Chapter 6: A Tale of Two Aliens
By: DragoonMen
'Human Thinking'
"Human Speaking"
Technique/Jutsu Use
'Bijū/Non-Human Thinking'
"Bijū/Non-Human Talking"
Published: 02/Aug/2020
Pre-Chakra Era Arc
19 Years Before the Chakra Event (BCE)
Nigth of the Ōtsutsuki Arrival to Earth
Chapter 6
—Land of the Ancestors—
So no Kuni Countryside
Two lone men are walking down a dingy dirt road in the middle of a forest, their destination point being the village of Nanao.
The men are wearing black robes with hoods to protect them from the chilly winds of the night. The stars on the sky giving them little light so they can discern at least where are they going. The ox they brought marching at their side at a slow pace.
One of the men started rubbing his arm. "By Buddha, the wind is so freaking cold." The mysterious man commented, shivering a little.
The other black hooded figure turned to look at his partner. "Oh, this is nothing Saburo. I heard this is normal before winter sets in." He said with a smirk on his face.
The shaking man huffed and turned straight, still rubbing both his arms.
Jigen had a smirk on his face. He just loved to tease Saburo.
"Haha very funny, Jigen." Saburo sarcastically replied.
Jigen looked at him from his side. "You know I am just teasing you, brother. Don't be fussy about it." He patted Saburo's back to let him know he meant no disrespect.
Saburo seemed to brighten at said gesture. "Yeah, I know." The former thief paused.
"Do you think we are close to Nanao yet?" Jigen shrugged, subtly saying that he had no idea whatsover. "You are the one with the map, idiot." Saburo rolled his eyes, annoyed with Jigen's lack of response. The former soldier was the one guiding this trip thereby it was his duty to know if they were close or not.
A few moments of silence transpired. The slight rustling of tree leaves filling the sound void until Jigen voice deemed itself to be known again. "No brother. We are still a little far from there." The former denizen of Ka took out his map, straining his eyes by trying to make some sense of it in the dark of the night.
"According to the map, we are a town away from our current destination."Jigen signaled with his finger at a certain point on the map.
Saburo nodded. "I just hope we don't have any run-in with the law or bandits." He rubbed his hands furiously, blowing his hot breath into his palms every few moments. He should have brought some wool gloves.
"What should we do if some bandits appear from nowhere?" Saburo wondered loudly. "Is night time after all..."
"How should I know that?" Jigen incredulously answered with a question of his own.
The ox in the background snorted, the men didn't know if the animal was amused with their banter or something else.
"You are the one more experienced in fighting between us. You were a soldier, don't you remember, foreigner?" Saburo said with an all too knowing grin. Jigen hated when people talked about anything related to his past or that he was from another country.
Jigen gave him the stinking eye. "Stop worrying about senseless things, Saburo." He said with a little more force than usual.
"Bandits got to sleep too." He left no room to discuss that, it was a fair point. "We are also traveling without torches for that same reason, idiot."
"Sounds fine to me." The retired thief put both his hands on the back of his head in a laidback manner.
"What was the name of the town nearby us by the way?" Saburo asked after seeing the outline of some buildings on the distance.
The town in Saburo's eyes looked lifeless, not a single torch to illuminate the settlement itself.
They started getting closer, the outlines of the structures becoming more pronounced, nonetheless, the village looked intact. Devoid of life and untouched by the elements.
"Nichitsu." It was the only word Saburo got to hear from Jigen when they got a peek of the town gates open wide.
Saburo's demeanor changed when he heard that word. "You know I heard stories about that town... something about a disease. They people from these lands say that ghosts live on it. Do you believe in that stuff?" Saburo looked more agitated than usual and the cold didn't have a hand on it.
"I don't know about it." Jigen shrugs his shoulders once more. "What I know is that we will have to make camp there. We have to rest to continue our journey tomorrow." Jigen said matter-of-factly since it was gonna be midnight soon.
"We shouldn't do that, ghost don't take kindly on visitors. We should make camp on the sideroad." Saburo stated hesitantly.
"And risk our throats getting slit by bandits... no fucking way." Jigen argued.
Saburo opened his mouth to insist but decided to stay silent. Jigen was right, camping in an abandoned town is a better option than letting bears get a bite from them.
"Let's go, we are almost close." Jigen signaled for him to quicken his pace.
'I got a bad feeling about this' Saburo decided to not express his worries with Jigen, realizing that he would be ignored.
Saburo as a former thief relied on his gut to know when things would go from bad to worse. Every time he would do a robbery, he would let his gut tell him if to continue the theft or not, and he was standing right here next to Jigen instead of rotting inside some jail so that must hint something indeed.
However, he would heed Jigen's orders, he was the one in charge and Saburo trusted him enough to let him lead the way even against his own gut telling him to run to the hills and be done with this place.
He ignored the warning. Looking up at the sky, he sent a silent prayer to Buddha, he would protect them from whatever evil that would try to harm them.
Later that night, Saburo would have wished to pay attention to his gut earlier but it would be already too late, for him though.
OoOoOoO
Nichitsu Town
Two bright lights illuminated the night sky above the abandoned town of Nichitsu until they receded in the forest adjoining the settlement.
The village of Nichitsu was abandoned some twenty years ago because of a rare illness that started killing the local population.
The villagers remaining agreed to evacuate the town before sharing the same fate as the ones that had perished, and just like that the people of Nichitsu left the town for good in just one night, so much like this one.
In an abandoned hut in the center of the town, Jigen and Saburo decided to make themselves feel at home.
They had set up their equipment and were enjoying a well-earned rest, both males peacefully sleeping without an ounce of care in the world, knowing they were safe inside the building.
The eerie lights from the outside filling with brigth light the window and everything briefly inside for some seconds until it diminished completely.
The fireplace embers in the stone chimney still warming up the inside of the hut.
Peace reigning supreme in the town of Nichitsu until something broke the harmony.
BOOOOM!
Two pairs of eyes snapped open, their bodies instinctively looking for some cover.
Dull senses trying to gain a bearing on their situation and running for safety on instinct at the same time.
"What the hell was that?!" Saburo exclaimed, taking cover under a table that looked as old as his grandmother.
"I don't know!" Jigen shouted at him, peeking over the window to see what the hell was happening outside.
Crash!
Jigen could detect movement in the forest nearby, the trees and pines apparently falling and columns of smoke rising up the distance. There were also flashes of different colors lighting up the night.
BOOOM!
Another flash of orange light from the forest. Jigen looked fascinated at the wide variety of exhibition of colors.
'What in the world is going on over there?'
"What do you see, brother?!" Saburo asked from his position under the table, the fear creeping on him.
"Something is going on in the forest!" The reply was followed shortly with another explosion on the distance.
BANG!
Another flash of white from the window. Jigen face became the epitome of shock. The forest was now burning, the firelight brightening the village slightly from afar.
He didn't have a chance to grasp the situation when abruptly he felt a something akin to a tremor shaking the cabin.
SMASH!
An object impacted a nearby building by crashing inside through the wall. The hut housing Jigen and Saburo trembling at such force of impact.
Jigen looked on the window again and what he saw made him almost faint at the sight.
A giant white sphere was closing on his location.
Jigen did the only thing he could at the moment and took cover on the ground, closing his eyes and protecting the back of his head with both hands.
"Brace yourselves!" Jigen shouted with his eyes shut, preparing for the worst.
It was the only thing Saburo heard before he was vaporized from the world forever, half the hut and entire block going off in white flames alongside him.
Wooosh!
Jigen felt himself get lifted off the ground and thrown into a wall next to him by the shockwave of the close explosion, the force of the hit making him lose consciousness for a brief amount of time.
Wind and wooden splinters rushing in all directions. Jigen didn't dare to open his eyes, he was waiting for something to happen again, so he waited.
It started with ten seconds, then thirty until finally turned into a full minute. The seconds lasting eternities for Jigen.
'Why do I smell something burned'
After feeling like waiting for an era, Jigen let himself to open his eyes once again, regretting the action immediately.
Half the hut was gone and Saburo was nowhere to be found.
All their belongings were gone as well as their latest position where they had been sleeping was erased forever from existence.
Jigen could see from his position in the remaining half of the house the entire village. Or what remained from it.
Walking through the rubble he began to look for his missing friend. Tiny flames burning on the ground and the air was unexplainably hot.
"Saburo!" No reply, just the sound of wood creaking because of the heat and fire was heard on its place.
Jigen paced around the wreckage with his hands curved around his mouth as to make his voice louder.
"Brother, can you hear me?!" Still no response.
It was something extraordinary, like if someone had hefted a hammer and make a perfect dent in the town.
"Saburo, yell if you hear me!"
Urgh
The sound was so low you could probably miss it but for Jigen's senses all pumped up with fear and adrenaline it did not go unnoticed.
Jigen ran to a pile of debris near a tore down house were the rubble was already burning.
"Saburo, are you here?!"
"Mmph."
A moan of pain.
"I will get you out of here, buddy. Resist!" Jigen shouted with emotion, beginning to remove the wreckage covering his fallen friend.
Jigen lifted off pieces of wood for Kami knows how long. His hands now callused and sensible thanks to the heated pieces of debris.
He didn't rest a single moment though, pain and injury were ignored In favor of saving the life of a close friend.
Jigen slowly but surely uncovered him from the waste until he could see a pair of feet when he lifted a heavy plank of wood.
More and more appendages visibly emerging with each piece of rubble out of the way.
Jigen removed the last piece of wood that covered Saburo's face and chest.
"Are you fine Sab..." His words died on his mouth. The plank on his hand falling from his fingers and clanking loudly at his feet.
'Who the hell is this!?'
The man on the rubble was not Saburo. The former thief had pale skin but this man was on another level, resembling something akin to a ghost. However, that is where similarities ended.
The man was wounded, having an arm missing surely meant death but the movement around his belly said otherwise. The white clothes in the stranger's form were stained in blood with scratches and burn marks around his exposed facet.
'How is he still breathing?' The young adult took a closer look.
By the looks of it, the man was unconscious. He instantly noted that the pale man had something protruding in his head, it began on the left side of his forehead and went around his head and white hair. Either way, Jigen touched the deformity.
'This must be like an ox horn...'
There also were marks on the strange man's body, they looked as tattoos of black ink or something in an intricate form around his neck and stomach. Jigen had never seen anything like this before.
Moving those thoughts aside. He focused on the situation.
'I have to help this man'
Jigen reached to move the man out of the rubble, snaking his arm around his back and below his armpit. His horned face resting on his neck. Jigen had already lifted him up when he felt the man start to wake up.
"Don't worry man, I will he..." Jigen wanted to reassure the man that he would help him but he didn't get to finish the sentence when in less than a second he was being suspended midair by a single hand grasping his neck.
Jigen tried to force himself out of the robotic grip on his neck but not to avail.
Looking into the ethereal white eyes of the man facing him, he tried to dissuade him from harming him.
Jigen was at his mercy. The strange man's eyes boring right through his soul.
'I am trying to help you' He wanted to say that out loud.
"I... tri... elp... yo..." Jigen mumbled. The man seemed unfazed by him. His grip never wavering. The intense stare of the man invading his vision.
OoOoOoO
—Planet Earth—
Unknown Forest near a Shinju site
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was bored and he has been like this for the last millennium. He and his companion Kaguya have been transversing the Galaxy for some eons by now after they have been paired up by the elders of the Clan to collect all the Chakra Fruits on this side of the Milky Way.
You may ask this. How is this possible?
How living things are able to live this much?
Why do they harvest Chakra Fruits?
To answers all of these questions we have to go back way too far.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan has been around since the beginning of the Universe. They are a race of Celestial Beings, infinitely superior to any of the other races that plagued the Known Universe because of one of their innate abilities; the usage of Chakra.
Over time, these beings continue to evolve and strengthen their Bloodline, not saying anything about keeping their youthful appearance intact.
In order to achieve these incredible feats, the members of this celestial Clan have to seed out worlds, leaving the seed and returning some thousands of years later to harvest it. The Chakra Fruit.
The fruit that grants them immortality, strength, and more godly abilities.
What do they seed in the planets they visit? Ten-Tails Saplings.
How do they manage to do that? Sending the young Ten-Tails inside rocks and launching them into the planets. Meteorites.
Once on the planet surface, the Ten-Tails would plunge his tails on the earth and transform into a Shinju (God Tree).
The Shinju would begin draining the life force and Chakra of the planet until all life on it dies. This process would generate the panacea that all Ōtsutsuki are dependant every thousand years.
That is the single reason he and Kaguya are on this pitiful green planet right now.
Some millennia ago, the Ōtsutsuki Clan send a Ten-Tails on a meteorite to this planet meaning that the Chakra Fruit must be ready to be harvested by them.
Unlike other members of their Clan like Momoshiki and Kinshiki, they would not wait like idiots until the planet was completely dead so they could leave for another.
He and Kaguya will continue to travel to other Shinju sites on other dozen planets. That is how he and Kaguya worked, but something had been changing these past centuries in Isshiki's opinion.
Lately, Kaguya has been acting weird. Ever since they have been assigned this part of the Galaxy, Kaguya has been fussing about it, even lashing out against the Clan Head.
Isshiki might not talk about it but he was worried. Kaguya's rebellious phase might prove to be a problem in the future with her wanting to establish herself as ruler of their Clan.
Leaving all of these fleeting thoughts behind, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was perplexed.
Unlike most planets, this one was inhabited by a primitive race too far behind them, weak and useless.
These life forms were spread all over the surface of the Earth, as they called their little piece of rock in this infinite space but what was astonishing was how similar they were to them.
Humans, they called themselves.
These humans intrigued Isshiki. They were capable of many things without Chakra. Too bad they would all die in some millennia when the Shinju finally drained the last drop of life force the planet could offer.
Isshiki landed on a nearby forest inside the planet atmosphere with his partner, they would approach the Shinju on the ground as to not disturb him and avoid a direct confrontation.
Unfortunately for Isshiki, he never expected an attack directed at him on this planet and one from his partner nevertheless.
'Backstabbing bitch...' Isshiki thought after Kaguya decided to tear him apart.
"Nothing personal Isshiki but I will continue our task alone from here." Those were some of the last words he heard from Kaguya before an earthshattering impact from a Chakra Ball was directed point-blank at his turned back.
BOOOOM!
Isshiki felt a sharp pain on his back like if all of his skin was being branded with red hot iron.
The attack sending him like a rocket against a large boulder. Face meeting hard rock and breaking the boulder entirely.
Crash!
The sound filling the quiet space in the forest.
He barely managed to avoid another attack directed at him in that single instant. The Fire Style Technique passing through his last position and instead incinerating the forest around him with everything catching fire at contact.
Booom!
Isshiki heard the sound from behind him. In that split moment, he saw Kaguya lunge at him, he prepared a Chakra Ball on his left hand just as the Ōtsutsuki woman. A second later, he met Kaguya's own attack.
Chakra met Chakra as twin attacks clashed, the air rushing out from the impact zone.
Isshiki tried to outclass Kaguya but he was injured from the first attack. The Ōtsutsuki woman knew of this and seized advantage of that single fact.
Kaguya used her Gravity Manipulation Technique on Isshiki, capitalizing and seizing control of the male Ōtsutsuki's left arm much like a ragdoll.
She moved the arm a little too high, her still powered attack breaking through the stalemate and hitting Isshiki's left arm. A mini-explosion ensuring after.
BANG!
Spurt!
Blood flowed like a waterfall down the open stump that was now Isshiki's left arm. The alien man's shock turned into amazement. He could not believe that he was going to lose and get to be executed.
Isshiki watched as a powered Chakra Enhanced Punch attack was coming right at him but he blocked it with his right hand. A small shockwave was created from the inhuman level of force in the attack.
Another Chakra Powered Fist came at his face but he had no left arm remaining to deter it effectively. The fist closed on him.
Contact
Isshiki was thrown off like a ball from the Chakra Powered Punch. Small ripples of air could be seen for a millisecond before Isshiki flew through the air and out of the forest into a human settlement.
He finally met the wall of a building, going right through it and slamming into the floor. Cracks on the ground all around him.
'You will pay for that, traitor!'The male Ōtsutsuki thought with impotent rage.
He looked up at the hole he had just made after activating his Byakugan (All Seeing White Eye). Isshiki could see everything in a 360-degree angle except for a little blind spot on the back of his neck. Ignoring that single fact, he could see every single detail around him.
Kagura was rising up in the air, her right hand instantly producing another Powered Chakra Ball but instead of staying an average size, it began to grow until it looked like a small meteor was floating on Kaguya's palm.
He could also see two humans on the dwelling next to him, one quivering human hiding under a wooden artifact and another one looking through some glass in Kaguya's direction.
Then Kaguya threw her attack, the massive technique racing to meet his target that was him.
The horned Ōtsutsuki saw the attack directed at him at breakneck speeds. He also saw the human looking at their fight duck down and going still on the floor.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki knew he couldn't outrun an attack of that level in this state, so raising his remaining hand he created from thin air a Chakra Absorbing Shield. It would be more effective if he used both his hands but that was impossible right now. A heartbeat later, Kaguya's attack closed the distance between them.
Wooosh!
A white flash enveloped everything.
OoOoOoO
Eyelids slowly opened themselves, a visage of blurred flames all around him welcoming him and the feeling of something fleshy encircling on his aching-like-hell burnt back. Isshiki felt his head resting on something fleshy and warm.
"Don't worry, man. I will h..."
Isshiki still affected from the aftermath of the fight quickly submitted whoever was manhandling him.
His remaining hand tightly gripping the neck of the individual right next to him. Dark irises looking back at his own lavender sclera.
"I... tri... elp... yo..."
Isshiki examined the human currently suspended in the air by his hand. The man looked a bit strange. His hairstyle was weird, aside from that anything was normal. The man had a muscular frame meaning that he was accustomed to heavy work. The hands grasping his lone arm were trying to make him release him if the muscles in his straining arms against his vice-grip told him something, the veins in the human's neck were clearly visible on his skin.
Isshiki suddenly felt his legs wobble and looked back at his missing arm wrist with blood spurting from the open wound that was his stump.
Isshiki was losing a lot of blood and he knew he was going to die anytime soon, at the hands of another fellow Ōtsutsuki. He had it hard.
The Ōtsutsuki was dying, meaning his momentary strength would not last for much longer. Sooner or later, his body would take his toll from the recent fight and he would die forever.
Dying at the hands of an Ōtsutsuki like him implied permanent death. Celestial beings like them could not resurrect in the hands of another one of their kin.
'But a human on the other hand' Isshiki did a once over on the man. The man seemed strong and vibrant, he would do just fine as a perfect vessel.
The alien stared at his victim. "You should be honored human... " The Ōtsutsuki began, the man on his grasp still gasping for air. "... to serve as my own vessel."
Not a single second passed after the horned man said those words that Jigen felt a sharp pain in his stomach. The ghost of a scream fled the mouth of the man.
Jigen moved his eyes slightly down to looked at what had stabbed him in his belly.
Half a bloody arm connected to his abdomen
Jigen felt then a burning sensation spreading from his midsection to the rest of his body, silently yelling in pain. It hurt like no one can imagine.
Isshiki felt his blood quickly leave his body from the stump of his arm, pooling itself in Jigen's insides. His blood merging with the human body and cells, becoming one. Becoming his will.
Isshiki smiled even though he is inches away from supposed death because he knew he is cheating at death, a little trick he heard from another of his clan members. He would come back and make Kaguya pay for her betrayal.
Meanwhile, Jigen was experiencing the worst pain he had ever felt. It felt like fire was burning his insides, licking at his organs.
Veins all around Jigen's body expanding beyond belief and turning light blue visible to the naked eye, like if ready to burst out. The effects of Chakra filling his body.
'Yes, you will do...' It was the last line of thought Isshiki had before his body went still. His grip faltered and Jigen fell to the ground followed by Isshiki.
One gasping for air and groaning in pain, the other unmoving. Dead. Isshiki's physical body slowly turning into dust.
Jigen put his hand on his belly, trying to stop the pain flaring on his abdomen. The pain continuing to rise until finally Jigen passed out unable to handle the level of pain inflicted on him.
Then silence made itself known again. The only thing breaking the quiet environment were the sounds of soft breathing.
Jigen was unconscious but his body was very much active. His open right palm lit up red.
The red light enveloping his hand diminishing over time until it finally went black.
A black diamond-shaped mark imprinted on his palm.
A Kāma Seal
End of Chapter
AN: So here you go my readers. I know I suck at writing fight scenes but I am trying. Give me a break. So now is done. Jigen has now officially become the vessel for Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. I got the blood transfusion idea from Batman Arkham Knight. The Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is quite surprising. So by this scientific fact, Jigen will start to emulate some of Isshiki habits and thoughts. Probably even sharing hatred for Kaguya and despise humans. So stay tuned. I will appreciate the help if someone knows how to write fighting scenes. Because there are coming more in the future.
Anyway. Review and info are welcome. If you know something I don't please say it. Hope you are liking my writing. See you next time.
DragoonMen