.: So there's this scene in Record of Ragnarok where a sumo wrestler meets his Valkyrie. She's freaking massive and she assumes that he views her with disdain, but instead, he's ALLLL over it. It made me laugh a lot. When I think of Lakota and Kiyaya, I remembered that scene and implemented it appropriately. Also, you know that scene in My Hero where All Might punches Deku and then ends up hugging him? I love that scene. It's so heartwarming. I wanted a moment like that, too. Thus, this chapter was born. There's also new plot development, but I'm mostly happy for the loveydovey parts I got to do. We're reaching timeskip territory after this, which means the end is near! :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 52:

The Wolf Woman: Halitosis

As the canyon grew dark, its ominous energy blanketed its entirety. Animals who strayed too far from the safety of the forest were tempted to cross the boundary. Once they did, it was fair game for the demonic entities. The minks were no exception. They were engulfed in one gulp.

Deep in one of the lifeless valleys where erosion had finished its natural progression, the moon failed to pierce through the veil to reveal its secrets. If it were not for the glowing red eyes that blinked open, it would have been assumed to be completely empty. The single pair of eyes looked out toward the main valley of the canyon. Sometimes a creature passed by. Other times, a simple black orb or glowing white light appeared just to dissipate into nothing. It was like watching wardens monitor their jail cells.

The baboon mink knew this was not right. Why was he here? Who were they? There was no recollection. His consciousness was shrouded by a stormy cloud; aware of his surroundings but failing to register and make decisions based on them. A force kept him stuck in place. When he had the impetus to finally turn his head, he noticed four unmoving bodies sitting against the rock walls. None of them were awake like he was.

What was most unusual was that time felt irrelevant in this place. Once the sun reappeared upon the horizon, everything in the canyon ceased in activity. The mink did not have any memory of experiencing daytime here. The nights seemed to link seamlessly. It tired him out despite not moving. Until he was forced from this dead end by an outside force, he was doomed to stay here. The red eyes drooped to a close. Hopeless. Inept. Condemned.

The most important advantage to have in a war was home turf. Everything in it was at the Lun'aecho Tribe's disposal. Rodencia could not stress enough how badly they needed to bring as many resources into the mountains as possible. The more they had, the less the Marines could take from them. Cherokee agreed with her logic and had two teams venture north and south. They were to travel in a big counterclockwise circle around the island until they ended up at opposite ends of where they started. Along the way, they were to gather any wild herds of animals and bring them back.

The Navy took horses in droves, but they could not catch them all. The Lun'aecho, despite not using them for the same reason, still highly respected the animal and wanted to protect them. Bringing an unknown number of minks into the territory meant they needed to bring in every single bison possible. They all needed to be tamed and paired with a rider for the future battleplan. Everything else that needed to be brought in was livestock. They already had some cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens, but they could make room for more.

All those who remained were to begin training under the minks' guidance. Lakota knew that Cherokee marked everyone with a curse that would stave off their fatigue for longer sessions, but they were to keep eating as normal to build muscle and get stronger overall. The Marines were going to be met with an enhanced battalion and hopefully not be prepared at all for it.

Armament Haki involved physical strength. That was the exact reason why Lakota could not participate in learning it. He was unsure how he was going to contribute to the cause, but Cherokee treated him as an equal by cursing him. They would figure it out soon. Right now, he was sitting by himself crafting new arrows. Observation Haki seemed to be the one thing to get better at. Doing that required target practice. Kiyaya wanted to set a course up for him. That was why he waited for her.

Eventually, Lakota thought he heard footsteps behind him and paused. "Kiyaya?"

"I'm here," she responded. "Sorry to keep you-teia waiting."

"I don't mind." He put the supplies down and grabbed a low hanging branch to hoist himself up.

"Uh…Lakota?"

"Yes?" he grunted, pushing through the persistent soreness.

"I asked Cherokee for a favor. She thought it was a good idea for training, but I'm afraid you-teia will laugh at me."

As he stood up straight, he used the tree as support and tried to look around it for her. There was no sign of her, though. "I don't think I've ever laughed at you."

"I know. This is just kind of…I don't know…weird."

"Did she give you new clothes?"

She smiled from how simple his first guess was. The weight of her vagueness was meant to suggest this favor was a little bit more serious than that. Now she was not as nervous thanks to his question. "No."

He peered around the other side to find her. "Did she…?"

"I'm still a mink. I still have all my fur. I still have all my clothes on."

He craned his neck farther until he spotted white fibers. Standing on the complete opposite side of the tree with her back pressed, he suddenly understood why it was hard to find her for the first time ever. She stepped away to give him a better view. "I'm just a bit smaller is all."

Since Cherokee succeeded in turning her into a giant, Kiyaya figured the opposite must also be possible. For the first time since she was a young child, she shared the same general size as her colleagues. Her proportions were still intact, resulting in her remaining a head or two above the others, but she was now of a similar weight class.

Lakota instantly felt his jaw hit the ground and eyes bug out at the sight. It made Kiyaya nervous all over again. She held her hands behind her back and tried to fight the urge to completely succumb to embarrassment by looking away. Getting shocked reactions to her huge size stopped fazing her a long time ago. She expected this sudden change to have the opposite effect. Instead, Lakota was gawking at her. It made her insecure for some reason. Underneath the pelt was skin growing pink from the increase in body temperature.

It took the Lun'aecho warrior quite a few seconds to wrap his head around what he was seeing. Kiyaya was small! Still very much taller than him, but small! The corners of his gaping mouth curved upward, and his eyes suddenly transformed into pulsing pink hearts. "NIIIIICE!" he exclaimed excitedly, lifting his arms into the air and beckoning for her to come closer.

His utter acceptance of her curse stunned her. At first, she wondered if he was being serious or messing with her. Was she supposed to be annoyed by his reaction or glad that he liked it?

Seeing him try to take a step closer to her but fail got her going straight to protective mode. Her hands prepared to catch him if he fell. Fortunately, it was just what he wanted. Her chest was perfectly eye-level for him. It was right where he aimed his face as he snatched her in a tight embrace. Kiyaya froze as his nose poked her sternum and hands easily met behind her. Repressed memories of being held made her realize she had been touch-deprived for many years. It was hard to receive hugs when she stood over twenty feet tall. Ignoring the perviness, she admitted it was pleasant to experience.

Meanwhile, Lakota had the mutual feeling. His favorite mink was quite snuggly when she fit in his wingspan. Clasping his limp hand behind her back, he squeezed her harder. Being able to hold her brought him a fuzzy feeling he could not explain. All he knew was that he loved this. "I love big women," he muttered to himself.

Kiyaya rolled her eyes as she decided this was not worth fussing over. No harm was being done. Although, she did wonder if he had always been this way. It was likely he was comfortable enough to express himself more, but at the same time, he seemed different now compared to when they first spoke to each other. Whatever the reason, it did not stop her from perceiving him as cute.

Being this close to him allowed her to better see details and features of his. The way his cheeks bunched purely from how hard he was hugging her was the nail in the coffin for her. For the first time, she could even feel true warmth radiating from his body. Her finger used to delicately trace over his scalp, but now she could brush her entire hand through his hair, which could have used a trim by now. These new experiences and sensations were ones she could get used to. She was confident about that. Her arms completed the embrace around his shoulders and her chin rested on top of his cranium. "You-teia still think I'm big, huh?"

"I was being deadly serious," he asserted.

"But I don't think you-teia can sleep on me like this."

"Don't underestimate me."

The challenge amused her. They would cross that bridge when they got there. For now, there were far more pressing matters to tend to. She made him let go so she could cradle him across her body. Luckily her strength did not diminish in the slightest as a side effect of the curse. Lakota remained weightless to her as his legs limply dangled and she kept his back supported. "I know you-teia can't train with the others, but I'd at least like you to see how it'll be done so you know what to expect," she explained.

"So target practice is happening later. Got it."

"Don't worry. We can do that the whole rest of the day if you-teia want to." To play with him, she leaned closer to his face and gave him a little lick.

His eye closed in response but he reacted more to how slimy it felt against his skin. Just like any other dog. Licks from a domesticated animal were meant to signal affection like a kiss. He wanted to ask if that was what she just did to him according to Mink Tribe culture, but he did not want to risk embarrassment. What he was most thankful for was that she refrained from doing it when she was at her normal height. Being slathered in slobber was not on his bucket list.

When they arrived at the training site, Kiyaya settled him back on his feet and proceeded to keep him steady in front of her. Arms wrapped around his shoulders. He found himself back in heaven. If he was not careful, he would miss the lesson simply from being up in his own intrusive thoughts.

The minks split everyone up into different groups to make learning easier. The one Kiyaya chose had Fangle the hyena mink as the instructor. She stood in front of a bare rock from the mountainside. "Armament Haki is like coating your body in armor. You-teia can't see it, but you can feel it. How to harness the ability is by sheer willpower that requires unbroken concentration for long periods of time. In other words, for the next five months-ish, you-teia will all have to dedicate most of the day sparring with each other. It won't be easy, but by the end, you should be able to do this."

She turned toward the rock and stepped closer. After rearing her head back, she headbutted it with as much strength she could muster. The onlookers were shocked when the sound of an explosion went off and a dust cloud erupted. A giant crack zigzagged upward, causing pebbles to tumble down. The dust cleared to reveal Fangle completely unharmed and brushing her forehead clean. "Any questions?"

Everyone just stared in silence. No wonder the minks seemed unstoppable during battles. This was probably their best weapon. If that kind of damage could be done to solid rock, they could only imagine what kind of injuries could be sustained against another person.

"Once you-teia master this type of Haki, you'll be taught how to concentrate it into weapons. Your arrows will shoot with so much force that they'll cause similar damage."

After hearing that, Lakota looked up at Kiyaya. She felt and returned her gaze to him. "Maybe I can fight after all," he suggested with hope.

Just because he failed to walk did not mean his ability to use weapons had been affected. His nondominant hand was the one that was hurt, so after an easy adjustment, holding up a bow with an arrow pulling against the twine was the same. It was just his limp fingers that looked awkward. Kiyaya understood why that revelation lifted his spirits, but she had to admit that not starting with hand-to-hand sparring to unlock Armament Haki was a method she was unfamiliar with.

"We can try having you-teia practicing your shooting enough that its unlocked, but I don't know if it'll work," she decided.

Fangle paired everyone randomly to begin the spars, and then she approached them both. "You-teia brought a sparring partner, Kiyaya?"

"Not today. I just wanted him to see first."

Lakota saw how the mink possessed brownish blonde fur that turned darker around her wet black nose. Her snout reminded him of a dog, but the round ears with a small point at the ends had him think of a feline instead. He had never heard of a hyena before, so he was unsure what exactly he was looking at with Fangle. Regardless, her snaggle tooth did not stop her from smiling at him. "You-teia must be Lakota. Kiyaya's talked a lot about you."

"That doesn't surprise me," he replied. "She can't get away from me for the life of her."

"I haven't tried to get away from you-teia!" she defensively retorted.

Fangle giggled at their dynamic. She did not know much about him, but she did remember what happened. They all found out about how she had been his caretaker ever since. It was very sweet of her to apologize through actions instead of words alone. "She must not hate it enough since you-teia will go through Observation Haki training with her. Having a private tutor is always beneficial."

"I want to also learn Armament Haki once I'm able to," he expressed.

"Is your injury preventing you-teia?"

He lifted his shirt to show what it looked like now that he did not need bandages. Upon seeing how misshapen his abdomen was, Fangle grew concerned. Scars aside, the issues were far deeper. "I'm surprised you-teia are able to stand," she commented, kneeling to inspect a little bit.

"It hurts, but I can take it."

Her fingers traced the path that Kiyaya's claws took and then prodded what looked like knots underneath his skin. "Can you-teia walk?"

"Not good enough."

"Show me." She backed up to give him room.

Kiyaya let go of him so he could try shuffling a single foot forward. Fangle observed the way his core tightened from the strain despite so little happening. Lakota's jaw clenched in pain the more he tried to take that step. Luckily, Fangle was not about to have him hurt himself more. She stopped him and stood up straight with a grim look in her furry face.

"He's gotten better," Kiyaya told her enthusiastically, coming next to him.

"I think it's worse than it looks," Fangle opinionated.

They both immediately dropped the positivity.

"There's something very wrong internally. I don't know what exactly, but it cannot be healed on its own. It's like your muscles have been completely torn apart. You-teia will need a very good doctor if you want to ever walk again."

Once the last syllable left her lips, Kiyaya swore the tip of a blade pierced her heart. But instead of surrendering to despair, she chose denial. Lakota was scooped back up into her arms. "You-teia know nothing," she flatly stated.

When she turned to leave, Fangle stayed with pity wanting to keep talking. She knew it was not the news her friend wanted to hear.

They returned to where Lakota had been making arrows with silence between them. She let him back down and did not plan to stick around. "I'll get the targets set up," she communicated.

"Hold on. Where are you going?" he questioned as she turned her back on him.

"To get wood." She clenched her fists and chose a young tree with a circumference she was looking for. Her right leg formed a black shell, and she suddenly braced for a precise kick. The horizontal swoop was powerful enough to create wind pressure. What would have taken a hatchet a few swings to cut down only took her one. Lakota was astounded by how powerful she was. For her, this was just another normal day.

When she pulled a knife from her side and started to chop away, he confirmed his worries. "We don't have to start yet if you're not feeling up to it," he offered.

"We got no time to waste," she insisted, holding up a circular wooden saucer to inspect it.

"That's true, but we shouldn't force ourselves to get this done."

Annoyed, she looked back at him. "What happened to wanting to learn Armament Haki once you-teia are able?"

Being the target of her ire had him want to slink down into a hole and pretend he was never there. It caused him to not answer straightaway, and she returned to making an appropriate target for him to shoot an arrow into. "Y-You heard her, though."

Kiyaya snapped her head. Was that the sound of him giving up? "Fangle doesn't know what she's talking about." She marched back to him ready for confrontation. "I'll be damned if you start believing anything she says."

The way she towered over him menacingly got him nervous. This was very unlike her. Although the news was upsetting, she was acting like this affected her more than it did him. Lakota did not find himself sharing the same frustration. Maybe it just had not sunk in for him yet. Still, he did not have a good feeling about escalating the situation. But what else was he supposed to do? "Calm down," he tried.

"I AM CALM!"

"Okay. Do you want to talk about it? You're obviously upset."

Her blood felt hot under her skin. With the way he was accepting her attitude, she realized she really was out of line for raising her voice at him. Unlike him, though, she could not simply turn a blind eye to her feelings. She was the type who had to wallow in it for a while before starting to come around. Because of that, she scoffed. "Yeah right." And she tried to walk away again.

"I know the guilt is eating you alive, Kiyaya! Don't hate yourself for my sake!"

She paused mid-step when he called it out. Suddenly, her anger was replaced by sadness that filled her eyes with fluid.

When she failed to continue, he started crawling toward her. With his legs dragging behind him, he used his elbows to dig into the ground and pull. He never once wished he had the ability to walk again because this was highly inconvenient. He just wanted to reach Kiyaya.

His good hand grabbed her ankle, startling her. But she quickly sat down to hold her face in her palms and let that guilt finally show itself. Her whole body trembled as she wept as quietly as possible. She wanted to get him back to normal, but finding out it was impossible broke her. She truly was a monster.

Lakota sat next to her without saying anything. He had to sort through his own thoughts and feelings. For some reason, he was not experiencing anything negative or positive. There was no way he was celebrating being crippled for the rest of his life, but it was like he was content with it. Maybe he knew it was a possibility for it to be true, so he was already prepared to face it. With that, he remained neutral with acceptance of his circumstances. The only thing he was concerned about was Kiyaya. Her ears drooped and tail stayed completely still.

"I'm so sorry," she uttered amid her weeping. "I ruined your life."

"No, you didn't," he replied without hesitation.

She sniffed loudly and uncovered her face to reveal how soaked her fur was. "Why aren't you-teia more devastated about this?"

"I don't know. I just don't see my life as 'ruined.' It's changed, yeah, but not ruined."

This was completely backwards. It was supposed to be her comforting him, not him comforting her. He was the victim, after all. "But…why?"

"Think about it. I still get around perfectly fine thanks to you. It's hard to feel crippled when I got you around. Big or small." His hand brushed up her back to help her see that things were not so bad. He was still near and dear to her heart. "I don't hate you, Kiyaya. I love having you with me. If this means I get to keep you around, then why should I feel sorry for myself?"

Conflicted, she gazed at him to see he was smiling. His hand moved up under her hair to give the back of her head a good scratch like the good girl she was. "You-teia want me to stick around?"

"Of course, I do," he declared cheerily. "Let's face it. You're stuck with me. I can't live life without you."

Her lips parted in disbelief, and she stared with a twinge of fondness. The way he moved his hand underneath her jaw so they could touch their heads together. He may never be a good warrior now, but as long as he had her, he would live a fulfilling life. He never considered the possibility of her leaving to return to Zou. But now that she was aware of his longing and reliance for her, she suddenly knew what she wanted. Becoming a great Lun'aecho warrior was the torch he was passing to her. If that meant she had to hold that torch in one hand and him in the other, then she would. It did not feel forced upon her. It felt like destiny was handing her a gift.

She shifted her head overtop his scalp to nuzzle him better and closed her eyes to relax. The only question left unanswered now was why Lakota was perfectly fine with this arrangement but did not feel the same kind of chemistry with Cherokee. They had all the correct factors in the equation, but the specific connection she wished for was not one he could give her. He did not know how to explain it. He just knew he could not deny his feelings. How could he broadcast that to a woman who already claimed to love him?

The day ending did not mean work did, too. The minks hoisted lanterns into trees to keep the light going. It created a warm ambiance for the area. Most importantly, visibility was good. They all ate supper and went straight back to training thanks to it. In a week, Cherokee would begin stripping curses for sleep rotations. This was the plan her and Rodencia came up with together. If she kept the schedule tight yet flowing smoothly, developing Armament Haki should have been accelerated.

She surveyed the sparring going on in the vicinity. So far so good in terms of effort and motivation to improve. Mothers found time away from their little ones to try helping. Children too young to fight participated with hopes of becoming warriors earlier than normal. No weapons were used except for small wooden clubs meant to show where weak spots were exposed. If they could end up sparring with blindfolds on, that would be the best possible outcome of all this. In the middle of it all, the minks offered advice or corrected techniques. There was no real use for Cherokee at this point. Because of that, she was trying to depart without anyone noticing. She had a place she liked to go to train by herself, using it for countless moons.

Subtly blending into her surroundings, she dismissed the witchdoctor as she left with a cloaking curse activated. By the time she returned in the morning, nobody would have known she had disappeared. The trip took her to the opposite side of the mountain range. On the way, she dropped by to check on Lakota and Kiyaya. Target practice was underway, but the wolf mink worked to find what would be considered a challenge for him.

An hour later brought the end of her hike. The extra curses were defaced. The Chieftain stood before a black void. Usually, it was harder to come here without raising curiosity. The haunted canyon was known as a place to stay clear of. During her lifetime, its bad reputation only grew worse. She assumed to be the only person who did not shy away from the danger. Two steps were all it took to vanish inside.

Once she penetrated the veil, her eyes were open to a whole new realm. Daytime did not exist here. It was so dark, but she still made out the rock formations and walls. Along with those were the demons starting to appear. Their outlines failed to raise her goosebumps. Their glowing red eyes did not cause her emotionless expression to falter. She stayed completely calm, walking deeper in. Spirits touched her as she passed. Her fingers felt solid objects that simply were not there. Their ice-cold auras touched her flesh. She was being followed instead of attacked.

The first time Cherokee ever entered the canyon, it was nothing like this. There was just an unnerving creepiness that made her think the paranormal was around the corner. It was not until she ate the Curse Curse Fruit that it became what it currently was. The perfect place to have alone time and keep her powers a secret required her to do some side work. Like building a secret hideout, she practiced casting curses on everything she could get her hands on. The soil, the river, the dry bones that littered the ground, and especially the animals who wandered in here.

Trial and error was how she discovered how damaging her powers were. Some curse effects did not disappear even after she defaced the written words. She had set up terms and conditions for the curse to be carried out. As long as they remained in place, so would the curse's effects. A couple times, she tried fighting fire with fire, and it only made things worse. She was afraid that this canyon was doomed thanks to her carelessness.

When the tribe picked up on the bad energy and tried to fix it themselves, she was never suspected of having anything to do with it. People were hurt. Some went missing. It was not a good situation. That did not stop others from investigating and finding out about demon possession to help with battles. Little did they know that she made these demons. They spawned and acted of their own fruition. The one thing she found that could pacify them somewhat was offering unfortunate critters to house them.

It worked to her advantage, though. The spirits recognized her and knew what she came here to do. The larger animals began showing aggression by standing on their hindlegs and snarling. Without any help from the witchdoctor, Cherokee took a stance in preparation for a fight. They started throwing themselves at her one after another. Each time, she evaded them or bodied them away. None of them would take it easy on her. Her concentration was pushed to the limit.

Slamming them against the wall, tossing them into the river, completely flipping them onto their backs, and making some retreat. Cherokee was dominating the brawl. It did not stop some from biting or clawing her. Some blood dribbled as she finally found a stopping place with labored breaths. When she needed her skills sharpened, she could always come back here. She inadvertently made personal training grounds only she had access to.

Challengers started coming back for more. She was ready for them. As one came head on, she deeply desired to defeat it. All her focus was put in her dominant hand for the blow. The black shell of Armament Haki coated her entire limb without her realizing it. When she made that punch, the body of the animal crumpled from the impact. Bones broke. A hurt whimper sounded just as it flew back and careened into the wall to make a dent.

Cherokee gasped and paused, losing the Haki instantly. The animal quickly breathed its last and a black orb left the carcass. But the others did not acknowledge the act. She was bombarded with more attacks. In the middle of her trying to outdo them all single-handedly, she wondered if she managed to do it. It definitely looked like it. And on the first day of training! She had to admit that she was probably unknowingly training for it most of her life, but now that she had a goal to reach, it was like she could pinpoint what to do with it.

The activity was what finally roused the newest occupants from their corner. Five pairs of glowing red eyes opened. They stood up for the first time in days to lurk out. Their bodies were sluggish from no food or water, making the demon possession worse. They were barely aware that they were their own people, let alone the original reason why they came to the mountains alone.

With the animals crowding her, she did not notice the difference in anatomy. Curved hindlegs vs. human-like legs. Paws vs. hands and feet. Absent vs. present secondary sex characteristics. It was not until a towering bear interrupted the fighting that she realized there were newcomers. A big furry hand with burly claws veered for her. Her body moved out of the way before even registering what it was first. Luckily she did, because a hit that hard could break a neck.

She tumbled and quickly maneuvered back onto her feet to reevaluate the situation. Her eyes went from narrowed to dilated. A bear had not wandered into the canyon. Neither had a boar, fox, hare, or whatever that other thing was. Those were minks; the missing minks Rodencia wanted to locate. They could not be found because they were stuck here. Cherokee panicked and decided that training was over. The witchdoctor came out from behind her.

Multiple curses were spoken to nip this in the bud. Demons scattered, but the minks were lassoed by nothing and rounded up to keep them together. Cherokee wanted to save them. She collapsed next to the baboon mink and tried to pull the demon from his body. It fought against her, content with its host. Mogul cried out in pain. His cognizance was returning. When the two beings were separated enough, he was able to look up into Cherokee's eyes, recognizing her as a savage. He had no idea that she was trying to help him. The pain she was inflicting was misunderstood. He just wanted it to stop.

Cherokee was suddenly grabbed and overpowered from his sheer strength. Her face completely smashed into the ground. The initial daze was enough time for him to get on top of her. Hands wrapped around her neck to choke her. She quickly knew that this was not going to be pretty.

The witchdoctor took control, hooking her elbow around his throat to thrust him off. Cherokee coughed and kicked him to create more room between them. She saw the demon slip back in to regain control. This was going to cause more problems however she went about it. If she freed them from the clutches of the demons, they would know the truth of this place and expose her. If they submitted to the same fate as the forest animals, she would have to make sure they remained imprisoned here for the rest of their lives and hide all the evidence. The missing five would never be found. Their whereabouts would always be a mystery for the others.

She vowed to never cause harm with her powers when she came clean to her tribe. They had no idea that she long broke that vow. This time of war was not a good time at all for betrayal. They needed her. She could not afford to slight them.

Against her better judgement, she decided the latter was less risky. Nobody knew they were here except for her. It could stay that way. She cursed them into a branch of the canyon that would be avoided at all cost. This was not about viewing them as enemies still. Cherokee was just a coward who wanted to selfishly save face. She was not pleased with the decision, but she felt her hands were tied.

Before she walked away, she saw how they all acted mindless as they laid down in defeat or stared at her with revenge rooted in their souls. They did not deserve this. Even with demons having taken control of them, they knew they got the short end of the stick. They would never see Zou again, let alone the friends they came here with.