Page 186 of A Soul to Touch

Thrown off since she was unbalanced, standing on a living, thrashing creature by nothing more than her feet, she felt the impact to her entire side. Her elbow crushed her ribs, and she choked out a cry.

The growl above her forced her to look up. Her eyes widened when a set of big clawed hands were moments from coming down upon her.Shit!

She quickly rolled and narrowly missed being impaled.

Faunus leapt forward, only to be yanked back by the rope collared around his neck. His legs shot forward as they came out from under him while a choke was rendered out of him at the same time. He tried multiple times and let out a grunt every time he was pulled.

Like a restless wild animal, he paced at the very end of the line, his head turning to her often to growl and snarl.

He was trapped by both the enchanted rope and whip she had, keeping him there. But for how long? She’d seen Faunus lift a tree. She didn’t know if three rooted deeply into the ground would be enough to hold him back forever.

On her arse and leaning back on the palms of her hands, she stared at him huffing.

What’s wrong with him? Why are his orbs missing?Only the physical part of him seemed to have returned, his mind absent.

She couldn’t believe she’d almost died because he’d attacked her. Had she been any other human, she couldn’t have made it past the first leap.

A clacking sound in the distance had her head snapping to the side.

A Demon was nearby.

Both she and Faunus were in the sun, but night was only hours away.

I can’t leave him like this.Not trapped with his fangs clamped shut. He’d be a sitting duck!

He’s... he’s gotta be in there somewhere... right?Her lips pressed into a tight line.Maybe I just need to wait another day?

If that were the case, then she would spend the whole night protecting this shell of Faunus. Her mind was scattered, shoving thoughts and ideas at her until she gave herself a splitting headache. She wasn’t thinking clearly, hadn’t been since he’d been obliterated into dust.

All she knew was that she needed to prepare the area as much as she could to keep him safe.

Backing away from him, keeping her eyes firmly on him in case looking away for too long could mean he’d disappear, she went up the side of her house. She finally took her gaze off of him so she could enter the shallow shed.

Hunting traps were piled into one corner, and she dragged three out at a time by their chains. She took them to where he was tied and began setting them up out of range of him – she didn’t want him hurting himself.

The clamps she used had a corkscrew pin at the top, and they helped her to set the springs in place by herself. Faunus growled whenever she got too close and tried to swipe at her, but she ignored him – especially since one small mistake could see her own arm being crushed.

Once she set down all seven traps, she assessed them from far away. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

Other than removing the whip from around his snout and laying on her roof with her bow and arrows, there was little else she could do. Nothing that wouldn’t possibly cost Mayumi her own life, of course.

I don’t know why I’m so worried. He can fight for himself.

She would just be around to make sure he damn well saw the sun rise... or rather felt it since he lacked his orbs.

The emotional whiplash she was experiencing, had been experiencing for days, for weeks even, was beginning to take atoll on her. Eventually, this horrible up and down slide would end, but she worried about what would be left of her afterwards.

I don’t think my heart can take much more of this.

Curled in a ball in his monstrous form, Faunus lifted his head the following day when he heard Mayumi’s approaching footsteps. From what she figured, he’d most likely been sleeping.

It was impossible to tell with his lack of eyes.

It was way past noon, and she stood before him, waiting as she had done the day before.

She’d learnt that being a distance away from him tended to leave him calm but alert. He was sensing her, whether that was by scent or sound, but it was nearness that made him frantic.

He didn’t trust her, didn’t know her, didn’t remember her.

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