Chapter 3: The first trail! Pain through suffering. Relief through blood.
(Somewhere near the border of Iwa)
Yochi and Asriel walked down a path that led to an abandoned site. It was filled with rotting trees and worn pillars of stones. As they walked Yochi spotted something in the rubble. Curious he walked over to a pile of stones and began to remove the pieces in an attempt to get to what interested him.
After removing the last piece he came across a sword sheath; it was an unusual looking one at that. It was shaped in the form of a Y; with the opening part being made out of a stainless gold, with a simple locking seal engraved on the side so that when the blade slid in there it would activate the seal and lock in place until it was ready to be used. The rest of the sheath was a brown almost reddish color, which ended in a metal pointy tip that drew blood when Yochi touched it. A clasp with a buckle was attached to the sheath to be worn on the back or side respectively.
Yochi picked up the sheath and attached it to his back. After adjusting the harness's length to fit his body he walked back to Asriel who had a questioning look on her face.
"Why did you grab that?" she wondered. Yochi smiled "I felt like I just needed to get it." He replied
Asriel nodded and they continued walking until they entered an open courtyard.
In the middle of the courtyard was a statue. It depicted two people in fierce combat. One was a female with arching angel wings that looked almost real; she wore a silver, feather adored head set with blue painted armor over a long robe all made out of stone. Her hair was in a long flowing braid and he face was set in a scowl. In her hand she held a double-edged longsword with no fuller, with a wide bronze hilt, and a yellow gem attached to the hilt. The hilt guard was locked upwards. (Glance Reviver: unsealed version)
The person she was fighting held a silver sword with red runes/kanji flowing down the blade. He had spiky hair that was in a ponytail and wore silver armor. His eyes burned with the fires of vengeance and he clutched a feather in his hand as his mouth was set in a snarl.
Yochi and Asriel gazed in awe at the sheer beauty of the statue that depicted the two people forever locked in battle. Suddenly Yochi's eyes glazed over and with slow, jerky steps he lumbered towards the statue.
Asriel reached out to stop him when she heard the sound of a twig snapping. She whirled to face the sound and had to quickly unsheathe her blade as a man wearing pure silver armor with the visor covering his eyes so that it couldn't be seen and he wielded a large battle axe that could cut a tree in half.
The strange man gave a large bellow at Asriel before he charged at he and tried to slam his elbow into her gut; Asriel quickly side-stepped that before she retaliated with three stabs in the foot that made the man grab his foot and hop around in place, only to fall to the ground from a kick in the face from Asriel.
As she thrusted her blade towards the fallen man he rolled to the side avoiding the blade by a mere hairs width, he rolled back to a crouch and slammed his blade across Asriel's head hoping to behead her only to clash blades with her.
Meanwhile Yochi had finally reached the statue and he grabbed his head in pain as he heard a ringing sound that assaulted his ears. He grasped his head in pain and fell to his knees rolling around the ground.
He raised his head and stared at the statue of the winged woman and noticed the sword in her hand. As he felt his arm reach out; he noticed the sword began to glow with an ethereal light. The light grew brighter and brighter until it released itself from the stone hand and flew into Yochi's own hand.
As his fingered curled around the pommel he gave it a few swings noting that it was light and easy to wield. As he turned to Asriel he finally noticed that she was in a fight with a strange person.
A Berserker: a clan of elite knights from the Holy Iwa Empire. It was the day that the Evil Seed rose and cursed the knights into monster beings, along with Johan Durer and the castle lord. The strongest ones are still alive and spotted at an Eastern forest in Iwa. Most of them (not all) now reside in labyrinths with secret motivations.
He heard a female voice say in his mind. Shaking his head; Yochi rushed towards the "Berserker" and leaped into the air. The Berserker glanced up as he saw a rapidly growing shadow approaching, and Yochi slammed Glance Reviver into the armored man's face the blessed blade easily cutting through the armor and the face behind it unleashing a spray of blood that painted his face red.
Landing on the ground Yochi wiped the blood of his face and sheathed his blade. He turned to Asriel and helped her off the floor "You okay?" he asked. Asriel nodded and sheathed her blade. "Thanks." She said. "No problem" he replied.
Brushing the dirt of her clothes she and Yochi began to walk off towards the looming village of Iwa…
(Konoha)
Obasi paced outside the medical room as the doctors worked on treating Naruko from her strange "Curse". Slamming his fist into his palm he turned when he heard the door open and a nurse walked out.
She looked around before she saw obasi and walked up to him "Are you this young girl's teammate?" she asked. Obasi nodded; the lady beckoned him to follow her as she led him down the hall. "Lady Naruko has a strange illness that we can't understand." She started. "It's crippling her chakra reserves slowly each day; it also is affecting her nerves and motor functions." Obasi stopped walking and stared at her "So what can we do about it?" he demanded.
The nurse sighed and stopped walking. "If you don't find a cure in thirty days…" she paused "…Lady Naruko will never be able to use chakra again." She stated and walked away.
Obasi sank to floor, his ears ringing from the words he just heard. Never use chakra again? He thought; he knew that Naruko prided herself on her more then average chakra reserves; if she lost that ability to control her chakra she'll be devastated.
Rising of the floor he turned to leave when he bumped into someone. "Oh sorry!" he apologized. The man he bumped into brushed his white cloak off, "It was nothing" he said in a familiar deep voice that Obasi narrowed his eyes at. As the man turned to go he caught a flash of yellow under the hood, revealing a scared face that looked like a drill had pierced his face.
Obasi's eyes widened as he pointed a finger at the man "YOU!" he bellowed. He reached behind his back and unsheathed his broadsword; before leveling it at the man. "You're the reason Naruko is in this mess in the first place!" he grasped his sword tightly in his hands "Tell me… Tell me how to heal her!" he then ran towards the man and swung only to find it blocked by the man in white with a single hand.
"If you wish to find the cure;" the man started before he turned and tossed both obasi and his sword out the window. "You will seek your older brother; for he holds the cure." He finished darkly before he leaped after him and slammed his body into Obasi's creating a crater that cracked the ground beneath them.
"My name is Zasalamel." He declared "We'll be in touch." He ominously stated before he vanished into thin air…
TBC…
