"Since when did you have deadshot aim like that?! Aimbot much?!" I yelled as I ran behind her, still in utter disbelief that she had shot a person down like that with a single kunai.
"You've seriously forgotten haven't you?" She spoke in a low voice but I could still make out those words despite the rush of people around us. I didn't understand what she meant but decided to drop it for now. We had a mission after all, and that was to stop this thief.
We kept running onward as the limp body plummeted into the ground just a few feet ahead of us. Kara reached them first naturally and crouched down beside them. I hovered behind her, trying to catch a glimpse of all their noticeable features. They were a boy with scruffy brown hair that now had dirt caked up in it. He was wearing a black tunic of some sort and a pair of loose gray trousers that threatened to sag at any given moment. His arms were shrouded in sleek black feathers that seemed to slowly be disappearing from his body.
"Perrin, stay behind me. He's not from this world either." She held out her hand to stop me and pulled out another kunai with her other. She got down on her knees beside him and checked for a pulse before sighing softly. "Did you kill 'em?" I peeked my head from behind her back and scanned over the boy once more. "No, idiot. He's just unconscious which is good for us because he also had this," She reached over and snatched up the satchel that was beside his body and opened it up for me to see, "the core of Coronis Metro." It was a glowing cube that gave off a yellow hue.
"Without this, the city would cease to exist." She held the cube with both her hands and seemed to admire its beauty. I nodded along but my eyes drifted back over to the body behind her. It looked as though it had moved, but I wasn't confident enough to speak up about it. She took a few steps in my direction and that was when I saw it for sure. In a matter of seconds, Kara's whole backside was exposed and the seemingly unconscious kid had lunged at her. My thinking wasn't quick enough in the slightest, so I did the best next thing and lunged right back at him.
"Kara!" I called out for her as I tackled him to the ground, being the bigger and stronger of the two of us. She whipped her head back in my direction before balancing the cube on one hand and using the other in a flash. "Catalyst: first configuration!" She yelled out and I rolled out of the way of the giant translucent sphere that formed around the rabid boy.
I let out a sigh of relief and sat up slowly. I felt a shuffling from on my back and turned my head to see the parchment floating once more. I watched not one, but two gaster heads pop up and start eating away at words. 'Save someone from an ambush' and 'Help someone in need' reappeared as crossed out and checked off and a huge wave of relief settled over my body and I laid back on the hard dirt once again just cause.
"Thank you for saving me Perrin…" Kara trailed off as she walked up to where I was sprawled across the ground. I opened my eyes and was met with her beautiful brown ones staring back at mine. I sat up slowly and gently tugged on a loose strand of her hair playfully, "Why wouldn't I? You deserve a break from doing all the saving, y'know?" I chuckled and watched her face light up from my comment.
But just as soon as the radiance in her face came, it was quickly replaced with the flush of red. "This doesn't make us even, stupid." She huffed and crossed her arms with a pout. Her eyes trailed over to the beating sounds not too far from us and I groaned, "What's up with this kid anyway?"
He was furiously banging on the translucent sphere and I gulped from the unease it was giving me. Kara walked over to it and placed her hand on it, only to flinch away when the savage boy charged in her direction, baring his teeth that closely resembled fangs across the board. "Kara, get back from there! He's clearly not one to be reasoned with so don't waste your breath." I grabbed her arm and tugged her away, but she stood her ground and shook my hand off.
"Perrin, no. He's been inflicted with a curse," She glanced back at me with a somber look etched on her face, "Bird disease I believe… That's not a normal curse. It only affects Avians and…" She trailed off and continued to examine the boy's features, her brow furrowed as she analyzed the state he was in. I stepped away and looked back over at the inflicted boy with a frown, "Bird disease, huh…" I muttered mostly to myself and closed my eyes, processing what she was saying.
Bird disease… Something about that just seemed so off. Why would that be a curse in this world and not a common disease among only animals. Moreover, back at home it was called Bird Flu, wasn't it? And why would he be flocked by birds if he's infected with a disease that supposedly kills Avians? Nothing was making sense right now and my head was hurting like crazy trying to put the pieces together.
Ah.
Kara said it was a curse that infected birds and… something else she didn't actually finish. But she never said that it was something that harmed them. I looked over at her and she seemed to be in some type of daze.
"Kara–"
"He's a familiar. He reincarnated just as you did, but instead of playing hero, he has a lesser catalyst and retains the power of a bird familiar type. The bird disease would prevent him from speaking or transforming, and instead enable him into this sort of… savage animal!" Kara explained as she gripped the cube in her hands tightly, "Perrin, shove this in your bag please. I'm going to try and cure him." She shoved it in my arms and I fumbled it a bit before getting a firm grasp on it.
She patted herself down briskly and pulled something from her waist. It resembled a knife of some sort, but was exceptionally small and had an odd shape. She held the knife in both of her hands as if she was praying to it, and began to utter a thread of words.
"Catalyst, eighth configuration: Swan Song Curse!" Kara yelled and a radiant white beam emerged from her hands. My curiosity got the better of me so I tried to get as close as possible without being utterly blinded by the ray of light. I could see the knife that was in her hands was glowing and now looked more like a wand of some sort. More importantly, Kara herself; the glimmer of white complimented her and she was like a goddess bathing in her own powers. I was vexed, but I had no complaints. She was… beautiful.
"Isla ferse thee morfou thine curse!" She waved the wand around and directed it at the boy who was running rampant in the small space he had been allocated. Another ray of light shot out at him and in an instant, it was as if he dropped dead.
My eyes widened with surprise and I couldn't help but break out into a smile at how skilled Kara really was. She was amazing!
"Kara, you–!"
But just as quickly as he had fallen, she did too.