Meh, other parts are much better (in my opinion), so I tried to make this the shortest lol.
Light will fade
And darkness will ascend
When the crimson clouds appear
All will see the end
Tenzu watched from at the pinnacle of Akatsuki?s ominous tower. Barren land surrounded the area on all sides?a true wasteland. The ground surrounding was gray in color, practically black, actually, and small puffs of smoke were risen up from the ground from the march of the massive army into the base of the tower.
The group was more like a group of disfigured animals than anything, though. Tenzu looked down sternly as they walked into the tower, some were like werewolves and others were giant reptiles, with having a giant lizard like body, but their necks craned up like a snake and their large tails lagging behind them. Leading each group, in the very front, were gruesome-looking creatures. Their giant maws containing sharp teeth that could rip through steel and each of them were at least four or five times the size of the average man.
He continued to look at the awkward group walk into the tower, a seemingly endless group that came from all directions of the cylindrical tower, until he heard the footsteps of another person walking towards him.
He turned his head, only enough to see who was there. The man who he saw had a bleached white face?obviously painted or some sort of accident?with a bald head. His eyes and mouth were trimmed with dark black paint, his eyes were dark brown in color, nearly black as well, and looked bloodshot, with red veins found at several spots in his eyes. One hand was concealed by the Akatsuki robe, while the other was tightly wrapped in gray cloth. The cloth ended at each of his fingers. Actually, he hadn?t any fingers. Each of his fingers were replaced by long, sharp, steel claws that were two, perhaps three times the length of normal fingers. Blood dripped from a few of the claws. Tenzu identified the sinister-looking man as Reaver.
?Word on the street is that the kid is back,? Reaver said in his usual blood-thirsty, though seemingly hollow voice, ?They say that he?s coming here now.?
Reaver had been sent on a reconnaissance mission a few days ago, and had only returned yesterday from Konoha.
Tenzu nodded slowly and turned back around looking down on the army, ?It will only make things easier for us.?
Reaver seemed to smile, like some sort of evil clown, ?You still haven?t given up on changing his mind about us, have you??
Tenzu spun around and walked past Reaver, down the stairs that brought him inside of the tower. The glimpse of a grin that Reaver caught as the man turned around made the answer obvious enough.
~
When night fell, the group was long gone, already at the western end of the Fire Country. They were all in their respective groups, though they were only slightly separated from each other; remaining close enough to still be within range to offer assistance if needed. They jumped from tree to tree through the densely forested area, until Riku jumped down, seeming to notice something.
The other two groups kept going, apparently not noticing that Riku stopped, though Reina quickly halted and walked beside him, ?Tracks,? she said.
In the dirt on the ground, large footprints were imprinted. They weren?t... human, however. Perhaps a wolf or another such animal of some sort. Riku remembered his many sessions with tracking alongside Vidar. This certainly was an animal?s footprints, but they were spaced out rather oddly, in a case like this at least. They were spaced in a way that suggested that whatever this was had been walking on two legs. Riku looked from left to right and noticed more of these tracks spaced around. However, no matter where they were, they all pointed in the same direction.
Riku looked up from his kneeling position, ?Stay higher up in the trees, if we catch up to the others in time, I need you to tell them the same. I?ll stay near the ground and see where these tracks go. Cover me,? he said, and before Reina could offer any arguments, he was sprinting forward, swerving left and right to maneuver around the trees.
Reina flipped over and upwards, landing on another tree branch and then jumped quickly to catch up with Riku and the rest of the group.
~
They came to the outskirts of the forest soon enough. The area ended as a barren wasteland. The area was a dark gray color. Riku was still at the bottom, putting a hand on the tree next to him, and then jumped upwards to land on its branch.
?You sure that this is it?? Kakashi asked, ?Doesn?t seem to be much around here for the next few miles.?
?I?m... positive...? RIku said, though he didn?t sound all that sure of himself.
?Genjutsu?? Shikamaru pitched in.
?Maybe...? Kakashi said, reaching upwards to lift up his headband, ?But I somehow doubt?? suddenly he stopped talking, ?Wow...?
Kakashi watched intently as he gazed over the giant army. An army of disfigured animals, and they were all walking to a humongous spire. The spire seemed like the entity of darkness itself. A plume of dark smoke had risen up from the land under the creatures, so much that it practically covered their legs. The spire was dark black, a cylinder shape with several spikes poking out of the top of it, and then curved pillars at the very peak that were open at the top, like some sort of unfinished, upside-down cone.
?Shikamaru, use a release technique,? Kakashi said flatly.
Shikamaru looked at him for a moment, and then complied, and the rest of the group stood with their mouths opened as they saw what Kakashi had. Riku recognized these; some of them reminded him of the creatures that had attacked him and Shinru long ago. There was an endless amount of them, coming out of the forest.
Riku stopped for a moment, ?Wait, so it was genjutsu??
Kakashi nodded, ?It was... but... it hadn?t been made for us, for anyone, actually. You could tell. If it was just placed on us, a genjutsu that could cover all of this likely wouldn?t be dismissed by a simple release technique. This is something different. It?s of high rank, but it isn?t concentrated...?
Riku grimaced, ?It must have something to do with Tenzu, I would guess.?
?Agreed, but I wonder why those creatures didn?t attack us. Surely they must see us,? Kakashi replied.
?They don?t know that we see them though. Whoever set this genjutsu up is preventing others from seeing any of this. It?s rather weak, but we didn?t even know we were in a genjutsu until you activated your sharingan. Considering the lack of people with abilities that can determine if they are in such a genjutsu without it being obvious, they don?t have much to worry about,? came Shikamaru?s analytic response.
Riku nodded, ?Well, we?re out of it now. We?ll figure it out later, but for now we have a mission.?
?Right, right,? Kakashi said slowly, and then he continued, ?But the problem now is getting around all of these guys. They don?t know that we can see them, but... they could catch on.?
?Pfft,? Shikamaru stated, already going into a series of handseals, ?A Nara moving around unnoticeably in the dead of night? No problem.?
~
The whole place being covered by the darkness of light, and the bits of sunlight that did show were covered by the shadow of the spire, provided a perfect landscape for Shikamaru to move around. He had melded into the darkness, and was now moving around quickly through it, right under the noses of the gruesome creatures.
Kakashi had taken a similar route, though he was moving through the ground. They were both on opposite sides of the giant spire. Now they were returning to the rest of the group, reporting the small amount of what they saw.
Kakashi popped out of the ground and Shikamaru reformed from the shadow form that he was originally into, while Shikamaru was the first to begin speaking, ?Nothing special about it, a giant door on the opposite side that we?re facing, and a few smaller openings. Nothing else, really.?
?Deirous already went up into the skies, and took Raiden with him on the clay bird,? Reina confirmed.
?So how do we get in?? Riku asked, looking doubtfully at the group.
Suddenly, Kakashi saw one of the creatures look towards him, and then point menacingly, as if they realized that the group could see them, and then Kakashi said wryly, ?Looks like we don?t have any choices,? he saw, withdrawing a kunai and pulling up his headband again to reveal his sharingan, ?We?ll help you guys get in, but up until there, it?s up to you two.?
Riku and Reina both nodded. Reina withdrew her katana while turned and from his crouched position, flipped over and landed on the pointing creature, who had now attracted more to the group, pushing the wolf down, using its body as a cushion for his fall.
In a fluent motion, Riku withdrew Soul Eater and turned to face half of the crowd of animals that was looking towards him.
The invasion had begun.
The Icebound Chronicles Finale ? Beginning of the End
Light will fade
And darkness will ascend
When the crimson clouds appear
All will see the end
Tenzu watched from at the pinnacle of Akatsuki?s ominous tower. Barren land surrounded the area on all sides?a true wasteland. The ground surrounding was gray in color, practically black, actually, and small puffs of smoke were risen up from the ground from the march of the massive army into the base of the tower.
The group was more like a group of disfigured animals than anything, though. Tenzu looked down sternly as they walked into the tower, some were like werewolves and others were giant reptiles, with having a giant lizard like body, but their necks craned up like a snake and their large tails lagging behind them. Leading each group, in the very front, were gruesome-looking creatures. Their giant maws containing sharp teeth that could rip through steel and each of them were at least four or five times the size of the average man.
He continued to look at the awkward group walk into the tower, a seemingly endless group that came from all directions of the cylindrical tower, until he heard the footsteps of another person walking towards him.
He turned his head, only enough to see who was there. The man who he saw had a bleached white face?obviously painted or some sort of accident?with a bald head. His eyes and mouth were trimmed with dark black paint, his eyes were dark brown in color, nearly black as well, and looked bloodshot, with red veins found at several spots in his eyes. One hand was concealed by the Akatsuki robe, while the other was tightly wrapped in gray cloth. The cloth ended at each of his fingers. Actually, he hadn?t any fingers. Each of his fingers were replaced by long, sharp, steel claws that were two, perhaps three times the length of normal fingers. Blood dripped from a few of the claws. Tenzu identified the sinister-looking man as Reaver.
?Word on the street is that the kid is back,? Reaver said in his usual blood-thirsty, though seemingly hollow voice, ?They say that he?s coming here now.?
Reaver had been sent on a reconnaissance mission a few days ago, and had only returned yesterday from Konoha.
Tenzu nodded slowly and turned back around looking down on the army, ?It will only make things easier for us.?
Reaver seemed to smile, like some sort of evil clown, ?You still haven?t given up on changing his mind about us, have you??
Tenzu spun around and walked past Reaver, down the stairs that brought him inside of the tower. The glimpse of a grin that Reaver caught as the man turned around made the answer obvious enough.
~
When night fell, the group was long gone, already at the western end of the Fire Country. They were all in their respective groups, though they were only slightly separated from each other; remaining close enough to still be within range to offer assistance if needed. They jumped from tree to tree through the densely forested area, until Riku jumped down, seeming to notice something.
The other two groups kept going, apparently not noticing that Riku stopped, though Reina quickly halted and walked beside him, ?Tracks,? she said.
In the dirt on the ground, large footprints were imprinted. They weren?t... human, however. Perhaps a wolf or another such animal of some sort. Riku remembered his many sessions with tracking alongside Vidar. This certainly was an animal?s footprints, but they were spaced out rather oddly, in a case like this at least. They were spaced in a way that suggested that whatever this was had been walking on two legs. Riku looked from left to right and noticed more of these tracks spaced around. However, no matter where they were, they all pointed in the same direction.
Riku looked up from his kneeling position, ?Stay higher up in the trees, if we catch up to the others in time, I need you to tell them the same. I?ll stay near the ground and see where these tracks go. Cover me,? he said, and before Reina could offer any arguments, he was sprinting forward, swerving left and right to maneuver around the trees.
Reina flipped over and upwards, landing on another tree branch and then jumped quickly to catch up with Riku and the rest of the group.
~
They came to the outskirts of the forest soon enough. The area ended as a barren wasteland. The area was a dark gray color. Riku was still at the bottom, putting a hand on the tree next to him, and then jumped upwards to land on its branch.
?You sure that this is it?? Kakashi asked, ?Doesn?t seem to be much around here for the next few miles.?
?I?m... positive...? RIku said, though he didn?t sound all that sure of himself.
?Genjutsu?? Shikamaru pitched in.
?Maybe...? Kakashi said, reaching upwards to lift up his headband, ?But I somehow doubt?? suddenly he stopped talking, ?Wow...?
Kakashi watched intently as he gazed over the giant army. An army of disfigured animals, and they were all walking to a humongous spire. The spire seemed like the entity of darkness itself. A plume of dark smoke had risen up from the land under the creatures, so much that it practically covered their legs. The spire was dark black, a cylinder shape with several spikes poking out of the top of it, and then curved pillars at the very peak that were open at the top, like some sort of unfinished, upside-down cone.
?Shikamaru, use a release technique,? Kakashi said flatly.
Shikamaru looked at him for a moment, and then complied, and the rest of the group stood with their mouths opened as they saw what Kakashi had. Riku recognized these; some of them reminded him of the creatures that had attacked him and Shinru long ago. There was an endless amount of them, coming out of the forest.
Riku stopped for a moment, ?Wait, so it was genjutsu??
Kakashi nodded, ?It was... but... it hadn?t been made for us, for anyone, actually. You could tell. If it was just placed on us, a genjutsu that could cover all of this likely wouldn?t be dismissed by a simple release technique. This is something different. It?s of high rank, but it isn?t concentrated...?
Riku grimaced, ?It must have something to do with Tenzu, I would guess.?
?Agreed, but I wonder why those creatures didn?t attack us. Surely they must see us,? Kakashi replied.
?They don?t know that we see them though. Whoever set this genjutsu up is preventing others from seeing any of this. It?s rather weak, but we didn?t even know we were in a genjutsu until you activated your sharingan. Considering the lack of people with abilities that can determine if they are in such a genjutsu without it being obvious, they don?t have much to worry about,? came Shikamaru?s analytic response.
Riku nodded, ?Well, we?re out of it now. We?ll figure it out later, but for now we have a mission.?
?Right, right,? Kakashi said slowly, and then he continued, ?But the problem now is getting around all of these guys. They don?t know that we can see them, but... they could catch on.?
?Pfft,? Shikamaru stated, already going into a series of handseals, ?A Nara moving around unnoticeably in the dead of night? No problem.?
~
The whole place being covered by the darkness of light, and the bits of sunlight that did show were covered by the shadow of the spire, provided a perfect landscape for Shikamaru to move around. He had melded into the darkness, and was now moving around quickly through it, right under the noses of the gruesome creatures.
Kakashi had taken a similar route, though he was moving through the ground. They were both on opposite sides of the giant spire. Now they were returning to the rest of the group, reporting the small amount of what they saw.
Kakashi popped out of the ground and Shikamaru reformed from the shadow form that he was originally into, while Shikamaru was the first to begin speaking, ?Nothing special about it, a giant door on the opposite side that we?re facing, and a few smaller openings. Nothing else, really.?
?Deirous already went up into the skies, and took Raiden with him on the clay bird,? Reina confirmed.
?So how do we get in?? Riku asked, looking doubtfully at the group.
Suddenly, Kakashi saw one of the creatures look towards him, and then point menacingly, as if they realized that the group could see them, and then Kakashi said wryly, ?Looks like we don?t have any choices,? he saw, withdrawing a kunai and pulling up his headband again to reveal his sharingan, ?We?ll help you guys get in, but up until there, it?s up to you two.?
Riku and Reina both nodded. Reina withdrew her katana while turned and from his crouched position, flipped over and landed on the pointing creature, who had now attracted more to the group, pushing the wolf down, using its body as a cushion for his fall.
In a fluent motion, Riku withdrew Soul Eater and turned to face half of the crowd of animals that was looking towards him.
The invasion had begun.
