Un-Chain

Claris moved like a blur, rushing over to Uteu to retrieve her machete. Luckily he had nudged that machete away from him or he'd be facing the girl's direct wrath.

He kicked the half of the bed closest to him. It perfectly slid over the machete just as Claris was about to reach out for it.

Harvet, with her quick reflexes, was already next to her. Using her palm, she shoved at Claris' chin to tip her off balance. However, Claris was just as quick and twisted out of it. They traded blows, attacks and parries, the both of them were incredibly swift and precise with their movements.

Uteu took this chance to head for the door, slipping his hand under the bed to snag the machete as he went. He had just turned around to check on Harvet, when he had to tilt his head to the left to dodge Claris' fist. It hit the door behind him, cracking the wooden frame.

He was thrown back a bit from the force of it, but for the most part, was unharmed. His heart raced from the close call, he clenched onto the machete's handle to prevent Claris from pulling it from his hands. Harvet was quick with her kicks, pushing Claris further away from Uteu.

Neither of the girls seemed to back down as they rained blows down upon each other. Just from the sounds of the blows, Uteu could tell that they were not holding much back. Every attack was enough to shatter the furniture around them.

Uteu turned back to the door and tried to open it. He turned the knob but found the door was stuck. The attack from Claris had warped the frame of the door and he was unable to open it despite using all of his strength.

"Uteu!" Called a distressed Harvet.

He turned his head over just as a lamp from one of the side tables was thrown at him. He couldn't dodge it so he ended up raising his arms to knock it away. Belated, he realized he still had the machete in hand. It was too late to use it to bat away at the lamp. Uteu ended up half hitting it away with the machete and also half blocking it with his arms. His arms stung a bit, but he didn't have time to dwell on it as Claris sent a kick his way, knocking him into the wall.

The machete clattered to the floor.

He grunted in pain, how the hell could a girl so thin hit so hard?

Claris picked up the machete and dusted it off. She had the look of complete disgust on her face as she swung the machete back and forth as if to get dirt off of it. Harvet used her momentum to swing her right leg out at Claris, but had to do a flip out of the way to dodge a swipe from the machete instead.

The air seemed different, charged somehow. Claris looked much more confident with her machete in hand. Each blow from her now hit Harvet, nicking her with small cuts. Her moments were much more wild and unpredictable.

Harvet seemed to be actually struggling this time. Her movements seemed much slower in comparison to the younger girl. While she would land a few blows here and there, she seemed to be slowing down further as the battle drew out.

The cuts became deeper and blood fell freely from them.

Uteu felt completely helpless and hated it. He pushed himself off the wall and took a step forward. Deep down, he wanted to help her.

This more than proved that she was on his side this time, didn't it? She was getting hurt protecting him. Wasn't there something he could do?

He felt something lift from his shoulders and a silver ring of light encircled both himself and Harvet.

The two didn't seem to notice the ring of light as they continued their fight. Uteu blinked in surprise as the ring split into two smaller rings and wrapped around their wrists. It tightened and Uteu panicked for a split second. Was he forming a Chain to Harvet?

Would she become his Link? He frowned and felt reluctant. It seemed wrong to him. To force such a deep connection with someone without their consent was not what he wanted.

The ring shattered and reformed in a different color. It now carried a dark grey color and seemed to have successfully linked the two of them. For a moment, he panicked. He observed the chain. It seemed to be a standard chain with nothing special about it.

And yet... it felt different.

It felt very different from his connection to Grello. This one felt much weaker and seemed to be less deep; emotionally. He felt much more in control of himself and felt that he could break it easily. They both could, actually.

Feeling very satisfied, he almost missed Harvet's confused glances as she dodged a few more wild strikes from Claris. Although it was a weak chain, they were still connected, Uteu is not surprised that she has no idea as to what he did.

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and searched. Perhaps it was because she was a Thew or perhaps it was because the temporary link was just that weak, but Uteu had a hard time trying to figure out how to draw out her abilities.

With Grello he was able to double the buffs and apply them onto the both of them. With Harvet...

He felt a strain on his muscles as he drew something out. It was red in color and wrapped around his arms and legs. Rushing over to Claris, he grabbed her arm, twisted her body against his back, and tossed her at a wall.

His muscles ached at the move, his body was obviously untrained for such movements. Without Grello's buffs to ease the way he tore his muscles. However, to his surprise, he felt a refreshing breeze and his muscle pain eased.

This, he could work with. His muscles would tear from Harvet's abilities but he would be able to heal almost immediately thanks to Grello. Harvet quickly knocked out Claris who had her guard down from the shock of being thrown by Uteu.

Harvet looked at one of the more shallow cuts on her arm. The bleeding was slowing down.

She gave him a questioning look and Uteu didn't know what to tell her. It seemed that through him Grello's heal was also working on Harvet? Much slower obviously, and not very well, but it was working.

He turned to Harvet and sighed. He had a lot of explaining to do he supposed. Even though he barely understood it himself.