Chapter 8: Hunted
As a chase becomes a standoff, destiny begins to turn the wheel of fate.
-The next day; in a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire, time: 0800-
Zikito looked over the trees of a forest whose name he could give two damns about, as the sun rose over the hills far from where he stood. Its orange hue casting on everything around: The branches of the trees, the leaves that danced around him, the body of an unknown hunter before; his armor torn, scarred, creaked, and bloody and the same on the sword he held in his grip. It was almost picturesque in a way, but Zikito had no time to admire it, he was being stalked, even now he knew that there were Hunter-nin around him, normally the ANBU in him would take the fight to the enemy before they took the fight to him but he needed every moment of rest he could get. From the moment he made landfall, he'd been running as fast and far as he could to escape, setting small traps along the way, even going so far as to leave a clone or two, to thin the hunters out. Though some had fallen, most were alive when they started to reach him, and now he was the mouse against an entire company of cats, sharpening their claws and fangs to tear him apart.
'Well there is an old saying: There is nothing more viscous than a cornered animal'
Zikito was no ordinary ANBU, as if there were such a thing, but he was on a whole other level compared to some of the Hunters lying in wait. Even without his scythe, which he had to leave behind embedded in some poor hunter that got in his way, it was a bit hard to leave it behind but he could retrieve it when he was done. After either eluding or eliminating the Hunter-nin sent after him, the former being unlikely and the latter, an uncertainty. Zikito quickly removed the sword from the before mentioned hunter and gripped it tightly his hand, the forest in which he stood became deathly quiet as he immediately stepped to his left.
Whoosh
A kunai missed him and landed on a tree behind him. Zikito jumped as several more kunai crisscrossed where he had been a moment earlier and the sounds of swords being drawn greeted his ears.
'Breaks over…come and get me'
Zikito mused as he raised his sword to parry an incoming blow….
XxX
-Along the coast of the Land of Fire, time: 0945-
Xevhiroth still felt tired as he walked along the sandy beach, it was one of the many along the edge of the Land of Fire and he decided to be in the open air rather than the closed forest. Sleep had eluded him the entire night, only at the very end did he get any sleep at all. The smell of the salty air and the feeling of sand beneath his shoes couldn't stop him from pondering on about his dreams. The dreams were troubling to say the least, they depicted a man killing people either in a roar of flames or by a single sharp thrust of a sword. As various as the methods were, so were the feelings that followed: Guilt, remorse, sorrow, anger and, finally, hatred. They didn't seem like dreams but more like memories that were fragmented and hazy. He heard voices and felt things, but their faces were blurs and everything seemed driven. Like he wasn't in control but rather he was an observer. Whatever the case, they were frequent, horrid, and they were something he could do without in his sleep habits.
'What I would give to have an explanation to these damn nightmares.'
Xevhiroth's exhausted mind merely threw something together into a coherent string of thoughts as his feet continued to carry him along the shoreline. The sounds of sand underfoot and the break of waves crashing on the shore did wonders for his worn psyche. Almost being lulled to falling asleep as he walked, Xevhiroth allowed his eyes to close as he continued forward towards a protruding cliff that served as a divider for the entire shoreline. A yawn escaped Xevhiroth's mouth as his eyes opened as he was about to reach the cliff. Rounding it he froze in shock and awe: boats, several in fact, were beached along the shore for at least several hundred feet. All looked as if they were deliberately run aground; as they all had not attempted to turn away from the shore or take any action to minimize damage, evident by a straight path inland.
'Somebody must not be a good navigator to lead this many ships to crash ashore'
Xevhiroth mused to himself as he jumped onto the lead boat, as noted by its place on the shore. All the others were close by but had crashed later in the day. This one had come ashore when the tide was higher. Checking from back end to front, Xevhiroth found nothing of interest and quickly disembarked. He thought about checking the other boats until something caught his attention: footprints, and quite a few of them, heading off in the direction of the nearby forest and in a hurry too. All had evidence of being evenly spaced like they were sprinting after another person. Xevhiroth quickly decided to follow the footprints into the forest. After about 25 minutes of running and following the various signs of markings: broken twigs, crushed grass, and whatnot...that is until he happened across a much bigger evidence trail: the ground dug up by something powerful crashing into it or a tree that had been decimated. Still following the trail, Xevhiroth passed through some shrubs and came to a stop. He took careful note of five bodies, all dead. They wore the same clothes and the same masks, each had the same symbol, that of the Hidden Mist and all were killed by clean slices through their bodies, two were cut cleanly in half but one stood out from the rest. A scythe was left in his body. Xevhiroth walked towards the body, running his hand along the grip of the scythe. Blood was caked on the blade, some of it was dry meaning it had been at least half a day old. Removing the weapon, Xevhiroth noticed it was a highly unusual choice for a ninja, but dismissed the thought as he summoned several clones to search the bodies. If they were the crew from the boats and if they were after someone, hopefully one of the bodies had some information on them. Two came up empty, the third hit pay dirt: Finding a search and retrieval orders for a Zikito Hoshigaki authorized by the Mizukage.
'Sucks to be him.'
Xevhiroth was about to move on to help them, when he uncovered another set of orders, this one folded, hidden in a pouch, and was signed by another, a Ryo Tengi. Xevhiroth unfolded it and read it aloud:
"To all loyal followers of our glorious cause, our plan has almost come to fruition all that remains is one final complication: The one that has long since proven to be a threat to us but now his days are numbered. Join the Mist hunters and ensure that Zikito Hoshigaki does not exist to pose a threat any longer to Unity. If this proves to be impossible then kill all mist hunters and spread word of his final deed against the Mist. Soon our glorious venture shall Unite the world."
Xevhiroth didn't understand anything about what he had just read, but what he did understand spoke volumes. Something called Unity was after some guy called Zikito and they wanted him dead, or at least, disgraced. Xevhiroth had no idea why, but this guy was either a criminal who did something really, really, wrong… Or he knew something someone didn't want everybody else knowing.
'Either way needless bloodshed is something I DO NOT stand for.'
Xevhiroth jumped into the trees and started a search for the Hunters and their target. Innocent or not, this wasn't a hunt but a hit, and he could already be too late.