Orange is an enspired little fruit this week, so without further ado, the fourth chapter of Akatsuki Knights. In this chapter we learn just who their attacker at the lake is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Akatsuki, Camelot, King Arthur or a spiffy wizard's staff.
The knights were staring at Kisame and his apparent brother on the shore of the lake. The blue knight motioned for them all to lower their weapons, which they did, albeit reluctantly.
"Sorry about that bro, but you know he's not supposed to come here," the white haired boy indicated Zetsu with distaste. "and you know that too, so I'll thank you to stay here when we go inside," he told the wizard. Zetsu nodded and went to seat himself under a tree.
"What the hell is going on?" interrupted the king, walking over to the young water sorcerer. "we got a call for emergency from the lady of the lake, where is she?"
"Emergency?" the boy was taken aback, "ma's in Avalon, collecting a new sword, she's not sent me any messages."
The other five knights stood in a semi circle looking at the king and blue knight addressing the boy.
"Is anyone else confused here?" asked Sasori, his face looked blank, but Deidara could tell by his tone that the older knight was amused.
"Did you know that Kisame was abandoned by the lakeside as a child?" asked Itachi. He was scratching his chin elegantly with one hand, his eyes remained on the king.
"I didn't" Hidan admitted. Itachi nodded and continued.
"I'm not sure why he attacked us, but that is the lady of the lake's son, Kisame's adoptive brother Suigetsu. The lady raised them both here at the lake, teaching Kisame the ways of the knight and Suigetsu to follow after her in sorcery. The purpose of the lake is to guard the great swords and its sorcerers are to guard them and the king by any means." The black haired man finished speaking. It appeared as though Kisame was waving them over. Everyone but the wizard obeyed.
"We're going to be going into my old home in a minute, Suigetsu just has to return his sword," the blue knight explained. They all noticed the white haired brother had seemingly walked on the surface of the water to the centre of the lake. There was a tiny island there, into which he forced the blade he was holding. They were stunned as his figure disappeared, and then rose from the lakeside in front of them once more.
"So, Kisame, you remember where it is?" the younger one beamed. The blue knight shook his head.
"I remember it being in the rock face but it's not responding to me anymore. The charm on it is a good one." Kisame replied to his brother. Suigetsu raised his staff, the blue jewel stuck on its end glowed and a cave appeared before them. A dank set of steps led downwards, as if to go under the lake. The mouth of the cave was dripping with water. He relaxed and slung the staff over his shoulder lazily, leading the way into the passage. Seeing Kisame and Itachi follow the young sorcerer the king, queen and other knights followed.
"Hey Tobi," called Deidara turning back, "aren't you coming with, un?"
The jester shook his head, the bells on his hat tinkled merrily. "I'm going to stay out here with Mr. Zetsu, we'll see you guys later!" he bounced over to the wizard with enthusiasm. Deidara felt a tug on his arm, and looked to see Sasori staring at him, eyebrow quirked upwards.
"Don't keep us all waiting brat," he scolded
"Sorry master Sasori," apologised the yellow knight, striding to keep up with the purple knight.
The passage way did indeed lead underneath the lake. After a dark and winding stairway, light began to sparkle over them. The king's party looked upwards in awe to see the rippling sway of the lake water above them. Every few seconds a small droplet of water would escape through the enchanted barrier and splash onto the floor behind them. The king and queen were mesmerised, seeing the weeds of the lake waving about them magically, and even fish passed by extremely closely and unfazed by what was happening. Their footsteps echoed as they trotted along behind the boy of the lake in silence.
Soon they came to an ancient doorway. There was a grand mural carved into the dark wood of the door. Looking closely they could see it had been set with the same sparkling stones that were in the staff of Suigetsu. They all began to pulse with light, as the huge doorway opened and the group found themselves within a hallway. Before them was a set of stairs, leading to a red door. Either side of them were two more doors. Making that a total of five. Suigetsu led them off to the second door on the right, and out into a place where a large fireplace dominated the room.
"Sit down," the boy invited them, "I'll be back in a few minutes."
Up on the shores of the lake Tobi was trying to entertain Zetsu. He was juggling for the man. Zetsu didn't know if Tobi was a lousy fool, or if he was doing this on purpose. So far, the young boy could only juggled two balls successfully, though he was attempting to juggle six. And now, oh dear lord, he was trying to set them on fire.
He struggled to suppress a chuckle as several of the balls fell, one of them, luckily not one on fire, bounced of the boy's head. Staring at his feet, Zetsu saw that his robe had caught alight. He tilted his staff towards it, allowing the yellow and green gem in it to glow, and water poured from its tip, extinguishing the flames.
"It was a good effort Tobi," he commended, "certainly entertaining. But you don't have to work for us now,"
Tobi had always found this strange about the wizard. Sometimes it was as though he was two people trapped within the same body. Shrugging off what the wizard had said the orange clad jester began to dance around their makeshift camp, feeding the horses and donkey as he did so. Zetsu sighed and stared at the rock. It could be hours before the king emerged, and he was anxious about the seeming lack of emergency.
He had recognised the lady's magic the previous evening, and he knew she really had called a distress signal. So then why did her son not know what was happening and claim she was in Avalon? Was this a trap? He somehow doubted it, there was no reason for the boy to lie to his brother. And he couldn't go on ahead to Avalon on his own for two reasons. The first being Avalon was the resting place of the dead, only the lady of the lake was allowed to set foot there while alive. Secondly he was forbidden from seeking out the lady of the lake on his own. He could take the jester, but they didn't call jesters fools for no reason.
Zetsu sighed. He did not like this situation at all.