The Hunter and His Prey
"What was that?" Naruto asked, suddenly jumping up and looking back the way they came.
"Nothing," Zelda answered. "You're probably just imagining things."
"I could have sworn I... listen, there it was again."
This time Zelda jumped up as well. There was definitely something down the hall, just past the corner. They couldn't see it yet, but they could begin hearing it. The sound of footsteps on stone, though what kind of person could have steps that sounded like that neither of them could even begin to guess. When it rounded the corner, though, they both just gaped in horror. Before them stood a minotaur, at least 8 feet tall not counting his horns. His upper body was of a musculature not possible for human beings, with its legs being somewhat smaller but still no laughing matter – a good kick from that could probably knock the wind out of you, particularly when you considered the hooves at the very end. Oh no, this was not going to be easy at all.
Unlike the others, Zelda and Naruto had not progressed through the maze to the point where there was nothing but stone around them. Their way was still lit by chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, which gave them a much better idea of the foe they faced than the others could get from their half-lit surroundings. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was up for debate, though.
Naruto had his sword out and ready, but it was shaking slightly. While he was something of a fool, even he could tell that he stood no chance against this enemy. "Z-zelda... we should run for it. There's just no way...."
"I don't think running would do any good. He looks really fast, too." Zelda had yet to completely lose her composure like Naruto, but she had visibly paled, her eyes clearly showing the fear she had managed to at least marginally control. So far.
Naruto looked at her like she was completely insane, but as the minotaur started charging he had to admit she had a point. It was a giant brown blur, moving at a speed that seemed impossible to Naruto. There was no way something that damn big could move that damn fast.
It seemed to be going for Zelda, but at the last second Naruto found himself jumping in the way, blocking that massive ax with his sword. That block cost him a lot, though, and he was forced to his knee in a matter of seconds before the beast pulled back, getting ready for another swing. It was then that Zelda came up with a strategy for getting away from this beast.
The hallways they had traversed varied in how wide they were, with some being so wide that the entire party could walk side by side, while others were so narrow that not even these two would have to walk single file. Up until now Zelda didn't pay it any attention, but now that she thought about it perhaps it was designed that way on purpose. This thing was a huge hulking beast, so maybe if they could find a narrow hallway, it wouldn't be able to follow.
"Naruto, follow me!"
"What!?"
"I have an idea for escape! Just c'mon!"
Naruto jumped up and followed her, barely dodging another swing in the process. Zelda scanned the walls for doors, cracks, anything. Finding a door to her right, he lunged into it, breaking it and showing another split hallway. Fortunately, the left one seemed narrow enough, and she rushed into it, Naruto only a step behind.
The beast howled in fury, swinging its great ax into the hallway and knicking the back of Naruto's left foot, which tripped him up and sent him sprawling to the ground. Still, he crawled as fast as he could, but when he looked back he saw that it was still standing at the edge of the hallway. It could probably have squeezed in if it wanted to, but then it wouldn't have been able to fight. Either way, it howled a terrible cry again and turned around, vanishing from sight.
By this time, Zelda was running back to help Naruto. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, starting to get up before yelling in pain. Zelda looked at his foot. The back of his shoe and sock were missing, and in their place was a torrent of blood that was already pooling behind him. "Maybe not," he amended, his breath hissing between his teeth.
"Hold still," she ordered, ripping most of her right sleeve off to wrap his foot up with. She carefully removed what remained of the shoe, which was little more than a comfortable-sized bit of leather shaped to be put around his foot, and began wrapping up his foot. Tightly.
"I think that's a little too tight, Zelda. Maybe you sho-- ow!" She had bonked him on the head.
"Shut up. It needs to be tight to stop the bleeding." After she was done, she looked at him, her gaze rather... focused. Naruto wasn't used to being the center of such intent focus, and looked away blushing slightly. It was then that Zelda threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're ok."
Naruto made noises that would indicate he was in pain, which was due, at least in part, to just how tightly she was hugging him at the moment.
"Can't... breathe..."
~.~
Auron was locked in a duel to the death. There was no doubt about that now. While he had finally managed to get a few attacks in, cutting his enemy here or there shallowly, it was clear who the winner would be if this continued. While he had yet to sustain any injuries himself, barring a jarred hand that still felt a little stiff even after a few minutes, he knew it was only a matter of time before his enemy would manage to deliver a finishing blow.
A dodge, a duck, another dodge. Blocking his powerful swings hurt too much, so Auron was testing his agility for the first time in over two decades. Despite his age, he was still pretty spry, and was able to keep any part of him from meeting that ax. For now.
The minotaur swung down, with Auron dodging to the right. Switching hands, he used his left to cut into the minotaur's left arm, with the blow being deeper than any before. In fact, he felt the blade jar suddenly, and with a motion he let the blade slide out of the arm as he ran forward. Auron had, for the first time since the battle started, got a really deep cut. He had, in fact, hit bone.
The beast roared in anger and pain, and, dropping his ax, moved his right hand to cradle the sudden wound. Auron thanked the stars: if he was lucky, the beast wouldn't be able to use its left arm anymore. And, indeed, the left arm went limp, which caused the minotaur to howl yet again, then briskly turn around and charge at Auron with its horns. Auron saw this coming and, ducking, swung his sword upward, getting another cut into the chest before dodging out of the way, avoiding being run over and trampled. This was the third time he's managed to do this, but none of the cuts were able to cause any real damage. Just another line of pain for the minotaur to endure.
Auron was breathing heavily. Even if his body didn't seem to tire while he was exploring the maze at his brisk pace, this battle was certainly taxing him. He would have to manage an escape soon if he didn't defeat his foe in so long, or else his endurance would run out and the minotaur would have quite the easy kill.
The minotaur, however, seemed to have other ideas, and after casting Auron one last hate filled glance, it took off down the corridor, vanishing into the darkness. Auron sighed with relief and, after a moment, practically collapsed onto the stone below. He lay there for several minutes, just breathing and letting his battle rage leave him. Finally, feeling somewhat cold, he got up and, after determining which way he had come from, continued down the hallway as if nothing had really happened. It was also the direction the minotaur had fled in, but that didn't bother Auron: that minotaur had run to lick its wounds, and it would take time for them to heal. Particularly that left arm.
Pausing for a moment to look at his enemy's ax, he tried to pick it up, but when he touched it his hand jerked back, and he briefly cried out in pain. His hand was suddenly raw and blistered, for the ax felt like it burned to the touch. Ripping off a bit of his sleeve to wrap his left hand it, he shouldered his own blade again and once again began walking down the hallway, his mind going over the path he had taken just far and the battle he had just fought.
~.~
Ichigo's battle was still going strong. The size of his blade had, so far, worked to his advantage, and it wasn't as hard on him to block the ax swings as it was on Naruto and Auron. L was so far staying back, holding his blade ready to take an opportunistic hit.
That first kick of the battle had taken its toll on them, and Ichigo had just barely been able to get up and block that first swing after the enemy had gotten its ax back. Since then it's been a desperate struggle, with Ichigo completely on the defensive the entire time. Unlike Auron, who could see and, on occasion, exploit the openings his enemy gave him, Ichigo didn't have battle trained eyes, and at every point he was blocking or dodging, both him and his enemy remaining unscathed. For the moment, at least: Ichigo was beginning to wear under his enemy's constant assault. If it wasn't the ax, it was a horn. If not a horn, a well timed kicked. This enemy seemed very skilled in the art of combat, and Ichigo found himself being pressed back, which was really something considering he was moving around the enemy trying to time his own attack.
The minotaur brought the ax back for another swing, and Ichigo, tired of constantly being on the defensive, decided to use this opportunity to attack. Swinging his large sword toward his enemy's head, he was convinced he had managed a pivotal attack for his winning this battle. However, the minotaur merely lowered his head, and Ichigo's swing hit a horn instead.
The beast made a sound that Ichigo could only guess what a chuckle, and started his downward arc, his ax aimed at Ichigo's neck. Ichigo pushed on his blade, wanting to finish the swing and block the enemy's attack. This pushed the minotaur over, and instead of finishing its swing it brought its right arm down to stop itself from falling. Ichigo used this as an opportunity to try and stab it, but the minotaur merely dodged out of the way, rolling before coming up to a standing position again, preparing another swing.
Ichigo took a couple of steps back, and the ax completed its journey harmlessly with him being just out of reach. Ichigo was breathing heavily, tiring from the constant exertion. If that opportunity had presented itself earlier in the battle, he was sure he would have been fast enough to give the enemy at least a flesh wound. He was slowing down. At the very least, it seemed the minotaur was breathing a little more heavily now, even if his breaths weren't the desperate gulps of air Ichigo's breathing was.
Each stared the other down for a moment, measuring the state of their opponent's fatigue, comparing that level of fatigue with their own, and planning accordingly. The minotaur, however, had completely forgotten about L. Over the course of the exchange, Ichigo had, quite by accident, gotten the minotaur to face away from the other opponent, and L had taken this time to sneak up behind the enemy and drive his blade into its back. The blade didn't get as deep as L was hoping it would, since the enemy reacted quickly, moving forward and preparing to turn around, intending to kill the fool that dared try to sneak up on him.
L, sensing he was in danger, quickly withdrew his blade and backed up, preparing to run. However, hearing Ichigo's footsteps behind it, the minotaur was forced to dodge to the side, not wanting to turn its back on either of these enemies. Ichigo's sword swing missed, but the minotaur didn't take advantage of the wide opening its enemy foolishly gave him. Despite the fact that it was obvious that the pale human with dark hair off to the side wasn't much of a fighter, the minotaur didn't want to give him another opening even if it meant finishing off the orange haired one.
Taking another step back, the minotaur backed up against the wall, which put both enemies within his field of vision. Ichigo and L regrouped, both facing the enemy with their blades pointed at it.
"Good thinking there, L."
"Thanks. It seems he wasn't completely unaware of me, though. Either that or it has a very high reaction speed."
"Either way, it seems we won't be winning this. Any ideas?"
L was quiet for a few seconds. "We could try finding a smaller hallway. There was one a bit back that way, if I remember right. If we can get in there, it shouldn't be able to follow us. We'll be spared... at least for the moment."
Ichigo nodded, pleased to have an escape.
The minotaur was feeling the wound L gave it tenderly. While it was bleeding, the wound was rather shallow and, despite being a constant source of mild pain, not a problem. It wouldn't slow the beast down at all. Grunting, it prepared its next move, ready to strike against the orange haired on.
Lunging forward, it swing at Ichigo, who was once again on the defensive, blocking that mighty attack with his sword. While he was busy with that, the minotaur aimed a kick at L, who barely dodge it in time, rolling to the side, putting him behind the minotaur again.
It wasn't going to have that, though, and again ran off to the side, facing both of them.
"That hallway should be behind us now, Ichigo," L said, ready to make a run for it. "Off to the left."
Ichigo nodded, and, after a few seconds, the two turned tail and ran. Ichigo proved to be a little faster than L, but when he saw the hallway in question he turned around to face the beast again. L ran past, literally jumping into the doorway. Ichigo was forced to block one last swing, but then he too jumped into the hallway, leaving an angry minotaur in the corridor they just left.
The minotaur looked down the hallway at the two, then it turned and seemed to leave. "I vote for going this way," Ichigo said, pointing down forward into the hallway.
"Good idea," L agreed, and together they stood up and walked onward, away from the beast they just left. The beast howled behind them, but for the moment they were safe.
"It wouldn't surprise me if that thing could break walls," L said. That thought caused them to pick up their pace a bit, even if it seemed it wasn't going to try crashing in after them. As the adrenaline died down in their systems and they were able to calm down a bit, though, they stopped to rest. L wasn't that tired, but Ichigo was on the verge of collapse. "It seems battle will still tire you out, even if running around for half an hour won't."
"No... joke...," Ichigo said between breaths. After a moment, though, as his breathing eased, he said, "It's strange, though. Toward the end there I wasn't feeling as tired as I knew I should have. It was like... I had more energy all of a sudden, but that energy didn't feel the same. It felt... different... it felt like more than just..." Ichigo struggled for words, but he couldn't think of how to describe it.
"It was probably coming from deep within your soul," L said. "I've come to the conclusion that we're not in our physical bodies, even if it feels like we are. Despite the similarities, this feels a little different. It isn't that I feel lighter, per se, but that I feel less... solid, if you understand me."
"I don't."
L nodded, expecting as much. "Well, if what I think is true, and if some of what I read pans out, then what you were experiencing there was something akin to drawing out latent potential from your soul."
Ichigo looked at L, dumbfounded. He didn't completely get what that meant, but it held a ring of truth to it when he thought back to how it felt. L continued speaking, so Ichigo ended his brief reflection on the matter.
"From what I understand, there's a sect of monks high in the mountains to the south of our village that train themselves to do just that. However, according to the text I read, the physical body ultimately gets in the way from truly accomplishing the task. If that's the case, then perhaps out of the body we may be able to really do so. Perhaps even on an unconscious level, based on your experience."
Ichigo nodded. Truth be told, he had stopped listening halfway through L's 'thinking-out-loud' monologue, but L wouldn't have cared if he knew. He was trying to figure this out for himself. This, and the nature of their current state at the moment. If they made it out of this round alive, he had several questions for Ryuk, and he was going to get answers.
