[Closed]

[a_r0yal_flush]

Characters: mylifeformyking, lironborn, ninetyninesouls and a-r0yal-flush
Location: Arizona
Rating: PG
Time: 12th until late at night on the 15th of November
Description: Mifune and co head out to Arizona for a mission.

Comments

12th of November

[a_r0yal_flush]

[ninetyninesouls]

They had left the mirror in the Arizona outpost far behind them by now. Mifune didn't believe in staying close to it for safety or easy access to the clinics, not because he was overconfident, but because it was always a dangerous thing to lead their enemies to the small bases they kept from state to state and city to city.

"Mm," he answered the question, which could mean anything between 'I don't know' and 'Soon'. Mifune had no intention of going easy on the entire lot, just yet. Leo had been given to him as a last minute errand as some sort of punishment, and Mifune wasn't about to go easy on him, either. The samurai adjusted the strap over his shoulder, shifting the case full of swords to something more comfortable.

[lionborn]

Overhearing the exchange, Leo huffed but said nothing as he kept drudging on, bringing up the rear of the group. He didn't mind the backpack or the particular kind of punishment - it was fucking annoying, but nothing new - but walking through mirrors was still something new for him and his wounds itched as if they were just waiting for an occasion to tear open again.

Observing their surroundings, he couldn't help but think that it was fun, how he'd had wanted to get out of the City, first Shinjuku and then Death City, that badly and now that he was he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. Silently, he was also grateful for Mifune's lack of words. He didn't want to talk, especially not about his 'problems'.

[mylifeformyking]

Yuuri, of course, had not been entirely specific about any underlying motives for leaving the city (Conrad actually suspected that Yuuri had tried to tell him, but that it had ceased to make sense between speculation and an attempt at concealment), but Conrad sensed from his party-mates that something he didn't know about was going on.

"I am sure it won't be long, Your Majesty." He was the only one willing to indulge Yuuri's penchant for camaraderie and conversation, it appeared.

13th of November

[a_r0yal_flush]

[mylifeformyking]

Yuuri had been working all morning, with Conrad standing quietly against a tree, half-watching, half-surveying the same land over and over. Yuuri was determined to make this work, and Conrad was smart enough to give him the space and time he needed to convince himself he was making progress.

"Are you ready for a break?"

[a_r0yal_flush]

He had been working had with Mifune over the last day, but towards the end of yesterday, the young Maou had managed to successfully transform his arm into a bladed form. Yuuri, of course, barely remembered the entire ordeal, as his counter-part had once again emerged to take control of the situation. Not that it had bothered him at all, but it would have been nice to know exactly what had happened with it being all a big blur.

Yuuri had been trying this morning to get his partial form under control, but he hadn't had much success over it either. It was probably due to the fact that Mifune had already taken care of all the other kishin eggs around, and he couldn't get the right type of motivation to bring himself to transform.

That was why Conrad's words were so welcome when the break was offered. His face instantly brightened, and after dropping his concentration, the young Maou said, "Yeah I am!"

Moving over to join Conrad, Yuuri cheerfully muttered, "I think I was getting closer that time."

[lionborn]

"Closer?"

Leo had returned from an unsupervised jog around the camp area just in time to hear the last pieces of their conversation. So far he hadn't seen any kishins from the close, but what little he HAD seen had been enough to convince him that he didn't want to make that experience anyway. Using his shirt as a towel, he wiped the sweat off his face before joining them.

"You really want to fight in that 'war', don't you?"

14th and 15th of November

[a_r0yal_flush]

[a_r0yal_flush]

The training had been mostly successful, and he'd begun to gain control of his partial transformation. It had taken a lot of work, and he'd been exhausted more often than not, but Yuuri had finally managed to do it. Yuuri felt more than accomplished, and he knew that he couldn't have done it without Conrad, Leo, and Mifune.

They'd packed up camp just under an hour ago, and had begun heading back to the outpost. It would take them at least another good few hours to get back to the mirror, but he didn't mind since he was out having fun with the others.

Marching his way up behind the others, the young Maou glanced ahead to see the backs of Conrad and the others as he murmured with a smile on his face, "Thank you all so much for coming out here with me. I don't think that I could have done it without any of you here."

[mylifeformyking]

Conrad glanced back barely, one eye still on the terrain ahead, and smiled. "Nonsense, Your Majesty. There is nothing to thank me for."

[ninetyninesouls]

"Mm," was his reply as always, although Mifune usually actually didn't reply at all. But if a kid was thanking him... All in all, he had expected to have to deal with more headache than this out here, but the group had been fairly reliable and easy to interact with.

He walked ahead of them, as the one who knew where they were going. Mifune was just cresting a small hill of cracked, dry clay when he saw a large, dark, moving mass in the distance. Instantly, he extended his arm out to stop the group from pressing forward, eyes narrowed and expression shuttered off as he analyzed the mass. Even from this far, it was easy enough to determine that they were kishin eggs.