soul_logs | Gonna need ALL the damn salt! [CLOSED]

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Gonna need ALL the damn salt! [CLOSED]

Characters: Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane
Location: Brazil
Rating: PG-13. Swearing.
Time: April 20th, morning
Description: It's off to Brazil to check out reports of man-eating, giant slugs! Though they get more than what they bargained for, something... strange happens.

If they thought the weather in Nevada was getting to be too much, they haven't seen anything yet: April in Brazil was torrential rainfall and humidity, one of the wettest parts of the year, and perfect for the giant slugs they were supposed to be looking for. Though Kanji was at least smart enough to bring an umbrella, it was being tested under the pouring rain, and the Meister was all ready beyond soaked thanks to being caught in the beginning of it during their trek here. Well, that, and he wanted to keep Naoto dry.

But as much as he wanted to complain, he couldn't focus on that now. He pointed out over the jungle floor, where a silvery trail of thick slime stood out against the rain.

"A'right! Path keeps goin' this way. We better pick up the pace, though; if this rain washes it out, we're back in the damn dark!"

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So intent on its meal of half-liquefied flesh and bone to hold it over until the next soul, it hadn't so much as noticed that something else was there. The staccato sound was what caught its attention first, the brief flash of light from the discharged shots missed completely. Naoto's shots hit their target, slamming into the soft, slimy hide of the creature, inciting a half-human scream that echoed through the chamber and made the Meister cringe.

Even in the poor lighting, he could see that the surprise was over and spindly hands were reaching around, that slimy body making its way quickly across the floor. Though his own footing was unsure, Kanji moved and half-slid to avoid being seized, eyes focused on that set of humanoid teeth glistening as they angrily gnashed, more than a little sore from having its meal interrupted... yet excited that something fresh had come along.

What followed was a retching sound, something bubbling up...

"Shit, that's comin' from this thing!"

"What?"

She scanned and pulled back. That was absolutely disgusting and the sounds it made were not any more pleasant. She was already striking up stronger bullets to end this confrontation sooner. Her sonar pinged, keeping track of its movements and sending the information via resonance.

The retching continued as he moved, and heard something splash against the stone behind him. Whatever it was, it hissed and added to the rancid air. Unable to hold his breath for much longer, Kanji was forced to breathe in. And promptly coughed from the olfactory overload.

The slug turned what passed for its head, and shrieked at the sound. There it was! Claws scraped against the ground, emitting sparks as it moved. But Kanji was starting to struggle in the dark now that he knew he'd been marked by his coughing, an upper arm brought up to stifle his mouth as he tried to stop. He just needed a minute, and maybe he could get a Soul Descent off or something...

But the demon was pissed now, and was picking up its pace. It had a bead on him.

"Kanji!"

Naoto sent a surge of energy towards him, eyes turning on the charging slug. If it got Kanji, it wasn't going to let go. At the rate it was coming, he wasn't going to recover in time to defend himself. She felt the power she had drawn from previous souls begin to surge as her eyes narrowed. There had been enough people lost in this conflict. Like hell she was going to lose him.

Her soul flared. "Get back!"

It was too much, another spasm in his now-aching throat driving another sharp cough out of him. But he felt an odd surge of energy running through his body, and his name rang through his head. N-naoto...?

He felt the wind from a swiped claw and poured on the adrenaline, pulling away from the kishin egg and skidding mildly on what was left of some poor tourist from a week earlier. But he was riding on that strange feeling and decided to risk it, turning his whole body and squinting in the dark to find the slug. When he saw some shape moving in the low light, he focused and just managed to fire that Soul Descent. It wasn't his strongest, but it was enough to veer it into a stalagmite in the cavern and stun it.

His heart was pounding, but he let himself reach within. There was an immense light inside, something blue... w-was that her? He reached for it quickly, but felt a brief jolt and flinched, the 'locks' on his soul wavelength rattling. Kanji released a breath, lifted the Gunblade, and made his decision. He shouldn't be afraid any more.

When he was with her, there wasn't a damn thing he couldn't do.

The walls were thrown down, and he reached again. His hands felt like they were buzzing, and his body felt lighter than air. He took everything, his strengths and his faults, and used them to finally resonate and match those waves she was giving off. He could see the slug clearly for the first time. He wouldn't miss.

Kanji bared his teeth and took the shot.

Wave after wave, she felt Kanji balance himself and pull off a Soul Descent. She didn't relent though, letting the power continue to course. It seemed to be helping and this was all she could do to make sure he survived.

"...!"

His own soul had begun to react and Naoto turned, eyes widening slightly. What was this feeling? His soul wavelength was somehow tuning to hers and everything she was seeing was relaying much faster than before. The darkness was coming to light; she felt warmer.

The gunblade hummed and began to flash as she released the next shot, watching it tear again into the slug's hide. Naoto didn't know what precisely was going on, but she felt... it almost felt like her Persona was there. Whatever it was, this egg wasn't to survive what she was preparing.

His guess was as good as hers, so unaccustomed to levels of Soul Resonance like this that he hadn't thought of doing any sort of looking into what could be considered perfect...

Instead he rode what felt like a second wind. The stench of the chamber, his sodden, slime-dotted clothing, all discomfort was gone, replaced by that overwhelming strength and desire to wipe another potential Kishin off the face of this world. The slug was coming around and was oozing a black ichor from the injury inflicted upon it. The Madness, its hunger drove it to fight onward, kill or be killed no matter the cost. There was no shred of humanity left, and it was stupid to assume they'd find any in the first place.

Something more welled deep in him, that heightening willpower he felt when he called the Emperor seal card and was ready to call Takeji Zaiten. The slug came at him but his eyes grew steely. He took a deliberate step forward and an immense Soul Descent seemed to rattle the entire chamber, crumbling stalagmites and sending the kishin egg careening back, presumably into the far wall.

He won't even let it get that far.

"All you, Naoto!" He roared aloud, and adjusted his aim.

"I won't miss!"

It seemed like their energy was twisting as she finalized the last shot. Power continued to hum between them, sparking, but then melding into something white-hot. It blinded her for a moment.

Her Weapon form shifted and seemed to try changing to curl around Kanji's arm. The change halted at his elbow, the glowing barrel wider and charging. Naoto wasn't aware of the shift; just that a good deal of her power was going into this next shot. Locked, ready, and aimed.

The bullet wasn't so much of one when she fired, but a ball of light that hummed. The moment it struck the slug in the face, it exploded.

He felt the Weapon form, light as a feather in his hand, begin to twist and change. A light crawled up his arm, but stopped at his elbow. Whatever darkness they struggled with was gone now, the radiance from the Demon Gunblade enough to paint every corner of the chamber in a light that would have made the kishin egg slug cringe were it not hurtling face first from that Soul Descent.

His arm moved on its own, planting itself atop the arm cannon to keep it steady before a single shot erupted from the barrel. That ball of humming light that fired away rang bells of familiarity in his head, and that explosion of light and smoke even more so. "Megidolaon...?"

That sure as hell wasn't a term he ever thought he'd hear. He heard the sound of the slug's shriek, and felt the resulting burst of energy released from so many devoured souls distracted him. Even in the face of the glowing red soul, he still wasn't paying it any heed, instead staring at this new implement over his arm.

"Naoto... Naoto, you okay??" He'd never seen anything like this before, but a Weapon's alternate form reflected their real body, didn't it? What happened to her? His soul was all ready sparking a bit with concern, a feather-light brush here and there over that radiant blue sphere.

Naoto's brows knitted as her eyes closed, her breathing heavy. As her energy died, the form molded back to the usual gun shape. Reflected in the metal, she appeared exhausted after such expenditure. She took comfort in the concern and managed to open her eyes as his soul brushed against hers.

"I-I'm... fine..." She panted, desiring to change back into human form, but she didn't know how long she could fight her fatigue if she did. Still, she didn't sense the Kishin egg anymore, noticing the soul hovering there much later than she usually would. "What exactly just happened?"

The light died down, and so too did that energy, receding from its current heights. As the cannon shifted back, he pulled his own soul wavelength back, reeling everything back as the Weapon form started feeling a little heavy in his hand.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he admitted breathlessly, his heart still racing, his hands still buzzing. That was definitely that Almighty spell she could use back home, there was no mistaking it! Did strong resonance bring back old powers? ...But he was still using Soul Descent...

His curiosities, however, were overridden with how fatigued she sounded, and his own winded soul moved to balance hers. "H-hey... stay in that form if ya can, a'right? I'll grab the soul and we'll get the hell outta here and take care of it later."

As slippery as the floor was, he didn't need to worry about something nipping at his heels. He closed the distance and seized the squishy, weightless soul before making a move for the exit back into that long, winding tunnel. He had to hurry...

"I'll try..."

Her lashes fluttered as she did her best to stay awake, but this was becoming difficult. She noted him grabbing the soul for her and turned away. Her vision was spotty, but there were brief flickers of rocks, light, and small slugs as he climbed out of the cave.

The weapon was glowing again, but not in a good note. She was losing her ability to maintain her form.

Her energy was fading a lot quicker than he'd thought. He put a little more effort into finding sure footing, trying to get out of the tunnel quicker while guided by the badge, the watch, and the red light of the kishin egg soul.

But footing was still getting the best of him. Sometimes his foot hit a slimy patch and he had to slow, and each time he swore, eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, back to the rainy jungle. But his eyes were always straying to the gun in one hand, the way it seemed to be bathed in light now and again, as if ready to transform. She was trying to hang on with everything she had... so he had to keep going, keep bringing them one step closer to the end!

But even he was beginning to tire a little as well. The slime, the mud was making the going rough, slowing him down. He had to stop once or twice just to catch his breath.

"I'll... I'll get us out, damn it...!" He was a Meister...!

"I know you will..."

Her voice was dropping and sleep continued to beckon her. Kanji's stumbles didn't exactly register in her mind. All she could do was will herself to remain awake at least until they got out of the cave. Naoto could do that much... at least, she hoped so. Even the harmless thought of just curling up against Kanji was becoming dangerous.

It was that last leg of the climb out of the tunnel that was the worst; he hadn't realized just how steep the slope was. Though on a couple of occasions he had to loop an arm around a stalagmite for support and pull himself up, he listened to the rushing sound of rain, a white noise that seemed to relax just a few of the worries that had been bubbling up in his mind.

It did nothing to energize him, however. Once at the top, his legs threatened to give, but he refused. Instead, he did as he was promised and brought hands scuffed and scratched from their contact with the rocks adjust his grip upon the Gunblade. It was only growing heavier in his hands, and at the rate things were going, exhaustion would cause a painful rejection. With a small, affectionate brush of a thumb against the metal, he nodded.

"...S'okay now... I gotcha." He shrugged his shoulders, and let his coat sink to the cavern floor as he lowered to a knee, in part to rest a little, and in part to support her for when she changed back. There was still a long trek through the jungle to go, and he wouldn't exhaust her any longer.

He cast a glance to the foliage ahead, and took a moment to briefly regain his bearings.

Naoto glanced up at him and nodded weakly, allowing her eyes to fall closed. Kanji's preparations were on the mark as she couldn't hold her form anymore. Once unconscious, her weapon form melted away and left her once again human. Her breathing was even and she tried tucking herself into a small ball, leaning her head against him as she wanted to earlier.

When she awakened later, she would apologize profusely for leaving him to carry her like this. She really should have at least left enough energy to make it back to Death City Heights on her own. In the future, she would have to remember as much.

The light overtook the Gunblade again and his arms moved, supporting the glowing form as she changed back. It wasn't until after he'd taken his jacket and wrapped her up in it, blocking her from what would be a long trek in the rain that he lay a knuckle against her throat to check her pulse, listened to her breathing. He was relieved to know she was just tired, and held her close and rose back onto his feet. The Kishin Egg Soul could be nestled into a pocket for now.

He knew she'd apologize or even protest later when she awoke, but he wouldn't have any of it- he never minded carrying her, and would simply be glad she got to rest. As for what happened in that cavern, that required a bit of testing to see if they could make it happen and - more importantly - figure out how to do it and not feel completely drained afterward.

But for now, his walk through the rain was silent, and he'd sneak a kiss to her forehead and be glad she was in one piece.

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Gonna need ALL the damn salt! [CLOSED]

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