soul_logs | [Mission 211b]

Characters: Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji
Location: Southeastern Oklahoma
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Time: July 18th, later afternoon/early evening
Description: Tales of young men being kicked and trampled are growing around Oklahoma. They are said to have been lured away to the forest and their souls stolen by the Deer Woman, who has the cloven hooves and lower half of a white-tailed deer. Lee and Neji are the Meister and Weapon pair sent to investigate and take care of any Kishin Eggs involved.

Lee and Neji left first thing after training had been squared away that day. The mission seemed simple enough, not much different from their first trip to El Salvadore. Find the source of the disturbance and eliminate it while protecting anyone they may come in contact on the way. Simple enough for a mission objective, especially considering they were having to start over as reverse Meister and Weapon.

Their arrival in Oklahoma was met with some tension. The tribal representatives they met with said the problems they had been experienced traced back to an old Ojibwe legend--the Deer Woman, known for luring young men away to their doom. Most of the tribes had little to say. Despite the presence of the Deer Woman in their state the number of Ojibwe members available to give them information was few. In the end, Lee and Neji were practically pushed towards the mountainside forests and instructed to follow the trail of the owls. Several more had been seen about lately and their presence was an omen of death.

In the wilderness Lee felt like he was in his element. Despite the stories of men being led to their deaths, he felt confident they would manage this well enough. He was no beginning-level shinobi, after all.

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Neji watched her, not at all fascinated when all he could feel for her was a deep displeasure. She charged at him, but he couldn't move for fear of leaving Lee to be trampled.

But when she reared up again, Neji threw the chain around her two front hooves, then veered to the side and pulled. She had no choice but to drop back down and follow his direction, front legs bound together and effectively standing on three legs.

"Get up, Lee! I told you, she's our enemy."

Lee heard the urgency in Neji's voice and he scrambled, trying to obey despite the fogginess in his head. It was starting to clear now. He could see, she wasn't nearly as pretty as he had thought before. If anything, the cloudiness in his eyes was shifting away, revealing the truly vile creature the Deer Woman was.

They needed to defeat her, and before Lee fell again to that strange glamor she had held over him.

Climbing to his feet, Lee took a deep breath and placed a hand on Neji's shoulder.

"I am sorry. I am ready now."

Neji spared a brief glance to his teammate, then jerked as the woman fought his hold over her. She weighed more than he did, and pulled against him to try and get free. He wouldn't be able to hold her.

The Jounin wrapped his arm into the chain, keeping her bound while he reached for Lee's with his free hand, grasping onto his wrist and transformed.

The chain dropped, and he secured himself around Lee's hands. They only had a moment before she untangled herself.

Focus, Lee

Yes, focus. Lee was a shinobi; a proud warrior of Konoha and not just some simpering genin. He could do this. He wouldn't let himself be overcome again.

Going into a proper attack stance, Lee called on his inner calm and attempted to keep Neji's training in check. Keep his palms open...

A thought came to him then, and just as the creature kicked away the chain Lee dropped his gaze to the lower half of her body--the deer half. It was one of his sensei's tricks, how he overcame the Sharingan after years of training against Kakashi. If he looked down he was less likely to be caught off-guard by her mind tricks and he could focus on the bunch of her muscles, allowing his quick sight to catch a hint of her next move.

Neji let his temper cool. As much as he wanted to tear into Lee about several things, they had a battle they had to win first. He drew on his reserves of patience, and reinforced Lee's clear-headed calm with his own rock solid stability.

She prefers charging attacks and using her hooves to knock down and trample opponents.

Just as she trampled her victims... And with that thought, Lee called on his speed, side-stepping one of her lunges with some swift footwork. He used her straight-forward way of attacking against her with each and every dodge. But he waited, waited until he was absolutely sure he understood her timing, then he struck.

Just as she reared back and charged again, Lee shimmied to the side, using the same circular step that Neji had showed him a day or so before. Then in the same turn he thrust his palms towards her, smashing her solidly against her side.

It was a fluid movement he would've expected from himself, rather than Lee and couldn't keep the surge of fierce pride he felt for the simple, but effective use of his style.

He felt his tiny spines sink into her hide, and released a concentrated burst of energy through her body, crippling a number of organs and making her stumble under the sudden assault.

Nice timing, Lee.

I had a good teacher, Lee thought with a grin. But now was not the time to slow down and gloat. It was time to attack.

Lee began to circle his opponent, this time he was on the full offensive. He struck, again and again and again, dodging swiftly to the side with each hit, keeping the monster on its toes and unable to keep up with his turbo speed.

It was with one last blow, a crippling, sickening crunch as he thrust both palms into her chest and threw her back that the monster was finally defeated. Her form twitched and bucked for a few seconds longer, then at last it completely collapsed and evaporated, leaving only a glowing tainted soul of a Kishin Egg left.

Neji punctuated each of Lee's attacks with a strong burst of wavelength and watched as their opponent slowed and stumbled as they wore her down. And Lee only moved faster, increasing the gap between their strengths.

It was over in a decisive burst and he watched the deer woman's body fade into a glowing soul. A soul meant for him.

..Shibusen's advised holding onto the souls, rather than eating them. They suspect the changes may be temporary..

Lee's brows rose. It was news to him, but then again he wasn't the best at listening when he was busy with something else. And he was usually busy with something.

Is that so? Well then... I am almost disappointed. I had wondered how you would feel about eating them.

But Lee understood, moving to remove Neji from one of his wrists but holding him tight in the other, encouraging him to change back while still holding his hand. Shall I take it or would you like the honors, Neji?

Neji didn't answer for a long moment, then transformed and reached for the soul. He let go of Lee's hand and dropped his bag, stuffing the soul inside. Then he hauled it back over his shoulder and moved for his fallen kusarigama, unwinding the chain and coiling it back up at his side.

He came up with his heavy binoculars, taking several minutes to scan their surroundings as best he could in the dense forest.

"The owls haven't left," he observed. "But we certainly eliminated the Deer Woman."

Neji was strangely quiet, but Lee thought perhaps he was just exhausted. Nodding, Lee glanced around.

"I suppose they will disperse soon. We only just destroyed the threat, after all." And now they could return home triumphant. "Shall we get back, then?"

Neji lowered the binoculars after another cursory scan, eyes sliding over to Lee's. He still had several choice words for the Chuunin, but it would be highly unprofessional to confront him now.

Instead he shrugged, deciding to keep the binoculars out, and started back the way they'd come in.

[Mission 211b]

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