I was actually quite satisfied with this chapter. .-.
Riku took in the deep spring air before going into the giant gate. It was one of the things that he loved about this place. It always had the type of weather that the season called for, no surprises, no sudden drops or increases in temperature. The sun beat down harshly in the summer; various hues of leaves fell from the trees during autumn; it had snowed nearly every day in the winter; and now the air was vibrant, filled with blooming, lighthearted colors.
A perfect day for a graduation.
It had been but one month shy of a year since Riku had first come to the sages? grand domain, and now it was time to leave. He had grown a lot over the past eleven months, having celebrated his 16th birthday atop the mountain. Considerably taller and his hair fairly longer than it had been, running down to his back and a small part of it going in between both of his eyes, Riku had become barely recognizable. His face had taken a closer-to-adult appearance, but still held a certain amount of innocence that still marked him as a child. Now he was walking back into the depths of Thane?s cave for the battle that would determine how much he had grown in terms of skill.
Upon reaching the bottom of the slope that led to the inside of the cave, Riku noticed that much had been cleared out. Racks filled with various weapons on them still lined the outer part of the cave, but besides that, there were no anvils, no carts with ore in them, just the arena, which Riku could tell had been enlarged. Standing around in various spots, some of them standing on the spiraling path along the side, some standing at the outer part of the sandy arena, the sages stood and watched Riku. In the center of the field, though, Thane stood, watching the boy as he walked along the path.
Riku stopped at the end of the path, where it branched off into a giant, sanded circle that made up the arena, Thane advanced a few steps, and then stopped to face Riku, Jian coming from the side to stand next to him, ?It?s been quite a while since you joined us, hasn?t it?? Jian asked.
Riku smiled and nodded once, and then Thane picked up, ?Here?s the deal. Me and you. All out battle, same thing as the first time. You win, you can go back and help everyone. You lose... well... I?ll think of something that won?t put the world in peril to do with you.?
Riku maintained his grin and nodded again, and Jian went over to the side while Thane jumped back a few paces, not yet withdrawing Behemoth and Riku, likewise, kept Soul Eater sheathed.
When they were both at exactly opposite corners, all of the sages? eyes on Riku, Thane called over, ?You ready!??
?Yeah!? Riku called back.
Both of them watched each other for a long while, examining each other?s posture so that they could find a weak spot. There was a long moment of silence, each one matching the other?s hard, determined stare, both hoping that the other would make the first move.
Then, as if they both got tired of waiting at the same second, in unison, they both rushed forward and met in the middle.
Thane started with the first attack, already risen up slightly in the air as he rushed so that he could move in for a spinning kick to connect solidly in Riku?s side. Quickly, Riku put one foot forward to stop himself, and then ducked low, and before rising back up he swept his foot under Thane?s leg, nocking the man off balance. Thane quickly caught himself, shifting his weight forward, so that he flipped over, and then putting his hands under him. Before flipping back up to a normal state, he used his current position to go for a number of kicks towards Riku?s face, shuffling his hands as if they were feet to hit him each time. Fluently, Riku backed away with each kick, until Thane flipped back over right side up. The second he did, the millisecond even, Riku jumped upwards and kicked once with his left leg as he rose to connect solidly with Thane?s chest and then jerked his other leg forward to hit the man, already slightly airborne from the first hit, in his chin, sending him flying upwards. Thane, having no way to block or dodge this in time without putting himself in danger of more vicious attacks, allowed the two hits to connect, and as he went flying upwards, he flipped over so that he landed upside down on the roof of the cave.
Both of them jumped towards each other. Riku going diagonally upwards and Thane going diagonally downwards. Several times they met in the center, each one going for attacks that met with each other. First a punch by Thane that was promptly blocked by Riku?s forearm, and then when they both rebounded, this time off of the sides of the cave, a sideways kick from Riku that only met with Thane?s forearm this time. They continued with this, rebounding and then launching off of different sides of the cave, only occasionally were one of those sides actually the floor. They moved with a deadly mixture of intense speed and ferocious strength, a perfectly balanced combination that would prove dreadful to any opponent.
They clashed in the air one last time before both of them landed on the ground. Riku looked at Thane and even from a distance he could see the absence of pupils, simply an insane whiteness in his eyes with red veins going inwards. Riku held no fear this time.
In fact, he was getting excited.
Both of them withdrew their weapons. And as soon as they did, they both swung their weapons releasing crescent blasts. Thane swung his downwards, making for a fluent motion between unsheathing and attacking, while Riku swung horizontally, reaching across and then swinging as he took out his sword for an equally as smooth motion. The crescent blasts collided to form a minor explosion, and Riku waited defensively, knowing that Thane would use the explosion as a way to get halfway to Riku without being noticed.
Just as Riku predicted, Thane rushed out of the smoke a moment later, Behemoth gradually coming further and further back as he twisted his body while rushing towards the boy, until he finally brought it up, around, and down in a powerful downward slam.
Riku?s position loosened as much as he could without being off balance, to lighten himself as much as possibly before doing this maneuver that would surely be a risky one. The second that Behemoth and Soul Eater touched, Riku didn?t even wait long enough for Soul Eater to actually block the blade, but rather moved from under Behemoth while rolling Soul Eater around the side of the much larger sword and then, Behemoth still moving downwards and not being slowed in the least, swung his sword downwards so that the claymore slammed into the ground. From the position that he was at, his blade still on top of Thane?s, Riku brought the blade up, running along a downwardly slanted Behemoth as it did, to hit Thane in the face with the side of the scimitar-like sword. The blade would only meet air, however, as Thane jumped backwards into the air.
As he jumped, Thane made a single hand seal with one of his hands and suddenly, just like before, fire erupted from Behemoth in a giant explosion.
Within a second, somewhere between the millisecond where Thane made the seal and the blade exploded, Riku rushed through the air, so quickly that he was invisible to all others for that moment, and was in front of Thane.
Still rising upwards through the air, Riku slowed down to the point where he was yet again visible and brought Soul Eater back, it?s blade tucked under Riku?s arm and then jabbed it forward for a vicious hit with the hilt of the sword to Thane?s broad chest.
Even as he went flying back, Thane was smirking. He flipped over and once again landed on the top of the cave as he watched Riku. That exceeded the speed that he had used during their last fight, but this had nothing to do with Soul Eater, nothing to do with the boy?s sword. This was Riku?s strength, his speed, Riku?s skill.
Thane?s moment of pride in the boy was cut short, as he quickly saw a giant, roaring flame coming his way. Thane stabbed Behemoth directly in front of him, as fire blasted from the sword, first at the side of the large blade itself, and then spreading to many times the size of Riku?s own fireball. Thane?s fire overpowered Riku?s with ease, and then slammed onto the ground.
But there was no sign of Riku.
A moment later, Thane?s eyes widened as he turned around, just barely getting Behemoth up in time to block a horizontal slice as Riku came down on him vigorously.
Thane noticed that he was holding two blades now, one arm was going across his body to twisted the sword it was holding back to its right side while he held his other arm out rather casually, this one holding Soul Eater, and he quickly came around with the first blade, held by the arm that was across his body, a short, slightly curved sword, and as soon as Thane blocked, he redirected his momentum to spin around and attack on Thane?s left side with Soul Eater, though that weapon, too, met with Behemoth?s dark steel with a loud, ringing noise. Riku, turned sideways and struggling to overpower Thane?s blade, pushed his own forward in a forceful motion to push himself back, turning as he did, as he saw Thane going for a kick to his blindside.
Meanwhile, the bystanders, all of the sages, watched in pure amazement. They could hardly keep up with any of the movements of either fighter, but the moves that they had been able to clearly see were nothing shy of brilliant. Each watched with satisfying pride as they saw how greatly their pupil had grown.
The battle went from sword against sword to ninjutsu against ninjutsu.
As they landed, both went into a rapid series of hand seals, finishing simultaneously. Riku shot his arm out forward while Thane held his hand up to his mouth. From Riku?s sleeve, ice began to form around his arm and then extend towards Thane, moving in a zigzagged motion and at the end of it having a sharp point, while a burst of fire produced itself from Thane?s mouth. The jutsu collided, Riku?s ice jutsu widening into more of a giant shield when the young ninja saw how large Thane?s fire blast was, producing a thick smoke at the end of their encounter.
Riku smiled at the fact that his ice powers had grown so much as to be able to draw against even powerful fire such as that, but his grin was cut short as Thane rushed out from the steam. This time, however, he decided not to use a direct approach, both of them finally seeming to realize that it wasn?t working. Thane went for a false attack to Riku?s right, and then feinted the attack a moment before disappearing behind Riku to grab him, pull him up and over the large man?s head, and then slam him on the wall that was behind Thane.
Riku hadn?t the speed to counter in time, and certainly not the strength to release himself from Thane?s iron grip, and so the attack went exactly like that. Riku managed to, though, just as Thane slammed him into the wall, practically sink into the side of the cave. Though he couldn?t do this quickly enough to null much of the pain of the hit, he was able to get away. Riku, both swords still, luckily for him, in hand, resurfaced at a decent height atop the path. Thane noticed him immediately, and jumped up to the path as well.
The battle was becoming a reenactment of the last one. Thane had grabbed a long sword as well, Riku recognized it as a Miao Dao by name?a skinny, though long, samurai-like sword?and went into a quick barrage of attacks. Unlike the former time, however, Riku was able to keep up with every one of Thane?s vicious strikes. He found that there was somewhat of a routine to this. Upper-left block, downward parry, left parry, duck low, roll backwards, and so on. Eventually, Riku managed to move from a defensive side of the battle to a mixed one. He and Thane alternated with blows and blocks, each one parrying the other, and then going in for a few swift stabs or a heavy kick, and the other regaining composure and then doing the same.
Riku found himself backing, though, even now. He made a powerful parry this time, swinging his sword as hard as he could as if he were attacking rather than blocking, making Thane reel back while Riku began spinning his blade, still stepping back slowly while he spun the blade, his hand sticking out towards Thane. As Soul Eater twirled in the air, a funnel of wind began to come from it, like the bottom of a tornado turned sideways. The funnel became of a decent size, about the size of Thane, when comparing his height to its diameter, and when Riku was content with its size, he threw Soul Eater forward, its blade pointed towards Thane, cutting through the bottom end of the whirlwind as the wind compressed around the blade, increasing both its speed and cutting power tenfold. Thane could just barely keep up with the blade, and having it shot at point-blank range didn?t exactly help. Quickly, he brought Behemoth up, and, like a giant dart, Soul Eater stabbed through the blade and nearly hit Thane, had he not noticed quickly enough and rolled to the side.
Soul Eater quickly returned to a panting Riku. He saw Thane coming back in with a heavy stab towards Riku?s chest. As if predicting it. Riku flipped forward, landed on Behemoth, and then jumped into the sky while turning. First he threw the extra blade he had been carrying in the same manner that he just threw Soul Eater, and then he rushed into a quick series of hand seals.
?Water Style: Water Hardened Drill!? Riku roared out, as a giant abundance of water began to swirl around his arm, all of it converging to form one sharp, spiraling drill.
Riku, as he was jumping, landed on the side of the cave, the water drill still forming in his hands, and then lunged forward with as much power as he could, bringing his arm back and then thrusting it forward in a quick burst of power, slamming it down onto Thane.
It was Thane?s turn to back away now, as he broke out into a series of back flips and jumps, turning as well as he went higher up the path, and finally landed to notice that he had turned inside of the platform area. A moment later, he saw Riku skidding to a stop in front of the opening to the small ridge hanging off of the cave?s side.
?Wonder who?ll fall off first,? Thane said, his voice taking a... different tone in the heat of battle, adding a sarcastic smile, that seemed very odd at the moment given the way his eyes were still absent of their pupils.
Riku just grunted in reply, and then braced himself as he went in towards Thane, who had, likely while dodging the water drill, dropped his other blade. It was a heated battle from there. Neither had any place to run on the platform that was large enough for perhaps five or six people to stand. Riku had a small amount of speed over Thane do to their great difference in size and weapon choice, but not a very noticeable advantage, certainly not as noticeable as the advantage Thane held over him in strength. Those were the only two factors that could possibly determine such a close battle as this, so close that no jutsu could be pulled off.
The battle became quicker and quicker, until finally everything slowed down greatly, as Riku lost his footing, just as before, a moment too long, which Thane took as his cue to perform a powerful two-handed strike that completely knocked him off of the side of the platform.
Thane walked to the edge, breathing heavily, and then looked over the side to try and catch a glimpse of Riku. He did not see the boy anywhere, but what he did see puzzled him. Soul Eater was stabbed into the side of the platform.
Just a moment before Thane looked, Riku swung himself up to stand upside down on the ledge and then ran over to the opposite side of it that he had fallen off of. A moment later he rushed up towards Thane, now right side up again, and whipped his arm across as Soul Eater returned to his grasp for a horizontal strike to Thane?s neck.
However, when Thane saw that Soul Eater was gone, he made a quick, fluid motion to turn and yank Behemoth around, putting it into the same position as Soul Eater, right on Riku?s neck.
They both stood there for a long while beads of sweat coming down the sides of both of their faces. Both had their gazes locked on each other, unwavering, threatening stares.
?Congratulations, you?ve passed,? Thane said simply.
~
?I must say that I will miss your company,? Jian said hours later as Riku strapped his belongings to the side of Vidar?s giant hawk summoning, ?I?ve grown rather accustomed to the redundant questions.?
Riku cast a stern glare his way, ?Thanks,? he mumbled.
Jian laughed, using his sleeve to cover it up, and then reached into his pocket to get something, a small box appeared in his hand when he took his hand out, ?Here,? he said, handing it to Riku, ?You?ll find what?s inside of it quite useful.?
Riku had gotten many such presents today: a statue of Deathwing from Vidar, some wooden, nomad-like instrument from Damon, a large, mechanical bag, so far he only knew that it was, albeit as flexible as any other bag, indestructible, from the sage of technology, Sprocket, and even Thane had given him a present?a new sheathe for Soul Eater. The sheathe was attached to a belt, Riku guessed that Thane had made that as well, and both of them were made of metal, however, like the bag from Sprocket, it was just as flexible as anything else, in fact, it felt more flexible than the belt-sheathe combination that Riku originally had. He guessed that they were both made from the same material.
Nothing had quite struck him as much as what was in the box, however. In the center of it was Shinru?s journal. Riku grimaced as he saw it.
Jian looked at him sympathetically, ?Trust me; you?ll want to have it.?
Riku doubted that he would, but still nodded his appreciation. Jian pointed to the box again though, as if telling Riku to look back into it. Riku did so, and saw a peculiar necklace inside of it. The necklace itself was made of a simple, black string, but what was on the necklace is what caught Riku?s eye. It was a scarlet red, pointed gem. It was somewhere in between opaque and transparent, depending on the angle that you looked at it from.
?What?s this for?? Riku asked.
?Thank you would have been nice,? Jian said, and upon seeing Riku hang his head down and slightly blush in apology, he grinned and continued, ?I?d like to say that it?s just a present, as it?s something that if you have to use, you must be in quite the situation. But... you?ll see. Hopefully, you?ll never know what it can do.?
Riku frowned at the vague description, but shrugged and simply said, ?Thank you, master. For everything.?
With that, Riku grabbed onto the hawk?s saddle and hoisted himself up and over, swinging his leg over the hawk and when he was comfortably in position, the hawk took off as if on its own accord, likely Vidar was watching from somewhere and signaled it to do so, flying at top speed to Konoha.
And so ended Riku?s time with the sages.
And so began a new, important chapter in his life.
Graduation
Riku took in the deep spring air before going into the giant gate. It was one of the things that he loved about this place. It always had the type of weather that the season called for, no surprises, no sudden drops or increases in temperature. The sun beat down harshly in the summer; various hues of leaves fell from the trees during autumn; it had snowed nearly every day in the winter; and now the air was vibrant, filled with blooming, lighthearted colors.
A perfect day for a graduation.
It had been but one month shy of a year since Riku had first come to the sages? grand domain, and now it was time to leave. He had grown a lot over the past eleven months, having celebrated his 16th birthday atop the mountain. Considerably taller and his hair fairly longer than it had been, running down to his back and a small part of it going in between both of his eyes, Riku had become barely recognizable. His face had taken a closer-to-adult appearance, but still held a certain amount of innocence that still marked him as a child. Now he was walking back into the depths of Thane?s cave for the battle that would determine how much he had grown in terms of skill.
Upon reaching the bottom of the slope that led to the inside of the cave, Riku noticed that much had been cleared out. Racks filled with various weapons on them still lined the outer part of the cave, but besides that, there were no anvils, no carts with ore in them, just the arena, which Riku could tell had been enlarged. Standing around in various spots, some of them standing on the spiraling path along the side, some standing at the outer part of the sandy arena, the sages stood and watched Riku. In the center of the field, though, Thane stood, watching the boy as he walked along the path.
Riku stopped at the end of the path, where it branched off into a giant, sanded circle that made up the arena, Thane advanced a few steps, and then stopped to face Riku, Jian coming from the side to stand next to him, ?It?s been quite a while since you joined us, hasn?t it?? Jian asked.
Riku smiled and nodded once, and then Thane picked up, ?Here?s the deal. Me and you. All out battle, same thing as the first time. You win, you can go back and help everyone. You lose... well... I?ll think of something that won?t put the world in peril to do with you.?
Riku maintained his grin and nodded again, and Jian went over to the side while Thane jumped back a few paces, not yet withdrawing Behemoth and Riku, likewise, kept Soul Eater sheathed.
When they were both at exactly opposite corners, all of the sages? eyes on Riku, Thane called over, ?You ready!??
?Yeah!? Riku called back.
Both of them watched each other for a long while, examining each other?s posture so that they could find a weak spot. There was a long moment of silence, each one matching the other?s hard, determined stare, both hoping that the other would make the first move.
Then, as if they both got tired of waiting at the same second, in unison, they both rushed forward and met in the middle.
Thane started with the first attack, already risen up slightly in the air as he rushed so that he could move in for a spinning kick to connect solidly in Riku?s side. Quickly, Riku put one foot forward to stop himself, and then ducked low, and before rising back up he swept his foot under Thane?s leg, nocking the man off balance. Thane quickly caught himself, shifting his weight forward, so that he flipped over, and then putting his hands under him. Before flipping back up to a normal state, he used his current position to go for a number of kicks towards Riku?s face, shuffling his hands as if they were feet to hit him each time. Fluently, Riku backed away with each kick, until Thane flipped back over right side up. The second he did, the millisecond even, Riku jumped upwards and kicked once with his left leg as he rose to connect solidly with Thane?s chest and then jerked his other leg forward to hit the man, already slightly airborne from the first hit, in his chin, sending him flying upwards. Thane, having no way to block or dodge this in time without putting himself in danger of more vicious attacks, allowed the two hits to connect, and as he went flying upwards, he flipped over so that he landed upside down on the roof of the cave.
Both of them jumped towards each other. Riku going diagonally upwards and Thane going diagonally downwards. Several times they met in the center, each one going for attacks that met with each other. First a punch by Thane that was promptly blocked by Riku?s forearm, and then when they both rebounded, this time off of the sides of the cave, a sideways kick from Riku that only met with Thane?s forearm this time. They continued with this, rebounding and then launching off of different sides of the cave, only occasionally were one of those sides actually the floor. They moved with a deadly mixture of intense speed and ferocious strength, a perfectly balanced combination that would prove dreadful to any opponent.
They clashed in the air one last time before both of them landed on the ground. Riku looked at Thane and even from a distance he could see the absence of pupils, simply an insane whiteness in his eyes with red veins going inwards. Riku held no fear this time.
In fact, he was getting excited.
Both of them withdrew their weapons. And as soon as they did, they both swung their weapons releasing crescent blasts. Thane swung his downwards, making for a fluent motion between unsheathing and attacking, while Riku swung horizontally, reaching across and then swinging as he took out his sword for an equally as smooth motion. The crescent blasts collided to form a minor explosion, and Riku waited defensively, knowing that Thane would use the explosion as a way to get halfway to Riku without being noticed.
Just as Riku predicted, Thane rushed out of the smoke a moment later, Behemoth gradually coming further and further back as he twisted his body while rushing towards the boy, until he finally brought it up, around, and down in a powerful downward slam.
Riku?s position loosened as much as he could without being off balance, to lighten himself as much as possibly before doing this maneuver that would surely be a risky one. The second that Behemoth and Soul Eater touched, Riku didn?t even wait long enough for Soul Eater to actually block the blade, but rather moved from under Behemoth while rolling Soul Eater around the side of the much larger sword and then, Behemoth still moving downwards and not being slowed in the least, swung his sword downwards so that the claymore slammed into the ground. From the position that he was at, his blade still on top of Thane?s, Riku brought the blade up, running along a downwardly slanted Behemoth as it did, to hit Thane in the face with the side of the scimitar-like sword. The blade would only meet air, however, as Thane jumped backwards into the air.
As he jumped, Thane made a single hand seal with one of his hands and suddenly, just like before, fire erupted from Behemoth in a giant explosion.
Within a second, somewhere between the millisecond where Thane made the seal and the blade exploded, Riku rushed through the air, so quickly that he was invisible to all others for that moment, and was in front of Thane.
Still rising upwards through the air, Riku slowed down to the point where he was yet again visible and brought Soul Eater back, it?s blade tucked under Riku?s arm and then jabbed it forward for a vicious hit with the hilt of the sword to Thane?s broad chest.
Even as he went flying back, Thane was smirking. He flipped over and once again landed on the top of the cave as he watched Riku. That exceeded the speed that he had used during their last fight, but this had nothing to do with Soul Eater, nothing to do with the boy?s sword. This was Riku?s strength, his speed, Riku?s skill.
Thane?s moment of pride in the boy was cut short, as he quickly saw a giant, roaring flame coming his way. Thane stabbed Behemoth directly in front of him, as fire blasted from the sword, first at the side of the large blade itself, and then spreading to many times the size of Riku?s own fireball. Thane?s fire overpowered Riku?s with ease, and then slammed onto the ground.
But there was no sign of Riku.
A moment later, Thane?s eyes widened as he turned around, just barely getting Behemoth up in time to block a horizontal slice as Riku came down on him vigorously.
Thane noticed that he was holding two blades now, one arm was going across his body to twisted the sword it was holding back to its right side while he held his other arm out rather casually, this one holding Soul Eater, and he quickly came around with the first blade, held by the arm that was across his body, a short, slightly curved sword, and as soon as Thane blocked, he redirected his momentum to spin around and attack on Thane?s left side with Soul Eater, though that weapon, too, met with Behemoth?s dark steel with a loud, ringing noise. Riku, turned sideways and struggling to overpower Thane?s blade, pushed his own forward in a forceful motion to push himself back, turning as he did, as he saw Thane going for a kick to his blindside.
Meanwhile, the bystanders, all of the sages, watched in pure amazement. They could hardly keep up with any of the movements of either fighter, but the moves that they had been able to clearly see were nothing shy of brilliant. Each watched with satisfying pride as they saw how greatly their pupil had grown.
The battle went from sword against sword to ninjutsu against ninjutsu.
As they landed, both went into a rapid series of hand seals, finishing simultaneously. Riku shot his arm out forward while Thane held his hand up to his mouth. From Riku?s sleeve, ice began to form around his arm and then extend towards Thane, moving in a zigzagged motion and at the end of it having a sharp point, while a burst of fire produced itself from Thane?s mouth. The jutsu collided, Riku?s ice jutsu widening into more of a giant shield when the young ninja saw how large Thane?s fire blast was, producing a thick smoke at the end of their encounter.
Riku smiled at the fact that his ice powers had grown so much as to be able to draw against even powerful fire such as that, but his grin was cut short as Thane rushed out from the steam. This time, however, he decided not to use a direct approach, both of them finally seeming to realize that it wasn?t working. Thane went for a false attack to Riku?s right, and then feinted the attack a moment before disappearing behind Riku to grab him, pull him up and over the large man?s head, and then slam him on the wall that was behind Thane.
Riku hadn?t the speed to counter in time, and certainly not the strength to release himself from Thane?s iron grip, and so the attack went exactly like that. Riku managed to, though, just as Thane slammed him into the wall, practically sink into the side of the cave. Though he couldn?t do this quickly enough to null much of the pain of the hit, he was able to get away. Riku, both swords still, luckily for him, in hand, resurfaced at a decent height atop the path. Thane noticed him immediately, and jumped up to the path as well.
The battle was becoming a reenactment of the last one. Thane had grabbed a long sword as well, Riku recognized it as a Miao Dao by name?a skinny, though long, samurai-like sword?and went into a quick barrage of attacks. Unlike the former time, however, Riku was able to keep up with every one of Thane?s vicious strikes. He found that there was somewhat of a routine to this. Upper-left block, downward parry, left parry, duck low, roll backwards, and so on. Eventually, Riku managed to move from a defensive side of the battle to a mixed one. He and Thane alternated with blows and blocks, each one parrying the other, and then going in for a few swift stabs or a heavy kick, and the other regaining composure and then doing the same.
Riku found himself backing, though, even now. He made a powerful parry this time, swinging his sword as hard as he could as if he were attacking rather than blocking, making Thane reel back while Riku began spinning his blade, still stepping back slowly while he spun the blade, his hand sticking out towards Thane. As Soul Eater twirled in the air, a funnel of wind began to come from it, like the bottom of a tornado turned sideways. The funnel became of a decent size, about the size of Thane, when comparing his height to its diameter, and when Riku was content with its size, he threw Soul Eater forward, its blade pointed towards Thane, cutting through the bottom end of the whirlwind as the wind compressed around the blade, increasing both its speed and cutting power tenfold. Thane could just barely keep up with the blade, and having it shot at point-blank range didn?t exactly help. Quickly, he brought Behemoth up, and, like a giant dart, Soul Eater stabbed through the blade and nearly hit Thane, had he not noticed quickly enough and rolled to the side.
Soul Eater quickly returned to a panting Riku. He saw Thane coming back in with a heavy stab towards Riku?s chest. As if predicting it. Riku flipped forward, landed on Behemoth, and then jumped into the sky while turning. First he threw the extra blade he had been carrying in the same manner that he just threw Soul Eater, and then he rushed into a quick series of hand seals.
?Water Style: Water Hardened Drill!? Riku roared out, as a giant abundance of water began to swirl around his arm, all of it converging to form one sharp, spiraling drill.
Riku, as he was jumping, landed on the side of the cave, the water drill still forming in his hands, and then lunged forward with as much power as he could, bringing his arm back and then thrusting it forward in a quick burst of power, slamming it down onto Thane.
It was Thane?s turn to back away now, as he broke out into a series of back flips and jumps, turning as well as he went higher up the path, and finally landed to notice that he had turned inside of the platform area. A moment later, he saw Riku skidding to a stop in front of the opening to the small ridge hanging off of the cave?s side.
?Wonder who?ll fall off first,? Thane said, his voice taking a... different tone in the heat of battle, adding a sarcastic smile, that seemed very odd at the moment given the way his eyes were still absent of their pupils.
Riku just grunted in reply, and then braced himself as he went in towards Thane, who had, likely while dodging the water drill, dropped his other blade. It was a heated battle from there. Neither had any place to run on the platform that was large enough for perhaps five or six people to stand. Riku had a small amount of speed over Thane do to their great difference in size and weapon choice, but not a very noticeable advantage, certainly not as noticeable as the advantage Thane held over him in strength. Those were the only two factors that could possibly determine such a close battle as this, so close that no jutsu could be pulled off.
The battle became quicker and quicker, until finally everything slowed down greatly, as Riku lost his footing, just as before, a moment too long, which Thane took as his cue to perform a powerful two-handed strike that completely knocked him off of the side of the platform.
Thane walked to the edge, breathing heavily, and then looked over the side to try and catch a glimpse of Riku. He did not see the boy anywhere, but what he did see puzzled him. Soul Eater was stabbed into the side of the platform.
Just a moment before Thane looked, Riku swung himself up to stand upside down on the ledge and then ran over to the opposite side of it that he had fallen off of. A moment later he rushed up towards Thane, now right side up again, and whipped his arm across as Soul Eater returned to his grasp for a horizontal strike to Thane?s neck.
However, when Thane saw that Soul Eater was gone, he made a quick, fluid motion to turn and yank Behemoth around, putting it into the same position as Soul Eater, right on Riku?s neck.
They both stood there for a long while beads of sweat coming down the sides of both of their faces. Both had their gazes locked on each other, unwavering, threatening stares.
?Congratulations, you?ve passed,? Thane said simply.
~
?I must say that I will miss your company,? Jian said hours later as Riku strapped his belongings to the side of Vidar?s giant hawk summoning, ?I?ve grown rather accustomed to the redundant questions.?
Riku cast a stern glare his way, ?Thanks,? he mumbled.
Jian laughed, using his sleeve to cover it up, and then reached into his pocket to get something, a small box appeared in his hand when he took his hand out, ?Here,? he said, handing it to Riku, ?You?ll find what?s inside of it quite useful.?
Riku had gotten many such presents today: a statue of Deathwing from Vidar, some wooden, nomad-like instrument from Damon, a large, mechanical bag, so far he only knew that it was, albeit as flexible as any other bag, indestructible, from the sage of technology, Sprocket, and even Thane had given him a present?a new sheathe for Soul Eater. The sheathe was attached to a belt, Riku guessed that Thane had made that as well, and both of them were made of metal, however, like the bag from Sprocket, it was just as flexible as anything else, in fact, it felt more flexible than the belt-sheathe combination that Riku originally had. He guessed that they were both made from the same material.
Nothing had quite struck him as much as what was in the box, however. In the center of it was Shinru?s journal. Riku grimaced as he saw it.
Jian looked at him sympathetically, ?Trust me; you?ll want to have it.?
Riku doubted that he would, but still nodded his appreciation. Jian pointed to the box again though, as if telling Riku to look back into it. Riku did so, and saw a peculiar necklace inside of it. The necklace itself was made of a simple, black string, but what was on the necklace is what caught Riku?s eye. It was a scarlet red, pointed gem. It was somewhere in between opaque and transparent, depending on the angle that you looked at it from.
?What?s this for?? Riku asked.
?Thank you would have been nice,? Jian said, and upon seeing Riku hang his head down and slightly blush in apology, he grinned and continued, ?I?d like to say that it?s just a present, as it?s something that if you have to use, you must be in quite the situation. But... you?ll see. Hopefully, you?ll never know what it can do.?
Riku frowned at the vague description, but shrugged and simply said, ?Thank you, master. For everything.?
With that, Riku grabbed onto the hawk?s saddle and hoisted himself up and over, swinging his leg over the hawk and when he was comfortably in position, the hawk took off as if on its own accord, likely Vidar was watching from somewhere and signaled it to do so, flying at top speed to Konoha.
And so ended Riku?s time with the sages.
And so began a new, important chapter in his life.
