The sword he's carrying, long and curved and sharper than a dream, gleams in an unseen sunbeams and the tassel on the pommel dances in an unfelt breeze.

jump

He nods, slightly, and does, in the sort of smooth, economical way that seems to work with his magic.

He gets high enough to catch his fingers on a tiny groove in the opening, then swings himself up to land on his feet in the higher passageway. It's the sort of maneuver that's borderline impossible without magic.

"Are you awake?" he asks the sword, voice quiet.

i think so

how do you tell

"You're talking. I haven't heard of unawake weapons doing that," he says. "What do you remember?"

movement

dancing

"The fights, it sounds like." He cracks his neck. "Do you know what a dunj is?"

Ugh. This will probably take way too many words. Maybe he can get through the 'let's work together until the dunj is closed and then I'll have Carrie explain the rest'? Carrie likes talking.

is that this place

will there be more dancing

"That's this place, yes. We're fighting monsters, so we can close the dunj."

okay

you are good at moving you should do it more

"I'll try." Acrobatics is an unusual but not unprecedented thing for a weapon to grant.

And it fits him, he thinks.

Fortunately this is a very three-dimensional labyrinth, and he's able to test jumping between pillars and up crags as he does.

Unfortunately, he doesn't make it far, only to a widening in the cave system, before there's a susurration and then a massive hum of clicking, and the non-beetles are swarming again. They're good at climbing, and numerous, but he glances around - then jumps to balance on the top of one broken-off stalagmite, stabs a few that crawl up to him, and jumps again, this time bouncing off a pillar to land behind the beetles. They fall over each other as they try to switch gears, the larger ones crushing the small ones beneath their bulk - leaving him with easier targets.

yes like that

we dance around and between as they trip over themselves

His mouth might be making a vague attempt at a grin. He likes fighting monsters, though these aren't as much of a challenge as some, especially with the sword newly awakened.

Skewer one overgrown beetle, jump, bounce off a pillar, cut one that'd grown wings in half, bounce off the ceiling, land sword-point-first in a third.

He also likes the not having to talk thing. Convenient, that.

This is... fun, the word probably is. The dancing and the weaving and the slicing and the grace of it all. Aesthetically satisfying.

He finishes the last few with another dramatic leap - he likes this, maybe there's some drama in him after all, but being able to move clearly and swiftly feels amazing - and then lands neatly.

"We're clear for now," he says.

what next

"Keep delving. We need to close the portal, and we need to reach the center to do that. There's usually tougher monsters nearer it."

good

He nods, and keeps going.

The beetle swarms get bigger - and composed of bigger individuals - as they go. Means they're getting close.

Then they reach a cavern, enormous and echoing and carpetted with bugs that're cat sized at the smallest - 

And someone's shouting, "Take that!" from a nearby ledge, swinging a massive greatsword two handed through a horse-sized beetle. 

She notices their entrance, looks over, shouts, "Late to the party, huh, Sasuke?" and throws her sword at them, flickering to land on her as she lodges in the stone.

(Sword-throw based teleportation is the stupidest power and she loves it.)

She bends, grabs Bridget's handle, and yanks her out of the stone, before throwing her in an arc through some flying beetles.

"Try to keep up!" she shouts behind her as she flickers away.

'It's Piece Maker!' Bridget shouts mentally. 'Also hi new sword!'

hi

that seems inefficient. our way is better.

'This way's awesome. And I bet we're better at these big flying ones than you guys.'

Sasuke starts parkouring off beetles while stabbing them. This is probably moderately stupid, since it sometimes involves stabbing the flying beetle he's standing on, but he's keeping enough momentum and has enough of a sense of where everything is that it works.

"Focus on finding the portal stone!" he calls.

see? better

what does the portal stone look like?

"Big and glowy with weird writing, or a glass sphere, or one fun time a ball of flame - they vary a lot but usually stick way out from the dunj," Carrie calls.

Is there anything like that around?

There's a place where the beetles are extremely dense, and there's one larger than an elephant hovering over it, that Sasuke starts working his way to. There's enough small beetles in the air and little enough light though that seeing things is hard, and whatever it is isn't glowing.

('The most heavily guarded place' doesn't always work but it's a good guess.)

That looks like a challenge. Good.

He spends a few minutes jumping between beetles, until they shift suddenly, and his aim ends up off.

"Carrie!" he shouts.

"On it!"

And Bridget comes flying at the right angle for him to bounce off of, reorienting towards the center.

'Need a lift?' she asks.

seems you can be useful

'Hah. We'll see which of us gets to the stone first.'

that will be us

'You're on, newbie.'

('Acrobatics' is indeed slower than 'throw and teleport,' but Sasuke's also not needing nor bothering to clear out as many of the beetles as Carrie and Bridget - he's better at getting out of the way than Carrie, and Bridget is aggressive enough to stop to fight everything.)

The giant beetle also isn't staying still, and it closes on Sasuke first.

Carrie curses and changes paths to attack the giant from behind.

Giant beetle means lots of surface area to attack and a big target to dodge around. They are fast. They can do this.

The carapace is thicker than they can easily get through, but he's agile enough to go for the cracks and joins.

The beetle isn't going down fast, but it's not doing well, either.

Carrie goes high above the beetle, shouts a warning to Sasuke - who gets out of the way - then comes down on it, swinging Bridget heavily and two-handed.

What can best be called 'mass weirdness' was their first power - Bridget being light enough for Carrie to handle easily, but hitting harder than her size would suggest.

It's gotten a lot better since then. A hundred times the force it takes to break human bones slams into the giant.

The beetle's back more crushes than splits.

messy

and inelegant, if effective

'That's me!' Bridget replies cheerfully. 'I'd be a tiny sword like you if I cared for elegance.'

i am not tiny, you are overgrown

'You're tiny and I'm a giant among swords.'

i am not tiny

am i tiny

"You're slender and sharp." He demonstrates this by slicing cleanly through a crowd of beetles. "About normal length."

yes exactly thank you

He spots something out of the corner of his eye - gold and out of place - and starts angling for it.

'Traitor,' Bridget mutters.

Whatever, they're the best and also going to win.

He has to dodge increasingly often as they approach the odd gold thing, and accumulates no small number of scratches, but - 

There's definitely an out-of-place orb.

"That's our target," he says, launching off a beetle and towards the platform it's on. The sheer density isn't helping, making it harder for him to get the broad maneuvers he likes, but...

He gets onto the platform anyways, going low and then jumping high, and kicks the orb off. It falls, glinting, and then hits a stony promontory and shatters.

The dunj wavers and fades, and they're standing in a forest clearing, no giant beetles in sight.

good job

He nods. "You too."

'Awwww,' Bridget whines a bit. 'Hey tiny sword, since we're out, wanna see about changing shapes? Bet you're tiny as a human too. Or like actually a cat, I think I know a cat weapon...'

fine

Change shape? Maybe something like...

...that. Huh.

She is, actually, kind of short as human.

Bridget is kind of tall!

"Hah! Still tiny!"

She smacks the back of Bridget's head. Lightly. "Behave," she says, then to the new sword, "Hey, do you want a name or similar? Probably won't stop Bridget calling you 'tiny sword' but would give the rest of us something."

"A name? Okay."

"I can list some? Or you can, like, say what kind of opinions you have?"

"A list would be good. I don't think I have an opinion about it."

She'll list some - with input from Bridget and a rare word from Sasuke - from a variety of cultures and time periods, noting which sounds archaic or fancy or plain. (Weapons tend to have a wider variety of names than humans, she explains.)

"...I like Sayaka."

"It's a pretty name, yeah!"

"Sayaka, then."

"Feel up to heading back to town?"

"Sure."

"We're pretty close, luckily - you can walk or this doofus can carry you, up to you," she says, nudging Sasuke, who rolls his eyes.

"I'd like to walk, I think."

"Yeah, same. 'S good to stretch your legs."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"We can explain stuff while we walk, how about?"

"Yes. There is a lot I don't know."

Sasuke leads the way, and Carrie and Bridget do most of the talking - and arguing. Weapons and wielders work together to produce magic, there's an international organization of wielders who specifically deal with big dunjes, the police and National Guard and military (which're explained) usually have a couple of wielder-weapon pairs but most of them try to keep new weapons from becoming sentient, dunjes open kind of randomly, they're all different and not really designed with humans in mind - agility's a great bonus, it's hard to move around in some of them because they don't super have floors - and the monsters are even more different from each other. Dunjes are more likely to open closer to inhabited places, but those also usually get dealt with faster. 

Their team specializes kind of in handling out-of-the-way dunjes that aren't on enough radars to pull official attention, but're still causing problems. 

Carrie mentions, off hand, that it's possible for humans to become weapons and weapons to become - essentially humans, including being able to wield other weapons. Sasuke's like that, born as a weapon and now mostly living as a human. (She then assures Sayaka they'll get her paperwork handled once they're in town - documentation's important, even if the bureaucracy around it's a pain.)

"Why do they need paperwork about me?"

"Establishes who you are, that you're legally an adult and can buy certain things we age-restrict - though I don't super remember how age restrictions and weapons interact - and also like the government likes having a paper trail on people."

"Oh."

She turns to Sasuke. "You were a weapon?"

"Yes. Originally."

"What kind?"

"A bow."

"Oh." She seems a little impressed.

He shrugs. "Haven't had a wielder in a while."

"Do you miss it?"

He shrugs.

"Don't think you've leveled up friendship enough to unlock the tragic backstory yet. We haven't unlocked the tragic backstory yet. He must like you a lot, if he's told you this much," Bridget says to Sayaka, laughing a bit.

"Are friendship levels a real thing?"

"She's being silly," Sasuke says, interrupting Bridget's 'of course.'

"She does that a lot."

"I," she says, faking dignity, "Am the absolutely correct amount of silly."

"I don't think that's true, actually."

"No one in this team has the slightest sense of humor. I suppose it is my duty, as the resident jokester, to bring levity to the world - "

"I do not think that is true, either."

"Oh no! Has Sasuke already corrupted you to his humorless ways?"

"I suppose he must have."

"Tragic. It is now my sworn duty to convince you of the error of your ways - "

She's grinning, though.

"You don't have better things to swear a duty to?"

"Nope!"

"Good luck, then."

"I have skill. Luck's for newbies."

"If you say so."

"Oh, I insist."

"Does that mean I have to let her win?" she asks Karin.

"Hah. No. It's better for her ego if she loses."

"Good."

"You're all such spoilsports."

"Isn't it not a fun game if there's no competition?"

"Hah. You got me there. I'll just have to do my best, then."

"Good luck."

"Keep the luck for yourself, you'll need it," she says.

"Enough. We're here," Sasuke cuts in, as they round a bend and the trees open up into a little clearing with a gravel parking lot, next to a weathered brown sign declaring this area to be part of a national wildlife reserve.

A wildlife reserve, huh. Guess that's why there were no other people.

"There's hikers, sometimes. Not when a dunj is around, though," Sasuke says, noticing her glance.

"Is there a lot of warning when one appears?"

"First warning is usually the portal, and then monsters appearing."

"What happens when people don't notice that in time?"

"Monsters leave the dunj, and attack people."

"Oh."

"They're usually not too aggressive, or inclined to go very far from the portal at first, but yeah, it's a pretty big problem, and monsters will spread out if a dunj isn't shut down quickly."

"So that's why you- do what you do."

"Yeah. Plus, it's what we're good at, and it's pretty enjoyable."

"I can see that."

"Mhm - oh, hey, we should probably actually get in the car, huh?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"Come on, you can sit with me, I'll explain seat belts - "

Seat belts! She spends a few seconds just snapping the hook in and out. She likes the clicking sound.

She laughs a bit, and then they're on the road.

"It's not too long a drive from here - maybe ten minutes to town, then a few more to where we're gonna report the dunj closed."

"Is that where we have to tell people that I exist too?"

"Probably. They might make us go to the social security office or something for paperwork, dunno, I wasn't wielding Bridget when she woke."

She glances at Sasuke. He would probably know. But he didn't want to talk about it. So she won't ask.

"I was in a different area then, too. Bigger, had more dedicated offices. Stuff varies a lot place to place..."

"That seems... inconvenient."

"Humans aren't really good at getting along with each other, let alone agreeing on anything."

"They should try to be better."

"Hah. Is entertaining, though."

"I think we've established that your sense of humor and what is entertaining is strange."

"Delightfully so!"

"That part remains in question."

"I'll convince you, soon enough."

"How long have you been working on the others?"

"She's been trying with me close to a year. A bit less with Sasuke."

"How did you all meet?"

"I met Bridget the old fashioned way - someone had dropped her in a dunj, and my team found her. I was part of a bigger team back then - not as a wielder, as the radio intern. She pretty much synced only with me. Sasuke I met after I left that team, he actually approached me and offered a good deal for a team-up."

"'Radio intern'?"

"Interns are newbies in an organization. Sometimes paid, often not. Meant to be a sort of training experience, except usually they just have us do the boring and unpleasant tasks. I got stuck with the radio, trying to coordinate a bunch of quarreling dipshits."

"At least now you have fewer to manage?"

"Heh. I don't bother mediating too much now. It's a good change of pace."

"That's why you left?"

"Kind of? Didn't really like them much."