Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or Avatar: The Last Airbender
Heads up: Language and a bit of canon-typical violence
The teens yelp- some in terror, others with glee- as their bison lurches to one side for the dozenth time in the last ten minutes. Perched on the great beast's head, Maka has the reigns in an iron grip.
"Sorry!" she calls back, struggling to guide the animal back on course. Convincing the stablehands to lend them a sky bison had been a close thing, but Maka's assurance that she'd had plenty of experience with the animals had eventually won them over. What the girl hadn't mentioned was that none of that experience involved actually holding the reigns. Still, they're in the air, and for now that's all Kid can ask for.
"Do it again!" Patty cheers. Perching on her shoulder earlier had been a grave mistake on Kid's part; the girl had snatched him into her arms at the first opportunity, and even now continues to hold him like a plush toy. It's horribly embarrassing, but the young Avatar puts up with it as best he can. Just find the swordsman, he reminds himself. Find him, and get your body back.
Finally, mercifully, Blackstar sits up, staring intently down at the rock face they've been circling. "Look!" he exclaims, pointing down at the mountainside. There, barely visible against the white and grey of the snowy rocks, a man makes his way down the mountain. With his pale hair and plain clothes, he may have been invisible were it not for the red-clothed body slung over his shoulder.
"Kid!" Patty cries, her grip loosening. Liz curses, no doubt realizing the man is probably Arachnophobian.
"Take us down," she orders Maka, her eyes not leaving the mountainside.
"What's going on? Who is that?" Maka demands, frantic.
"Just take us down, we'll explain later," Liz tells her. Maka's face is pinched with anxiety, but she does as she's told. Their bison lows as it leans into a downward slide, curving inwards towards the mountain. The sound makes the man carrying Kid's body look up, and he stops walking. There's no tension in his features, though- he just looks resigned.
When the bison is still a good ten feet in the air, Blackstar shocks everyone in the saddle by suddenly vaulting over the side.
"Blackstar!" Maka shouts, but the bluenette ignores her. With a hard thud, he lands on his feet a few paces in front of the man. "Idiot!" Maka hisses as she lands the rest of them behind him.
"Hand him over," Blackstar orders the man, sinking into an earthbending stance. The man just stands there, observing him. The rest of the group assembles around their friend, each looking ready to fight. Yes! Kid cheers, circling above them.
"Hey, jackass," Blackstar grunts, scowling at their opponent. "I said, hand him over!"
"How old are you?" The man finally speaks, his voice smoother than what they'd expected. The teens trade frowns.
"Just shut up and give us Kid!" Patty snaps, pointing at him with a dagger. A flare of alarm runs through Kid at the sight of it. Has she had that on her this whole time?! Judging by the nearly-identical one Liz has whipped out, probably. Spirits.
"You're all young, aren't you?" the man sighs, as though no one has spoken. "Children, all of you."
"What, are your ears not working?" Blackstar growls, taking a step closer. "That's our friend, asshole. I don't like it when people mess with my friends."
"Your friend has to come with me," the man tells him evenly. "I'm sorry."
"You're with Arachnophobia, aren't you?" Liz challenges, eliciting a gasp from Maka. It seems the organization is every bit as infamous in the Earth Kingdom as it is back home. But the man is unfazed.
"In a sense," he shrugs. "Call me Mifune."
"We don't care what your name is," Maka glares, her shock overcome. Her stance is loose, primed for directing the air however she needs to. Mifune sees this and shakes his head, a sense of weariness about him.
"I'm not looking for a fight," he tells the group. "But I'm warning you now, I won't let you get in my way." From above, Kid watches his friends' fighting stances sink lower, their resolve solidifying in the face of Mifune's threat. I need to help them. Kid's physical form hangs like a sack of wheat over the swordsman's shoulder. Closing the lemur's eyes, Kid tries to recreate the feeling of intangibility from earlier, trying to evaporate from the creature's body. It shudders, then drops limply to the ground, startling the others and leaving Kid hanging weightless in the air. Oops.
"Mr. Lemur!" Patty cries, and gets a dazed gurgling sound in response. Mifune's gaze is frozen on the animal as it clambers to its feet and flaps away. Then, as though he's just had an epiphany, he jerks his head back the sky above them. But Kid isn't there anymore; he's shooting like an arrow towards his own body, a tugging sensation at the core of his being urging him forward, faster, faster, his surroundings a blur, before the whole world fades entirely to black.
His spirit settles back where it belongs like the tang of a sword returned to its hilt, retreating from the foreign light of day. His senses return to him, guiding him towards full wakefulness. His fingers twitch. Involuntary, a groan escapes him.
"What?" Mifune mutters, his full attention returning to the body he holds. The sound reminds Kid that he's not out of the woods yet. Summoning his strength, he fights past the tingling numbness in his limbs to drive his knee deep into the swordsman's gut. Unprepared, Mifune doubles over, and Kid twists free into the snow.
"Kid!" Liz shouts, obviously relieved. He staggers towards his friends, and they rush forward to meet him.
"Are you okay?" Maka asks, as the Thompson sisters pull his arms around their shoulders.
"Better," he manages, grinning despite himself. Finally.
"I see." The group turns to find Mifune back on his feet, a sword in his hand. "So you used a temporary vessel. Resourceful." He points at Kid with the blade. "You're still coming with me, though."
"What's your deal?" Maka demands, pinning Mifune with a glare uncharacteristic of an airbender. "What do you want with him?"
"Personally? Nothing. It's just a job. My employer wants him brought in."
"But why?" Maka presses. For the first time, confusion appears on the swordsman's face. He seems to be taking a second look at the teens.
"You do know who he is, don't you?" he asks. Kid feels Liz and Patty shift uneasily, and dread pools in his own gut. There's no longer any doubt in his mind that Maka and Blackstar are safe to reveal his identity to, but he suddenly finds himself anxious to keep it from them just a bit longer. It's been so nice, just hanging out with them as friends; he doesn't want anything to change that. But what he wants doesn't matter right now, does it?
"Wait!" Kid calls out, leaning forward in the sisters' grip. "I haven't told them yet." If they're going to find out, it should at least be from him directly.
"Told us what?" Maka frowns, lifting an eyebrow at Kid. Beside her, Blackstar's fighting stance loosens somewhat as he tries to watch Mifune and Kid simultaneously.
"I…" he starts. Why was telling a whole village of strangers so much easier?! "I'm the Avatar."
From the looks on Maka and Blackstar's faces, he may as well have just called himself an albino toucan puffin.
"Huh?" Blackstar manages, after a moment. Maka, on the other hand, has already slipped from confusion to alarm.
"Oh… oh!" In her wide green eyes, Kid sees the puzzle pieces fly together. "Of course, that explains everything! Stupid, I didn't even consider- how'd I miss that?" Kid relaxes a little when he realizes her ire isn't for him, but directed inwards.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. He doesn't exactly scream "Avatar" at first glance," Liz consoles the younger girl.
"Hey!" Kid scowls up at her. She's not wrong, but she doesn't have to rub it in like that.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Mifune interrupts, sounding as though he means it, "but I've still got a job to do. Avatar, if you come quietly, your friends will be left alone." Kid had legitimately forgotten about the swordsman for a second there, but now the man has his undivided attention. Liz and Patty look concerned when he disentangles himself from their arms, but don't protest as he stands to face the swordsman.
Before he can say anything, though, a chunk of earth goes flying past his head from behind, hurtling towards Mifune. With a flash of steel, one of the swordsman's many blades meets the attack head-on, cleaving the rock in two before it hits him. Holy…
"Left alone? Left alone?!" Blackstar surges forward, pulling up more rocks as he goes. "Who do you think you're dealing with? I'm Blackstar, the man who's gonna surpass the gods!"
Mifune just re-adjusts his grip on his sword. The lackluster response only adds fuel to Blackstar's fire, and the boy hurls a rock-covered fist at the man's face. Kid winces, bracing himself for the stomach-churning crunch of a nose breaking, but it never comes. Instead, Mifune swings his weapon around, slamming the sword's hilt against the mass of stone. Maka's sharp gasp comes nowhere close to masking the sound of rock breaking.
The blow takes Blackstar off-guard, the young earth bender reeling to one side. He's met by the flat of the swordsman's blade, which smacks him hard across the face. To a chorus of alarmed shouts, Blackstar drops, unconscious.
Enraged, Maka hurls a blast of wind at Mifune's head. Following her example, Kid shoots off a jet of flame, letting Maka's air carry it forward. The sight of two element barreling towards him doesn't appear to concern the swordsman, though; with one arm outstretched, he twirls his sword so quickly it blurs, and when they hit it, air and fire alike disperse.
"Holy shit," Liz gapes, her hold on her own weapon loosening in shock. She's taken Patty's shoulder in an iron grip, likely the only thing keeping the younger blonde from charging forward herself.
Mifune allows the spinning to slow, then stop, once the threat is past. He lowers his sword, gazing first across at the group, then down at Blackstar. The man's expression is unreadable. No one moves.
"I suppose I should've figured this would turn into a fight," Mifune sighs, breaking the silence. "It's my own fault, really; I was too confident in that severing technique." His sword returns to its sheath with a soft hiss. "You can go."
"Huh?" Kid stares at him, confused. He's letting them go? Just like that? Patty scowls, and Liz's jaw tightens; they suspect a trap. But before anyone else can get a word in, Mifune turns and walks away. Four pairs of eyes bore into his back, then widen as he leaps nimbly off the mountainside.
"Whoa!" Maka exclaims, and they rush forward, looking frantically down at the bare rock face. Clouds drift through empty air, concealing any hint of the earth far, far below. It shouldn't be possible, but it's the truth: Mifune is gone.