Sorry it took so long. Btw, much shorter than last time. Oh, and the end is a little... graphic. >_>
Prologue:
Riku awoke from the nightmare again. It was no longer a nightmare to him, it was the nightmare.
One would think that 6 years would suffice to dull the steel that was this dream, but still he could hear the shrieks of those he loved, still he could see his once safe town burned to ashes, and still, he could see himself running like the coward he was. This dream, it belonged to another man, one who may have still cared for all of those who died on that night, one who may have cared for the many children who arrived back from the Academy the next day only to find the ashes of what they once called home. But as for him, he no longer cared for it, carrying the burden of emotions through this place would have killed him long, long ago. He was no longer the coward who ran as his home burned; he was the man who left as the sickening town got what was coming to it, what had been coming to it for
many years—death.
There was only one benefit that he had gained from this place. He discovered his ability, the ability to use ice—a rare kekkei genkai. The kekkei genkai allowed him to survive this place. He was able to control the amount of ice and cold temperature that came, left, and was in his body. He had also furthered his skills to allow him to use snow to know where he was and what was near him. Of course it also helped with hunting. There isn’t much that you’re prey can do when surrounded with countless needles of sharp ice.
The Lich’s Tundra was harsher than the words that were used in folklore, much harsher indeed. The nights froze his fingers away and the mornings, the time that he once looked forward to in anticipation, now only signified the start of a new day with unguaranteed survival, and an even smaller chance for food. Which is why he left his emotions, or they fled from him. But either way, it made no difference, he wasn’t even sure if he was human anymore, it was amazing how much this place had changed him. When he did have sanity, it made him wonder: is this what the Academy did? Did they stop you from caring for anything? Did it stop you from worrying whether you lived or died? Was that what made those who graduated so powerful? Was will to fight without fear of dying the secret to true power? And was the will to not care for anything at all the ace in hole used as retaliation if the first faltered? All of these questions irked him each and every day. But there was still one more question that was even worse.
Was he permanently the man who no longer cared?
~
Only a few miles to the south, Shinru walked through the Tundra as well, but only on the brim of it, only fools went any deeper than that. He wandered around, apparently doing his daily rounds to check for animals or other potential threats to his nearby home, but to anyone who had at least one eye to see out of, he was definitely searching for something, or someone. And indeed he was.
He had been coming out here every week since, well since he got word of the boy fleeing his home. Needless to say, he was searching for Riku, the only boy ever to survive the Lich’s Tundra for that long time. This boy would help him greatly in his research; he was researching, well something wonderful. Something that could change the world as he saw fit, and his vision of the world was a beautiful one. But only those who were optimistic enough to hear him out before shunning him would understand, hence why he only told a carefully selected handful of people exactly what he was searching for instead of a broad statement such as this one.
And right now, you are not one of them.
~
Only a day’s walk from Riku, Tenzu eagerly walked through the tundra, his robe dragging behind him and gradually the red clouds at the bottom became white quickly. Unlike most members, Tenzu’s teammate rarely went on missions with him, solely because Tenzu never wanted a teammate, he had always preferred doing everything alone, and he thought that Akatsuki would allow him the freedom to do that rather than villages. Of course, that wasn’t his only reason for joining; there were many more reasons, all of them to personal to even think about around those nosey misfits with the nerve to call themselves an organization.
He had only been here for a week, but time had no meaning here. Seconds were minutes, minutes were hours, and hours were days. The ice froze everything, including time. The snow obscured everything in front of you, behind you, and above you. The cold rendered you so delirious at times that one would think that you lived in a tavern at one time in your life.
Tenzu was usually the last to complain, especially about time considering his powers, but this place was just ridiculous. Everything was frozen, to eat, you had to kill your prey, and then thaw the food out before it was unbreakably thick. But he only needed to survive one more day in this frozen hell.
Or, in more accurate terms, one more week.
~
Riku finally managed to make the nightmare drift from his mind and decided on doing the day’s hunting.
He walked deeper into the cave that he called his home and grabbed a peculiar sword. Its name was Soul Eater; his dad had given it to him long ago. He felt the urge to go back for the sword even after the massacre, he didn’t know what it was, but it was something unshakeable. And somehow, the sword had survived the fire. He hadn’t discovered much of the sword’s latent potential, and it had plenty, but he did notice that his ice attacks were much stronger when using this blade to deploy them.
As soon as he exited the cave, his sword by his side, he quickly spotted a boar, with the snow of course, and immediately began to plan his attack.
After thinking for a moment, Riku took a deep, long breath. He suddenly stood up perfectly straight, putting his arms up beside his head with his hands pointing towards the ground, halting the snow that fell around the boar, a white one covered by hair. He slowly closed his hands, making a small dome on around the defenseless animal. He then moved into a solid stance and slammed his hands together, making the dome enclose on his target. Doing all of this within a few, short seconds.
As soon as he knew that the poor animal was dead, he scurried towards it and tore it apart, eating every piece of it. The boar’s eye looked at him as if the boar was disgusted, and if it was alive, it probably would be. The whole scene was gruesome, the boar was being torn apart and eaten by this twelve year old boy.
Many would call this savagery.
He called it survival.
Prologue:
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Road to Nowhere
Riku awoke from the nightmare again. It was no longer a nightmare to him, it was the nightmare.
One would think that 6 years would suffice to dull the steel that was this dream, but still he could hear the shrieks of those he loved, still he could see his once safe town burned to ashes, and still, he could see himself running like the coward he was. This dream, it belonged to another man, one who may have still cared for all of those who died on that night, one who may have cared for the many children who arrived back from the Academy the next day only to find the ashes of what they once called home. But as for him, he no longer cared for it, carrying the burden of emotions through this place would have killed him long, long ago. He was no longer the coward who ran as his home burned; he was the man who left as the sickening town got what was coming to it, what had been coming to it for
many years—death.
There was only one benefit that he had gained from this place. He discovered his ability, the ability to use ice—a rare kekkei genkai. The kekkei genkai allowed him to survive this place. He was able to control the amount of ice and cold temperature that came, left, and was in his body. He had also furthered his skills to allow him to use snow to know where he was and what was near him. Of course it also helped with hunting. There isn’t much that you’re prey can do when surrounded with countless needles of sharp ice.
The Lich’s Tundra was harsher than the words that were used in folklore, much harsher indeed. The nights froze his fingers away and the mornings, the time that he once looked forward to in anticipation, now only signified the start of a new day with unguaranteed survival, and an even smaller chance for food. Which is why he left his emotions, or they fled from him. But either way, it made no difference, he wasn’t even sure if he was human anymore, it was amazing how much this place had changed him. When he did have sanity, it made him wonder: is this what the Academy did? Did they stop you from caring for anything? Did it stop you from worrying whether you lived or died? Was that what made those who graduated so powerful? Was will to fight without fear of dying the secret to true power? And was the will to not care for anything at all the ace in hole used as retaliation if the first faltered? All of these questions irked him each and every day. But there was still one more question that was even worse.
Was he permanently the man who no longer cared?
~
Only a few miles to the south, Shinru walked through the Tundra as well, but only on the brim of it, only fools went any deeper than that. He wandered around, apparently doing his daily rounds to check for animals or other potential threats to his nearby home, but to anyone who had at least one eye to see out of, he was definitely searching for something, or someone. And indeed he was.
He had been coming out here every week since, well since he got word of the boy fleeing his home. Needless to say, he was searching for Riku, the only boy ever to survive the Lich’s Tundra for that long time. This boy would help him greatly in his research; he was researching, well something wonderful. Something that could change the world as he saw fit, and his vision of the world was a beautiful one. But only those who were optimistic enough to hear him out before shunning him would understand, hence why he only told a carefully selected handful of people exactly what he was searching for instead of a broad statement such as this one.
And right now, you are not one of them.
~
Only a day’s walk from Riku, Tenzu eagerly walked through the tundra, his robe dragging behind him and gradually the red clouds at the bottom became white quickly. Unlike most members, Tenzu’s teammate rarely went on missions with him, solely because Tenzu never wanted a teammate, he had always preferred doing everything alone, and he thought that Akatsuki would allow him the freedom to do that rather than villages. Of course, that wasn’t his only reason for joining; there were many more reasons, all of them to personal to even think about around those nosey misfits with the nerve to call themselves an organization.
He had only been here for a week, but time had no meaning here. Seconds were minutes, minutes were hours, and hours were days. The ice froze everything, including time. The snow obscured everything in front of you, behind you, and above you. The cold rendered you so delirious at times that one would think that you lived in a tavern at one time in your life.
Tenzu was usually the last to complain, especially about time considering his powers, but this place was just ridiculous. Everything was frozen, to eat, you had to kill your prey, and then thaw the food out before it was unbreakably thick. But he only needed to survive one more day in this frozen hell.
Or, in more accurate terms, one more week.
~
Riku finally managed to make the nightmare drift from his mind and decided on doing the day’s hunting.
He walked deeper into the cave that he called his home and grabbed a peculiar sword. Its name was Soul Eater; his dad had given it to him long ago. He felt the urge to go back for the sword even after the massacre, he didn’t know what it was, but it was something unshakeable. And somehow, the sword had survived the fire. He hadn’t discovered much of the sword’s latent potential, and it had plenty, but he did notice that his ice attacks were much stronger when using this blade to deploy them.
As soon as he exited the cave, his sword by his side, he quickly spotted a boar, with the snow of course, and immediately began to plan his attack.
After thinking for a moment, Riku took a deep, long breath. He suddenly stood up perfectly straight, putting his arms up beside his head with his hands pointing towards the ground, halting the snow that fell around the boar, a white one covered by hair. He slowly closed his hands, making a small dome on around the defenseless animal. He then moved into a solid stance and slammed his hands together, making the dome enclose on his target. Doing all of this within a few, short seconds.
As soon as he knew that the poor animal was dead, he scurried towards it and tore it apart, eating every piece of it. The boar’s eye looked at him as if the boar was disgusted, and if it was alive, it probably would be. The whole scene was gruesome, the boar was being torn apart and eaten by this twelve year old boy.
Many would call this savagery.
He called it survival.
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