Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Nekomata (2)
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
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Chapter 32: Nekomata (2)
"Why so surprised?" The beast snarled at the figure, clenching what remained of its arm as a searing hatred burned deep within its sclera.
"I warned you, but you didn't listen" A manic grin crept up his face, the pressure of the world came crashing down on the nekomata as the ringing of his blade echoed throughout the forest.
"You think I don't know why you didn't confront him directly?" He inched closer, his every step sending tremors through the dirt.
"You were afraid, and that somehow led you to believe that sneaking your way in here would do you any good" The ribbons of his blade firmly wrapped themselves around his arm, refusing to liberate him until their bloodlust had been satiated.
"But it appears you were ignorant as to what you were trying to conquer, isn't that so?" The branches of the surrounding trees began to interlock with one another, forming an arena around the two so that neither could even consider retreat.
Dread started to infect the beast's psyche, its eyes darting from side to side frantically in hopes of discovering some sort of escape.
"Don't bother, just like me this world has chained you to its core. But there is technically still a way out for you, shall I tell you?" It looked towards the man with prudence ingrained deep into its core.
"It's quite simple really, all you have to do— is kill me" The man held both his arms wide-open, leaving himself completely vulnerable as if he were looking down on the pitiful creature.
"Oh?" A coral-light encompassed the creature's severed-limb, regrowing a new one in its place with nothing but its own strength.
"Not bad, if you do well enough I might be able to make something of you" Having grown tired of his insults, the creature growled as all four of its paws lit up in an impending flare.
The bamboo-shoot in its maw vanished into thin air, followed by its trivet igniting in a similar fashion.
"Don't underestimate me child, this power has been honed for over a century" He tilted his head as the nekomata went through the effort to try and appear menacing, evidently his demeanor couldn't startle him even in the slightest.
"And?" He shook his head in disappointment as his pity for the creature only heightened, the fact that it didn't understand that the minute it had stepped foot in the world all hope was lost, truly was a sad sight to behold.
It lunged at him, spitting cardinal flames at his face whilst it tried to sever his limbs once again.
"Really?" The inferno hardly managed to singe his skin, the creature's paw got caught in his grasp as the man's expression gradually grew more and more uninterested.
He calmly tossed the nekomata aside, sitting back down and resting his chin on his hand. He lamented the fact that he had gotten his hopes up, there was no feasible way he could make anything out of such a weak being.
"Tell me, why did you even come here in the first place? In theory I'm sure you could've gone after anyone, why us?" The beast seemingly using up the last inklings of its strength, brought itself to its feet as its legs trembled under its own weight.
"Why do you keep saying us?" The man shook his head, not interested in answering its question.
"Answer the question, and then I might consider answering yours" The fact that it had no choice in the matter had slowly begun to sink it, the creature felt it, the world answered to no-one but him.
"It's simple, I'm dying and I need a vessel to prolong my life. That's all" He hummed as he looked at the nekomata with renewed interest, a part of him was actually interested as to knowing what exactly the being was in the first place.
"I see, we know quite a bit about dying— but I suppose its impact varies depending on what you have, or should I say had" He uncaringly approached the struggling beast, and with the mere snap of his fingers all its pain was alleviated.
"You've yet to show me all of your strength, now's your chance" The cat rose its brow, not for a second did it let itself believe his actions were done in good-will.
"Don't bother deliberating over it, you don't have a choice in the matter. But I'll tell you this much, impressing might make your interests come to fruition" It knew he was right about at least one thing, it didn't have a choice.
It reluctantly tensed each of its muscles, the flames on its body started to flicker in and out as if they were mutating. Lo and behold, their scarlet hue was replaced by a menacing cobalt. Their heat had been magnified almost tenfold as the man nodded approvingly.
"I suppose that'll do" He gestured for the cat to ease up, to which it did just that and proceeded to stare intensely at the man, apprehensive as to what would follow.
"Here's my offer, I see promise in your strength, I can give it much more purpose than you ever could. Thus I'm giving you the chance to become part of this world just like me, your strength would naturally be forfeit but you would be able live on in here for the rest of your days"
"And the alternative?"
"Death" He answered bluntly.
The nekomata took a moment to ponder his offer, although he wanted nothing more than to stay alive, something didn't sit right with him.
"Though I don't wish to die, your offer doesn't make any sense. You're clearly stronger than me so what good could my strength possibly do you?"
"You weren't listening, of course your current strength is utterly useless to us. But we have the ability to make something of it, to allow it to flourish into something more"
Even still, the creature remained hesitant to accept.
"You still haven't told me why you keep referring to yourself as us" Though it had its charm, the world still seemed both bleak and empty to the cat. What even was the point of all the man's strength?
"Oh please, you of all people should be able to figure that out. You've met the outside version of me, and now you're meeting me on the inside. Simple enough?"
Now the dots had started to finally connect, at first it believed its attempts to enter its target's mind had failed. But as it turns out, it had done the exact opposite.
"I suppose, but I find it hard to believe in spite of the fact I tried to annex your mind— you wish to not only spare me but keep me here" The man had every right to slay the creature, he had no reason to offer it even a morsel of pity, but had done so anyways.
Despite the creature's evident concern, he simply laughed it off as he dropped down on one knee to level with it.
"You're getting ahead of yourself old man, if I truly believed you to be a threat—" He shut his eyelids, taking a deep breath as unsavory images flashed through his mind.
"Your death would have been worse than ours" His tone hadn't risen at all, but somehow his calmness was far more grim than if he had shouted.
The creature was composed mostly of fire, yet its body felt impossibly frigid. It broke out into a chilled sweat as it instinctively began to retreat, taking slow steps backwards wanting nothing more than to break out into a full-blown sprint.
He picked up on its dread, and to the nekomata's shock he appeared— apologetic.
"Sorry about that, our sanity isn't as in-tact as it used to be. So about my offer?" Discerning that his repine was genuine, it took a deep breath and slowly began to approach the man.
"I accept" His lips curled up into a faint simper as he held his hand out.
"In that case, welcome aboard" The nekomata offered him a firm handshake with his paw, it was then that the world had officially gained a new resident.
"By the way, what's your name? I'd rather not resort to calling you 'cat-thing' all the time" He joked.
"Honō, and yours?"
"You'll figure my name out in due time, for now just follow me" Honō knew he was in no position to demand answers, and simply followed along as the man led him through the woodlands.
Eventually they arrived at the doorstep of what looked to be a well-kept Dojo, something about the place made it feel like some sort of holy-ground, the fauna had delicately formed itself around the structure and the trees were careful not to let their roots get too close.
Though he considered it a stretch, rather than the building being a part of the world, it felt as if the world were a part of the building. Then again, it was all just stipulation.
The man slid the door open, the interior seemed to shine even more than the exterior. To achieve such spruceness one would have to constantly clean every nook and cranny of the place for hours on end— daily.
"Feel free to take a look around, but don't touch anything" The first thing that caught Honō's attention was a large portrait framed on the back wall of the Dojo.
There were three young men in the picture, each wearing navy-colored Gi's and holding bamboo-swords over their backs as if they were mere toys. But there was one more, smack-dab right in the middle of all three of them.
An older man with long disheveled charcoal hair and an unruly beard, he too donned a Gi with obsidian coloring rather than navy. His arms were around the younger men's shoulders as they all sported toothy-grins with animated expressions.
If there was one thing he could ascertain for certain about the man, it was that he was happy— extremely happy.
"Why have you brought me here?" It was pretty obvious by now that the place held immense value, even though he had come to some sort of an agreement with the man it made little sense that he had brought him to such a place so early on.
But Honō was offered no response, the man continued to run his fingers alongside the Dojo's wall as he absentmindedly muttered odd phrases to himself, too quiet for Honō to make out.
"Hello?" He quickly snapped out of his trance, looking at the cat with slight embarrassment.
"Ah, it appears I let myself get a bit too sentimental. Anyhow, I brought you here because this is where you'll be staying for the time-being. This is the true center of our mind, its core if you will"
"We just met, and you've brought me to a place that holds such significance? Aren't you worried I might do something to it?" He couldn't stop himself from asking, the man had gone from completely hostile to trusting in a matter of minutes, it didn't seem logical.
Before the man could answer, a ribbon crept its way up the nekomata's arm and firmly coiled itself around its leg, though it didn't hurt in the slightest, Honō still felt rather panicky.
"You're a part of this world now, you cannot harm it. No matter how hard you try, not that I'm encouraging you to experiment— understood?"
"Yes" The man hummed approvingly as he left the Dojo, leaving the cat to his own devices. Honō had much to contemplate, but luckily for him he'd have all the time in the world to do so.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone