The knife was drawn back and the hand around it was white. It came forward with stunning speed and would have skewered Reki had she not jumped down from the branch. At the last possible second her hand flew up and grabbed the branch. Her shuriken clinked open and she made a shree that resembled the call of a barn owl from where she hung under the branch-a signal she had made up to signify imminent attack.
Akira sprang up, made a silent cough, almost a gag, and spang behind a tree, as metal clashed against metal beyond. She mentally went over her powerful genjutsu, took a deep breath, and began making the complicated handsigns. "Boar, hare tiger Dragon!" she chanted under her breath.
Slowly, the world twisted around her. She centered the twisting on the glowing form of light that used to be the enemy, and pushed.
The enemy cried out as a kunai knife struck him in this dream word. Then another. And another. And another.
Akira smiled slightly, her blue eyes glowing in a manical rage that slowly took her over.
She sent five kunai into him at once, spinning and twisting as she sent another five shuriken. And more kunai. The enemy was attacked from all sides, this time screaming in agony as she hit sensitive pressure points in his neck and legs. She stopped suddenly, surprised at what she had become...
She broke away from the genjutsu, slowly kneeling to the ground from the strain.
The enemy sank to the ground as well, traumsitized from the pain of the virtual reality.
Reki swung up from beneath the branch, shuriken still unfolded. The enemy wasn't dead, but the genjutsu had done its duty and disabled him. She looked at Akira. The mental attack had been harsh, harsher perhaps than had been required. The enemy might be unconcious for an hour simply from the illusion.
Reki wondered if the attacker could have been one of the ninja they had been sent out to find. She saw no Leaf headband, but rather an odd mark scratched into the attacker's forehead. It seemed to be a crude combination of all five of the Shinobi village's symbols. There was a dash at the top for the Sand, a cloud-like mark for the village hidden in the Clouds, a triangle for the Leaf, and circle for the Stone, and a wavy line for water. Through these marks ran a single deep line.
Maybe this was not the one they had been sent to find, but it definitely wasn't someone to be put aside lightly.
Reki grabbed the attacker and dragged him off the branch. He fell and thumped into a pile of ferns. She jumped down and started to bind their would-be-attacker to the trunk. Glancing around uneasily, she stepped away. Their attacker could have a cohort lying in wait nearby, ready to spring out should the first attacker not return. They had to move quickly.
Akira nodded at the others, and they nodded back. Sasuke doused the fire and covered it with rocks, Reki cleared the trees of the beds, Akira sat around like an idiot. Sasuke, once finished, wated for Reki to do so. Once they were all done, they leapt into the trees, and the small group was gone.
From the bushes, another red eyed-attacker awaited.
He bared his fangs.
He would feast tonight.
Clawed hands curling into fists, he bounded into the forest after his prey. He sensed blood of those he had been ordered to hunt to extinction-blood thick with chakra. His inhuman speed made it possible for him to match and, should he wish it, outrun his current prey. But no, he was not going to outrun his prey. He was going to kill his prey the moment they stopped moving and laid their heads down to rest.
The threesome left their first campsite far behind and ran until dawn, still heading in the direction they had been told to by the messenger. Unaware of the tracker running nearly directly beneath them, they halted when Reki and Akira nodded at each other. Reki did not regret totally leaving Sasuke out of the team. Nothing had made her change her mind about letting him truly join in the team yet.
"We need to move stealthily," Reki said. "Otherwise other hunters'll be able to find us and attack us when we rest." Inside she worried. Why were their enemies on their trail? And what was with that odd sign on their attacker's head? They were supposed to be a nearly invisible unit to go in and observe the situation without attracting any attention whatsoever. The last part had already failed.
"We should stop running through the trees like chipmunks," Reki continued. "It might be better if we went more cautiously and didn't light fires when we camped, or left signs on the environment."
Sasuke grunted. "Of course, there is always the chance that they saw us leaving, adn are waiting for the moemnet to strike right now."
Akira nodded. "True. In that case, we should check around us.
"Let's not make it obvious," Reki suggested, lowering her voice to a mere whisper of breath and words. "We'll move on for a little and stop. Then we'll act like we''re foraging or something while we're looking for signs of enemy activity. If someone finds anything, they should seek out one of the other members and we'll regroup."
Akira nodded. Sasuke shifted, then quietly mumbled, "But, what if someone attacks one of us separately?"
Akira frowned. "I don't know...maybe..." She pulled two walkie talkies out of her magical bag. "Maybe these?"
Sasuke half smiled. "Yes, we should fuel up soon," he said loudly. "This is the last of our jerky."
"And we ate the last of our apples," Reki said, intentionally adding a tone of worry to her voice. "It hasn't even been twenty four hours and already we're losing suppiles. We need to forage."
Akira bit her lip. "I'll go over here! I think I can see some berries."
SAsuke smirked. "Is that the best you girls can do? I'm going to set some snares." With that, he bounded (shut up) off into the bushes.
Reki jumped down from the tree and began shuffling through them, looking for edible plantlife. One eye was on the fake task and the other was glancing about for enemies. She sensed Sasuke scanning one area and Akira plucking berries from a bush and eating them while turning her head casually to each side.
There was a crack, and a rustle in the bushes behind her. (yes I'm adding an overdose of action in)
A dog-like human came leaping out at her. She caught a glimpse of fangs and claws before it was on top of her. Kiko was the first thought that went through her mind but she immediately realized that this dog creature had no innocence in its purpose whatsoever. The claws tore down her side and she clamped her mouth shut to prevent a shriek of panic escaping her. She had never been put in this situation before.
She was pinned. The dog creature was raising its paw-hand again for another strike. Reki looked over to both her sides. Both hands were free, only for an instant.
There wasn't much to do a jutsu with, but it would have to do.
She began creating hand signs, doing complicated motions in mere fractions of a second. The paw seemed to descend in slow motion when at last she completed the sequence. She cupped her hands and a burst of wind rushed from their center, blowing the beast's face. It was gale-force winds and nothing to mess with. The beast's head was cracked back and it tumbled head over tail, landing with a thump on the ground but quickly rising again.
Reki shrieked and yanked her demon shuriken from her pack. The shuriken folded, she swung it wildly at the beast, slashing across its face and spraying blood.
By now Sasuke and Akira were alerted to the commotion. They rushed over, SAsuke turning his sharigan on. "Reki, to your left!"
But by the time Reki turned, it was too late. Another enemy rushed forward, spitting kunai towards Reki. Reki's eyes widened-
as she was shoved aside by Sasuke, as he deflected the kunai. He landed awkwardly on top of her, almost crushing her. "Are you alright?" he asked, moving off of her.
Reki shoved Sasuke away and jumped to her feet, knowing there was no time for awkward exchanges in the midst of battle. Suddenly it seemed as though there were too many enemies, coming from every direction. She unfolded her shuriken and threw it at one, who dodged it and grabbed it on its way back. Being prepared, Reki yanked out another shuriken and kept it folded in her hands to use as a close combat weapon.
Calm down, she thought. Examine the situation.
All the adversaries were human, except for the beast creature. all the human adversaries had the odd mark on the foreheads and held kunai knives. She could not see any shuriken in their arsenal, so they were suited for the close range battle, except for the one who had caught her own shuriken and was twirling it around experimentally. Reki flung out her arm holding the shuriken and slashed at the wolf creature againas it drew closer than she would have liked. It backed away before her shuriken could make contact and snarled, saliva drippng onto the ground.
She started making hand signs frantcally, aiming to do the same jutsu she had used on the wolf creature. A kunai flew and almost punctured her hand, missing her head by inches as well.
Another flew past Akira's hair as she tussled with several ninja. One had her hand pinned, so she couldn't do jutsu. She used the other hand, however, to throw out kunai with startling accuracy, several mounting themselves in the ninja's arms, one hitting a man-beast. sHe flew around, the other adversaries distracted, and freed her hand from the man who was holding it, stabbing him deep in the chest, not a vital point, but a dangerous one tat could possibly kill him if he bled enough.
[5:40:04 PM] GaHoole Tenten: There was a sudden ball of flame that burnt the attackers, causing their flesh to turn a roasted red color. The wolf beast, beginning to adapt to its preys' tactics, leaped back to avoid being scorched. Sasuke had used the precious moments when the attackers were focused on Reki to initiate his own jutsu.
Reki tried again to make the signs for the wind jutsu. It was one of her own creation and required mediocre amounts of ckara. She could do it over more than five times before draining noticeable amounts of her energy. Again a knife nearly punctured her hands. Had she not been making the sign of the tiger she would have been in some pain.
This time she did not hesitate because of the knife. She cupped her hands and the wind burst out, whistling and howling like a wounded wolf. It twisted around the enemies and carried them off their feet. The wolf creature dug its claws into the ground and stayed put.
Realizing that the longer the fight dragged on the more likely it was the wolf creature would entirely comprehend their tactics, and take advantage of them, Reki turned her attention on the main threat. She clicked open her demon shuriken and tossed it, aiming for the wolf's vulnerable throat. The wolf thing began to jump, but before its legs could entirely leave the ground the shuriken caught it in the chest. Blood and fur flew through the air and the wolf creature wailed in agony. Breathing heavily, it shook itself and dislodged the bloody shuriken, fury sparkling in its bright red eyes.
Akira leaped up and shoved two more ninja to the ground, trying to get to the beast that she knew was going to attack with a fury. SHe coldn't let that happen. Couldn't let that go too far-
Three more ninja fell as she fought her way towards Reki. No. She couldn't.
She snarled at another ninja. "Want some more?"
She gulped, but advanced. Akira made her Tiger Genjutsu, forming the handsigns almost in slow motion. Faster. Faster!
Akira was thrust into the realm of the mind once more as she tortured the ninja in that same state of glee thaat came from hearing the sounds of pain.
The ninja cried out in a spasm of pain, then fell to the ground, the genjutsu slowly fading. Akira almost collapsed from the strain of using her genjutsu, but she couldn't let herslef fall. She had to protect her teammates.
Dragging herself up, she ran towaards the beast with a war cry that rivaled a hawk's shree. The beast-man turned and snarled at her weak attemp, easily knocking her over. The beast salivated onto her face, it's foul breath a accent to the terror that Aki was feeling.
Then the wolf creature placed its claws on Akira's throat and stared at Reki, growling. Akira gasped for breath but no air could enter her lungs. Her eyes went hazy and the world grew fuzzy. Her breath rattled and grew quieter and quieter.
Reki ran to retrieve her demon shuriken and threw it at the wolf, who caught it in its jaws. Biting down hard, it cracked it in half and grinned, baring teeth hungry for blood.
By this time the other enemies were beginning to rise. The grouped around the wolf creature and advanced quickly on Reki and Sasuke. Reki bobbed her head but could not see Akira, yet inside her head she could a rasping breath, a nearly dead breath, crushed by a terrible force. Was she imagining Akira's breath... or was it something else inside her head?
Then for one second she was seized by a feeling of severe vertigo. The world spun like it was in a kaleidascope. It came back into focus, sharper than ever. She could see through the deepest shadows under the trees, see for miles around with little effort. The enemies hesitated, and she could read the signs in the way they moved. They saw something in her that had not been there before.
She see the breath of the wolf creature stirring the fur around its lips and see the inside of its eye through the pupil. This was true sight, she could feel it, and she loved it.
Another kunai knife came towards her. She could see it coming, predict its path without doing a single conscious calculation. She snatched it from the air and felt with surprise how strong her grip was. Then she observed the enemy. There. A weak target, who betrayed fear in his step. The weak enemies were always the ones to eradicate first.
The knife flew from her hand with strength she had never possessed before and struck down the incoming foe. Then she hurled herself into the crowd, kicking punching, essentially letting go of all sane thought. Her eyes protected her. Nothing, no leaf, no speck of dust, could get by her guard.
The foes fell to the ground and the wolf creature stepped away, fear replacing fury in its eyes. Reki meant to tell it off and give it some very menacing words but all that came from her throat was a torn shree, like that of an angered owl. The wolf creature backed away more quickly now, and still Reki advanced. She did not want to let her prey go.
Akira gasped for breath and coughed, her throat raw and sore. She felt like she couldn't move, like there was a weight on her chest, preventing her from breathing. A single breath filtered in, clearing her vision of stars and allowing her to watch the scene before her:
Blood. So much blood. And the feeling that rage, a uncontrollabel rage that filtered through the world, which was getting hazy again. Akira toko another halting breath. Sasuke stood frozen in the corner, holding a ninjain his fist, kicking upwards into his face. His foot was stuck there. Akira could tell he was afraid.
Reki screeched a horrible, terrifying scream that rent through Akira's ears. She shivered in the raw passion of it, the wild and beautiful scream of the owl.
An outline of wings stood upon Reki's back, her right eye round and yello. Her mouth had started to form into a terrible shape, and her hands and feet turning into claws. Blood dripped from her beak as the Beast twitched below her. Reki turned back to it and screamed again. The Beast whimpered once, and was silent. Slowly, Reki's eye started to turn back to normal, the outline of her wings fading. The aura that had surrounded her finally faded from the mottled brown and black that it had been, leaving a very drained and swaying Reki.
Faltering, Reki looked around her. Her sight was so much less than it had been a second ago, and she felt frail compared to the power she had felt moments ago. Her hands were covered in blood and its also on her face. She fell into a sitting position on the ground, dazed. The wolf creature was gone-or at least, the whole was. Reki turned her head away from the carnage in front of her. What remained of the wolf creature were bloody bits, some big, some small.
Had she done that?
She looked back at her teammates, who both met her gaze with wide, frightened eyes. She suddenly was afraid of herself. What would have had to come over her to make her wreak this much havoc?
She looked down at her bloody hands and tried to remember. But it seemed as if the memories had slipped away with the power. The only thing she knew-something unnatural had happened.
Nausea came over her. Her head spun and she flopped onto the ground, breathing hard and trying to focus on the sun stung her eyes but it was so much better than feeling the sickness in her stomach and the increasingly painful pounding in her head. Then her eyes rolled back in her skull and she passed out on the bloodstained ground.
"Reki?" Akira gasped. "Reki!" she screamed, but her voice gave out. "SAsuke, get her!" she whsipered hoarsely.
Sasuke shook his head, seemingly broken out of his trance.
He ran over to Reki and felt for her pulse.
Akira waited.
He didn't answer for a moment.