"Ouch!" Rock yelped and raised her left hand to rub her forehead as she stumbled backwards. "Why'd you have to hit me so-"
Rock suddenly paused when she heard her own voice. Her own voice. Then she noticed that her hand was covered in a familiar black glove and that she was wearing a black coat...
Rock looked down and saw the familiar bikini, shorts and combat boots. Then she moved her left hand from her forehead to touch her hair and noticed they were longer. Well, longer than Mato's hair that is.
No doubt about it, she was back in her original body. She could feel the strength and power from her limbs and felt the familiar spark in here eye...
"Don't be too excited, we're still not back in our world."
Rock turned around to see Gold, back in her own body as well. The familiar short jacket and pants, black armored boots and bikini top. The curved red horns and her skeletal claws were there as well. And of course, the red flame burning on her right eye.
Then Rock noticed that their surrounding had changed. Rather than at some hill overlooking the city, they were surrounded in a huge rocky dome with a huge opening at the top to reveal a crescent moon. Jagged rocks were scattered around them, forming various cliffs, caverns, boulders and such. The floor was also in checkered black and white. It looked a lot like one of the places she wandered back in their home world, but something felt off...
"This is just an illusion, or rather, an crude imitation," Gold explained Rock's unsaid question. "The area we're in is an image you have in your mind," she said while pointing at her head. "Basically, we're inside your mind. Or soul if you prefer."
The inside of my mind huh.
"However," Gold continued as she raised her right arm. "That doesn't mean we are fake here," she said as the air around her glowed red, then she casually reached inside it and pulled out her signature sword, the King Saw. Gold flicked her wrist and cleanly sliced one of the jagged rocks in two from the side. She watched the top section slide and fall to the ground with a thud before dispersing her weapon.
Rock held out her hand just like Gold and began to concentrate on her weapon. True enough, the air around her started glowing blue and from that her personal weapon formed, the Rock Shooter. Once she held it, Rock could feel the same toughness and stable weight of the Rock Shooter, felt her body relax at the familiarity and security. Then she raised the barrel to her right and shot down several of the rocky formations, scattering debris all over.
Rock wanted to keep shooting more pieces but stopped when Gold's hand clamped down on her weapon and lowered it slightly, "You can have your fun later, right now lets just finish our objective here."
"...right," Rock reluctantly agreed and dispersed Rock Shooter. As fun as it was to go all out after not having any of her weapons days ago, it was more important to ensure Mato's safety. "So, what are we supposed to do here?"
"We're here in order to look for your host," Gold explained while looking around the area. "I'm assuming that perhaps your transfer here went awry or something, and that messed up your connection with the girl," she said before leaping on top of a large boulder. "Finding her should fix the connection, or establish it if it wasn't there."
Considering that they already 'met' each other before, Rock doubted that she had to establish a connection. At the very least, Rock could still feel a small connection to Mato.
"So we just need to find her around here, huh," Rock muttered as she looked around the area. She also jumped upward and landed on the rock next to Gold's boulder.
It was really large and there didn't seem to be anything that could be landmarks... aside from the ones she shot down and the rock Gold cut. The dome at least served as a limiter, meaning the area of their search wouldn't be endless. It would still take them quite a long while to search everything.
"We'll split up to cover more ground," Gold said as she pointed in one direction. "I will take this side while you take the other."
"Roger that," Rock reflexively replied before she could stop herself.
Gold looked at her with surprise for a second before turning back to her neutral expression. She merely shrugged at Rock's reply before leaping towards the direction she chose. Rock silently cursed to herself before heading in the opposite direction.
"Now where could that girl be?" Rock wondered out loud. She had arrived to the edge of the dome to begin her search, barely feeling or noticing anything during her trek. That was while moving fast though, so she may have missed Mato.
Now then, which direction to start...
"... left," Rock decided randomly. The entire area looked practically the same, rocks and more rocks, so there wasn't much to think about.
Rock then tuned to her left and started walking.
...
Walking.
...
Running.
...
Jumping.
...
This place is so boring...
Rock was used to hunting and searching for people, and it would often take several days, perhaps even weeks, before she found them. But those journeys were at least interesting, she would occasionally see something new or different along the way. The environment would often change. Or at least she'd meet some enemy to face.
In here though, it was just rocks and rocks and rocks and...
Rock stopped walking when she noticed a particular crack on one of the large stones. She'd already seen tons of cracks on the other rocks, but this one was much larger than the others. Large enough for a person.
Testing her theory, Rock walked towards the rock and tried pushing her body inside. She fit well enough and-
"Whoa," Rock suddenly found the ground crumble before her and fell forward. She shifted her body on time to avoid getting her head smacked and was able to land on her feet without problems on the floor. Rock slowly raised her head to look around her surroundings.
It was dark, much more darker than outside as there wasn't any source of light except for the crack above her. It wasn't a problem for Rock though, as she just ignited the flame on her eye to shine the entire cavern. Rock slowly turned around until she found the person she was looking for.
Mato Kuroi.
The person in question was huddled up in one of the corners of the cavern. She had one of her hands over her eyes, likely shielding them from the sudden light from Rock. Eventually though, Mato's eyes adjusted, and she lowered her hands to have a look. Surprise then relief passed on her face as she got up slowly and walked towards Rock.
"You're here? Really here?" Mato asked. She was walking rather unsteadily...
Rock moved forward and caught Mato before she could slip. It seemed that the girl had scraped her knees, probably from the fall. Her uniform was also dirty from the dust and dirt. She was slightly weak right now, but otherwise Mato is relatively fine. Now Rock could get some peace in her mind.
"...yes, I am here," Rock answered after a brief moment. "I'm going to get you out of here and back to your home."
Mato just nodded and closed her eyes, seemingly too tired to say anything right now. Rock carried her and gently placed her far from the opening. Then the air around her started glowing blue before Rock pulled out her trustworthy sword, the Black Blade.
Rock jumped upward and sliced at the hole, making the opening bigger. Then she dispelled it and picked up Mato bridal style before leaping towards the hole and back into the domed area. Rock carefully laid Mato in a sitting position against one of the rocks. Mato opened her eyes for a second to give Rock a small smile then closed them again to rest.
Rock observed Mato for a few seconds to make sure she was doing fine before leaping and landing on one of the large rocks. She looked around the area, trying to see if she could spot Gold. When she didn't, Rock summoned up her Rock Shooter, thinking of using a shot to signal Gold.
"Oh you found her now?" the familiar voice of Gold came from somewhere to Rock's right. Rock turned to see Gold a few feet away on the ground floor, walking towards them.
Rock jumped off her spot and was about to walk towards Gold when she noticed something. Gold was wielding King Saw on her right hand. It wasn't an odd sight actually, everyone tended to carry their weapons all the time back in their world. But something just seemed off...
"...yes," Rock answered after a while. "Turns out that she fell in a hole inside a rock," she pointed at the large rock with a gaping hole courtesy of her sword.
"I see..." Gold said looking over the hole then turned to see a small figure sitting against one of the rocks. "So that's her huh," Gold started walking towards the girl when Rock suddenly stepped in front of her. "...what are you doing?"
"What are you doing?" Rock reflected the question back. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Gold, who just raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"You know Rock, its bad manners to ask a question after being asked a question," Gold sighed. "But fine, I'll answer your question," Gold jerked her left hand towards Mato, "I'm here to ensure that there's no nuisances that will give us trouble," Gold tried stepping around Rock but stopped when said girl grabbed her arm.
Gold twisted her head to give Rock an annoyed look but stopped when she saw the burning blue flame. Rock tightened her grip and then swung Rock Shooter towards Gold's head. Gold quickly moved King Saw to block the blow before igniting her red flame.
Sparks flied as they pushed their weapons at each other for a few seconds before Rock let go and jumped backwards several feet away. Rock quickly then picked up Mato and moved her several meters away from the area before going back to her original position a few feet from Gold, with her Rock Shooter pointing towards the red eyed girl. Gold for her part just positioned King Saw sideways in front of her lest Rock shoot.
"What the hell are you doing, Rock?" Gold asked in disbelief.
Rock wasn't going to be fooled this time though. Gold is just trying to get her to lower her guard, which she nearly did earlier. She must have been planning this since the start!
"I wont let you kill Mato," Rock said resolutely as the barrel of her gun started glowing with power.
"Rock, you-"
Her words were cut off as Rock fired.
I was intending to use Rock's inner world as the setting, but I cant remember clearly so I just went with this instead. if she had any really, cause from what I remember from the anime, rock and mato duel was just free space everywhere. also, I suck at setting description.
anyways guys, keep reading and reviewing.