"Order, chaos, light, darkness - all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe."
- Excerpt from the lores of the Kinkou triumvirate
Words came that another follower of the way of Balance had been killed in cold blood. It was the third in the month already, fear had spread like wild fire among those less well-trained minds. In Ionia, murders occur rarely; mostly because the ninjas here cared little about the coil and anything that disturbed their peace of mind. The war between Noxus however, had casted a dark influence upon these once dignified hermits; Many had fallen to paths of no return and betrayed the way of Balance in search for greater power to defeat their enemies.
Akali had seen the change in the eyes of her comrades. From serenity to hints of distrust, then to despair. The Kinkou did its best to convince these stray followers that they must believe in the power of Balance, but meditation never really did catch up with the swift steps of the murderers in search of blood. The once quiet monasteries now became more of a shelter as she felt hurried footsteps past her, followed by the light thump of a door.
She left and entered the woods for some dashing practice, as she was never happy with the walls and corners of the monastery. She could not risk letting others see her Shadow art either. There was a special place where she did it often; a clearing in the middle of the tallest trees, almost a perfect circle. It was ideal for her to practice bouncing off one trunk to another. She tied her blades to a branch of a small tree, as she always had, for fear of wounding the skin of these ancient guardians. Balance, not Force. She reminded herself when she finished preparations and warm-ups before leaping onto another tree in an elegant motion. Her body drew a crescent mid-leap and fell onto the trunk where her body stuck like a lizard, her veiled face revealed only those determined eyes on her next target. She did it again, performing the same leap between trees like a spider webbing polygons at incredible speed.
"Impressive agility, Fist of Shadow." A familiar voice called out. Akali jumped down immediately and fetched her blades, readying them as she remained silent.
From the shadow of a tree came to life a tall man. His fully masked face shined under sunlight and so did his deadly claws, attached to his arms. For a moment the two of them just stared at each other, the pressure building up during their silence. "I have come to test your understanding of the art of Shadow."
"Balance dictates everything," She narrowed her eyes, detecting a faint scent of blood. "I have no common ground to discuss with you."
"Ah, but surely you can. I had seen what you can do. You may be a follower of the way of Balance, but you cannot deny the fact that you employ the Shadow's service for your power." He took a step closer and Akali felt the ground around her shrank. She caught a glimpse of shadows surrounding them, narrowing the circle of the clearing when he moved. "You have company. Is it because you feel your skills are unmatched with mine?" She taunted fearlessly, sensing the imbalance within the man. A true ninja never let her opponent see through her calmness.
As if responding to her taunts, the shadows around them scattered a little. "You forgot my title. I need no army of Shadows to create illusions. You should know; after all you follow our ways as well."
"Enough chit-chats!" Without warning, she dashed at him and aimed her blade at him. The man vanished before she could hit him and re-appeared behind her, his claw whistled through the wind before striking down on her, only to miss the girl as she leaped to a tree to dodge.
"What an annoying little bug you are." He cursed, red eyes glaring at her from the ground.
"It's the blades you should watch out for." Akali jumped down and vanished in his sight. A shroud of misty purple covered the area, mingling with his shadows. He stood at the center of the shroud, closing his eyes for a second before re-opening them. "Found you." Vanishing, he located her moving shadow in the mist and called upon his shadows as they struck as one, piercing through the girl with their razor sharp claws and slashing in unison. When they stopped, the shroud had faded and on the ground behind the man was the bleeding girl. His shadows disappeared.
"Had you seeked truth within the Shadow, maybe you wouldn't have ended here." He chuckled proudly, having to prove once more to a foolish follower of the Balance that his art was beyond their comprehension. "Your blades can't even best my shadows, how are you possibly to fight me?"
She looked up at him with an ambiguous smile on her face; the mask had fallen off during combat. "It seems that you have forgotten my title as well, Zed."
Staring down at her, confused at first, but soon realizing what she meant. Disbelief filled his eyes as he staggered backwards, finally noticing the missing blades in her hands.
Akali turned to the side, seeing the last shadow beneath it coming forth into her view. At the same time the man in front of her fell to the ground and turned to dust in a poof. It was his shadow all along, she saw through his tricks long ago; She knew he was nothing more than a coward.
The form approached her with both of her blades struck at his vital points. "How is this…" Still in shock, Zed pulled the twin blades out of him as blood started streaming down his fresh wounds. Akali had stood to her feet, though with great effort; He did hurt her a good deal of damage, but she musn't back down now that she had him in her grip.
"I may never know the truth within the Shadow while walking on the edge of it, but…" She paused and frowned at him as he tossed her blades aside, "I sure understand the Balance more than you ever will, Zed. This is the path I have chosen, and this will be the path I go down." She grabbed her blades and watched him as he panted lightly; It would have been the perfect time to kill him.
Surprisingly, the Master of Shadows started laughing at her. Shaking his head, he looked to her, "Like a blind fool, all of you." His body suddenly sank into the ground, beneath him was another shadow; a pool this time. "Fools…" He vanished into the ground as the pool of shadow followed shortly. Akali stood and watched the process in amazement. Although studying the Shadows was forbidden, it was fascinating to her nonetheless. However, she would never allow herself to fall to his level.
She began her way back to the monastery, the dusk was catching on. As she passed by the trees she caressed its withered skin gently and whispered her gratefulness, for it may very well be the same beloved Ionian forest of hers that will save her mind again from the lurking shadows, to remind her of what dictates her nature.
A/N Was falling asleep when I thought of this. First attempt at writing a ninja story and I didn't look too much into the ionian ninjas before this, but hope you guys enjoyed the read. yes I need to write more often xP please do leave a review if you liked it. Thank you!