"When did you get so sloppy, Nakdong?" The Doctor laughed to himself, unbothered by the enraged winds that set his hair into a frenzy.
"He died. I felt it. I am not sloppy."
"Oh? Interesting, if so. But I do still question your competence!" The Doctor said, then glanced towards the man who was curled up by his feet.
He was deathly still, with a heartbeat that shuddered and grew faint, then suddenly surged, only to sputter again. The doctor could feel the vibration of it though his cane, with which he prodded the dying man's side.
"There is something wrong with this one." Nakdong spoke first, kicking the body with its foot.
"Hm, wrong indeed." The Doctor mused, then knelt to peer at the strange creature.
"You know something I do not."
"Perhaps." He reached out, placing a gloved hand over the blood stained shirt. It was still fresh, he could smell as much, but the wound he found underneath was already threading together, flesh throbbing and shifting under his fingertips.
"Doctor. You will not meddle with nor disturb my hunting, that was our deal."
"Nor will I report your activities to the bureau." The Doctor added, but his attention was elsewhere. It wasn't often that he witnessed self healing of this degree, not because it was impossible, but because the cost was unsustainable. A normal body would break down and digest itself to account for the energy lost, and muscle decay would set in only minutes into the process.
Unless forced, a human body would not naturally attempt such a thing. The fact that this one did was a miracle masquerading as a curse.
"Doctor. You benefit from this, my hunting."
The Doctor felt his irritation flare at the interruption but put on a cordial smile and answered the vengeful spirit.
"Well yes, I do not like to hunt. It's the price of my protection, one you haven't paid in quite a while might I add? Or is it that you finally wish to face the bureau yourself? I can organize a meeting with a director—"
"No. You can't threaten me like this. You only live because of me. How many years have I met your demands-"
"Words are cheap, Nakdong. Don't overestimate your importance." He frowned, the snake of his cane hissing in warning.
"…."
He was glad for the silence, but it didn't last long.
"You want souls? Then eat that one." Nakdong pointed to the specimen that the Doctor had begun administering CPR to.
"I…do not eat like you, Nakdong."
"But you do. So eat that one, if I can't kill it then it's useless to me."
"…I could. But then it becomes something I acquired, not something you gave to me. In that case, there would be nothing stopping the bureau from hearing of a certain evil spirit, who drowned innocent civilians for half a century."
"I am older than that. And innocents are few."
"Hm, I know that. They don't care to police anything older than their founding date, it would be an impossible task."
"So then you won't report—"
"You have received warning after warning, but continue to prey on the weak willed. The guilty party are not weak, Nakdong."
Nakdong fell silent, and the Doctor said nothing more. He had better things to do than talk to a mindless curse, one of which was studying the strange phenomenon that occurred under his hands.
His eyebrows furrowed with focus as he felt a heartbeat thrum through his palm and up his arm, a strong, sporadic thing, which was followed by something weaker. Beat by beat, it became clear that two hearts fought for dominance, weakening each other and the body in the process. For the thoracic cavity to hold these two hearts, a crude operation had likely taken place. He could tell as much from the jagged scarring.
"Why…are you saving it?" Nakdong spoke after a long pause. It was the confusion of a predator, who saw this as nothing but wasting food.
"He could be useful."
"Useful for what? A lab rat?"
"Your opinion of me really is low!"
"It is not an opinion, it is a fact."
The Doctor simply sighed, giving up on the conversation and focusing on the patient. Bit by bit, the heartbeat steadied, even if it drained quite a bit from himself to get the man to that point.
Finally, there was an unassisted inhale, however weak.
"There we go!" He leaned down, listening for the ragged inhales, then leaning back when the exhales brushed against his cheek. "See? You just had to let me help! Simple, right?"
The response he received was a string of sporadic coughs that splattered warm blood on his cheek. He wiped it off with the back of his hand, watching the tainted blood thicken with a grudge that a human of that age could not hold, nor handle.
"Hm..? Interesting, but very confusing."
"Ghk..? Ha..?" The drowned voice rasped out, just before a clawed hand grabbed the Doctor's shirt.
"Hm? Oh, do you want to thank me—" He was not at all prepared to be yanked down suddenly.
"...What in the hells did you do??" Hajun grit out the words, his face scrunching up as he squinted at the black haired man that hovered over him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make out a face, every feature shifting like fog over water.
There was only a mask, intricately carved from black metal like strokes of ink. It sat where the man's eyes would have been. Except the mask had six eyes, none of which were open.
"I…saved you?" The masked man frowned, trying to pull away.
"Why..?" Hajun pulled the strange figure back down, his claws digging into the black cloth of a turtleneck shirt. He realized that the mask resembled a spider, but that was all he could deduce.
Why couldn't he see a face? Why was there a mask? Why a spider? Who was this crazy bastard? Why did they help him? Where were the bounty hunters? Where was the dog? Were they still here? Was this guy with them??
He had answers to none of those questions, and all he felt was fear and building panic. He couldn't think at all.
"Because I'm a…doctor." The masked man replied, but even his voice was garbled, intelligible, but indistinguishable.
Hajun trusted nothing from that mouth.
"Doctor…? Here? Hah! Haha! You're not even a bloody human! Faceless bastard..!"
"Faceless? Oh. This…" The man reached for his mask, gloved fingers tracing the surface. "I do have a face. It seems you cannot see it."
"Whatever you are, just— Why?? Why did you do that?!" Hajun coughed, his lungs ejecting the salt water that had filled it.
"Um…it's what doctors do?"
"I didn't bloody ask you to!?"
"You weren't breathing, I couldn't very well let you die."
"You should have!! The dog— is it still—?! Ah bloody moons you're with them aren't you?? Damn you—!!"
The Doctor bristled as that voice took on a static, almost growling quality. He heard the sickening sound of bones snapping, stretching, and readjusting as a human face became something less so. It wasn't long before the rest of that odd body followed, stretching larger, and destroying every bone in the process.
It was a creature in the midst of forming, the lower half human, and the upper a silhouette of antlers, fangs, and claws. And in the face of its gnashing maw, he felt fear, sudden and overwhelming.
Just shy of tearing into his skin, the maw stopped as if paralyzed.
Two, four, six eyes looked on as that creature turned from threat to prey, a soul's vitality dwindling before his eyes. Like voids, his eyes consumed, filling a hunger that would never quell.
When Shion realized what he was doing, his eyes slammed shut almost desperately.
"Ow." He let out a breath, holding the limp man up by the collar until what remained, although pathetic, was human.
Then he let go.
"You…are afraid?" The winds whispered, after a long while of silence. The Doctor was sure it had been over an hour, because the sun was rising in the sky, casting the moons into a temporary exile.
"Shut your mouth." The Doctor snapped, brushing a hand over his face, then grabbing at the mask there. It calmed him, even a little. Even if he wanted to rip it from his skin and throw it into the sea.
His hand shook, as he watched the sunrise. It was a beautiful sight, he was sure of it; if only he could remember what it looked like.
"I suggest you to not waste my time any further, Nakdong." He finally said, having stood and brushed himself off.
"….Alright." Nakdong murmured, the winds becoming weak until all that remained was a faint breeze.
"I'm ready to go, um…Mister." A little girl spoke, having formed from the winds and thrown out as bait. She lacked the anger that was a constant for Nakdong, so it seemed almost pitiful as she shuffled from side to side.
It seemed she was looking for something, someone. There was disappointment on her face when she eventually stopped.
"Did you…see my mom?" She asked, looking up slowly.
"No." The Doctor frowned.
"She…um, she looks like…she…?" The girl stuttered, then paused, tears welling up when he realized that she couldn't remember. Fragments of souls this small couldn't be called conscious, so it was natural that she didn't.
"M-my mom…mommy she..! She's waiting for me…! I lost her and—"
The Doctor looked down his nose at the bawling child, then raised his cane, unlocking the rapier within and raising it from its scabbard.
"I told you not to test my patience."
He went for the kill, as was his plan tonight, administering a precise stab to end Nakdong, or at least a part of it while its guard was down. But his blade didn't meet its goal, finding a staggering mass blocking his way.
He pulled the blade back, the fresh stench of blood pouring from the shoulder it had pierced.
"Hrk— haa…this…it's a kid, you bloody bastard..!" A pained voice chastised him, while the owner stood between him and the imitation of a child long dead.
Then the man he had only just saved fell to the ground, succumbing to a poison meant to immobilize and kill even an incorporeal being like Nakdong. He'd synthesized it for that purpose, and that alone; meaning that the side effects on a human body were untested, and likely deadly.
"…You're joking." The Doctor stared at the crumpled body, which bled profusely both internally and externally.
"Why did you have to get in the way? What a waste of my time." He groaned, sheathing his rapier with a twist of his wrist.
He then turned his attention to the little girl who shook, terrified and clutching at the dying man's shirt.
"B-big brother…! H-help me…! I'm scared! Don't— don't die…!"
"That's not your brother." The Doctor corrected her, then frowned when she continued to repeat the same wrong words.
He decided to ignore her then, kneeling to hoist the bothersome man up and over his shoulder. He grunted, stood, then walked away from the cliffside, and the girl who rejoined the flock at the bottom of the sea.
He could hear the winds celebrate their luck, but he didn't say anything, nor did he look back.