avoiided

Clasping his hands behind his back, the monster gazed upwards at Aku, seeming more amused than afraid of this encounter.

“I merely claimed her soul as my own,” he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I took her soul from her, covered it with my own essence, and gave it back. It’s useful for when I want to find her, excellent for when I need to study her soul, and a wonderful tool for reminding her who’s in charge.”

“BLARGH!” Aku grimaced in disgust. His rage was quickly beginning to reflect the rapidly flickering flames above his eyes. He rose then to the full extent of his towering height.

“There is nothing more to study! REMOVE your accursed mark or you shall face the WRATH OF AKU!” 

deep-black-dreaming

“Just about,” she spoke up showing what she had so far. Fingers cacked in dark charcoal dust. Placing the pad back down she wiped her fingers on her, thankfully black, skirt. “Not much longer, you’re very unique, I want to be sure I can properly depict it.”

Casper couldn’t really understand why she had started drawing the creatures and monsters she’d been meeting, however she felt it was better then fearing them entirely. A few more added details and she showed Aku the drawing.

The demon leaned closer to inspect the finished product, his movements accompanied by the ominous sounds of creaking timber. He stared at the drawing and checked to see if all the components were there: great flaming eyebrows? Check. Beard, sharp claws, six horns? Triple check. Bonus points for impeccable posture that did not reflect his current slouch. 

“Mmmmmh…” he mused. “Acceptable.” 

But he did not lean back in his seat just yet and continued to eye the sketchbook with mild curiosity. “What else is in there?”

cherrycreamfairy1997

The girl took a deep breath, “Okay…. the reason why I came here was because…. I really, really, REALLY wanted to meet you…. ” She stopped before continuing, “because….. I think you’re really cool… and the reason why I was hiding was because I was nervous…”

“…”

“Ohhhhhh, I see.” 

“Heh heh heh, yes. That makes sense. I am very impressive.” 

And hopefully the term ‘cool’ was still slang for something ‘good’. Aku’s claws loosened around the human and he set her down to live another day.

“Though I might argue I am quite the opposite of ‘cool’.” 


deep-black-dreaming

“No. No posing. You’re fine as is. I don’t mind if you watch as I go.” she got her charcol out and started to draw on a clean page. Occasionally she would glance back up for smaller details but otherwise she had a basic sketch down pretty quickly.

She didnt use any color but rather shaded and accented details. Pretty soon the image came together of Aku sitting in his throne straight and regal in his body language. Casper added a few details to the throne itself, the flame patterns were made a little more dull comapired to Aku himself.

Aku looked anything but regal as he sat slouched on his throne while his portrait was drawn. Now and then he sipped the black tea until his cup was empty again. He would have dozed off if not for the tea and the soft strokes of her pencil.

Finally, his jaws parted in a great yawn and his long tongue stretched outward and downward like that of a lion. When he was finished, the tip of his tongue blepped out just slightly, unnoticed. He blinked his eyes a few times, then looked toward the portrait. 

“…Is it finished yet?”

@avoiided — continued 

The lights in Gaster’s eyesockets flickered as he observed the way the flames above the creature’s eyesockets flared angrily. He made no comment on them, but his smile grew just a bit wider.

image

“Oh, don’t you worry. I use plenty of humans as test subjects. She’s no different from the rest of them. Your personal assistant came searching for me, and just happened to be in the right place at the right time.” Another low chuckle came from the monster, unrepentant in what he’d done. “You should be thanking me, really. I could have had her killed at any moment, but I’ve allowed her to live this long. Truly an act of kindness on my part.”

One thing was certain, he could always count on Azura to go wading neck-deep into danger. It was a terrible habit of hers and Gaster was right that she was lucky to be alive. Aku’s eyes rolled briefly skyward as he considered those words, unable to find fault in them. 

But after a low rumble of dismay, he pinned Gaster under his gaze once more.

“Tell me about this ‘soul’ business,” he demanded coldly. “What have you done to her?”

cherrycreamfairy1997

The girl gave him a confused look “Wait what? No! I just got here! I don’t even like pranks! Besides, are you sure it isn’t one of your henchmen pulling that stunt on you?” she said with arms folded and looking annoyed. Well, at least she wasn’t scared anymore.

“My guards and minions know better than to invoke the Wrath of Aku upon them.” And those who didn’t know better no longer had heads. Aku looked the human over, still highly suspicious. 

“So then why were you hiding from me?” he asked.

“Do you fear the Mighty Aku?”

deep-black-dreaming

“What? No. I honestly don’t mind what goes on in other worlds, it’s too much effort to worry about them all when I have my own situations to deal with at home.” she paused, pondering on that for a long moment.

“I wonder if that makes me evil.” she shrugged. “Ah well…You can bet I won’t lecture you, Master. However, would you be offended if I drew you in my sketchbook?” she held up a damaged sketch pad.

“So long as I do not have to pose and I may view the results when you are through… It will be allowed.”

He continued to sip his tea while looking straight forward.

cherrycreamfairy1997

“OH JEEZ!!” the girl shrieked as she fell backwards. Her eyes widened as she took a glance at him, then she smiled nervously. “Uhhhh….. h-hey dude, h-how’s it going..?” she asked in an uneasy tone.

Aku blinked his bulbous eyes as the human toppled over in fear. She hardly looked the part of a skulking assassin and had no weapons of which to speak. He gathered she was just a harmless prankster.

Harmless or not, Aku snatched her up into his hand as if she were a toy and righted himself on his throne. He brought the girl to his face then and pried into her with his enormous eyes.

“What business do you have lurking around my chambers? Are you the one who placed the whoopee cushion on my throne? I have not forgotten about that.”