"You look like an RPG character Twice." Erica finally said it, breaking the silence.
That's me, Twice Li. Odd name, odd outfit. Dressing up like an RPG character. I tried to laugh it off, but I ended up just shifting and uncomfortably chuckling. I was dressed like one of my favorite characters from my favorite stories from the pre-century. Literature is a little less fancy these days, because people are less impressed with powers like this, but hey they're still inspiring right? As Erica poked fun at me, I couldn't help but think about how.. I got here.
『Healing Blood』: User has blood that is heavily enriched with regenerative properties, which can keep themselves constantly healed and in optimal health as long as the blood keeps flowing within.
By transfusing the blood to another, it can help boost the recipient's healing process.
That's what my powers got defined as when they got cataloged. I didn't really find my powers too useful when I started out. Getting up a little quicker during track, never really getting sick, or never really worrying about papercuts. In that context it's kind of useless really, but it makes a person at least. I'm pretty proud of myself, getting along this far when I have classmates who long jump leagues beyond what I can. Despite all that, I've spent a little time getting good at the quarterstaff and spear.
"That's the point, Erica. I heal people right? Like a cleric. I'm not really religious, so I dressed up like a druid." I replied. She scoffed, "You can heal any wound right, isn't it kind of waste to be a druid or a cleric? You could be like Wolverine or deadpool, or I dunno water man? You're under-selling what you can do, ya' know?" With a hand on my hip, I just looked at her impatiently. She shrugged and didn't press on any further, thankfully. She still smirked though.
As we continued through the forest, I started asking about some of the details from Erica. I hadn't really heard much of what was going on yet.
"So what are we looking for again? A shadow?" I asked.
"A werewolf." Erica chimed in mock enthusiasm. Oh it was one of those, I decided from her tone. It was rare Erica wasn't excited to fight. This was probably going to be a little bit hard.
So apparently, what we were hunting was a werewolf. Well, a werewolf at the point it was couldn't really be called a werewolf anymore. It would be more accurate to call it the leftovers of a wolf, Erica had explained. Just a shadow.
Because of what it was, we were forced to put it down. Normally, werewolves clad themselves in the shadow of the moon to become beasts that can thrive during the night. The stronger the moonlight, the deeper the shadow, so they're stronger during full moons. Instinctually, most werewolves don't attempt this during a new moon. Taboo, not only was it difficult, it was easy to go mad when making the attempt. Some wolves overcome, however, most:
Fall.
It was getting gloomier and darker as we lumbered along. The bramble about slowly became more abrasive as I continued to walk ahead, brushing it aside as I ignored most of the cuts. It was routine for me to take the head before Erica got into battle mode. With use together, we could normally track anything.
"I think we're getting close, I smell blood.." I said, offering a wrist. She hesitated only a moment before she bit into my skin.
That was one of my abilities, smelling blood. Nothing too fancy compared to my healing, but it tended to help when we were dealing with dangers in general. I could feel Erica tense as the rush my blood dispelled some of her fatigue. I didn't wince as her teeth dug into my arm.
It was only moments before her corneas turned red. With lips stained like wine, she looked like she'd recently eaten an animal with her teeth. After I nodded her in the right direction, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve as the grip around her cleaver clenched.
"I'm still not used to that.." she said, her mouth muffled behind a sleeve. We'd done this before, but I'd gotten a little better. With a calculated expression, she seemed to be measuring distances with her eyes. "Let's do this. I won't waste time."
We couldn't call ourselves heroes, we'd be closer to cosplayers, but Erica always impressed me how brave she was compared to me. There were people better at this sort than we were, but to Erica - this her responsibility anyway. Her family dealt with spirits and helped give them peace. Even if it was Erica's grandmother that pushed us to help the most, the reason things worked out most of the time is because I can lean on Erica.
Ah, I never mentioned Erica's powers. She's more or less the main fighting force of our duo and doesn't have powers in the traditional modern sense, per say. She is not unlike a mundane shaman, she speaks with spirits and nothing more. More or less without them, she's a normal girl. You couldn't guess, looking at her silvery green locks - but that was something she did herself with normal bleach.
But with them, she's more or less an amazon. Taking on the spirits in her body, she becomes close to an animal bound in a human body. She was faster than even other people at school. Stronger than any other girl I've met. More focused than any chess master, at least to me.
But we worked together because- Erica broke into a sprint.
She tends to injure herself when she doesn't hold back.
Erica's feet tore into the earth, digging up grass and blood as wove from tree to tree, approaching the enemy. Her soles stitched themselves using my blood, as her waist pivoted while she was in midair, cutting with a flashy horizontal slash.
A shadowy figure cringed in agony as it clutched its shapeless face. "Contact.." I muttered under my breath. It was a signal I'd been trained by our teamwork to count on before I moved from my position in combat. The human shaped "thing" swatted at Erica's blurring shape only for more to appear in the immaterial shadow. Maybe it'd be easy? The forest itself seemed to rattled, as I started to hear a chorus of howls. The spirits that followed Erica had started their song. When she went all out, they were exhilarated. Or maybe they were always like that?
Her cleaver caught what remained of the day as the shadow seemed to sway in place like a crippled man who had been strung along my marionette strings until now. It was distracting, but instead of paying full attention to the fight:
I surveyed the area.
After deliberating for a few breathes, I circled the clearing Erica paved charging about before signaling with a knife to my palm. It glinted in the moonlight, and I cut my palm like we'd practiced. Striding low on the ground like an animal, Erica strode out of the vision of the creature as it tumbled before homing into my palm like a vampire from another direction. I resisted the brief urge to flinch. A combination of a spirit and Erica looked to me with approval. It was simple work surprisingly. But, why did I feel nervous?
A howl resonated in our hearts.
A second leftover had appeared, differing from the first, seeming faster and keener. Before I could register what was happening, it slammed Erica's head into a tree as wood and shrapnel blasted against my face. Turning my way, it molested my chest cavity with three claws before I passed out in shock.
Unfortunately I woke up alone.