The day had slipped from us, and the night had consumed our life.
Inouye drove us to the mission area, it was a large forest. There were sighted rumors of shifters roaming the forest, killing hikers and campers.
We were subjected to take a look in the forest, to see if the rumors were true, and take out any anomalies we see.
"Yohan.. do you think the rumors are true?" Anya said, she sat in the back with me.
"Totally, I mean they wouldn't send us here if they weren't." Yoshi said, answering for me. He sat in the passenger seat.
"Yeah, what Yoshi said." I said, sighing. I cupped my hands lowering my head onto them, I silently chanted— hoping for success.
"Once we get there, we'll put your training to the test." Inoyue said. He had been ignoring our babble the entire ride.
"Okay!" The three of us said in unison.
Inouye sighed, smiling afterwards. He was uplifted by our spirits, encouraged by us.
A few minutes later..
When we arrived, the trees were huge. The air smelt of smoke, and the clouds were black.
"Woah, it's huge.." Yoshi said.
"Yeah, and scary." Anya said, holding my hand.
Inouye walked ahead of us, and I sensed it.. "You feel it too?" Inouye said.
"Yeah.." The ominous aura filling our senses, I readied myself for the worst.
"They're 2 miles that way." Yoshi said pointing in front of us.
Inouye glared at Yoshi, as did I. "How do you know?" I asked.
His sensing ability is incredible. He might've already surpassed me in terms of sensing. Inouye thought. He continued walking following the path Yoshi set out for us. "He's right, let's get moving."
"Sure." I said, pulling Anya along.
"So, once we find these guys, what then." Yoshi asked, walking next to Inouye with his hands pocketed.
"We kill them." Inouye answered. He sounded irritated, but I thought nothing of it.
"They'll probably be strong, so stay on guard." I said.
"Yeah!" Anya and Yoshi said.
We continued walking through the large forest while keeping our guard up. Yoshi was now our sensory unit giving us the exact whereabouts of the shifters.
The atmosphere became more dense, and fog started settling in. The cold breeze blew the leaves of the trees, keeping us on edge.
"Wait." Inouye said, putting his arm in front of us. "It's here."
Anya and I got into a readied position, and Yoshi pulled out a small knife.
It was silent, and nothing happened for a moment. But we heard a rustling noise from beside us in the bushes, we turned towards the noise with Yoshi signaling that the shifter was there.
I stepped forward an inch before the creature lunged at me with its claws.
It wasn't as big as the one we saw in Osaka, but it was still larger than us.
"Yohan!" Yoshi and Anya shouted my name as the creature pounced on top of me, trying to bite my face off.
I pushed it a considerable distance from my face with my arms, but the creature was strong, inching closer towards me with each second that passed.
Its teeth were like fangs, and its claws were digging into my arms.
Inouye moved as it pounced on me, sliding against the ground with a chain in hand.
The chain wrapped around the shifter's body, binding its arms. He pulled the creature launching it into the air, Inouye flicked the end part of the chain revealing a sharp edge.
As the creature free fell, Inouye yanked the chain causing it to accelerate downwards. Inouye swung his arm upwards stabbing the shifter in its chest, destroying its spirit simultaneously.
"Woah.. you're good." Yoshi said, smirking.
"Yeah.." Anya said, agreeing as she ran over to help me up.
I stood up holding Anya's hand, I smiled at Inouye.. "Thank you."
"No worries." Inouye said, rubbing the back of his head as he continued walking.
"There's two more.. but they aren't together. They're to the right and left of us." Yoshi said.
"Then we'll have to split up.. Anya, you're with me." Inouye said. Anya nodded, walking towards Inouye.
"Then it's me and you buddy." I said turning towards Yoshi.
"Goodluck, watch each other's 6." Inouye said, walking in the direction of the shifter in the east.
Yoshi and I walked to the left, separating paths between the other two.
A few minutes went by.. We finally reached the general area of the shifter, the noises of crunching branches and the windy breeze kept us guessing.
"How far is it from us?" I asked Yoshi.
"Not far, it probably already knows we're following it." Yoshi said, getting more serious.
"Shifters are insanely strong, I couldn't get that one earlier off me." I claimed, looking at my palm feeling a sense of weakness.
Yoshi noticed turning towards me, "Hey, don't worry man. Remember our promise, we won't ever truly die or lose each other." He said, patting my shoulder.
"Besides, you aren't weak. You're stronger than me." He added, smiling.
I smiled, fist bumping him. "Thanks man." I said, cracking my knuckles shortly after.
I'm coming mom.. I thought to myself. I had to save my mom, but to do that I needed to grow stronger.
A loud booming sound came from behind us, we both turned, seeing the large tree that was about to fall onto us.
"Not this time." Before I could move, Yoshi jumped.
His fist reeled back imbuing Yon into his incoming attack, his fist made contact obliterating the upper part of the tree.
The rest of the tree just fell short from us, crashing nearly 12 feet away.
"That was insane Yoshi, I didn't know you could do that." I said, I was shocked and impressed.
"Yeah, I trained a little extra before the mission." He said.
"I trained a little too, you'll see my new move." I said smiling.
We both smiled, laughing for a moment. Then the creature appeared, in between us.
Our faces turned to stone, frozen in shock. What? It's here? I thought. Damn we got carried away. Yoshi thought.
We instantly jolted backwards, distancing ourselves from the shifter. But the shifter was fast, it caught up with me taking the chance to slam its fist into my chest.
I quickly blocked, being sent back a few more feet. I skidded releasing my shadow upon the ground, it then reached its full length.
Yoshi nodded, barreling towards the creature following up with a round house kick. The shifter's head hung from its neck due to the force by which Yoshi used Zing.
"Good! Now it's my turn." I said lowering my knees, I twisted my hips placing myself in that position of a swordsman unsheathing his blade. The formation of shadow energy constructed a greatsword.
Is that his new technique? Yoshi thought to himself.
"Come, Yotai.." I said holding the weapon, I faced the shifter seeing as it couldn't move while restricted. "I haven't thought of a name yet, so we'll just call it Dark Sword." I said.
The shifter couldn't regenerate, its head still hanging by its shoulders. The shifter then screeched loudly, most likely irritated.
I lunged forwards with the blade in both hands, I then swung it vertically, slicing the shifter in two.
The shifter split down the middle, each part of its body falling into the ground and starting to sink.
"Well that was easy." I said dropping the sword into the shadow, it sank and disappeared.
Suddenly the shifter that was once in my shadows, was no longer there. We looked around trying to target where it had gone.
As we look around, our eyes lock onto another shifter with a leaner body than the other, but it looked more mortifying.
"What the hell is that.." Yoshi said, his foot stepped back.
"I don't know, but we have to fight." I said, stepping forward.
The shifter tilted its head, as if it could understand us.
But it wasted no time, darting towards Yoshi with a wide swing across his chest.
"Gah!" Yoshi shouted, his chest was slashed causing blood to seep through his shirt.
He fell breathing in and out intensely, I ran over, using my shadows to grab the shifter and keep it still.
"Get away from Yoshi!" I yelled in anger, the shifter was trapped and I took the advantage.
I swung my Dark Sword, decapitating the shifter. I immediately moved over to Yoshi, helping him up. "I'm fine, don't worry." Yoshi said.
"Are you sure? We can retreat!" I said. I didn't think Yoshi was out but I didn't want to risk anything.
The shifter regenerated, walking forwards. My shadows seemed to have no effect, almost as if my powers were being negated.
"What?!" I said, confused. "How is it doing that?" Yoshi added.
"I don't-" My speech was halted, as the other shifter I thought was dead earlier arose from the ground.
"Guess the other guy is back up too." Yoshi said, stepping in front of me.
"Let me lead the charge.." I said, holding my Dark Sword.
"Sure, you get the guy that just woke up from his nap. I'll get this guy." Yoshi said, getting into a stance.
"Let's do it." I said, darting forwards.
The smaller shifter in front of us rushed me as I tried to pass it, it swung its arm at me attempting to slash my back.
Yoshi shadowed me, blocking the attack with his arm. He kicked the shifter backwards causing it to crash into the ground.
I continued my pursuit, swinging my sword diagonally. The shifter tried dodging, but was pulled towards my blade.
The shifter had a gash across its chest, skidding back. Its regeneration was slow, it growled rushing towards me.
It lunged its arm forwards, I flourished my sword holding it in front of me.
The shifter's fist hit my blade successfully blocking its attack.
I slid across the ground, rotating as I faced the shifter now. My blade was slammed into the ground, instantaneously activating my shadows forward. The shifter was halted, unable to move.
I rushed the shifter, slamming my fist into its face. The creature's head jerked back, followed by another strike to the creature's body. I used Zing, disrupting its core.
The creature screeched, coughing blood. I punched its liver, and uppercutted its jaw.
The shifter was bleeding all over, I finished with a kick to its neck. The shifter's head blew off, its body falling to the ground.
I turned towards my blade, grabbing it and I ran to the area Yoshi was.
"Yoshi are you ok-" I froze, my entire body was stiff as I watched Yoshi on the ground. He didn't move an inch, and he was drenched in blood. He was missing his leg, and half an arm, as well as a chunk of his body. It was as if the world around me froze, as I seen him give his last breath.
"YOSHI!!!!" I screamed, running to his aid.
I immeditately attempted CPR, applying pressure to his chest with my hands. I tried to stop the bleeding but it was too late.
Fuck! If only I was here! I thought, I panicked, trying to continue CPR, and screaming for help.
Luckily Inouye and Anya heard my cries, and arrived on the scene.
Anya screamed loudly, a truly heartretching scream. She instantly broke into tears, falling to her knees in front of Yoshi lifeless body.
Inouye stared in shock, not expecting this outcome. "How did this happen.." He said, breathing slowly.. He moved towards me laying his hand on my shoulder.
"I-" I simply just couldn't speak, my eyes lowered and I stared at my hands covered in Yoshi's blood.
"Let's go.. come on." Inouye said, grabbing both me and Anya. We were pulled, running back to the car. We stood in front of the vehicle, Anya still cried as I eventually spaced out. "Back up is on the way.. I'm sorry about Yoshi." Inouye said, sighing.
"Sorry? No, it's my fault.. If only we didn't split up, I could've helped him.." I said, blaming myself.
"No, don't do that Yohan!" Anya said, sniffling and wiping her tears.
"I'm sorry Anya.. I failed him.." I said clenching my fists, holding in my tears.
"No, you didn't.. it's okay." Anya hugged me, holding me closer than usual.
Inouye frowned, turning his back to us.. "Backup arrived, why don't you two go back to the agency and rest." Inouye said.
"Yeah.. sure." I said, as we stood there mourning the death of Yoshi.