Insane?
Walking…that was what Michael's mind was concerned about. It was the middle of Day 4…maybe, even a little after that, but Michael didn't know. He had lost track of all sense of time. Instead his mind was centered around his steps. This was number 3,967…3,968…3,969…aaaannnnddddd 3,970. Michael's feet resisted his steps each and every time, the water had slowly built up to his waist and he was wondering how much longer it would be until he was underwater. He was sure a normal person might've turned back around simply due to the sheer cold of the water, but Michael's golem body couldn't even feel the water lap against his body. He had to wonder about Saul completing this task in just one and a half weeks…it seemed so odd. The water made every single one of his feet stick to the bottom of the cave. He couldn't see anything. He was counting his own goddamn foot steps to keep himself busy! What kind of maddening task was this! Why the hell was it necessary for him to take it anyways! He wondered if he could just turn back and head out the way he came. What were the consequences for doing such?
"Heh heh!"
And that goddamn maddening laugh! It came out every so often and it ticked Michael off to no end. He was normally somebody who could be seen as prestige as he rarely ever lost his temper, he was used to hanging out with Shi, but this laugh was starting to tick him off like never before! Even Shi couldn't match this annoying voice! He turned around again and tried to look for it like he had done every time so far in search of something that could tell him where the voice was coming, where the voice could possibly be emanating from, but just like every other time he found nothing. Unless these walls could talk Michael was just imagining things. Or something far more sinister was lurking in these walls around him. He shook that thought right out of his head as he continued to walk forward…now what number was he on? He sighed as he couldn't remember and decided to just start over.
(-With May-)
May was still strung out at her small camp. She had a nearby lake that gave her fresh water, but the wood was harder to come by. If she traveled too far away from camp than she couldn't act as Michael's lighthouse, so she was basically stuck here. She double checked her phone connection, not just for the first time. She has probably checked it dozens if not hundreds of times by now. No reception. She sighed and her head just kind of heaved down as she realized how much longer she'd probably be out here. Unlike Michael she had her phone on her which told her the exact number of days since this training had began. It was hard to know who had it worst, the guy who had no idea or the girl who knew exactly how achingly slow it was going.
She had to do something to keep her mind off of it. She had beat her high score on some games on her phone numerous times now with all this free time. She had tried her best not to just sit around and waste time, but it seemed like that is what it came down to. She had originally tried to improve her own aim with her half-human, half-weapon form, but after a few shots of that she realized how tedious it was. She had browsed through her pictures on her phone numerous times now. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. She had flipped the photos of her and Michael, reminding herself why she was here.
(-Day 7-)
The days had all gone by in a blur. May laid out on her bed, her stomach rumbling. She was hungry. Her poise and manners had all disappeared. This was the test…May rolled over onto her stomach and gazed at the cave. When Michael came out that was going to be Rochelle's and Saul's signal to come and get them…or something…her mind was gone, taken over by a crude need for food. She couldn't focus, she could feel her soul wavering. A sound mind, phbt…her mind was currently completely focused on food and nothing else, not much sound about that! A sound body? May looked over her scrawny body growing even scrawnier…she didn't fully fit the conditions any more. She just hoped Michael would when he came out…Michael?
Right, May almost forgot she had to keep her soul up and strong. She couldn't let it waver for a second or else Michael would get lost. This was taxing on her whole body and mind…she couldn't focus, her cell phone got zero reception. She couldn't quit. She had to stay here…she had to stay here for Michael. She slowly felt her hand losing grip strength on her phone, which had long died due to lack of batteries. Suddenly her hand just gave up and let the phone slide out of her hand and into the sand below. Maybe…maybe another nap would do her fine.
(-With Saul and Rochelle-)
Saul and Rochelle were currently playing poker, shuffling the cards about and keeping an eye on the kids. They had trained a little while ago to keep up their strength, but they knew an excessive amount of training was bad as well…so this is how they got their down time, keeping an eye on their students. Well, some of them were keeping a better eye on their students than others.
"Relax, Rochelle," mocked Saul as he dealt out another hand, hoping to keep up his winning streak. He had spent a lot of times in bad places and card skill was one of the talents needed to survive there, so Saul was nearly unbeatable at poker especially when playing against someone like Rochelle who wore her feelings on her sleeves. "They'll come back alive. Just give them time, trust me. Faith in your partner and faith in your students. That's what this entire school is about after all."
"I know, Saul," wavered Rochelle as she turned her head, briefly to him and then snapped it back to where the kids would be. "But I keep thinking back to when we did this challenge. I mean…I felt my body breaking down over there. Hearing that it would only take you a week…I started to lose track of time, started to grow hungry, I thought about leaving you several times…and sometimes I still think I should've…" said Rochelle as she looked back over Saul as he glugged more alcohol straight from the bottle. "It is just taxing to think about it. I mean, you know the only thing you have to do is go off to the side and out of the camp and someone will come to save you…but you know if you do that you are killing your partner."
"How is that any different from combat?" asked Saul as he stuffed some crackers into his mouth. "In battle, trust needs to be absolute. If your thought wavers or if my thought wavers for even a second…then I'd rather you'd have left me alone in there to die." Saul looked over his hand and put two cards down and then drew another two cards, he looked more upset at his hand than the trial Michael and May were currently going through. "This test is meant to push that bond to the absolute limit. Not very many people could survive this which is why we don't put everyone through it. Only those who need to know that no matter what happens there partner will be there for them to keep them grounded."
"What was it like in there for you?" asked Rochelle, cozying up to Saul for the first time ever, making it obvious that she had been drinking just as much as he had been. Though for her it was more to calm her nerves than anything else. "I mean, I remember my week and a half sitting out there, growing hungrier and hungrier with each passing day, the sun beating down and nothing but some sand and a stream to keep me busy. And then on day 10 you come strolling out of there a smug and stupid look on your face and say 'I can't believe you were really stupid enough to wait here for me for this long, yet somehow…I knew you were.' I was so mad I wanted to punch you! If I had had the energy I would've."
Saul sighed and looked up to the sky. "The first day wasn't bad. You got high spirits and think you are making great progress. The second day starts to seem to drag on, you have lost track of time by then, so you just keep walking forward believing in your partner. By the third day something goes wrong and you know it. Something just isn't right about that cave…the fifth day is the worst. The fifth day is when you start to doubt your partner. That's the day when you start wondering if they really did leave you…their soul has started to weaken from the hunger, so you see it waning and flickering and you think… 'they left me, they really left'…you kick it into overdrive then, start shouting, feeling the salty taste of the water sting your tongue, but you just want to get out of there at any cost. The seventh day…on the seventh day you go insane."
"Insane?" parroted back Rochelle looking at Saul.
"You knew it was going to happen eventually, but on the seventh day you just kind of slide into that feeling, you get lost in it and give in. Giving in to insanity is better than fighting it when your mind is that taxed and your body is that heavy," Saul said looking back. "That's when the danger comes in. That's when you are faced with one question. Will you be able to drag yourself back to being sane ever again? It really is all a question of what memories you have. What you remember and what keeps you grounded."
"You thought of Dahlia?" asked Rochelle, looking back up at Saul. Saul looked down to the ground and shuffled his hand close, completely ignoring the game of poker. He nodded slowly. "Big ol' softy Saul!" laughed Rochelle as she kicked back again, beginning to lose consciousness from the drinking. "Big ol' softy Saul." Saul pushed her aside and let her head hit the seat. He was nobody's pillow. Saul stood up and looked out to where May was standing and watched as her soul weakened from the strain of lack of food as well as the burden that she was the only thing keeping Michael alive.
Big ol' softy Saul, perhaps he was, but sometimes he couldn't allow himself to be soft. He knew that in this one moment he had to rely on his students more than he could anything else. He couldn't help them, those were the rules…and if they failed…he suppose he was the one who was going to have to clean-up after them. Even if he just barely stepped out, tired as all get-out and falling apart from the mental and physical pain like Saul was when he completed the trial. Even if his mind was broken, Saul was fine with that. He knew those were two of the possible outcomes and he could live with himself if that happened…but if he had to kill one of his own students because they had fallen to the dark side…Saul didn't know if he could handle that. However, as Saul looked on he knew there was a chance it would come down to that. A chance that Michael wouldn't be human when he came out…he could come out as a Kishin.
Another dramatic close! Will there be a Kishin at the end of this road or a golem?