*starts singing* Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go. O_O Enjoy. O_O Argh. >.< Title mess-up, it's the 37th chapter.
Vidar stared at Riku with growing curiosity at the jaw-dropping scene. He had almost spilled drool over his chin at the sight, but quickly regained composure before Riku could notice. Thoughts swirled in his mind, thoughts of the possibilities that this boy had, but he couldn’t deny the thoughts of jealousy as well.
Riku stood up, his eyes still wide and then turned to Vidar, “It has to be broken or something.”
Vidar shook his head, “It seems that all of our thoughts about you earlier were quite wrong. You’re meant to train with us.”
Riku walked over to Vidar, “So what now? Do I sign the contract?”
Vidar shook his head yet again, “No, there’re two problems with that. The first is that I don’t even have the contract. The second is a bit more troublesome, though... Dragons... are a bit more demanding. That simply showed that the dragons would consider you, but they won’t heed any of your calls, not even the lesser ones, until you prove yourself.”
Riku gulped, already knowing where this was leading, “So... how do I prove myself?”
Vidar looked Riku in the eye, “You have to defeat their boss.”
~
Riku followed Vidar deeper into the forest, and tried to make conversation as they went, “So am I... like... the first to even be considered by them?”
Vidar laughed, “Don’t flatter yourself. No, there was one other. Lance.”
Riku’s teeth clenched together at the name, suddenly remembering all that he had read only the day before.
Vidar looked at him curiously, and then continued, “Most of us would rather to forget that we even trained Lance, but I cannot. He was the one person that I had ever met who would come to tame these dragons. In truth, Lance was the real boss of the dragons. The one thing that they refused to do, though, was give him the contract. They only allow someone to sign the scroll once they have been proven, but they never give anyone the contract to let others sign it. No matter whom they may be.”
Riku nodded, “So where are we going now, then?”
“Well, I can’t summon dragons, like I told you. So the only way for you to meet with them would be to go to their home. The Land of Dragons as it is called. It’s actually a volcano with a few mountains and such around but... doesn’t matter I suppose.”
“So it’s like how the toads have Myobokuzan?”
“Precisely. It’s where the dragon’s live. Getting there won’t be a problem. Just like the toads have a portal to Konohagakure, I have portals to the homes of all of the summonings. But getting through it... that’ll be the tough part. The land of dragons is more like a giant cave than anything. The outside is basically a desolated perimeter with nothing but rubble, you go through the cave and then you’re at the mountains, where there are more caves. But the main problem is that the dragons won’t trust you until you prove yourself. That means that from the time you go in, you’re vulnerable. I won’t be able to go further than the outside of the cave, so there’s no reason for me to even go. So... you’re on your own bud.”
Riku’s jaw dropped, “But... what!?”
Vidar shrugged, “It’s the price of power,” and before Riku could say anything else he pointed forward, “There’re the portals.”
The portals were a bunch of opened mounds with a different color liquid swirling around in them, they were like miniature pools. Vidar pointed to one at the far back, swirling with red liquid, that could easily be mistaken for newly shed blood. Riku walked over it and, putting his hands on the edge of the mound, he leaned over it, looking into the pool.
“So... I go in there, and find the boss?” Riku asked, trying to make it sound simpler than it was to ease his nerves.
“Ideally, yes. You’ll probably have to fight more dragons than just the boss, but... if you get lucky; he’s the only one who you need to fight.”
Riku nodded and gulped, still looking into the pool, “Any other words of advice?” he asked.
Vidar seemed to think for a moment, and then said, “Yeah... try not to die,” he said, just before pushing Riku into the swirling vortex.
~
Tenzu yet again walked through the prison halls, in a rather dismayed state. He looked up and saw another figure moving towards him. His Akatsuki hood, like Tenzu, never left his head, and only revealed his dark red, though not to be mistaken for anything like the sharingan, eyes. The two walked towards each other, and then stopped face to face.
“So?” the man asked Tenzu, both already knowing what this conversation was about.
Tenzu shook his head and shrugged helplessly, “Nowhere. He just... dropped off of the face of the earth.”
“Are you suggesting that he’s dead?” the man asked more forcefully this time, taking a dangerous step towards Tenzu, who made a true effort not to back down in the face of his imposing leader.
“If he was... I would be able to find his body. The searching jutsu you made would be able to do that well enough. Kabuto said that he was near Otogakure. And that he went farther north towards the sea. I went to search as you requested... but nothing.”
Banging his fist on the wall, the man murmured a curse to himself.
Near them, the two heard a chuckle from one of the cells, an expected one of course. They both turned to see Shinru shaking his head and laughing, “Really? You mean that you haven’t figured it out yet? Of all people, I thought you would know...” he said, and then he put a powerful, and purposeful, emphasis on his last word, “Lance.”
The Akatsuki leader turned slowly and curiously, staring Shinru hard in the eye, “Lance?” he asked, “You’ve been gone for much too long,” he said, and with just as much emphasis as Shinru had used, he finished, “That weakling died long ago.”
Shinru did well to hide his surprise, though he couldn’t deny that it was there. What had occurred after he left?
He saw the man walk towards him, slowly, forebodingly, and then he kneeled over to talk to Shinru face-to-face, “Now where is the boy?”
Shinru turned towards him, showing no fear in the face of this menacing man, whoever he might be, “Hope you didn’t expect an answer.”
He grimaced, and then leaned in closer towards Shinru, as Tenzu watched from afar, “You seem to forget who the prisoner is here. I can kill you whenever—”
Shinru abruptly cut him off, “It is you that seems to forget. For more reasons than one, you cannot kill me. Heck, if you’re not Lance as you claim, you couldn’t even if you tried. You seem to forget that I am not Riku, or any of the other people that you attempt to impose with obviously idle threats. Know this and know it well: I hold no fear of threats, no fear of death, and therefore, no fear of you.”
The two stared at each other long and hard, a cold, dead silence falling over the room. And then the leader of Akatsuki stood up, walking away and motioned for Tenzu to follow him, but felt compelled to say one last thing and stopped, without looking back at Shinru, “Perhaps you do not now. But you will. Oh, you will.”
The two continued walking, while Shinru leaned back on the side of his cell’s wall. He could hear the two still conversing, though. The deep voice that belonged to the leader of this dreaded place said, “I know where the boy is. We have no need to search for him any longer. He will come to us.”
Over the River and Through the Portal
Vidar stared at Riku with growing curiosity at the jaw-dropping scene. He had almost spilled drool over his chin at the sight, but quickly regained composure before Riku could notice. Thoughts swirled in his mind, thoughts of the possibilities that this boy had, but he couldn’t deny the thoughts of jealousy as well.
Riku stood up, his eyes still wide and then turned to Vidar, “It has to be broken or something.”
Vidar shook his head, “It seems that all of our thoughts about you earlier were quite wrong. You’re meant to train with us.”
Riku walked over to Vidar, “So what now? Do I sign the contract?”
Vidar shook his head yet again, “No, there’re two problems with that. The first is that I don’t even have the contract. The second is a bit more troublesome, though... Dragons... are a bit more demanding. That simply showed that the dragons would consider you, but they won’t heed any of your calls, not even the lesser ones, until you prove yourself.”
Riku gulped, already knowing where this was leading, “So... how do I prove myself?”
Vidar looked Riku in the eye, “You have to defeat their boss.”
~
Riku followed Vidar deeper into the forest, and tried to make conversation as they went, “So am I... like... the first to even be considered by them?”
Vidar laughed, “Don’t flatter yourself. No, there was one other. Lance.”
Riku’s teeth clenched together at the name, suddenly remembering all that he had read only the day before.
Vidar looked at him curiously, and then continued, “Most of us would rather to forget that we even trained Lance, but I cannot. He was the one person that I had ever met who would come to tame these dragons. In truth, Lance was the real boss of the dragons. The one thing that they refused to do, though, was give him the contract. They only allow someone to sign the scroll once they have been proven, but they never give anyone the contract to let others sign it. No matter whom they may be.”
Riku nodded, “So where are we going now, then?”
“Well, I can’t summon dragons, like I told you. So the only way for you to meet with them would be to go to their home. The Land of Dragons as it is called. It’s actually a volcano with a few mountains and such around but... doesn’t matter I suppose.”
“So it’s like how the toads have Myobokuzan?”
“Precisely. It’s where the dragon’s live. Getting there won’t be a problem. Just like the toads have a portal to Konohagakure, I have portals to the homes of all of the summonings. But getting through it... that’ll be the tough part. The land of dragons is more like a giant cave than anything. The outside is basically a desolated perimeter with nothing but rubble, you go through the cave and then you’re at the mountains, where there are more caves. But the main problem is that the dragons won’t trust you until you prove yourself. That means that from the time you go in, you’re vulnerable. I won’t be able to go further than the outside of the cave, so there’s no reason for me to even go. So... you’re on your own bud.”
Riku’s jaw dropped, “But... what!?”
Vidar shrugged, “It’s the price of power,” and before Riku could say anything else he pointed forward, “There’re the portals.”
The portals were a bunch of opened mounds with a different color liquid swirling around in them, they were like miniature pools. Vidar pointed to one at the far back, swirling with red liquid, that could easily be mistaken for newly shed blood. Riku walked over it and, putting his hands on the edge of the mound, he leaned over it, looking into the pool.
“So... I go in there, and find the boss?” Riku asked, trying to make it sound simpler than it was to ease his nerves.
“Ideally, yes. You’ll probably have to fight more dragons than just the boss, but... if you get lucky; he’s the only one who you need to fight.”
Riku nodded and gulped, still looking into the pool, “Any other words of advice?” he asked.
Vidar seemed to think for a moment, and then said, “Yeah... try not to die,” he said, just before pushing Riku into the swirling vortex.
~
Tenzu yet again walked through the prison halls, in a rather dismayed state. He looked up and saw another figure moving towards him. His Akatsuki hood, like Tenzu, never left his head, and only revealed his dark red, though not to be mistaken for anything like the sharingan, eyes. The two walked towards each other, and then stopped face to face.
“So?” the man asked Tenzu, both already knowing what this conversation was about.
Tenzu shook his head and shrugged helplessly, “Nowhere. He just... dropped off of the face of the earth.”
“Are you suggesting that he’s dead?” the man asked more forcefully this time, taking a dangerous step towards Tenzu, who made a true effort not to back down in the face of his imposing leader.
“If he was... I would be able to find his body. The searching jutsu you made would be able to do that well enough. Kabuto said that he was near Otogakure. And that he went farther north towards the sea. I went to search as you requested... but nothing.”
Banging his fist on the wall, the man murmured a curse to himself.
Near them, the two heard a chuckle from one of the cells, an expected one of course. They both turned to see Shinru shaking his head and laughing, “Really? You mean that you haven’t figured it out yet? Of all people, I thought you would know...” he said, and then he put a powerful, and purposeful, emphasis on his last word, “Lance.”
The Akatsuki leader turned slowly and curiously, staring Shinru hard in the eye, “Lance?” he asked, “You’ve been gone for much too long,” he said, and with just as much emphasis as Shinru had used, he finished, “That weakling died long ago.”
Shinru did well to hide his surprise, though he couldn’t deny that it was there. What had occurred after he left?
He saw the man walk towards him, slowly, forebodingly, and then he kneeled over to talk to Shinru face-to-face, “Now where is the boy?”
Shinru turned towards him, showing no fear in the face of this menacing man, whoever he might be, “Hope you didn’t expect an answer.”
He grimaced, and then leaned in closer towards Shinru, as Tenzu watched from afar, “You seem to forget who the prisoner is here. I can kill you whenever—”
Shinru abruptly cut him off, “It is you that seems to forget. For more reasons than one, you cannot kill me. Heck, if you’re not Lance as you claim, you couldn’t even if you tried. You seem to forget that I am not Riku, or any of the other people that you attempt to impose with obviously idle threats. Know this and know it well: I hold no fear of threats, no fear of death, and therefore, no fear of you.”
The two stared at each other long and hard, a cold, dead silence falling over the room. And then the leader of Akatsuki stood up, walking away and motioned for Tenzu to follow him, but felt compelled to say one last thing and stopped, without looking back at Shinru, “Perhaps you do not now. But you will. Oh, you will.”
The two continued walking, while Shinru leaned back on the side of his cell’s wall. He could hear the two still conversing, though. The deep voice that belonged to the leader of this dreaded place said, “I know where the boy is. We have no need to search for him any longer. He will come to us.”
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