I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been busy at home and haven't gotten too many chances on the computer. And when I've been on, I've completely forgotten... *sweatdrops* Anyways, I have finally updated, and I hope you enjoy. Personally, I feel this chapter isn't as good, but maybe you'll feel otherwise. Also, I have a poll up asking if I should add Slenderman to the main plot. Either way, I'll write a side story that involves him, but I'd really enjoy your input!
/"Jimmy! Please, turn the tv off and come have dinner!"/ A woman's angry voice could be heard through the drywall.
Spirit and Stein looked over at the wall. They crept over and put their ears against the wall.
/"Let him be, Dear. He'll come in when he's hungry."/ A man, probably the husband.
/"No! It's been a while since we've eaten at the table together, the three of us! Jimmy! Turn that thing off!"/
/"M-mom! D-dad!"/ It was a young boy's voice. Stein could barely make out the quiver of fear in the boy's voice through the sound muffling barrier. /"Th-the news..."/
In the next few seconds, Stein and Spirit could hear the news report.
/"Reports are coming in that there is a kishin roaming the streets in north-east Death City. Citizens are advised-"/
With that, Stein and Spirit were out the door in five seconds flat.
Karietta stopped in the middle of the street and sniffed the air. Yes... It's near!
She continued cautiously into the intersection, like a lion stalking it's prey.
THWACK!
Karietta sailed a few feet. She turned and hissed at whatever had hit her.
Stein looked down at the strange kishin he had just hit. He had never seen anything like it before. It hissed at him. He held Spirit loftily, waiting for it to attack him. He didn't have to wait long; it jumped straight for his head. He swung Spirit around and pinned it to the ground, its throat between the heel of the blade and the cruciform tang. It struggled briefly before staring up at him wide-eyed. Stein chuckled to himself; he might just cage it and take it home instead of claiming its soul for Lord Death. Just as he started to wonder what it would look like as he performed vivisection on it, something hit him hard in the back, sending him flying.
Karietta got to her feet as fast as she could, rubbing her throat. She looked up with loathing at the giant kishin that had so easily flung Stein. She hissed and hopped into the air. It swung its large claws around, cutting into her side as she flew by. She landed on its shoulder, nearly falling off due to the pain in her side. She swung herself behind its head, digging her fingers into its beefy neck. She willed her nails to lengthen and harden into claws. A dark, red-brown fluid began trailing over and through her fingers. The kishin swung about its head furiously, trying frenetically to shake Karietta of her grip. She nearly lost when she noticed Stein stand up...
Stein stood up unsteadily, holding onto Spirit as if he was some sort of lifeline. He looked up at the giant kishin that had snuck up on him. He blinked, activating his soul sense, and noticed two souls before him, a kishin egg and regular, strong human soul. The human soul was the creature he had mistaken for a kishin; but if it wasn't a kishin and it had a human soul, then what the hell was it?
Stein decided not to dwell on that; the kishin was now focused on him. It swung one of its large, sinewy arms. Stein rolled out of the way, barely escaping a death by flattening. He jumped up in the air, swinging Spirit around. The kishin flung its other arm in the air to defend itself. The scythe went straight through the flesh, slicing the arm off. As it hit the ground, the kishin's displaced arm disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
With Stein and Spirit distracting the kishin, Karietta took the chance to finish it off, pulling her arms back, slowly slicing the head off. The beast flung Stein again just as Karietta rendered it decapitated and deceased. The kishin's body turned black and began swirling around a bright red soul, growing smaller and smaller before completely disintegrating. Karietta fell to the ground. She gripped her side, the pain becoming almost unbearable.
Stein stepped up to the kishin soul. He held Spirit loosely in his hand, allowing the red-headed male to return to his human form. Spirit reached out to the soul, gripping it between three fingers. He began to bring it toward his mouth when he heard a whimper come from the wounded, nightmarish creature that lay on the ground in front of him. He looked at it, saw the pain in its eyes. He looked it over, barely making out the feminine features of its body.
Karietta stared sorrowfully up at Spirit. He watched her with warm, pitiful, and caring eyes while Stein examined her with a cold, critical, scientific eye, mental dissecting her with an equally cold, critical, scientific mind. Spirit, having seen the pain in her eyes and noticing the large gaping wound in her side, knelt down beside her. When he held the kishin egg out to her, Stein spoke up.
"What are you doing?" Stein demanded. They didn't know what this thing was and for all they knew, it might very well try to kill them.
"She's hurt, Stein. The Egg might help her recover." Spirit looked up at Stein, then back at Karietta, leaning forward towards her. "Besides, she is the one that killed it. It would be wrong for me to take what's rightfully hers."
"We don't even know what it is." Stein argued, but Spirit ignored him, handing the soul to Karietta. She took it, sitting up slowly, so as not to have pain shoot up her side, and ate it savoringly.
Once she finished it, her side wound went from a bright fleshy pink to a drab scabby brown color. Karietta stood slowly, stared at Stein and Spirit for a moment, then ran off.
Spirit stood there pondering; he could have sworn that it had given him a subtle, grateful nod.
Please, don't forget to vote on my Slenderman poll! You can find it on my profile. Sincerely, Zarathna.