Demon Parade
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Image Prompt:
Image provided by another.
Image provided by another.
Art by nkim-illustrates on Tumblr; please give the artist some love
Chatter filled the streets as bodies ebbed and flowed from establishment to establishment, the majority of the crowd joyous and content. Oh, there were those who were not - he could spot them as easily as someone wearing an outlandish color in a sea of gray - but they were few and far between, isolated individuals compared to the masses, be they truly isolated or not.
“Lively night.” The voice was amused as it drifted from the body walking at his side, an echo of his own thoughts. He glanced at his companion, curious. Kelnt was known for having a strange view of the world but where many would whisper about how strange the other’s ideas were, he liked the unique perspective. It kept him on his toes, kept his mind flexible. He received a grin for his glance. “A good night. Don’t you think, Green Bean?”
He chuckled, though it was mostly due to the nickname rather than Kelnt’s words. “This city is always lively. Certainly nothing different than last night, nor the night before, nor the night before that.”
“Ah, but see, that’s where you’d be wrong.” Kelnt wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tugging him close. The well toned body flexed against his arm under the layers of clothing they were both wearing. “Tonight is a good night for much more than the mundane. Can you guess why that is?”
He shifted the arm pinned between them, the holster of Kelnt’s weapon pressing almost painfully into his forearm as he did so. With a final, awkward tug, his arm came free behind them and he gripped at Kelnt’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want me to guess? You seem eager to point out what I am too green to notice.”
Laughter bubbled out of Kelnt high and full, a joyous, almost childlike sound that joined the symphony of the city streets. “You’re learning quick! Good.” Kelnt grinned at him again. “Guess.”
He turned his gaze back to the world around him, trusting his companion to not run him into a stranger or a stationary object. The city looked the same as it always did on their patrols. The patrons of the different establishments were in good spirits, those that were not were barely a drop in the sea of content, and the city thrummed with the content of the crowd in the warm night of early spring. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the warmer temperatures, would it?” he guessed, turning his gaze back to Kelnt.
Kelnt grinned at him. “Possibly.” Without warning, Kelnt jerked him in a different direction. “Quick. This way.”
They cut through the crowd nearly colliding with others twice before Kelnt released him. He stumbled slightly as the alleyway swallowed them. It was more of a side street than an alleyway but no vehicle would make it through. Shops spilled into the narrow stretch between buildings, people walking through it as they would any other street looking for good food or other desired goods. The only difference between this side avenue and the street they had just vacated was the amount of people wandering through. He counted two dozen right off the bat but nearly half of that were the workers of the establishments. Kelnt shot him a grin before starting down the alleyway as if it was familiar ground that had been walked a million times before.
He fell into step beside Kelnt, waiting. He did a lot of waiting with his companion but being patient had served him well in the past with Kelnt and he didn’t expect that this moment would prove past experiences wrong.
Kelnt's hand closed around his wrist, tugging him into the path of the fire escape. There were already folks scattered up the structure so when Kelnt started up the ladder, none of the workers nor pedestrians batted an eye at his companion. He followed suit as soon as there was space on the ladder.
Up they climbed, weaving across and up as they moved from stairs to landing to stairs again. Kelnt cleared the rim of the roof with a fluid arc over a well planted hand against the masonry. He used the ladder instead of trying to emulate his companion. When he made it to the roof, though, Kelnt wasn’t within the immediate vicinity. It took a moment before he caught sight of his companion meandering around the far side of the roof access. He hurried after Kelnt but the moment he dashed around the same corner, an arm caught him across the top of his chest stopping his movement immediately.
Kelnt grinned at him, pressing a finger to that laugh filled grin with a wink. Kelnt removed the arm across his chest before grabbing at his wrist and leading the way. His companion’s movement was fluid, quiet, in a way that he had learned to imitate any time he saw it. This way and that they moved across the roof until they were on the next building, and the next. Soon they were streets away from where they had been at and he was starting to worry they were straying too far.
“Here,” Kelnt whispered, gesturing ahead. “Sit with your back against the wall.”
He ducked around Kelnt without glancing at his companion, settling against the wall about where Kelnt had gestured. Kelnt joined him, settling bodily against his side in the process. “Definitely was cutting it close. You should be able to see the first one…now.”
Movement drew his gaze towards the rooftops before them. For a moment, he didn’t understand what he was seeing until one stepped onto the roof directly before them.
The rooftops were dark but the streets below glowed bright enough to cast light on the figures he and Kelnt were watching move across the rooftops. The figures themselves seemed to not have arms as the fabric that draped from perceptible shoulders hid much even as it drifted in the air. Wide brim hats with squared crowns were underlit by the streets below which did nothing to bring more details to the figures’ faces. It wasn’t until a second one passed close enough that he suspected that was partly due to masks. The figures were lightly stepping but their strides were so wide, it was like they were lightly leaping from point to point without effort.
Kelnt tapped his knee before discreetly pointing. He followed the gesture with his eyes and found his gaze landing on a figure that was different from the others. For one, the top article of clothing the figure was wearing was longer than the others and tailed. Additionally, there was something on the figure’s back. No, not something.
“Is that a cat?” he asked in the softest whisper he could manage, hand coming up as if it would help keep the sound between the two of them.
“Possibly,” Kelnt responded equally quiet. He could hear the grin in his companion’s words. “That is the Grand Marshall. Well, not the possibly-cat, but the person the possibly-cat is on the back of.”
“Grand Marshall?” he parroted. “Like, for a parade?”
Kelnt leaned forward allowing him to see the grin at the edge of his vision. “Exactly. What you are glimpsing is the Demon Parade. Something that normals don’t get to see.”
He frowned, finally turning his gaze away from the Grand Marshall lightly leaping across the main street with the rest of the figures. “Kelnt.” He gained a sidelong glance that held an expectation that worried him. “What do you mean by ‘normals’?”
Kelnt smiled but it wasn’t the same as previous grins before. This one seemed far more human - far more genuine - than anything he had seen in a long time. “Care to guess?”
“Lively night.” The voice was amused as it drifted from the body walking at his side, an echo of his own thoughts. He glanced at his companion, curious. Kelnt was known for having a strange view of the world but where many would whisper about how strange the other’s ideas were, he liked the unique perspective. It kept him on his toes, kept his mind flexible. He received a grin for his glance. “A good night. Don’t you think, Green Bean?”
He chuckled, though it was mostly due to the nickname rather than Kelnt’s words. “This city is always lively. Certainly nothing different than last night, nor the night before, nor the night before that.”
“Ah, but see, that’s where you’d be wrong.” Kelnt wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tugging him close. The well toned body flexed against his arm under the layers of clothing they were both wearing. “Tonight is a good night for much more than the mundane. Can you guess why that is?”
He shifted the arm pinned between them, the holster of Kelnt’s weapon pressing almost painfully into his forearm as he did so. With a final, awkward tug, his arm came free behind them and he gripped at Kelnt’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want me to guess? You seem eager to point out what I am too green to notice.”
Laughter bubbled out of Kelnt high and full, a joyous, almost childlike sound that joined the symphony of the city streets. “You’re learning quick! Good.” Kelnt grinned at him again. “Guess.”
He turned his gaze back to the world around him, trusting his companion to not run him into a stranger or a stationary object. The city looked the same as it always did on their patrols. The patrons of the different establishments were in good spirits, those that were not were barely a drop in the sea of content, and the city thrummed with the content of the crowd in the warm night of early spring. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the warmer temperatures, would it?” he guessed, turning his gaze back to Kelnt.
Kelnt grinned at him. “Possibly.” Without warning, Kelnt jerked him in a different direction. “Quick. This way.”
They cut through the crowd nearly colliding with others twice before Kelnt released him. He stumbled slightly as the alleyway swallowed them. It was more of a side street than an alleyway but no vehicle would make it through. Shops spilled into the narrow stretch between buildings, people walking through it as they would any other street looking for good food or other desired goods. The only difference between this side avenue and the street they had just vacated was the amount of people wandering through. He counted two dozen right off the bat but nearly half of that were the workers of the establishments. Kelnt shot him a grin before starting down the alleyway as if it was familiar ground that had been walked a million times before.
He fell into step beside Kelnt, waiting. He did a lot of waiting with his companion but being patient had served him well in the past with Kelnt and he didn’t expect that this moment would prove past experiences wrong.
Kelnt's hand closed around his wrist, tugging him into the path of the fire escape. There were already folks scattered up the structure so when Kelnt started up the ladder, none of the workers nor pedestrians batted an eye at his companion. He followed suit as soon as there was space on the ladder.
Up they climbed, weaving across and up as they moved from stairs to landing to stairs again. Kelnt cleared the rim of the roof with a fluid arc over a well planted hand against the masonry. He used the ladder instead of trying to emulate his companion. When he made it to the roof, though, Kelnt wasn’t within the immediate vicinity. It took a moment before he caught sight of his companion meandering around the far side of the roof access. He hurried after Kelnt but the moment he dashed around the same corner, an arm caught him across the top of his chest stopping his movement immediately.
Kelnt grinned at him, pressing a finger to that laugh filled grin with a wink. Kelnt removed the arm across his chest before grabbing at his wrist and leading the way. His companion’s movement was fluid, quiet, in a way that he had learned to imitate any time he saw it. This way and that they moved across the roof until they were on the next building, and the next. Soon they were streets away from where they had been at and he was starting to worry they were straying too far.
“Here,” Kelnt whispered, gesturing ahead. “Sit with your back against the wall.”
He ducked around Kelnt without glancing at his companion, settling against the wall about where Kelnt had gestured. Kelnt joined him, settling bodily against his side in the process. “Definitely was cutting it close. You should be able to see the first one…now.”
Movement drew his gaze towards the rooftops before them. For a moment, he didn’t understand what he was seeing until one stepped onto the roof directly before them.
The rooftops were dark but the streets below glowed bright enough to cast light on the figures he and Kelnt were watching move across the rooftops. The figures themselves seemed to not have arms as the fabric that draped from perceptible shoulders hid much even as it drifted in the air. Wide brim hats with squared crowns were underlit by the streets below which did nothing to bring more details to the figures’ faces. It wasn’t until a second one passed close enough that he suspected that was partly due to masks. The figures were lightly stepping but their strides were so wide, it was like they were lightly leaping from point to point without effort.
Kelnt tapped his knee before discreetly pointing. He followed the gesture with his eyes and found his gaze landing on a figure that was different from the others. For one, the top article of clothing the figure was wearing was longer than the others and tailed. Additionally, there was something on the figure’s back. No, not something.
“Is that a cat?” he asked in the softest whisper he could manage, hand coming up as if it would help keep the sound between the two of them.
“Possibly,” Kelnt responded equally quiet. He could hear the grin in his companion’s words. “That is the Grand Marshall. Well, not the possibly-cat, but the person the possibly-cat is on the back of.”
“Grand Marshall?” he parroted. “Like, for a parade?”
Kelnt leaned forward allowing him to see the grin at the edge of his vision. “Exactly. What you are glimpsing is the Demon Parade. Something that normals don’t get to see.”
He frowned, finally turning his gaze away from the Grand Marshall lightly leaping across the main street with the rest of the figures. “Kelnt.” He gained a sidelong glance that held an expectation that worried him. “What do you mean by ‘normals’?”
Kelnt smiled but it wasn’t the same as previous grins before. This one seemed far more human - far more genuine - than anything he had seen in a long time. “Care to guess?”