Bait
Riku?s hands shuffled frantically through his bags, ?Where is it!?? he kept yelling to himself, his hands furiously yanking out clothing from his bag and throwing them behind him on the floor.
One of the articles of clothing, Riku?s pants, fell onto Deirous?s head, and because they were balled up, they did so heavily. Deirous?s eyes darted open, only to see darkness as he quickly yanked the pants off of his face and threw them towards Riku, landing right next to him.
He regained composure and looked towards Riku, his voice showing a mixture of annoyance and confusion, ?So do you want to explain why I woke up with your pants on my head??
?Soul Eater!? Riku called back, ?It?s gone!?
Deirous looked at him for a few more moments, taking a while to remember what Soul Eater was, ?The weird sword thing? It was laying on the ground near you yesterday.?
?That doesn?t exactly help,? a panicking Riku replied.
Raiden woke up just in time to hear Riku yelling about his sword missing, and sat up, pushing himself up on his elbows and then sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out and leaning slightly forward, then he scratched the back of his head, ?Hate to say I told you so but...? he said, reminding both Riku and Deirous that he had suggested that they should have left yesterday.
Riku?s head snapped back towards Raiden, his eyes narrowed in an infuriated expression, Raiden put his hands up in front of him innocently, ?Just saying.?
Riku?s attention went back to his bag, rummaging through it frantically until there was nothing left to rummage through. He threw the bag itself back behind him and fell down on his knees, ?Gone,? he said miserably.
Raiden thought for a moment, suddenly remembering the man in the tavern. Just as Syrus had been set off by Raiden, he had been set off by Syrus. He stood up, having had slept in the same clothes he had been wearing the day before he simply brushed some dirt off of them and opened the bag that he had been carrying, taking a rather small sword out of it, maybe some inches longer than Raiden?s forearm. Riku hadn?t noticed it before, in fact, this was the first time that Raiden had taken it out. Raiden allowed the scabbard of the blade to clip onto his belt. As soon as the blade was comfortably on his waist, he began walking towards the small town.
?Come on,? he said, moving his head to beckon Riku to follow him, his tone showing that he meant to get this done, and as quickly as possible to get out of this place.
~
Syrus looked curiously at the blade, wondering what was so important about it. The sword itself was peculiar, odd designs and shapes on it, perhaps it was simply the uniqueness about it that held the boy here. He looked down, watching as Riku and the other man, older than Riku but still very young, walked through the small town. He knew where they were going?the tavern. He looked down into the hole that had been made by several fights as he watched them go towards the counter, where he had a perfect view on both Riku and Raiden. It had worked just as Syrus planned for it.
He then began focusing his wind chakra into the blade and took aim.
~
Raiden pushed through the throng of large, burly people in the tavern. At first, the large men seemed infuriated, but with the gracefulness that he moved, they lost track of him before they had a chance to say anything at all. Riku followed close behind him, mimicking his every step perfectly. Raiden continued pushing through the crowds, until he was finally at the large counter, the barkeep looking at him curiously.
?We?re looking for a sword, and I think you know the guy who has it,? Raiden said, getting straight to the point.
The barkeep frowned, ?Don?t know anything about that,? he said, shrugging.
Raiden looked at him closely, knowing that he knew everything about ?that.? Then it struck him that this place was filled with bounty hunters, and that by betraying one of them, it would be much more of a death sentence than to lie to a stranger. He knew that he wouldn?t be able to get any information from anyone, that all of them would follow a
certain ?code of bounty hunters.?
Suddenly, though, as if in a flash, Raiden turned and suddenly saw a sharp blade flying towards him. As it did so, it cut through the crowd of people, cutting almost every person that it passed on the arm or the chest as they attempted to dodge. Raiden, quickly, pushed his palm against the side of the blade, and as it slightly redirected itself to the side, he grabbed the handle of it, as if he had planned the entire thing out. The blade seemed to slow down greatly as it reached Raiden, as if he were supposed to catch it. He looked at the blade for a moment, wide-eyed, and then looked towards Riku who was equally as surprised.
One of enraged men looking at Raiden, assuming that it had somehow been done purposely, a man that stood out from the others as the largest, walked up towards Raiden, ?Tryin? to kill us eh??
Raiden looked towards him, an eyebrow raised. He noticed that a group of people were beginning to surround him, apparently gaining courage from the larger man looming over him.
Raiden, wanting to avoid making their stay here any longer and deciding to figure the entire thing out later on, began to turn and walk away, ?Sorry, simple mishap,? he said, pushing Riku forward as he walked away.
The larger man quickly put his hand, which practically covered Raiden?s entire shoulder and some of his arm, on the younger man?s shoulder and yanked the arm towards himself, turning Raiden around as he did so.
?I may be o bit drunk, but I ain?t stupid,? the large man said, who Raiden now noticed was made more of fat than of muscle, as he went for a punch towards Raiden?s face.
Raiden quickly brought his arm forward and pushed his wrist upward, so that the back of his wrist hit right under the larger man?s, making it bounce backwards. Quickly after, noting that several more of them, including the man he was facing right now, had went for their weapons, shoved Soul Eater into Riku?s hand and quickly pulled his sword out of its sheathe, putting it against the larger man?s neck.
?I?d drop your weapon if I were you,? Raiden said, his tone deadly.
The man smiled, his face, as Raiden had expected from his gruesome voice, his face was ghastly, scars on it everywhere and much of his skin loosely on his face, either from cuts or simply from overstuffing himself, ?You sure o? bout that?? he said, jerking his fat thumb towards the other criminals who were slowly closing in on Raiden, daggers and hatchets in their hands.
Raiden looked back, noticing that Riku was no longer there, but he was surrounded on all sides, but he was quick to return the smile, ?As sure as ever.?
Raiden pulled his sword arm back, and then pushed the man back with his free hand, having no intention of committing murder.
Disabling a few of them for life would do.
~
Syrus moved quickly, his plan working perfectly. He knew that he would have to separate Riku and Raiden, and with an entire tavern fight, added to all of the guests that happened to be here today, Riku would be just as distracted. He knew that all of those in the tavern were either too dumb, or too drunk, or both, to even consider why Raiden would aim the blade straight at his heart, and if he were to catch it with as much skill as Syrus would expect, they would consider him as a simple troublemaker. Though it was obvious that it wasn?t the case, it wasn?t uncommon for drunks and otherwise psychotic people to do things like that, throwing around their blades and other weapons to show how skilled they were. Essentially, Soul Eater wasn't as major a part in his plan, it was simply a means to give them a reason to walk through the town. Otherwise, they would have probably gone around it.
Syrus quickly jumped down into the hole, landing in the tavern, and while he was still ducking low from the impact of the jump, he rolled to the side to avoid getting in between a group of thugs who were looking to get into the fight. As he got up, Syrus quickly rushed towards Riku, and as soon as he saw him, Syrus pushed his hand outwards, cupping it over Riku?s mouth while, with his other hand, he grabbed Riku by the arm and pushed that arm against the wall.
Riku struggled to escape, trying to yell in protest, and kicking his legs furiously, though Syrus had his arm extended fully out, allowing him to stand far enough away for Riku not being able to hit him without falling forward. Syrus moved his hand from Riku?s wrist, but before the boy had a chance to lung forward, he quickly moved his hand to grab Riku?s throat, suffocating him.
He waited for a moment, looking to the side to see that all nearby possible adversity were too entwined in the fight to pay attention. Riku?s head fell over, hitting on Syrus?s arm, and Syrus moved his hand from the unconscious boy?s mouth and held his arm near his stomach, so that Riku fell over on the outstretched arm. Syrus then grabbed him with his other arm and eventually put him over his shoulder and then waisting no time to rush out of the tavern?s back entrance, well, a back entrance that Raiden had just created for him, one of the bounty hunters slamming through the wall.
Syrus looked back towards Soul Eater. Figuring that it could gain him great profit, especially with the shady people that placed the bounty for Riku. He rushed back towards the blade, picked it up where Riku had dropped it on the floor, and then continued to rush out of the tavern.
~
Raiden fought with hardly any vigor at all. He eased himself towards the door, eventually making his way out of it, though instead of escaping, he used the door as a blockage, so that only three or four of the thugs could come at him at once, and even then, due to the large stature of most of them, they?d be pretty uncoordinated.
He had sheathed his blade a while ago. Since most of the criminals by now knew that he wasn?t going to use it, any threats that he made with it such as lunging it out in a fake stab were almost completely useless. He fell into a regular routine: dodge, punch, block, kick. His fist connected solidly with the man who was the one to confront him and start this entire thing in the first place, Raiden slightly taken aback that he was just now putting him out of the fight. He spun smoothly to dodge one punch, and as he went a full 360 degrees around, he brought his left foot out, pivoting on his right and clipping the legs of several of the men in front of him. As he had planned, they toppled over on the floor, lying right in front of the doorway.
Seizing the opportunity, Raiden turned and ran for his life. At first he ran straight out, and then focused his chakra into his feet, so instead of running directly into the house he was running towards, he sloped upwards, running to the roof of the house. Afterwards, he turned around and jumped across, landing on the top of the tavern. He ran across the houses, jumping from tavern to store to house to store, skipping across the closely compacted buildings.
Finally, he landed on the outskirts of the houses. Looking over his shoulder, he figured that
he lost the others, and fell into a comfortable walk towards the camp, ?Well that was fun,? he said. Then he turned around quickly, frantically turning his head and body as if he had lost something, ?Uh... Riku??
