Article 33 - Chapter 29 - "S" Plus Laughter
Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.
-Also, still accepting Beta readers/ Editors! Hit me up with a PM-
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
(Last Chapter: Excerpt)
(Mina POV)
"We want information about the other world. We have compiled stories and legends from most intelligent animals, but we have never had a summoner."
Compiled stories and legends of most animals? What about Dragons?
"Do you have information on any Dragons?"
"If you become our Summoner, you will have access to our stores of knowledge."
I was hoping I'd get better intel out of him before I spilled the beans,but it looks like now is as good of time as any.
"Your species is beneath me. I am a living legend. I am searching for Dragons."
┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 29 ├┬┴┬┴
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
(Mina POV)
The squirrel's eyes widened, His tail freezing mid-air.
Admiring Leon are we?
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.
"Chuukukukuku!" it chattered.
Eight chakra infused rodents rushed and scampered from their cover. From their hiding places.
Each of the newer squirrels had gear much more suited for combat than the original squirrel I met - who by comparison, only had leather clothing with numerous pockets.
'Unlike many animals, Squirrels don't have packs - we are a community. We are a single entity divided. We are everywhere." one of them chirped.
The squirrels tail was flailing about aggressively slamming into the ground with thumps.
I smirked at the rodents bravado to believe this would be sufficient back-up for me, because It wouldn't.
"You all still have the chance to live. Any squirrel who wishes to live or save your kin need only tell me whatever they know about Dragons." I said.
Their heads bobbed and turned to each other erratically wordlessly coming to some consensus.
"A child." A newer squirrel voiced
"-Such arrogance." Another spat out.
"Human - you misunderstand. You are not worthy of the Squirrel clan by virtue of coming this far, we only want to test you to see our compatibility."
All of us stood in a hush. They seemingly were waiting for my response.
Yes, that's right. Now I hold the power, the way it always should have been. If I plan to work that shitty god out of a job, then I should start playing my role as an unstoppable force.
Chakra flowed through the threads into Leon.
The Sharingan unleashed a visual jutsu into the rodents. A sensation unlike any I've experienced welcomed me. A neural connection where my thoughts and words were being projected into each of the squirrels like mindless vessels. Like foot soldiers.
All but one of them fell under my control, their bodies responding succinctly to my commands.
"Fahyre? Verthal? Meyridian?" The only sentient animal prodded.
"Your friends work for me now. Tell me where I can find my Dragons or I'll kill them all starting with the females."
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
After killing two possessed animals, I had an epiphany. an idea sailed sporadically into my brain.
To just kill the one who refused to give me my information and Instead - released my captives one by one from my control to interrogate them.
My results were much better after implementing this strategy.
That is if I can call the trash intel they gave me results.
"Dragons haven't been around for over 180 years. They migrated somewhere far away long ago, but even with all the knowledge we have stolen from the other clans, we have not found where they went." It said. "Some say they might have all died off… others say that their previous master slaughtered most of them and the rest are in hiding. There is no concrete answer."
Finally, a squirrel with enough sensibility to realize my threats weren't idle, but still managed to tell me everything but what I wanted to know. Where were they?!
Retrieving my pocket watch and flipping it open, I gasped.
Water had found its way inside the clock mechanism, the hands still moving but under noticeable stress.
Anger swelled in me, but I swallowed it realizing that despite my unfortunate arrival, it was my own fault for exposing the timepiece to the elements.
I was on a time limit. If I stay too long, I risk Hiashi returning to the village discovering my disappearance, and if that happens, I'm also risking my brain being destroyed by the caged bird seal.
Why didn't I take a second to think before plunging myself into the summoning realm?
Movement from around me broke me from my daydream. My body convulsed at the sheer number of chakra signatures getting closer. They came fast from the east. Bodies and bodies charging forward, their path towards where I was standing.
I might be self-confident, but I wasn't suicidal. I didn't want to face an army of squirrels just to make a single mistake that would cost me my life. A Retreat is a way to potentially pick a more favorable fight in the future - and that was the plan.
I began running. Running away from the swarm of chakra infused critters approaching.
"They are nothing before me! Let me finish them."
The words escaped my lips despite not thinking them.
Why would we turn around when we can hold onto our resources. We don't want the squirrels as our contract, why fight them?
"Would you walk away from a mess you spilled on the floor? No - You clean it up. Finish what you started!"
In a precarious scenario, battered and outnumbered, I should have been panicked. I should have been uncomfortable. But I didn't feel out of my element. Why was I really running? Was it that I thought I could die? To make a silly error that could result in the end of my life? I can die at any time, so that's not an excuse.
"No… It wasn't any of those things." I said.
It was a remnant of fear - but not of death. I had come to fear myself, or more succinctly - my potential.
Conflict brings something out of me. A dark rumination that is unbiased.
A taboo thrill that I told myself I was above. A thriving for chaos when I tell myself that I need order.
Paradoxical? Ofcourse. But such has been the legacy of mankind since its conception. We are born paradoxical creatures. Utterly complex by design. I fear that giving into this paradox meant that I would be unworthy of replacing Being-X. That even if I won, I would become just like it.
It was in my opinion, the single most toxic idea to my psyche. It was what divided me more and more over time, and dividing one's focus is the easiest way to lose sight of what you set out to do in the beginning.
I held Izuna's reins firm thinking it gave me control, but it was all an illusion. Holding him on a tight leash, never allowing his true free will... was the same thing Being-X did to me...
Can I stand for that? Can I continue to believe in myself recognizing such hypocrisy?
I knew my answer. I let his reins go - unleashing the maelstrom of chaos to truly greet this world on his terms.
My feet stopped, the enemies still hot in pursuit on my tail.
I turned, facing the stampede's with copious adrenaline coursing through my veins.
Dust rose from the canopy of the forest into the sky.
My heartbeat shifted in rhythm to synchronize with the footsteps of the ground being trampled.
The animals under my genjutsu neared circling around me, a silver tether manifesting and reaching out to each of them.
The twine burrowed beneath their hide into their flesh. It slithered and squirmed slurping out their wells of energy, channeling it through my system and into Leon.
The flow of the nonnative chakra felt coarse and viscous. Like liquid sandpaper was eroding away my veins and arteries.
It was painful, but I embraced the pain as it did me. We were inseparable all this time. It was time to share pain with the world. To allow it a palatable taste of our personal symphony.
Our song.
The ground trembled under foot barely noticeable, but I knew exactly what it was.
"Aghhhkaaaa!" I exclaimed with clenched teeth.
Chakra manifesting around me. Apparition-like bones encased me, my determination pushed me to outdo my previous efforts.
A golden glow radiated from around me, the light reflecting back from the eyes of the animals peering out of the tree-line. The golden sparkle calling me to welcome them to their demise. To let them feel the embrace of death in all its glory. To subject them to the shitty god before I usurp it.
I cannot be the only outraged consumer! Being-X runs an anti-competitive market. The power exclusivity he tried to hand me never sat right with me, the intention felt far too human to allow it to be revered as a god. -But I will do it better and I will let everyone know, because unlike Being-X, I will have full disclosure.
The furred army spilled out from the treeline, charging forwards. The front-line's slowed, but still trudged on. The hundreds of animals marched to their end, to their valley of death.
Their leader made a critical error. A blunder. They thought numbers gave them superiority.
There's not a reason why, but 'theirs' is to do and die.
On marched the army of hundreds, into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell.
Their battle cries pierced the empty sky. I felt their determination and tried to fight back the shivers of cold - my thrilling endeavor to stand at the top - for 'theirs' was to try and die.
Their execution drawing nearer, spit hurtling out from their nearing gnashing maws.
As a force of nature, I was 'the law'.
Squirrels broke up into separate formations. Long distance jutsu specialists wove hand signs and hurled bodies of chakra.
Elemental jutsu impacted my superior shell one after another. The attacks came in waves and droves.
All in all, it was holding well versus the firepower of the hundreds.
A silvery strand of heavens twine phased into reality catching the army by surprise. Blood spurt from bodies as I skewered the slow and weak first with the hardened sea of needles. Death came like an oceanic wave; Quick, forceful, and indiscriminate.
I didn't use my lungs, but I strained to will all their precious energy into my twine, sucking as much as I could in as if it was a straw.
I fed it into Leon solidifying my defense.
Beneath my skin a lava-like burning flow boiled. I clenched my small fists tightly until they lost feeling in them.
From inside my susanoo panic-room, I watched numerous flames of life extinguished like cheap matches. It was so easy, far easier than it ever used to be.
"Hahahahahaha!" I cried out hardened with experience. "The fun won't be done 'till you acknowledge my divinity. I am a wrathful god - hear my glorious name - IZUNA."
Rodents were leaping like frogs at me in a vain attempt to give me their fangs and claws.
White spikes dug into several that sprung towards me.
I gave the command and watched.
Their kin's skeletons morphed jutting out of the tagged bodies into lances, spikes, and spears, skewering the front-line of the herd of hundreds.
Blood rained and poured from the sky onto the earth.
An unimpressive burst of chakra condensed into a minuscule form mixed into the never-ending onslaught of jutsu crashed into my susanoo, however the heft behind it was unimaginable from it's appearance.
Swept off my feet, and My susanoo off it's base - We were launched backwards in a spiraling cartwheel. Smacking into the ground still spinning and rolling about.
Bonking my head against the interior of my cage, I was nauseous and discombobulated.
Dazed, I was still unable to relent, I struggled to push the incomplete susanoo upright, but I was being crawled on by a regiment of the army. Heads fought to squeeze through the gaps between ribs, their teeth chomping at the air with ferocious hissing.
My Susanoo began to flood with water. An electrical current zapped me cooking my nerve endings like I was a prized crab being prepared by a band of feral chefs.
Thick gooey blood dripped from my nose. The crimson paint straining my hand after dabbing my palm on my face.
My susanoo transformed bending under my will as never before - as if it was now made of rubber or elastic.
Goring my competition with maddened joy, I watched the beautiful crimson sail through the air in awe. My bloodlust spurring me to slaughter more and more.
It was my art. My canvas was the earth and the sky, and I stained both red under the scorching sun.
Cries and wails from the battlefield played in my ear like a melody. They excited me. They spurred me to work harder, to ascend to greater heights.
I listened to the cries of the dumb beasts. Some stared at me with fear in their eyes.
Yes! Fear me!
A wave of fire chakra wrapped into a blazing ball approached me, but I slapped it aside with the flick of a wrist. It turned back towards the crowd of animals, and managed to strike a barrel strapped to the back of a grisly beast.
The Barrel erupted into flame and force. A shockwave knocked over many of the close combatants, but even so, a liquid-like flame engrossed over the unfortunate that were in even closer proximity.
Burnt flesh chard and still sizzling where blown about the battlefield. The smell was so putrid I was sure it could cause paint to curl. It harassed and assaulted my nostrils.
I was disturbed. Disturbed that despite the frivolity and unproductivity that was this uncultured violence… that it could appeal to me as much and as deeply as it did. It was chilling.
-But as Izuna, I was expected to revel in this carnage was I not? Unleash your inner beast. Who are you hiding it from now?
Refocusing on the encircling army, I noticed a squirrel, but unlike the others, it was massive - likely 7 feet tall with a rippling chiseled physique.
I recognized it as the one that launched the condensed chakra ball. The one that launched me hundreds of feet like a rag-doll.
-But I wasn't done with my fun yet.
"Your massacre ends here beast!" The gigantic critter bellowed falling onto all fours.
His tail expanded in width and length, it extended ludicrously long launching my way. As it grazed the ground I noticed it rip rock out and cut grooves in the earth.
He must have a jutsu similar to Choji's but also is able to harden skin or use a protective barrier.
But there was something else! A sphere of chakra swirled and spun on the tip of the tail.
...It reminded me of a rasengan.
Pillars of earth shot from the ground bending and twisting around my susanoo locking away my mobility.
In surprise, I noticed 20 odd some critters who used a joint earth jutsu trapping me in place.
Try as I might, without limbs my susanoo was not going to be dislodged.
A blare of alarm rang throughout my brain, sparks flying this way and that in an attempt to think my way out of this problem.
My eyes watched in horror as the zooming tail pierced my defense shattering the front of my cage.
I pressed my back against my cages wall.
Waves and droves of blood-thirsty squirrels bum rushed into the cage. Some opponents were intelligent and agile enough to avoid my dead bone pulse.
I pushed lances of bone out from my skeleton, broad slashes of spikes flying under appendages as they swerved and spun their body nimbly around my attacks. All the while more opposition filed and poured into my broken cage.
Droplets squeezed out of my eyes streaming down my face.
I couldn't fathom why I was crying in this situation. In this exhilarating state between life and death. I was finally at peace.
Heavens twine unfurled twisting and turning like angered serpents. it spread throughout my cockpit stabbing into the slower combatants while they all were transfixed on my location trying to draw nearer.
Their skeletal system burst blasting fragments like a bomb ripping and shredding the occupants of my cockpit, including myself.
My wounds shriveled in attempt to close, but instead the holes on my body only shrunk marginally. They couldn't or wouldn't close themselves...
I'm losing blood at an alarming rate.
My body felt cold as my warmth left me through the open holes.
A flash of white trapped me inside my mind. It forced me to watch over numerous of my memories instantaneously.
Is this...where I die? Is this where it ends? Can I be happy with the life I've lived?
The faces of my friends and loved ones appeared like a reminder. A reminder that everyone dies but not everyone lives.
- Yoruichi - Ayasha - Tokuma - Neji - Sasuke - Hinata - Lee - Itomi -
They reminded us of something important. That I haven't really lived yet - that I wouldn't give in to the merchant of death.
-But he can't buy his way out of my wrath. I won't let him.
The white twine encased my body stopping my blood from hemorrhaging out. My primal brutality begging to be unleashed - however, I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what I wanted to do, only that now was the time for action. That if I couldn't make my stand here - that I couldn't make a stand anywhere.
The air buzzed with distortion. Static popped and ripped the scenery of the sloping valley. The enemies movement crawled to a snails pace. My brain processed my situation at superhuman speed. Movement leaving afterimages of my body.
Sparks of black and white leaked out of the seams of my surrounding reality.
I charged to the commander. The 7 foot tall rodent was locked in my vision. Scanning him up and down, I realized he was too slow to react. My white suit of twine covered everything. I hadn't even needed eye-holes with a tool like the Byakugan. I was a phantom of chaos.
Kicking up dirt, my legs unleashed my stored energy. My muscle fibers tore and groaned in agony - but my focus was razor precise. My eyes fixed on their general - their figure-head.
As if I was fighting a pacifist, the commander didn't strike at me - or even defend himself. My flexed straight hand punctured into the rippled furred chest cavity as if it were butter, and clenching my hand around a warm pulsating shape, my fingers wrapped around it and pulled.
My arm sailed out from the chest of the beast, his pink and spurting heart in my clutches. Surprise flashed in the eyes of the beast before the light faded. Grasping at the hole in his chest, he fell to the ground in slow-motion.
I watched - and watched - and watched.
It felt like it took a minute for him to finally hit the ground.
The buzz and static around me faded. The flow of time seemingly restoring itself.
Looking down to my hand, I felt the organ still trying to beat, the beats coming slower and slower each time.
"NOOOO! Captain Ryjert!" A voice called out.
The formation of the army broke down, units scattered this way and that flying a flag of surrender.
Unable to ignore the smell of the combat zone any longer, the contents of my stomach raised to the back of my throat, and unable to fight it back, it shot out of my mouth. The suit's internal warm dampness clung to my skin disgusting me.
"But I'm not done!" I screamed.
I pushed bone out of my forming new limbs wrapping them with the heavenly twine reinforcing it like muscles and joints. Each appendage's end looked like a humongous bone gavel.
"THEY STILL NEED TO BE JUDGED! - LUCKY ME." Izuna shrieked.
"What is she?" I heard.
"She's a monster!"
"You can't spell Slaughter without Laughter!" I spat out in bliss.
The air buzzed. Static-like white and black again began fuzzing up my surroundings. Time becoming my bitch that I could play with at my leisure.
SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT.
The noise of snapping bones and wet squishing flesh being pummeled beneath my bone gavels was sweet judgement.
The black and white static caking reality faded again, absolute fatigue weighing me down.
Still trying to run after the dazed or fleeing stragglers, I culled those who remained. Some had been trampled by the masses too crippled to move from the weight of the panicked warriors.
As I passed these immobile casualties, I finished my work, spearing their heads with a lance of bone I gripped in my hand like a trusty saber.
My shoes crunched underneath the grass, and before me was a squirrel curled in the corpses of his brethren. He was rocking back and forth looking at his fallen comrade.
It was my first moment of uncomfort in my actions.
Should I spare this animal having already fallen to disparity? Or do I finish him anyways?
His paws clutched at the nape of the departed.
"How… could God let this happen?"
My mouth pulled into a frown.
The rodent wiped at his eyes. The pain inside it - I could see it - I could feel it - I had shown him the truth, that we cannot be connected without pain.
"I am your god young squirrel. Remember my name when you reach the afterlife - Izuna."
He did not fight me, he knew what was coming, but he had been resigned to his fate, his eyes clenched shut tight. I could see the muscles tense fighting to not let them open. I respected this creature from the bottom of my heart. He had achieved what I wanted, to be able to let go of your earthly desires. In a way, I had much to learn from him - but that doesn't change our situation.
The bone stabbed into the skull. Grey-matter and puss-like juice leaked from the cracked head spilling onto the dirt.
I stood and surveyed my surroundings. That was it, everything else fled and scattered.
I had won. I was victorious. I was still standing after facing an army.
"-Movement!?" I mumbled jolting to alertness.
A chill rode up my spinal cord making me twitch. I couldn't help but shutter at the discovery.
A white and black creature with two Venus flytrap-like extensions that emerged from its sides enveloping their head and upper body as a shell poked out of the dirt.
Z-Zetsu?! What is he doing here?
Frozen in place, I was squatting at the corpse of the squirrel I had grown some respect for, but all I could think about was this strange unexplained phenomena.
How did he get here? How did he know where I was? Why is he here? Was he trying to get me back-up?
But despite taking the time to go over all these questions in my head, Zetsu never approached me, or moved, and after what felt like an eternity but could have only been a fleeting moment, he disappeared back into the earth whence he came.
That was unsettling. That he was just spectating like that? Did Obito set this up? … Did I reinforce my identity as Izuna in his mind?
My head ached severely. A tinnitus-like ring filled my ears, The foul smell of the battlefield and my throw up I was stewing in from inside the suit was disgusting.
I was numb everywhere. I was tired and fatigued, but if I fell asleep like this, I'm sure something bad would happen. Perhaps I would become septic and become sick. Or the squirrels or some other race would find me while licking my wounds.
Either way, I wandered on faulty footing with several in-tact corpses hanging over my shoulder.
A girl's gotta eat.
In a haze, I stumbled upon a rock crevice in the side of a hill. It wasn't so much a cave, as more of a little room hollowed out of the rock. It wasn't quite good enough to camp in for me, So I fumbled around until finding a boulder large enough to clog the entrance so that I could get some rest and recuperation.
Using Chakra to augment my strength paired with the soiled-body suit I still inhabited, I rolled the stone to the entrance of the hollow room with relative ease. Sealing myself inside with just enough of an opening to allow airflow,
Before sending Leon back to the void whence he came, I had him conjure a fire jutsu igniting a dry log I carried with me. The timber caught fire immediately, and I set up some 'Shish Kabobed' squirrel for dinner.
The twine phased out of existence alongside Leon.
(Without Leon to maintain materialism after storing him away.)
I had campfire cooked rodent - but at least it was protein.
Before starting to eat, I stripped myself naked and retrieved an already sweat-caked towel from the only classic storage seal I had on my person.
The towel didn't help as much as I might have hoped since much of the blood and filth on me was dried on pretty good, but with my nails I stripped some of it off, and after having the thought to use the towel like a saw and rub the impurities off with friction I was having more success becoming clean.
This process hurt very much due to my injuries. Most of them self inflicted by being the conductor between Leon and the batteries. Blackened bruises in pools beneath the surface of my skin was alarming - but still I lamented my vanity.
I didn't know who I was anymore. Who I became. Was I Mina - or Izuna?
The warmth felt wonderful on my exposed skin having finished and moved to curl up next to the fire.
The flickers of light from the erratic nature of the flames caused shadows to curl and elongate on the surrounding walls.
Bringing my hands to my chest - I cupped at my flat chest with frustration and envy.
I had an unhealthy obsession with my body image, but I found it ironic here of all times I would still feel incomplete. That the damage to my body was almost a secondary thought.
I'm so dysfunctional...
┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴
I admit I am unsure what the true mechanics of a summoning contract entail.
After taking a day to gather my strength, I departed looking for hints of Dragons, but never found any.
The slope curved upward traveling further inland. The elevation rose bit by bit, and the ground became more and more rocky in my travel.
Jagged peaks cut the sky from their towering position far away in the distance. I could make out faraway shapes in the air zooming around at the summit of the nearest mountain.
So that's where I set my sights. Without any deliberation, I trudged toward my goal.
The air thinned as elevation became higher. My lungs missed the dense oxygen which up here became more sparse.
At times, I needed to stop entirely just to catch my breath.
I became dizzy often. My stomach refused to settle. Often times I would vomit my food back up during my journey. I lost all appetite but forced the nutrients in for my own good. But of all my alarming symptoms was the erratic rapid pulse of my heart which would sometimes flare up.
The sun blinded me, and I found myself frequently blocking it out of my base-form eyes.
I was running low on water, so I would need to arrive at the bluffs soon.
With hellish determination, I climbed and climbed. The tips of my fingers were torn and calloused by the journey.
After some time, The destination was nearly within reach. Massive birds flocked and dove from the summit. Some were brown, some were pure white, and the others were a mix between the two.
To my surprise, after arriving at the peak, there was a small temple with massive stone columns supporting it from every side. It looked similar to a building of my last world known as the Parthenon.
A whistling sounded in my ears.
A large bird rapidly descended upon me from above.
"Byakugan!"
I raised my arms in defense eyeing the massive swooping bird, but before reaching me, it pulled its body back up into the air from its dive.
Its wingspan couldn't be any less than 10 feet. I stood awed at the animals grace and size.
It was snow-white from the neck up, and brown everywhere else besides its belly which was also white.
Wow… Even if I can only have one summoning contract… Maybe I could grudgingly accept this species if there is no trace of dragons. Air superiority was infinitely useful even if I was settling on a bird instead of a legendary idol.
If I can only have one summon, I might as well have a toolbox of things I won't naturally have to give me a more diverse arsenal.
Flight was an embodiment of freedom. A way to explore the third dimension of space from which I was still grounded.
I hated my limitations… So much so I spend most of my free time devising ways to surpass them.
A shrill screech rasped out by another nearby bird.
Looking closely, I guessed that these birds were some sort of eagle.
Heeshhhk - a hiss came from a bird waddling my way, their piercing acute eyes focused dead on me to leave no question who the hiss was directed at.
"I'd like to speak with whoever's in charge."
The bird unfurled its wings making it appear much bigger while still waddling closer. "You… look… delicious."
Its beak hung open, the tongue swirling around it its mouth never taking his gaze off me.
"I scrape things off my shoe that look more appetizing than you. Don't misunderstand who holds the power here, because it's not you."
Swiftly the bird flapped their stretched wings and shot at me with a gust being pushed down.
Pebbles rolled around and dust was stirred up into the air.
Retrieving Leon from the seal, the familiar heft on my back caused me to shoot a devious grin at the rocketing bird.
My exoskeleton appeared and hardened while I backpedaled
Talons flung and raked the air barely missing me.
It's neck whipped around and it snapped its beak at me - but as its beak opened a white twine manifested inside it's open mouth stretching outside and wrapping around it's beak forcefully holding it still.
The bird shook its head violently in a frenzy, but his effort didn't break heavens twine. Instead it spread down its body wrapping its wings and talons and effectively immobilizing it.
Another bird swooped down diving from the sky at me, and I turned to it hitting it with a mild genjutsu to block all of their senses. The bird spiraled into a tailspin slamming into the ground hard with a thump.
"Aaahhhhhg!" It grunted twitching and writhing in the dirt.
I approached the wrapped up bird, and despite it's fight still left in it, all it could do was realistically jerk around annoyingly.
"I'll kill you! You better… better not…"
"Shhhh… Everythings going to be fine, you can rest on my shoulders like a prize." I said heaving the bird up and balancing its weight on my right shoulder while I held him steady.
Taking steps toward the ancient structure, the bird wasn't going to rest on my shoulders easily, fighting me the entire time.
"Let me down! I am Fellkar - a proud High Wing eagle of the Highflier clan. Set me down this instant!"
I took my stabilizing arm off the bird, letting it roll off my shoulder to the ground.
After it hit the ground, I hoisted it back up onto my shoulder.
"I'll let you fall off from now on. Keep fighting me and you'll get to know the ground well."
The eagle lost most of its fight still left in it after that, acceptingly allowing me to carry him into the parthanon-like building.
Humongous pillars held up the weight of the roof, but the roof looked as if it had seen better times, it had holes and gaps in it down its entire length. Inside, near the center of the interior, large blocks were stacked making many perches.
Six birds all watched me enter and approach the perches holding their kin.
"Hault. Who goes there?" the bird atop the 2nd highest perch screeched.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to point me to where the Dragons have gone?" I asked.
The eagles looked back to each other seemingly communicating without verbal cues with nods of their head and expressions with their wings.
"Dragons? Dragons are long gone. They went extinct more than 150 years ago."
I bit my tongue in frustration. Really? Well fine, I'm running out of time, these eagles could do quite nicely still.
"That's a shame. Do the High Wing eagle's have a summoner?"
…
The bird from the lowest perch fluttered to the ground before me in an aggressive stance.
"The Highfliers do not and never will. We could never submit ourselves to humanity."
I tossed the restrained bird to what I could only assume was a delegate of the eagles.
"You say that like the High Wing's and the Highfliers aren't the same thing. Could you please indulge my curiosity."
The bird didn't even bother to catch the prisoner I tossed them, instead side-stepping it and letting it fall to the stone floor.
"Really?!" the restrained bird spat from the floor probably upset at his mistreatment.
"... No. The Highflier clan left the rest of the High Wing's society. Our rivals the Talonspears allied with a human a century ago, so we broke away and colonized this summit to represent our freedom. We will never submit to a human."
"Well you're in luck. I'm no longer in the breath of humanity. I've ascended to greater heights and will continue soaring ever higher. I will become nothing short of a god. I will become your summoner - and you will become my silver trophy."
An errie silence fell as I watched the astonished faces of the birds morph into disgust.
"Impossible. We would never let a wingless creature reign over us."
"-WE DON'T NEED A SUMMONER!" Another bird cried.
"How do you select a leader? What goes into becoming the leader of the Highflier clan?" I asked.
From the highest perch, an elderly eagle descended to the floor in a second. It landed with power and grace. Its eyelashes looked more like whiskers extending a foot off its head in both directions
The bird had bulging muscles, but was more compact in size in comparison to all the other nearby eagles. He was a mix of snow-white and apathetic sagely grey in color.
"You dare dishonor the Highfliers?" Chakra bled out radiating from the elder eagle in a wave of pressure surprising me. "Such talk is worthy of execution."
The strength of the bird was no joke, so much so it made me question my original approach.
Should I have been less domineering? Eh? Probably not - they already said they'd never accept a human summoner - So it was always going to be an up-hill battle.
"I think you misunderstood me. I said that I am going to become a god. You think you can execute me? Never. I am a legendary spirit reincarnated in the form of a human. Don't let my appearance fool you - I will become your summoner… So again I ask - How do you determine your leader?"
The elder eagle's gaze didn't waver, in fact it projected a monstrous strength that I doubted I understood.
Hold your ground. Just hold your ground, don't force a battle - not unless its unavoidable.
My legs felt numb from flexing them tightly to stop them from shaking. My heart beat faster inside my chest. Thump - Thump - Thump.
"Ehhehhehh," The elder cackled. "I lead through example. I lead with my wings. This is why no wingless creatures can ever stand above us. They could never lead by example - with what wings?"
"So - As this clans defacto patriarch, All I need to do is out fly you and everyone will accept me as your summoner?"
"... You talk as if this is possible. You will never out fly me. I feel sorry for whatever notions are inside your head, but instead of trying to correct that with speech, perhaps an example is in order?"
Gasps resounded from the surrounding birds. The rest of the birds fluttered down to the floor in hushed murmurs and odd expressions through their wings.
What? Are they hostile now?
"Please… join us outside." The elder spoke while filing out of the building with his kin.
Unsure what exactly was going on, I followed his instructions wearily trailing behind from an acceptable distance.
Crunch of talons disturbing and displacing rock played in my ears. All else was silent.
They waddled to the bluff of a cliff, approaching the very edge.
I neared the bluff with a healthy dose of suspicion, but unwilling to sacrifice my opportunity to gain this clan as my summoning contract - I joined them.
A birdbath was right next to the cliff. It was filled with thick black goop, but the elder bird dipped the tip of one of his wings into the black sludge.
"Many young and learning chicks leap from this cliff and fall to their death every year. Many Seasoned flyers over the years have attempted the challenge known to all of us as 'The King of the Sky.'"
"The King of the Sky?" I repeated flashing a look of confusion.
The elder eyed me, then lowered his head gazing down the cliff into a deep valley.
"The king of the Sky - A competition where we leap from the summit - an ink stained wing - and fall diving to the depths of the valley. Do you see the Redwood below human? The single enormous tree?"
Peering through my byakugan, I focused my vision on the grand tree which couldn't be any less than a thousand feet tall, but the summit to the bottom of the valley had to be more than 6 thousand feet, so the tree as big as it had to be looked small in comparison.
"Yes. I see it clearly."
"We dive to the base of the tree, and mark it at the lowest point you can without touching the ground. Now watch."
The elder swan dived from the peak, not even opening his wings. He bulleted towards the ground, but still refrained from opening his wings…
Already halfway!?
He fell further and further, until my Byakugan noticed the wings open ever so slightly. Riding the breeze, his trajectory started spiraling.
My eyes strained to maintain a lock on him, my focus blurring occasionally.
He spun and weaved around the many spreading branches of the tree expertly, falling further and further.
My heart thumped in my chest.
Will he mess up? Will he smack the ground during this demonstration of his grace!
At the seemingly last moment, his wings shot open, and with a half turn, he marked the tree trunk.
After making contact with the tree, his body curved upwards and he took all his downward and forward momentum up instead. With heavy flaps of his wings he shot higher and higher.
"Wow…"
My stomach tightened and jerked.
That… was beautiful.
A much slower bird with some measuring device trailed behind the elder slowly, coming to a stop at the base of the tree. The elder with unreal pace shot up out of the valley over us loiding his status of King of the Sky.
"Honestly… Could you ever hope to beat me?" The bird cried.
The straggling eagle flapped up and out of the valley at a crawling pace compared to the elder.
Woosh - Woosh - Wooshh the flap of wings rung out from the elder hovering mid-air.
After some time, the other eagle too crowned out of the valley, landing on the edge of the bluff.
"94 centimeters from the ground."
94 Centimeters?! That's not even 3 feet from the ground. Diving 6000 some feet and having to play chicken with the ground within 3 feet before pulling up?... what is that? like 0.5% or less margin of error? Am I feeling lucky?!
I gaped indignantly at the elder finding a new sense of respect for them.
"That's… amazing!" I said before I could stop myself. "So you dive to the depths of this valley, mark the tree, and the lowest notch becomes your leader?"
The elder landed before me.
"It accounts for everything that is important to us. Eyesight - Speed - Arial mastery - and Bravery. These are our core values and beliefs we instill to the entirety of the clan." He said drawing nearer. "Do you still think you can become our summoner feeble landjockey?"
My eyebrows scrunched together as I contemplated everything I had learned.
"Can I prepare for the contest before hand? Can I practice?"
It glared down at me, a fiery competitors flame burning behind the grey irises.
"Ehhehhehh. How does a land-jockey plan on practicing?"
"Well - as far as the rules goes - What I understand is that a wing must mark the tree, and you must not touch the ground. Are those all the rules?"
The Elder stepped back eyeing me curiously. "You must dive into the hole in the canopy of the tree. Did you see where I entered? That is the stipulation you are missing."
My mouth fell open, and again I turned back to the cliff to gaze at the canopy of the tree.
So many twisting branches down it's length meant that opening a pair of wings inside it would be disastrous - and not only that, but you would accelerate making the timing to pull up and not die harder… What an interesting and frightening challenge.
"Alright. Is there any rule that says I can't use a mount?"
"While there are no rules preventing you from riding on a mount, your mount cannot have any saddle or any 3rd party straps holding you in. We value freedom over all, and couldn't accept someone who needs a contraption in order to assist them in flight."
I rubbed my chin and noticed the binded eagle… uh? Fellkar I think his name was - Being carried out by two other birds.
"Fellkar!?" I half shouted - half asked running up to it.
Eyes filled to the brim with rage stared back at mine, but it didn't matter, I would make it up to him in a small way. I would let him choose.
"Listen, I know we got off to a rocky start-"
"-I refuse."
"-Wha? You don't even know what I'm going to ask yet!"
"Well whatever it is, the answer is the same."
"Unfortunate. The question was, who is your least favorite among the clan. It can hardly be answered with a resounding 'No' Wouldn't you agree?"
I dissolved his tethers freeing him.
"... Is that all? You want to know who I hate the most? Is this some trick?"
"No trick. I want you to tell me who you like the least, and I will make sure they will not have a fun time - only exception is you can't say the leader of your clan."
"3rd in command - Lieutenant General - Mooshmoosh."
I nodded to Fellkar acknowledging his response.
"Good," I said turning to the eagle in mention. " Lieutenant General Mooshmoosh, I'll make you my mount."
A reddened glow glinted back from his sharp eyes - the connection established unlocking his motor functions at my command.
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Reviewer Question: - Do you miss my Comment section where I respond to your questions? (I'm trying to decide whether I want to keep doing it, and these last 2 updates I put up were so strapped thin on time from when I planned to post that I dropped it to make the update more timely. If you guys miss my responses to your questions, speak up and let me know.)
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