The Killing Grounds (Peregrine x PavellumPendulum)

Ray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should keep moving."

Distributing some of her metal to Shiori helped. Ray was fairly strong, used to physical labor, and the several pounds she'd passed off put the entire load under her tolerance level. However, metal or no, there was no denying that Lareina wasn't used to walking for this long, especially not without water. Lareina still insisted on resting frequently, unwilling to push herself too hard when she had no ideas what dangers were lurking out in the woods.

As a matter of fact, the forest was always oddly quiet. There was the sound of wind in the branches, but the little noises that movies and literature had led Ray to expect, insects and birds and the like, were completely absent. The entire forest seemed almost dead. The more she walked, the more Ray missed home. She wondered how her brothers were doing. What were they thinking, when their big sister had so suddenly gone missing? Were they here? God, she hoped not. Would she ever get the chance to go home?

Lareina's circling thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the faint sound of flowing water. She immediately came to a halt, turning to Shiori. "Do you hear that?"
 
And so their adventure continued.

Shiori would admit she wasn't in the best shape. She wasn't the right one to come to when it came to issues requiring physical prowess in the least: her domain laid more in the sciences and math... But she had a feeling that that wouldn't help her now. The sword hadn't even crossed her mind as a burden for the first few minutes, but after a while of carrying it with her, it certainly was becoming an annoyance. It wasn't getting heavier, of course, but to her typically unused biceps, it was most definitely something that required more effort than her usual amount. Still, she wouldn't complain. Lareina had been carrying more for longer and she didn't want to be a burden on her.

They walked in silence together, only stopping when the familiar sound of... Flowing water hit them. Shiori nodded excitedly, throat already reveling in the possibility of getting something to soothe it, "Yeah, yeah!" she exclaimed, head turning in the direction of the noise, "Should be... Around here, maybe?"

The excitement was clear on her face, pumping energy back into her previously more sluggish movements as she moved towards the noise. The weight of the sword disappeared from her mind, only wanting to find water now.
 
"Yeah, over there," Ray agreed, quickly turning and jogging after Shiori. Like the other woman, Lareina was moving faster, eager at the thought of finding something to drink. Of course, it wouldn't do much to satisfy her stomach, but people always said that finding water and shelter was more important than finding food. She might not be used to it, but it would take weeks before she would starve to death.

It didn't take long for them to weave their way through the trees, finding a tiny stream that was trickling over stones. There was barely a couple of inches of water, but there was no doubt it was, indeed, water.

Just as she was about to plunge her hands in, rubbing her face clean before she would swallow a couple handfuls, Ray suddenly came to a halt, another thought appearing in her mind.

"Do you... think it's safe to drink?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly. At that moment, she was wondering if she even cared.
 
A stream. The air was cooler near it, the greenery more lush and Shiori couldn't have been happier. To be honest, it was barely a stream at all, seeing how it was barely a few inches of water sliding over a trail of rocks, but it still spelled survival for them. Water took priority over food and she had a feeling that this would maybe give her the ability to make a little bit more metal for Ray, even if it still wouldn't be much. She knelt down beside it, just relishing in the knowledge that she could be drinking that soon, only to look over her shoulder to Lareina, who questioned if they could drink it.

Right. That... was a problem.

Shiori puffed her cheeks up in thought, staring at the running water briefly, almost pouting. Nothing was going to be easy out here, huh. Well, she'd known that from the moment they'd run away together, but still. Dang. "Hm... I mean, the only way to be sure would be to boil it. We could make a pot with metal, but the fire would be the harder part." she mumbled, scrunching up her face in thought, "Do... Do you know how to make a fire? I don't, to be honest."
 
"Um, kinda," Lareina replied, her mind immediately going back to all the little fires she and her brothers had created in their childhood. Of course, that had been a bit different, most notably because they'd had matches to get it going and a great deal of newspaper to keep it burning hot and bright. "I know how to start a fire, no problem. I'm not sure I know how to keep it going long enough to actually boil water."

Ray had seen more than enough sparks created from metal rubbing against metal that she was certain she'd be able to ignite some sort of flammable material, like dry leaves or pine needles. However, she doubted a quick little fire like that would do anything to help boil a heavy pot full of water. However, if "raw" water was as unsafe to drink as she'd been led to believe, they'd have to make do.

"Uh, we need kindling. Small, dry… ah, fuck, something. If it looks like it'd catch on fire easy it'll probably do, as long as it's not wet. And then wood. Small pieces and large. There should be plenty of dead branches around, I'm sure we can get some off the trees."
 
Okay, well, this was a start, at least. Shiori's expression brightened up visibly when the other stated she had the knowledge they needed. As long as they knew what to do, she didn't mind doing busywork to make it happen. Water was a priority over food, but they didn't exactly have the luxury of just sipping it straight out of the ground without fear that they'd catch some kind of virus or anything. "Okay, okay!" she replied, a determined look of sorts appearing on her face as she pointed at the ground, "Let's make this the spot where we put wood we collect for now. We'll need a pile, so it's best we know where to put it."

Scanning the area around them briefly, she made a quick waving motion at Ray, grinning, "I'll stay close. I'll find the best fire-making wood you've ever seen, just you wait."

And with that, she was on a quest.

Sticks, bark, fallen branches... She collected them in her arms. Though she'd been a little grossed out previously at the thought of picking up random stuff from the forest floor, she was past that at this point. There was little reason to make this any harder than it already was, so she'd just have to suck it up and make herself useful to Ray.

She hummed to herself quietly, returning triumphantly with an armful of wood for the other, dumping it in the spot she'd designated prior. "I did it." she said, expression giddy like a child.
 
Lareina couldn't help but smile at Shiori's enthusiasm, but as the other girl all-but skipped off, Ray felt the smile slide off her face. She had her own task to focus on, and it wasn't going to be as easy as finding wood in a forest. She had to find a way to use her metal to make a tool that could start a fire, without any form of gas to help sustain the flame.

She'd seen plenty of sparkers in her time, but most of them had been electric. The few that weren't didn't provide more than a momentary spark, enough to light a blowtorch but far from enough to start a fire. As she continued to try and recall anything she'd ever seen that could serve as a model, the image of a grinding wheel gradually appeared in her mind, along with the shower of sparks that fell off it. If it was enough to burn small holes in her clothes, it should be good enough to ignite a little bit of kindling.

However, before Ray started, she called the metal from her body, using it to lay out a thin but broad piece of sheet metal across the forest floor. The last thing she wanted was for her experimenting to start a forest fire, especially not before they had a chance to get a drink. Standing up just long enough to gather some kindling from the ground nearby, Lareina began to experiment.

She'd certainly never looked into what a grinding wheel was made of, but she'd touched it more than enough to have a clear memory if its abrasive texture. A block of coarse metal appeared over her hand, ridged and bumped as though it was covered in grains of sand. With the metal clinging to her skin, Ray held out her hand, before she made a fist with her other hand. A ring of metal appeared around her other hand, equally as coarse, before it began to revolve around her fist.

Concentrating intently on the feel of the metal, Ray didn't even notice Shiori's return until the sound of wood thudding to the ground interrupted her thoughts. She flinched, tensing in preparation of a fight, before her mind caught up with what was actually happening. A smile spread over her face. "Good job," she praised. "Bring over the kindling and small branches, and help me create a small pile. Then we can see if we can get ourselves a fucking fire."
 
The praise only made her expression light up even more, if that was possible. Shiori was easy to please, contrary to popular belief: many thought she would only care for the most expensive things around, considering her background, but the simple things in life never failed to put a smile on her face. Obediently, she nodded and started assembling a small pile with the other woman with the kindling she'd gathered, half-watching her hands, eyes grazing over the metal she'd assembled around her fist.

It was still weird, seeing how the metal rose to the top of her skin, materializing as if it had always belonged there, but she supposed she'd seen worse, considering the huge... bug things. Had they been human too? Had their powers been to... Become giant acid-spitting bugs? She shuddered at the thought. Maybe her and Ray had been lucky to still look like themselves.

Shiori sat herself on the ground near the pile now, watching Ray, her legs tucked to her chest. "There we go. Hopefully this works. I'm thirsty as shit."
 
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"Fuck, I hope so too," Ray muttered in response, her eyes focused on the pile. It resembled the tiny little bonfires she'd made with her brothers, somewhat. A pile of light kindling, grass and dried bark, with thin sticks sat on top. Now it was only a question if her makeshift sparker could manage to actually light a fire.

"No way to know but to give it a fucking try," she muttered, as much to herself as Shiori. And then she began to focus once more.

The metal on her hand spun slowly at first, before it rapidly began to pick up in pace. As its speed increased, the rough pattern on the surface began to turn into a blur, before seeming to disappear almost completely as its speed got fast enough.

Lareina felt dizzy. It was taking almost all her concentration to force the metal to move this quickly, and it seemed like her brain had been dragged along for the circles. The entire forest was starting to spin around her, but Lareina grit her teeth, determined to not give up on the effort. Gradually, she forced her hands together, and a bright shower of sparks began to spit out of the back of the spinning "wheel" from the point where the two pieces of metal made contact.

Trying to force her blurring vision into focus, Ray tried to move her hands to align the sparks up with the pile of kindling they'd made earlier. However, her near double vision made it hard for her to tell if she was even close to lining the sparks up correctly.

Groaning slightly, no longer able to hold herself completely vertical from the incessant spinning in her head, Lareina crumpled to the side, the metal sinking back into her skin. However, a trace of heat on one side of her face caused her to try and force herself upright again, only to end with her burying her head in her hands.

"Feed it... with more wood," she panted, trying to stay focused. "Be careful... not to... smother it. Motherfucker, I don't want to do that shit again soon."
 
Shiori wasn't quite sure what Ray was making on her hands. A wheel of metal was odd and she wasn't sure what to call it, but the sparks from her hands certainly were a sight to see. The sound, however, was horrific. The japanese girl jumped in place slightly, eyes widening at the grinding, but she supposed she should've expected it. Those were two pieces of metal, hitting each other. She watched as Ray pushed forwards, expression concerned when the other began to crumple forwards, not looking in the best of shape. The spinning must've taken it's toll on her.

On her knees, Shiori quickly added wood to the pile, watching the tiny flame grow, licking up the sides of the dry kindling. Her dry throat ached for water, but she knew she'd have to wait: making the fire was only the first step to their water purification.

Once the fire looked like it would be fine, she sat beside the heap that was Lareina, tilting her head at her, "I think it's okay. Are you okay? That seemed like it took a lot out of you."
 
Head buried in her hands, Lareina did her best to focus on the sound of the fire, hoping against hope that it wouldn't go out. However, at the moment there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She was certain if she tried to open her eyes she'd vomit on the spot. Right now, it was up to Shiori.

Luckily, the other girl seemed to have a decent sense for tending to a fire once it was already lit, and Lareina still heard the gentle crackle of burning wood when she was finally able to lift her head again. A small orange flame greeted her eyes, along with Shiori's concerned gaze.

"'M okay," Lareina muttered. "Just fucking dizzy. Motherfucking ass cock, I feel like my head was stuck to tumble on the fucking spin cycle of a washing machine. Shit!"

As her swearing got more vigorous, Ray seemed to be feeling better, and at the final expletive, she shook her head and arms at the same time, before finally fully straightening into a proper seated position. "But, hey, at least we've got a fire. Good job keeping it going, I'm glad I don't have to do that again. Give me a few to make sure the world's done spinning, and I'll make a pot and some sort of... I'unno, fucking metal stand to hold it over the flame. Hopefully it won't take too long to boil."
 
Though she knew it was bad, she couldn't help but laugh a little, sat on her ass here next to the fire, with Lareina spewing profanities left and right. "Motherfucking ass cock, huh?" she echoed softly, obviously amused as she tended to the fire, adding more bits of wood when it seemed lacking. "Take your time. I think I got us enough wood to keep it going for a while. I'm having fun just sitting here and being warm next to it." It wasn't as if the forest was ridiculously cold or anything, but considering her dress, despite it being long sleeve, it wasn't exactly the best for keeping her warm.

Or for fighting. Man, she was not wearing the proper attire for an out in the middle of fucking nowhere with monsters excursion. If only she'd been wearing something more appropriate when she'd gotten... Teleported, or whatever.

"I'm excited to drink something. My throats been feeling like shit. I guess it's not exactly good for me to be spewing out metal from there constantly." She tapped her throat, shrugging, "I think it was the glass shards that did it. God, that fucking sucked."
 
"Motherfucking ass cock," Ray agreed, nodding slightly before instantly stopping at the roll of protest from her stomach. "You know," she continued a second later, once she was sure she wasn't going to puke whatever little bits were left in her stomach. "For when calling something a motherfucker isn't enough, and you need to imply it also fucks its mum in the bum."

Laughing slightly to herself, Ray scooted slightly closer to the fire, realizing that Shiori was right. The heat did feel nice, a warm little spot of comfort in this cold and fearful world they'd stumbled their way into. Breathing slow, deep breaths through her mouth, Lareina watched Shiori adding bits to the fire. She couldn't help but wonder if this little flame would be enough to boil water, or if they'd need to get a larger one before they were actually able to bring it to a boil. She'd played with fires with her brothers, but they'd never been anything more than little pyrotechnic displays. She'd certainly never had to cook anything on one before, unless marshmallows counted.

However, Shiori's words immediately distracted Ray from the fire, causing her to wince with suppressed guilt at the memory. " 'M sorry about that," Lareina mumbled, "Who would have guessed that superpowers would end up being so inconvenient sometimes? Metal that actually weighs something, glass that scrapes up your throat and mouth. Whoever made these things doesn't seem to have fully thought this through..."

Lareina's words trailed to a halt, her offhand statement leading her down an entirely different train of thought. "Say, do you think someone or something is behind all this? Whatever the fuck 'this' is."
 
Ray's solemn agreement, topped off with a nod and an extra explanation only made Shiori giggle some more. It didn't really surprise her, since Ray had already proven previously that she had a mouth that was anything but clean, but hearing the repetition with such a serious face was hilarious to her. Of course, the humour in the conversation didn't last long. The situation that they were in sucked, and it was really hard to believe otherwise. Not knowing where they were or how they were going to sustain themselves was a problem, but figuring out what the fuck those huge bugs things were was a whole different game.

"Yeah, this all kinda... Sucks ass, for lack of better words." Shiori replied, gently nudging the other with her elbow, "Hey, no need to apologize. We were cornered. I'm just glad we made it out alive. You're the one who did all the heavy lifting anyway."

Ray continued, trailing off with her thoughts, but she did pose a good question. Was there some external force that had brought them here? There had to have been, considering the fact that they'd just been ripped out of their normal lives... To be fair, Shiori was still hoping this was all some kind of weird, fucked up dream that was going on far too long, but as long as it didn't end, she'd have to deal with the consequences. "I really don't know. Is it even possible for something like that to exist? I don't know about you, but I was on my way to university. Are we talking about a being or an entity that can warp things in space without warning?" she mused, frowning, "Because even this is a bit much for me, and I'm on my second degree in astrophysics."
 
"You are?" Ray replied in surprise, a low huff of admiration coming from between her lips. "I barely made it past high school, and only then because the mechanic's shop I was working at threatened to fire me if I didn't graduate. I was at work when I got... grabbed. That's what it felt like, anyways. Brought the wrench I was holding along with me, too. Shit, I wonder what Wendell did when I suddenly disappeared."

Lareina laughed slightly, but it sounded like a rather tired effort. Wendell would have been the first to notice her going missing, as he'd been helping her get the axle back into the Ford truck they'd been working on. What had happened on the other side? Had she suddenly just... gone missing? Fainted? Maybe she was still there, unaware that a copy of her person had been dragged off to some other dimension to fight for her life. Frankly, Ray found herself hoping it was that. At least she'd still be there to support her family.

"Do you have any idea what's going on, then?" Ray asked Shiori, a trace of hope flickering in her eyes. "How these superpowers work, at the very least?"
 
With her legs pulled to her chest, the Japanese girl crossed her arms to lay her chin on them as she spoke to the other girl, trying to find some comfort in condensing herself. For just a little bit, if they just talked, she could pretend that she wasn't worried about their chances of long term survival while trying to figure out how to return home. If she just kept talking, she could ignore the anxiety bubbling up in her chest. Focused on Ray's musings. Rubbed her chin on her forearm. Counted her breaths. Anything, anything to keep her mind busy.

"Well, I'm glad they... Encouraged you to finish." she chuckled, drawing out the syllables of the emphasized word, seeing how Ray had described it, "I know school isn't the most important thing in the world but it's still good to finish high school to finish up the majority of basic curriculum and all. I'll stop myself there though, because I've got way too much to say about curriculum choices though, ha."

It wasn't hard to see that Shiori loved to learn. Not only that, but she was passionate about it, about the way it was done and about the way it was presented. Going off on a rant about the educational system wasn't really important at the moment though, of course.

"I really have no idea." she admitted when the other asked about the powers, frowning and staring at Ray's hands, "I don't know much about biology or chemistry. Physics wouldn't really tell me how our bodies are suddenly able to process inorganic materials in different ways. I'd need actual equipment to even start comparing cell samples... Then there's trying to explain why we have different powers..." She trailed off, "It's really cool that this is somehow even possible but I'm pretty sure it's waaaay too complicated for me to make guesses about."
 
"Fucking shame," Ray said with a small sigh. "Not that I blame you for not having any goddamn clue what's going on. Not in the least. But, still, it'd be nice to have some fucking hint about all this. Even if it was just a small, shitty one." She sighed, glancing down at her hand. In response to her subconscious call, metal bubbled up onto her palm, forming a small puddle of molten silver in the cup of her hand.

Whatever it was, it didn't feel wrong. As a matter of fact, it felt so right, so comfortable, Lareina almost felt as though she'd spent her entire life deprived, living in a world where metal hadn't lived inside her body and responded to her every thought. It certainly would have made her work a lot easier, she mused idly, staring at her distorted reflection in the tiny silver pool. How many times had she had to take a blowtorch or a metal cutter to a rusted bolt, when all she'd need to do now is touch it, and the bolt would easily spin out at her first thought. Assuming, of course, that she managed to keep from absorbing the whole car. That would be awkward.

"How about what's going on, then? Any guesses on that? Like, why those fucking bug monsters from earlier were making us fight to the death?"
 
She watched her.

The metal grew in Ray's hands, without much effort. Honestly, it seemed so natural for her. Shiori almost felt like she'd gotten the short end of the... Weird, random power assignment stick, considering the fact that hers really did ache when she used it. Plus, it hadn't been nearly as powerful as the other girl's abilities. Of course, Shiori knew she shouldn't compare herself, since there was no point in a survival situation but she couldn't quite help always having to see if she measured up to the people around her. Bad habits were hard to drop.

She was knocked out of her thoughts when the other mentioned the bug monsters. "Ah." she mumbled uncomfortably in her spot, sighing, "I really don't know. I mean... I have a weird idea, maybe..." She trailed off momentarily, her gaze distracted, before she finally brought it back to Ray, "Well, we suddenly got powers, right? Um... What if... What if those bug monsters used to be human? And they, uh... They were given the 'power', I guess, to shapeshift? Or their power was just becoming gigantic bugs? I don't know. It's kind of freaky when I think of it as a possibility..."
 
Ray felt herself shiver unconsciously in disgust at Shiori's suggestion. If that was really the case, then, for all the inconveniences Shiori and Ray's powers might give them at times, they'd really gotten lucky. At least they were still human, still... themselves. The idea that there might be powers out there that could turn them into monsters, literal monsters, not the metaphorical kind, was almost more scary than anything they'd encountered so far.

"But..." Lareina found herself protesting almost unconsciously, digging for something, anything, that might disprove Shiori's theory, so that she wouldn't have to worry about waking up one morning as a giant bug. "But there were so many of them. All of the people in the fight I saw earlier... in the arena, they all did something different. Do, you think that many people would end up with the same ability, together?"

Entirely unbidden, the image of a centipede curled around a pile of gelatinous eggs filled her mind, each of the sacs green, pulsating, and filled with something that almost resembled a human fetus. She shuddered again.

"I don't know. Let's talk about something else. I know I asked, but still. We got away from them, and they're not catching up. So it... it doesn't matter."

Didn't matter, like all the other people they'd left behind in that arena. Ray hadn't thought about them, perhaps her subconscious was keeping it from her, but their fate couldn't have been good. Perhaps that was the reason none of the centipede monsters bothered trying to catch up to them once they made it out of the village and into the woods. They'd had enough humans without having to worry about two that escaped.

Or, maybe, there was something out here they didn't want to face. She unconsciously looked around, but the forest was as still and quiet as it had been the whole time they were walking.

"What do you think we should do next?" Ray finally asked. "I mean, after the water, and finding somewhere to sleep and something to eat, and maybe better clothes for you. You know, all that survival shit. What do we do long term?"
 
Ray seemed as put-off by Shiori's theory as she was. Of course, it made sense. There was nothing pleasant about the idea of humans suddenly being ripped out of their normal lives, only to become monsters. If that had been the case, could they still think? Still feel? Or were their instincts taking over, leading them to kill whatever didn't look like them? "Well... I don't know. There is the possibility that someone had the power to turn other people into bug things. We really don't know the limitations of this stuff and obviously it can bend the laws of reality as we know it, so speculating isn't really going to narrow things down much." Shiori shrugged, watching the disgust make it's way through Ray's entire system.

The topic was changed soon enough. Perhaps it was for the better. Reflecting on how fucked the whole situation was wouldn't really do much for their morale. Ray asked about the whole survival thing and Shiori sighed, rocking in her spot on the ground for a few moments, obviously not feeling great about their chances.

"Hmmm... Well, I've thought about it. A little bit, obviously, not enough to make an actual plan, but..." She brushed some hair out of her face, cheeks puffing up in thought, "... I think we should keep heading in one direction. North, maybe? I think we need to test how big this forest actually is. We really don't know about our surroundings at all so figuring out if there's anything outside of this biome would be a good idea, I think."
 
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