Chapter 2
"Fuck. Shikamaru, Asuma, Ino, Chouji," I whispered helplessly from my perch on a tree branch high above my campsite beside the lake. The humans were all gagged and tied up, being thrown over elfin shoulders and carted off to Youseimura. At least, I hoped that was where they were headed...
Silently, I began to follow the group of elves and bound humans. The bark of the limbs I landed on and pushed off of cut into my pale feet, seeing as I had left my only pair of shoes down by the water, but I ignored the slight pain and kept going. Luckily, I was downwind of the elves, so they couldn't smell that I was following them, and my movements were silent enough that they didn't hear them.
Due to the high stamina and speed elves had, both I and the males carrying the humans were able to keep running until we reached the village about an hour later. It was obvious that I was only half elf, though, seeing as I had to stop at the gate to catch my breath while the other elves just kept right on going. They weren't winded or tired at all, but I was about to pass out from exhaustion.
Five minutes after I had stopped, I leapt over the low wall the wooden gate was set in, silently beginning to make my way through the relatively large village to where I knew the humans had been taken: The village leader's mansion. I myself had been taken there on several occasions, and never had anything pleasant happened to me there.
I stuck to the shadows and took back alleys, managing to remain unnoticed until I had myself perched on the wall surrounding the leader's property. Even then, the only person that noticed me was a civilian elf passing behind the wall at my back, and he was too young to have any idea who I was. The younger elves had never been allowed to witness my beatings here. I turned my attention away from the child when I heard Asuma's voice.
"We've come from Konohagakure at your reque-"
"I know," the old elf standing before the ninja said shortly, his voice harsh. He was standing on the stairs that led up to his home, glaring down at the four humans that were in a line on the ground on their knees before him, ropes around their wrists and upper bodies.
I shuddered at the fierce look in the man's dark green eyes, knowing it well. It was the same way he used to look at me, as if it were my fault that I was a halfbreed. My own green eyes widened when I realized that they were being blamed for my having said too much. It would be my fault if-
"Then why are you treating us like this?" Asuma's voice interrupted my thoughts, keeping me from getting too panicked.
"Because you know what we are," the white-haired elf answered, his voice still harsh.
"What you are?" Asuma said, feigning confusion.
"Don't act like you don't know. One of our scouts saw you with that worthless halfbreed, and she undoubtedly told you all about us."
"What halfbreed? We met a girl in the forest, but she was just a hu-"
"Silence!" the elf bellowed, causing Ino and Chouji to jump. The man's pale gray kimono flared as he spun, heading toward the open door of his mansion. "We know that you know what we are, therefore, you must die." With that, he entered his home, the doors sliding closed behind him.
"Well, you heard the man," one of the elf ninja, a dark-haired, pale-eyed male, said lightly. "It's time for you to die." He and three other elves unsheathed their katanas simultaneously, causing the four humans to go wide-eyed.
"No!" I screamed before I could stop myself. I covered my mouth, but it was too late. All of the ninja in the area had their eyes on me now.
Another elf ninja chuckled, his green eyes flashing. "Kikei. Have you come to die, too?"
I jumped off of the wall gracefully and landed in a crouch, standing a moment later. My eyes narrowed at the older male as I said, "You're going to be the one dying today. You and all of your little ninja buddies."
All of the elves began laughing hysterically, acting as if this were the funniest thing they had ever heard, and, honestly, it probably was. I was just one small female half-elf going up against a bunch of well-trained elfin males. I would've laughed if I were them, too.
"You can't be serious," another male managed to choke out between loud laughs.
"Oh, but I am." And then, without hesitation, I put my fingers to my mouth and blew, letting a loud whistle ring through the village and surrounding forest. At the sound of the howls and roars and various other noises I received in reply from the animals in the surrounding area, the laughing elves froze. Then, quickly, they all let loose their own loud whistles. Their eyes widened at what greeted them.
Silence.
"No...No way," an elf stated, shaking his head.
"This can't be happening," another male breathed.
"These animals are ours...How did she manage to take them...?" a third ninja whispered.
On the outside, I was smirking, but on the inside, I was just as confused as they were. They were right when they said that the animals around here were theirs. These animals had been around these elves for their entire lives, more than likely. They'd virtually grown up with the people in this village, so they should have had some sort of bond or something with them. They should've known the sound of the local elves' whistles. They should've responded to them. They should've been eager to show their allegiance. But instead, all they had given them was silence.
Were they choosing to answer my pleas over the other elves' calls...? I didn't get much of a chance to ponder the thought.
"Who cares?!" the elf that had first spoken shouted. "Just kill her before she can sway them further!"
They all charged at me, armed with swords and kunai and their insane strength, and I just stood their, frozen in place, unmoving.
"Kikei!" I heard a couple of the humans scream, sounding worried and almost...frightened.
"There will be blood, pain, suffering," I said softly, closing my eyes. "And you will have no one to blame but yourselves." Slowly, my fingers made their way to my mouth again, and I calmly let out another whistle. I altered the pitch slightly and had a pack of dogs, some of which were wearing collars as if they belonged to someone, at my side in an instant. Even the smaller ones rushed at my charging enemies with their fangs bared, becoming savages instead of pets.
A few of the ninja fell, screaming, when the animals pounced on them, but most of them managed to dodge the creatures and keep running toward me. I altered the pitch of my whistle once more, calling several birds to my aid. They attacked quickly, knocking a few more elves to the ground while pecking and clawing at them.
I had only two ninja left now. They both looked frightened, but they were obviously still determined. Yet another change in pitch had a few cats taking one of them down, and I decided to fight the remaining elf on my own.
He was the man who had been so eager to kill the humans only minutes ago, the first to reach for his sword and probably the best fighter lurking in the crowd of elves today. There were better, of course, but he was still very strong and well-trained. I knew this because he used to be one of my friends, though he'd turned on me the moment he'd had the chance to become an elfin ninja. His name was Etsuya, and I had stopped caring about him the moment he'd betrayed me.
Without a word, I moved forward to meet him head-on. I dodged a swing of his katana, then another, followed by a punch and a kick. I leapt back, narrowly avoiding a jab of his blade. Swiftly, I moved around him, slamming my foot into his back once I was behind him. He stumbled forward, but managed to catch himself before he fell. He spun, aiming a kick at my stomach. I grabbed his foot and shoved him back, immediately following him so I could land a nice punch to his jaw. I might've been weak for an elf, but I had hit him with enough force to send him to the ground, so I couldn't possibly have been all that weak.
His back hit the dirt and he slid about a foot, his katana flying from his hand. I went after the weapon quickly, picking it up off of the ground just as my opponent surged to his feet. When he saw that I had his sword, he pulled a few kunai out of the pouch he had hooked to the back of his belt, then he lunged at me once more.
I sidestepped a few swings of the kunai, somehow managing to throw in a counterattack with my sword after a moment. I blocked a kunai and shoved him back, swinging my own blade and catching him in the stomach with it. The sharp steel tore through the front of his thick black vest and T-shirt, soon slicing through the flesh beneath. He staggered back while watching some of his own blood drip to the ground from the shallow cut I had given him. Before he could do anything else, I slammed the hilt of the katana into his skull hard enough to knock him out.
As Etsuya fell to the ground, I looked around at what had only recently become a battlefield. I found that the animals had killed no one, only knocked them out, as I had instructed through my whistles. The humans were the only ones still conscious, and they were also surveying the property, all but Asuma and Shikamaru looking horrified at the amount of blood spattered across the ground. As far as I could tell, my animals had remained unharmed for the most part. A couple of the dogs had a few cuts, but the wounds weren't too serious.
"Sorry I got you guys caught up in all of this," I said quietly as I fell to my knees behind Asuma, using my stolen katana to cut through his bindings.
"It's not your fault they did this to us," the man stated while I moved on to freeing his students.
"If you say so," I sighed. Soon enough, everyone was freed, so we all stood, looking around once more. I was so caught up in checking on my animals that I didn't even notice the village leader until he whistled. The animals immediately surrounded my companions and I, snarling threateningly. My eyes widened, though I had seen this coming. Of course the leader's influence was stronger than mine. It only made sense. When I saw that more elfin ninja had come to join the animals, I felt myself growing a slight bit panicky.
We were dead.
"We might have allowed you to live if you hadn't fought us, Kikei," the leader said as he watched from the safety of his doorway.
"I highly doubt that, Yoshinobu," I replied, my eyes not leaving the animals and ninja before me.
"Don't you dare utter my name, you pathetic halfbreed," the older man spat.
"Fuck you, Yoshinobu." Now everyone seemed shocked. The humans because I, a twelve-year-old female, had just cursed, and the elves because I, a shunned halfbreed, had just disobeyed the ruler of the elves.
"Kill them all!" the leader commanded angrily, following up with a quick whistle to encourage the animals to do the same thing as the elves.
I barely noticed that the humans were preparing to fight right along with me. I was too busy being an idiot and charging right at the elf closest to me. My blade met his, his strength easily beating mine and knocking the weapon out of my hand. I crouched down to avoid a second swing of the male's sword, then I sprang back up, landing an uppercut to the guy's jaw. He stumbled back, but managed to steady himself quickly, his blade biting into my stomach before I had the chance to move. No more than a second later, his foot met the deep gash he had just created, knocking me to the ground.
I had no choice but to lay there and watch as he went to join his comrades in the battle with the humans. Blood stained my dress and rapidly pooled on the ground around me, but I ignored this and allowed my eyes to remain on the humans.
Shikamaru's shadow had attached itself to the shadows of three elves, and he was now forcing them to hold still as Chouji became a giant ball. He rolled across the frozen elves as well as several more of the bastards, sending them all to the ground, unconscious. Shikamaru then moved on to capturing the shadows of a few more elves while Chouji returned to his normal size.
I looked around for Ino and found her and her sensei handling the animals. They were being careful not to kill them, but they were doing what was necessary to keep them from doing any real damage.
As I watched them, I realized that I couldn't just lay here, no matter how hurt I was. I needed to get up and help them. I carefully sat up, wincing as I did so, then I slowly stood. My legs nearly gave, though I forced them to support my weight so I could take a small step toward the humans and their opponents.
"I wouldn't bother, if I were you," Yoshinobu stated from behind me. As I slowly turned to face him, he continued. "You're too injured to do any good, and you know you're outnumbered. You and your human friends don't stand a chance."
"Do I really need to say it again, Yoshinobu? Fuck. You," I said, my voice weak, but firm. The man had me by the throat in a heartbeat, holding my body high above the ground with a single arm.
"Do not speak to me like that," he hissed, his tight hold on my neck suffocating me.
"Fuck you, you stupid asshole," I managed to choke out as I struggled to free myself, my long, painted nails digging into his wrist. "I hope you die and burn in hell for all of eternity." His hold tightened further, keeping me from saying anything else as my vision swam.
I heard a scream from behind me, recognizing Ino's voice almost immediately. Yoshinobu glanced around my slender body to see what was happening, and I used the distraction to my advantage. My foot met his face suddenly, and his hold on me loosened. Another kick, and I hit the ground. As I coughed and greedily took in as much air as my lungs could hold, I rolled onto my injured stomach and began making my way to where Ino was being strangled by an elf.
Just as I saw Asuma coming to the girl's rescue, I felt a foot collide with my side. I cried out and squeezed my eyes shut, expecting more blows, but none came. When I glanced over, I found that Shikamaru had managed to get a hold of the old man's shadow, keeping him in place and saving me from a few broken ribs. I looked over at Asuma and Ino, finding that they were now standing with Chouji amongst a sea of unconscious elves and animals. All of the humans were injured, covered in the occasional splash of blood and sporting a few cuts and bruises, but it didn't seem as if they were going to be dying any time soon.
"What are we going to do with him?" Shikamaru asked, his body trembling as Yoshinobu probably fought to break free of his hold.
"Knock him out," I told the boy while I slowly got to my hands and knees. "After that, we have to run like hell."
"Why don't we just kill him?" Ino asked, glaring at the elf.
"If you kill him, you'll start a war. You're already going to be hunted for knowing too much as it is. A war wouldn't help you at all," I explained, now forcing myself to stand once again. "Whoa..." I staggered back when a wave of dizziness hit me, nearly sending me to the ground again. After a moment, I fell to my knees.
"She has a point," Asuma stated, walking over to the pissed off elf. "We'll just knock him out and leave him here."
"What about her?" Chouji questioned, his eyes wandering to me as I swayed where I sat.
"We take her with us," Asuma said simply. He carefully knocked Yoshinobu unconscious, and that was the last thing I saw before my injury finally had me hitting the ground, taking a little nap of my own.