A man with shoulder length brown hair tied into a ponytail came running out of the bushes. He stopped in front of Maka, stunned. She could see fear in his eyes as well as…recognition? And a scar over his left cheek. Before either could say anything another growl was heard behind the man. They turned to the demon coming towards them. From what she could tell, the demon had red skin with silver white hair reaching mid back and horns sticking out of its head. He wore only a loin cloth and carried a huge black club. He growled and lunged at them.
"Out of the way!" Yelled Maka as she pushed the guy to the side. She jumped sideways avoiding the monsters club by inches. Once her feet touched the ground she rushed at the demon and performed a spinning sweep kick. The demons leg was hard but she moved it enough to make it lose some balance. With her left arm she punched him and sent him stammering backwards. She let rage fill her. The adrenaline that filled her was more than enough to fill her with enough power to handle this demon even unarmed.
"You can't kill this thing unarmed, Meister, we have to get out of here, more are on the way! Follow me I know a…"
"Shut up! I'll deal with you once I've dealt with these damn demons!" more started to surround them. Even without her weapon partner she would find a way out of this…
"Maka for the last time I don't trust that jerk and neither should you! I mean we don't even know anything about this guy!" Soul declared as they walked through the forest. He had his arms behind his head and walked with a pissed off look. Maka merely kept walking and followed their guide. The man that had greeted them earlier in front of the art studio.
"Keep your voice down Soul, otherwise he'll hear you."
"Good! I want him to freaking… argh!" exasperated by his childish manner, Maka tripped him and he fell face first to the ground, arms spread forward in a failed attempt to catch himself. Squatting in front of him she lowered her voice so only he could hear.
"Look, he's the only one who was willing to take us this far into the forest. After we finished securing the perimeter we didn't exactly have a lead to where the hide out might be now did we? Scott is a local and he knows this forest like the back of his hand or so he claims so unless you have a better plan we will follow him to where he says strange things seem to occur." Lifting his head, Soul faced Maka nose to nose and glared.
"Then why is it every time he talks to you, you turn into a dumb blabbering idiot!" That earned him a Deadly Maka Chop.
"Um excuse me but is everything alright?" Maka stood up and turned to Scott with a bright smile. Scott was truly a sight to behold. He was well built do to him being an outdoors man. His hazel eyes could capture any woman's heart in an instant. His short black hair added his good looks. On the way they had made small talk and she learned that he was only 17.
"Yes of course! Don't mind my partner." Scott looked to Soul's twitching body on the ground and merely smiled at Maka.
"Well then the path ahead will lead you to the cavern. I would continue leading you but…I can't go back there."
"Too scared huh?" Soul said with a smug smile as he got up but was quickly met with Maka's fist.
"No... I lost my father to a cave in 3 years ago in there. Ever since then I haven't gone in. I guess I was never truly able to get over the pain. I'm sorry you don't need to be bored with my past Meister Maka."
"No its... it's no bother. I don't know the loss of a parent but I can imagine it would be painful."
"You are lucky. I was very close to my father even though he had his negative qualities….he was still my father."
'Does she really believe this jerk? And she tells me to focus on the freaking mission. She can really be annoying at times. I bet Kid and the others are having a better time with reinforcing the stronghold.' Soul pouted while the two talked. In the distance he noticed grey clouds approaching them. He scowled.
'Great now it looks like it's gonna rain.'
"Hey if we're going to do this then we'd better hurry before the storm approaches. You'd better run back to the others before things get messy." Maka walked past them and went straight to the entrance.
"Please take great care. I shall await your return."
"Right, come on Soul." He tsked and as soon as he took the first step forward a surging pain shot through his back. Soul let out an agonizing cry as he sank to the floor, trying to reach his back. Maka turned around just in time to see Soul on the ground and Scott's hand had turned into claws. On them was Soul's blood. Scott's face had turned that into the very thing they had come to kill. A demon.
"Poor, defenseless, girl. Without your weapon you are useless. I shall enjoy killing you."
Three demons were now dead but there were still more coming. Maka wasn't about to lose to these things. She would never be able to forgive herself if she allowed her partner to die. 4 demons charged at them and even more followed. The man with the scar had jumped onto a tree to stay out of the way.
'How did I not feel Scott's soul? It didn't even feel like that of a demon!' she punched a demon in the face and dodged an attack. Running to another she jumped his attack and placed her foot on his face and performed a backflip bringing her knee down on another demon successfully driving it down its neck and breaking it. Two demons swiped at her with their claws but she jumped high. One succeeded in his target and sliced her side. Breathing heavily she stared at her opponents. Her eye sight was going blurry as the mixture of hours of fighting and blood loss was affecting her. They were roaring with victory and two charged at her. As she faced her attackers everything seemed to slow down.
Her breathing slowed but her heart rate seemed to increase. She would go down fighting if she had to. Suddenly everything became…different. A strange feeling began to form inside her as she was filled with even more adrenaline. Her heart felt like it would explode. Screams filled the night as thunder and lightning resonated in the sky. The lightning revealed a horrific scene. The two demons had been pierced with sharp blades that appeared from Maka's shoulders. She raises her head and with cold eyes stated.
"Your soul is mine!"
*As a reward for waiting almost a month for me to update I present to you ch 8! Again sleep deprivation is my sacrifice but your reviews and support is a great reward! Thank you everyone and ch 9 will be up soon*
