Hokkaido's Mansion (Second Floor), Serpent's Forest

Seishin Realm

4:30PM

Colt shot up the stairs after Hisa, struggling to keep up with her frantic pace. He finally reached the second floor, but he came to a screeching halt once he did.

"I thought I killed you!" Hisa pointed at Kutoki, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the hallway.

Kutoki pulled out his wooden broom and stood up, "You bitch, I'm glad to see you again! I'm getting revenge this time!"

Hisa tightened her grip on her axe and pouted, "Do you have healing powers too? That's cheating!" She tilted her head, "Nah, that just makes it more fun!"

"Hisa!" Colt grabbed her shoulder, "Let's jump him-"

"Nope. I want to kill him myself."

"What? Come on! It'll be easier if we teamed up."

"I know that, that's why I don't want to do it. Besides, you'll get in trouble for fighting someone like him."

"Huh?"

She giggled, "He's a Futsunushi. They'll come after you if you kill one of their members."

Kutoki hopped onto his broom and flew towards them both, "How does a little brat know about that?"

Whipping up a powerful gust of wind, Hisa swatted him through the walls of the mansion with the side of her axe. Ignoring the debris resulting from the forceful swing, she turned back to Colt. "I want to kill him, so I'll even let you play with Hokkaido on your own for a bit."

Colt sighed, "Hisa, that wasn't the plan."

"What plan? It's already messed up. In Jax's plan, this guy was supposed to be dead, but he isn't. There's no point in following it."

Damn...she's got a point.

The question is, can I take Hokkaido on my own?

Hisa chased after Kutoki, using the hole she made in the wall to escape.

Well...she just dipped, so I don't have a choice now. I guess I'll go on ahead.

Be safe, Hisa...

-

"Where are you? Futsunushi!" Hisa darted through the crowded forest, hacking down any trees that came in her way. "Are we playing hide and seek now?"

Ducking beneath a wave of wooden arrows, she shredded through them with an explosive swing of her axe.

He's hiding...

If that's the case, I'll just get rid of these annoying trees!

Planting her feet, she clutched onto her axe, forming a violent current of wind as she swung it in a full circle. Hordes of trees rocked the earth as they were uprooted from the turbulent winds.

Kutoki emerged from the darkness, still flying on his broom. "You monster, don't you care about the forest." A hint of playful sarcasm laced his words.

"No, I just want to kill you."

"Alright, I'm through playing around. You got lucky last time because I lowered my guard-"

Hisa's axe tore through the air as she launched it towards him, grazing his shoulder.

"You threw your axe-"

She sent him barreling into a tree with an explosive kick, rushing after him as the scent of blood charged her appetite. "I won't use my axe, so we're even now! Stop running!"

"You're insane!" He sent more wooden spikes her way, only for her to avoid them all. "Are you trying to become a member of the Futsunushi by killing me?"

"Hell no! I just want to fight you all!" She chased him through the forest with a demonic smile on her face.

"H-How absurd, I guess you just have a death wish." Swallowing the lump in his throat, he sent gathered wooden arrows from all of the trees surrounding them, "You're in my turf now-"

Hisa weaved through the sea of attacks, smashing Kutoki's skull through the dirt with an explosive punch, "Duh, that's why I chased you out here, but you're still pretty weak." Stepped away, she stretched her arms between yawns, "I'll let you catch your breath. I want to savor this feeling..."

Kutoki sat up and wiped the blood from his face, "W-What?" He hopped back onto his broom and started flying circles around Hisa. "Let's see how you-"

She drove the wind from his lungs with another fierce kick, knocking him from the broom. A scowl of dissapointment formed onto her face as she gazed down upon him, "Come on, you seemed a lot stronger the first time we fought! Are the other members of the Futsunushi this weak?"

Veins lined his forehead as he grabbed onto his broom, "You bitch! That's enough! I'm killing you here!"

Hisa stepped back as all of the wood in the vicinity began to converge around Kutoki. "There we go! Let's get started with the real fight!"

The wood began to spiral, towering up as it did so. With Kutoki now buried somewhere deep within the wood, a colossal wooden golem stood above Hisa.

"We're doing kaiju battles now?" She rubbed her hands together and took a defensive pose, "I still won't use my axe."

She dodged a punch from the large golem and jumped onto its hand. The force of the punch blew a monstrous shockwave through the forest, shooting debris and smoke all over. She continued to shoot her way up the arm of the golem.

I bet he's hiding in the head or the chest. I'll smash the head first.

Pricks of heat pierced her foot as the wood of the golem's arm spiked up, stabbing into her feet. The blood crazed smile never left her face, only pushing her to keep rushing after the head of the titan.

"Let's see!"

She smashed her hand right onto the spikes, blowing a large hole through the top of the golem's head.

Aw...He isn't here. I guess he's in the chest-

Hisa rippled down from the head of the golem as it smacked her through the air. She barreled through the forest, crashing through trees until she skidded across the rough dirt.

Leaping from the ground, she wiped the blood from her eyes, "Now this is a fight!"

She reached out, stopping the golem's fist from striking her with a wild swing. The ground beneath her trembled as she tugged at its fortified exterior. Grinding into it with her nails, she crushed its fist into dust, climbing onto its arm once again.

This guy can control wood, so he'll probably just fix it.

And since he isn't hiding in the head of the golem, I'll go for the chest!

She dodged another array of spikes and kicked a gaping hole into the chest of the golem, revealing Kutoki. "Found ya!"

As she dove inside the hole, Kutoki fled out.

"Still running?" Hisa pouted before turning to the broom that was still in the hole.

I think this helps him control the wood here, what if I were to break it?

Grabbing the broom, she crushed it beneath her mighty grip. As the wood snapped, cold steel emerged from inside in the form of a sword, tearing gashes into the palms of her hands.

Oops.

While she was distracted by the deep wounds, Kutoki pierced her arms and legs with more spikes.

He erupted into laughter as he leapt into the palm of the golem's hand, "You dumb bitch! I can control wood without my sword. I made it look like a magical broom for idiots like you!" Moving closer, he held his hands up, mimicking a picture frame, "A masterpiece. I'll call it, The Bloodied Scarecrow."

Blood trickled down the spikes, dampening the wooden floor beneath them both.

"You suck at names." Hisa flexed her muscles and shattered all of the wooden spikes.

"Wha-" He stumbled backwards and watched in horror as Hisa crushed the blade of his sword with her foot.

"That actually hurt a little bit." She giggled and licked some of the blood from her mouth, savoring its strong metallic taste. "Since you're a bit stronger than I gave you credit for, I'll play along for now."

"No! How can you-"

He was silenced by the sounds of a bird chirping. The chirping was segmented into three short little bursts. It continued to repeat this same loop, eventually crafting itself into a song. The chirping grew louder and louder, transforming from a gentle song, into a horrific form of torture.

The first chirp was a rapid, fleeting tweet.

The second chirp rolled out like a low pitched series of consecutive tweets.

With the final chirp being a high pitched tweet.

It continued to ring through the cloudy skies, but it only seemed to bother Kutoki.

"Can you hear it?" Hisa gazed into the sky and clapped her hands together, "I like whippoorwills. Do you?"

"Whipor-What?"

"That bird right there."

"What the hell? Get off of me you stupid bird!" He swatted at the bird resting on his shoulder, but it remained stagnant, gazing only into Hisa's eyes.

Hisa gestured for him to be quiet, "Shh...You won't be able to hear it."

"Your life will come to an end when Hisa touches you with her left hand." spoke the bird

Kutoki's eyes widened as the abnormally high pitched voice reached his ears.

A twisted grimace formed onto Hisa's face as the horror began to set in on Kutoki. "Since you like to run so much, I decided to end our play session with a game of tag."

His legs trembled as he stumbled away from Hisa, "What're you talking about?"

"You heard the bird, right? You'll die when I tag you, but don't freak out, you're immortal otherwise." Tearing through his meaty flesh with her hand, she reached deep and grabbed a hold of the first organ she felt, crushing it with a single motion. "It's so squishy..."

"Ugh...blegh!" He fell to the ground as Hisa snatched away from him.

She giggled, "I know it hurts, but I even made it so you'll only die by my left hand, and that's my weaker hand."

"Y-You're bluffing! There's no way you can kill me like that!"

Her expression relaxed into a cold dead gaze, freezing him over. "I crushed one of your organs, and you're still alive. Isn't that enough proof?"

Choosing to quit looming over the subject any longer, he opted to flee. The large golem tossed Hisa to the ground, taking Kutoki and darting off into the forest.

See? Even the golem's running...

She rose from the dirt and ran after the golem, avoiding wooden arrows along the way.

"Stay away! Stay away!" Tears streamed down Kutoki's face as he desperately sent more waves of arrows towards her. "Leave me alone! I give up! I give up!"

Hisa scaled her way up the golem's large back and leapt over the top of its head. In the midst of her descent down, she slapped Kutoki's fear stricken face, "Gotcha!"

"Ah!" He shook furiously as snot clogged his nostrils. His heart raced to an alarmingly high speed, nearly sending him into shock.

She landed before him, bursting into tears of laughter. "I'm just kidding! I slapped you with my right hand, you aren't dead yet!"

"Wh-What kind of fucked up core power is this?" He held his hands out in prayer, groveling before the young woman, "P-Please let me go! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry? What kind of lingo is that for an assassin? You make a living off of killing people." She tilted her head and pouted, "I guess it's different when you're the one dying."

"Please! I'll do anything! I'll tell you where the other members of the Futsunushi are!"

She paused as her smile faded. "Nah. That's too easy, I'm gonna find them all myself. It'll be boring if you spoil it." She rested her left hand onto his chest. "Tag."

The life faded from his eyes as his skin turned pale, bringing a dense bog of despair into his throat. "N-No-"

The small bird on his shoulder enlarged. Twisting and contorting into a cloaked entity, brandishing a large scythe. "The conditions for your death have been met. You will now be guided into the afterlife."

As the reaper spoke with its hauntingly deep voice, it slashed Kutoki's soul from his body.

It quickly dispersed into small particles, taking Kutoki's soul right with it.

Hisa closed her eyes and fell from the sky as the wooden golem began to fall apart. "Aw man. That was fun."

I need to go catch up with Colt, I want to kill that boss guy.

Crashing into the soil besides Kutoki's cold corpse, her eyelids grew heavy as she tried to lift herself up.

I'm lowkey tired...

A quick nap wouldn't do any harm...