Kenpachi Ikari: Wanted to try my hand at a different type of story... ITs been bugging me for a number of months
Mask person: You shall not know me until second chapter!
Kenpachi: I own nothing but the masks and some OCC,
It was a clear and cold night. Our eyes watched the men going in and out of the Fire Nation prison, completely unaware of our presence. As they should, seeing as we kept to the shadows. We had been watching the prison for over two weeks. Learning how it ticked, when the men changed guard, and when they closed the gates for the night. The moon's shine started to dim slightly, it was time. If one was to look to either end of the prison, they would see that some of the shadows were moving towards its outer walls.
Yet again, that is how we worked. Nobody was to know that we were moving, nor even know we were there. A gruff voice echoes in our ears through our earpieces. It's the commander, telling us something that we already know. We stand just as the shadows towards the ends of the prison all stop moving, each of our bodies completely covered in black. Our masks marked like that of the Cheshire cat's face, yet its outsides are lined with silver.
It shines dimly in the remaining moonlight, reflecting just what we are. We are shadows, we are nightmares, and we are Masks without names. I hear chuckling to the left of me, coming from one of the masks. "Hey rookie, just stay close to me and you might live" It says with a light chuckle. I turn to him, just as he lifts his mask. I could not make out his facial features, but one thing that does catch my eye is the scar that rises over his left eye.
His eyes were brown from what I could tell, but it didn't matter. He smiled at me, his pearly white teeth giving off a slight glint in the moonlight. "The name's Mark rookie" He said confidently, justifying his place over me. "Pay him no mind, he's an idiot" A feminine voice cracked after Mark had finished talking. The person in front of me removed their mask, allowing short silver hair to flow freely, blue eyes shining in the moonlight, staring right into my eyes through my mask.
"Aww come on Meryl, you know you can't resist hearing my voice" Mark piped up, softly pushing me away from the female. "Oh don't get so full of yourself ya big ape!" Meryl said sternly, making Mark sigh in frustration. "Come on don't be like that…. I just wanted to warn the kid before we started" Mark said softly, still moving closer to Meryl who took this time to look directly at me.
"Even so, if you're not careful with your ego…. He may end up being the one that steps over your corpse first" Meryl said firmly, a hint of worry in her voice. Before Mark could say another word, the commander's voice boomed into our earpieces.
"Squad A and B just finished planting the bomb and taking out the guards on the upper walls, Squads C and D are to breach through the holes that the explosions will create. Squad E, you guys are on patrol duty today. The target is on the second floor, heavily guarded by what information we could get. This is not going to be easy ladies and gents, so watch each others backs out there. If someone gets in the way, kill them if necessary, we wish you luck on your mission" He said before it tuned out.
Mark and Meryl looked at each other one last time before sharing a simple kiss and returning to their formations, I watched the both of them slowly walk away. I check my equipment carefully, making sure my twin blades are resting against my back, my knives lining my arms, and my sedatives and pill in my satchel. I can already feel the adrenaline start to pump into my system, even though we are not even moving.
I look towards the prison and I hear from my ear the start of the countdown to the mission start. The man says it as though it is nothing more than a countdown to our own deaths, yet it goes unnoticed to everyone else. I count softly to myself, hoping to stave off the adrenaline until I need it, 3…….2……….1……..Boom! The bombs have been detonated and we are moving. I follow swiftly behind Squad D as we advance through the west side of the prison.
As soon as I entered the smoldering hole of burned rock and metal, I look over the scene. Bodies litter the floors, some underneath the rubble, and others against the wall or face down on the ground. I hear a groan to my left and turn to see one of the bodies slowly start to move. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure clothed in black slowly walk up to the body and I turn, hearing the blade cut through the air and the sickening sound of it cutting through the skin of the figure.
They should have just stayed down, then maybe they would have lived. I hear the screams of men echoing through the empty halls from outside, their battle cries and their last breaths all etched into that one scream. My squad stops, giving me a moment to catch my breath and to stare out the window that is to my right. As I peer through it, my eyes look over the battlefield that is this prison. It seemed that the guards were quicker to react than our people had intended, but it did not matter how fast they reacted.
I see bodies fall one after another from both sides. The walls coated with their blood, and the halls still echoing with their screams. But something strikes me as odd, here we are attacking a Fire Nation prison, but not a single bender in sight. The adrenaline returns, this time more forcefully as my mind starts to react. I feel a hand tap my shoulder and I look towards the masked person in front of me, its time to move again. Corner after Corner, enemy after enemy, we continue to advance.
So far, none of our squad members has died, yet some were injured but continued on with us. We made it to the great hall, the stairs are just to our right. Yet, it was a trap which we figured out sooner than we should have. Fire nation soldiers advanced on us, swords drawn and at the ready, I look towards my squad leader, the only one of us whose mask had a single stain of red shaped in a D to signify which squad he commanded. He pointed at me and another masked person and then to the stairs, I knew what he was saying.
'We will cut a path through, you two get to the target and escape'. I nodded just as they drew their swords, we lined up in an arrow type formation as they started to advance near the stairs. The soldiers swung their swords, only to be blocked by the one in front and then slashed by the one behind the blocker. Blood coated the tapestry that surrounded us, and started to pool around our feet as we steadily advanced. When it was clear enough, I and the other masked figure quickly ran towards the stairs, narrowly avoiding the scimitar that was to be used to sever our heads from our bodies.
I hear a splash, and then something warm on my back and I know immediately that the soldier is dead. I advance quickly and silently through the halls of the prison, avoiding any unnecessary conflict as I move. We quickly reached the room in which the target is stationed, and a feeling of dread strikes me. The masked figure beside me voices my doubts in a familiar voice, it was Meryl. "Where are the guards….. Intelligence said it was heavily guarded… Well, less work for us then" She said softly, to which I nodded and quickly unlatched the door.
I moved quickly into the room, eyes looking at the figure that stood against the wall, Golden eyes staring towards me with a cold fury. Its unkempt black hair framing it enraged face as it stared at me from the darkness. I hear movement and see Meryl walk cautiously into the room, eyes trained on the Golden orbs. "So this is the target, Ex-Fire Nation princess Azula" Meryl said jokingly, which earned her a growl from the target.
Meryl raised her hands defensively in a gesture to say she was kidding and slowly approached Azula, who I noticed then was chained to the wall. "Don't worry; we came to rescue you princess… Lets get these mean old bracelets off of you okay" Meryl said softly, to which Azula smirked and held her hands up to give Meryl clear access to the bonds that held her. Yet, before she undid the braces, she produced a needle from her satchel and quickly stabbed Azula in the neck with it.
Azula was about to scream in anger and protest, but Meryl slipped her hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds. Azula's movements started to slow down, and her eyes closed quickly. The sedative was taking effect, and with her sedated Meryl quickly broke the chains that held her. She motioned over for me to pick Azula up, which I complied and quickly pulled the woman over my shoulder. I was slightly surprised how light the woman was, and how easily I could carry her.
Meryl nodded at me and we quickly dashed out of the room, avoiding trouble once again. We advanced down the stairs, hoping to see our team waiting for us. But what we found was worse than what we wanted. Our team had been decimated, their bodies lying together in a crumpled heap of smoldering flesh, I heard Meryl gag behind me. Our team leader's mask lay next to my feet, blood coating it so much that the D no longer stood out from the rest of our mask.
I nodded at Meryl and we quickly left the scene, fleeing down the hallways that held the hole for our means to escape. We passed by that window again, and I saw only a few of our forces still fighting. The rest were lying on the ground presumably dead. The halls that we ran through consisted of more bodies, some of them dismembered and others beheaded. As we rounded the corner, a familiar face graced us at the exit. Mark was just standing there, face looking ghoulish white.
Something was amiss, but Meryl trudged ahead of me only to stop in her tracks. Mark fell to the ground with a sickening thud, to reveal a soldier dressed in blue and fur skin, sword as black as midnight. I quickly moved to the side of Meryl, ready to lay the woman on my shoulder down to fight the soldier, only to see Meryl draw her sword and point towards me and then the exit. I understood immediately, she wanted to fight while I got away.
"T-Target is the top priority….Always remember that" She said softly as she charged at the man, their swords connecting with a loud booming metallic sound. I quickly took this moment to rush the exit, which was blocked by another soldier with a spear. He thrusts it at me, only for me to quickly move out of its way and pull my knife from my sleeve. In one quick movement, the blade in my hand cuts through his throat, blood spraying onto my mask as I continue through the exit as though nothing has happened. Yet, before I am more than 4 steps out of the hole, I hear a blood curdling scream pierce through the night.
I look back, only to see Meryl's mask drop as she was impaled by the blade of that warrior clothed in blue. Yet I have no time to grieve, I must continue onwards with my mission. But I can't help as a single tear escapes the hole through my mask and cascades down its cold surface.
Tonight was the easy part of my mission, and things could only get harder from here on. I look over my shoulder to the sleeping face of Azula and then back towards the rising sun on the horizon. Tonight a team of skilled Assassins infiltrated a prison to retrieve a package, only one made it out. I am a Mask, and I am all alone.
Kenpachi Ikari:Hope you guys liked it... Oh and for reference if you didn't know... The soldier wearing blue and fur was Sokka
Masked person: Please R&R... Flames will be used to roast Marshmellows!