Moons: Sorry if you actually read this and had to wait forever. This chapter is dedicated to three very important people.
First, to my little sister Emily who recently has gotten into anime (I'm so proud of her) and turned 12 years old today, July 28th, 2009. Part of me hopes you'll never see this, Emily. XD
Second, to litewarrior4 for being my first reviewer and for correctly figuring out where I got Brom's name. Here's soda and ice cream. *gives* Thank you Lite. (To be honest people, I'm just glad I didn't get flamed -sweatdrops-)
And lastly, to by my dear friend Danielle, who's been supporting this story from when I first told her about it many months ago (yes the idea's that old) and because if I don't delicate this to her, it's not gonna be pretty.
"I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain."
~Pein; Naruto Shippuden
"Did you have any trouble escaping?" Brom asked, trying to lighten the mood. It helped a little if at all.
"It was... surprisingly easy" Sora replied, "Is lying always that way?"
"Hmm...well Sora, your brother trusts you and doesn't ever expect a lie. Fools like him are easy to bluff to. Others, however, are so good at finding the fibbers it's like they read minds. It all depends on how foolish the person is, how good of a liar you are, and how well they know you. You can tell easily when someone close to you is lying."
Sora's eyes turned to the ground. "I guess Ichigo isn't close then."
"You'll get over him." Brom assured. He pulled his hat over his head. "You think it's going to rain?" "No, but the hat helps hide my face, in a rare case of a witness or survivor." He took out the pendent next and began to pray silently while Sora stayed close by his side.
The duo continued to walk until Brom halted suddenly. "A shinobi is coming." He said, noticing the newcomer with what seemed like a sixth sense. "Probably a Chunin level. Follow me and keep up."
Brom broke into a sprint, arms dangling behind him. Sora started to run, struggling to keep up to Brom's fast pace. After a short while he had to stop and rest for a few seconds because his gut ached from the work out. Then it was back to running after Brom before stopping to catch his breath again. They ran out of town into the fields of the country side, empty and abandoned. Sora walked up to Brom panting heavily.
"Get near the ground." Brom hissed.
"Huh?"
"Hide!"
Sora ducked into the tall stalks of grain that were growing. He peeked through to see Brom waiting. In about ten seconds a bald shinobi appeared. His headband had two stones showing he was from Iwagakure and was wrapped to cover his eyes.
"What's up, stranger?" the shinobi asked.
"No much. I'm just going to be killing killing yah."
"Hah! The shinobi laughed, "Prove it! Let me see your headband!"
"You don't need to be a shinobi to be able to fight." Brom told him. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a katana. The blade was nothing special. The handle was dark red and had a golden bear on it. The bear was on it's hind legs and roaring. Brom gripped the weapon firmly and got into a stance. Then he swiped the katana around a full 360 degrees in a flash. The blade cut the crops around it. Cuts appeared at the bottoms of the stalks of wheat around Brom and fell simultaneously. Brom next brought the katana up to his hand and pressed against it, causing it to drip blood. It dropped to the ground and Brom began to scrape and slide it around with his feet.
"The hell!?" His opponent said, "You're all talk and no walk, old man. You're wasting all your time in preparation for that dumb jutsu or whatever. If you're going to kill me, then kill me!"
"Be careful what you wish for," Brom replied, "Because I'm not doin' some retarded dance over here. Oh, I wish I could have more time to kill yah though. Then we could share lots of pain together."
Sora looked down at Brom's feet from his hiding place. The red liquid at his feet were forming a symbol. It was Jashin's symbol!
"Screw your pointless words!" The shinobi shouted, "Let's fight already!" He threw a couple of kunai. Brom knocked them aside with his katana, like they were nothing but annoying. In a flash of speed, he charged, cut the man's shoulder, and was back above the red symbol.
The now injured man and Sora both thought the same thing, 'He's fast. But why just one pointless cut?'
"Not good enough." the shinobi told him, charging with a kunai.
"Crap." Brom said, blocking the attack. The shinobi didn't move his weapon, keeping it locked with Brom's sword. Then he flipped forward, putting his feet on the katana and pressing his weight against it. Brom's grip loosened and the blood-covered katana fell to the ground under the enemy's feet. He kicked it out of the way and it slid across the ground until it was right next to Sora's hiding place.
The shinobi tuned back to Brom to attack with the kunai. Brom grabbed his wrists with his large hands held him back. "How are you gonna fight like that? With just your bare hands?! You need a weapon."
"I have a weapon." Brom told him. He pushed the man to the ground with his superior strength. Then he reached inside his giant coat and pulled out another katana, a perfect twin to the first. "I always carry two." Those were the last words the man heard. Brom shot the katana into his heart and he died an instant, almost painless death.
A high pitched scream erupted nearby.
A dark-haired woman came charging at Brom. A kunai was held tightly in her hand. She screamed at him "You killed him! You killed him you son of a-"
Blood spilled.
She stopped and looked at her attacker with wide, scared eyes. Sora hadn't been thinking. He acted purely on instinct. It had told him to protect Brom, to kill the woman.
Red blood was dripping down from her gut. Sora had picked up Brom's katana and attacked her from the side. Her body couldn't take the pain. As soon as Sora removed the katana, she fell forward, dead.
"You didn't have to do that. I could have killed her on my own."
"I know. Something in my head told me to. Was it Jashin-sama?"
"Who knows... How do you feel, Sora?"
Sora glanced down at the woman with her dark ponytail and light make-up. "Like... I've just accomplished something. Something big."
"You did. Few people take their first kill that well."
'My first kill...Brom was right...It all makes sense. Life makes sense now. I'm here to kill for Jashin.'
"I think I'm ready Brom. To dedicate my life to Jashin-sama." Again Brom's teeth flashed in the dark night, grinning.
They took the corpses and hid them in the outskirts of the fields, not to be found until hours late. Brom went back to the insignia of Jashin in the dirt, Sora trailing behind him. "I'm sorry I couldn't show you the proper way to kill someone." He apologized, "Anyway, one of the most important things yah gotta remember is after each kill you have to show Jashin-sama you did it for him. Pray before the battle and after it for thirty minutes. No less. If you lose, beg for forgiveness."
He laid himself flat across the bloody symbol -his head and legs sticking out due to his massive size- and held his pendant at his chest. "Some day, you'll learn how to properly kill." Brom promised, "But for now, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way. When yah know how, you'll pray on a symbol like this. Right now, just stay at the edge I guess."
Sora did so, not noticing Brom doing something with his sword behind him. Sora prayed silently in his head. Not really having prayed before, Sora thought it would be difficult doing it for half an hour straight. Then, it became easy. He realized how...strangely good he felt about it. Was it Brom's strong words or Jashin-sama's will? He didn't know. He was just in a good mood and showed that he had sickly, yet truly enjoyed the kill.
He felt a hand on his should. "Get up. It's been thirty minutes." Sora blinked. "That was quick." Then Brom blinked. All the Jashinists he had heard of thought of praying thirty minutes straight was necessary, but long and annoying. Also kids like Sora were often impatient. Why the hell did he think it was quick?
Sora noticed something was up. "Brom-san?" Brom shook the thought from his head. "It's nothing, Sora. Come on. We have some vows to make."
"Owch!"
Blood ran down Sora's palm. "That...really hurt." Sora muttered, biting his tongue to try and forget the pain.
Brom said to him, "One who doesn't know pain doesn't have the right to inflict such suffering on others."
"That makes sense, but... it's still hard." He whimpered.
"You'll have to get used to it." Brom told him. "Starting now, your life's going to be filled with pain. Lots of pain."
The cut wasn't that large and if left alone wouldn't scar him permanently, but it stung like nothing Sora had felt before.
The red liquid poured from it and onto the symbol in the ground soon joined by more blood and a clear liquid that fell from the boy's face.
Moons: Like it? Don't like it? Please review!! Reviewers get soda pop!