Vik'tor roared as the giant ant mo ved in for the attack. Taking the flame-spouting puppet body in his hand, he jammed it up, flame end first, into the open gaping mouth of the fire ant
At the moment
El was speechless, which was a horrible thing for a music ninja intending to use his voice to defeat a creature. Having a slight moment of genius he pulled a kunai and struck it on a stone. The metal reverberated a high tone that made El smile. He struck the stone again and poured chakra into the sound, sending it slashing at Victor in a wide blade like arc.
Fire, fire ant and a large chemical reaction were all met by a slash of rippling sound. Before it even reached the beast of a man the arc had caused the wood of the puppet to split more, and then the giant flash of power erupted forward. Splinters flew everywhere, fire ballooned outwards, then became consumed and shrank back. The fire ant... well, there wasn't much hope for it. All this, coupled with the original bigger blast, was enough to make
Oita's towards unsteady. He wobbled, swaying his arms backwards and forwards, and slipped. With the backpack still on him he flew like a brick. In fact he might have crushed himself if the blur of speed hadn't dragged him out of there.
Tsu came out of no where, picking the boy out of mid-air and putting him carefully back onto the floor without much of a scratch. "Well that was a show," she said, brushing her clothes off while looking at Oita's rather dazed face "How about you don't blow us all up next time, puppet boy."
The fire ant shrieked for the short amount of time between fire puppet to the face and the explosion. With the explosion it was swept away like a pile of dust. "We've delayed him for as long as we can."
Hinji said, seeing El wielding the makeshift instrument with confidence, "If you need our help, let us know."
Vik'tor was blown back through the hole in the wall he had came through when the sound wave collided with the ant and the puppet. Getting back to his feet, he shook the rubble from his massive shoulders and growled as the stubborn children continued to advance. He stamped a foot into the ground and with an exerting grunt, kicked a wave of earth at the small grouping of ninja. His eyes were wild with hunger as he stepped forward, stooping to move through the entry-hole he had just seconds ago flew through. "All...Die...G
ive...Prey....." He demanded with a heavily animalistic voice.
Suddenly, there came a loud crash from the other side of the encampment, back from The Northern Gate. A great cloud of smoke and dust billowed up over the tops of the medical tents. Cries and shouts of despair traveled through the wind, wrapping around the tents and finding the young ninjas' ears.
Kano looked up as the ground trembled. He reached over and grabbed Kami's hand. "The North Gate!" He exclaimed, they couldn't see it from their location, but the smoke was certainly coming from the north. He didn't wait for her response, the others had all rushed off to fight at the West Gate, leaving the Northern side completely defenseless. He took off, hauling Kami alongside him by the hand.
"Those idiots!" Kami said, feeling safe at the moment saying such since they had all ran off and left the northern gate unprotected. She followed Kano, already trying to decide how to react to what they found there.
Kano wove through the tents, pulling Kami along with him to The Northern Gate. There wasn't any time left to lose, if this was the guy who fought Tsu sensei, there was bound to be lots of carnage.</hr>
Akane had crouched down and used her arms to shield her face from the shattering puppet debris. Although this man was huge and had just demolished Oita's puppet, Akane really didn't seem to have much reason to worry yet. The three young ninjas seemed to be keeping him at bay for the time being. This was certainly a good thing considering Akane didn't have all that much to offer in terms of fighting. Her two little power naps had helped, but it surely wasn't enough to summon a blizzard of any kind. She kept her ground, waiting if she would even be needed.
El notices Akane shielding her eyes and when the wave of earth reached them, he looped his arm around her middle and whistled, sending them skyward, which wasn't nearly as frightening since he'd had her training. They evaded the tsunami of snow and earth but El had not accounted for the wind and they began to drift off course, El's hat acting like a sail.
Akane let out an audible grunt as El collapsed her stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs as they suddenly thrust upward. Realizing what was going on and where she was....and who was holding onto her, she opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't form. She wanted to ask him about what he did to her earlier, but now surely wasn't the time for it. Seeing the wave of earth crash down where she had been standing made Akane wake up from her daze. "Come on, let's go kick that guy's ass."
"Look, kid," Tsu said, patting Oita on the back in a friendly way "How about... you go look after the north gate, yeah? I think El and Akane have got this one." She gave him a small smile, hoping that he would listen to sense and actually go up there. It sounded as if they would need help.
Oita glared at Tsu, then glared at the hulking beast and the remains of his puppet. Then he snorted and nodded. "Fine," he said gruffly, yelling the words "YOU BETTER KILL THIS THING!" at El as he ran off towards the north gate.
Akane and El landed lightly on the ground just in time for her to note, "Everyone is....leaving." She usually wouldn't be too worried about this when she had a full reserve of chakra to work with. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Not to mention El had lost to this guy before. Though arguably, it was a draw. Akane wasn't going to be much help in this situation and it worried her. She had wanted to learn more about hand to hand combat, but medical training had taken up much of her time instead.
Hinji pulled a card from his hat and, quickly, flicked it into the ground. Suddenly a black convex wall popped up in front of him that caught and diverted the wave from him. He didn't think they would need him on the northern side, so he decided to stay here unless ordered otherwise.
El nodded to Oita, promising to take up where he had failed before. "Go Hinji." He told him. "It is me he wants and if it is their leader at the northern gate then they are going to need your help much more than I. If I need help I have Akane-" Though El knew very well that Akane was in no fit state to help him. "We are more than a match for this thing."
Akane thought it interesting to hear El so confident and determined...he was even bossing a teammate around. Still- her attention was glued on the ferocious ninja before them and she wondered if El had the capacity to back up his words.
Hinji looked at El then at the beast. With a sigh he turned to make his way towards the northern gate. His leg no longer ached and felt normal again, so he was able to make good time.
Vik'tor growled, smiling wide as his prey sent the others away. "Good...Prey..." He licked his lips hungrily and stalked forward, swaying from side to side slightly.
"You won't find me so easy this time." El told Victor. He didn't need his hands now, they were safe and warm. He knew what to expect from Victor and he had the Kunai to make sound for now. A few more metal objects from the surrounding rubble could be useful too and there was always his voice as a backup. As if to reinforce what he was saying he struck the kunai again, harder this time and sent another blade like arc at Victor. He tethered this one to him through the sound waves, using a trick his grandfather had shown his father when he was younger. Like a kite, similar to the way that Oita controlled his puppets, El could direct it back so long as the vibrations traveled through the air.
Akane stayed slightly behind El and out of the range of the vibrations. She had warmed up from the trek over here and took this time to bend over and slip out of her snow pants and jacket. If she was going to be needed in this fight, it was best to be prepared.
Vik'tor dodge the arc of sound and his grin grew even more so. He hadn't been hunting easy prey. If he was, he would have simply stopped at any of the residents of this island. No, he was searching after prey of a high caliber, one like El was proving himself to be. The beastman's stomach growled loudly and he surged forward, stooping low to rake his claws against the surface of the earth.
El tugged on the sound wave and pulled it back like a boomerang, striking into Victor's back as his claws raked the earth.
Like the Candle's fire, El's attack made Vik'tor roar in pain, but it did not stop the beast. The blade of sound slashed into the boiled and seeping flesh of his back, but all it did was enrage him further. His eyes burned with hatred as he stalked towards his prey. The boy was not running as he had last time. "Good...Prey...." He repeated, it was obvious that the creature was enjoying himself, despite the large gaping wound in his back
Akane made a disgusted face. This guy was completely nuts! "You might want to bang on that a LITTLE LOUDER!" she encouraged hastily, not wanting that beast to get any closer than it already was.
El looked at the kunai. It was strong, metal, it made a tone, but it made the same tone, a low vibrating sound. He needed high pitched for proper slashing. He scoured the immediate area with his observant eyes and his eyes fell on gold. Not just any gold, Akane's gold. Without saying anything he took her hand and slipped the gold ring over her hand, twisting it when it became stuck on the meat of her thumb. Viktor was very close now, but a good strike could send him reeling backwards in a bloody mess. He tapped the kunai with the bracelet and smiled at the melodious tinkling sound it made. It didn't matter how loud the sound was, it mattered what sound the materials made.
Seeing El turn his back on their rushing opponent made Akane's heart sink. As Viktor neared, dangerously close, she could see just how animalistic and terrifying he was. No wonder the villagers were so shaken up! She was a bit too distracted to even react as El snatched off her bracelet to care.
Viktor was getting far too close to El's back for comfort and he seemed oblivious to it. With a swift motion, Akane pulled off the big yellow ribbon around her waist. Sending a small splash of chakra into it, she shot it at the rogue ninja. The ribbon smacked his face and immediately wrapped itself around his head, blocking his eyes and mouth. "ANYTIME NOW!" she shouted at El.
El had been waiting for the perfect moment, but this was as good a tine as any. He brought the curve of the bracelet down against the kunai and smiled at the tight high sound the gold made as it rang. Tight and high meant slim and sharp, rather than wide and dull like with the kunai. El could almost see the sound in his mind as it fanned out from the meeting place of the metals and became another arc. Smaller, more... surgical this time it went out from him, guided by chakra and El aimed for the center of Viktor's chest, hoping that Akane's ribbon was enough to distract Viktor from the sound of the attack as it came towards him. He knew that Viktor must have sensitive hearing, but doubted it was anything close to El's.
Vik'tor snarled as the ribbon snapped around his head. He brought his massive hands to his face and grasped at the ribbon. He tossed his head in fury as he tore at the fabric. When he arched his back to scream into the fabric in rage, the sound wave slammed directly into his chest. The force of the blow threw him backwards, landing onto his devastated back. The golden sound wave tore open his chest more so than the blast he took in the back from the kunai's wave. This was more precise, a more delicate strike. When he hit the ground, blood sprayed upwards from his chest and a strangled cry of pain slipped through the thin fabric of the ribbon that surrounded his head. The girl stood between him and his prey, which just moved her to the head of the chopping block.
El hadn't intended to do anything else, but seeing the suscesful hit the sound came out anyway. He didn't think about it so there were no words, there was just a simple note, a jovial C for those who could tell. He may have been a little off though, considering he wasn't overly confident in his vocal skills. His intention had been to gently cause he and Akane to go up into the air and evade again. However, being slightly off perfect of a C, he and Akane skyrocketed to the right. Not upward, just sideways and dangerously fast.
Akane hadn't even had a chance to scream as she was thrown. El had smashed into her and they were now somewhat tangled together through the air. Even more alarming was the fact they were headed directly toward a village wall.
Thankfully, Akane reacted at the last moment and managed to take a deep inhale. Grabbing ahold of El's coat, she exhaled as hard as she could, putting a great deal of chakra into her breath to counter El's voice momentum. It was just enough to assist them in clearing over the stone wall. She slowed their course and landed on a nearby roof.
Releasing El's jacket with a brisk shove, she shouted "What is your problem?! If you don't know how to control your voice, DON'T FUCKING USE IT!" She immediately grabbed her neck from the severe whiplash he had given her. Akane winced and hissed through her teeth, rubbing it gently. Then came the dizzyness as blood finally settling back in her head. What didn't help her situation was that she also had drained her chakra yet again. Akane side stepped and dropped to her knees, trying to get a hold of herself....but her body felt so weak and frail, not to mention nauseous.
"I'm sorry!" El exclaimed. "I didn't expect that to happen. But we should get out of here and back to the other side of the wall before he finds a way to follow." He took Akane's hand and this time whistled, rather than trying another note. They drifted up as they had before, fast, but not nearly as dangerously and El used his sombrero to let them drift on the wind, getting an idea of where Viktor was now.
Now wasn't the time to mention it, but Akane was impressed with how willing El was to leap into the air. It seemed her teaching had helped the mariachi overcome his fear of heights. Without much chakra, Akane wouldn't have a way to slow their decent. She had to rely on El for that and wrapped an arm around the front of his chest, holding onto his shoulder on the other side. Despite the closeness, she was still very upset with him.
Vik'tor got to his feet slowly as the wound in his chest closed up. He growled and felt his chest, making sure the wound was sealed shut before following after his prey and the prey's leggy companion. Pain, pain was good. His back cracked and bled with every move he made, despite his healing ability. Burns took longer to heal, regardless of the manner of healing. He scented the air, seeking his prey's direction. He roared when he caught the scent on the wind, turning in the direction of the wall that the two had sailed over.
El used a short whistle to give them time to think before they landed. It lifted them a bit, sort of like a kite catching the wind and El noticed the wound on the beast man's chest heal on it's own. "Akane..." He said, a hint of worry entering his voice. "What advice would you have while facing an adversary who can heal themselves?"
"He can heal himself?!" Akane asked loudly, finding this news quite alarming. Her eye went forward to Vik'tor as they floated along. "Well..." she trailed off, trying to think of something. "Even someone like that can't hold their breath forever, right?"
Following after them, the beastman continually glanced skyward. He could see them, and he was closing the gap quicker than they should have been anticipating. His growl reverberated off the walls as he stalked after them, eager to kill them both.
El almost didn't hear what Akane had said when he felt the vibration of Victor's voice. He suddenly had an idea, combining both her advice and Victor's voice. The vibrations were dying already so El couldn't use them, but... "Akane... do you think... you could muster some of that famous attitude and direct it at him? I can protect you if you've not enough chakra."
"What? Like, lure him over? Why?" Like hell was Akane going to aggravate him when they didn't have a plan. Even though it seemed El had an idea, she didn't really him lately.
"No, make him mad." El said. "Call him names... pretend he's Kami and has done something you hate."
Although her and Kami had been getting along well as of late, Akane knew what El meant. Rather than picturing her comrade as Viktor, Akane had someone a bit more special in mind and let the rage build up before she shouted, "HEY- YOU OVERGROWN MUSKRAT!" echoed her voice through the village below, "ARE YOU PLAYING IN THE SNOW AGAIN OR ARE YOU JUST TOO SCARED TO LOSE TO US KIDS?!"
Hushing her voice, Akane whispered, "You better have a good reason for this."
Her taunts had little effect on Vik'tor, save providing him with a more accurate idea of their location. He growled and let lose a guttural roar as his eyes fell on them. His muscles rippled and he tore through the snow and debris with increased speed, closing the gap between them in mere seconds.
The sound emanated outward from Vik'tor and El reached out with his chakra and caught it like a leaf on the wind. He infused it with chakra and like an echo sent it vibrating back on Vik'tor with several times the intensity.
Vik'tor groaned as the concussive echo slammed him back several steps. He dug his feet into the earth, despite its frozen state, and shielded his ears until the echo died down. He glared across the small expanse between them and snarled. "Prey...Die..."
"Not today..." El said softly and Akane suddenly felt his chest vibrate under her arm as he took a deep breath. What came from El was a loud, oddly baritone noise that caused his entire body to vibrate. At first it wasn't very strong, but when he heard himself echo back he was filled with confidence and the surge of chakra that came from his hit Vik'tor from all sides, threatening to crush him.
When the sound wave broke through the air, Akane immediately felt her stomach rise up into her throat. Goosebumps shot up legs as she felt a strange enlightenment overcame her entire being. Growing up in the jungle, Akane had listened to a variety of bird songs. The way the males would sing to their lovers in hopes they would return it always seemed to peak her interest....but none of it compared to what she was experiencing now.
Still with her arm across his chest, Akane turned up to the source of the sound and body shaking vibrations. She saw El with his mouth agape and eyes intensely focused on his target. His neck muscles were tensed, allowing El to keep the perfect note he so desired. This surely wasn't the voice of a young, inexperienced boy at the peak of adolescence that Akane had come to know,...but of a true man of the mariachi.
As El held onto the powerful chord, it felt as if time stood still. Akane had been holding her breath and felt even lighter than usual. Her gaze was locked on his profile, unable to tear away. She was staring up at him with a golden, doe eye, completely forgetting that they were in the heat of battle.
Vik'tor howled as the sound waves crushed in on him. His massive bulky muscles groaned beneath the strain of the Mariachi ninja's chakra assault. The ground under his feet cracked dramatically as he pushed against it, holding himself upward against the forces of El. His flesh rippled as his muscles grew again. He swelled before the two of them as he fought the sound attack
El felt Viktor fighting against the force of his voice. He preformed a hand sigh and felt the volume double. He wanted to tell Akane to hold her ears, but he was a bit busy. In order to keep the sound going, he began to breath in through his nose.
Akane couldn't exactly do much but cling onto El as he fought. If they had drifted nearer to a roof, she could drop down and keep out of the way...but the opportunity hadn't rose. All she could do for the moment was hold tight and stay out of the way of El's vocals and hand signs as they hovered in the air.
The crushing weight of the attack was pressing in from all sides, Vik'tor's arms were smashed into his sides and he thrashed about in anger. His breathing became erratic as he thrashed wildly, trying to muscle his way free of the unbearable sound waves
El kept it up, wanting this to be it. He didn't want to outright kill him, because frankly El wasn't sure he had that kind of power in his voice, but he could cause him to pass out long enough, then perhaps they could secure him and figure out how to kill him later. Considering he could regenerate, El didn;t know where to begin when it came to killing him.
"Keep going!" Akane encouraged from beside him, hoping El would hear it through his own blaring voice. Victor really didn't look like he was having a good time. Maybe if the vibrations pressed in long enough at his ribs, the air would be forced out and he wouldn't be able to breathe.
Vik'tor roared as the overwhelming weight was pushed into him. All of the creature's might was preventing him from collapsing beneath the onslaught of such concussive power. The boy, the Prey, was causing this somehow. He was making the noise, the horrible noise that made Vik'tor want to scratch his own eyes out, but he couldn't even raise his arms.
El was fighting to keep it going. He could breath though his nose and supply the sound breath, but he couldn't keep the chakra flowing forever.
There was a sickening pop as Vik'tor succumbed to the pressure of the sound assault. His eyes flooded with red as the blood vessels ruptured. He wanted to fall and grab his head as the pain tore through him. However, the sound waves would not permit him to move much more than an inch
Akane was still holding on. It seemed they were at a standstill. Vik'tor didn't seem to be crumbling and El kept his voice strong....there really wasn't any place for her at the moment.
It was visible how much damage Vik'tor had taken from El's assault. The massive man's shoulders slumped slightly, he hadn't the strength left to stand, blood trickled from his ears and nose. The only thing keeping the man up was the pressure from El's sound waves.
El couldn't keep it up any more. He stopped, breathing heavily as the echo rang back at them from around the village.
"So... I'm not sure if that was suffocation..." Akane began as El caught his breath, "But you seemed to have done a number on him."
El was panting. "A real song... would have... been more... effective." El wiped his forehead with the back of his arm and reached into his coat and poncho to find something to secure Viktor with. He brought out a spool of guitar string, not much would be able to break it.
Vik'tor collapsed forward with a sickening thud. The blood began to pool as soon as his massive head hit the earth. There wouldn't be much resistance from him, should El try to tie him.
"Let's get moving before the thing wakes up." Akane advised as they floated down to the ground near Viktor.
El looped a cord of guitar string back over it's self to make a lasso. Like a goucho from his homeland he began to twirl the lasso to open the loop.
"Let's stay far enough away from this guy... if he really does heal himself, who knows how long he will be out." Akane said.
"Perhaps I should just..." El hesitated. It seemed a bit too easy this time around. He'd not even really put up much of a fight, but he couldn't condone killing him in cold blood... or well... luke warm blood anyway.
"What?" Akane asked, sidestepping around Vik'tor toward her torn ribbon. "Come on! Let's hurry it up here and nab this bad boy so we can catch up with the others." Nearing the best a few steps, she reached down and snatched her torn fabric.
El reached down and looped the wire around Viktor's wrist, intending to tie him up. He deserved to die. He deserved to suffer for every one of the people he had killed, but El's own words were ringing in his ears. He wasn't a killer, he was a musician.
Akane sighed at her torn ribbons. "Guess I just have to get another when I go home." she noted tiredly.
A rumble ran through the beastman's chest as the wire was looped about his wrists. A growl escaped his lips as his fingers slowly moved together. "Re...lease..." Vik'tor barely spoke as his fingers connected into the standard release hand formation. There was a strange sound as though the air was sucked away from the space between the two ninja.
El paused, the moment Viktor had moved he'd frozen. He'd not expected him to move so soon. El stepped back, wondering what Viktor was releasing when fire ran through his shoulder. El cried out, grabbing his shoulder, dropping the precious spool of guitar string. El dropped to his knees, gripping his shoulder. The pain was so intense that he began to claw at his coat. He had to get it off, something inside was digging at him, tearing his shoulder to bits. As the coat came off and the hole in his poncho revealed the flesh beneath, it looked as if there was in fact living fire beneath his skin. Growing and spreading out from the curse mark.
Akane didn't even have time to react to Viktor before El started screaming. She quickly went to his aid, not sure what was wrong with him or what had happened. Then, as El ripped off his clothes, Akane let out an audible gasp and staggered back.
Akane didn't like talking to her enemies, but neither her nor Ishiaki knew how to remove something like this. Her eye shot to Vik'tor and she held out a kunai towards his face, "TAKE IT BACK!" she shouted.
El doubled over onto his knees, trying not to scream out from the pain that felt as if it were ripping him apart.
Akane started breathing more quickly as her panic of the situation grew. She had never seen anything like this before, nor did she know how to deal with it. "El! Hold on, okay?!" Opening her palms, she hovered them above his cursed shoulder. After a gulp, she placed them on his skin and immediately mustered up small spurts of chakra to heal it. Problem was... it wasn't injured. Technically, his shoulder was completely fine, but she had to try and do SOMETHING to help.
A large grin cross Vik'tor face as his laughter rang out as the strangest of sounds in all of nature. The man watched as the mark he had left on El began to take over his prey's body, make it more like him. More of a challenge....
El was shaking, trembling all over. He flinched when he felt Akane come near. "No..." He said "S-save your ch-chakra... I... I think you'll n-need it..." The shoulder beneath Akane's hand began to bulge and swell unnaturally. It made El cry out and he fought the sensation trying to rip him apart with everything he had. The orange and red flame like markings glowing from beneath his skin began to spread out from the wound in his shoulder, stretching across his skin.
Akane pulled her hands away from El's mutating body. "Holy mother of the gods..." she uttered breathlessly. All of her worry and fright started to boil into a fit of rage. Akane kept her knife out and stormed toward Vik'tor. "STOP IT!" she shouted, "I"ll cut your fucking eyes out! And if they grow back, I'll do it again!" she roared.
Vik'tor laughed at her threat and strained at the bounds of the guitar string. Luckily for him, El hadn't gotten a chance to tie the string off. He pulled his massive hands from the weak loop of the string and shot forward, grabbing her by the wrist as he surged to his feet. "Can't stop it..." He told her with his deep and raspy voice that as of yet had been utterly simple in it's choice of words.
El's guitar string was a very strong, very thin metal. If Vik'tor tried hard enough he could seriously hurt Akane with it. "Leave... her... alone..." El groaned, the red marks which now adorned the left side of his neck and face also traced down his arm and hand. They faded from red to black and looked like tattoos trailing across his flesh. He was misshapen still, an odd in between of something he might have turned into. He looked hump backed and grotesque, but he couldn't let Vik'tor hurt Akane.
Akane may be exhausted and drained of most of her chakra, but she still had some pep to her. One of the benefits of these clunky, winter boots was that they had strong toes. A moment after Vik'tor seized her knife, he found himself with crushed testicles with the swiftness of a kickboxer.
El using the half of him that had quadrupled in size took Vik'tor by the wrist as Akane kicked him. Pouring chakra into his voice he shouted "LET GO!" In Vik'tor's face.
Vik'tor's eyes bulged as her foot connected with his tender flesh. A yelp escaped the beastman's lips, along with the last breath of air in his lungs. His hair blew back as El shouted in his face. He turned to look at the boy's enlarged hand on his wrist and growled threateningly. He barred his fangs and lifted his arm up, taking both Akane in his hand and El on his wrist upwards. "No chance...prey."
Akane dropped the kunai blade and it was swiftly caught by her free hand. Gritting her teeth, she jammed it into the thick of Vik'tor's wrist as hard as she could, spurting blood from it's entrance. She could see El's transformation in the corner of her eye but had no time to really get a good look as she attempted to escape.
Vik'tor grinned as the little girl attempted to stop him. The knife hurt, sure, but it wasn't about to stop him. He dug his finger nails into her skin and growled deeply, pulling her close to him. "Feast..." He growled in her face, knowing how much it was bound to enrage his chosen prey, all the better in his mind.
As Vik'tor lifted his arms El scooped up the guitar string with his thin untransformed hand and looped it around the wrist holding Akane's arm. He let go of the arm and using both hands, pulled against the string, the wire would have cut into El's hands had they not already been callused from years of practicing his guitar. Vik'tor's unprotected flesh was vulnerable to El's razor thin wire.
There was a sharp wince as his sharp nails clung into her pale flesh. "You wish!" Akane shouted and met Vik'tor's jaw with a swift knee.
Vik'tor howled in pain as the razor wire tore into the flesh of his arm. That did it, his hand unclenched and he dropped the little girl from his grasp. He pulled his arm to his chest instinctively to protect it before he even realized he was doing it. His beady black eyes shrank as he glared at El. "She will die." He told him simply.
"One of these days yeah." El said and with a swift uppercut that was not very much like him, he added with his chakra laden voice. "BUT NOT TODAY!!"
Akane crashed into the ground and rolled into a crouched position as soon as she could. From here she could see JUST how mutated El had become. His body was completely deformed and bulbous. From this angle, Akane couldn't even see the small mariachi beneath the odd lumps and shapes of muscle.
The punch, combined with the chakra voice blast, sent Vik'tor flying across the expanse and smashed into a wall. It took him a minute to crawl out of the rubble. He didn't bother dusting himself off. He roared in defiance and grabbed a handful of debris, throwing it across the distance between them, aiming for the girl.
El stepped in front of Akane, holding her against him as he turned his disfigured side towards the debris. A few sharp bits stuck in his flesh but it wasn't anything to worry about. What hurt more were the ice bricks bouncing off his grotesquely enlarged muscles. "You have to get out of here Akane..." He told her. "I have a distinct urge to kill you and I don't know how long I can hold back..."
Akane tensed up and closed her eye as the rock shattered against El's shoulder. Thankfully, he still had his soft, singer's voice. She could still hear the young mariachi in him. "I'm not going to leave you like this. We'll fix you up, no problem....we just need to deal with this fucker first. I only have a little chakra left, but we'll manage." There was pause and she pulled back from his arms, "I'm not worried about you hurting me. How can you when you love me so much?"
Vik'tor made horrible retching sounds as he overheard Akane's soft words to El. The beastman stalked forward, "Cannot stop it. No one can." He looked towards Akane, staring through El as though he wasn't even there. "You will die."
El wasn't ignoring Vik'tor, but the world seemed to stand still for a moment after hearing Akane say that. He looked down on her, half of his face horribly disfigured and marked with misshapen black marks, the other side untouched and smooth. "I..." But Vik'tor was too close to deal with this now. She saw him swallow back a lump in his throat and he turned, putting her behind him. "You can't have her." He told Vik'tor .
Akane stayed behind El, but allowed herself to watch Vik'tor between the gap of El's arm and waist. She tried to think of some way to stop this creature once and for all. He had almost passed out earlier... but maybe there was a better way?
"Don't want her...want you." Vik'tor told him with a growl as he closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye. The air rushed in from where the beastman had been standing, blowing forward and around them as a wind as he brought his fist around and slammed it into El's jaw
El had attempted to dodge, but hand to hand combat was never his forte and especially not since he was currently misshapen. He took the blow square and the impact of it lifted him up and threw him back, completely over top Akane.
Akane gasped as she saw El soar over her head from the blow. She didn't have a lot of chakra, so something like that was out of the question for now. Placing her palms together before her chest, Akane took a deep breath before taking off in a jump above Vik'tor. Aside from medical training, she had done quite extensive research on 'chakra points'. She not only knew where they were located, but also the perfect amount of pressure in which to shut them. Akane had never been able to test her findings on a live specimen...but this looked like a better time than ever. As she leapt over Vik'tor, her legs swinging her momentum above her, she jabbed him twice in the left shoulder and twice in the right. In a moment, she was already on his back, making the appropriate stabs with two pointed fingers. She was counting beneath her breath.
Vik'tor hissed as her tiny little fingers seemed to dig deep into his flesh. He tried to raise his arms to bat at the little girl, but found his arms would not move. He whirled around, his arms flopping about his sides as he swung about to face her. He barred his teeth and growled at her. He couldn't raise his arms, how could he choke the life from her scrawny neck?
As he turned to growl at Akane, El came barreling in from behind him, tackling him to the ground. He still had the guitar string and immediately began to try and restrain Vik'tor.
Akane immediately broke her count and leapt back as to not get crushed by the two giant ninjas as they barreled toward her.
Vik'tor thrashed as El attempted to restrain him. His arms may not be functional, but not the rest of him. He growled and pitched to the side, flipping them over. He roared as he sank his teeth into El's other shoulder
El cried out and twisted down hard on the guitar string. He didn't care if he cut Viktor's hands off, just so long as he released El before this overwhelming hunger for human flesh overtook him.
Akane was on them in an instant. Her strong, athletic thighs slapped around Vik'tor's head, preventing him from biting her. What he saw last was the tip of her kunai burying itself deep into his left eye, slicing it completely in half within his skull. His blood and optical fluid squirted out like a grape from the split of her blade.
Vik'tor screamed out in pain as the ninja tool split his eye in half. The beastman's back spasmed as the pain tore through him. His hips bucked and his body convulsed as chakra surged through him. With his arms useless, he had to resort to a jutsu he had barely used previously.
El was trying to hold Vik'tor down, but with only half his body of any use, Vik'tor managed to throw him off and El jumped up, intending to protect Akane.
Akane didn't want to push her luck and leapt away from Vik'tor's head, ripping out the kunai with her. She looked at El's other bitten shoulder with grave concern. He may not know it, but Akane was just as worried about him as he was for her.
The curse mark on Vik'tor's shoulder flared with power, sending crimson flames racing across his flesh. His body thrashed about wildly as the mark transformed him to stage 2 of the Infectious Beast Jutsu. The beastman's body contorted as his spine realigned and lengthened with sickening crunches. Every bone in his body seemed to snap and change as the little girl perched on his face. He tossed his head up and bellowed in sheer pain. He brought his arms up and gripped at his face as his skull too transformed. His forehead sloped backwards as his jaw reshaped, jutting forward until a long, decidedly feline, muzzle formed. His hands twisted and folded in on themselves as he pitched forward, his gruesome transformation coming to an end. Vik'tor the beastman was no more.
Before them crouched a feline the likes of which they have never seen. It bore the massive shaggy mane of a lion, the stripes of a tiger, and also the spots of a jaguar. Great powerful fangs hung from its mouth as it stared at its prey. Its long black talons tore at the ground as it adjusted to its present state. The beast was larger than Vik'tor had been, dwarfing the little girl who had moments ago taken his eye. The cat now looked as though it could swallow her whole.
El watched with sickening horror as Vik'tor mutated into something... something... El tried to find the words but as they were replaced with words like murder, death and kill. Before he could register what was really happening pain gripped his belly and he doubled over, unable to fight the transformation any longer.
Akane was a bit alarmed for more than one reason. Vik'tor had completely transformed into some sort of monster and El... was doubled over, the muscles on the normal part of his body shifting and bubbling into a bulbous mass to match the other. "El!" she went to his side, a bit hesitant to touch him. "Come on.. snap out of it." Though Akane knew how ridiculous that plea sounded. She was more worried about Vik'tor attacking them both while he was down. She wasn't sure she could fend that thing off for too long.
The monstrous predator slowly encircled its prey, pacing around them slowly. His massive talons tearing great gashes through the earth as he stalked around them. A low rumbling gathered in the beast's chest as sit stared at its prey. Toying with their food was something all cats, no matter their size, loved to do.
El's body stretched and bulged, taking on a more equal shape to the parts of him that had already changed. All he could smell was the sweet fruit in Akane's veins. The aroma of her hair and before he realized he had her around the throat.
"E-!!!" was allAkane could get out before her airways were shut tight by El's grasp. Her hands clawed at his wrists, trying to frantically get him off. The shock of El's hand around her neck had caused her to drop her kunai into the snow. Already her face was turning bright red.
He wasn't squeezing, not much any way. He pulled her to him, his face and features distinctly more feline than they had been a moment. his nose had turned black and whid, very catlike. He brought her close, sniffed her scent and an oddly sickening expression reached his eyes.
Akane wasn't enjoying this sort of behavior at ALL. It was hard to breathe and Vik'tor would surely attack soon. El or not, a swift knee met his stomach in defiance.
Her knee met hard muscular flesh and he sort of smiled at her pitiful defiance. He grabbed her leg as it swung up and struck, then a moment later she found herself pinned to the ground by her throat. His legs straddled one of hers as he held the other, keeping it from kicking her. He smiled, revealing bestial sharp teeth as long as fingers.
Akane tried coughing for air, but none found it's way to her lungs. Snow fell on parts of her face and legs as she was forced down. The way he pinned her down, how her legs were parted and that bewitching look on his face.... this wasn't El anymore, but something dreadfully cynical and evil. Though at the same time, strangely familiar.
Vik'tor roared and surged forward into the fray. Enough playing with his food. The great beast slammed into El's back forcing the larger now, yet still smaller, ninja over onto the girl beneath him. His wickedly sharp talons raked across the boy's mutated back, rendering flesh from bone in mere seconds.
El roared, dropping Akane as Viktor barreled into him and knocked him atop her. His knees and hands kept him from falling completely and crushing her, but blood poured from his back, down his sides, splattering her snow clothes with blood. For a moment she saw El return to his eyes and the realization of what was happening. "R... Run!" He told her and stayed, sacrificing his back to give Akane time to flee.
Akane looked in fear up at him as blood poured over her chest, splattering her face and arms. Through the beast-like demeanor, she could still hear El in his voice. Seeing his arms start to tremble beside her, Akane snapped out of her shock and bolted out from beneath him. She ran as he instructed.
With Akane safe, El pushed upright and rounded on Vik'tor, unleashing a slashing fury at the beast
The cat creature, that was once Vik'tor, roared as El slashed at it. The beast leaped backward and screeched at the boy. It dug it's massive talons into the earth and growled, measuring the oversized ninja up now.
El reared back and roared, chakra billowing through his voice like a hurricane.
Akane made it to a rooftop, away from the fight. She looked on at the two monsters and tried to think of some sort of plan.
The feline hunkered down as the chakra waves surged forth from El's throat. The waved rippled across its fur, if the creature wasn't such an abomination, the effect would have been beautiful.
El charged, roaring, using his voice to attack as he closed the distance between them. With Akane out of the way he saw nothing but blood. He wanted to sink his teeth into Vik'tor, to rip and tear and feel his blood flow down his throat.
This was absolutely horrible and Akane was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She hadn't much chakra left and had NO idea how to get El out of this beastly body. Glancing over the huts, she saw no sign of her team mates..they were alone out here. With that, she vanished from sight.
Vik'tor leaned up into El's roar and produced one of his own. He ruffled his mane and surged forward to meet his aggressor head on. He leaped with all his considerable power and slammed into the running hulk of El, aiming to sink his fangs into the boy's neck
El might not be used to this shape but he was working on instinct more than thought. Being smaller that Vik'tor gave him a slight speed bonus. He slipped to the side, evading Vik'tor's attack and swooping around to his back, clawing in for a deep hold and latching his jaws into his shoulder.
Vik'tor skidded to a halt, sending up waves of soil as his talons tore through the earth. He roared with pain as El latched onto his shoulder. He bucked, trying to dislodge the boy, his body was no longer agile enough to forcibly remove something from his back.
El was unaware of the wounds healing across his back. He was only aware of the sweet coppery redness flowing across his tongue. Throat, he needed to tear into Vik'tor's throat. He released in an attempt to get a much better hold.
The moment the boy's jaws released Vik'tor's shoulder, the beast rolled, hoping to catch the young ninja underneath it's considerable mass.
It did, but El kept going, using the momentum of the roll to his advantage. He was sure Vik'tor's ears must have healed by now, which had been why his chakra attacks weren't working so well. He grabbed hand fulls of fur and roared, attempting to rupture the muscle between Vik'tor's ears. Maybe if he turned his brain to mush this would be over.
Vik'tor screeched and scrambled at the ground as the massive ninja roared in his face. His eyes seemed to vibrate in his skull as the soundwaves tore through him. Again he felt his eardrums pop and the resulting dizziness overcame the massive cat. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth and his body slumped slightly. Drunkenly the massive predator sank to its haunches, digging its back claws deep into the earth, holding it steady.
El balled his fists and began to smash Vik'tor in the back now that he was down. The thing that had once been El wanted to feel bone crunch beneath his hands.
"El! That's enough, you got him!" Akane shouted, leaping into view from a nearby roof. Vik'tor was a motionless, bloodstained heap of flesh.
Vik'tor's body let out a low rumbling rasp of air as his body succumbed to the Mariachi's brutal assault. He whimpered weakly as the boy smashed his spine in two. His hind legs sprawled outward awkwardly as the signals from his brain were cut off.
El continued to smash and Viktor for a few more moments before his limp body signaled to El that he was down. He staggered back, breathing heavily, but he suddenly lifted his nose to the wind. He'd forgotten about Akane...
Akane figured he had gotten...whatever that was, out of his system and was naive to his thirst for blood. "Alright, just to be sure- let's secure him and try to find Ishiaki. Maybe he knows how to turn you back to normal."
His head turned her direction. El's eyes blazed and his mouth still dripped with Viktor's blood. He sniffed the air again, smiled, and charged for her.
She stepped back, "E-el... calm down." she held her hands out in front of her for him to slow. He looked like some sort of monster... like the ones in stories. But this WASN'T a story and he was one of her comrades! It was EL for crying out loud. Akane waited for him to slow, not yet thinking he would attack.
Attacking was the furthest thing from El's mind. He ran straight for her, not breaking stride.
Akane had said she trusted him not to hurt her, but that second bite really seemed to have done a number on the boy. When he neared, she side stepped and swiped her hand forward in a downward thrust, sending a bolt of wind beneath El's underbelly. It curved up to his back end and sent him vaulting clean over her, using his own momentum to toss him into a pile of snow.
In the snow El growled and scrambled upright. With blood dripping from his teeth he charged again.
"El! Knock it off!" Akane shouted, doing the same move again. This time, she aimed lower. This shot a wave of snow up onto El's body and shot her in the opposite direction to gain some distance. She had to think of some way to snap him out of it. Maybe, trigger some sort of memory...but what?!
It wasn't working. El gained his footing and went for her again.
"EL! You're pissing me off!" Akane warned, wondering how to snap him out of it. She really wished his guitar wasn't shattered...surely seeing that again would bring El back. Casting that idea aside, Akane didn't have anything to work with on her person... then again...
She had a bit more time to think as the distance between them dramatically got smaller. Unexpectedly, Akane reached into her suit and pulled out a small clay pendant on a string around her neck. She yanked it up and over her hair in a swift motion and held it out for El to see. This was a long shot, but it was the only thing she had that may bring back the old El...even just a little bit.
He was closing the distance quickly, not seeming to care about the small musical instrument he had given her for her birthday last week.
In a panic, Akane brought it to her lips and frantically moved her fingers on the keyholes, making a frantic, slightly off pitch, tune. She bent her knees, ready to jump should he not snap out of it.
Music, not [particularly good music but music still. El stopped, mere feet away from taking her down.
She held the note until she lost breath. "Snap out of it, El!" Akane shouted suddenly.
When she stopped playing El snarled and lost all resemblance to a real human being.
"Okay okay!" Akane shouted and blew into the small device. She moved her fingers how he had shown her in the tree that summer afternoon. Her music wasn't very good... but the tune was still there.
It was music and that was all that mattered. El's eyes faded from lusting for blood to much more humanistic, less catlike. In a deep feline voice he uttered "Ah... kah.... nay..."
Akane gave him a nod and kept playing the short tune he had taught her over and over again. She was too afraid to try anything else. This seemed to be working, but Akane just wondered how long she would have to keep this up.
Not long it seemed. El's entire body seemed to deflate. He almost looked drunk as the music carried him to a place where he could calm down and revert back to his natural shape. He looked even more drunk when he fell over face first at her feet.
Akane held the last note as long as she could, letting it fade off. Removing the clay from her mouth, she knelt near him, "El? Are you with me?" she asked.
"I'm alive..." El said, his voice sounding sort of cracked from all the growling. He was glad to be back, but he was somewhat angry with her. When he was on his feet again he could address that issue though.
Akane knelt down, not wanting to move him just yet, "Do you have any injuries? I can spare some chakra." she offered.
"Save your chakra..." El said softly as she helped him to his knees. His poncho and coat were long gone, having been ripped to pieces during his transformation. The curse mark was still on his shoulder. "But answer me one question..."
"What?" Akane asked, taking a brief glance at Viktor to be sure he was still down before giving attention back to El.
"We're both aware that my guitar is destroyed, yes?" El didn't bother giving her time to answer the question considering they both knew the answer, he just wanted to refresh her memory of it. "And you've had that ocarina this entire time?" El had, used a kunai and her bracelet to try and make music, had with only moderate success, used his voice against Viktor, and suffered through a transformation in which he had nearly killed Akane... And she had had a musical instrument in her possession this whole time...
"I...I forgot I had it." Akane replied, realizing her stupidity. She was honest though at least. "I just leave it on all the time, I tend to forget its there. Here? " she handed it over to him
El took the ocarina thankfully, glad to have an instrument in his hands again. He'd done better with his voice than he had anticipated, but he was so glad to have an instrument again. "I forgive you..." He told her, panting, glad that she thought enough of his gift to keep it with her. "We must make sure he is truly dead... the regenerative abilities of the jutsu are stronger than I anticipated."
"I made a trap for him should he try to get up." Akane explained, starting to take her coat off for El to wear. Beneath it, she had underarmor. "Take this too, I don't want to have to heal you fromt more frostbite"
El gladly took the coat and let her slip it on him. He felt so drained, as helpless as a kitten. "Do you think..." El hesitated it was such a very dark thing to say coming out of his mouth. "Do you think we should cut his head off or something?"
"Maybe...not sure how powerful his regenerating is." Akane said, looking at his curse mark before he covered it with the coat. "Maybe that curse mark will vanish if we are sure he is dead"
El took Akane's hand and pulled himself to his feet. "We have to be sure..."
Akane let go of his hand and looked at the beast. "I can do it if you want. She said. "But I will have to borrow a kunai if you would be so kind."
El handed Akane a kunai and used a nearby piece of rubble to steady himself. "Be careful..."
Akane took the knife and crawled onto Vik'tor's back. Bending forward, she grabbed the back of his head and reared it backward
Vik'tor surged to his feet and roared as Akane reared his head back. Strength flowed through his veins as primal instinctive urges took hold.
The small feather that had been placed on Vik'tor's ankle blew off, setting her trap in motion. Akane screamed when he reared up and immediately leaped down into the snow. There was a light whistle as dozens of needle thin feathers shot from neighboring trees. Unfortunately, El was in the direct line of three. Knowing this, her priority was to get him out of the way. In a spin, she grabbed El's coat and threw him to the side. She went to move with, but a triggered feather nicked her cheek, slicing the skin. The other feathers shot at Vik'tor's hide, embedding him from all sides. Akane staggered back, leaving a splash of blood and a severed eyepatch in the snow.
"Akane!" El shouted, managing somehow not to fall completely over when she threw him with more force than he thought possible. "Akane are you ok?" He rushed forward, hoping she wasn't hurt.
Vik'tor let out a screech of pain as the thin needles of feathers penetrated his fur, slicing clean into him. Again he fell flat against the ground as the feathers tore through muscle fibers and deep into nerve clusters
"I'm fine!" Akane shouted, holding a hand in front of her empty socket. She didn't want to be babied by El anymore. He already had protected her several times now...it made her look weak and she didn't like that. "We need to take care of him while we can!"
El saw blood striped across Akane's face. perhaps if she had had an eye it would have been worse, but the blood was all El needed to lift the ocarina to his lips. He poured chakra into one single note. High earsplitting and even Akane could feel it vibrating through her skull. She needed to cover her ears.
Akane's hands moved from her face to hear ears as the sound blasted through her skull. It felt like her eardrums had split in two. She quickly hustled behind El and the sound waves while she could, blood still oozing from her cut.
Vik'tor shuddered as the sound waves surged through him. His body shook violently, some of the feathers actually managing to dislodge themselves from his flesh. The sound that issued forth from the beast's throat was unlike any he had made thus far. It sounded as though a mixture between pain and relief.
El played and the sound grew in intensity and pitch. This wasn't exactly a forbidden justu, but it was one that was greatly discouraged. El had never used it before and hoped that he never did again.
Akane fell to her knees and pressed her hands against her ears as hard as she could. Blood still fell into a stained tuft of snow beneath her. Gritting her teeth, she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before going nuts. It felt as if her brain would implode on itself.
Vik'tor whimpered weakly and tried to cover his ears with his paws, but they would not move. Nothing would move, whatever those feathers were, they were impeding his movements entirely
The piercing sound of the ocarina buzzed through his head and amplified exponentially. El could see blood pouring from his ears and it only made him play louder.
Vik'tor's claws dug into the ground and his massive jaw opened, a howl of pain tore its way through his throat as the blood seemed to gush from his ears. It poured from his eyes and with a horrendous heave of his mighty chest, the beast slumped suddenly, a thick and dark liquid seeping out of his ears.
Akane couldn't take this anymore. Although she was behind El and the waves of sound, it still bounced off walls and his her from all sides. Her head was bleeding, she was chakra drained and completely exhausted. Tensing up, Akane tried to hold on, power through this...it had to be over soon. Unfortunately, her eye rolled back and she passed out before that happened.
As El felt Akane slump against his legs, Viktor's entire head filled with sound and exploded, splattering El with a mush of bone, blood and brain matter. The sound died away and El dropped to his knees, exhausted and disgusted. He'd never wanted to kill anyone, he hadn't become a ninja to murder people, but as VIktor's blood melted the snow where drops of Akane's had fallen, El felt horribly justified.
Akane had fallen to the side, curled over in the snow. Her head was bleeding and running down her face. From this angle, El could see the not-so-pretty empty eye socket that she always kept so neatly hidden beneath cloth.
El only saw that she was hurt. Despite feeling utterly drained, he turned to her, taking his sleeve and wiping the blood away from her face to inspect how mad the wound was.
There was a deep cut along the side of her cheek. It was fairly deep, causing a lot of the bleeding, but thankfully it was not very wide.
Thank God it wasn't that wide. El was too weak to carry her back, so he had to stop the bleeding somehow. He drug her to a pile of rubble where he found a flat stone to lay her on away from the snow. Using a hand full of snow he packed it against her cheek, chilling the skin and attempting to stop the blood flow. As he did this he was reminded of the darkness to his fingernails. The blackish red lines that ran along the contour of his cuticles. She had worked so furiously to save his fingers and he had done this to her...
After a minute or so, the bleeding had slowed into something a bit more manageable. However, by holding the snow against her face, Akane's cheeks, nose and chin were bright red from the cold. Her fingers were also starting to redden. Now that her heart had slowed, she was more susceptible to the elements out here.
Taking a vile from her medical pack El immediately recognized one of Kami's medicinal ointments. He brushed the snow away from her cheek and filled the cut with salve from the jar. It was pungent and yellow, but thick and resistant to the blood that wanted to flow out past it. Finished he breathed a sigh and looked at the distance between them ant the medical tents. He had to carry her there, but knew he couldn't really carry her. He lifted her into his arms, looping one around his shoulders and trying to hold her up. He took hold of his hat and whistled his escape whistle, sending them high into the air where he could control their drift with his hat.
The scent of the salve started to bring Akane to, but it wasn't until they were floating together that she managed to wake up. Her brows tensed slightly and her single, golden yellow eye opened slowly. Half lidded, she looked up at El and the brilliant blue sky behind him. She stayed in a state of slight shock and paralysis as she gazed at his face, noting how lovely his dark skin looked against the background. There was that floaty feeling in her stomach again...like the one she had felt when El had said and it started to bring Akane back into awareness.
El was not aware just yet that she had awakened. He looked focused and determined, tilting his hat to catch the wind so they could easily glide over the village and towards the medical center.
Akane didn't speak yet. She simply took in the scene, but kept still. He had blood splatters on his neck and face, but it wasn't of his own. Viktor must have suffered greatly from his attack. Unfortunately, it seemed she had as well. Finally, she whispered in a tired voice, "Hey Romeo..."
El turned to her, glad she was alright. "Are you ok?" He asked. "Can you hear me? Are you're ears ringing?" He was so worried about her hearing. He could have easily deafened her with his attack on Viktor.
There was a ringing, signaling that her hearing would return. As of right now though, he sounded very muffled. "It sounds like I have plastic cups on my ears." she confessed, not making any movement to get out of his arms.
"Thank God..." El said. "I was afraid I had really hurt you. If you can hear me now then it is a very good chance Ishiaki sensei can return any hearing loss you may have sustained."
"Uh...what? Ishiaki has a sun stain? " Akane asked, her voice rather loud. "Hey! What about your curse mark? Is it gone?"
"I don't know!" El told her, more loudly so she could hear him. "We will find out soon enough." And they began to drift to the medical tents. They landed a bit harder than he would have liked, but thanks to the show, they did not hurt themselves.
Akane felt herself fall a bit and clung onto El's coat for support until he evened them out. Knowing they were on the ground, she attempted to stand on her own, though was a bit wobbily and unable to manage it. The hit to her ears seemed to have messed with her balance as well...and sadly, it was one of her proudest features. She clung onto him with one hand and lifted the other to cover her empty eye socket. Akane didn't like having it exposed so freely like this. It stood for everything she fought for...though no one had ever asked how she lost it.
"Easy, easy..." El said, holding onto her so she wouldn't fall. "Stay still..." From the back pocket of the pants he wore under his snow pants he pulled a red decorative bandanna. He spun it, letting it fold over on it's self and pulled her hand away. He covered her eye, tying the bandana behind her head so she could have her privacy concerning that feature. To be honest, El had hardly noticed.
For whatever reason, this gesture made her heart leap into her throat and she could hear it beating in her deafened ears. Akane's cheeks grew redder, not from cold, but from El. What was the most troubling about this was that she had no idea why. If anything, it was the most frustrating feeling ever simply because she couldn't identify it. A hand pinched the bottom of the bandana, making sure it was over her socket. It was surprisingly warm from El's body heat...or perhaps that was from her own flushed face? It was hard to tell.
Although El may not realize it, his gesture was very significant to Akane in more ways than one. Before either of them knew it, she was hugging him with two arms wrapped around his shoulders and she managed the words, "Thank you."
It surprised El how much it meant to her. She was always so strong that to see her vulnerable was always a bit surprising. He hugged her in return, "You're welcome." He said into her ear so she could hear him. "You need a medic though, before the hearing loss becomes permanent." And he was sure she didn't want another scar on her face.
Stumble!