Izo woke up the following morning, reaching for his ice dragon immediately when he heard commotion outside of his tent. He got up and got dressed in a rush, to see what was going on. He saw a small crowd gathering at a distance. He jogged over to see what was going on. As he got closer to the crowd, he realized the other demons were gathered around Dark Crone's tent. He no longer sensed anything vile coming from the tent.
"What's going on?" he asked the nearest demon to him.
He looked over the heads of the other demons, seeing Maeshu come out of Dark Crone's tent. She looked at the crowd around her. "Kyandoru should have been allowed to move farther south. Last night she succumbed to hypothermia," she announced. Her eyes scanned the crowd and locked on Izo. She looked furious with him, but she could not possibly blame him for this. "Perhaps I should summon the angel to strike vengeance on the cold she herself can't even handle."
Maeshu stalked off after that, shoving her way through the crowd. She intentionally bumped into Izo on her way through the crowd, even though he had backed out of her way. She blamed him, or she blamed Sister or Mother, somehow.
"What happened?" Izo asked the crowd.
The demon nearest him spoke up. "You heard Lady Maeshu. Kyandoru froze to death in her sleep last night."
"It was rather cold last night," another demon commented. "Too cold. We need to travel sooner rather than later."
"She should have been allowed to live farther south in Alaric than this," another demon said. "Lady Hikari refused her though."
"Didn't understand that not all demons are impervious to the cold. Kyandoru was from a tropical climate," yet another demon commented.
Izo sensed the crowd was growing unruly. He felt it best to leave the area. He went back to his tent, zipping it up and settling himself down on his sleeping roll. Kyandoru had died last night... in her sleep... from the cold weather...
He jumped when heard someone entered his tent. "Get up," Ice Master told him. "Strike your tent to come with me." He tone brokered no nonsense.
Izo shook his head, trying to rattle the racing thoughts from his brain. "Come with you where?"
"The shinobi are leaving to roam the North first. Risho wants us to beat the rush. The others left yesterday. I stayed behind to recruit you. Maeshu has a mission for us," he explained.
Izo blinked up at him. "What...?"
Ice Master quietly said, "I did what you asked, so now you're honor bound to join the shinobi, or die trying."
Ice Master left the tent after that, leaving the vague comment to hang in the air. Izo rubbed his eyes, wondering what was going on. He then recalled what he told Ice Master to do if he wanted him to join him.
He got dressed quickly, rushing out of his tent. He looked around the area, wondering how many demons were now hating Sister as Maeshu had implicated because Maeshu had assumed Dark Crone had died from the cold, and not foul play. He could see from the distance a small crowd gathering around her tent. Nervously, he turned back to his tent. He took it down, packing his things in a rush before Maeshu or another leader came to him.
Once his rucksack was packed, he hurried to find Ice Master, sensing for him, jogging over to where he was. Ice Master already had his own rucksack packed on his back. Ice Master held a finger to his lips, cocking his head for Izo to follow him.
Izo followed him at a jog, away from the the tents of the other demons. Once they were out of hearing distance of the camp, he stopped. Ice Master stopped, looking over at him.
"Let's go," Ice Master ordered. "The others are waiting for us."
"Wait," Izo said, wanting answers first. "Did you kill Kyandoru?"
Ice Master gave him a blank look. "She succumbed to the cold. Hypothermia in the night. She was ill suited for this climate. You heard Maeshu," he stated.
Izo felt flustered. "What caused the cold weather last night?"
Ice Master huffed, standing up tall. "You wanted her dead in a way that wouldn't force your mother to come up her and take revenge. Leave it at that."
Izo stared at him, shocked. "You killed her. You plummeted the temperature around her tent while she slept, didn't you?"
"I gave you what you wanted. The shinobi needs more demons in its ranks. We'll take you at this cost," Ice Master ruled. "Risho will approve, even if some of the others might not."
"If you could just kill another demon by the cold, why didn't you do that to Ichiro?" Izo challenged.
Ice Master shook his head. "Someone else tried that. He killed her for it. Usually elves handle the cold less than demons do. He could shield himself from most anything, telepathy, being tracked, even the cold weather. Guess his hunger for power kept him warm enough."
"I'm nothing like him," Izo insisted.
"Pray that be true, for your sake," Ice Master commented. "Let's keep going."
"Right," Izo said, nodding. He watched Ice Master take off. He ran after him.
They jogged for what felt like hours. At time Ice Master would stop, sensing for someone. Izo wished he could help him, but without knowing whom he was looking for or what they sensed like,he did not stand a chance. Izo wondered vaguely if Father could track someone down he had never sensed before. It was one of his greatest talents, tracking someone down based on their energy signature alone. He tried to teach it to Sister and Izo. Izo was passable at it, but Sister had been hopeless.
Finally Ice Master stopped, breaking Izo out of his thoughts about his family. "We're here, at the shinobi's camp. Stay behind me, keep your mouth shut, and let me do the talking," he warned.
"Why?" Izo asked softly, picking up Ice Master's sudden unsure-ness.
"In case Risho rejects you. Be prepared to fight either way," Ice Master warned.
"What?" Izo asked. "I thought you brought me because you were needed to fill your ranks."
Ice Master shook his head. "I risked bringing you because of that. You were the only one with promise about there. Now, be quiet and follow me."
Izo felt his ears draw back, mouth feeling suddenly dry. He reached for his ice dragon, but kept it hidden as they crossed into a clearing. Ice Master walked towards a camp where six others were mulling about, five men and one woman from the looks of it. The lot of them were gathered around a fire, having been engrossed in conversation. They all stopped speaking and looked over at Ice Master and Izo as they stopped before them.
One the men stood up. Izo trained his eyes on him. His skin looked pale, almost sickly. His black hair hung like a curtain around his jaw line, not unlike how Sister wore hers the last time he saw her. "Touya, who have you brought with you?" This man studied them both. He could tell the others were looking at him as well. Izo straightened his back, keeping his mouth clamped shut tight like Touya told him to.
"Risho, you said to bring recruits back from the other tribes. I saw him fight. He was the only one who showed any promise," Touya explained.
"Can he fight?" Risho asked, clicking his tongue against his teeth.
Izo saw another one of the men lean forward from behind a bigger, muscular man. The man had a bright red hair, pointed ears, and even a small horn protruding from his forehead. Izo wondered at the ears on the man. That was such an elvish trait. What was an elf doing up here with a bunch of ninjas...
"Hold on, that lad looks familiar," the red headed man commented.
Risho in front of him looked irked to be interrupted. "What's your name, boy?"
Izo snuck a look over at Ice Master, unsure if he should still hold his tongue. Ice Master sighed and said, "this is Izo. Eldest son of the angel."
Six people gaped at him, but the seventh, the red headed man, jumped up to his feet in fury. "Get him out of here!" he roared.
"Jin, calm down," Touya said calmly. He held his hands up, side stepping in front of Izo in a protective move.
This Jin did not calm done. He shoved passed Risho and stood toe to toe with Touya. Izo moved to defend himself, but Touya held up a hand to halt him. "He leaves, now," Jin growled.
Touya spoke softly. "He's done nothing to you. We need more members. You can't hate him simply because you hate his mother."
"That bitch seduced me, got me fired, promised to run off with me, and then hid away in the castle, whoring around with the king's permission," Jin accused.
Izo gaped at that, feeling his own temper spike. "My mother would never do any of that," he stated confidently.
Jin flared up at that, shoving Touya out of the way. He got in Izo's face, but Izo did not flinch away. "The half angel, half human from the southern part of the continent? Nanashi Urameshi?"
"That's her," Izo nodded.
Jin shook his head. "We don't need someone raised by the likes of her. She probably taught him how to lie and manipulate people just as well as she does."
Jin shoved his way passed him, disgruntled. He went towards the woods in a huff.
The lone woman from the group stood up. "Damn it," she swore in an accent not unlike Jin's. Her red hair, longer and shimmering, had the same hue as his. "Father," she called after him. She took a few steps forward, but hesitated.
Risho turned to look at her. "Airi, bring him back here."
The woman, who looked of the same age as Izo now, nodded respectfully and ran after Jin.
Risho turned back to Izo. "You're angelic then?" he commented. He went from curious to scowling. "That's means you're angelic, human, demonic, and elvish," he said the last word like it was a swear word.
Touya jumped back in. "He can fight," he insisted. "Maeshu wants us to take him on. She was over the moon when I suggested it."
Risho looked back over to the remaining men behind him. "Take a guess who's this boy's grandfather was?" he asked.
One of them clued in after a second. "Ichiro?" the one unnaturally white skin asked. One by one the other men stood up.
"He can fight," Touya insisted. "I've seen it. Give him a chance to prove himself. His sister wants to make amends for what their grandfather did up here."
"Fight me, anyone of you," Izo challenged. "If I win, I get to stay. If I lose, I'll go back to Maeshu," he offered.
"Wrong boy," Risho said, looking him up and down. "If you lose boy, you die."