The adventures of HoloLive Eng

Chapter 24: Surface Red

OEWDJOFWQAJFEO I STILL FEEL SO BAD SO HERE YOU GO- 

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Shinobu was unnerved, very much so. She didn't understand why, but she was unnerved. Though Mitsuri had been called out for an emergency and was no longer with them, the "HoloLive" girls or whatever still bugged her. She decided to bring it upon herself to see what was going on. 

Now, to say Gura was surprised was an understatement. A butterfly lady had just descended upon her from above as Gura was polishing her trident. 

"....a-" Gura stared. Shinobu tilted her head, her smile like that of a Monarch's wings; elegant but poisonous. 

"Ara, what is a child like you doing with such a sharp object?" Shinobu bent down to touch it, but Gura was over it in an instant, her eyes narrowing. 

"Bloop." she called. Shinobu was somewhat disoriented by this, and was even more so when a shark appeared in a bubble beside Gura. Gura stood, her eyes hosting a dangerous glint to them. She brandished her trident. Shinobu, still smiling, brandished her sword as well. 

It was Shinobu who made the first move; jumping up onto the roof to gain momentum as she sprung forward, Shinobu pointed her sword forwards, attempting not to pierce but to puncture. Gura parried with her trident, latching onto Shinobu's dominant arm with her teeth. Shinobu acted fast. When she realized tearing away could only serve to harm her, she flipped around, using the blades on her boots to pierce Gura's stomach. Narrowly avoiding the attempt, Gura was forced to relinquish her grip. A red glint appeared in her eyes, but she tried to shake it off. Shinobu took notice of this, but did not mention it. Gura sprung forth, her attacks frontal and forward. Shinobu's distance tactics wouldn't work; Gura was backing her into a corner. Shinobu bit her lip. Gura stopped suddenly, and Shinobu took the chance to spring away onto the roof. 

Shinobu's eyes narrowed as she watched Gura standing there, still. Gura moved, but it was sluggish. She stabbed her trident into the ground before her, as one may envision a night doing as he pledged allegiance to his princess. Gura knelt, muttering something under her breath. Shinobu couldn't hear, so she got a tad closer. It was unlike any language she had heard before. There was a smooth lilt to it, but she spoke so harshly. She was enveloped closely by an aura that smelled of salt and a seafaring breeze. 

There was no time to think; in a blink's time, Gura had grabbed her blood red trident, and her eyes shown red like rubies with the sophistication of the entire sea. Her hair floated as though the air around her had become water, and she moved swiftly as if gravity had looked the other way. She was in Shinobu's face before it had registered to anyone, multiple rows of sharp teeth eating into Shinobu's dominant arm, a strong tail restricting Shinobu's movement. Bloop had changed too; the docile creature turned mad as if he'd been starved; he took Shinobu's poison ridden blade, and pried it from her shaking hands. Bloop feasted on the metal as though it were a king's feast. Gura's wild eyes pierced Shinobu's trembling gaze and she released her insect prey. 

"Εκ λόγου άλλος εκβαίνει λόγος" She began, "Ουδέν κακόν αμιγές καλού." As quickly as the change had come, Gura's blue had returned. Her hair fell loosely around her thin neck, and she licked the blood off her mouth.

"Bloop?" She asked, needing to make sure he was still with her. Shinobu collapsed, trembling. 

"You...What are you?!" Her composed atmosphere dissolved, and suddenly all Gura saw in her was a child, abandoned. She saw herself in the frail insect before her. Pity befell her eyes, an expression not often worn by the dum shark.

"I am someone who survived." Gura shrugged, grabbing her trident and Bloop, returning into the building. Seconds later, Ame was rushing out, apparently Gura had filled her in.

"That idiotic shark, always poking into where she doesn't mean to be." She muttered. A voice came from the headphones wrapped around her neck.

"Oooh! Does she have games on her phone-" 

"Not right now, Smol Ame, I have things to do." Ame interrupted, tossing the headphones to the ground. Ame reached into her bag and pulled out a needle, surgical thread, and a couple other things. "She's not your average shark, so we'll need to take care of this fast. I'll bring you to a more comfortable place, but you'll need to be out for a bit. Understand?" 

Ame didn't wait for a response, simply lifting Shinobu and the supplies. In the blink of an eye, they were in Ame's room, Shinobu on Ame's bed. Ame removed any clothing near the affected area and looked over it, sighing in relief. 

"Not as bad as she could've done." Ame made sure no debris or dirt were left in the wound before disinfecting it properly. She gave Shinobu a pain reliever, but she didn't have time to set up anesthesia. She grabbed a vile from a holster on her left thigh, a specially crafted antidote for "Red Gura's" victims. Though it wasn't venom, none of the girls could make sense of it, so Ame was left with using Red Gura's saliva to tailor a special antidote, despite not knowing the side effects or the reasoning. She simply made it as a last resort, and here, she needed it. She administered it into Shinobu's bloodstream as well as orally, then stitching and dressing the wound, making sure it was well wrapped and bandaged. Ame kept Shinobu there for a while, monitoring her for any changes. 

"Right-o, you're set to go!" Ame said cheerfully. Shinobu nodded in thanks, too afraid to ask what happened. Ame frowned, deciding she needed Kiara and Calli here for an....explanation. Initially, she had considered just calling them, but that wasn't flashy enough. Instead, she summoned Smol Ame. Shinobu was too tired to even begin to register Smol Ame. Immediately, as Ame had predicted, Calli and Kiara came running.

"Ame, what did I say about brining Smol- Wait, what the hell, what happened?!" She poked Shinobu in the un-injured arm and focused.

"...What is she doing?" Shinobu asked helplessly. 

"She's probably making sure you're not about to die!" Ame and Kiara said cheerfully in tandem. Shinobu was not at all disturbed by this. Not. At. All.

"She's stable for now, but what the hell happened here?" Contrary to Calli's words, Kiara felt the need to pluck a feather for Shinobu. It was at this moment that the girls found out Kiara's hair even in her humanoid form contained feathers. She handed one to Shinobu.

"Hold on to that, it'll boost your recovery rate!" Kiara was practically boasting, but Shinobu didn't argue. 

"So? What happened?" Calli repeated. Ame hiccupped before responding. 

"So, you know Reflect?"