Ahem, what's this? A semi-quick update? I think it is indeed, isn't that novel?
I wet my lips and taste the air. There's no scent: it's not just the absence of the expected sweetness, but the lack of any scent at all. The mass of red-tinged yellow simply doesn't have a smell.
Above it stretches a branch, one of many that hang over our charred space. At least, I think it's a branch. It's hard to tell. More of the gooey golden substance encases the wood, leaves barely poking out their tips in desperation to breathe. Another chunk looks ready to drip off.
It looks almost elastic, like flesh that's softened from being dead too long, the type you can push into with your hand and still gives resistance, but takes the shape you push it into.
Although I don't move towards it, Killua warns, "Don't go near it."
Not knowing what to think of it, my voice carries no distinct emotion when I say, "Wasn't planning on it." We stare at it for a few more seconds before I ask, "What is it?"
He doesn't answer. At first I assume it's because he doesn't know, but then I wonder if maybe there's some reason he doesn't want the thing in the forest to hear his answer. Either way, I'm not getting a response.
There's no beehive I can see and no sickeningly sweet smell, so I doubt it's honey, but other than that I don't know what to think. Another unknown. A chilling unnerving tickles the back of my mind.
The next drip melds with the first and doubles the size of the glob. Another one lands a foot closer.
Killua clicks his tongue, then he's on his feet and pulling me. The sudden change has me rigid. I plant my feet.
"Why're we moving?"
He huffs, "Make up your mind! Look!"
He points at the trees and continues to tug me forward. All around the edges of our 'sanctuary', branches glisten with different amounts of gold that weren't there before. My throat clogs as I realize that if we stay, whatever this stuff it, it'll have us surrounded. The forest may be a net, but the gold could very well end up being glue that fills in the gaps.
Just as we delve back into the trees, gold streaks past my head and I simultaneously jerk away reflexively and am yanked away from it by the arm. I collide with Killua's side and stare at the glob on the ground with shaky breaths. The urge to furiously stomp the stuff into non existence swells in my chest.
Killua keeps me moving and I reason that I definitely don't want it touching me.
After we've gotten a distance away, he says, "It seems like tree resin. What do you think?"
Tree resin? Does he mean like sap? "That was too much, what tree makes that much?"
"As long as we're in this jungle don't assume anything is natural."
"Yeah, I got that." Even with our hands clasped together, I keep as close to Killua as I can. "Now we look for Naii."
He nods, but I feel neither relief nor joy at his agreement. If things weren't how they are, I'd hope she disappears and we never see her again. But things are the way they are, so the next question is how to search. When I bring this up to Killua, though, he cuts me off.
"You look in your way, I'll look in mine. If we organize together we'll be figured out."
"There's no guarantee they'll hear us." But there's no guarantee they won't, either, so I don't push it any more. I continue to wet my lips as we go. The fact of the matter is, although my body is far more durable than the humans it mimics, most of my senses are probably their level. Most ants only have one or two senses they're proficient in, and for me, it's taste. Or smell. Really, there's not much of a difference. Every 'taste' I smell and every 'smell' I taste, and my tongue and nose are very good at what they do. Unfortunately, it's a sense that specializes in trace scents. It won't be much use unless we pass through an area Naii's already been. However Killua found me is probably more reliable. Honestly, he says he's human, but I might as well stop thinking of him in that way. He's just a category of his own.
Nothing I catch reminds me of the dark skinned woman. It's just the ever-present damp soil, the occasional whiff of flowers I immediately close my lips to, and the constant, subtle musk of Killua's slight perspiration. None of it's what I'm looking for, and two of the three are especially distracting.
In the distance, a faint scream rips through the growing darkness.
We both stop moving. My other hand instinctively grabs onto Killua, and he stares at me. We both heard it.
There was something horrifically familiar about that voice.
We start moving towards it. My heart about leaps out of my mouth and I try to slow him down in vain.
"WHY?"
"Do you want to find Naii or not?"
We keep pushing on, and my panic worsens when I start to realize that it's not just ash below my feet. Killua's begun to miss sprouts in his path-burning. I immediately pool my aura to my feet in fear of the roots' return.
It's getting harder to see. The sun's long past its peak, and the shadows engorge with the coming of night. It isn't long before I can no longer see the steadily increasing foliage at my feet, only feel it. Killua's hair and skin are light, but his clothes are dark. If I were to lose track of him now, I may not be able to find him back.
My hand once again strangles his. I don't bother to loosen it.
The flashes of blue electricity all but stop, and we shove our way through could-be-claws in near complete darkness. I'm forced to begin searching for scent again in an effort to have some awareness of our surroundings.
Every now and again, a sliver of moonlight makes it through the trees, and I take slight comfort in seeing the familiar bluish illumination on Killua's hair.
…will be…
The murmuring's too soft to make out what they're saying, and I hastily run my surge of aura over my whole body, unable to see where they've attached. The non noise goes silent and I press my tongue hard against the back of my teeth in an effort not to completely freak. Killua's right, they tried to disorient me first. I need to keep my cool.
This damn forest! I've always, always been able to keep my cool in the past! It's making me pathetic! I am not some helpless little food like Alluka! I just want to bite the fucker and be done with it!
The bugs have stopped their chirping. The only noise is the rustle we make.
I catch a new scent and tug at Killua's hand. I can't see if he turns to look at me, so I go ahead and whisper, "Naii."
He squeezes my hand to let me know he heard. The trace leads in the direction we're already headed, so I take heed and don't say anything else.
Shortly after we freeze.
In a large slice of moonlight, a shape presses tight against a tree. Fuzzy moss and batches of mushrooms cover it, thick roots like veins melding the shape to the tree behind it. Even blended with the plants, the original outline remains visible. The body is splayed with the arms and legs stretched and twisted backwards to embrace the tree trunk, the vein-like roots piercing out of the torso, buds of ready to bloom flowers pressed against abdominal muscles. The head is stringently upright. Omim's face sits half in darkness, sprouted mushrooms reaching out of the darkened half to touch the moonlight.
His droopy eye comes into focus with our arrival, his lightening expression perturbing on an otherwise stationary shape. I can't detect movement from his chest.
"Friends, you came!"
The trembling in my limbs returns with a vengeance at the smooth, young voice that's all too familiar. Killua's aura could drain the blood out of a person.
The leaves quiver above us, and Killua drags me left. Only then do I notice a second shape, one hunched over to the ground. The stance is awkward, forced, but the arch at the top shifts in breath, and a film of Nen still flickers from it.
With one hand, Killua starts tearing at the growth on the second figure fiercely. As soon as I've processed this, I join in.
...hurting her. She'll be happier if she joins us, just like you will be. We know you just want to be happy, Sera. We know—
I accumulate my aura in my hand and continue.
...with everyone is the greatest pleasure. You like pleasure, don't you?
I tear off another chunk and back away, returning the aura to my feet. My heart pounds and I release a bit of venom in my mouth to replace saliva, which once again's deserted me. Killua makes orders at Naii as he goes on flinging away the plant life.
"Wake up Naii! Don't you dare give in! You're supposed to be the adult here! Are you really just gonna leave a couple of teenagers in danger? One of them could have your son's soul, and you're really gonna just give up?"
A twinge of floral wafts through the air as the bent over shape gradually shifts, the movement seeming to groan.
Pulse thrumming rapids, I add in my two cents. "Get a grip and show this damn thing it can't have us!"
The originally wispy aura stabilizes, and a quiet cracking can be heard as the arch strains to straighten upright. With my accelerated pulse comes accelerated breathing, and it only gets worse as the flowery fragrance thickens in the air. I begin to feel lightheaded.
"Why are you being like this, Brother?"
Beside me, Killua turns to stone. I whip my head to stare at Omim. He looks me in the eye and says,
"You too, Sera. Why do you always have to be so stubborn?"
Killua finally moves to look at him, and I let out a hiss of pain as his hand clenches to choke mine. I can't move to pull it out; not because we might lose each other, but because I can't pry my hand from his fingers.
Omim's smile is gone, and in its place is an innocent plea that's starkly out of place on a man with a strong jaw and regal features. The expression would be perfectly natural, however, on the face of someone softer. Cuter.
Much like the voice that just came out of his throat.
The confusion and boldening scent churn together so I nearly gag, and I stumble closer to Killua. My chest comes to rest on his arm, his aura there fluctuating rapidly.
A thunk, and a black dot appears in Omim's head. His facial features stop moving with the rest of him.
"Don't…" I glance back at Naii. Her hazy shape falls back out of its straightness, panting mingling with the hum that's started in my ears. "It's not...real...don't listen."
"You're so mean." In desperation to get my hand out of Killua's crushing grip, I send my aura into it. Once it's free, I massage it and look back at Omim. His eyes are dead, but his mouth and throat still move. "Don't say I'm not real. How would you feel if I said that to you?"
Killua's voice is the grim reaper.
"Stop it."
"Brother, you don't believe me?" The voice sounds hurt, the image of Alluka bursting into tears flashing in my mind.
The next second Killua's in front of Omim, his hand, nails sharp and skin hardened like the first time we met, squeezes around the neck.
"Don't use her voice."
All you want is to be content, Sera. You never want to go hungry. You always want to be happy. Do what you want. Escape the underground prison they kept you in. Trust us, Sera, we'll give you it all.
I trip to the side, the world beginning to sway. There's no longer any scent but the flowers. I think the ones on Omim bloomed, but everything's blurry, so I can't tell.
Just relax. Everything will be okay. The whole world is going to be okay.
The moment I wrote the line where Sera says "I've always been able to keep my cool", I just sort of paused to stare at it, because no, Sera. You do not always keep your cool. It felt weird writing such a blatantly incorrect line, but he wholeheartedly believes in what he's saying, so it stayed in. As for everything else in the chapter...well, let's just say it was a fun one to write, and I look forward to the next one.