Souls of the Damned

Kana had been expecting Xen to win the fight against that thing, but she had to make sure that she could injure him before he could turn his attention back to her. And now that he was walking away, Kana figured it was about time to get some answers. She took one of the arrows and broke off a piece big enough near the tip that she could use like a makeshift kunai. In fact, she just needed it long enough for her to hold. She started towards the black haired male at a run. He seemed to use sound in his techniques, or...vibrations, or something, so she would have to make sure that he couldn't explode her head or anything like he had those warriors. But how...how, was the real question. Or, as the Madness in her system suggested, she could just wing it, and take him down the to ground so that he couldn't move. Which was why the first thing Kana did when she was close enough was to aim a kick at the side of his knee.

Xen could hear her running towards him. Whatever she wanted, he could not give her. He no longer felt the desire to fight. Their game was over, what more could she want from him. Her kick didn't meet him, instead he turned on her and grabbed her leg. Why did she resort to violence? The thought kept crossing his mind to shred her, but he didn't find fun in making people suffer. Not like she did. He let her go and moved back a step, giving her a look that asked what she wanted. He had an idea and an answer to it. One she would not like. If he was correct, she needed him, but she did not know it. Advantage. Ah, he had an advantage over her. Time was ticking though. He was poisoned, she was poisoned, it was only a matter of time. Xen had been reckless enough to put himself in a coma before, several times in fact. It had never bothered him. It was like extended rest. However, he did not wish to have an extended rest. He wanted to be awake and about despite his lack of reason to do so.

Kyla would not win. It was all Kana could think. She'd been reckless enough to get herself poisoned, and if her body weakened, her mind would weaken and if Kyla truly did still have her essence within her, then it would be possible for the witch to return to her. She needed Xen to finish what he'd been saying earlier. About how to remove it. About what 'it' was. She was both surprised and annoyed by the fact that he'd caught her leg when she'd tried to kick him, and stepped back when he let her go. She glared at him, the piece from the arrow still in her hand. The look he gave her said enough. "Tell me. How do I get Kyla's essence out of me. Either tell me or show me, or I will end you," she growled, her brown eyes narrowed. Azazeal stood not too far off, watching the exchange as if this were something normal for the two of them.

Her glare did not escape him and whatever she thought she might do with that arrow seemed pointless. He was already poisoned and injured. How could she end him if he was immortal? Ah yes, the Shadowshifter. He didn't believe the creature would be satisfied with such a colorless soul, but Kana would have her 'victory'. "You can't take it out yourself. You'd tear your soul in half trying." Xen's brown eyes met hers and he took a step forward and placed his hand right beneath her ribs. "This is where it lies, and this is where it shall remain." He could almost touch Kyla's presence. "You want your freedom," he asked again. He blinked rain water from his eyes. He could do it. He could remove Kyla's essence, but at what cost to him? Did it matter? No, he'd have done it for nothing. One less chance for Kyla's return. One step closer to her using the hybrid witch. One choice, many decisions. The outcome meant little to him.

Kana frowned when she was told that she couldn't remove it herself. That she would tear her soul in half trying. She would rip her soul to pieces with her own hands if that meant being free of Kyla. Kana's attention returned to Xen when he stepped towards her and she took a step back, but didn't move again when his hand touched beneath her ribs. She looked down. It was there? She didn't feel anything there, though. It felt completely normal. She looked back up to Xen, her eyes meeting his. Was he lying to her? What reason did he have though? Well...she had attacked him. When he asked her if she wanted her freedom, she slowly blinked, but then nodded, and when she spoke, her voice was hoarse.

"Yes."

Freedom was....almost like a cage to Xen. He had not craved it, and when he received it, he had not relished it. He didn't even remember why he'd removed the essence from himself. He just had and that was that. Kana's voice said it all. She wanted it, she craved it, and she would relish it. He would give it to her. "Not here. Someplace warm. I'm cold." He looked around, searching, extending his senses, but he couldn't 'see' anything. Not with these injuries and the poison. He had no sense of direction either. "You're going to want to sleep this off," he told her after a fruitless scan of the area. "This will not be an easy process, and you have to trust me." Painful. That was the word for it. Kyla would not be happy, but Xen would deal with her. He was half tempted to just do it here, in the cold rain, where bodies littered the earth, and mud splattered his boots from top to bottom. He could block out the cold and the rain and the pain, but could Kana? He didn't know. Her Shadowshifter could take care of her.

Something inside of her was screaming in rage. It wasn't the blue demon, either. It was something, someone else, threatening her. Telling her not to do it. Telling her not to trust him, because to do this would bring her far more pain than she had felt in all her years combined. "Azazeal, the horses." She knew he'd gotten more than one. She didn't even have to ask him. When he led the horses over, they were panicking and thrashing, but then Azazeal changed his appearance. A human with slicked back black hair and grey skin. His pupils were still white. Despite the amount of souls he'd devoured, his human appearance hadn't progressed at all. Kana wondered if his human appearance could only progress if it was her soul he was taking. When he spoke a few quiet words to the horses, they calmed down. Kana looked to Xen. "Do you know how to ride one? There's nowhere warm nearby, unless you want to go into the burning village," she said, nodding towards the flames which, despite the rain, were still only just dying down. "I don't know if there's any buildings left structurally sound enough for us to stay in." Lies. She knew there weren't. She'd torn them all down herself.

Xen wanted nothing, so for her to ask him was pointless. She had decimated the village, so going in that direction was pointless. "I can ride." Or walk. It mattered not to him. His distance to track vibrations was growing shorter and shorter. The burning village would have to do. No one would hear her screams, but they wouldn't escape the rain. A small sacrifice. He turned his head and pointed in the directions the soldiers came from. "They had a home." If they were lucky they could find a small shelter, if not he could change the sound frequencies. "You choose, I shall follow." Xen touched his shoulder without much thought. The arrow had torn the skin. He traced the places where the ice shards had hit him. He would need to fix these.

Right. Those soldiers had to have come from somewhere. She wondered if it was abandoned now though. After all, who would leave a fort abandoned just to send out a search party? She was in no condition to do much more fighting though. Her movements were feeling awfully sluggish. "There's no guarantee there won't be anyone around where they came from," she muttered, as if thinking it over. If they weren't willing to let them take shelter for a while, then she could let Azazeal have a snack. She wasn't overly fond of company anyways. "We'll go find where they came from," she said, handing him the reigns to one of the horses as she hoisted herself up onto her own. Azazeal turned into the black shadow of an eagle and took off into the sky. The horses stirred when he did, but slowly calmed down once he was farther away. Kana was starting to realize why it was always so quiet when she walked with Azazeal by her side. Animals hated him.

Xen would deal with any trouble. He could push himself past his limits if need be. He took the reigns of the horse. Beautiful creatures. Ah, there was some conscious thought. He pulled himself up and followed after Kana, his head bowed slightly, his eyes closed. He was doing two things. One was resting and the other was listening. Everything sounded dull. Xen was quiet for the entire trip, albeit it was a short trip. Upon their arrival, nothing stirred. The village was abandoned. He removed himself from the horse and pointed to a small house. No need to find luxury when all they needed was right in front of them. The door was unlocked and there was an emergency supply of medical supplies. Xen left it alone, but went into the nearest bedroom. It was warm inside. "Here," he spoke. "Lay down."

Though the poison was trying to lull her into unconsciousness, Kana forced herself to stay awake until they got to the place where the soldiers had almost definitely come from. It was...abandoned. She couldn't help but to be relieved. She climbed off her horse and looked up to the eagle perched atop the house Xen was heading into. "Find a place to tie them up. There's bound to be a stable around here somewhere. Then come inside," she told Azazeal, who flew to the ground before turning into his human form and bowing. "Yes m'lady."

Following after the dark skinned male, Kana looked around the house. This was a nice little village. Maybe she would keep this one in tact. As somewhere to come back to when she wanted a home. When Xen told her to lay down, Kana hesitated a moment, but then remembered him telling her that she was supposed to trust him. Kana swallowed lightly. Trusting people had never worked out in her favor before. Except for the Kage of the Crested, everyone she'd ever put her trust in had betrayed her. And she was sure it was just because he'd died too early to give her a proper betrayal. Taking a nervous breath, Kana slowly walked over to the bed and did just as Xen had instructed. Though it was obvious she was immensely tense, as if she was ready to defend herself at any given moment.

Xen waited patiently. Standing was slowly becoming a chore. When Kana laid down he said two words, "Trust me." Right now he didn't need her to go on a stabbing spree because she was scared or nervous. He didn't plan on hurting her, much...well, not intentionally. He slowly climbed over her, straddling her and leaned forward until their faces were mere inches apart. "This is going to hurt." He slid his hand under her shirt, below her rib cage and pressed. His left arm had started bleeding heavier, but he held down her shoulder regardless as his hand slipped through flesh and muscle. He was sure this was unpleasant for her. He searched for the exact location of the essence. When he found it he paused. His lips parted slightly and he took in a small breath and as if there was some sort of exchange occurring, a deep purple mist left him and entered Kana and from her came a green mist. He caught brief glimpses of Kyla's connection with Kana before he began to pulled, stopped by an invisible force and a scream that split through his mind so loud that his head felt like it might explode. Kyla was not willing to give in easily. Stubborn woman.

It had been a long time since Kana had felt this nervous about anything. It had been...decades, since she'd last placed her trust in anyone besides Azazeal. Her brown eyes widened ever so slightly when he climbed above her and her cheeks flushed red without her meaning for them to. He'd told her to trust him, and she was trying to, but honestly, right now she wanted to push him away from her and either beat the living shit out of him or run far, far away. Trusting another living, breathing person was...not easy. She swallowed when she felt his hand on her stomach, trying to force her breathing to remain calm. "Just get it over with," she said quietly when he told her it was going to hurt. When his arm held down her shoulder, she braced herself for whatever it was he was going to do. However, when his hand ripped through her skin, she couldn't hold back from screaming. She had to force herself not to squirm away from him even though her body was already going against her and trying to rip away from him. It was a good thing he'd held her shoulder down otherwise she might have accidentally headbutted him. When the green mist escaped from her mouth, Kana seemed to calm down for a moment. But just a moment. When Xen started pulling, Kana's brown eyes widened and her screams worsened as she tried to pull away from Xen, inevitably only making the pain worse. She wanted to tell him to stop. Her mind was screaming and reeling at her to tell him to stop. But she wanted Kyla gone. She needed Kyla to be gone. "Just rip the damn thing out!" Without realizing that it was happening, the blue demons chakra started flooding off her in waves, knocking down pictures that hung on the walls and ruffling the curtains on the other side of the room.

The blush didn't register in his mind. Xen had one goal right now, and it was to destroy the essence that was Kyla. He hadn't anticipate fighting a struggling Kana, Kyla, and the Blue Demon's chakra. Kana's demand for him to rip the essence out didn't bypass him. He tightened his grip and pulled. Kyla's voice echoed through the room, a screeched threat of vengeance before Xen crushed the essence in the palm of his hand. The deep purple and green mist faded and he moved off of Kana and started into the hall without a word. Xen slid to the ground once he was outside the room. He shouldn't have done that, not with poison in his system. Not with injuries. He leaned his head back against the wall, his brown eyes sliding closed. This place was warm, but this pain was real. He wasn't comfortable anymore, but he'd freed Kana, so now he could rest. Even if it meant out in the hall. Anywhere was better than rain.

The screaming that echoed throughout the room honestly scared Kana. It wasn't her own screaming and it was terrifying. It nearly sent her into a panic. But once whatever it is was out of her and Kana heard the slight sound of something breaking, she flinched, and cringed, when Xen climbed off her. For a moment she just laid there, trying to feel if there was anything different. Internally it felt like somebody had taken a spoon and mashed it around in her insides. Mentally...there was a difference. Usually there had been a voice, telling her which direction to go in. The last time she'd listened to it, it had led her to Kyla's other immortals. She'd ignored it after that. But that voice was now gone. One less voice to listen to. With almost more effort than she could afford, Kana pushed herself out of the bed. She felt more than just exhausted, but...she stumbled out of the room and knelt next to Xen, her face pale and her eyes flickering. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking at the black haired male. "Thank you." Without realizing that her body was moving, she found herself sitting against the wall as well, not a foot away from Xen. It was half a moment later that her head lolled to the side and she fell unconscious.

Xen didn't hear her this time around. In fact when she spoke he opened his eyes and looked at her. Did she thank him? When had she gotten so close? Why wasn't she staying in bed? The thoughts came and went as they usually did and he only shook his head because breathing hurt, so talking was out of the question. When she sat against the wall he didn't move and when she fell unconscious, he didn't bother with it. Not at first he didn't. Xen kept thinking back to how she'd attempted to kill him on several occasions today. Did thank you count as an I'll get over it card? He stood up and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He went back into the room and laid her down on the bed. He retrieved the medical kit and thought to himself, why am I doing this? There was no reason. He was just doing things to exhaust himself. He'd fix her until the poison shut him down. He couldn't do much about the poison in either of them, but wounds could be healed. He cleaned her wounds and wrapped them carefully, stitching the hole he'd made and giving her a shot of liquid pain killer before he couldn't bother to stand. He moved to the foot of the bed and rest his back against it. It didn't take long for the world to go black.

Kana was unconscious for about twenty-four hours before the world started pulling her back. It was dark outside again. Pitch black, actually. There were no lights in the village to see by. And no moon. Though with the curtains down as they were, Kana couldn't see if there was actually a moon or not tonight. She just had to guess at it from the darkness. The brown haired girl slowly tried to sit herself up, but her limbs felt numb. She'd forgotten about the poison from the day before. Groaning, she lowered her head back onto the pillow. "How long have I been out for," she grumbled to no one in specific. Everything hurt. She touched her stomach. That hurt too, but...she ran her fingers over the wound. Were those...stitches? When had she gotten stitches? Azazeal didn't know how to stitch, did he? Taking a breath, Kana tried to sit herself up again, but once more failed and ended up laying back on the bed again anyways.

Xen had not moved an inch from where he'd sat down the night before. He may or may not have fallen into a coma which wasn't out of the norm for him. He couldn't feel pain for the most part, so overdoing himself was easy and that recklessness usually led to him bleeding out and being too tired to do anything about it. Yesterday was one of those days times ten. He'd been repeatedly injured, poisoned, and then he'd removed Kyla's essence. She was a powerful witch, even when she didn't have a physical form, but he'd taken her on regardless and withdrew every ounce of her essence from Kana. Playing with magic was a dangerous game and now he was dealing with the consequences. By this point his head was bowed forward and he looked as though he were sleeping. The mud on his boots were dried, his white pants were dirt, and his black shirt had darkened in spots from the blood. His shoulder was covered in it and a small pool of blood formed around him. Yeah, he was probably in a coma by this point. Eventually he'd wake up with time once the wounds had closed or someone stumbled upon him and patched him up and then a new cycle would begin. It was, for the most part, never ending.

"Twenty four hours and seventeen minutes," came a voice from the dark that Kana knew all too well. She groaned. "Not long enough...help me up Az." "Of course." When the Shadowshifter approached her, Kana saw that he was still in his human form. She gave him a curious look and he smiled. He looked much more human when he smiled. Almost handsome. "I was tending the horses," he explained, scooping his arm behind her back and gently helping her to sit up. "Xen already tended your wounds himself." Kana blinked and looked at Azazeal. "He...did?" The grey skinned being nodded and looked towards the end of the bed. "He's been sitting there ever since. He's alive, but unconscious."

Kana was quiet for a moment. "...are there medical supplies left?" Az nodded. "Get them." Now that she was sitting up, she found moving a bit easier, and she made her way over to Xen, using the bed to keep herself up. Once she got closer to him, she lowered herself down in front of him, kneeling down to look at him. "Azazeal, can you turn a light on for me? I can't see him too well." It was only a moment later that Azazeal returned with the medical supplies and turned the light on in the room. Kana blinked and slowly looked over him. He was actually pretty badly hurt. Now that she was clear of mind, she felt bad for attacking him. Especially since he'd helped her get rid of Kyla. She supposed it would be only fair if she fixed what she'd done. Once Azazeal had put the supplies next to her, Kana slowly tried to lift Xen's shirt off, but gave up because it was too much effort. Instead, she pulled out a kunai and cut it down the middle, pulling it off that way. She carefully cleaned the wound on his shoulder, then wrapped it, along with the rest of his wounds. Once she was done, she had Azazeal put him on the bed and she laid a blanket over him to compensate for his missing shirt. Afterwards she went into the living room, since this seemed to be a one bedroom house and laid down on the couch. It wasn't the most comfortable thing ever, but it would suffice. Or better yet... "Az, is there a house near the horses' stable?" she asked, looking over at him and pushing herself to sit up again. She flinched at the pain that shot through her, putting her hand over her stomach. "There is. Would you like me to take you there?" he asked, walking over to her and helping her to stand up when she nodded. The house he took her to was only a minute away, but it took her five to get there, even with Azazeal's help. She found her way to the bedroom and laid down with his help. "Keep checking in on Xen. If he needs anything, help him. Come get me when he wakes up." With that, Azazeal bowed and walked out of the room. It wasn't even ten minutes later that Kana passed out again.

He didn't notice any movement, nor was he aware that Kana was fixing the damage she had ever so kindly caused. The bed was comfortable enough, but he didn't notice that either. He was too far into his sleep. He laid motionless for the next few hours, waking up only when the sun began to rise above the trees and light filtered into the room. Xen first opened his eyes before he sat up. There was a dull pain in his shoulder, but he was okay for the most part. He looked himself over. He was bandaged and on the bed. Kana was not here. He moved his legs off of the bed. He wouldn't search for her. It wasn't his job. If she'd left then so be it. They were even. He looked at his shirt that lay on the floor and rose to his feet. He would find a new one. He moved out of the room and towards the front door. The sun felt nice against his bare skin. He shoulder shower, to wash off the mud. Yes. He turned and searched for the bathroom, finding it and undressing as the water warmed up. He climbed into the shower and relished the water. It was better than rain water, not as cold. He washed the blood and dirt from his hair. When he was clean he stepped out, grabbed the towel and hand washed his pants and cleaned off his boots, using a small jutsu to dry both before he redid the bandages and dressed himself once more. Now he was ready to leave.

Azazeal stood outside Xen's door, just next to it, as he awaited the human male to wake up. He could stay here physically. If Kana needed him, he would know. For now she still seemed to be unconscious. The poison was really taking its toll on her. The Shadowshifter listened to the man in the room move around, turning his head only when Xen exited the room. "Did you need help with anything, or anything to be brought to you? Food, perhaps?" he asked, looking at the black haired male. He hadn't intervened when the man had gotten up and showered, not because he was uncomfortable with such things, but simply because he doubted the man needed help with it.

Xen wasn't back up to par just yet. He hadn't noticed the Shadowshifter. He usually picked up everything. Food? He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten anything. Food was probably a good idea, but he declined. "No thanks." If this thing was around, then so was Kana. Where she was at, he didn't know. Perhaps she had went about her way walking, for he had no seen her in the living room. He felt no need to let the creature know he was leaving. He would find food on his own. He walked out and started for the gate of the village. It had been weird, having that creature ask if he needed anything. No one ever did that for Xen. Never in his many years of living had he ever recalled an event where someone thought of him as a person and not a tool. He didn't like nor dislike it, for he had no control over. He made his way towards the gates. No one had returned to the village. A wise decision.

"As you wish," Azazeal said with a bow of his head. A noticeable difference from the bows he would give Kana. He walked several paces behind Xen as the other exited the house, taking note of where he was headed before heading towards the house where Kana was resting. She was unconscious still. Azazeal had no doubts that had she been left to herself she probably would have slept for several more days. She'd been struck with many arrows, which meant that there was far more of that poison in her system than there was in Xen's. "Kana," he spoke softly when he was at her bedside. That wasn't what woke her up, but his voice was a way to let her know that it was him. His presence as a human was not as strong as it was when he was in his more natural form. The Shadowshifter's hand on her arm was what stirred her. She grumbled something sounding like a 'what' at him and he gave a small grin. "Your guest is leaving the village." With that, Kana sat bolt right up, but immediately doubled over, holding in a scream. Azazeal steadied her by putting his hand on her back and helping her from the bed. He'd learned early on that she really didn't like to be carried. She'd cut his head off the last time he'd tried. Granted, because he was nothing but shadow, his head faded out of existence like smoke and reappeared a second later, but her aggression had been implied and taken to heart. "Can you walk, m'lady?"

"Yeah, just...go get the horses. I want to talk to Xen, but I won't be able to catch up with him like this," she told him, to which Azazeal nodded and started outside. It took Kana a good few minutes to actually get to the front door of the house. Her limbs felt numb, like the pins and needles kind of numb, and each step was uncomfortably painful. When she opened the door and then had nothing else to hold onto when she stepped forward, she stumbled and nearly fell, but Azazeal was there to catch her and steady her back onto her feet. He held out his arm to her so she could use him to walk easier. She shot him a glare but then sighed and gave in reluctantly. Azazeal smiled and helped her onto one of the horses, climbing onto the other himself. Kana found it ridiculously difficult to keep herself on the horse as it moved forward, but eventually saw Xen. "Xen! Hold on," she called to him, trudging her horse to go a bit faster to catch up with him.

Xen had covered sufficient ground. He was for the most part keeping to the less traveled path because he had nothing to counter act the poison in his system and could not pick up on who or what was around him. The road he'd taken was quiet with trees aligning both sides and the path was more green than dirt. He supposed he was aiming for safety? Well, he wasn't concerned for his own safety, but he didn't wish to encounter trouble either, so maybe a better term was avoiding conflict? Yes. Despite the galloping of the horse behind him, he didn't stop. He was practically deaf at this point, not in a literal sense, but everything sounded really dull. When Kana called out his name he stopped and turned to look up at her, but his gaze went to the horse first. Beautiful creatures. He turned his gaze up to Kana. He could think of no reason why she had come after him. Had they not settled the score? "Yes?"

Once Xen stopped and looked at her, Kana slowed her horse down and looked down at him. Why had she gone after him again? Oh right, she was sick of traveling alone. There were times when Azazeal left her side for weeks at a time and it got lonely. And boring. "Where are you headed?" she asked, putting one hand on the horse's neck. These creatures were surprisingly well trained. And not very skittish at all. She supposed she could have just traveled with Azazeal and the horses. They would have been company, but if Azazeal left her alone with them, there was no guarantee she'd be able to keep an eye on both of them.