remember that build a bear fic game a while back? It’s a DabiTensei fantasy au! Surprise! have some food.
There was a certain atmosphere that surrounded Dabi. When he walked in crowds he was a dark smudge that eyes had no choice but to look away from. Dark wisps that could be smoke, or parts of his own body clung to him in long trails that one would do best to avoid stepping on. Stepping on a dark spirit’s clothes was a sure way to end up cursed.
If anyone cared to notice, they would find that Dabi was strange, even for a dark spirit. He was held together by splinters of magic that did not belong to him and the face he wore was unchanging. His steps touched the ground with a weight he shouldn’t have.
When one looked at Dabi, what they expected was not a curse, for it was Death that hung around him. It was a marvelous repellant for mortals.
At least that was how it used to be. Death had long since left him, by his own doing.
Distantly, Dabi remembered meeting a young blonde girl, covered in too much blood to be her own and greeted Death like a friend. She had been an interesting, if a bit peculiar, companion while she lasted. She made him say sentences he didn’t think he would have to say, let alone repeat.
"Did you really have to murder that guy?"
"He has 10 knives in him and at least four IN his lungs."
He always thought she was just a bit too strange to be human. To be entirely honest, Dabi didn’t know much about humans in general, especially not at the time. Yet, almost in defiance of his suspicions, whatever she was, her lifespan was the same as any human.
He had been different back then. Less put together.
But that was nearly a century ago.
It made sense then, that Dabi did not mingle with the common human. He did not desire their attention and they despised his, yet he did not make way for them when he passed through their villages and did not accommodate their fears. Their lingering fear brought him both annoyance and satisfaction. It was predictable and routine.
What was not routine was the suit of armor rushing directly towards him.
Startled, Dabi watched the armor run towards him with inhuman speed. By the time he lurched at the realization that the armor was not stopping and was definitely aiming only for him, the runner was nearly on top of him.
Eyes wide, he leapt to the side to avoid being plowed into the ground. The creature, for there was no way it could be human, in armor skidded to a stop in the exact space Dabi had stood (minding his own business!), kicking up a large cloud of dust. That alone was a testament to the creature's speed.
At least, he thought, it doesn’t have a sword.