The Other World Wilds

The first few hours of our travels go over quite smoothly, nothing much happens as we travel taking an occasional rest now and then for Hikaru's sake. All the while we go over questions she comes up with about the Other World which I answer as best I can, even Kiru jumps on answering some of the question further showing how well she seems to like Hikaru. During a few encounters I expose Hikaru to Kiru's true form as the sword I use to fight in the Other World with and fend off some hunting saberclaws.

The saberclaws were easily scared off and Kiru shifter from her blade form to her chibi human form and settled herself on my shoulder again. Continuing on our way it was a couple more hours before we saw anything of note, One thing I did notice was Hikaru's fascination with Kiru and her tiny appearance, but more that while I was always leading the way Kiru would frequently look behind us at Hikaru. Eventually Kiru decided to speak up.

"Hey, Hikaru." It takes a moment fir Hikaru to acknowledge Kiru and I slow my pace so that the two can talk. "Earlier when you handled me in the tavern, I have to say you have a very gentle touch, but..." Kiru puts on an air that screams serious and I can't help but stop. 'Even I've never seen Kiru act like this, even in all our time together.' "When you carried me earlier I got a good sense of you and your character. I have to say that have good potential as a wielder for me, but you lack the control needed to handle me."

"Does this mean?"

"I'm not saying that you can never carry me, but only when I am in my current form. I need you to promise that you'll never try to handle me when I'm in my blade form. Can you do that?" Hikaru seems worried about the implications there and even I cant ignore it, but she pushes though and with an outstretched arm from Kiru, Hikaru offers her a finger as the means of a makeshift handshake.

"I promise to be careful and will not try to handle you while you're in your sword form." 'What the hell, I've seen more heartwarming moments in Other World on this day alone than I've seen in the last year.' I hand over Kiru to Hikaru and we alternate between holding her for the rest of our trip. Opting to take another break after a while I remember the gourd filled with my lethyl brew so after taking a seat on a rock I pop open the seal and take a big swig, the spice from the brew hits me in the worst way so I swallow it down and go into a coughing fit.

"Takashi! Are you okay?" I raise my hand to acknowledge Hikaru's concern and take in a deep breath before responding to her in a husky voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Damn, even my tastes have reverted. Guess I'll have to get used to this again." I take in another deep breath while Hikaru breathes a sigh of relief knowing I'm okay, then the sweet aftertaste of the brew encompasses my taste buds and I can't help but wear a relaxed smile on my face. 'Getting used to the spice kick at the start is going to take some getting used to again,' then the relaxing and energizing effects of the drink fill my body with energy and we're ready to go again.

The rest of the journey is mostly quiet aside from Hikaru's curiosity about the lethyl brew and the effect it had on me, even Kiru pestered me for a swig and happily gulped down her chibi size worth of brew. While we weren't resting or chatting about something random we focused on traversing the terrain or avoiding attracting attention from any of the nearby wildlife, as the sun begins to set in the distance we eventually get close enough that Kiru can point out where the gate back to Earth is by observing the sky, I however spotted a more serious problem.

"Grounders." I stop Hikaru and scan the grounds ahead of us counting those that I could see in the fading light and calculating how many could be hidden under the surface.

"Grounders, what are those?"

"Think of them as giant armadillos, hedgehog hybrids with iron shells lined with razor sharp blades that literally roll at you with the intention of both crushing and mulching you." Having surveyed the area I deem it too dangerous to try and cross, still unsure of what I'm talking about I point to Hikaru a series of both still and moving mounds of dirt. "For all we know there could be even more of them under the ground and there's already too many to fight on the surface. We have to go around, no other choice."

Even though having to circle around the herd of grounders added another hour to our journey, it was safer than trying to fight them and if there was a fight I'd be too focused on trying to beat them to protect Hikaru, not to mention the sun had set and we were relying on starlight to find our way. To my relief we make it past the herd and continue towards the gate, picking up the pace a little we hurry to reach the gate before something else happens or finds us.

Rumble, rumble, rumble! 'Damnit I knew this was going to happen!' Tracing the sound and the vibrations in the ground I grab a hold of Hikaru and leap away from the ground carrying her in my arms. The grounder bursts out from the ground beneath where we were standing and with grace unfurls itself and lands a few meters away.

I land onto the ground myself in an unsteady fashion from the weight and balance of having Hikaru in my arms. I set the blushing girl down snap her out of whatever trance she seemed to be in and reach my hand out waiting for Kiru, launching from Hikaru's shoulder Kiru is bathed in light as she shifts from her chibi state to her sword form.

The grounder gives off a loud grown mixed with a chittering sound that tells me it's looking for a fight, one I'm irritated but ready to give. 'I don't like doing this in the dark but I don't have a choice here.'

"Just don't..."

"I know, I know." Not wanting to hear Kiru going on about the damage she can take while fighting this thing I focus on the grounder's movements waiting for it to roll into a charge. Grounders try their best to avoid fighting close quarters and always rely on their charges to secure victory but I haven't lost to one yet, and that isn't about to change.

'This one's a little different.' As I stare down the grounder it feels like it's doing the same to me. Then it jumps and with a furl of its body into what is essentially a giant self moving wheel with awareness, it hits the ground compressing the ground beneath it and rolls at us with intensity and erecting the large spines from its back. 'No, not at us. It's aiming for Hikaru!' 

I don't have the time to grab her and run again as the giant beast tears up the grounds leading up to us and throwing the dirt and such picked up and thrown by its spines. With no choice but to fight I take a piercing stance and ready to strike the grounder.

"Takashi, what do I!?" 

"Just stay there and don't move!" Despite the shower of dirt and debris and my dark surroundings my entire focus is solely on the grounder and my landing this hit, the timing has to be precise otherwise Hikaru could be killed. Stopping a grounder mid-charge is impossible while knocking it off balance is incredibly difficult thanks to those spines, Hikaru's only hope here is if I alter the direction of its charge.

As the beast is about to pass I pull my arm holding Kiru back and with as much force as I can muster I thrust my sword forward and pierce through the grounder's iron shell and hopefully into its flesh as well. Because of the grounder's motion I can't keep my grip on Kiru and let her go as the grounder emits a high pitched howl of pain and it's roll wobble so far off course that it misses Hikaru entirely and the beast itself unfurls crashing along the ground.

Not wasting time I charge at the beast and upon reaching it I pull Kiru out from the creature's iron plate and leap back as it tries to right itself, though it was a simple piercing stab its clear the grounder is in a lot of pain from it as we stare each other down while Hikaru watches. I take another combat stance as the grounder positions for another charge, I wave at Hikaru to go behind a nearby tree while keeping my eyes on the grounder waiting for it to make a move against either of us but thankfully I've earned its full attention.

The grounder utters another loud chittering growl as it jumps into an aggressive roll charging at me faster than it did against Hikaru, I jump to the side dodging its charge and reposition for its next charge. Pulling a well angled 180 turn the grounder rolls at me again but I'm ready to counter it this time, as it closes in I side jump further out than I did last time and as it rolls over where I was I launch at the beast and score a heavy a drop kick against its side close to where I'd pierced it.

The grounder emits another howl of pain as it unfurls again and crashes across the ground slamming into the base of a tree laying on its back with its midsection exposed. I waste no time in pressing the attack getting off the ground and charging at the now helplessly exposed grounder, with a fast but low angle leap I twist enough for Kiru's blade to slice a diagonal line from the grounders midsection up towards it's shoulder. I aim my cut to be deep enough that the beast will bleed but shallow enough that it'll survive our encounter, with one last motion I swing Kiru down stopping just shy of the grounder's throat and stare it in it's visible eye, darkness or not it takes a moment but once I'm convinced my dominance over the beast has been established I turn my back to it and walk away from the injured creature.

"Are you okay?" 'Really, I just beat this large dangerous beast and she's more worried about me?'

"Yeah, I'm fine. He's a lively one but he wont be coming after us again. Not for a while at least." With Hikaru at my side and the injured grounder lying still to avoid injuring itself further we continue on our way towards the gate in the hopes I'll finally get her home. "Come on, we're almost there." After a final grueling walk I realise I've been holding onto Kiru in her sword form the whole time, I take the opportunity to flip Kiru into a reverse grip and look through the gem connected at the end of her hilt to find out just where and how close we are to the gate and to our relief it happens to be just a few meters ahead.

"Well, we're here." I wait for the question I've heard a dozen times already.

"Okay, where is here and where's the gate?" 'As expected.' I hold Kiru's hilt out to Hikaru so that she can look through her gem to see what I'm talking about and watch as she switches between looking through the gem and using her own eyes. "I cant see the gate. Its not visible to the naked eye?"

"No, that's why finding or just encountering one is so hard and rare. Its also what makes the legendary weapons like Kiru here so valuable and important, without her or another weapon like her its next to impossible to find the gates. Its the main reason that people who are pulled here from Earth can never make it back, but in my last few years here I've been helping displaced people get back." I stop us at the base of the gate so that we can get any final questions out of the way and to prepare her for the return to Earth.

"If you have any lasting questions now's the time, plus once we get back we'll need to see the principle straight away."

"Are you sure we haven't been gone long? are we really going back home and going to act like nothing happened?"

"I've been doing this ever since I first made it back. Once you learn the difference between the two worlds it gets easier to live a double life." Hikaru looks unsure about my statement but after a reassuring nod from me she takes a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm ready to go back now." I offer her my hand and she takes it after a moment of hesitation, we then take several more steps and the light we couldn't see without Kiru's help is so bright its practically blinding to the point where we feel our very consciousness fade away.