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Zantetzuken – Chaptire 4: Yours be Mine, Mine be Yours.

Beast Boy sat in his small room, knowing of the guard posted at the door. He would of transformed out through a window, but the enemy had been keeping him in a place without any. For the past three days, he had kept here against his will, pondering exactly why this was so. If they thought he was a thief, why not just turn him over to the authorities.

'Come to think of it,' thought Beast Boy, 'didn't the priest say these guys had methods that didn't agree with their own? If so, maybe they intend to deal with me themselves.' At this recent thought, Beast Boy decided he should look for a chance to escape. However, his scheming was cut short when the guard opened the door to his prison.

"Come thief," he spat out, "the master has decided he will be the one to exact your punishment."
"What would that entail exactly?" said Beast Boy in an agitated tone.
"That's not my concern. I was told to bring you to him alive and well is all," he said bluntly. The typical guard, he let Beast Boy lead the way to keep an eye on his motions. The path took the changeling outside, where he noticed he was being lead to the other side of the temple grounds. It didn't take long before the two arrived at the main hall. To Beast Boy's surprise, the priests had all gathered and were turned at his presence.

'Great,' thought Beast Boy, 'looks like a crowd for an execution if I ever saw one.'
He was lead towards the back, where he ascended a small flight of steps, to where the head priest was waiting, a eerie glare on his face. The guard was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and knelt in the presence of the head priest.

The head priest, known to the others as Toyoshi, circled the young man, who hinted in his eyes that he was truly afraid of what was to come.

Beast Boy at the priest's circling grew from scared to agitated once again.
"Well," he stated, "what are you waiting for? If you're going to do something to me, get it over with!" Toyoshi answered him with a swift hand to his face.
"Relax," he said, attempting to calm him down, "if this were any ordinary burglary, we would have simply caught you and skinned you."
"You say something like that to me after telling me to relax?" shouted Beast Boy, and received another slap by Toyoshi.
"Can I finish? Or do I just need to tape your mouth shut," said Toyoshi, his voice raised just the slightest in tone. Beast Boy decided that he was probably getting what he deserved for picking something up that didn't belong to him, and remained quiet.
"Good," said Toyoshi, "like I was saying; if you were any ordinary thief, we would kill you and that would be that. But, you are far from ordinary."

As the priests found out that they weren't going to get a show, they started to stir up. They shouted angrily at the fact that the boy in front of them was not going to be killed, or so it sounded. At the sound of all this shouting, Toyoshi walked past Beast Boy to the head of the stairs. He unsheathed his sword, and let loose a blade whip much like the one he used to incapacitate Beast Boy. The thunderous roar it made echoed throughout the main hall, and then faded into the now silent room.

"I will have no such insolent whining from my warriors!" he barked with absolute venom in his words. "I am to decide his fate, and anyone who feels otherwise: if you want this boys head you will come through me first!" He sheathed his sword and returned to Beast Boy. "You are all dismissed!" he shouted, and immediately the room was empty except Beast Boy, Toyoshi, and one guard behind the priest.

Toyoshi motioned for said guard to come towards him, to which he then began to speak to him.
"Harashima," said Toyoshi, "keep an eye out on the students, I will have no direst in my temple."
"Yes, Toyoshi-sensei," said Harashima, and left in a flash.

When everyone had seemed to leave, Toyoshi walked to the East of the main hall and beckoned for Beast Boy to follow. Beast Boy, having seen the man just stand up for his life, followed suit. Beast Boy was lead to Toyoshi's personal cabin of the temple. For a man Beast Boy had the initial impression of as a hardened soldier, Toyoshi seemed to also be a scholar. Various bookshelves lined the walls of the room, with a bed fashioned of bronze in the corner by the window overlooking the grounds. In another corner sat a table with two chairs.

"Please," said Toyoshi, "I need to talk to you about something important." Beast Boy took one of the chairs while Toyoshi went over to another corner of the room, where a hotplate and a rack of spices and tea boxes sat. "Care for some tea?"
"Uh, no thanks, not a big fan of tea," said Beast Boy.
"Oh well, suit yourself," said Toyoshi, and put a kettle of water on the hotplate. He then took the other seat unoccupied.
"Ok," said Beast Boy, tired of all the different reactions he was getting from this guy. What, was he bipolar or something? "What exactly is your game? You hit me in front of your students, then take me in here for tea and crumpets, why?"
"I didn't offer crumpets," said Toyoshi, "and I slapped you because I'm not one to let another be rude and constantly interrupt me. Especially when I'm trying to ask why that someone can use the Zantetzuken."

"So that is the sword I saw in this book," said Beast Boy.
"Your skin," said Toyoshi.
"Where did that come from," said Beast Boy, quirking an eyebrow.
"Your skin, why is it that color?"
"Let's just say I had a weird childhood," he said shyly. "You may not think it of a 'thief,' but I'm a superhero." He got out of his seat and did several transformations in front of Toyoshi to solidfy his point.
"Interesting," he said after the demonstration, "it might be your connection with the primal world that allows you enough ki to use the blade."

"There's something I'm not getting," said Beast Boy, trying to explain his situation. "Those priests at the other Shinto shrine talked about you guys like you're the plague. I was getting the feeling you were some kind of cult of warriors or something."
At the mention of the Shinto priests, Toyoshi sighed in disappointment.
"Yes, well I'm afraid after our founder Goemon Ishikawa broke off from the Shinto pantheon, they haven't been able to ever forgive us."
"Why do they hate you so much?" asked Beast Boy.
"Because we are trying to keep the warrior past of Shinto alive. We used to be priests who would wonder Japan exorcising demons and other abominations of life. The Shinto priests, at the revolution of Japan, were content to say that our enemies were defeated, and we no longer needed to fight."

"And was when your founder broke off."
"Goemon pleaded with them to keep at least a small group of priests in training, but they just said our fight with demons were over. They didn't understand: people don't make something or someone the enemy."
"Then what does?" asked Beast Boy.
"The times," said Toyoshi, and got up to make his tea. He poured himself two cups, and brought them to the table. He placed one in front of Beast Boy.
"Uh, sorry, but I said I'm not a fan of tea," he said politely.
"I know what you said, but when in your life did you first try tea?" asked Toyoshi.
"About four years ago, when one of my friends brought tea into the tower. She still drinks it today."
"Try it, and see if you like it."
Beast Boy sipped the tea, first in little amounts because of its heat, but then took a good long sip. He gasped in a sound of refreshment.
"Hmm, that's not bad at all."
"You see?" said Toyoshi. "The times change all of us, for better or worse. It's the only certain thing we have to believe in. Goemon saw that long ago, when he carved this temple out of the mountain's base itself."

"And he used Zantetzuken to do that right?" said Beast Boy.
"Yes, that's right," said Toyoshi, "and only a few people are able to hold the sword. A priest here could train all his life and only be able to wield the holy blade in his 80's, assuming he lived that long." He put his tea down and stared at Beast Boy intently. "Which is why," he said, "the priests here were stricken with awe that an outsider could use its cutting strength. Beast Boy, is it? Why were you looking for Zantetzuken anyways?"

Beast Boy at the inquiry of his purpose here put his cup down as well, his eyes deep with recollection of memory. "I, I came here because I think that sword is the only way to keep my promise to someone. My group and I were fighting a powerful villain by the name of Slade. One of his soldiers, his general in fact, was a dear friend of mine. We defeated Slade, but my friend sacrificed herself so the city could survive. We promised, no, I promised I would find a way to save my friend. I think Zantetzuken can free my friend from her stone coffin."

"Well," said Toyoshi, "I heard you split the very air with Zantetzuken earlier this week, so cutting stone around your friend should be no problem. However, you will need some mental discipline to shape your ki correctly."
"Toyoshi," said Beast Boy, who got out of his chair and bowed in front of the priest, "I know it's asking a lot, but I need to use the sword. Please, I only need it for a short while, then I swear to bring it back."

Toyoshi looked at young man in front of him, who was begging him for permission to use the holy artifact of their temples founder. And yet, he felt that it couldn't hurt, as long as he accompanied the boy. 'It makes me wonder what lord Goemon would do if he ever needed to do something so trivial to his power,' he thought, chuckling to himself. 'Lord Goemon, do you truly favor this boy with the sword you kept care of so lovingly?'

"I will accompany you to your friend. I will give you Zantetzuken when we get there so that you may free her, then I shall return here," he said, which perked Beast Boy's head up immediately.
"You'll come with me?" he cried out in surprise. "But, why not do it yourself then?"
"Because your promise is not my promise. If you care so much for your friend, it's only fitting that you free your friend yourself. I will come to make sure you are able to."
"I, I don't know what to say. Isn't there anything I need to do? Isn't there some kind of payment or something?"
"Well, the temple rents out its services for a fee, but to use our holy sword, that would cost more than money can give. What can you give me in return?"
"Well, there are a couple books in my bag, one of them might add to your library."
"That would do. After all, this is a noble cause. Very well, as they say in Ireland: Yours be mine, and mine be yours." With that, Toyoshi picked up his new client from the floor.
"I guess you must repack and get ready to travel back home. I will call for you in two days." With that he and Beast Boy left the room.

Unbeknownst to them however, a head peers into the room from the open window. The person is wearing a mask, and examines the room to see it empty. The masked figure left the window, and jumped up to the roof of the temple. The figure pulled out a communicator and turned it on.

"Hello, master, I believe your intuition has paid off. The Titan you ordered me to follow is indeed here, and he's on his way back to the tower with the head priest. I think you are going to like what I have to report..."


Man, this is still looking too short, and this is five pages on my word application. Oh well, I got what I wanted out of it, and I still have quite a bit to go. So I hope you all will bear with me...

"Thank You!" To the Following:

Poopy Penguin
I guess I'll get used to it eventually, but thanks either way. I just haven't been inspired yet like I used to. Hopefully something will come across later.

Black Dawn
Lol, well I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks for the review.

cmartist
I'm disapointed to with chapter length, as I really think these are longer than they actually are. I'll work harder to get them longer, but I do stop when I think I reach a good stopping point. Thanks for the review.

ssjEasterBunny
Wow, you certainly had a lot to say, and thankfully it was all positive. I was going for Beast Boy trying to avoid making a bad situation worse. I see that in Beast Boy every now and then, though it usually depends on if he thinks he can get away with running away. Unique eh? I guess there are some elements to my writting you don't see every day. As for AIM, I don't know if my comp has, it (it probably does its just I dont' use instant messanger). Don't worry about writting to keep up with me, everyone goes at thier own pace. I do look forward to what you've got up your sleave though. I'm wondering if you've gotten better since Angel's Tears.

KPAAF and See Yall Around.