I gotta start speeding these up lol. Basically in this chapter I planned to, mostly, introduce a new type of enemy—bounty hunters. Hopefully it was successful. Enjoy 
!
~
Shikonai sat atop his majestic hawk and watched with a single eyebrow higher up than the other as he saw the boy’s sword glow. It finally began to rise, it escaped from the sheathe, and what caught Shikonai’s attention the most. Was the eye that was on the handle of the sword, it seemed like a mere decoration on the blade, but just after the thought of it being a simple ornament crossed Shikonai’s mind, the eye blinked.
The sword continued to rise from the sheath and the eye suddenly shifted to the opposite side of the handle and stared at Riku. The scimitar-like weapon turned around pointing the tip of the blade towards Riku and it suddenly crashed into Riku’s leg, the boy let out a scream of pain, awakening him from the genjutsu.
~
Riku’s felt immense pain in his leg, he was feeling nearly every emotion possible, happiness of being out of the terrifying genjutsu, fear of seeing the man atop the giant hawk stare at him with his intentions undoubtedly being harmful, and most of all, confusion of how the blade was imbedded in his leg. He pulled out the blade as quickly as possible letting blood spew out, and making a small band of water that wrapped around his leg, suppressing the blood. He then forced the water to harden but not to complete ice, just enough to make it stay. He wondered how long the man would simply allow him to heal himself. Riku looked up and saw the hawk descending from the sky. The hawk finally landed, its clawed toes latching on to the rocks of the barren wasteland. Shikonai jumped off of it kicking his feet in front of him for distance. He stared at the boy for a moment and finally unsheathed one of his hammers and pointed it towards Riku.
Shikonai: I have no reason to quarrel with you unless you force me to, come quietly and you’ll be fine. If you decide to run... well, just don’t try to run.
Shikonai kimono ruffled through the harsh, cool wind. His menacing look told Riku that no sort of bluff would roll off of this man’s tongue. The hawk behind him offered Riku no comfort either, it swept through its wing’s feathers with a sharp, pointed beak. Riku mustered up enough courage to take a small hop back and stood in an offensive stance. His right foot was placed slightly in front of his left. He held his sword at a diagonal angle, the tip of the blade pointing towards his right foot.
Shikonai: You’re stance...
Shikonai quickly appeared behind Riku and kicked him in the leg, he then hit Riku’s wrist with a jab of two fingers, forcing Soul Eater to fall on the ground. He then gripped the very wrist that he jabbed and pushed Riku forward making him tumble across the rocky soil.
Shikonai: ...is amateurish at best.
Riku grew terrified, the battle, if that, had just begun and he knew that he was clearly outmatched. And, unlike his last opponent, this man wasted no time.
Shikonai slowly walked up towards Riku, pulling out a small dagger that was on a sash on his leg while doing so. Shikonai took a short pause which Riku used to kick himself up. He stood in a more movable stance this time.
Shikonai: Look, as I said, we don’t need to fight. We have nothing against each other. The only reason I’m here is the bounty that’s involved.
Riku: Bounty... what bounty?
Shikonai couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh.
Shikonai: Hilarious, you’re wanted, by Akatsuki, yet you don’t know it!?
Riku: Akatsuki, they’re paying you to come for me?
Shikonai: Yes, now, we have done enough talking. You will come with me, by will, or by force. Although, something about you tells me that you’re going to fight no matter what, so please, fire at will.
Riku swiftly ran towards Shikonai, and by force of habit, sidestepping as he did so. As he continued to run towards him, Riku saw Shikonai’s arm rise up, his finger pointed at Riku as he seemed to look at both of the notable organisms near him—Riku and his hawk.
The hawk quickly flailed it’s wings and moved as fast as anything Riku had ever seen before, without even bothering to fly, it simply ran and hopped and finally pushed it’s talons forward nearly stabbing into Riku, but only meeting thin air and finding that the boy had ducked.
Riku found himself in a fight with the hawk as quickly as he found himself in this whole predicament all together. He and the hawk seemed to dance around each other, Riku doing even more work to try and keep Shikonai under one eye. The hawk flailed about more than dancing getting nicked by the blade that Riku swiped wildly, but it stab at Riku as well with its sharp talons. The hawk, though only a creature, could tell that even if the boy survived this fight, he couldn’t possibly finish Shikonai’s afterwards, and Riku knew it just as well.
Riku jumped back from the hawk and Shikonai and thought to himself.
Riku: Seems as though I’ll have to escape... again. I can’t fight them both, and I pretty much stink at summoning...
Riku’s eyes shifted to the small, almost oasis like place that he was in. Stabbing the sword into the ground he forced spikes of pure ice rise up from the ground—a small trick he had learned during his travels while hunting—and jumped off of the spike to give him greater distance and he landed right on the edge of the jungle, then he continued to run. Shikonai quickly caught on to what the boy was planning and summoned ten small robins. He motioned for them to swarm into the tree-covered area and scout the entire place for his prey.
Riku ran stepping behind trees and hiding until he sensed a robin coming upon him, he simply sensed them through the water vapor around him. He took a deep breath and finally released the first jutsu of this fight.
Riku: Water Style: Hidden Mist!
The wator vapor around him slowly densed making it nearly opaque to everyone in the area. The robins flew around wildly and Riku started to make his way out of the forest, using as much stealth as he could. He started to run towards his destination, but as soon as the thought of going to the Village Hidden in the Clouds crossed his mind. A rope wrapped around his leg, pulled back, and forced him to fall face first onto the ground. He could only bare to turn his head to see Shikonai walking towards him.
Shikonai: The true bounty hunter is prepared for anything, and you were but a minor—
The words were interrupted by the smash of a hammer as quick as lightning and as loud as thunder struck his head. Riku turned his head again, this time squirming his body to get a better look. And standing over him, was a man in a long cloak wearing a circular hat. The man eyed Riku and grinned. He yanked the rope hard, releasing Riku from its grasp. He finally started to talk, his voice deep and stern.
Mysterious Man: Get up boy, how about showing some respect towards the Raikage.
!Hunter and Prey
In the darkness of it all, there was one luminescent light. Had he been killed... no... genjutsu, it had to be. He couldn’t move, but his sword, he was sure that it was moving on its own.~
Shikonai sat atop his majestic hawk and watched with a single eyebrow higher up than the other as he saw the boy’s sword glow. It finally began to rise, it escaped from the sheathe, and what caught Shikonai’s attention the most. Was the eye that was on the handle of the sword, it seemed like a mere decoration on the blade, but just after the thought of it being a simple ornament crossed Shikonai’s mind, the eye blinked.
The sword continued to rise from the sheath and the eye suddenly shifted to the opposite side of the handle and stared at Riku. The scimitar-like weapon turned around pointing the tip of the blade towards Riku and it suddenly crashed into Riku’s leg, the boy let out a scream of pain, awakening him from the genjutsu.
~
Riku’s felt immense pain in his leg, he was feeling nearly every emotion possible, happiness of being out of the terrifying genjutsu, fear of seeing the man atop the giant hawk stare at him with his intentions undoubtedly being harmful, and most of all, confusion of how the blade was imbedded in his leg. He pulled out the blade as quickly as possible letting blood spew out, and making a small band of water that wrapped around his leg, suppressing the blood. He then forced the water to harden but not to complete ice, just enough to make it stay. He wondered how long the man would simply allow him to heal himself. Riku looked up and saw the hawk descending from the sky. The hawk finally landed, its clawed toes latching on to the rocks of the barren wasteland. Shikonai jumped off of it kicking his feet in front of him for distance. He stared at the boy for a moment and finally unsheathed one of his hammers and pointed it towards Riku.
Shikonai: I have no reason to quarrel with you unless you force me to, come quietly and you’ll be fine. If you decide to run... well, just don’t try to run.
Shikonai kimono ruffled through the harsh, cool wind. His menacing look told Riku that no sort of bluff would roll off of this man’s tongue. The hawk behind him offered Riku no comfort either, it swept through its wing’s feathers with a sharp, pointed beak. Riku mustered up enough courage to take a small hop back and stood in an offensive stance. His right foot was placed slightly in front of his left. He held his sword at a diagonal angle, the tip of the blade pointing towards his right foot.
Shikonai: You’re stance...
Shikonai quickly appeared behind Riku and kicked him in the leg, he then hit Riku’s wrist with a jab of two fingers, forcing Soul Eater to fall on the ground. He then gripped the very wrist that he jabbed and pushed Riku forward making him tumble across the rocky soil.
Shikonai: ...is amateurish at best.
Riku grew terrified, the battle, if that, had just begun and he knew that he was clearly outmatched. And, unlike his last opponent, this man wasted no time.
Shikonai slowly walked up towards Riku, pulling out a small dagger that was on a sash on his leg while doing so. Shikonai took a short pause which Riku used to kick himself up. He stood in a more movable stance this time.
Shikonai: Look, as I said, we don’t need to fight. We have nothing against each other. The only reason I’m here is the bounty that’s involved.
Riku: Bounty... what bounty?
Shikonai couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh.
Shikonai: Hilarious, you’re wanted, by Akatsuki, yet you don’t know it!?
Riku: Akatsuki, they’re paying you to come for me?
Shikonai: Yes, now, we have done enough talking. You will come with me, by will, or by force. Although, something about you tells me that you’re going to fight no matter what, so please, fire at will.
Riku swiftly ran towards Shikonai, and by force of habit, sidestepping as he did so. As he continued to run towards him, Riku saw Shikonai’s arm rise up, his finger pointed at Riku as he seemed to look at both of the notable organisms near him—Riku and his hawk.
The hawk quickly flailed it’s wings and moved as fast as anything Riku had ever seen before, without even bothering to fly, it simply ran and hopped and finally pushed it’s talons forward nearly stabbing into Riku, but only meeting thin air and finding that the boy had ducked.
Riku found himself in a fight with the hawk as quickly as he found himself in this whole predicament all together. He and the hawk seemed to dance around each other, Riku doing even more work to try and keep Shikonai under one eye. The hawk flailed about more than dancing getting nicked by the blade that Riku swiped wildly, but it stab at Riku as well with its sharp talons. The hawk, though only a creature, could tell that even if the boy survived this fight, he couldn’t possibly finish Shikonai’s afterwards, and Riku knew it just as well.
Riku jumped back from the hawk and Shikonai and thought to himself.
Riku: Seems as though I’ll have to escape... again. I can’t fight them both, and I pretty much stink at summoning...
Riku’s eyes shifted to the small, almost oasis like place that he was in. Stabbing the sword into the ground he forced spikes of pure ice rise up from the ground—a small trick he had learned during his travels while hunting—and jumped off of the spike to give him greater distance and he landed right on the edge of the jungle, then he continued to run. Shikonai quickly caught on to what the boy was planning and summoned ten small robins. He motioned for them to swarm into the tree-covered area and scout the entire place for his prey.
Riku ran stepping behind trees and hiding until he sensed a robin coming upon him, he simply sensed them through the water vapor around him. He took a deep breath and finally released the first jutsu of this fight.
Riku: Water Style: Hidden Mist!
The wator vapor around him slowly densed making it nearly opaque to everyone in the area. The robins flew around wildly and Riku started to make his way out of the forest, using as much stealth as he could. He started to run towards his destination, but as soon as the thought of going to the Village Hidden in the Clouds crossed his mind. A rope wrapped around his leg, pulled back, and forced him to fall face first onto the ground. He could only bare to turn his head to see Shikonai walking towards him.
Shikonai: The true bounty hunter is prepared for anything, and you were but a minor—
The words were interrupted by the smash of a hammer as quick as lightning and as loud as thunder struck his head. Riku turned his head again, this time squirming his body to get a better look. And standing over him, was a man in a long cloak wearing a circular hat. The man eyed Riku and grinned. He yanked the rope hard, releasing Riku from its grasp. He finally started to talk, his voice deep and stern.
Mysterious Man: Get up boy, how about showing some respect towards the Raikage.
