Petals in the Wind (Demon Slayer x Male Reader)

Chapter Four

CONTENT WARNING: MINOR DESCRIPTIONS OF GORE, JUST RECAPPING WHAT HAPPENED LAST CHAPTER.

Hours passed, with Y/N just stuck in the same place, left with his own grief. He was safe, sure, but what was the point? His parents were dead, his brother was missing... the true gravity of the situation hit him like a truck.

"Where... where am I meant to go? What am I meant to do now?" He thought.

All Y/N had with him was his sketchbook and his sword. His sword before felt like security to him. A way to protect himself from everything that could possibly throw itself at him. But now, after seeing his father, his neck ruptured and his sword lying on the ground uselessly, was it really all that effective at all? Maybe that man, Gyomei, was right to pick an unorthodox weapon like that mace and axe, if a sword could be defeated so easily.

But then there were the creatures themselves. Y/N hadn't the foggiest idea what they were. Sharp fangs, long claws... they looked almost like mutant humans. Yet not human at all. They couldn't be, not with the way that they massacred everyone, and ate their corpses.

His mind flashed back to disturbing images from the attack. People screaming as they had their throats ripped out by fangs, guts spilled out onto the floor, and his father. Neck crushed.

The moment replayed itself in Y/N's mind. The crunch of bone being vapourised by the creature's grip. The spurting of blood from the collapsed jugular veins. It was a moment that would never fade away. It made Y/N want to throw up right there.

And there was his mother, her state unknown. Y/N thought she was definitely dead. But how mangled her corpse would be... the thought of it haunted him.

And Satoshi. Is he dead? Or was he able to escape like he was? Would he ever even see him again?

Y/N didn't move from his spot on the forest floor. It was all just too much for his brain to handle. All he could do was keep thinking about what had happened in the village, and his family. Still, Y/N didn't know what to do. He had no money; how would he survive? By foraging and hunting? It was possible, but he'd still have no place to go, or live. He needed... somewhere.

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As the sun's rays glanced upon the forest floor, seeping between tree branches. Y/N made a decision. He needed to just drag himself along. His mother told him to keep living, living a life for her and his father. The situation was bleak, and Y/N wanted nothing more than for it all just to end, but he wanted to keep going.

For the lives of his parents, which had been cut too short.

He pulled himself onto his feet, legs still aching from running so far into the forest for his life. He began to walk forwards, into the unknown that he was so unsure of doing a few hours before.

Y/N decided that he would first try and find a village. Just some sort of civilisation would show him that he isn't alone - that other people still at least were there. In the village, he would try and get some money. How? He had no idea. He thought about asking for work, but the rate would be way too low for what he wanted to do. The only possible way he saw... was stealing. It would be terrible, sure, but... he needed it. To rebuild his life.