Yup, I'm starting the entire thing over. O_O When I made the first one it was REALLY crappy, so I'm hoping to make it better, even if it's just a little bit. Without a good beginning, it's pretty tough to make a good story. Anyway, enjoy ^^.
The two cloaked figures trudged through the snow and ice. Both of them wore the same robe, a black robe, darker than night, with red clouds scattered on different places of the cloak. The bamboo hat with long cuts of paper concealed their faces; their jobs were easier that way.
After only a few minutes of silent walking, the shady duo arrived at a small village, and stopped to look upon it, not so much looking for someone, even though they were, but they looked at it to marvel, what would soon be buried in ashes that told all travelers and traders that the Red Moon shined it’s glorious light upon this place.
“The largest house, that will be the one,” the shortest one said.
“Does it really matter when we’ll end up destroying the entire place anyway?” the other one asked, a threatening question to the town, but an amusing one to his partner.
True malevolence indeed.
~
The boy swung climbed on the railing of the wooden bridge and looked into the stream, apparently in deep thought, well as deeply as one can think at the age of six. Tomorrow, his life would be a lot different than today, he was finally attending the ninja academy. He took a good look at himself, the man, or boy, who would be the old him by tomorrow. In most villages, nobody was truly as serious as this when they entered the academy; nobody was serious about it the years they were in it either. But this village was different.
The Ninja Academy in this village, a branch village off of the Village Hidden in the Snow, was like a boarding school, you slept there, ate there, everything. And not only did you not live with your family anymore, but visitors were only permitted once every month. Despite the village’s small size, the academy was giant, it was a few miles away from the village. The academy taught you to kill with no restraint, and by the time you left, you could kill your own family without even a twitch of the eye, probably the reason that many left this village. There were few that were able to stop themselves from becoming monsters, and even fewer still that managed to keep their sanity in the process. And the few that did left the village the moment that the academy allowed them to leave. They went to search for “greater purpose in life,” as they said it. The only reason for the academy being like this is because it was a small village, the leaders of the village figured that they needed better protection, and the only way they saw that happening was for the few ninja that were here to be amongst the strongest and most heartless ninja. There were many that refused to attend, and there were rarely any parents who were glad to send their child, but the people that refused to go, were killed shortly after by those who did attend. But many wondered if it was worth it. Maybe death was a fair price to pay in exchange for the few years you were alive to be filled with meaning instead of mindless violence. Even though the Academy turned you into a monster, literally in some cases, it was unarguable that it made you stronger, much stronger, than you would have been if you didn’t attend. It was also where many people discovered their hidden potential or abilities.
It was all so strange to him, ha always loved his birthday. Having fun with his friends, gifts from those who cared for him, and being able to do pretty much whatever he wanted. But this birthday was different, this birthday, could possibly signify his last day of humanity. Things were said to go by quickly at the Academy, and your compassion was the quickest to go.
The boy’s thoughts were quickly interrupted by a person calling his name.
“Riku! There you are,” Reina said, holding a box in here hand, apparently with something inside.
Reina was Riku’s best friend since, well, ever. They knew each other since childhood. And bein two of the only few children in the village, they grew to be close friends. For their young age, they were both oddly mature, also due to there being much more adults in the village than children.
“Hey,” he said, without much enthusiasm, then he curiously eyed the box, “What’s that?”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied, handing him the box, “Here, open it.”
Riku looked at her suspiciously, and then opened the box; he smiled, and then showed it to her, revealing a gray locket with a picture of the two of them, “A picture?”
“Yup,” she said and sighed at the same time, “I know that you’ll probably forget about me in that place.”
He chuckled, “I’m just going to the academy, I’m not dying, and you can still come with my parents to visit.”
“I know, but...” he voice started to trail off, “People change in there, you know that.”
Reina was probably the most affected by Riku’s leaving. Her brother went to the academy before she was born, her parents would tell her about how great he was, and she visited him for a while, but when he came back out, he was just like all of the others, a heartless, killer, and he died because of it.
Riku looked at her, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Reina grinned, and then started talking again, “Just... don’t change. Ok?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Reina continued walking towards her house, Riku actually didn’t mind, the conversation was more than a little bit awkward, and he could really use some time to himself right now. He swung his feet over the other side of the bridge, landing on it, and started to walk towards the gate, his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.
He decided to go out of the town for a walk, it was still pretty light, so he should be able to leave the village without any problems. Walking and the snow where two things that almost always calmed him, the village was closed at the top, almost like a dome, due to the fact that a blizzard could bury the entire town within seconds, so the inside had no snow at all in it, besides the river that ran from outside of the village, through the large opening at the bottom that was required for air, and through the town.
Riku walked out of the town, and walked to the small nearby forest. It was small due to the fact that only a few miles south of here was a climate so cold and harsh and lifeless, that no plants gathered what was needed to live. There was water, but the much greater percentage of it was frozen solid, so solid that no water could seep out. The place was referred to often as “The Lich’s Tundra.” Lich symbolizing that the only people fit to roam it were the undead, because they were the only ones who couldn’t feel the area’s arctic bite.
Riku walked into the forest and immediately fell down backwards into the snow. Lying on his back and closing his eyes as if he could go to sleep right then and there. After a few minutes of laying down, he lifted up his back and leaned against one of the trees. He leaned again, but this time forward, looking curiously at two figures entering the village.
He had no idea that the Red Moon was beginning to rise upon his unfortunate village.
~
The two Akatsuki walked into the village. The gate keeper looked at them casually; Akatsuki wasn’t very much heard of here, since visitors had to cross Lich’s Tundra to come here, not many people were heard of besides those that were north of the village, but the south was unknown to
many in the village, and not many in the south knew of the village. Akatsuki was only slightly heard of here, but nobody had ever seen them before.
“I’ll need to see some kind of pass or identification; we can’t just let you in,” he said.
“I advise that you make an exception,” said one, revealing a grim and low voice, a passionless one also.
“And why would I—”
The gatekeeper stopped talking, noticing one of them walking up closer to the gate, the one who hadn’t spoken. He balled up his hand into a fist and then punched the gate. At first it was only a slight rumble, and then the gate suddenly shattered like glass.
The other one let out a sigh, “So much for the element of surprise.”
Both of them walked into the town, not so much for a surprise attack, that chance was discarded as soon as the tall one punched the door, they simply wanted to take their time, this team wasn’t a fast moving one, they took as much time as they wanted, but always somehow succeeded.
Multiple ninja moved towards them, jumping from house to house, but every one of them suddenly found needles in their chest, but when and by which of the two, none of them could tell.
They finally arrived at the house, the largest house in the village, their target’s house. The same one who busted down the gate, punched straight through the door as well, sending it flying into the darkness of the house. They both walked in, searching for some form of life, preferably human, but right now, they were searching for anything.
A figure, apparently Riku’s guardian, threw a few kunai at one and then towards the same one, completely unaware of the other, and attempted to slam his head into the ground. Only to find that the kunai simply hit the man, and instead of bouncing off, which would have been enough of a surprise, the kunai shattered. As he was in the air, the figure grasped his neck, crushing some of the bones.
“I will ask you once, is there anyone here by the name of Riku?” he asked ominously.
The man struggled to breath, and instead of speaking words, he more so gurgled them, “No, I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“Do you not have any idea, or do you want to have no idea, I for one find the difference threatening to your life, wouldn’t you?” He asked again, more aggressively than the first time.
“I do, I do! But he just walked out of the village, probably to run away, he was supposed to join the academy tomorrow and—” he stopped speaking, feeling the man’s grip tightening.
“The details do not concern me, where is he?”
“I don’t... know. He probably went to the forest, it’s where he always goes,” he said. He hated to
give up Riku’s location, but he had no other choice.
“Some friend of his you turned out to be huh? Giving his location to strangers who’ll probably kill him,” the man said, turning the entire thing on him.
The man tried to gurgle words, but the Akatsuki’s grip tightened, this time his hand closed.
The sound echoed through the village.
The shattering of a throat was a loud sound indeed.
Both of them started walking, as the other one, the one who had hardly moved, started to speak, “It’s a shame, to think that he may have lived if he wasn’t such a tattletale.”
~
Riku watched the entire thing in horror, hands sweating and legs shaking. He first saw them bust the gate down, he never saw the massacre at his house but he did hear the screams, but one scream rang out the loudest: Reina’s scream. He continued to watch, as he saw the two figures start to walk out. The continued to walk and then one looked back at the village and made a few handsigns while the other made a different seal.
The first one blew out a giant fireball, while the second made a large wall of earth that followed the fire.
The city was filled to the brim with devouring flames.
Riku frantically moved around, and did the only thing he could do, he only had one thing to be glad about, that he was wearing his small backpack when he left. And then he did the only thing he could, he ran, as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. But he ran to the worst direction possible, he ran south.
The Lich’s Tundra awaited him.
Prologue
The two cloaked figures trudged through the snow and ice. Both of them wore the same robe, a black robe, darker than night, with red clouds scattered on different places of the cloak. The bamboo hat with long cuts of paper concealed their faces; their jobs were easier that way.
After only a few minutes of silent walking, the shady duo arrived at a small village, and stopped to look upon it, not so much looking for someone, even though they were, but they looked at it to marvel, what would soon be buried in ashes that told all travelers and traders that the Red Moon shined it’s glorious light upon this place.
“The largest house, that will be the one,” the shortest one said.
“Does it really matter when we’ll end up destroying the entire place anyway?” the other one asked, a threatening question to the town, but an amusing one to his partner.
True malevolence indeed.
~
The boy swung climbed on the railing of the wooden bridge and looked into the stream, apparently in deep thought, well as deeply as one can think at the age of six. Tomorrow, his life would be a lot different than today, he was finally attending the ninja academy. He took a good look at himself, the man, or boy, who would be the old him by tomorrow. In most villages, nobody was truly as serious as this when they entered the academy; nobody was serious about it the years they were in it either. But this village was different.
The Ninja Academy in this village, a branch village off of the Village Hidden in the Snow, was like a boarding school, you slept there, ate there, everything. And not only did you not live with your family anymore, but visitors were only permitted once every month. Despite the village’s small size, the academy was giant, it was a few miles away from the village. The academy taught you to kill with no restraint, and by the time you left, you could kill your own family without even a twitch of the eye, probably the reason that many left this village. There were few that were able to stop themselves from becoming monsters, and even fewer still that managed to keep their sanity in the process. And the few that did left the village the moment that the academy allowed them to leave. They went to search for “greater purpose in life,” as they said it. The only reason for the academy being like this is because it was a small village, the leaders of the village figured that they needed better protection, and the only way they saw that happening was for the few ninja that were here to be amongst the strongest and most heartless ninja. There were many that refused to attend, and there were rarely any parents who were glad to send their child, but the people that refused to go, were killed shortly after by those who did attend. But many wondered if it was worth it. Maybe death was a fair price to pay in exchange for the few years you were alive to be filled with meaning instead of mindless violence. Even though the Academy turned you into a monster, literally in some cases, it was unarguable that it made you stronger, much stronger, than you would have been if you didn’t attend. It was also where many people discovered their hidden potential or abilities.
It was all so strange to him, ha always loved his birthday. Having fun with his friends, gifts from those who cared for him, and being able to do pretty much whatever he wanted. But this birthday was different, this birthday, could possibly signify his last day of humanity. Things were said to go by quickly at the Academy, and your compassion was the quickest to go.
The boy’s thoughts were quickly interrupted by a person calling his name.
“Riku! There you are,” Reina said, holding a box in here hand, apparently with something inside.
Reina was Riku’s best friend since, well, ever. They knew each other since childhood. And bein two of the only few children in the village, they grew to be close friends. For their young age, they were both oddly mature, also due to there being much more adults in the village than children.
“Hey,” he said, without much enthusiasm, then he curiously eyed the box, “What’s that?”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied, handing him the box, “Here, open it.”
Riku looked at her suspiciously, and then opened the box; he smiled, and then showed it to her, revealing a gray locket with a picture of the two of them, “A picture?”
“Yup,” she said and sighed at the same time, “I know that you’ll probably forget about me in that place.”
He chuckled, “I’m just going to the academy, I’m not dying, and you can still come with my parents to visit.”
“I know, but...” he voice started to trail off, “People change in there, you know that.”
Reina was probably the most affected by Riku’s leaving. Her brother went to the academy before she was born, her parents would tell her about how great he was, and she visited him for a while, but when he came back out, he was just like all of the others, a heartless, killer, and he died because of it.
Riku looked at her, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Reina grinned, and then started talking again, “Just... don’t change. Ok?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Reina continued walking towards her house, Riku actually didn’t mind, the conversation was more than a little bit awkward, and he could really use some time to himself right now. He swung his feet over the other side of the bridge, landing on it, and started to walk towards the gate, his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.
He decided to go out of the town for a walk, it was still pretty light, so he should be able to leave the village without any problems. Walking and the snow where two things that almost always calmed him, the village was closed at the top, almost like a dome, due to the fact that a blizzard could bury the entire town within seconds, so the inside had no snow at all in it, besides the river that ran from outside of the village, through the large opening at the bottom that was required for air, and through the town.
Riku walked out of the town, and walked to the small nearby forest. It was small due to the fact that only a few miles south of here was a climate so cold and harsh and lifeless, that no plants gathered what was needed to live. There was water, but the much greater percentage of it was frozen solid, so solid that no water could seep out. The place was referred to often as “The Lich’s Tundra.” Lich symbolizing that the only people fit to roam it were the undead, because they were the only ones who couldn’t feel the area’s arctic bite.
Riku walked into the forest and immediately fell down backwards into the snow. Lying on his back and closing his eyes as if he could go to sleep right then and there. After a few minutes of laying down, he lifted up his back and leaned against one of the trees. He leaned again, but this time forward, looking curiously at two figures entering the village.
He had no idea that the Red Moon was beginning to rise upon his unfortunate village.
~
The two Akatsuki walked into the village. The gate keeper looked at them casually; Akatsuki wasn’t very much heard of here, since visitors had to cross Lich’s Tundra to come here, not many people were heard of besides those that were north of the village, but the south was unknown to
many in the village, and not many in the south knew of the village. Akatsuki was only slightly heard of here, but nobody had ever seen them before.
“I’ll need to see some kind of pass or identification; we can’t just let you in,” he said.
“I advise that you make an exception,” said one, revealing a grim and low voice, a passionless one also.
“And why would I—”
The gatekeeper stopped talking, noticing one of them walking up closer to the gate, the one who hadn’t spoken. He balled up his hand into a fist and then punched the gate. At first it was only a slight rumble, and then the gate suddenly shattered like glass.
The other one let out a sigh, “So much for the element of surprise.”
Both of them walked into the town, not so much for a surprise attack, that chance was discarded as soon as the tall one punched the door, they simply wanted to take their time, this team wasn’t a fast moving one, they took as much time as they wanted, but always somehow succeeded.
Multiple ninja moved towards them, jumping from house to house, but every one of them suddenly found needles in their chest, but when and by which of the two, none of them could tell.
They finally arrived at the house, the largest house in the village, their target’s house. The same one who busted down the gate, punched straight through the door as well, sending it flying into the darkness of the house. They both walked in, searching for some form of life, preferably human, but right now, they were searching for anything.
A figure, apparently Riku’s guardian, threw a few kunai at one and then towards the same one, completely unaware of the other, and attempted to slam his head into the ground. Only to find that the kunai simply hit the man, and instead of bouncing off, which would have been enough of a surprise, the kunai shattered. As he was in the air, the figure grasped his neck, crushing some of the bones.
“I will ask you once, is there anyone here by the name of Riku?” he asked ominously.
The man struggled to breath, and instead of speaking words, he more so gurgled them, “No, I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“Do you not have any idea, or do you want to have no idea, I for one find the difference threatening to your life, wouldn’t you?” He asked again, more aggressively than the first time.
“I do, I do! But he just walked out of the village, probably to run away, he was supposed to join the academy tomorrow and—” he stopped speaking, feeling the man’s grip tightening.
“The details do not concern me, where is he?”
“I don’t... know. He probably went to the forest, it’s where he always goes,” he said. He hated to
give up Riku’s location, but he had no other choice.
“Some friend of his you turned out to be huh? Giving his location to strangers who’ll probably kill him,” the man said, turning the entire thing on him.
The man tried to gurgle words, but the Akatsuki’s grip tightened, this time his hand closed.
The sound echoed through the village.
The shattering of a throat was a loud sound indeed.
Both of them started walking, as the other one, the one who had hardly moved, started to speak, “It’s a shame, to think that he may have lived if he wasn’t such a tattletale.”
~
Riku watched the entire thing in horror, hands sweating and legs shaking. He first saw them bust the gate down, he never saw the massacre at his house but he did hear the screams, but one scream rang out the loudest: Reina’s scream. He continued to watch, as he saw the two figures start to walk out. The continued to walk and then one looked back at the village and made a few handsigns while the other made a different seal.
The first one blew out a giant fireball, while the second made a large wall of earth that followed the fire.
The city was filled to the brim with devouring flames.
Riku frantically moved around, and did the only thing he could do, he only had one thing to be glad about, that he was wearing his small backpack when he left. And then he did the only thing he could, he ran, as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. But he ran to the worst direction possible, he ran south.
The Lich’s Tundra awaited him.
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