A HUMONGOUS THANKS to my beta senpais: Madi, Marsh, & Proma who are da bestttttt Happy reading!

Soul snapped awake to the sound of thunder. 5:00 AM glowed from his bedside clock, the room's blackout curtains holding back the flashes of lightning outside. The plip-plapping of rain on the window signaled the rare arrival of a Death City storm. A muffled moan could be heard through the thin walls. It was Maka. Groggy, he pushed himself off his bed and walked into his meister's room. This time her sheets were on the floor. She somehow knocked over her bedside alarm clock. Maka yelped suddenly, startling him. Her moans became more panicked by the second and he moved quickly.

"Hey! Wake up," said Soul, patting her arm. When that wasn't enough, he shook her. She threw an arm out, as if to reach for something (or punch him, he couldn't tell). She was too involved in her nightmare tonight. "Maka! Wake up! It's a dream. Wake up!" And by some miracle, her moaning ebbed away slowly and decreased in volume until she became silent. He watched her eyes open, unsure where she was. And then they focused on him.

"You were having a nightmare," he said pointedly. He hoped his bedhead made her feel guilty too.

"Soul," she sighed tiredly. She avoided his eyes.

"This is the fourth time this week."

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "Go back to sleep." She picked up her covers off the floor and threw them over herself, facing away from him.

It was too early for this. He huffed and padded back to his room. He returned to bed, but he was too awake to sleep again. Her nightmares can't go on like this. But what could he do if she didn't want to talk?

/

"What's eating at you, brohiem?" Black Star said between pizza bites. "You've been moody all morning and a lot more so than your usual resting bitch face."

Faced away from him, Soul bared his bottom teeth over his top lip. He had thought about confiding in Black Star about Maka's recent nightmares, but he could handle it goddammit! He was her partner after all.

"Nothing's bothering me. Mind your own business," he said shortly. "How did your mission with Tsu go?"

"Alright, don't tell your god your troubles! I see how it is," Black Star said. "Our mission went fine. We bagged our guy in like an hour tops. It wasn't even hard! Man, after the Moon battle everything's boring as fuck."

"Shouldn't it be a good thing that it's easy now?"

"I guess. But we've been home for more than four days and that's, like, unheard of. Even for a star like me who deserves retirement, I'd like more of a challenge, you know?"

Soul grunted. He and Maka got home three days ago from their terrible-ass mission and Kid hadn't given them anything new. Now whenever Maka isn't ignoring him, she's on his ass about studying for finals. He's been itching to go bike somewhere. Or maybe split something in half.

"Soul!"

Speak of the devil, he turned towards the sound of his meister's voice. Maka was jogging toward him with Tsugumi trailing not far behind.

"Sup?"

"I have to help Tsugumi and Meme with something tonight, so I'll be having dinner with them, okay?"

"Oh," he said, frowning. "That's cool. You gonna come home after?"

"I might, I'm not sure. I'm helping her revise for her final so it might take a while."

"Okay. Just call me if you need a ride."

"Kay. I'll race you down the stairs, Tsugumi! Bye, Soul."

Soul threw her a peace-sign as she passed and watched her descent down the stairs.

"Is Maks doing okay? She seems off, too. Flighty, for some reason," Black Star said. When did fuck he become so observant? Soul let out a frustrated burst of air and said, "I don't know. I can't be sure until she talks to me. She's been having nightmares ever since we got back."

Black Star considered the weapon across from him before asking, "How did your last mission go?"

Rolling his eyes to the drooling sun, Soul gave up. "Honestly? Really weird."

/

One week ago: Manaus, Brazil.

The brochure hid his meister from view, emblazoned with the large words: AMAZON RIVER TOUR. They were inside the tour office just having purchased their tickets from the travel agent. Pictures of local wildlife were littered all over the inside pages with an aerial photo of the massive river surrounded on both sides by thick forest. It was a stark contrast to what was around them: a modern, bustling city with planted trees and traffic. Tourists and civilians crowded the sidewalks and shop vendors shouted their prices at potential buyers.

Manaus was one of the closest cities to the Amazon Forest via port, and there were strange reports of pre-kishin activity. A string of local kidnappings had cropped up, and it was a lone soul left behind at a crime scene that had alerted Shibusen's attention. Maka had nabbed the four-star mission off the board the moment she saw it.

The job required a low profile, so they had to make do in tourist getups. Soul had wrapped his hair in a bandana and cheap visor, reluctantly exuding a 'cool' tourist vibe. He needed some sunglasses, though.

His meister abruptly folded her brochure and put it neatly in her parka. "The tour starts in about two hours, so we should grab some provisions before we head out," Maka informed him. "I just cleared it with the tour guide that we're from the DWMA and will be leaving halfway through the tour to scout the area."

"Cool. Maybe we could get some actual shopping done while we're here, too," Soul mentioned, while eyeing a sweet pair of shades from a Ray Bans store.

"We're not here to go shopping, Soul," Maka reprimanded. "But I agree, those glasses do look nice."

"Right?"

They went to the local grocery store to grab perishables and first aid before heading to the Ray Bans store. Soul snagged a decent price on a pair of aviators. Afterward, they returned to the tour agency and hogged the only couch and table to prepare for the mission. Maka plugged in her portable charger into a wall before fishing out the brochure and a separate map for reference.

"What's the plan? Fly out there, use soul perception, then repeat until you find something fishy?" Soul guessed, observing over her shoulder.

"Probably. I can't think of any other way. The reports said that there was a bunch of missing people from this village over here and here," Maka pointed at her map. "Which should be around this area on the tour map. I was thinking we could talk to the locals there? But I'm not sure about that because of the language barrier."

"Have you heard of Google translate, Maka?"

"You know it doesn't work all the time!" she countered.

"Still better than nothing," he pointed out.

"If we run out of options, we could I guess," she said dryly.

The fan hummed above them while they waited for their tour bus. Maka's pencil scratching permeated the air, and with the intense humidity, Soul almost fell asleep before being jostled by Maka. The tour guide quietly told them to get seats on the bus. They were departing.

Maka predictably picked the seat closest to the driver and tour guide, herding Soul into the window seat so she can ask her million nerd questions about Brazil. The driver spoke limited English, but their guide was amused at her enthusiasm. Soul took the time take in the scene out the window.

"So you two're from the death weapon school, right?" the guide asked amiably.

"Yeah, he's my weapon," she replied.

"And you're his, ah, handler?"

Soul snorted. "That's one way to put it." Maka elbowed him hard.

"Yeah, I'm his meister," she laughed, completely innocent.

"It's very brave of you to hunt monsters on your own," he said. "Have you thought about doing something, eh, less dangerous?"

"No, I always wanted to be a meister. My mother was one and my dad is a weapon, so I was exposed to it really early on," she explained. "And I'm not alone; Soul is with me."

"I must admit, I'm a little nervous about letting you go on your own," the guide said with furrowed eyebrows. "How are you going to find the missing people?"

"We're going to survey the area by flight first and go from there," she said. "We don't plan on staying the night there if we don't find anything. We'll fly back and probably return tomorrow. We just wanted to know the general route to and from there."

"Don't worry about us. You won't be liable if we go missing too," Soul said.

The guide blanched and then made the sign of the cross. "Bless you both."

"We appreciate it," Maka said. "It shouldn't be too hard."

/

"Well?"

"Nothing," she grunted, stomping hard on the thick branch they were standing on. The tree shivered and several leaves and tiny birds emerged, startling both of them. Apart from the two of them, the inhabitants of the forest were only natural wildlife- not a human soul in sight. They had been going at this for three hours since they left the river tour, and the humidity had them down to their last water bottle.

Maka was getting bratty and Soul knew the humidity didn't help at all. There was irritation on her heavy brow. She wiped the sweat away from her eyes and commanded him to transform again. He glared at the dark river in front of them and did what she asked.

This mission began to feel like a chore. He found it strange that she was this irritated so early on a new mission. What the heck was her problem? He tried his best not to pick a fight with her when she's keyed up, but he was hungry and the heat was kind of getting to him too.

They flew deeper and deeper into the Amazon, and the sun did not smile. It was angry, a mirror image of meister's mood. Maka steered him sharply to the left. What? There was still a lot of forest left. Why are they turning—

"I want to talk to that village nearby. We'll try that Google translate thing," she said.

"Finally. Something to do."

"Shut up," she snapped.

When they arrived at the village, it was smaller than expected. The families seem wary but after some minutes fumbling with his phone, they were able to get some questions in. Like how were their loved ones taken? Did they do anything fishy before their disappearance. Most of their questions matched the one in their report. But it seems that the villagers were not informed about who took them.

"Monster?" one woman gasped in Portuguese.

Maka typed on Soul's phone quickly. The automated sound of a Portuguese woman translated her words: "Don't worry. Our job is to fight monsters. We'll find your family and bring them back." She gave them a thumbs up and a friendly smile, but several women gave each other worrying looks. Soul found that strange, but chose not to say anything. He put his phone away and gestured for them to head out. But before he could transform, one woman came running up to them, "Wait!"

She began to speak in rapid Portuguese and gestured them to follow her. "Uh…?" said Maka and glanced at her partner. The woman grabbed her hand and deliberately led her towards a small hut. He followed them, but was interrupted by something that tugging hard on his pant leg. It was a small boy, who spoke rapidly. Soul frowned, not understanding what he said. The boy was panicking and pointed at the hut. Soul spotted Maka as she disappeared behind the straw door and attempted to placate the child before jogging after his meister.

The boy shouted something at him, but as Soul lifted the straw door, he sees Maka gagged and struggling violently between two burly men.

"Oul!" said Maka, muffled.

The women who led them here charged at him, but Soul transformed both his arms to shivs and the women instantly halted and hesitated. It was then he noticed the knife near Maka's neck that he snarled, "Let her go!"

"Drop weapon," grunted the bulkier of the two men. "Or die."

Maka's face filled with rage as he dared to bring the knife closer and stilled. Soul concentrated on her face and waited for his signal. Maka eyed to her left and he realized the other guy, who was much thinner, was unarmed and vulnerable. Dumb move.

She abruptly flailed as hard as she could and stomped hard on a foot while Soul moved to make a swift cut on a thin arm. The thin man howled and let go instinctively. The other cowered in pain but didn't let go of Maka. Soul feinted right and used the blunt end of his blade to hit the back of his head quickly and Maka used the chance to twist in the man's grip and kicked him hard in the knee.

Maka reached out and Soul felt himself hit her glove.

A moment later, the roof of the hut severed itself from the base and disintegrated. Screams filled the air while glowing white wings emerged. The little boy who tried to warn Soul peeked from behind another hut. He squinted at the blinding light and his jaw dropped when he saw a girl shoot into the air and flew away from them.

/

"Why the fuck didn't you wait for me?" Soul shouted over the wind.

They soared over the Amazon. The sun was asleep, drooling heavily on the horizon. It was twilight and they have been flying for 20 minutes away from their captors. Her pigtails whipped in the wind while she looked behind her and yelled, "I thought I could handle it!"

"We barely handled it!"

"She looked like she needed help, okay!"

"Idiot! I knew something was off with that village!"

"Well, you didn't say anything, stupid!"

"I shouldn't need to, you dumb! You should've waited for me!"

"I can take care of myself, Soul!"

"Clearly!"

They flew in stony silence while Maka steered them aimlessly deeper over the forest. Soul wanted this shitty day to end. He saw the tip of the black moon peek over the river and he decided that if he was able to see Crona, then it was probably too late to do anything.

"We should head back," he said.

Maka ignored him.

"Hey. Don't be stupid and let's head back. It's gonna get dark and we don't want to get lost."

"…"

"Maka."

"…We are lost," she mumbled.

"What?" he hissed. "What about the GPS on your phone?

"It's dead," she said, her shoulders slouched over in guilt. "I wasn't paying attention to where we're going so now I don't know where we are," she said.

He wished he could burn his eyeballs off. "Let's stop somewhere. A tree or something. I'm fucking tired."

It took a moment, but Maka complied and they chose a clearing on the edge of the river. Crickets and other unknown bugs buzzed and hummed around them. When they landed, Soul transformed and checked his phone. They were a deadzone.

"Fuck, there's no reception! Guhh!" he growled and flopped onto his back. The stars twinkled in the pink sky and unaware of their terrible run of luck. Soul pretended for a moment that they weren't lost by closing his eyes.

Their resonance was going to suffer if they continued their little spat. They had gotten better at communicating over the years, but when they did fight, it sucked. Soul sighed. He shouldn't have yelled at her. He didn't pay attention either. He was about to apologize when he heard a rustle to his right. Looking over, the spot where his meister should have been was empty and he whipped around and saw Maka walking into the forest.

"Maka!" he called out and scrambled up to follow her. Her pigtails disappeared behind a giant leaf. Waving it away, he called out to her several times, but no response. She can't be that mad, can she? Then it was when Soul noticed it: she was walking differently. Her heavy step was not focused and didn't have the slight bounce she had. Something was off.

Maka kept walking deeper into the jungle. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. Before he knew it, the wind was knocked out of him when he slammed into nearby tree by his fist. She was close enough for him to see her clouded eyes. Crap. Maka's not home. Stunned and unsure what to do, he was then let go by his possessed meister and her body ran away from him.

Catching his breath, he struggled to come up with an explanation as to what happened to his partner while he chased after her. Soul hated himself a little more for not running track with her more often because when he rounded the tree she turned on, she vanished without a trace.

"Maka! Where are you?"

/

When his legs felt like they were going to fall off, Soul collapsed to his knees. It had been hours. He was worried sick, lost, and desperately wanted a shower. Maka had their contact mirror to Kid, so he couldn't call for help. And he was very wary of the forest. All the shit he had watched on the Discovery Channel had nothing on this mission. He wasn't squeamish with bugs, but he saw some bigger than his whole arm and he rather not think about it.

What's even more disturbing was the persistent feeling of being watched. The night came fast. The grinning moon barely gave him enough light due to the trees. only blessing (or curse) he had was being able to chop high weeds with scythe arms. He can handle a bear on his own, right? Does the Amazon even have bears (probably not)? He seriously wished he had soul perception right now.

It was a bad idea to stay still in one place, but Soul had no inkling on how to find his meister. He ran his hands into his hair. What would Maka do? The sound of a twig snapping to his right made him pause. Lifting his head, glowing yellow eyes was in point blank range.

Soul backed up and squirreled into a nearby tree. A cloud parted and dim moonlight streamed through the thin branches. A black panther was revealed in front of him. It would have been a majestic sight to behold had it not been actually happening. Without many other options, Soul transformed completely into a scythe and clanged noisily on the ground. No blood loss if he's metal, right? Hopefully, it'll lose interest and leave.

The panther slowly approached to where he was, unafraid. Soul's scythe eye watched it sniff him several times, rubbing its wet nose near the blade. The cat peered down at his eye and he couldn't look away. Then the panther seemed to make a decision. It opened his big jaws and Soul squeezed his eye shut, hoping for the best.

A moment later, Soul felt himself being dragged across the ground. He peeked and saw the jungle moving. The jungle cat had more strength than he'd expected - he was in its mouth! The panther's maw clamped around the shaft and carried him like an average cat toy!

What the actual fuck?

Soul permitted himself to be carried. Sure, why not.