soul_logs | [closed] Mission log

Characters: Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji
Location: El Salvador
Rating: PG
Time: June 4th
Description: A month and a handful of Spanish words/phrases later, Neji and Lee return to El Salvador.

The mission outlines trouble areas in Central America, and while most of the cities and mountain ranges meant little to them, El Salvador, a troubled country along the coast, had immediately stood out to them and provided an easy choice.

Arriving there, they met with their contact, who was only too happy to see them and brightened considerably when he recognized the agents sent to aid his country a second time. He gave them a run-down of the situation, pointing off toward a set of mountain or hills, but Neji's attention drifted to the coast and seeing this, their contact gave them an update on that situation as well.

All was well in hand, he'd told them in so many words, and they could do nothing but take that to heart and focus on their new assignment.

And if the desert was hotter, this country was far more humid; the heat stifling in contrast to the dry air he'd grown more accustomed to. The trek to the mountain range with a name he couldn't begin to pronounce was a withering one.

But as the humidity did gradually decline as they moved further inland, and with the range in sight on the well-worn path they were taking to intercept any would-be explorers, it felt like he could breathe again.

And in fact, they did come across a man with packed gear ostensibly heading for the caverns and if Neji was using broken Spanish, a few words and the harsh tone of them was surely enough to get the message across.

"Loco," he said, shaking his head as they watched the man turn back down the road. "Baka," Neji continued conversationally, then cleared his throat as three languages overlapped one other for a moment on his tongue. "Ridiculous."

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Lee was nearly soaked-through in his spandex by the time they started up the rugged mountain paths. He, like Neji, remembered this place with a twinge of regret. But where there was life there was hope. The light shining in their contact's eyes was heartening. They were appreciated and wanted, even if they had not been able to save every life during their last visit. Still, Lee wanted to offer Neji more comfort, but now as not the time and this was definitely not the place.

Hearing his partner scold one of the fanatics searching for the dangerous crystal skulls littering Central America. It was good to know there were still people searching who had not fallen to a Kishin Egg state yet, and it also was an indication that they were getting close.

"At least we know his life will be spared," Lee said charitably, offering Neji a wry smile. But his eyes darkened and his expression turned serious as he gazed further up the trail. "They say the skulls are often found in the earth, but we are going up rather than down."

Neji frowned, eyes narrowing. "If he doesn't try again tomorrow, at any rate."

But he turned back toward the path leading up to the foothills. "There are caverns in the mountains where the explorers are disappearing. What search teams have survived to investigate have come back with great injuries, so they aren't all getting lost in the tunnels.."

And getting lost in the tunnels would be a non-issue for them with his eyes. As well, they'd be able to detect the souls in the caverns long before they came into contact with them, so an ambush was unlikely.

Lee stopped in his hiking for a moment to stretch his arms over his head, working out some of the muscles in his back. "I suppose we will simply have to destroy all that would tempt him up her again, then?"

Determined, Lee set his gaze upon the road and returned to their hike. It would be quite a while still before they found the skulls, but they didn't have only that to worry about here. Kishin would be about, there was no doubt about that.

Lee glanced over to Neji, considering how his Meister would need to keep up his strength should they have a full-on confrontation with more than one rabid Kishin Egg today. "... Would you like me to carry you some of the way up the mountain, Neji? Until we reach a promising cave?"

Neji nodded, keeping his eyes on the slope ahead, watching for activity. Destroying the crystals were among their handful of mission objectives. But the offer struck him as so out of place that he stopped, paying more attention to the road ahead for anything so concerning that might disable him before they crested the trail.

Turning back toward Lee, puzzlement evident, he shook his head. "I'm not injured, Lee. I'm fully capable of walking up a hill." A steep hill, but a hill nonetheless.

Lee nodded, his lips pursing naturally. "I understand you are capable. But as my Meister, I was merely hoping to keep you from wearing yourself out before we encounter any enemies."

And Lee knew that Neji understood that was practically a certainty. Missions like this, in a country that had already been targeted before, were always going to hold some risk to them. But if Neji didn't mind fighting while he was gasping for breath then Lee would not hold it against him. However if it cost Neji some injury then Lee was certain to scold him later on.

Neji shook his head, resuming the climb up even while he knew that following the trail would also increase their chances of coming across Kishin Eggs smart enough to know that vulnerable human souls came up this way with frequency.

"I'll be fine, Lee. I'd be more concerned about the madness levels inside those caves."

He tossed his communicator to Lee, the new application he'd just had installed yesterday displaying yellow shading into oranges ahead, indicating sharp spikes of Madness in the mountains.

"As a result, we're going to go along the range until I detect souls within them. Depending on their form, we'll decide how to deal with them.. Then smash as many of those crystals as possible while our sanity holds."

There was nothing wrong with worrying about running into an enemy while low on steam, but Lee didn't argue. He just snatched the communicator that was thrown to him and checked out the new program. It seemed highly advanced, and the Madness levels it indicated were steadily climbing as they traveled.

"Let me know as soon as you notice anything," Lee replied, jogging along to keep up with Neji. The crystal destroying would probably be the easy part once they found them. But Kishin could be unpredictable and who knew what they would even look like. Neither Neji nor Lee had been given a clue into that little detail.

They climbed for minutes and hours still, passing smaller grottos and steadily passing tropical trees and cliffs, but so far the Madness indicator hadn't changed overly much. Then, without any noticeable changes in the scenery, the indicator hiked to the red levels and Lee stopped in his tracks. "Neji?"

Edited 2013-06-13 15:54 (UTC)

There wasn't much he despised more than Madness. How it trickled in and sought to disturb his calm, forced him to breath, focus, remain aware and steady his temper, thoughts, and actions. Before suffering at the hands of the Witches, his resistance was fairly high, but that incident sluiced a vulnerability through his discipline, and he'd gradually worked to seal it back over through will and patience, ingrained from hours of meditation..

Neji expelled a breath, steady breathing even as his blood spiked, grayed vision swinging toward a soul ambling toward them on an unsteady, halting path and a second not far behind.

Two at once. Unlucky..

"We're moving back, luring them further out to lower Madness levels. Performing Soul Menace and maintaining solid resonance under pressure is a balance we'll lose before long under higher levels, particularly against two opponents."

"Roger," Lee replied with a minute salute, then retreated back with Neji. They couldn't move too fast, lest their targets lose interest. They could not move too slow either, or else they might wind up caught in the high levels of Madness and lose their advantage.

But Lee and Neji were well-versed in surprise attacks and strategy, so they managed to maintain the perfect balance while they descended to less madness-ridden territory.

How much further, Neji? Lee sought out through their resonance. He was ready to transform at the least notice, his hand itching to find Neji's to support him through battle.

It gave him time to assess their forms- humanoid in appearance, but heads, or rather skulls, too large for their bodies, crystalline in appearance and lolling on a smaller set of shoulders. Reminiscent of the zombies they'd fought before, but with what looked like stronger bodies. The empty eye sockets somehow seemed keen.

A little further off the road.. he said, once the pressing madness retreated to a light scratching at the corners of his mind. They're weak and newly corrupted from the looks of it, but there's two of them.

Still, he wasn't too worried, given that he could see from every angle and that they had a human resemblance. Because the simple fact was that as a Hyuuga, he knew a great deal more about breaking and disabling the human body than anything else.

Stopping, he reached his hand out for Lee's, watched the Kishin Eggs coming down for their prey. Ready, Lee.

Neji seemed to have a good assessment of their situation. Feeling confident, Lee gripped his partner's hand and transformed, falling with a light clanking of metal chain.

Let me know if your arm is giving you trouble, Lee insisted, though he knew he would sense it even if Neji didn't tell him. Their bond was too strong for Neji to keep visceral reactions to pain hidden, especially when they were in resonance.

[closed] Mission log

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