Unknown Trust

Staring into his palms Faolan took the time to process more of his final thoughts before deciding that he wanted to approach Ketsueki about the mission. He rose to his feet from the log, and he strides to the other side of the camp to where Ketsueki should be, especially since he's probably out of his turn from the investigation.

'I haven't really seen Utazo after that night now that I think about it,' Faolan had spoken to the majority of the Slayers here when he awoke except for Utazo,

'I suppose it isn't a big deal right now.'

Continuing to stride through the small camp, there wasn't a single person,

'It seems like everyone else is gone,' he thought.

The other Demon Slayer Corps. members have left for further investigation and the search for the Demons. Faolan had no clue how the residents may be feeling from the search, but he believed that since there hasn't been any disappearances since the encounter from nights ago, the people would feel more relieved and less stressed, so he hoped for the best.

Reaching the main planning desk where Faolan first met with the Demon Slayer Corps. members of similar rank and experience to Ketsueki, he had found nobody stationed there, usually Jasumin would be making edits and additions to the map.

'He must be with the investigation,' Faolan sighed a puff of steam.

Faolan finding nobody, he decided to inspect the map of Sattokotta, the village had three main districts, which were labeled as 'Residential District, Industrial District, and Market District,' there are a multitude of points of interests, disappearances locations, and notes of new buildings built overnight.

"So this is what Yukina mentioned to me… she and Kagero had been told about the new infrastructure being built so rapidly," Faolan's eyes quickly captured the pinpointed locations of the buildings.

"These buildings are all made at night based on witness accounts…. these were made from seven to ten….nine to ten…. There is something really out of place happening here. Yukina-san mentioned that the Demon Slayer Corps. members didn't know if these new buildings are government made or demonically made, or both," Faolan couldn't comprehend on how a demon could just make buildings out of nothing, and since he was lived in an isolated village his entire life, he didn't understand the potential powers of the government of Japan to cause such rapid growth. What he did know is what his teacher had taught him, Mr. Nakama had always recited about the Demons during his training, his voice audibly played into his mind right now as he'd say,

'Demons have the ability to change their body structure,'

'I'm sure that Demon Slayers Corps. members know this, which is why they suspect it, but what if it is actually to the point where they can make such buildings.. which would mean,' Faolan's eyes expanded widely, he then began to wander back to the campfire while shutting his eyes to further think.

'Does the government here know about these buildings being made? Are they being tricked? Or do they know about the Demons? Is that why they don't act much about the disappearances? Maybe there are more events happening than we are seeing, this Demon we are hunting… it must know something!' Faolan's shin kicked the log ending his train of speculation.

"The sun is going down now," Faolan raises his palm, snowflakes land and melt away, a great storm is ahead. He wanted to help the people of the village, the suffering these people have endured must be put away. Takeda reunited in his mind, he had told her to run away when he was going to engage the child demon, it also brought him back to the moment when he attacked one of the Child Demons.

"My strike… it was weak, but when I focused on saving Utazo from harm, my strike was fiercer. I need to make sure something like that doesn't happen again." Faolan went into the tent where he rested and retrieved his nichirin blade. Returning back outside of the tent, he inhaled, lunged his left leg forward and his right leg back, his eyes focused on a far away tree, holding that position. The blanket of white on the earth slowly grew as more snow began to rest on his shoulders. His thoughts are all that he had to battle with.

He had to find the evil responsible for the innocent's suffering and extinguish it, without the risk of blowing his cover, in his mind he needed to act carefully and accordingly. Mr. Nakama has told him to grow accustomed to people he could trust, yet he doesn't fully know if he will ever trust some of the Demon Slayer Corps. members, but he had this feeling, that he needed to be patient and maybe it'll just work. His eyes painted an odd picture of what he wanted to achieve with the Demon Slayers, but he couldn't fully make a complete understanding. His form grew unsteady, the pressure of doubt sent him back to the book, and he gasped,

'I will take a leap of faith, Mr. Nakama, Mother….

I will give them a heart to know me,'

And in a sudden instance those particular words clicked into his spirit. It activated a drive within him, he was sure he could find a way, even if he doesn't know how to yet. He started to wonder about the tree he focused on, the tree stood still unknowing of the future, there could be fierce winds, a mountain of hail, or thunder, yet it has enough trust that it will meet its goals. Faolan wanted to do the same for himself.

The sun's orange perfumes through the clouds as the moon rises to paint silver.

"I will give them a heart to know me," Faolan said once more. He finished holding his form, and went into his tent, waiting to see what the Demon Slayers may have found today.

—————

A week has passed…. There has been little to no action from the demons.

Sattokotta faces a harsh blizzard, and the inhabitants are mainly indoors, with the exception of some people needing to go about their daily businesses outside. The wind blows harsh sprinkles of ice that could freeze the souls of its victims, the entire environment is blurred by the white, making it more difficult to spot anything unusual.

The Demon Slayers Corps. Members, along with Faolan were on the search for any signs of the Demons once again in the Market District alongside the Residential District.

"AAAAAGHHHH…. it's so cold I could turn into a whole dang block of ice AGHHHHHH! You guys would've thought these clothes would help us with the cold, right?" Kagero's nose and face were glowing from the icy cold, slowing down his circulation of blood.

"Are you going to keep complaining about everything that happens to you?" Arashi held himself like a formidable wall against the wind.

"Easy for you to say when you are as big as a light pole," Kagero replied with the most subtle truth.

"WHAAAT DID YOU SAY!" Arashi raised his voice so loudly that he paused the sprinkled ice in the wind in front of him.

Utazo remained silent, shaking his head in dissatisfaction. He held his arms crossed into his body for the most warmth he could secure. It was extremely difficult for him to track the vibration of the demons, especially in all this cold.

"Kagero-kun, we are in the highest southern location of Japan where this amount of cold would reach us," Yukina also was unfazed by the cold, her red string gliding through the harsh winds.

"So that may be the reason for all this chill then, sucks," replied Utazo.

Faolan and Ketsueki were towards the end of the group. They, too, were securing their warmth by holding themselves as much as they could with their body.

"Faolan," called Ketsueki.

"Yes?" Faolan replied.

"Have you been getting along with the other Demon Slayers?" Ketsueki glimpsed to his side.

"I believe I'm okay with some of them. Kagero is very lively and full of character, Utazo is someone who seems to be very goal driven, but I haven't spoken to him too much, but Yukina… she's very confident, she seems to have like an omnipresence," Faolan squinted ahead, trying to view her in the sprinkles of ice.

"Watch yourself with some of them, be careful with how much information you spill about yourself, don't get too close to the others near my rank because they may not have the same senses as the others around your 'supposed rank'... but that butterfly—" added Ketsueki.

Faolan nodded with wary eyes, "I understand, but I don't see any issue with them at all… the others, they're not perfect but they work in their own way, it makes them special."

Ketsueki faces Faolan, about to say something, but he stops himself from replying to the statement. A freezing pressure rests on his mind, an isolated cold feeling. Ketsueki lets the feeling go with an invisible breath.

"Faolan, though I have bad news…" Ketsueki announces. Faolan turns to him instantly at his tone.

"Since there hasn't been much happening here, we may be soon called to leave this village and be assigned to another mission." Ketsueki readjusted his scarf, which was slowly getting pulled down from the wind.

"But—" Faolan is cut short from his sentence.

"Yes, I know… but the higher-ups believe that we're needed elsewhere when there's no demon here. They believe the demons could have escaped to another place, and so we have completed our mission." Ketsueki's interjection silences Faolan shortly.

His heart and eyes beat a cry for justice for the people.

"We need to find out what happened with the missing people. The people deserve to know what happened and why these people are being taken," stated Faolan.

"I understand, with what happened in the 'other' village and what's happening here…. the connection is severing, and we can't do too much investigation in government property ," Ketsueki closes his eyes and shifts his gaze from Faolan in disappointment in himself.

Faolan continued on in silence.

'I will not give up on these people, the terror they feel,' Faolan wanted to stay true to his goal in Sattokotta.

————————

The Demon Slayers and Faolan continued paving through the harsh winds until they got to the point of separation between the districts for a spread-out patrol for any signs of the Demons; when they arrived, the winds had died down by a tremendous amount. Arashi and Yukina were assigned to search more densely populated into the market district, Utazo, and Kagero was assigned to the growing industrial district, and Ketsueki and Faolan to search through the Residential district.

"Kagero, we've got to get going now. We've got a job to do." Utazo facepalmed in dissatisfaction with Kagero.

"Yea, hold on, I'm trying to get rid of all of this snow that's somehow got under my cap," Kagero removed his hat to remove piles of snow.

"As said before, if you two find any signs of the Demons, strike it down before it can escape, and that goes for you two too," Arashi raises his chin to Ketsueki, who he had some doubt of getting anything done.

"You don't gotta make that look, ya damn shit, keep in my mind that I'm the one of the members who suggested that these demons through some kind of reflection," Ketsueki loosened up his scarf a bit. Arashi only sighed his anger out because of the truth in the statement.

Jealous of the truth, he blurted out, "Make sure everyone survives then," Arashi turned his head, the others turned to see Ketsueki's reaction who made the same gloomy face. Faolan was confused by the announcement.

'What did he mean by that?' he thought.

"Hedohotto, you shouldn't be saying much when you've provided very little to the table compared to everyone else, as expected for someone who hasn't reached the rank of Hashira," Yukina interjected the silence with an eye-opening comment to a much larger being with a tone that was so high and mighty. Her smile and eyes fiercely overshadowed his large body, and it was powerful. Everyone except Ketsueki reacted with such a stun.

"Right…. that was insensitive, sorry," Arashi lowered his head in defeat, his eyes rumbling in regret of his anger.

"I knew she was scary," whispered Kagero.

Yukina eventually faced Faolan and smiled, "Good luck. I believe that maybe one of us will bring justice to the village!" her tone was serious but excited; Faolan saw something extremely genuine from her.

"Let's go," said Ketsuki.

Leaving the group behind, the two headed into the Residential District to find any signs of the Demons. Ketsueki's eyes carried soft fatigue, and it was difficult for Faolan to correctly approach Ketsueki about what Arashi had said. He thought it would be better to ask him another time. Faolan looked up and saw the moon bright as ever in all this cold, and the thought reminded him of his past. On how he wanted to learn a bit more about Mr. Nakama, his mother would tell Faolan that it was okay to be curious, but he couldn't be insensitive.

Faolan decided that he would ask another time when it was right. Right now, he wanted to focus on bringing justice to the village. Finding out why there were so many buildings being made at the same time. However, that topic is a difficult one to pass since it could risk his cover being blown away.