Chapter 13: The First Barrier
Tatsumi kept his flashlight pointed low, careful not to shine it directly at him after that. Hisoka too had his hands out, open, non-threatening. They moved slowly, speaking reassurances.
Reassurances that fell on deaf ears. Desperation was in every line of his body. He had managed to back up, propping himself against his tree. But that was as far as he could go. One hand clutching convulsively at his abdomen, the other scrabbling feebly at the tree behind him, trying in vain to push himself to his feet.
He finally seemed to give up, and sank back down, panting painfully, staring at them, the whole while.
Staring at them, and through them. Seeing and yet unseeing…
They ran into it about three meters away from the tree.
It was an invisible force field of some kind.
Waving his flashlight around, Tatsumi could see the rain bouncing off it in a full radius around the tree. He was confounded.
And fascinated despite himself.
He probed at the living barrier. For that was how it felt to him. Alive. He tried shoving at it. It resisted him. He couldn't push any more than the ends of his fingers in. It was like trying to push through solidified air. Or trying to fight eternal motion captured in still. His fingers tingled. Magnetic forces? Compressed air? Hypnosis? How was he doing it?
Note: Sorry, Saphira112. Angry, never. Apolegetically recalcitrant, yes... I know, still too short, but I'm in some ways an obsessive writer. I obsess about every single sentence. If I were to try for normal-length chapters, I'd probably update, say... once a year? It did not cross my mind though, that lack of details would be a problem... I'd kinda thought that because this was fanfiction, readers would already know all the characters, thus eliminating the need to introduce them all... Comments, anyone? By the way, believe it or not, I have read/seen all the manga/anime...So if anyone thinks anything is out of character, please do tell!
