Submerged Flames

"And, I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling b-. You stand up right now and there'll only be two of us in this room." (Hibiki)

Small vibrations surged once more from the table as the orb unlatched itself from the center.

Slowly spiraling upwards and enveloping itself in light. The pit in the center grew twice its size before fitting the newly grown device back into its place.

"Shwoom" (Kohaku)

"You just can't give up, can you?" (Hibiki)

"Nope!" Kohaku grabbed another chocolate out of the bag, giving his partner a soft smooch.

"Bleh, nothing from Hotaru." Makoto pulled out his tablet once more, letting all these holographic panels fly about the room while keeping two in hand.

Images of people getting chased by vine-wielding flowers the size of a pickup truck. Images of aquatic wildlife, many avian-ish creatures, with only a minimal about of mammals.

Kohaku pulled one with the image out of the sky-filled gallery of a freckled red-head with a bob cut and wide glasses that looked like two saucers against her face.

He looked back at his friends before hiding his smile behind the picture of the girl sicking a Godzilla of a Nuras on her team with a mischievous grin he missed and was quickly becoming more familiar with again in the company he kept.

"She dug her grave, now she must lie in it. We got anything from Wyz?" Hibiki spoke over his shoulder to Makoto while rearranging some of the panels.

"Aside from plan notes on the flora and fauna, she's even more reluctant to proceed." (Makoto)

"That's good to hear." (Kohaku)

"Needing to be careful? Hmm… Ya know, while she's out of commission, it'd be nice to visit." (Hibiki)

"Oh! You two haven't been? You're going to love it." Kohaku's face lit up like a Christmas tree

"Oh no…", Hibiki facepalms.

"Wh-" Before he could even process why Hibiki reacted that way, he felt a chill down his spine. He slowly turned his head to meet the long black disheveled hair, bloodshot eye and pale skin of one Makoto Yuki.

"Can you be sure about that?" (Makoto)

"I- uh." Looking back for help only to find his partner back in his seat with pity in his eyes. Crying a single tear while "reluctantly" eating another piece of chocolate and shaking his head.

"What's the purpose of this visit? Will we be there for vacation or business? How long will the trip be? WHAT DO WE NEED TO PACK?! CAN WE HAVE PLUS 1s?! WILL THE WEATHER BE GOOD?! HAVE YOU SCHEDULED A PLACE TO STAY ALREADY?! ARE! YOU! CERTAIN?!!! (Makoto)

"... S-So Hibiki, What's the orb do now?" (Kohaku)

"Can't keep dodging answers like this" (Hibiki)

"I can too!" (Kohaku)

"Pfft! *Ahem* Fine, fine. I'd ask you to ignore it to keep them off my back but, there's no helping it. We don't need to cover two days anymore. You could find out about that button on your own time. I ain't gonna deal with that now." Hibiki waves his hand through the air and several silver lights head through each gate as he pulls out a pipe.

"I'll just have to wait and see." (Hibiki)

"You got that right." (Kohaku)

"You-!" (Makoto)

*Click*

***

-Kohaku's POV-

"W-W-We're what?" (Kohaku)

"...Recording." (Hanashi)

"That's what they do?!" I pointed over to the little sphere thing floating behind me.

"Yes." (Makoto)

"For the whole trip?!" (Kohaku)

"Yes." (Makoto)

"Everyone is going to be live!" (Hotaru)

"Whaa?!" I was trying to wrap my head around one thing after the next with the info we got.

We all made our way down the torch-lit cavern as we talked. The occasional dripping was the only sound we had behind us, so I kept the conversation going.

"Wait, what are we doing now?"

"..." YOU TWO SHARED A LOOK AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!

***

"I don't know about Hibiki but,-" Makoto flipped his majestic hair back and tied it back while Hibiki scooched his chair over expectantly. Leading Kohaku to keep going with Makoto was getting his hair braided.

"I was questioning whether you had any brain cells or if you were just that far gone at the time." (Hibiki)

"Yeah…" (Makoto)

***

-Kohaku's POV-

"We got to collect the rewards we got. They're supposed to help us after all."

"Right, right, right."

'So that get to know everybody thing wasn't for nothing.'

As we made it to the end, there were four separate doors splitting our paths.

"One each! I'm calling the first one!" (Hotaru)

"I call second!" We both started running to the door and rammed right into some sort of force field that threw us back on our butts.

"Might want to check the sign before you go." Hanashi pointed over at the sign on the wall above the doors.

1st- Kohaku

2nd- Hotaru Kurama

3rd- Makoto Yuki

4th- Hanashi Uzumaki

Wordlessly we stood up and crossed paths, entering without looking behind us. I could still make out the small fit of laughter I heard as the doors closed.

"Glad to see you finally made it." A familiar voice I'd been hearing all week was ringing in my ears like a soft chime.

"Kuda!" I rushed over to the small black fox and swung him up into a hug.

"UNHAND ME, HUMAN!" (Kuda)

"Aw, but you're cuddly…" (Kohaku)

"... M-maybe just a little longer." (Kuda)

"Yes!" (Kohaku)

Kuda let me hold him for ten more seconds before he was pushing his soft paws against my face, and I put him back down.

*AHEM* "Before we get to business, how was today?" (Kuda)

"It was alright, I just nearly drowned." (Kohaku)

"WHAT?!" (Kuda)

"Yeah, that was fun." (Kohaku)

"YOU NEARLY DROWNED?! SPEAK YOU, MADMAN! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Kuda jumped up to grab my Kosode and look me in the eye.

It was one of the cuter things I notice about my new pal. Whenever he's scared or worried his tail would stand straight.

I slowly stroked his head and took a seat for him to hop down.

"You know how we were supposed to unpack today?" (Kohaku)

"Yes yes, go on!" (Kuda)

"Well, it looked like choosing me was a more… it was something you called me." (Kohaku)

"Stubborn, crazy, impulsive-" (Kuda)

"That one!" (Kohaku)

"Go on…!" (Kuda)

"Oyashiro wanted to clean up, so he let us go out to play for a bit. And I sort of fell in the water." (Kohaku)

"And you don't know how to swim…" (Kuda)

"Wow! You really are super smart! But then, I remembered our practice so, I followed your advice and tried to calm down and just let it flow. Next thing I knew, I was on land again." (Kohaku)

"Thank the stars, so you're fine now?" (Kuda)

"Uh…" (Kohaku)

"Ko-ha-ku!" (Kuda)

"I'm not too sure, teehee!" (Kohaku)

"DON'T TEEHEE ME!" (Kuda)

"Don't worry, Oyashiro is taking care of it. You want to hear the cool thing though." (Kohaku)

"What could possibly be more important?!" (Kuda)

"My hair turned pink! It's a little lighter than my eyes but, isn't that awesome?!" (Kohaku)

"You're going to give me a heart attack, human…" (Kuda)

"Ko-ha-ku!," I pouted.

"YOU CAN TELL ME THAT WHEN YOU'RE 100% ALRIGHT!!!" (Kuda)

"But I like you saying my name!" (Kohaku)

"You! Ugh, next thing!" Kuda hopped back onto where he was sitting when I got here.

"Open this." (Kuda)

"Okay~!" (Kohaku)

Skill Book: Soul Flow (Passive) [Lvl 1]

-Reduce Stamina usage by 0.5%

- Activate Soul Surge- An aura-enhanced state allowing you to unleash a devastating flurry of strikes against your foe.

Attacks have a 10% chance of inflicting soul drain and recovering your HP and MP/SP. 20% chance of inflicting against undead foes. Soul surges duration may extend by achieving three soul drains while this state is active.

Cost: 20 Chakra

Duration: 1 minute

"Aura?" (Kohaku)

"I'M BLESSED! THANK THE HEAVENS FOR HEARING MY PLEAS!" (Kuda)

"What's gotten into you?" (Kohaku)

"... Kohaku~" The chills ran down my spine when Kuda looked at me with star-filled eyes.

"You'll learn that now, right~?" (Kuda)

"Um…" (Kohaku)

"Now, right~?" He inched closer.

"O-" (Kohaku)

"Now~!" (Kuda)

"Alright! Just stop being all… ugh!" (Kohaku)

[Skill learned!]

Kuda grabbed my cheeks and had me look down at him. " You won't regret this."

"A awedy am." (Kohaku)

"Next chest! Move, move!" Kuda hopped onto my shoulders and scrambled to the top of my head.

"Speed run!" (Kohaku)

1st- Sara (280) (15)- [SSS]

2nd- Yuji (36) (48)- [S]

3rd- Taichi (22) (37)- [A]

4th- Hotaru (42) (0)- [B]

Loot: 1,000/ 1,000 [SS]- [Rank-up: All Found]

'Holy…The difference between first and second was like comparing a regular person to someone who ate a devil fruit and has Haki!... What's Haki?!' My jaw dropped to the ground.

The cool kid I was with was Yuji but, I guess mowing down those traps had its perks for both of us.

"Let's go!"

"H-How's that possible?" (Kohaku)

"When I asked, I was told it was, blackmail, robbery, manipulation, and a winning smile amongst other things. Oh, and that was, if not, the most dangerous pairing on the list. Now, move!"

"Yes sir!" (Kohaku)

This next room was a hall filled with weapons and armor. I could see the fiery set made from demon bones and the sword of a Fire King Elemental. But all that was decorative, whatever I was going to get laid in the Platinum Chest in the center.

I didn't know how to feel once I opened it. Anything in this room could've done the job but this?

"Have you ever felt the need to ask yourself?"

I turned around to the entrance and watched three people… ephemeral just walk through me as they scoured the room.

"Isn't it so strange?"

"What?"

"No- strange sounds dismissive… Mysterious, now that's more like it."

I don't know how people do it, piece these things together. But it meant something. Everything they said meant something important. Five figures, five items, and Kuda kept note of everything while I talked about it with him. But I ended up leaving this hall with a piece of paper. A paper doll.

1st- Makoto Yuki (A+)

2nd- Kohaku (A)

3rd- Hotaru Kurama (B+)

4th- Hanashi Uzumaki (B)

'2nd again?!'

"1st, 2nd, 2nd. Sounds like a good record to me."

"We get to explore after this?" (Kohaku)

"Yes?"

"Then what's the hold-up, let's move!" (Kohaku)

"I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU TO DO THAT! SPEED RUN!"

"I only stayed cause you wanted to hear more." (Kohaku)

"Tch!"

"Hehehehe." (Kohaku)

"SHUT UP AND MOVE!" The small tugs on my hair was never enough for it to hurt. I got his point anyways

We went through the final doors into a space I was too familiar with. The matted platform with a view of a gorgeous spring. When I turned around it was like I just exited the house. My psyche. I opened the last chest and placed the beads I found earlier on the string.

I didn't know what to do with the seeds. Kuda said we'd figure it out later and just like that the calm space broke away. Relieving the space to return to being a dreary cave, I could make out the light of the exit. Step by step, I went from a walk to a sprint as more light filled my vision. It was so blinding that I shut my eyes and fell over into thick, wet mud. Pushing my face out of the mud, wiping my face as I called Kuda's name. I heard him above me so, I looked up.

Mud going up to my knees like it was eating me... With nobody else to turn my attention to I focused on Kuda… awkwardly laughing in the palm of a broad-shouldered elf with dark red hair and a black sleeveless Kosode.

Those same green eyes that could've brought a dragon to shame were looking out in the distance. Gazing over the fallen trees and branches among the shrubs across the wetlands, now brittle and weathered. A foul stench lingered from the rotting vegetation and decay.

The sun began to sink below the horizon and the sky grew darker.

"Time to get a move on." (Hanashi)

"B-" (Kohaku)

"Read." He pointed behind me to where the exit was. Now it was just a solid stone surface carved.

A path of strife, requiring the faintest of feet. Acrobatic feats can't be beat. Leading those down through the safest route they seek. Groups divided, each confided. Those who act deride shall be uninvited. Safety is the priority and when the time is right, present yourself cordially.

'What? Kuda!'

"HEY! WAIT UP!" (Kohaku)

*Click*