The obsidian blight

Soren wandered through the house, wondering why he hadn't found the exit yet. He had walked for what seemed like hours inside of a small house. The corridors seemed to continued on and on with no end in sight. All signs of life had disappeared, leaving his surroundings in a deafening silence.

The sound of his footsteps were unheard, his breathing inaudible. Only the beating of his heart gave him a sense of reality.

He had searched for a long time, yet the only traces in the surroundings were that of himself, as a thick coverage of dust hid any sign of its previous trespassers.

Finding Lafitte seemed as good as impossible at this point.

"Maybe he already left..."

Soren muttered, uncertainty at the forefront of his mind.

His words were loud, to the point he wanted to cover his ears. The occasional creaks of the floor beneath his feet only enhancing the feeling of the deadly silence.

How long had he truly been inside of this house, minutes? Hours? Maybe even days?

His sense of time had become rather off, as there was no sunlight to indicate the time that had passed. His hunger was strangely absent, so maybe he was here only for a short time. His mind told him otherwise however. The incongruity made him doubt his senses even more than before.

Searching in his pockets, the bit of food he had was nowhere to be found.

Maybe he had lost it...

Or he might have eaten it already, having no recollection of it.

He needed to get out, to find Shinobu as soon as possible.

Thinking up to that point, a strange thought clamored for attention.

Who was Shinobu?

He could faintly recall a vague impression of a butterfly haori, as well as a smile. Yet the rest of her face or features were blurry.

He was certain she was the doctor on the ship he was sailing on.

A trusted person of Akane.

Akane?

Did he know a person like that?

His head throbbed painfully, as he tried his best to recall.

A voice was calling out to him, but he couldn't recognize who it was.

"..o...en..."

"So...en..."

"Wa..up....Soren...!"

The words were getting clearer, clear enough for him to make out what was said.

"Wake up, dammit! Soren!"

Sitting up instantly, Soren looked around in confusion as he spotted Lafitte and Shinobu, both looking at him in a certain way.

Lafitte as if he was watching a fool, while Shinobu was staring at him in worry, as a gloved hand was taking a blood sample from him.

"W-Where am I?"

Soren hesistanly muttered, his throat felt dry, like sandpaper had been scrubbed inside of it, as pain was coursing through his body. Looking down at the arm Shinobu was holding, he paled at the sight of writhing black bark, branched digging and burrowing deep into his arm.

Grunting in pain, Soren fell back down as he clawed the ground in agony.

"You have been infected. Lafitte found you unconscious and quickly brought you back. Luckily, you have been the only one of our crew so far who has been infected by the Obsidian Blight."

Shinobu patiently explained, looking intently at Soren's blood. The crimson color was swirling with black spots, which were quickly devouring the red blood, turning it obsidian in color.

"Obsidian... Blight?"

Soren clenched his teeth, enduring the pain to hear what Shinobu was saying.

"Ah yes. I have dubbed it as such. It is intriguing how quickly it propagates in the host body. The cause in your case would be the black blood on the mirror you carried. While your intentions were sound of mind, it was a bad choice."

Shinobu chuckled slightly, her hands moving all kinds of equipment.

Taking a short look around, Soren discovered he was back on the ship, more precisely: Shinobu's sick ward.

"But not to worry, even if you have around seven to eight hours left, I am already creating a cure. Though it might not stop the disease completely, it will surely decrease its progression, giving me ample time to complete the cure."

Shinobu spoke without a worry in the world.

She had that much faith in her abilities.

"I will return to Akane. She has found the possible origin of the disease, the source so to say."

Lafitte stated, leaving the sick bay to Shinobu and Soren.

"What about the others?"

Soren was worried about them, as he was sure they would all have departed to the shore.

"Not to worry, they are investigating on their own as well. I need a wide range of samples to finish the permanent cure. Dazai has followed Ban ashore, as Ban is immune to the disease. Ah, I am a bit envious. It would be such a delight to have such a miraculous body, if only he would let me dissect him completely..."

Shinobu enviously wandered off, as the centrifuge spun rapidly, chemicals boiled and diffused liquids and herbs were being crushed mercilessly underneath the pestle in her hands.

*

*

*

"Alright, which way to go... eeny, meeny, miny, moe... that one."

Akane was standing in front of the mountain, a black fog was surounding her as it rushed at her like a hungry beast. The only thing keeping it at bay was her blue fox fire, hovering in circles around her. The fog, more like a miasma, sizzled when it came in contact with the flame, leaving a white fog behind.

Around her Akane spotted several weeping trees, the eyes all staring at her as the blood flowed freely from them.

In front of her were multiple tunnels, all leading deep into the mountain before her. The dark caves seemed to invite her in, as it gave the impression of wanting to swallow her whole.

Her observation haki had spotted mulitple presences in all of the caves, making it harder for her to choose where to go. One thing was certain, the trip forward would be interesting.

Picking out one of the tunnels, she casually walked in, as a bigger wave of miasma collided with her foxfire. It seems she might have picked the right one. If the miasma was anything to go by that is.

Venturing deeper and deeper, Akane came across the first enemies since her arrival on this godforsaken island.

In front of her were bipedal wolf creatures, burly and well covered in metal-like fur, they brandished their claws in a threatening fashion. Drool dripped from their fangs, that gleamed like daggers under the blue light of her fox fire.

They were rather tall, almost hitting the ceiling with their heads, ranging from 10 feet to 11'5 feet (Between the 3 and 3,5 meters).

These creatures, werewolves Akane would call them, were a group of a dozen.

They rushed forward, the ground cracking beneath their feet. Their claws glinted dangerously as they came closer towards Akane's face.

Seeing the danger approach her, Akane only smirked.

Foolish beasts.

A silver streak flashed between them, as the biggest werewolf in front of her was cleanly bisected by Amaterasu.

"Keep your paws down, pooch. I don't like dogs."

Akane slashed Amaterasu outwards, the black blood being cast to the ground as it burned to ashes by a black flame.

While her bloodlust was slowly growing, thanks to an intoxicated Amaterasu, Akane pushed it down, knowing there was no time for that right now. Her crew mate needed a cure.

The werewolf she had just cut down was reverting to human form, becoming an elderly man. The man sighed in relief, the life in his eyes slowly flickering as his last words were those of gratitude.

"I kill someone and I get thanked. What an odd day it is."

Akane muttered, slashing Amaterasu wildly, cutting down the foes in front of her. One by one the fallen enemy reverted to their human forms, with not a hint of resentment to be found as they died peacefully.

Humming softly, in a good mood for some odd reason, Akane progressed further into the cave, finding more than werewolves as well as real zombies (unlike those of Gecko Moria), vampires and other undead creatures, that ferociously began to attack her. All to only fall beneath her blade.

"This really is a nice work-out. While breathing techniques would be a prime opportunity to use now, the style just seems to work against me."

Akane mused, wondering why that would be.

"I guess it would be the fact it doesn't fit my fighting style."

Assuming so, Akane nodded to herself. While the water breathing style concentrated on movements that flowed seeminglessly into another, like how rivers always were connected to smaller streams or even the sea, her style was more focussed on being overpowering and brutal, leaving the enemy no option to flee or react to her attacks.

Kind of like a fire, raging on as it burned everything in its path, only diminishing when all that could be burnt was turned to ashes.

As she got deeper and deeper into the cave, the miasma slightly parted, revealing an open space in the middle of a wide room. There in the middle was a single man that was surrounded by his beasts of undead. He was rather tall, around 8'2 feet (2,5meter). His shoulder lenght grey hair was tied back, a few locks falling in front of his round spectacles. His icy blue eyes were focussed on the table in front of him, where the body of a young girl was laid bare.

His fingers had changed into clawed knifes, as they cut into the body, which recovered as soon as the incision was made. No response was heard from the child, as if she was already dead.

His white labcoat was covered in crimson blood, drenching not only his clothes but also the floor.

When Akane entered the room, the undead focussed their eyes on her, drawing the attention of their creator.

"I am busy. Leave this place."

He all but grumbled, his tone cold as he motioned for the beast to force her out.

Akane didn't reply with words, as her sword did the talking, cutting down at the undead that were before her.

This finally got the attention from the scientist, as the beasts reverted to their former selves before they perished.

He all but stared at the corpses, contemplating on what just happened to his beasts. His eyes darted between the corpses, noticing the black flames burning into the corpses, as well as the blue orbs of hovering fire, darting around the girl that had so rudely interupted his precious time.

A crazed laugh rose from deep within him, as a hint of joy sparked in him, the path forward in his work having just revealed itself in the form of Akane.

"I might have a use for you yet."

The man replied, a deranged smile creeping of his face as he watched Akane in glee.