I want~"
"She's being protected by 12 and soon she'll be protected by more. Just give it up already." Yama growled as he watched Xed start to slowly approach him.
"I can't do that." Xed spoke. "Mother needs her. My sweet's purpose is to fulfill Zankoku's will. I don't have to say why she's special."
Yama heard the name the demon used for (Y/N). A wave of protection but also anger came over him as he started to approach Xed too. "And what if I just killed you right now? Do this whole world a favor and just get rid of you."
Xed's grin grew wider. "Oh, there's no need for any violence, doctor! There won't be any killing today even though I would love to watch you bleed."
"Then what do you want?" Yama said each word slowly as he stood directly in front of the Elitist. Xed soon started to feel a blade pressing slightly into the back of his neck and knew the doctor must've slipped a knife out at some point.
"What I want is to make Mother happy." Xed answered but there was a hint of resistance against that statement. He moved closer to Yama as his wide eyes looked down into Yama's narrowed ones. "But what I want most of all is my little monster back home where she belongs."
Xed's voice lowered to almost a whisper. "With me."
"And you think she's going to let you do that?" Yama hissed. "After what you did to her and her family?"
"We've all had our trauma, doctor. That's just how the world is." Xed spoke as he started to lean away from the knife but Yama held his ground.
"Like I said. I want to kill you. You have been getting too uncomfortably close to my sweet and to be frank, I would've never broken her poor little heart the way you did. I would make her the happiest demon alive." Xed chuckled as he paced. "She wouldn't have to worry about me leaving her. She already has me so deep in the palm of her hands that even the mere sight of her makes me want to fall all over again! You, my friend, are stupid."
Yama growled as he started marching up to the Elitist but Xed held up a gloved hand to halt him. "AH AH AH! I said no violence will be occurring! Will have plenty of time for that later."
"I'm done listening to you talk." Yama hissed. His hand waved around and controlled his knife to swing into the air. But Xed turned away with a chuckle as Yama felt a splash of something hit his leg before an intense pain soon struck his limb.
He lost focus on the knife and it dropped to the ground just before it could slice into Xed. Yama looked down at his rapidly spreading infected leg as another Elitist scurried away from his peripheral vision with a jar filled with a black liquid in their hand.
"I could just let my blood slowly overtake your entire body and leave you to experience a very slow and very agonizing death. But you may be more of use than that." Xed hummed as he circled Yama. "Maybe you'll be my way of getting my sweet precious (Y/N) back home. Or maybe, and just maybe..."
Yama let out a pained grunt as his leg felt like it was burning and growing worse with each throb. The blood sizzled through his pants and from where his skin was visible was slowly turning into sickly shades of green and yellow. He was forced to drop to the ground as the pain made it hard to keep standing.
Xed bent down to be eye leveled with the doctor as Yama's red eyes glared up into his with such intensity that it made the Elitist smile. "Maybe you'll be my way of bringing them all to us. You have a lot of friends on that side, don't you doctor? Surely they'll want to come and save you?"
Then Xed's smile started to drop as a more serious and deeper tone came over his voice. His hands grabbed onto Yama's shoulder and gripped tightly. "Especially her."
Before Yama could say anything, before he could spit out a 'go fuck yourself', Xed quickly raised and sent his chain-wrapped fist flying against the doctor's head.
Knocking him out completely.