Part Twenty-One: Takura Arcin: I can shine, too!
Neji helped Yassa into a seat as the next match began.
"Just in time," he said softly.
She nodded.
Arcin was waiting for Rena to make her move, but the other girl was just standing there, as if she were trying to find a bead of sweat on Arcin's face.
A hand of wood erupted from the ground, aiming to grab Arcin around her ankles.
Arcin launched into the air, more of the hands following her into the air. She began to use them to jump higher, trying to get away from them as fast as possible. She turned and looked at Rena, who was laughing.
A hand sign: "Wood Element: Snaring Coffin Jutsu!"
Arcin grabbed some kunai from her pouch and shot them at the wood as it came for her, wrapping in the air where she had been a second before. She jumped from one branch to the next, finally landing on the ground meters away from the branches.
Rena lifted her hands and aimed her fingers at Arcin, the branches lifting and churning towards her.
She jumped into the air as they launched after her, attempting to grab her and choke her to death.
She landed on the wall of the arena, her body sliding up it. She turned and began to run, the chakra focused in her feet.
Too bad, thought Shikamaru. She can't beat this…this is impossible…
The branches erupted out of the wall, grabbing Arcin around the ankles. She tripped and smashed into the wall, more of the branches winding around her, pulling her into the stone, her bones breaking from the force.
Arcin winced and screamed in pain.
The darkness was all around her, and for a long moment, she couldn't breathe. She felt her fingers lower towards her pocket, and she felt with her fingertips the last piece Shikamaru had moved during their game of Shogi.
Tara watched with interest as the Rena girl began to crush the Arcin girl. She found herself wishing that she was inside of the bind of branches instead of the other girl. But, then again…another death wasn't such a bad thought.
Rena lowered her hand, her body trembling. She had never had to chase someone down that long and hard before.
She stood up, sweat rolling down her body. She flung her hair from her face, watching as the branches entered the ground, Arcin's body falling from the great height at which she had been captured.
Rena grinned and began to laugh. "I…I did it! I did it! I won!"
Shikamaru watched Arcin intensely, as if waiting for her to move. He sighed and began to lift his hand to call the match.
"D-don't you dare," Arcin hissed.
Shikamaru paused and smirked. He lowered his arm.
"What?!" screamed Rena, watching as Arcin slowly pushed herself up from the ground.
Her bones were rearranging themselves, straightening out with sickening crunches and snaps.
Tara's eyes widened, and across the arena, Yassa smiled.
Arcin stood up, her legs crunching back together, the bones mending.
"What the fuck is this?!" screamed Rena. "What the hell are you?!"
Arcin laughed and pushed her bangs away from her eyes. She was holding the Shogi piece tightly in her hand, her eyes determined. She adjusted her footing and said, "I am the perfect being. I am superior. You can't kill me. Give in, or die."
Rena narrowed her eyes and adjusted her footing as well. "Like hell I will."
"I was hoping you'd say that," she replied with a chuckle. She looked up into the box, her eyes meeting Tara's. "I'm here, too. I can shine, just like you and that girl from Sand. I'm here, too, and I matter."
She looked back to Rena. The girl was exhausted.
Arcin closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She felt her body lurch as shuriken and kunai smashed into her. Well, at least the girl wasn't going to give up, but thanks to her, now Arcin had some means by which to fight.
Arcin opened her eyes and grinned as her skin wound around the weapons, dragging them into her body.
"What the fuck…?" whispered Rena, her eyes going wide. She recognized that…the way the girl's body absorbed her attacks. "You're…you're one of them…you…"
Arcin ran towards Rena, the shuriken and the kunai shooting from her body, pinning the other girl to the wall of the arena. She grabbed her own shuriken and kunai from her thigh pouch and pinned Rena's hands to the arena wall so that she couldn't make hand signs.
She turned and looked at Shikamaru, the Shogi piece still in her hand. She looked back to Rena. "I won't kill you—I'm not that kind of person. I'll let you choose again—quit, or die."
"I-I quit!" shouted Rena. "I give in! I give in!"
Shikamaru nodded and lifted his hand into the air. "Akio Rena forfeits. The match goes to Arcin."
The stadium was completely silent as Arcin left.
After all, three girls with the same Bloodline Trait had appeared from three different villages. For this to happen, there was little doubt in their minds that more was yet to come.