Well, we finally get to the change in the storyline. Um... I kind of was trying to wrap it up, so the part where... you'd expect to be dramatic, isn't that dramatic. :| But still, enjoy ^^.
Riku took several steps back, in great denial. It couldn?t be him... it just couldn?t. He stared at him, probably the only person in the world he truly hated. Tenzu.
Leaning against the wall of the opposite side of the armory that the two were fighting, Riku could barely muster the courage to show himself. He peaked over to the side, and almost retched when looking at his most hated enemy again.
~
Tenzu?s ears perched up as he heard ruffling from the armory. He turned slightly, seeing a shoulder sticking out, and smirked. Blocking Shinru?s most recent overhead attack with one arm, he pushed his opponent back.
?Hey, check it out, your apprentice wormed his way here,? he said, nudging his elbow towards the nearby building.
Shinru looked off to the side, to see a trembling figure, gripping tightly onto a blade as if his life depended on it. His eyes immediately narrowed in dismay, he knew Riku would come; he just wanted to hold on to a foolish hope that he was wrong. Back stepping to put distance between him and an almost unnoticed attack, he threw his arm up, two fingers coming together to create a seal.
~
Right as Riku was turning, at last prepared to run to his teacher?s aide, a giant, and extensive wall of ice appeared on both sides of the armory. The boy immediately knew it was only a warning, or even a threat perhaps, Shinru knew that his student could easily go through the wall, without even destroying it; he was simply telling him that he didn?t want him to. And after all of these years, Shinru should?ve known that the wall couldn?t mean less to his stubborn student. Before Riku had even thought a plan of action threw, he found himself opening and closing a path for himself through the wall.
~
Tenzu, his resolve strengthened after seeing his prey, and even more so after noting that he did indeed wish to come, made rapid, powerful blows towards his opponent. The fight had quickly turned from equal to defensive for his opponent. Shinru looked over to Riku as he came to the decision of defiance so quickly and walked through the wall. Shinru moved at blinding speed, making him literally invisible for only a moment, and reappeared beside his student.
?If you were going to defy me, you could have at least done a surprise attack instead of coming out right where you were,? Shinru scolded, seeing no point in telling him to leave.
?So, are you gonna scold me some more, or are we going to see to the real problem,? he quickly replied, pointing his blade towards Tenzu who stood waiting for them both, a menacing, but invisible to them, grin on his face.
Deciding to allow their conversation to end there, Shinru ran back towards Tenzu, the same sword still in his hands, Riku following closely behind. As they neared Tenzu, Shinru started with a horizontal slice, allowing he to move with the blade off to the left, giving his student enough space to follow up with a stab to his stomach. Tenzu, quick enough to decipher the movements, brought his sword up so that his opponent?s slid along it as he sidestepped, and then swinging his hidden blade across his body to parry the stab, making Riku?s sword arm throw out wide to its side.
Thinking quickly, Riku focused his strength and allowed his arm to bounce back, making a downward slice while Shinru, now at his opponents back, crouched forward, stabbing to his legs. Shinru?s stab found only air as Tenzu slightly jumped backwards, allowing one foot to land on Shinru?s extended arm, and pounced off of it using his past momentum and a bit of chakra, putting himself high into the air. As his descent started, the two suddenly found meteor sized fireballs raining down on them. Both immediately made a single hand sign.
?Water Style: Great Drill!? came the unified cry by both of them, thrusting their arms into the air which almost made the two into one, massive drill.
Once the fireballs were extinguished, the two were caught off guard as Tenzu came down through the steam produced by the colliding jutsu. As soon as he landed once again between the two in a crouched position, he immediately rushed up towards Shinru, working furiously will sword and dagger. Shinru, caught off guard by the sudden burst of momentum, was forced to retreat to avoid the daggers lightning fast stabs. He moving backwards allowed Tenzu to advance, forcing him to dodge attacks by his lesser opponent without taking his bloodthirsty eyes of the stronger one, only having to slightly twist when he could see a cleverly angled blow that anticipated his movements from the corner of his eye.
Riku, frustrated that his attacks were continuously missing, decided on another maneuver. Pouncing backwards, putting enough distance between him and his opponent, he stab his blade into the ground. Shinru, looking past his opponent and recognizing the attempt, parried one last attack and jumped into the air as many spikes of ice eroded from the ground, lounging at Tenzu from every direction. Before the spikes could fully come up,
Tenzu sunk into the ground.
?Not this again...? Shinru, back on the ground, groaned, recognizing but still not understanding this maneuver.
?Not wha-? Riku started, and was suddenly cut off, feeling himself transform and watching Shinru do the same.
Riku already knew of this ability, it was simply a greater advancement of the transformation jutsu, allowing him to transform other people and things. The other person could of course undo it, but it was useful for when a full plan could not be said, and only enacted. When the smoke disappeared from the two, Riku suddenly found himself in the form of his master, and his master in his. Their blades had also swapped appearance.
Shinru?s fingers suddenly flashed in a silent hand code that he had developed, and taught to Riku, long ago, ?He?s after you, not me, and as far as he knows, we shall allow him to succeed.?
Riku?s eyes widened, ?But... they?ll kill you....? saying it aloud in his now deep, due to the transformation jutsu, voice that then drifted off, without much more to say
?It is unlikely that they?ll kill me, they need me for much, and will likely want to extract information from me, information that I shall withhold from them as long as my will allows it. And even if I do, my life would have left for one more important. We can?t take him, you know that,? His hands flashed once more. He thought for a moment, and then added, ?And don?t you dare try and rescue me.
?So what of me? Where do I go?? Riku said, remembering to use the signals this time.
Shinru looked around for a moment, not for an answer, but rather wondering when Tenzu was coming up. Then he finally answered, ?The Village Hidden in Clouds.?
Riku blew out a deep sigh, knowing all along, from the moment he saw Tenzu?s battle prowess back in the tundra, that Shinru would someday insist on this, but that did nothing to ease the pain of it actually happening. Before he could reply, and attempt to convince his master to fight with him, Tenzu lunged up from underground, cutting Shinru?s, who he thought was Riku, side starting from his leg, and then taking a quick chop at his neck, rendering him unconscious. After which he caught his body as it fell over.
Tenzu eyed the boy in his arms suspiciously, due to his sharingan, he could clearly see the change in Riku?s chakra, a positive change indeed, but a little too positive...
And suddenly it was obvious to him that this was indeed Shinru in a transformation jutsu.
There was that, and the fact that Tenzu had seen, and understood, due to heavy surveillance on Shinru for many years, the signs and awaited their conversation to come to a conclusion. This was just as good a reward as the boy, and he knew where Riku would go now, he decided to play along with them, and act as if he had actually fallen for their horrible performance. Slinging Shinru over his shoulder, he suddenly disappeared. All three of them thinking their opponents fools.
And during that time, every bone in Riku?s body ached, everything wanted to save his master. And he didn?t care at all about the threat.
But he was truly paralyzed, at the thought that no matter what he did, he would be alone once more.
~
?C?mon, you can stay, we?ll protect you,? Lei protested to Riku.
During his time with Shinru, Riku hadn?t made many friends of his age in the village. But Lei was one of the few, his closest friend here in fact. Lei and Riku often sparred together. While Lei was already a full-fledged ninja, the two still were able to fight on par, due to Riku being an apprentice mainly by choice. And now the two of them found themselves at the rather small gates of the village, Lei trying to get Riku to stay, and Riku, a small bag over his shoulder, intent on leaving.
Riku shook his head, ?The longer I stay here, the more likely you?ll all die, or at least be enslaved. And Shinru told me to leave, there?s nothing left for me here,? Riku replied in a stern, finalizing tone.
Lei nodded grimly and slowly, ?Fine... So where are you going??
Riku thought for a moment, trying to remember, ?The Hidden Cloud Village.?
?And how do you expect to get around the mountains??
?Lei, stop," he said, recognizing yet another attempt to make him stay, "I?m going to go, and he wouldn?t have told me if there wasn?t a way to get around the mountains leading there. Most likely a simple way that is simply overlooked. But believe me, I will miss you guys.?
Lei sighed, and Riku then realized how he had sounded so similar when his master was leaving, ?Alright... see ya man.?
Riku laughed and felt some need to add: ?I really doubt that.?
Lei smiled at the grim, almost scary joke, and then turned and walked back to the city.
As Riku walked away, he realized just how similar this was, he was always running. Always running from what he was always too weak to handle. And he frowned at the fact that he couldn?t keep running forever, he couldn?t always solve his problems by walking out of the gates of another village. But with the enemies he faced now and those he had yet to know, but would face, there were many things that he couldn?t do. Gripping Soul Eater in his hand, just checking that at least that thing that had become a part of him was still by his side, he walked out slowly, in truth, not wanting to leave his home.
But on that grim note, Riku was forced to walk away from it all, his home, his childhood, and most of all, away from the one who he considered his father.
Leave it Behind
Riku took several steps back, in great denial. It couldn?t be him... it just couldn?t. He stared at him, probably the only person in the world he truly hated. Tenzu.
Leaning against the wall of the opposite side of the armory that the two were fighting, Riku could barely muster the courage to show himself. He peaked over to the side, and almost retched when looking at his most hated enemy again.
~
Tenzu?s ears perched up as he heard ruffling from the armory. He turned slightly, seeing a shoulder sticking out, and smirked. Blocking Shinru?s most recent overhead attack with one arm, he pushed his opponent back.
?Hey, check it out, your apprentice wormed his way here,? he said, nudging his elbow towards the nearby building.
Shinru looked off to the side, to see a trembling figure, gripping tightly onto a blade as if his life depended on it. His eyes immediately narrowed in dismay, he knew Riku would come; he just wanted to hold on to a foolish hope that he was wrong. Back stepping to put distance between him and an almost unnoticed attack, he threw his arm up, two fingers coming together to create a seal.
~
Right as Riku was turning, at last prepared to run to his teacher?s aide, a giant, and extensive wall of ice appeared on both sides of the armory. The boy immediately knew it was only a warning, or even a threat perhaps, Shinru knew that his student could easily go through the wall, without even destroying it; he was simply telling him that he didn?t want him to. And after all of these years, Shinru should?ve known that the wall couldn?t mean less to his stubborn student. Before Riku had even thought a plan of action threw, he found himself opening and closing a path for himself through the wall.
~
Tenzu, his resolve strengthened after seeing his prey, and even more so after noting that he did indeed wish to come, made rapid, powerful blows towards his opponent. The fight had quickly turned from equal to defensive for his opponent. Shinru looked over to Riku as he came to the decision of defiance so quickly and walked through the wall. Shinru moved at blinding speed, making him literally invisible for only a moment, and reappeared beside his student.
?If you were going to defy me, you could have at least done a surprise attack instead of coming out right where you were,? Shinru scolded, seeing no point in telling him to leave.
?So, are you gonna scold me some more, or are we going to see to the real problem,? he quickly replied, pointing his blade towards Tenzu who stood waiting for them both, a menacing, but invisible to them, grin on his face.
Deciding to allow their conversation to end there, Shinru ran back towards Tenzu, the same sword still in his hands, Riku following closely behind. As they neared Tenzu, Shinru started with a horizontal slice, allowing he to move with the blade off to the left, giving his student enough space to follow up with a stab to his stomach. Tenzu, quick enough to decipher the movements, brought his sword up so that his opponent?s slid along it as he sidestepped, and then swinging his hidden blade across his body to parry the stab, making Riku?s sword arm throw out wide to its side.
Thinking quickly, Riku focused his strength and allowed his arm to bounce back, making a downward slice while Shinru, now at his opponents back, crouched forward, stabbing to his legs. Shinru?s stab found only air as Tenzu slightly jumped backwards, allowing one foot to land on Shinru?s extended arm, and pounced off of it using his past momentum and a bit of chakra, putting himself high into the air. As his descent started, the two suddenly found meteor sized fireballs raining down on them. Both immediately made a single hand sign.
?Water Style: Great Drill!? came the unified cry by both of them, thrusting their arms into the air which almost made the two into one, massive drill.
Once the fireballs were extinguished, the two were caught off guard as Tenzu came down through the steam produced by the colliding jutsu. As soon as he landed once again between the two in a crouched position, he immediately rushed up towards Shinru, working furiously will sword and dagger. Shinru, caught off guard by the sudden burst of momentum, was forced to retreat to avoid the daggers lightning fast stabs. He moving backwards allowed Tenzu to advance, forcing him to dodge attacks by his lesser opponent without taking his bloodthirsty eyes of the stronger one, only having to slightly twist when he could see a cleverly angled blow that anticipated his movements from the corner of his eye.
Riku, frustrated that his attacks were continuously missing, decided on another maneuver. Pouncing backwards, putting enough distance between him and his opponent, he stab his blade into the ground. Shinru, looking past his opponent and recognizing the attempt, parried one last attack and jumped into the air as many spikes of ice eroded from the ground, lounging at Tenzu from every direction. Before the spikes could fully come up,
Tenzu sunk into the ground.
?Not this again...? Shinru, back on the ground, groaned, recognizing but still not understanding this maneuver.
?Not wha-? Riku started, and was suddenly cut off, feeling himself transform and watching Shinru do the same.
Riku already knew of this ability, it was simply a greater advancement of the transformation jutsu, allowing him to transform other people and things. The other person could of course undo it, but it was useful for when a full plan could not be said, and only enacted. When the smoke disappeared from the two, Riku suddenly found himself in the form of his master, and his master in his. Their blades had also swapped appearance.
Shinru?s fingers suddenly flashed in a silent hand code that he had developed, and taught to Riku, long ago, ?He?s after you, not me, and as far as he knows, we shall allow him to succeed.?
Riku?s eyes widened, ?But... they?ll kill you....? saying it aloud in his now deep, due to the transformation jutsu, voice that then drifted off, without much more to say
?It is unlikely that they?ll kill me, they need me for much, and will likely want to extract information from me, information that I shall withhold from them as long as my will allows it. And even if I do, my life would have left for one more important. We can?t take him, you know that,? His hands flashed once more. He thought for a moment, and then added, ?And don?t you dare try and rescue me.
?So what of me? Where do I go?? Riku said, remembering to use the signals this time.
Shinru looked around for a moment, not for an answer, but rather wondering when Tenzu was coming up. Then he finally answered, ?The Village Hidden in Clouds.?
Riku blew out a deep sigh, knowing all along, from the moment he saw Tenzu?s battle prowess back in the tundra, that Shinru would someday insist on this, but that did nothing to ease the pain of it actually happening. Before he could reply, and attempt to convince his master to fight with him, Tenzu lunged up from underground, cutting Shinru?s, who he thought was Riku, side starting from his leg, and then taking a quick chop at his neck, rendering him unconscious. After which he caught his body as it fell over.
Tenzu eyed the boy in his arms suspiciously, due to his sharingan, he could clearly see the change in Riku?s chakra, a positive change indeed, but a little too positive...
And suddenly it was obvious to him that this was indeed Shinru in a transformation jutsu.
There was that, and the fact that Tenzu had seen, and understood, due to heavy surveillance on Shinru for many years, the signs and awaited their conversation to come to a conclusion. This was just as good a reward as the boy, and he knew where Riku would go now, he decided to play along with them, and act as if he had actually fallen for their horrible performance. Slinging Shinru over his shoulder, he suddenly disappeared. All three of them thinking their opponents fools.
And during that time, every bone in Riku?s body ached, everything wanted to save his master. And he didn?t care at all about the threat.
But he was truly paralyzed, at the thought that no matter what he did, he would be alone once more.
~
?C?mon, you can stay, we?ll protect you,? Lei protested to Riku.
During his time with Shinru, Riku hadn?t made many friends of his age in the village. But Lei was one of the few, his closest friend here in fact. Lei and Riku often sparred together. While Lei was already a full-fledged ninja, the two still were able to fight on par, due to Riku being an apprentice mainly by choice. And now the two of them found themselves at the rather small gates of the village, Lei trying to get Riku to stay, and Riku, a small bag over his shoulder, intent on leaving.
Riku shook his head, ?The longer I stay here, the more likely you?ll all die, or at least be enslaved. And Shinru told me to leave, there?s nothing left for me here,? Riku replied in a stern, finalizing tone.
Lei nodded grimly and slowly, ?Fine... So where are you going??
Riku thought for a moment, trying to remember, ?The Hidden Cloud Village.?
?And how do you expect to get around the mountains??
?Lei, stop," he said, recognizing yet another attempt to make him stay, "I?m going to go, and he wouldn?t have told me if there wasn?t a way to get around the mountains leading there. Most likely a simple way that is simply overlooked. But believe me, I will miss you guys.?
Lei sighed, and Riku then realized how he had sounded so similar when his master was leaving, ?Alright... see ya man.?
Riku laughed and felt some need to add: ?I really doubt that.?
Lei smiled at the grim, almost scary joke, and then turned and walked back to the city.
As Riku walked away, he realized just how similar this was, he was always running. Always running from what he was always too weak to handle. And he frowned at the fact that he couldn?t keep running forever, he couldn?t always solve his problems by walking out of the gates of another village. But with the enemies he faced now and those he had yet to know, but would face, there were many things that he couldn?t do. Gripping Soul Eater in his hand, just checking that at least that thing that had become a part of him was still by his side, he walked out slowly, in truth, not wanting to leave his home.
But on that grim note, Riku was forced to walk away from it all, his home, his childhood, and most of all, away from the one who he considered his father.
