Saving Soul

The fishes abruptly swam away, much to Adair's relief. That relief didn't last though, as he knew that animals only fled if there was something bigger and nastier coming. And he saw the silhouette something bigger and nastier rising to the water's surface.

Shit, he thought, running forward. "Anja, get away from there!"

Anja lifted her head to frown at him. She glanced back over her shoulder and her frown deepened. "I-I can't" she murmured. "I'm too weak to move"

Adair was afraid of that. He hurriedly snatched up Anja as a sky-blue eel-like monster raised itself from the depths, its sinewy body towering a good ten feet above Adair's head. Its weed-green eyes set upon him and his injured cargo and started firing large gushers of water at him.

Crap, this is not what I need right now he thought, as he swiftly leapt away from each watery blast. He gotten inside the exit tunnel, but it was a straight shot and would have made them easy targets for the large shots of water. He would have to drive away the demon first.

"Stay here," he said to Kimi as he set her down, before rushing back to face the water fiend.

"Adair! Come back!" Anja protested, but she was stuck where he left her.

Adair narrowly avoided another water blast as he rushed closer to the creature. The skin was slimy, which meant that a good fire attack would hurt it greatly. He took some of the slade from earlier and gripped it tightly. Quickly it caught on fire, and he threw it at the eel-like thing.

The blue monster screeched as the flaming shrapnel dug into its body. While the creature was distracted Adair blew out some firebreath, scorching its side.

Anja watched in awe. Adair was amazing. He looked to be a formidable fighter; light on his feet and quick witted. It was like watching a masterpiece.

The water fiend hissed and lunged at Adair, who jumped back and gave the monster another scorching breath. The eel-like demon pulled back and, deciding this prey wasn't worth the burns, retreated back into the pool depths.

Adair remained tense in case the creature reared back up, but the surface stayed calm. He relaxed and went back over to where Anja was, the wet cave floor hissing under every step.

"You okay?" he called.

Anja nodded. "Are you?" she asked in turn.

"Yeah," he answered. He was lucky that he hadn't gotten drenched earlier.

A quick squirt of water caught him on the back, and he let out a surprised yelp. The glowing golden fishes from before were back. He leered at them. Why was it that he could defeat a large monster and yet couldn't deal with these little annoying fish?

"...Well, I'll be better once we move on," Adair added, picking her up. It would be hard to properly support her weight if those fishes were shooting at his back, so this would have to do for now.

"...I'm sorry about before." Anja stated suddenly, looking away with a blush.

Adair blinked.

"Sorry about what? Not being able to fight? That's not your fault."

"No... Sorry... About..." Anja sighed. "Being mean to you. You don't deserve it, and you're nothing but nice to me after I do it."

"It's alright. I've put up with worse people," Adair answered. Like Voltaire, he thought, though he knew that thought wasn't really fair. "Part of being...a helpful person is not to give up and run off when you're frustrated."

"I'm still sorry" Anja mumbled.

Adair sighed.

"Well, it's not like our first encounter ended very well," he added with some embarrassment. "I wasn't honest about myself and then I ended up going berserk. I wouldn't trust me after something like that."

"I don't trust anyone." Anja stated. "You included."

"That's comforting," Adair said dryly. "I guess you just don't hate me as much then."

He heard an odd mechanical noise echoing before them. He recognized the sound from earlier and once again became annoyed. Sure enough, another one of Voltaire's contraptions wandered into sight, this one looking kind of like a rooster.

"Another one of your friend's toys?" Anja asked

"Yes. He has a lot of them," Adair replied dryly, as the mechanical experiment ambled closer. He decided to put Anja down and walk over toward it. Voltaire needed to make these things faster.

Upon registering Adair's presence, the rooster-like robot came to a halt and opened its maw.

"Hey, this is Voltaire making sure you aren't dead or something," the Hunter's recorded voice spoke. "So leave a message so we know you're still alive. Wait until after the squawk. Do not kick it."

There was a pause, and then the avian-ish contraption let out a loud screech that made Adair cover his ears. The robot grew still, its mouth still wide open.

Adair gave the metal thing an annoyed looked and mused over what to say. He did not feel like being nice.

"Your friend's contraptions are annoying. Be sure to say that." Anja snapped, her ears ringing from the harsh noise.

Adair felt no need to say it, because he was sure that the recorder had already picked up her message. Instead, he knelt down and said this:

"Hello 'Taire. I see you still feel like being a pain in the ass. Barrett described you as a jealous wife earlier, and I'm beginning to agree. Me and Anja are doing just fine and will arrive when we arrive. I should mention she is much better company than you. By the way, it would be been kind of you to warn us of the water demons at the pool, but you aren't usually nice so I don't know why I'm even saying this. Good day."

When he finished his spiteful report the creature soon shut its mouth, turned around, and began to walk away. Because he could, and because Voltaire told him not to, he gave the contraption a good kick in the rear.

The robot squawked, turned around with its eyes glowing red, and blew out a firebreath that engulfed Adair's head. It did little damage other than singing his face and hair some, but the redhead was still surprised and annoyed. Whether he had himself or Voltaire or blame, he wasn't sure. Voltaire told him not to kick it, but he might have said that knowing it would encourage Adair to kick it anyway. It was hard to tell with the Hunter sometimes.

"Now what?" Anja asked once the metal beast was gone. "Are we just continuing on to your friends?"

"Yes," Adair replied with a sigh. " 'Taire may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but we need to stick together. Won't be able to enter the tournaments otherwise, and there's safety in numbers."

He went over to Anja and picked her up so they could continue.

"Got it." Anja replied. "Safety and all that jazz"

"Is there someplace you want to go?" Adair asked. "If it's close by I can take you there before I go back. If it's far from here then we can ride there on Ava and save time."