Saras sat under a lonely, naked tree, whose branches hung low under the weight of snow. It was midday and the sun was shining brightly, making the pure white snow glisten and glitter. Saras however did not give a chopstick about the weather. All he cared about right now was dealing with the situation.
He had to pay Yang Chao a hundred and fifty yuan, or else bring the Seekers down upon him. He didn't really have a time limit, but he guessed that it would be wise to pay everything before the hare found out that he had Tin Zu's son. There was no point running away either, sure it would spare the Bat Cave, but the Seekers had bases mostly everywhere, and hiding from them would be nigh impossible. Unless he chose to flee the country. But he would need close to one hundred and fifty yuan to do that, and he owed the hare the same amount of money... so that was pointless. He got up and started pacing. He couldn't get Aang involved, because...
The hare reached out and caught the bat by the throat, Aang's eyes rolled upwards as the mammal began choking. A moment later he was dead.
Saras threw one of his knives at the tree, the blade quivered as the fox breathed heavily. No, he was not going to watch Aang the knife he sheathed it. Then the tree trunk took the shape of Lao Pi's face. "This is all your fault ! You stupid fat gibbon"! He punched the tree, then shook his paw as spasms of pain coursed through it. He sat down and began pouting a small shadow fell upon him.
"For one so young you have a lot of anger to a poor tree that has done nothing to you, Saras kun".
Saras looked up. "It's you".
"Who else could it be"?
Saras decided to take out his anger over the whole unfair situation he was in on Danzaburo. "What do you even want anyways ?! This whole time you're just following me around like a creep. Then you're trying to say that you're being honest to me, despite the fact that you won't even tell me why you're even in this country"!
Danzaburo sat down next to him. "You're very observant", the tanuki complemented, testing the fox's patience.
"I'm observant enough to tell that you're ignoring the question ! Again"!
Danzaburo looked the fox over, for the hundredth time that mission. He was slightly hunched, probably due to having to bear the weight of responsibility on shoulders far too young for that burden. His tail was swishing from side to side, which showed that he had a lot of energy stored inside him. Then the serious look on his face showed that he was focusing too much on something. All work and no play was unhealthy, which is why Danzaburo tended to combine the both. This balancing act was something the younger shapeshifter needed to learn. Danzaburo got up and walked away.
Inwardly Saras sighed with relief. Finally, I can focus.
Then a snowball crashed into the side of his face. He turned his face to the direction it came from. "Hey ! You son of a"- another snowball flew through the air and caught Saras in the mouth.
"Saras kun, you were faster the last time we fought. I was expecting a challenge. I don't like being disappointed.
"I'll show you disappointed"! Saras got up, the desire to prove himself burned his skin.
Saras ducked under the next snowball and slid behind the tree, he slipped on the snow and landed on his tail, but thankfully the tanuki had not seen that. The fox rolled a ball of snow and threw it around the tree, before ducking back behind it. A moment later he poked his head out to see whether it had landed, only to receive another face-full of snow. Danzaburo cackled as the fox wiped it away.
Game on ! Saras picked up another lump of snow. Peeping out once again, he teleported.
Danzaburo blinked. The shapeshifter had disappeared in a puff of green. His eyes narrowed. Then he ducked as a snowball flew past where his head had been and spun round to catch the fox square on the muzzle. The force of the throw knocked Saras off his feet, the fox landed right on his tail, again.
"Come on ! You can do better than that Saras kun"!
Saras growled and teleported. Danzaburo stood where he was. Snow flew through the air as a small fast moving underground object raced towards the tanuki. Saras burst through the snow in mole form and threw two snowballs simultaneously, one flew far off target and landed on the ground, whereas the other one crashed right into Danzaburo's face... only for the tanuki to disappear in a puff of smoke. Saras blinked, only for another snowball to crash into the back of his head. He turned in the direction, only for another snowball to crash into his goggles. Wiping away the snow he scoured the ground for his opponent. He stepped forwards cautiously and found that the ground had not been booby-trapped.
On his next step he stood on a tar bomb, which exploded, sending black goo flying everywhere. His face got a nice coating of the sticky substance, but he knew better than to try and wipe it away, that would only get another one of his limbs stuck. Danzaburo threw another snowball, which caught Saras in the back of the head.
How does he move so fast ?
Saras transformed into a dragon. The next snowball was melted midair by a sudden burst of flame. The young shapeshifter smirked confidently as the steam cleared. Only for two more snowballs to catch him off guard.
Saras teleported to where Danzaburo was standing, and kicked up a bunch of snow, the tanuki ducked it, the snow sailed over his head and landed behind him. Saras had no time to react as Danzaburo kicked another leg-full of snow into his face.
Saras wiped it away with a paw, only to remember that snow wasn't the only thing stuck to his face. He tried to pull his paw away only to find tar had stuck the appendage to his cheek.
Danzaburo laughed from where he was standing. Somehow the tanuki had ended up next to the tree.
"You have much to learn Saras kun, lesson one, never forget any detail that may be important."
Saras scowled.
"Lesson two, don't use up most of your tricks in the first fight, or you'll loose the next one".
Saras looked at the tanuki with a deadpan expression.
"Lesson number three"-
Saras teleported forwards, picked up a snowball and hurled it with all his might. Danzaburo ducked, and let it to hit the tree.
"Lear how to aim strai"-, unfortunately for Danzaburo the snowball had shook the tree, which had reacted by dropping down a hell-of-a-lot of snow upon the tanuki.
The Japanese spy pulled himself out of the pile, and shook the snow off of him.
"Well played Saras san, well played."
Saras stood in front of him, beaming, his tail wagging like a happy puppy. Danzaburo couldn't help smiling. He had managed to get rid of the shapeshifter's stress, mission accomplished. The fox was standing a bit straighter, he looked happy, and for the first time since the mission had started Danzaburo saw the kit in Saras.
"Now, how about we head back to Kenji's place and dry up"? Saras nodded, and the two walked off together. Danzaburo couldn't help feeling a bit of pride, the young shapeshifter had managed to outsmart him, in the end. Sure he hadn't exactly won, but with time he could become something great. Saras, however was back in his world of worries. However, he had thought of a scheme. He couldn't do anything to Yang Chao, or the Seekers, but Tin Zu was a whole other matter.