Mind Versus Matter {Kanda, Kurogane; CLOSED}

[Lezard Hatoshi]

A cold, pale hand dipped into the warm waters of the pool. It seemed like it ought to be unnatural, this warmth that rose up from its bubbling depths...yet for whatever reason, it wasn't. Of course, there were other times when he would come here, and it would be freezing or even boiling hot. Perhaps this spring truly was magical... Or perhaps it was just another scientific phenomenon.

He was willing to go with the latter thought. There was no such thing as "magic". Not in this world, in any case. Only science. Science explained everything... Though he would have to get down closer and more "face-to-face" with this pool and its interior. Back at the lab, he was certain that he'd be able to create some underwater breathing apparatus of sorts. They had the materials with which he'd be able to do such a thing... He wanted to see how this worked, and what the pool's "healing powers" could be created by.

The glasses of the scientist glinted in the moon light, casting a reflection across to the other side of the cave - toward where the entrance was located. If this pool of water truly did have healing powers, then why was his lethargy still a prominent feature of his? Why could he, no matter how much or how long he slept, never regain the energy that he'd once had? He knew that his powers drained him...but why? That was something he'd never been able to figure out.

Powers...ah yes, his ability to manipulate shadows. Some would call that "magic". He, however, would call it an expansion of what he was able to do with his brain - it was superhuman, indeed, but it was not caused by some sort of magic phenomena. But what exactly it was caused by, he had yet to figure out. There was so much he wanted to learn, so much he wanted to know, but so little time to learn it and so much else to do.

The young scientist was broken from his thoughts when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing from beyond, in one of the other caves, leading to this one. He backed away from the pool, out of the moonlight. Blonde hair was not optimal for keeping hidden, but at this distance and in the shadows he could manipulate, he doubted it would be much of a problem. His hand, however, went straight to the hilt of his katana.

'Let's see who else has joined us on this world of our's,' he thought as he waited, not unlike a beast waiting to devour his prey.

[Kurogane]

Kurogane walked into the unwelcoming cave, wondering what secrets it held. He cautiously walked into the shadows, his crimson eyes darting back and forth, seeking for any danger to come. As he walked on the hard stone floor of the cave, Kurogane had already had his hand on his sword, Sohi, ready to slice anything that posed a threat to him. Kurogane didn’t bother to silence his footsteps, since he was already prepared to defend himself.

After a while, Kurogane still had his hand on Sohi’s handle, when he expected a sharp pain to go up his shoulder, but there was no pain. At this event, Kurogane stopped walking, rolled his left shoulder around, expecting his fake arm to tear some of his skin near his shoulder, but Kurogane didn’t feel any blood. Then, Kurogane looked inside his shirt, and saw that his left arm was perfectly intact and looked nothing like the fake arm he was given to replace his original arm he had sacrificed to allow Fai to continue to travel with the group. At first, Kurogane was very confused, but then he just shrugged, satisfied that the island had at least returned his original arm.

Then, Kurogane continued to walk through the cave, his feet making splashing noises in the small pools of water that were scattered across the ground of the cave and the cave tunnels. As he continued to step slowly, walking deeper into the cave he had entered, Kurogane realized that this was a different cave. Kurogane immediately ran his hand across the right wall of the cave in which he was nearest to, and his eyes examined the room from top to bottom.

Out of the corner of his eye Kurogane noticed an out of place color in the darkened cave, and quickly leaned his back against the cave wall, and slowly approached the misplaced color. This time, Kurogane’s boots made no sound on the floor of the cave as if Kurogane was a cat, stealthily hunting its prey. When he was about a few feet away from the color, Kurogane was able to make out a faint outline of a figure, and he saw a faint light that shone brightly against the black darkness.

Kurogane didn’t take any chances, so he silently unsheathed Sohi, and directly faced the figure. When Kurogane was face to face with the figure, he saw that the figure was a young man, with glasses, and Kurogane presumed he was a scientist or someone similar to a scientist due to his strange clothing. Kurogane noticed that the man’s hand was at the hilt of his katana by the looks of it, and he seemed to have already heard that Kurogane had been coming.

Nice move. Kurogane sarcastically thought to himself. You just couldn’t keep quiet couldn’t you. Though, Kurogane didn’t spend so much time lecturing himself, but he did keep his eyes set on the person that was in front of him since he had lays eyes on the man.