There's a lot of talk in this one, but it was fun for me to write. Don't own Soul Calibur characters.
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Chapter 4: Company for the Night (Taki's Thoughts)
"What's the matter? Mind blocks an after-effect of a demon's possession, hmm?" Sophitia asked mockingly with a raised eyebrow. Taki's thoughts broke at Sophitia's interruption, and narrowed her eyes at Sophitia's smart-aleck question.
'Then again...' Taki thought mischievously then shook her head at the thought of not helping the younger woman. 'Remember, you owe it to her. She's just still mad at you for making fun of her gods.' Taki assured herself. "We'll be staying in the shrine for the rest of the night and tomorrow I'll escort you back to the Japanese docks." Taki slowly looked back at the blonde as she leaped swiftly and landed as gracefully as a cat back onto the platform, being only a few feet away from Sophitia.
Sophitia pulled back at this sudden gesture. She slowly gave Taki a look saying 'you're kidding, right?' "I can handle myself you know. I made it in, I'm sure I can make it out."
Taki deeply breathed in and out once as she brought her hand to the side of her forehead. "As much as I'd like to believe that, I don't. You heard how loud that demon's death cry was, I'm sure the other demons within the woods heard that as well. So if you indeed choose to go by yourself in the now demon-ridden forest, then be my guest although I'll warn you that you won't last long." Taki turns and heads for the sliding double doors of the shrine. "Your choice is your fate. You can either follow me... or stay behind."
Sophitia took a small moment to think, she watched as Taki turned back to Sophitia with her hand on the door, getting ready to open it, but waiting for Sophitia's answer. Sophitia looked behind her to the deep woods. They were dark and even more ominous than when she first roamed through them. She looked back to Taki, who held a patient expression as she kept her hand on the door.
"Well? And by the way, the only reason that you were able to get through that forest was because you had the Sword of Light. As you can see, you don't have it anymore." Sophitia looked up to the Sword of Light driven into the roof of the temple as it reflected the moonlight into her eyes. She looked back down again, sighed deeply, and walked reluctantly over to the ninja.
"Fine, I'll let you help me to get back to the harbors. They are quite a ways from here you know that right? You only need to help me get to the next town." Sophitia noted as she came to a stop right next to the ninja.
"I wouldn't even chance that either. Even if it might seem like nothing might happen where we are, I'll come with you nonetheless, just to be safe. My job is to protect those who are innocent and vulnerable to the demon's eyes and I intend to live up to those expectations." Taki spoke very sternly, it actually surprised Sophitia on how much Taki seemed to care about other people's well-being. Taki looked down as she slid on of the doors as open a necessary. She hid her small blush as she pulled them open with more strength then she thought she might need. 'I've never spoken to somebody like I just did to Sophitia. It feels like an anxiety now.'
Finally entering the two-story shrine, Sophitia noticed the second level, which went along the long wooden walls and is fenced in with a dark blue colored fence. The colors of the room were dark blue and gold, dark blue being the dominant color and gold being the outline of everything else that needed to be. A Buddha the height of the roof of the second level and has six arms, each bent and raised in different ways, was the most noticeable object in the temple.
"Well... Let's sleep in the upper level. I don't sleep all that much in here, so this will be my first time in a while." Taki strode over to a staircase leading to the second level, with the young foreigner at her heels. She made futons for each of them, at different sides of the room.
It was hard for her to fall asleep, the fact that there was another person at the other side of the room made her feel uneasy. Her gaze wandered over to the blonde, who was laying on her side, her back facing her, she couldn't tell whether the young girl was actually sleeping or not.
'I keep sensing that that girl is going to get up and take off at any moment. She still looked a little heated after she showed me what her gods could do. I can't believe I just said 'impressive' after she shot a lightning bolt near my head. At least I changed the subject right after. She looked like she was going to decapitate me.' Taki gazed back at the ceiling. 'But I still think that that bolt was just a coincidence. I better not say that though, otherwise she definitely will decapitate me.'
"Thank you." The young blonde suddenly spoke from across the room. Taki sharply turned her head to find Sophitia on here other side looking back at her.
The ninja's eyes widened. 'She isn't a mind reader is she?' Taki thought nervously, then mentally shook her head, thinking that was preposterous. "Erm, for what?" Taki asked nervously, that idea still being in the back of her mind.
Sophitia's eyes softened as she stared back. "What do you think? For escorting me back and letting me stay here." She replied in a very sweet and calm tone. Taki let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh... sure... no problem. I figured I owe you that much, for the exorcism you gave me."
"Well I wouldn't have known what to do if it weren't for you, telling me what to do and all."
"I'm lucky I was able to work the words past my lips, I didn't know how much time I had before the beast would try and take over the rest of my body again. It's good that you held the blade so close." Taki took the eyes off of the blonde; that was the first time she ever came close to complimenting somebody else's knowledge, it felt like another anxiety when she finished.
"I was afraid that the sword was going to slip right through my hands, it was so heavy. I'm surprised that you handled it so swiftly; you only carry one dagger."
"As I said, I've had practice. I normally carry two daggers, but since I was at the shrine and usually all the demons near it are easy to kill, I figured what's the point of having two." Taki looked up to the ceiling. Sophitia remained silent for a small while.
"Do you like your job? Do you like killing demons?" Sophitia asked hesitantly although Taki could hear the curiousness in her voice.
"Of course I do; humans are a little more cunning and can become an annoyance because they like to dodge and block, demons hardly do that. They just attack whenever they feel like it without even thinking. I find it more of a thrill. The only thing that I don't like about killing demons is that some demons can bring themselves back from the dead, and that can be irritating." Taki brought her hands under her head. 'This is starting to feel like an awkward sleepover.' She chuckled to herself, even though she herself had never experienced something like that.
"If some demons come back from the dead, then how can you permanently kill them?" Sophitia asked; her words now dripped with curiosity.
"You have to have a special potion that you dip your blade in and strike the demon with. Think of it as a poison for demons. I've faced one of those before, ugly-looking things, they're very tall and very swift with their long arms. I got out with a few bruises and scratches after I killed the damn thing. There aren't very many of those, you mostly see them between mountains and abandoned, ruined houses."
"They sound difficult." Taki turned her head to see Sophitia staring at the ceiling. 'She must be the first one to actually listen to my past encounters with other demons.' Taki's stare softened the longer she looked at Sophitia.
"They're not bad; they can be a little feisty at times. It's the little ones I can't stand."
Sophitia sharply turned to meet Taki's soft gaze. "The little ones?" She stared with a look of disbelief. Taki looked back to the ceiling.
"Don't get me wrong, most of them you can crush like insects but some are hard to spot because they move so fast. They're harder to kill because they're so small and have so limited target areas, they can also be nasty little devils. That's why I think the demons that bring themselves back from the dead are easier to kill; they have such a wide range of target areas."
"I see." Sophitia let out a soft sigh. "Um, not to change the subject, but is there a lake or river someplace near here?"
"Uh, sure, something like that, I'll take you there tomorrow." Taki replied hesitantly. She didn't have time to question it as years of spending her nights lying awake in bed suddenly poured over her eyes.
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Fast ending i know, but i wasn't sure of how to properly end it. The next one should be interesting, since Sophitia asked for a lake, take a lucky guess why she wants that! Poor Taki doesn't have a clue since she isn't used to company.
