Harmony and Chaos

Aiko sneezed, rubbing her nose. This time of year always got to her. Of course, Sozen had no problems, which as always made her jokingly wonder if they were really related. Regardless, they stared at the imposing forest ahead of them. Despite fall just having begun, the leaves were gone from the trees, and the branches looked more dangerous than they should on any tree. Aiko turned to her brother, rubbing her nose again.

"Alright, if our backup doesn't show in 10 minutes, we go in."

"Makes sense. You or me?"

The twin Death Scythes looked to one another before Sozen nodded his head to her. "We'll go in with you, and if the tree becoming a problem,  we can switch..."

Dralin had been sent to help out with Sozen and Aiko. He hadn't worked with them in a while, and he was...sorta looking forward to it. He was wearing his normal suit, unbuttoned all the way with a red tie, and he found their location. He smiled when he arrived and said, "See you waited for me before starting." He crossed his arms and looked at the forest that loomed in front of them. "So, mind informing me on what we're doing? It was a last minute call."

Aiko smiled wide, walking over to him and giving him a friendly hug. "Dralin, it's been too long! Though, I guess it's our own fault for taking the far off assignments..."

Sozen gave a friendly smile and a wave before gesturing to the forest. "While we couldn't find anyone who was sure about why it happened, this forest has been twisted somehow...That's all we know, unfortunately."

Dralin hugged her back and chuckled. He pulled away and said, "Indeed it has Aiko...and Sozen, as long as we have some information, we should be fine. The three greatest Death Scythes in the world? I can't think of anyone who could stop us." This was the upbeat version of Dralin, that was only really seen by people he liked. He looked back at the forest and said, "Although that does look slightly daunting..."

Aiko jumped up and down, almost too excited. "With Dralin here, we can be at our most powerful!"

Sozen gave a slow nod before gesturing to Dralin. "I don't know if you remember, our weapon forms are compatible. Our most devastating skills are when we're together."

Dralin smiled and nodded. "Believe me, I remember. All the stuff we used to be able to pull off...amazing. Oh, and before I forget...Aiko, mind if I ask you something real quick? In err...private?" This is something he wasn't too good at. He'd been able to do it easily before, but other girls it was...slightly different. It was difficult for Dralin to explain and he's not sure if he could've.

Aiko perked up a bit, raising an eyebrow before nodding, stepping off to the side and gesturing for him to join her. Sozen, respecting their privacy, turned and continued to study the forest, clearly perplexed.

Dralin stepped over to where she was and lowered his voice slightly. "Well...I was wondering if after this...maybe...you would want to go out and do something with me? Like a date?" His face was slightly red when he asked and he was barely making eye contact with her.

Aiko looked a bit surprised. Shocked, actually. In that she kind of just stopped for a moment. A soft blush spread across her cheeks, and she stuttered a bit. "L-Like a...d-date date?" She tucked some of her hair behind her ear before giving a nervous smile, completely unlike her. "S-Sure, I'd like that..."

Dralin's face lit up and his lips formed a wide grin. "Really? Wow I...I wasn't sure what you would say." He chuckles a bit and then he says, "Now, before we start setting times, let's go do what we came here to do." He smiled, meeting her eyes now, and waited for her response.

She glowed lightly in response, transforming and land in his grip. Sozen looked over to the two. "Let's get to it..."

Dralin smiled and said, "Alright then. Wanna transform now or later?" He walked towards Sozen, holding Aiko in both his hands.

Sozen glowed as well, transforming and landing hilt up, the point of his blade dug just barely into the ground.

Dralin walked over, grabbing him out of the ground. "Alright, so, how exactly do you two work? It's been a while since I've used you guys as a weapon..."

"Just fit Sozen's hilt in the holding under my barrel. We'll take care of the rest..."

Dralin nodded and did as he was told, waiting for whatever they were going to do to happen.

There was a small shimmer as the twins were connected. Sozen's blade glowed lightly. Three pairs of small shards of sword split at equidistant points down both sides of the blade. They spread outwards until they looked like small wings. They pivoted upwards until they were over the barrel, and then pivoted again until the touched, forming a line of three boxes closely around the barrel. Vents opened up down the barrel, glowing softly with soul energy. "Alright...we're ready..."

Dralin nodded and said, "Yeah...that's how I remember it." He then walks into the forest, being very cautious in his movements, barely making a sound. He was specially trained for stealth and this definitely showed for it. He kept himself aware of his surroundings, looking for anything suspicious.

The trees seemed to grow more menacing they further they went into forest. Aiko seemed to shiver in his grip. "I don't like this ..its too quite. There aren't even any birds singing..." She was right, the forest was silent except for them. "That must mean we're getting close to the source..."

Dralin nods his head once more and says, "Yeah...wonder what it is..." He looks around slightly, looking for signs of anything dead or maybe clues as to what the hell was causing all of this to happen.

They soon entered the edge of a large clearing. Several Kishin souls floated around a large tree, bigger than any of the surrounding trees. "This...must be the center of the forest...and it looks like we weren't the first ones here..."

Dralin cautiously walked into the clearing, looking around. "Huh...wonder what would do this...and leave the souls here. Doesn't make sense...unless whatever killed them doesn't need the souls." He took another look around, ready to attack at a moments notice.

Aiko and Sozen glowed, turning back to their human forms. Aiko slowly walked towards the tree, kneeling beside the roots. This tree was a deep black, and its branche appeared to be actually sharp. Aiko's brow furrowed. "This tree...its been tainted...give me some time, and I might be able to purify it..." There was a low rumble on the other side of the clearing as something stirred. A pile of dead branche coalesced together until it became a behemoth, easily 12 feet tall. It began to lumber toward them, two 'sockets' on the things 'head' going wing a deep purple. Dozen cursed. "C'mon, we got to keep it off her!" Sozen stood between the creature and Aiko, two swords appearing from his wrists and going down.

Dralin got into a ready position, a knife coming out of both his elbows, with a chain on the end of each and they wrapped themselves around his arms. They dangled a bit at the end and he grabbed the chain part. He threw the one on his right, attempting to lodge the blade in the behemoth thing and he jumped, having the blade shorten so that as he jumped he was pulled forward towards the creature.

Sozen charged the creature, rushing behind it and hacking at its legs. The behemoth stopped walking, swinging at them with its arms, moving faster than one would expect. Aiko knelt before the tree, and from the branches down it became obvious that what she was doing was working.