Oh man, this one went through so many revisions. I think it finally came out okay, though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or Avatar: The Last Airbender
Warning: Language
Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, Kid learns a number of things about the spirit world.
For one, he cannot touch anything physical, nor can anything physical touch him. No matter how hard he tries, even the lightest shoulder tap is beyond his reach. Second, bending of any kind is impossible, which spoils his plan to manipulate the room's lighting. Not that that plan had much going for it, anyway: the sun is fully risen, so any flickering candlelight would be easily missed.
The third, and most frustrating, thing he learns is that previous Avatars have way too much time on their hands.
"Made any progress?" Joe asks, returning from his second or third stroll around the mess hall.
"No," Kid scowls. At their table, his friends make plans to search the temple for him. It's wildly frustrating. He needs to get their attention somehow…
"Look at that," Joe speaks up then, pointing at a nearby window. A flying lemur has perched on the sill, sniffing curiously.
"It's a lemur," Kid says. "They're all over the place here. This one's probably just looking for an easy meal."
"Cute little guy," remarks Joe. "And fast, by the looks of it."
"They are pretty fast, yes," Kid confirms. Is this really what they should be discussing right now?
"Could probably get down the mountain and back in a few hours," Joe muses. Kid stares at him then. What's that supposed to mean?
"They're not easy to train, even if you're not stuck in the spirit world," Kid tells him, as though speaking to a young child, but Joe's knowing grin doesn't waver.
"Who said anything about training him?" he asks. Kid's brow furrows. What is he saying? If you don't train an animal, it won't listen to you. Not unless you have a way to-
"No way," Kid exclaims as he catches on, and Joe's grin becomes downright mischievous. "Is that… Can I do that?"
"Do what?" his predecessor asks innocently.
"You know what I mean. You aren't saying I can… take it over somehow, are you?" Kid ventures, hoping they're on the same page.
"Worth a shot," Joe shrugs, glancing back at the little animal. Kid follows his gaze, and hesitates. Can he do that? Should he do that? What if it gets hurt? But he has to do something, and fast, because any minute now his friends will decide to split up and search the temple, and that will make the task of bringing them all down the mountain that much harder. His mind made up, Kid approaches the lemur.
"Easy…" he soothes, though he knows it can't hear him. "This'll just be for a little bit, alright?" The lemur licks its paw, oblivious.
"Just focus," Joe calls over to him. "Put a hand through it and imagine yourself dissolving." Kid would rather not imagine that, actually, but if that's what he has to do…
Cautiously, Kid reaches out. His hand moves forward and doesn't stop until it's lost somewhere in the lemur's upper chest. It feels weird, he thinks. Tingly. Taking a deep breath, Kid closes his eyes and tries to focus. Gradually, the sounds of the dining hall grow sharper, and its smells intensify. Kid feels the smooth stone of the windowsill materialize beneath him, and suddenly he is crouched on it, small and curious and hungry.
"How's it feel?" Joe grins, watching as Kid tries to get his bearings. At first, he is too overwhelmed by his senses to answer. It's loud, it's bright, the air is a cornucopia of unfamiliar scents. He did it! Oh Agni, he actually did it. Should he be happy? This is so weird...
"I have a tail," he manages. Joe bursts out laughing, a deep, booming sound from the gut. Kid wonders if lemurs can blush. Focus, he reminds himself, shaking his (the lemur's?) head. Just don't think about it. He has a job to do.
The distance between the windowsill and the floor seems outrageously vast, but he leaps down with relative ease. Lemurs are built for jumping, after all. Stubby little fingers tap a rhythm on the stone tiles as he scampers across the room, making a beeline for his friends' table.
"Good luck," calls Joe, vanishing. They both know he's going to need it.
"Blackstar and I will take the courtyard, then," Maka is saying, as the others look to her for the plan. "If neither of us finds him, we'll meet in the boys' dorm in thirty minutes." Liz, Patty, and Blackstar nod, before everyone makes to stand up. Uh-oh.
"Wait!" Kid shouts, leaping up onto the table. His friends jump back, recoiling from the fuzzy interloper.
"Lemur!" Patty gasps, squealing in delight.
"Patty, don't!" Liz intervenes before Patty can scoop Kid into her arms. "It's a wild animal, it could have rabies or something!"
"Hey!" Kid's (the lemur's?! This is nuts) ears flatten, insulted.
"What's it doing?" Blackstar asks, peering at Kid from the other side of the table.
"He sure is chatty," Maka remarks. Spirits, they can't understand him, can they? Figures. Well, they can see him, and that's better than nothing. Kid darts forward, taking Maka's wrist as best he can when his hands are the size of her thumbs. Maka pulls away in surprise, but he hangs on with all his might. He has to get them to follow him somehow!
"Hey, get off!" Blackstar exclaims, using one of his chopsticks to rap Kid on the head. Kid reels back, smarting from the assault.
"Quit it!" he snaps, but it must sound like simple yowling. Frustrated, he hops back across the table, this time giving Patty's wrist a tug.
"Hello, Mr. Lemur!" Patty beams, gripping his paw and shaking it.
"Patty, get away!" Liz cries, her arms halfway extended. But Patty pays her no mind; she scoops "Mr. Lemur" into her arms and croons at him. As his friend cradles him like a doll, it occurs to Kid that he hasn't really thought this through.
We don't have time for this! Scrambling out of Patty's hold, Kid gestures wildly from his friends to the door.
"I think he wants us to follow him," Maka ventures, and Kid's heart leaps.
"But we have to look for Kid!" Liz reminds her.
"Maybe he knows where Kid is!" Patty suggests, climbing out of her seat excitedly. "Follow that lemur!" With varying levels of enthusiasm, the others follow suit, and Kid leads them into the hallway.
What follows is an odd game of chase that spans the length of the temple, Kid only stopping to make sure his friends are keeping up. He surprises himself with his own speed; apparently, flying lemurs are no less agile on the ground. Finally, they're out of the complex, and the mountain slopes down into the clouds before them. Kid screeches to a halt just shy of the drop-off and peers down as the others catch up. Spirits, that's steep. No wonder most people think getting to an air temple by land is impossible!
"Is Kid down there?" Patty asks, once she and the others have arrived. Kid nods, and his friends' eyes bug out.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw it nod," Liz hisses, not looking away from Kid.
"No, I saw it too," Maka says faintly.
"Hey, monkey, tell us where Kid is!" Blackstar demands. Kid points down at the mountainside. Maka frowns.
"We can't climb down there! We'd have to get a sky bison," she insists.
"Uh, is no one else even slightly weirded out by this?" Liz pleads. "The lemur understands us!"
"No, it's definitely weird," Maka assures her, sparing the other girl a wide-eyed glance before gazing back down the mountainside. "But I think something big's going on. Let's just see what's down there." Liz sighs, long and heavy, as though she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders. Really, with all the strange things they've gone through together, "talking" lemurs shouldn't be that much of a stretch.
"He'd better be down there," Liz grouses, following the others as they head away from the mountainside. Having leapt up to perch on Patty's shoulder, Kid's fists tighten. I couldn't agree more, he thinks, and hopes they aren't too late.