As I soared through the air over the monster infested forest, only one thought occurred to me: 'Ahhhh...!' I tumbled through the air in a state of perpetual panic, seeing ground then sky then ground then sky over and over, for the better part of a minute. I see the forest floor rapidly approaching, and close my eyes, anticipating my second death. Crunch!
Rather than colliding with the ground as I had expected, my course of momentum changed sideways, and I collided into something with my right side. I open my eyes to find my right shoulder crushed into my rib cage. I attempt to lift my head but find I can't move anything below my jaw. Damn it. Regenerating my shoulder and rib cage were going to take long enough, but a severed spinal cord and dislocated vertebrae would probably take a good ten minutes to fix enough to walk around, and even longer to regain fine motor function.
A few minutes later, Weiss walks through the bushes muttering about something and looks up at me. I can't really move to respond to her presence, so I just hang there, looking just as dead as I am. She screams and runs back the direction she came, dragging someone with her by the sound of it. My head abruptly shifts to the left, indicating that my spine has finally relocated.
With my regained ability to move, I further assess my damage, and understand why she screamed. Just outside of my previous field of vision, a few of my ribs and a cracked part of my color bone were shoved through my skin, though only my collar bone wasn't covered by my hoodie. About three minutes later, my shoulder shifted back into place, and a few of the boned mended themselves, but the regeneration stops there. I'm out of material to repair with, because my internal organs always get repaired first, even if they are useless to me.
I experimentally flex my fingers, move my arms and legs. They're a bit uncoordinated, but at least I can move them. The bushes rustle again, and I quickly adjust my hoodie to hide where my collarbone previously protruded from. Pyrrha steps into view. I wave my left hand,
"Hi."
She looks up at me with a tiny smirk, "Hello again."
She reaches her hand out, and I abruptly fall, cracking my right lower leg bone. 'Damn it,' I think. I meet her eyes, and she meets mine. Then, I remember why we are here, 'cough-like sound' "I guess we are partners now," I say, with some difficulty, looks like my lungs were crushed too. "Which way were we going again?"
She snorts, then gestures in the general direction that I had been flung, "The forest temple is that way, I saw it when we were launched."
"Lead the way," I tell her. She starts walking purposefully in the direction she had gestured, with a shield on one arm, and a sword thing in her other hand. What a coincidence. I check to be sure that I still had my weapons and followed.
A word to the wise for those who have recently recovered from a broken neck: don't take a walk through a forest infested with monsters that in all likelihood want to kill you and eat your soul. Actually, that is always good advice, which once again makes me wonder: 'Why am I still here?!' I think, stumbling over dead sticks and underbrush. Pyrrha and I had been walking linearly for only about five minutes, but it already felt like an eternity, primarily due to the fact that I repeatedly stumbled and fell on my face, which was now becoming covered in scratches.
I fall yet again, this time finding a rock that makes a nice deep gouge in my upper right cheek. Pyrrha, who had the patience of a saint, once again turned around to look at me. She looks like she is about to say something but stops when she notices the new opening in my face.
"Why don't you activate your aura?" she asks.
"What?" I ask, thoroughly confused. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Your aura," she repeats. "Gesundheit," I say. Wait, what does that word mean again?
"You have no idea what I am talking about, do you," she says, understanding and a little confusion showing in her expression.
I answer bluntly, "Nope."
She elaborates, "Aura is the manifestation of our souls. It protects us from harm and heals our injuries. All living things possess an aura."
"It's like a forcefield!" I exclaim. That… sounded awesome, but that last bit concerned me. Would I have one?
"How does it work?" I ask.
"Close your eyes and concentrate," she says.
"Uhh, okay?" I intelligently respond and comply. I feel her hand push my armor plate against me, and I swear that I can hear her thoughts, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."
I have no idea why, but I feel a connection to those words, as if they are reaching into my brain and tugging on my lifeforce. I feel her remove her hand, and I open my eyes. Pyrrha is bent over with exhaustion. I reach out to help her, but as I do, I notice my mind and senses sharpen very slightly, my motor function return, and the scratches in my face begin to close, very slowly, almost imperceptibly.
"Are you okay?" I ask Pyrrha, who is no longer leaning over. She just frowns.
"That should have unlocked your aura, but something is wrong. It is like your soul is dedicated to another task," she says downcast, "I am sorry."
I wave off her apology, "It's fine, I'll deal with it." I have a sneaking suspicion on what my soul may be doing.
She continues talking, "I would advise you to talk to a doctor or aura expert, they may be able to help you."
"Sure," I nod, knowing full well that I can't go to a doctor, "Lets just finish initiation, then move on to other problems."
She nods, and we resume our walk through the woods, with me being significantly less clumsy. I press a finger into my wrist to check something. Still no pulse. I mentally sigh. 'At least I didn't die,' I think to myself. I am taken from my internal monologue by a low growl. I turn to my right and see, two glowing red eyes glaring at Pyrrha from the darkness of the trees. I draw my sword, and shout, "Pyrrha!" just as the grim begins to lunge.