A/N: New chapter so soon? Well deal with it yo. Putting TBG on Hiatus has been an actually productive choice. I get more AS and ES out while TBG just sits on the back burner for now. Should be fun. Anyway, let's get started.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Yukio screamed, for what reason, he was never quite sure. Fear, rage, shock, he never quite pinned it down. But that was at the back of his mind as he plunged down, swords at the ready, as he neared the neck of the left head cornering his friends. The head looked at him with what amounted to disinterest before looking back down.
Great. Yukio thought. Now I'm just going to land harder. He rushed towards the hound's neck and incredible speeds, it growing larger and whiter with each passing second. Soon. Soon. Then the left head reared, to strike, when Yukio landed. Well landed was a loose term. Yukio fell beside the neck, digging the swords in as much as he could, making nice gashes along the neck before stopping, hanging by two words. Blood slowly ran down the massive neck, dripping into the arena but Yukio had much worse worries. Namely: getting up. He pulled one sword out and raised it, stabbing it in about halfway, and doing the same with the other as the left head howled from the original gashes. Yukio gritted his teeth as he climbed, slowly. His arms were forced to hold up his entire body weight which, while not much, was enough to make his upper arms burn with pain. Suddenly, the left head shook a bit, rocking Yukio around as he desperately gripped the swords to keep on.
"There's g-g-gotta be something I c-c-c-an do." He muttered as he was shook. He decided the best course of action was to use the upward swing of his side to be propelled up by the momentum. It'd work, in theory. Question was: how? Yukio swung his body as the hound shook, sending goblets of blood everywhere. Yukio managed one swing up, timing it right this time, as the momentum pushed him past the hound's ear, swords still in hand. He sailed over the neck of the beast and sunk a blade into it. He dragged along for a moment before stopping, the left head howling. Yukio sunk the other sword in and managed to get himself into a kneeling position. He stood, gingerly, as the head rose up.
"Kid!" he heard Aika yelling. "What in the hell are you thinking!?" the right head snapped at her.
"A plan!" he called. What this plan was, he wasn't entirely sure. Just hurt the thing had been his goal. He turned and ran up the neck of the left head, towards the head itself, which was swiveling back and forth, making Yukio stab into its neck to keep stable at times. The thick, white fur of the two headed wolf was like walking in thick grass, catching on his shoes. Yukio was tempted to cut the stuff as he went but that would take too long. He had to act and he had to act now. He rushed forward in one dash as the head lowered, making Yukio lose his footing. He was forced to slide down the beast's neck, racing towards the head at alarming speeds. Yukio turned around, readying his swords. He looked behind him as the base of the skull rushed to meet him.
Now! He thought, jabbing the swords into the skin of the wolf, dragging them along blade side first, until he hit the base of the skull forcefully, rattling his shoulders pretty hard. Yukio winced as his shoulders flared up in pain. He groaned as he swung his feet around, trying to find a foot hold when the head rose up again. It leveled out and Yukio pulled the swords out of the skin of the hound, drawing more blood. The left neck was now stained with the stuff, but that was irrelevant. Yukio wanted to hit the eyes, but how could he do that without falling? His eyes shot around, quickly, looking for something, anything he could use to- hang on. Yukio noticed that one of the ears, the left one, was up against the hound's neck. If Yukio could get it swinging…
He ran across the level head towards the ear, sliding back down the neck a short bit before coming to a stop. He quickly stood and ran to the ear, stabbing his right sword through the bottom of the cartilage, piercing it. This elicited a pained howl from the left head. It wound up its head to shake when Yukio pushed the ear and himself off the neck, going into free fall for a second before the ear drew taught and Yukio found himself swinging flimsily from the ear by the sword, coming around to the face.
"Hey dog!" He yelled as he swung, the eyes coming closer, now fixated on him. Yukio did the stupid thing and channeled lighting chakra into the sword, as little as he dared. He neared the eye and passed over it. In one swift motion, Yukio thrust the sword forward, the tip of the blade glinting in the sunlight just before it sank almost to the hilt into the hound's large eye.
The reaction was more violent than Yukio had imagined. Combining a sword with electricity and sending it point first into the dog's eye, he assumed, would've made it howl or yelp in pain. He didn't expect to get swung from the sword he prepared to pull back out, sailed back to the neck, before being swung back across the face and, still holding onto his remaining sword, was flung free from the floppy ear. Yukio experience a brief moment of flight before he realised he was heading straight for the right head, the one that was focused on Aika, who was dodging every bite, but barely. The hound raised its face to see the newcomer and saw Yukio. It turned its eyes to glare… wait.
As he flew, Yukio readied his sword, holding the blade tight in his hands, but he didn't dare run chakra through it. He let out a wild scream as he closed in and landed sword point first into the right head's left eye. The head reared back and roared in pain, sending Yukio flying back, landing roughly into the thick fur and he landed onto the hound's back. It wasn't a soft landing, like the fur might suggest. Yukio hit the back hard, hitting muscles that were hard as steel, and bounced along them several times, hurting his already sore shoulders, before he came to a skidding stop where he hit his head on a vertebrae poking up against the skin.
Yukio's vision went red from the impact, and his hearing turned form the sounds of a wolf roaring in pain to just a high pitched tone. Everything was turning double and the world was circling around and around and around as Yukio felt his vision darkening. And the high pitch noise leaving him as sounds of shouting filled his ears. He closed his eyes and blacked out.
Several Years Ago
Yukio was pushed form the cart along with several others. Unlike the rest, however, he landed in the mud, shackled arms first, to no one's amusement. He hastily stood up, looking around, as much as he could. Everything was just a coloured blur of whatever that thing was supposed to be. Yukio's eyes darted around to get whatever information he visually could out of this place. He got blurs, blurs, and eve more blurs.
"Come on kid, move it!" he was hit in the back by some man whose voice was quite gruff and irritated. Yukio almost fell again but kept his footing this time around. He started forward slowly, hoping he didn't run into anything or trip over something. He looked into where He was and only got the vague impression that he was near buildings of some kind. Maybe he could get into one or just duck into an alley. He saw a lot of blurs that seemed a deathly greenish colour, as if the place were a haunted town. His mother always told him not to think like that, it was illogical. Yukio had agreed but always held that something has to be checked before you can say it's not real. Now he was sure he was in the dark part of the afterlife.
He tripped over something, but kept his footing again. This wasn't going to be easy. He didn't want to be here. He didn't even know where he was or why! Yukio took a shaky step forward, his brain now focussing on the sad and bad things. He was nearly blind! Why had he been taken? He bumped into someone's shoulder and fell to the mud again.
"Hey!" he heard an angry woman's voice. "What where you're going!" she yelled.
"I-i-i-i-I'm sorry!" he pleaded quickly, stammering, trying to slide back, mud soaking through his dirty shirt. He could only see a vaguely human shaped blur staring down at him. Or at least he thought she was staring. It was possible she'd take pity on a nearly blind seven year old right?
"What's wrong with you! Are you blind?" she asked, now quite angry for some reason.
"Y-y-yes." Yukio answered. "Well n-n-n-not entirely but I c-c-can't see much at all." His stammering increasing with his nervousness at this horrid situation. His teeth were chattering. The female figure, which Yukio now saw was accompanied by a couple other figures of indeterminable gender, stopped talking for a moment.
"Just stay out of everyone's way." She growled, now walking away, her footfalls making small splashes in the wet mud. Yukio almost bowed, he was grateful. But he decided that crawling, like a filthy dog, was his best option for getting around. He kept on his hands and knees, feeling degraded, but felt his way through the muck. He hit his head more than once on walls but he managed to crawl away with light hits. When he was what he assumed to be behind a building, Yukio stood, taking a deep breath, and leaned back against the building, the mud drying around his hands, arms, and legs. He felt terrible, homesick. He wanted to be with his mother and sister. She was probably crying now, thinking he was dead. Both of them. His mother had always said he was her man now, his father dead in a Ninja War.
Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Yukio took a shaky breath and pushed lightly from the building and slowly walked forward, keeping the buildings, or at least the wall he had leaned against, to his immediate left. He held his hands to it, hoping to use it to guide him, when he hit the end and passed by either an alleyway, or just the gap between this house and another, when a hand, small, gripped his wrist and pulled him in roughly, pushing him to the floor. He felt someone get on top of him, straddling his waist, a piece of metal, most likely sharp, pressed to his neck.
"What do you want?" a female voice, this time quite young and higher pitched, hissed at him. Yukio raised his shackled hands as much as he could.
"P-please." He whispered. "Don't kill me." A tear finally liberating itself from his right eye and sliding down his face. His body started shaking and the piece of metal slacked just a bit.
"How did you find me?" the voice hissed.
"I don't know!" Yukio whispered. "I can't even see well, I was just following the wall." He pleaded, hoping this person would show him some mercy. The piece of metal was kept to his neck for a minute, which seemed like an eternity, before it was retracted and Yukio felt the weight lift off of him.
"You really can't see?" he heard the girl asking. Yukio sat up, looking at the vague shape.
"Not really. All I see is just a blur." He pleaded. He hugged his knees to his chest. "Please I just want to get out of here. I want to go home." There was silence for minute, as if this girl were flipping things over in her head, before she extended a blur, which must've been an arm, to Yukio.
"All right if this is true, I'll help you." She said "You try anything and I'll kill you, agreed?" Yukio nodded his head viciously, reaching out with his shackled hands to the rough are in which the blur was extended. After a second, his hands grabbed the slim frame of another hand.
"M-my name's Yukio." He said, now happy, his chest swelling with excitement. Finally, someone he might be able to get to help him out of here!
"My name is…" the girl paused, thinking, as if she were now uncertain she wanted him along, this filthy blind boy. She took a breath and sighed. "My name's Arine."
Yukio woke to the feeling that the earth was shaking around him violently. He raised his head and almost went back to being blacked out, when he was thrown from his position a few feet, rolling to it, before he was jostled awake. He opened his eyes quite wide and looked around, propping himself up on his fore arms. The two headed wolf was shaking, and his head hurt quite a bit. What didn't help was when the wolf jerked its hindquarters to the right, sending Yukio sprawling, his head pounding with pain. He gripped the white fur tightly in his hands in order to remain on top of the massive beast as it jerked around in the arena.
"Come on!" He heard a woman yelling. He dared a look down and saw Aika dancing between the two heads, swinging her sword around, attempting to cut them. Both had to focus on Aika since Yukio took out one eye per head, a feat in its own right, which Yukio was sure he didn't have the energy to do again. He didn't even have a sword anymore, as far as he could recall. Though, on cue, his remaining sword was sent over the side of the beast as it jerked to the side to get a better angle at Aika, sailing past Yukio and hitting the ground.
"Shit." Yukio muttered, his arms now quite sore. He began pulling himself up, but the constant shaking of the beast was weakening his grip. Fur was wrenched form his grasp at a moment's notice, but he managed to grab more at the same time, trying to pull himself up. If he could just manage that...
Suddenly the beast jerked its front half up, making Yukio swing down, as if he were a loose piece of jewellery, and hang by his left hand. With the view, Yukio saw Denji rearing back, his hammer ready for another swing, as Arine shot in, jabbing at the hound's ankles. The foot connected to the ankle Arine was stabbing at had a toe that had a small trickle of blood. Denji had hit its toe, possibly breaking or fracturing it! Yukio wanted to shout encouragement, perhaps attack other feet, but he was distracted by fur slipping through his fingers. He made a mad grab and managed to get a grip with his right hand. He reached up with his left and began climbing as the hound shook about, attempting to avoid the pain. However, Kohta had made the mistake of transforming in the arena. It gave him far more limited space. Unless he were to suddenly crash out of the building, smashing it to pieces in the process.
Yukio finally made his way to the Wolf's back and suddenly wondered what he was going to do. He didn't have a plan anymore now that his sword was gone. That is unless he managed to get the sword embedded in the left head's eye. The beast jerked up again as Yukio heard a loud crack. Denji must've broken a toe fully, as the hound's movements slowed, somewhat, as it noticed its toe was broken. Yukio pulled himself to a kneeling position and rested his hand on his left thigh, feeling his… his spear! He'd forgotten about them! He pulled both and flicked them out. Perfect climbing tools, at least for now. He stood, shakily and slowly, his head pounding from the effort, but he managed to start a walk as he heard Denji screaming as he brought his hammer down again. The hound jerked up once more and Yukio stabbed his spears into its back, anchoring himself as it rose and went back down before he continued.
"Eat this!" he heard Arine yell as she did something, which irritated its left foreleg. The beast stomped in that vicinity as the head danced around each other, Aika doing the best she could, slashing with her sword at eyes and nose when they got too close for comfort. Yukio, meanwhile, was making his way to the right head. If he could take out the other eye without dying, that'd be his best bet. It was the most attentive head of the two. He ran up to the base of the neck when it shot down, making a slope. Yukio stopped himself with a spear before he slipped down. The head had darted at Aika, who'd dodged, and was now raising for another strike. Yukio quickly ran as far along the slightly lowered neck before it rose up a tiny bit, Yukio planting a spear into the neck about midway, and hanging on for dear life as it shot down. This thing was big but slow. Kind of. Denji and Arine attacking the toes was definitely helping out a bunch to distract the left head. The right head rose and Yukio used the raising slope as a way to slide down slowly before he hit the base of its skull. Once he hit that bump, he ran across its head, spear at the ready, as he prepared to stab.
"Hey!" he yelled, the eye moving up to see him. It was huge, Yukio could easily sit on it like a chair. Now he was having second thoughts about his spears doing the job, but that was irrelevant now. He stabbed, his spear piercing the cornea. He pushed as far as he dared before retracting. The wolf shook its right head violently, roaring, sending Yukio flying off. No! He needed to be up there!
"Kid!" he heard Aika yell as she saw him flying. She ran out, using the blindness, temporary or not, to take the chance to catch Yukio. She ran out and leapt, arms out stretched, as Yukio landed, hitting her hard, sending both of them sprawling. "Ow!" he heard Aika cry out as he landed face-first in the bloody and wet sand. He pulled himself up, sand sticking to him, as Aika heled her ankle, previously wounded in her match against Kohta. Blood was running out of it and Aika was holding it tight, her knuckles white from the exertion.
"Aika, you can't-" he started but was cut off.
"I know kid." Aika grunted, her face contorted in pain. "Fucker did some damage. It'll hurt to walk, he didn't tear anything." She looked down. "I don't think." She panted before looking Yukio right in the eye. "Go. Help them. They need you." She grunted before leaning back. Yukio looked to the battle going on and noticed she was right. The right head, now blind, was snapping at air, or just near his friends. The left head was now going into overdrive, snapping and biting at Arine and Denji as they did their best not to get stomped on. Denji would hit a toe and Arine would stab at the ankle. But the hound was learning and was moving its feet in odd patters to throw them off. Denji, from what Yukio could see, had broken at least three toes on both front feet. It slowed the hound down marginally but it wasn't enough.
"All right." He promised Aika, picking up his spears, which had flown form his grasp when Aika caught him, and sprinted towards the battle.
"Yah!" Arine yelled as she stabbed her spear forward, drawing another goblet of blood from the wolf's ankle. She jabbed her trident forward, into the broken toes, but the foot retracted. The hound was learning dammit! She jumped back as it snapped at her, Denji going in for a swing and connecting with one of the broken toes, eliciting a small whimper from the right head that Yukio had crazily blinded. It snapped near them but never got the exact location. The hound's foot retracted from Denji's hammer as he rolled to the side to avoid a snapping of massive teeth.
"I'm getting tired and this thing is just warming up!" he yelled, panting. But he smiled that good natured smile of his. It made Arine sick.
"Focus dumbass!" she yelled when she heard
"Hey!" she looked and saw Aika crawling away as Yukio ran up to them.
"Yukio!" Arine cried happy he was here. Finally, he could come up with-
"Look out!" he called. Arine looked only to see a massive white paw hit her full in the face, sending her flying back to Aika's direction, where she impacted with the sand, her weapons piercing the ground at differing points. "Arine!" she heard him yell before she blacked out.
One Year After The Meeting
Arine sidled up against a wall, right by the one living residence that was gutted and dead. The only thing living inside of it was a man who had a taste for human meat. Rumours Arine had scrounged up had mentioned that he was a part of a clan that force children to eat raw parts of people, which sounded disgusting to an eight year old. But this man also had a store of water, something Arine desperately needed. Yukio had helped her plan the raid and Arine was feeling confident, picked kunai knife gripped tightly in her hand. She waited around the corner, at night, from the entrance to his house.
"He should be out in three… two… one." She whispered. On cue, the man came out, looking both ways before he pulled a bucked with flies circling it out with him. He snuck around the opposite side of the house and Arine made her move. She darted into the man's open door and looked around. This was an entry way, nothing here. She moved to the adjacent room in front of her, the only way, and saw nothing of importance. Just a bare room, wall paper peeling and yellow. Arine had a choice now: left or right. She chose right and saw a room that had a ratty mattress on the floor, covered in various stains Arine would rather not decipher. On the other side of the room was a door. But the scent coming from it, reaching the side she was standing on, was so foul she assumed this was where he kept his… meals. She turned around and saw the left option, a room that had…. Yes! Several large jugs sitting in the far corner.
She bolted as quietly as she could towards them. There were about seven in total. He could withstand missing a couple. She opened the lids and found wonderful, clear water. Smiling, she closed the lids on the two she opened and picked them up by the handles. They weighed quite a bit, but Yukio and her needed water now. This was their second prison town and resources, Arine was finding, were quite scarce. A cannibal hording water? That'd ward off enough people.
Arine turned around, jugs in hand, when she saw a silhouetted figure standing in the door.
"Well, well." He said, his voice calm and level. "What do I have here?" He stepped forward, the moonlight shining through the window catching him. He wasn't exactly skinny but not fat either. Just a bit soft around the edges. With plenty of meat to go around, he must've been eating quite a bit. Arine remained silent, setting the jugs down. She had her knife in her pocket, she could easily get it. But the man, standing quite tall, his hair cut unevenly short due to the time in here, his face adorned with cuts and scars with scraggly and patchy facial hair from failed shavings, but sharp green eyes not unlike Arine's own, which she saw in the mirror on occasion.
"Nothing." She commented, her right hand drifting slowly to her pocket. If she could get her knife out, she'd stand even more of a chance.
"Bit young to be in here, aren't you?" the man asked, his voice still. It was eerie, as if he had seen this kind of thing more than he let on. "Small one like you, surely you're not much use to Orochimaru." There it was, that name. Orochimaru. Arine, hiding in alleys and shadows, had found that the name was sent around in hushed whispers, as if even speaking the name would invoke the presence of the man to the very spot. But this man spoke it aloud without fear. Maybe because he was hungry.
"I don't know why. I was just taken." Arine responded. Generic answer if anyone even bothered to ask. Yukio had and she'd given the same answer. Even after a year she was still wary of him sometimes. He seemed to shift between sniveling and strategizing. He enjoyed that quite a bit, the planning.
"Of course. They all are, aren't they?" the man answered, stepping forward again, the moonlight hitting his face in a way that made it seem almost skeletal. A sound rattled through the air suddenly, the sound of someone's stomach growling. The man looked down at his thin gut. "My, my. I'm quite hungry." He looked up, licking his dry lips. "I suppose I could do with some younger meat. Bit too tender for my tastes but I can manage."
"Try it, creep." Arine growled, low, when the man charged at her with surprising speed. Arine whipped her knife out at the precisely best time she possibly could have. She stabbed towards him in the same gesture as the man was upon her in but a mere second. She felt the knife hit something and looked. She had stabbed him in the thigh, deep. The man was frozen above her, his hungry eyes now had a mixture of fear within them. There was a spot emanating from Arine's knife that widened and enlarged by the second.
"Oh my." The man whispered as he fell, Arine backing away. He reached a hand down to his thigh and gripped it, staring at the blood running through his fingers as if it weren't fearful, but a drink he had spilled and didn't want to lose. Arine backed up a step, but the man's free hand shot out. "No, don't." he said ambiguously.
"Gah!" Arine cried out as she stabbed downward, her knife severing the man's ring finger from his right hand, sending it to the floor. She wrenched her foot form his grasp, blood staining the skin on her ankle and foot. She stumbled and fell, narrowly avoiding the two jugs she had set down. She watched as the man stopped reaching for her and…. Grabbed his own severed finger and held it to his mouth. This wasn't right, this wasn't natural. Gripping her knife and yelling out, she charged towards the man, who looked up long enough to see the knife plunge down. Arine shoved it through his temple with all the force she could muster before pulling the knife back. The man's hands went slack and the small pool of blood that was gathering from his thigh was now slowing to a crawl. Arine shoved her knife in her pocket and grabbed the two water jugs, leaving the body on the floor to bleed until someone noticed it.
She exited the house and made her way back down the alleyways until she found her and Yukio's hiding hole. Yukio was there, prodding a stick at the small fire, as if bored. He heard her approached and turned to her direction.
"Arine!" he breathed out a sigh of relief. "You were taking longer than I thought."
"Sorry." She apologised half-heartedly. "He caught me." Yukio sucked in his breath.
"What!?" he whispered, frightened.
"He's dead now. Dead." Arine sighed, mouthing that word. Dead. She looked and saw Yukio's fists were balled, stick discarded to the ground.
"I should've been there." He muttered. "I should've been there to protect you." Arine was taken aback. The blind kid saying he should've protected her? Had she less sense, she would've found it endearing. But she found it pointless. Don't focus on the past.
"I'm alive. That's all that matters." She handed Yukio a jug and he held his hands out shakily. "Drink a bit." She said. Yukio found the lid and took what wasn't a sip but a good gulp, before closing the lid.
"I'm just saying." He started but Arine flicked his shin, her way of getting him to shut up.
"Go to sleep. I'll keep watch a bit." She said. Yukio obeyed with obvious reluctance. He laid his stolen jacket out and slept while Arine watched their tiny fire. No one passed this way very often, but Arine preferred to be unnoticed. She grabbed the stick Yukio had and stocked the fire gently, attempting to push the memories of that encounter out of her head.
"Arine!" Yukio yelled, shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him.
"What?" she asked but Yukio shook his head.
"Come on! Denji needs us!" he helped her up, handing her weapons over to her. Arine gripped them with semi concern. Yukio sighed. She'd taken a hit. "Okay, Arine, please wake up." He begged. That seemed to jog her a bit. She looked and saw Denji barely alive as she dodged one snap after the other form the left head.
"Okay." She said. Yukios sighed in relief. His friend was back. "All right, come on." He said, sprinting towards Denji, but limping as his ankle screamed. He heard Arine following behind, somewhat slowly. Yukio pressed on, making his way to Denji as fast as he could. His friend didn't see him until Yukio was almost right beside him. Just a few feet of distance separated them.
"Hey! Yukio!" He started, raising a hand, when the dogs fore right paw cam at him at alarming speeds. Denji saw it and dove quickly from a standing position into a crouching one, the paw barely missing him as it passed by. Denji shot up, hammer in hand, as Yukio stood there, stunned, while Arine caught up.
"What the-" he started before Arine crashed into him, forcing him to stumble.
"Ow!" she let out as she hit him shoulder first. "Worry about stuff later, kill this thing now!" She hefted her spear and Denji hefted his hammer. Yukio stared at his friend, still shocked by the mere fact that had he been moving faster he'd likely be dead.
"Hey!" Denji snapped his fingers under Yukio's nose. "Space out later man! Let's get this thing!" he smiled, nice and wide, as he readied his hammer for another swing. Yukio looked up. The two headed hound was weakened by their various action. The left head, from where the beast was facing, was blinded and drooling, thick strings of saliva mixing with the blood form its eyes pooling on the sand in spots. The right head was alert, its single right eye glaring at them with intense hatred. Its ankles were bloody, from Arine's various jabs, and its toes at various angles thanks to Denji's hammer work. It looked ready to pass out or go for one final charge. It backed up as much as it could, ready for the latter.
"You're right." Yukio replied, flicking out his spears. "We have to take this thing out now or at least go down fighting." He gripped the spikes tight in his hands. To think. All of that stuff they went through, all the stuff they survived in the prisons and on their way here, just to meet a possible end to a giant, two headed wolf driven by the rage of an insane man. Yukio gritted his teeth. He couldn't let it end this way. They had to stop it. He turned to Arine. "You ready?" he asked. Arine gave the massive beast a once over before nodding.
"Let's end this. Here and now." She stared at the hound a second and took a deep breath before screaming "CHAAAAARGE!" With a triumphant yell, all three charged the hound, weapons brandished, ready to strike.
Denji did the surprising thing and threw his hammer from over his head, sending it end over end until it luckily hit one of the unbroken toes on its left forepaw with enough force to make the wolf stop its preparations. Arine and Yukio struck. Denji went to retrieve his hammer as Arine threw her trident as her as she could, sinking the three points into the left ankle to make the right eye on the right head open wider in reaction. Whether it was form pain or surprise, Yukio would never know. He ran up, jumped, using one of the broken toes as a spring board, and sank his spikes into the ankle. He viciously stabbed at the ankle with all the force he could muster, putting his anger into each stab. Arine slashed and stabbed at the ankle, getting under the hound and going for ankle tendons, as many as she could. Denji had gotten his hammer and swung it down with enough force to break the target pinkie toe with one mighty swing.
The hound retreated, a surprised whimper/yelp elicited from both heads. Yukio jumped from the ankle he was on and went for the toes, stabbing the broken ones as much as he could, to make as much pain as he could while Denji worked on breaking what was left, about one more. Arine slashed at the back of its ankle with her spear as fast as she could manage, cutting through thick layers of skin one layer at a time. Yukio alternated between toes and ankle, doing his best to support them. He stabbed the ankle wounds Arine was making to help widen them, he stabbed the toes he could while Denji smashed even broken ones over and over to wound the foot as much as he could. They all three attacked the single foot with such ferocity, they didn't notice the right forepaw coming at them until Yukio turned his head.
"Scatter!" he cried, sending the three of them in various directions as the right paw swung into the left, eliciting another yelp/whimper.
"Go at it again!" Arine yelled as she ran forward, spear leveled as she drove it into the back of the ankle as hard as she could. Denji ran up and smashed the middle toe on the left paw again, hitting the most prominent knuckle and hearing the shattering of bone. Yukio helped Arine, driving his spears into the wound, pulling them back as he retracted, opening the wound as much as he could, blood running freely from the sore they were making, as the hound readied its paw for another attack.
"Just a bit more!" Yukio growled through gritted teeth when he turned and saw the second paw. "Again!" they dove aside and the paw, instead of swinging, slammed down, making the immediate area shake.
"GRAAAH!" Arine screamed as she threw her spear into the open ankle wound, making it stick, before she ran up to it and kept slashing. "I'm almost there I think! Another second!"
"Don't worry!" Denji yelled, running over to the retreating right paw, his hammer raised. "Yukio, you comin'?"
"Of course!" Yukio smiled at his friend as they shot forward, Denji's hammer swinging down, hitting the front knuckle of a toe while Yukio stabbed into another. They assaulted the right paw, doing their best to keep the hound focused on them while Arine slashed at the ankle as if carving into rock, every slash making small progress.
"A little more time!" Yukio observed as he stabbed down into knuckles as much as he could. "I think she's getting-"
"HIIYAAAAAAAAAAH!" He heard Arine scream as he looked. She swung the tip of her spear in a long, sideways arc, her face and body covered in blood as her mouth was open mid scream. Her spear tip went into the ankle, a spurt of blood shot out, and he saw it again, bringing the red liquid out in a wide arc to the left of her. The paw Denji and Yukio were attacking stopped moving and the beast was still for a second before the left leg began quivering and shaking hard. Yukio wondered what exactly she had cut when he remembered a prisoner who'd had his Achilles tendons removed. He couldn't even-
"RUUUN!" he screamed, running to the side of the wolf, away from Arine. Denji kept close to him. He turned and saw Arine heading in the opposite direction, knowing what was to come. The right paw shot out, slamming into the ground, but the wounded toes Yukio and Denji had gone for made it hard to support the full weight of the beast as it collapsed, its left foreleg unable to be used. Despite the distance they ran, when the two headed wolf crashed into the sand, it send up a massive cloud of it, sending it out in all directions as well as shaking the arena quite a bit.
Denji and Yukio covered the faces as best they could when the sand was sent at them. Yukio held his breath, keeping his lips sealed tight and plugging his nose. When it passed them, the sand didn't fall down, remaining in the air, making trapping the oxygen in his lungs harder and harder by the second, the pressure building up within his chest. He looked to Denji and noticed he had pulled his shirt over his face. Yukio did the same and exhaled loudly, appreciating the short respite. The sand died down, and Yukio turned to see both faces cratered into the ground, breaking through a nice chunk of the wall as well. He looked and saw Arine was running to the heads, spear in hand, ready to finish the job. Yukio looked to Denji and nodded, both of them running back to the wolf. Yukio's ankle was now screaming as loud as if could. It stung, burned, and throbbed with pain but Yukio did his best to ignore it, which was difficult.
Arine reached the heads first, her spear raised, and was ready to yell something, her mouth open, when she paused. Yukio wondered what it was when he noticed it: the body was decaying. Not like a human body, but quickly into thick, white smoke, from back to front. The massive beast turned into an even bigger plume of smoke that floated up from the arena floor into the sky. From the smoke, a hunched figure was making its way to them. Arine readied her spear when the figure collapsed forward, revealing Yasuhiro, Kohta's dog. Its eyes were red and bloody, its left foreleg was bleeding profusely from the ankle, and its toes on both forelegs were purple and swollen. Yukio walked forward, cautiously.
"Be careful." He heard Arine say. He took that to heart as much as he could and put a hand on the dog. He felt no breathing, its chest wasn't rising and falling.
"It's…" he started, biting his lip. "It's dead." He let out a small sigh of relief when he heard
"Look out!" from Arine. Yukio looked up and saw a large figure standing over him. It made no sound as it thrust an arm forward, punching Yukio hard in the face, sending him back several feet, flipping over in the sand before coming to a complete stop, unconscious.
One Year After The Prison town
Yukio hugged his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth. He couldn't see anything in this prison, it was so dark. All he saw was muddled blacks and browns. Arine was with him, describing what she could. But even she basically said what Yukio had seen. Except the prisoners. He couldn't see them but Yukio could hear them, groaning, moaning, crying out, screaming, having nightmares, whimpering, everything. It was driving him insane. He'd heard things about being needed for experiments and such but they'd been in here a week. Nothing was tended to, Arine had nearly retched when describing what was coming out of half the cells. Yukio would rather not know. He rocked back and forth, his hands keeping his knees together, as if to distance himself from this horror as much as he could.
"Yukio." He heard Arine right beside him. "It's not gonna work." She said, depressingly. He knew because she was in literally the same position. Except now she worked her arm through his and held onto him. He understood, she needed something to show not everything had gone to shit. Just something to hold onto while they sat here in terrible darkness.
"I have to try." He muttered, the smells and sounds of the prison making his stomach to flips. He had nothing to retch up, he'd done that within the first couple days. At beast they were given stale bread every day a couple times. At worst, a whole day without food would go by. Yukio's stomach growled in protest. It wanted to eat and empty itself but it was already empty.
"Yeah." Arine responded. She rocked back and forth with Yukio, to keep some rhythm up, to have something to concentrate on that wasn't this prison. Yukio began to wonder why they were here. To die? To see how long it took? He didn't know and didn't care. He wanted out of this horrid place, he wanted to go home to his mother and sister. He'd even take Arine with him if he could. He wanted to save her form this place too, neither of them deserved it, they were just kids! That was when they heard the cell door open and looked up. Yukio saw nothing much aside form silhouettes. But one of them spoke in a smooth, academic voice.
"Yes. This one." He said, pointing in Yukio's direction. Two other silhouettes came towards him. Arine rebutted.
"What is this? What do you want with him!?" he felt her lock her arm tighter around his, but large hands grasped them both and pried them apart, grabbing Yukio and dragging him as he kicked and flailed in protest. He heard Arine crying out, calling these men various names, but her voice was quieted as they distanced themselves from the cells and came to a more lighted area. Yukio was surprised as the smells now were faint and the sounds almost inaudible.
"I hope you don't mind, child. But Lord Orochimaru wanted an experiment done and you're a very viable candidate." There it was again, Orochimaru. That bastard was the one giving the orders.
"What does he want?" Yukio said, trying to sound tough, but his fear seeping into his voice, making it shake. He heard the man laugh.
"He wants to give you back your eyesight." The man replied once he was done. Yukio's heart skipped a beat. He what?
"Wh-what?" he asked as they passed into a far, far brighter area.
"You can't see very well can you?" the ma turned as he walked, Yukio still carried by the guards. "I bet you can't even see my face." Yukio squinted hard but he couldn't make anything out of it but for something grey on his head.
"N-no…" Yukio admitted and the man chuckled.
"Don't worry, you'll get it back, even better than before." The man passed into a white room and Yukio was put down onto a bed, which was nice after being in a cell, but then he felt the straps tighten around his wrists and ankles. He struggled, suddenly, attempting to get free, when a needle was stuck into his arm.
"Wh-what are you doing!?" Yukio cried out. The man, who had been doing something else, now faced him again.
"We're going to give you your eyesight." He held up something that sparkled and Yukio's vision began growing dark. "But first, to give you such a gift, we must take away what you have."
"No…" Yukio muttered weakly, the sedative taking effect. "Who are you anyway?" he asked. The man chuckled.
"Call me Kabuto." And Yukio blacked out.
When he came to, he was back in the cell, Arine shaking him violently.
"What did they do? Yukio?" she sounded distressed. Yukio pushed himself into a sitting up position and looked at Arine…. But he didn't. His eyes were closed. He tried opening them but couldn't.
"What…" he started, reaching up, feeling bandages around his eyes. No. Nonononononono. They didn't. We must take away what you have. That man, Kabuto, had blinded him completely. "No. No." Yukio felt around and backed up against a wall. "Nononononono." He felt like sobbing, but his eyes hurt at the sensation. He still had them but… Just then, the cell door opened again and Yukio heard someone thrown in with a grunt before the door was shut again.
"Ow…" he heard a boy's voice in front of him. Yukio heard small patters, the boy getting up and looking around. "What's with you?" the boy asked.
"I'm…. I'm…" Yukio held his head, his worst fear realised. He was now completely blind. He couldn't see, trapped in darkness like this for the rest of his short, miserable life.
"Hey!" he heard Arine snap. "Lay off."
"Sorry." The boy apologised. "Didn't know. How about we introduce ourselves? I'm Denji." The boy, Denji, sounded sincere. Yukio heard Arine huff.
"Okay. I'm Arine, this is Yukio." She patted his shoulder. "What are you in here for?"
"I dunno." Denji said with acceptance, more than Yukio thought could be in a person. "I guess I'm a candidate for a super soldier thing or something." Denji chuckled, earning a growl from Arine. "Hey listen, I'm just trying to keep a light mood here."
"Well this isn't the-" Arine started but Yukio gripped her arm.
"No. No it's fine." He muttered, extending a hand in a general direction of Denji's voice. "Like she said, I'm Yukio. And I'm…. I'm blind now." Yukio felt a hand, quite strong, grip his own.
"No worries. You're the first blind guy I've met. I just hope that maybe we can live with each other. Maybe survive this thing, eh?" he sounded confident. Yukio felt a small smile creep up on his lips.
"Yeah. Sounds good."
"Okay then." He heard Arine sigh. "How about we stick together for now at least, all right?" she reasoned. Yukio nodded and heard Denji give an affirmative "mhm". "Good. She replied. Let's stick together then."
Yukio heard someone near him yelling out. He raised his aching head and saw Aika over someone, yelling something he couldn't hear. He looked to the right and saw silver hair. Denji. Yukio sat up groggily and looked to see Arine slashing at Kohta with her spear, but the man easily dodged the slow swings. She was tired, exhausted. Kohta looked like he was running on pure and utter rage at this point, but it served well enough. Arine made a slash and Kohta grabbed her spear, pulling it back with Arine, and then punching her hard in the face, sending her back to where Aika was sitting over Denji's unconscious form.
"This is the end, witch." He heard Kohta growl as he hefted his club-sword in his right hand. Yukio saw Arine wasn't moving, her face now bruised up real bad. He looked and saw Denji had a nasty cut on his forehead and his arm looked purple and swollen. Kohta had done this.
"Why?" Aika asked. "Just let them go, kill me!" she yelled.
"They're with you in your guilt, bitch." Kohta growled back. "You're bounty hunting scum, you deserve to die just like the rest."
"Because you fucked up?" Aika countered. "Because a bounty hunter killed your hound after you tried to murder your family to become the head?"
"I WAS IN THE RIGHT!"
"You were insane!" Aika rebutted. "You still are." Kohta's face went purple with anger.
"That's it." He growled, readying himself to raise his weapon. "I hope you're prepared to die." Yukio looked and saw his friends and teacher defenceless. Here he was, sprawled on the ground like a useless sack of logs. He looked to his side and noticed a spear of his lying beside him. He picked it up and slowly stood, gripping his aching head. His ankle protested but he told it to shut up.
"No." he muttered, his own anger rising. He wasn't going to allow Kohta to hurt his friends, the people who'd helped him out the most when he needed it. He likely wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them, and vice versa. He gripped the spear in his right hand so tight his knuckles turned white. Kohta noticed him for the first time.
"What?" he asked and Yukio advanced forward, stepping by Aika.
"I said" Yukio took a deep breath. "NO!" he threw the spear, the point piercing Kohta's midsection, but not enough. The man ripped it from him and tossed it aside.
"You little shit stain." Kohta growled. "You're going to pay for killing my dog! Right after that little bitch suffers! I'll make you watch, and her!" he looked accusingly at Aika. "I'll kill all you bounty hunting scum!" and suddenly Yukio felt something in his brain break. Loudly.
"Shut up." He said. "Shut. Up." He glared at Kohta as hard as he could. "Just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, making Kohta recoil slightly. "I'm sick and tired of this. 'poor me, poor me, bounty hunters are evil' you make no damned SENSE!" Yukio took a step forward. "All you're doing is complaining and it's stupid. Utterly, purely stupid! I've never seen such an idiotic man child before!" Kohta opened his mouth but Yukio cut him off. "You claim bounty hunters are evil simply because one killed your dog after you attempted murder? You're a fucking idiot!" Yukio was breathing hard now but he was on a roll. "Is that what you made your goal now? To sit and sulk over a years old grudge, to kill and torture most likely innocent people making a living just because you can't move on!? That makes no sense! It's illogical. It's fucking STUPID!" Yukio's head hurt but he didn't care. "And if you think that I'm going to let you take one more step towards my friends and my teacher, the people who've kept me alive, then you're even more stupid than I already know you are!"
"Yukio." Aika pleaded, looking at him. "Just run, take them. I'll fight him, take us both out at least." She looked at Yukio, hoping to hit the logical part of him. "Just run."
"No." he responded, harshly. "I'll protect you."
"But" she started when Yukio looked back to her.
Aika would later document this as the one time she felt genuinely afraid of one of her students. When Yukio looked back to her, his golden eyes seemed feral. Like an animal whose territory was being engrossed on by a predator and was backed into a corner. He looked like he had nothing left to lose and was going to take down this far bigger creature with nothing but his anger. Aika caught her breath as Yukio looked back to Kohta.
"If you think you're going to kill any of them" he started, putting his hands together "much less touch them. Then you're going to have to do it over my dead body!" Yukio made the hand signs, knowing them from several hours of practice.
"What are you… Yukio you can't!" he heard Aika say, but he didn't care. He was at the end of his rope. Yukio finished, gripping his right wrist in his left hand, he pointed his right hand, fingers curled at the ground, and concentrated. Nothing happened. Kohta let out a bellowing laugh.
"All those words and you've got nothing to show for it!?" Kohta made a step towards Yukio. "I guess you'll be watching the slaughter." Yukio strained hard, until his face was red. He felt a vein in his temple pulsating.
Come on. Come on! Then it happened. A spark appeared in his hand. Then, much like throwing a match into oil, it caught. A brilliant burst of blue lighting arced out from Yukio's hand, shooting out into the air and ground. Around him, two small circles of lightning ran around and around. Concentrate. Yukio forced himself to focus, looking to Kohta as a focal point for his rage. The man's face was now one of surprise.
"Lightning Style." Yukio began, looking to Kohta before taking off into a sprint, letting go of his right wrist, letting the lighting in his hand carve a scar into the earth.
"Impossible! I know only one other who can do that successfully!" Kohta cried, raising his sword. Yukio looked to Kohta, taking in this wall of a man.
Okay, his sword is raised to his left side. Some part of his brain still operating on logic analyzed. He'll swing from that side. Jump over and hit your mark. Kohta swung hard from his left side, and Yukio looked. It's low. Jump in three… the blade closed in two… it was closer one… it was almost at him. Now! Yukio jumped, leaping over the blade as it swung harmlessly under his feet. He landed with a short skid in front of a surprised Kohta, his chest freely available. Yukio thrust his crackling hand forward.
"Lightning Blade!" He thrust his arm forward into Kohta's chest, focusing all his anger and hate right now into this one strike to save his friends. He felt his hand connect with Kohta's chest as the man let out a strangled noise. With a scream, Yukio pushed his blade through Kohta, the lightning exploding from behind him in a massive burst. The blue light blinded the area for the second it appeared. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Yukio backed up from Kohta's large form. The man stood for several seconds in silence, the echoes from Yukio's Lightning Blade fading before he fell to his knees, and then on his face, dead. The large hole in his back a charred black from the heat of the lightning.
"Yukio…" he heard. He turned and saw Aika staring wide eyed at him, Denji was up too, as well as Arine.
"Kohta!" they heard. All four turned to see Shiro running out to the arena floor, a child about their age behind her.
"Dad!" the boy cried as he knelt over his father's body. He looked to Yukio, who was still standing in the same spot. The boy glared at Yukio angrily before charging. "I'll kill you!" he started, before his mother pulled him back by the shirt.
"Not…" she started, tears rolling down her face. "Not now. Later." The boy's eyes showed frustration and anger beyond belief. But he listened to his mother. "I can't lose you too Tomoki." Yukio watched as the boy and mother mourned the loss of such an insane and brutish man. Then, suddenly out of energy, he collapsed to the ground, blacking out.
"You're kidding, right?" Arine asked in a hushed whisper to Denji, who was almost bounding with excitement.
"Oh yes!" he replied. "Prison Break tonight. If we rush, we could make it out!"
"That's insane!" Arine countered.
"You wanna get out of here or not?" Denji challenged.
"Well…. Yeah." Arine admitted.
"Then" Yukio interjected "Let's do it." He faced the direction of the voices. "Might as well, what do we have to lose?"
"Damn straight." Denji agreed, excitedly. Arine sighed in acceptance.
"Okay. Let's hide and run for it." She started.
"Agreed." Denji replied.
"If we do this right." Yukio smiled for the first time in a good while. "We can be free."
"Yukio?" he heard a faint voice above him.
Is that… Kami? Or some deity? He asked himself.
"Yukio? Are you awake?" the voice was gentle, kind. Reassuring and inviting.
No. It's someone though. Have to wake up to see. Just open them. Unless I can't. Maybe I'm dead and this is the voice of some deity. Maybe it's one disguised as Arine or someone.
"Yukio, wake up please."
No not someone I know. At least…. Not well.
"You have to wake up."
I have to wake up. So… wake up.
Yukio groggily opened his eyes, the tunnel vision receding as he saw a gentle face above him, brow furrowed in concern as her black hair drooped forward. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw his eyes open. Her name escaped him.
"Shizune." He heard another woman talking. "Is he all right?" Shizune.
"Yes Aika. He's awake. For now at least." She said, moving an arm behind him. "Let's sit you up." She propped Yukio up against a wall or some other flat object behind him. He winced as she did it, his skull throbbing in pain. As was the rest of him.
"Is it what I thought?" Aika asked, concerned. Yukio looked to her. She wore only a plain white shirt, several bandages on her arms were visible.
"Yeah. Bad chakra exhaustion. If he'd sustained the Lightning Blade any longer, we'd be burying him." Shizune answered with odd enthusiasm. Though she must be trying to sound upbeat about the positives.
"Um" Yukio started. "I don't care for this talk of me being dead." Aika smiled jokingly at Yukio's remark.
"Well at least you're alive, kid." She smiled, her purple hair loose around her shoulders. "Last thing I need is paperwork."
"You aren't a business. You'd bury me and move on." He replied quickly, gaining more alertness. His ankle didn't hurt as much.
"You've learned in your time with me." Aika quipped.
"So where are we?" Yukio asked.
"Makinami village." Shizune answered. "Myself and Lady Tsunade were travelling through here when Aika found us, carrying you on her back. We found this hotel and I got you guys all patched up." Shizune had a kind smile to her, Yukio noticed.
"How bad of shape were we in?" he asked, curiously.
"Arine's face had several small fractures I managed to fix up easily, along with some broken ribs and a concussion. Denji got off the easiest with some scrapes. You, on the other hand, suffered a concussion, a bitten ankle you ran on for who knows how long, bruised forearms, a slight fracture in your left arm, and you then went and nearly depleted all of your chakra." Shizune gave Yukio a more serious look. "I hope you realise that by using that Lightning Blade you could very well have died."
"Yeah." He admitted. "But if they go the chance to get away, that'd be worth it."
"Don't talk like that, kid." Aika gave Yukio slight reprimand. "I don't want any self-sacrifices on my watch, you hear me?"
"But-"
"Yukio." Shizune reasoned "Neither Aika nor your friends want you dying on them to help them out, okay? Just try and live." It was a kind order, but Yukio felt something behind it. Like Shizune had gone through something hard like that.
"Okay." He complied. "I'll do my best to live."
"Good." Aika smiled again. "Now we've got a couple people to see you." She opened the door, letting Arine and Denji run in. Arine's face was normal again and Denji was as excitable as ever.
"Dude!" Denji grabbed his shoulder. "I thought you'd gone and died on us!"
"We couldn't think of what we'd do without you." Arine admitted through a small laugh.
"Um. Yeah. That'd be interesting." Yukio responded with a smile.
"But oh man!" Denji smiled brightly. "The way you faced Kohta! Man that was so awesome! You were all like 'over my dead body' and he was all like 'oh no, lightning!', his face was priceless when you busted out that Lightning Blade!"
"It's true. You looked so determined, I thought if you missed you'd just go for it again until both of you died." Arine commented. "But it's good you're alive."
"It's nice to be alive." Yukio replied. He did enjoy being alive. He just felt… that maybe if he needed to die, he'd be okay with that. To help them.
"Regardless." Aika interjected "We're moving out tomorrow. Shizune went and got the bounty for us and taken a bit, at my insistence, as payment. I'd suggest packing your things, guys." Aika smiled, taking Shizune out into the other room. She closed the door, letting Arine and Denji fawn over Yukio.
"He really is a brave kid." Shizune commented.
"Maybe a bit too brave." Aika sighed. "But he's got a good heart."
"His kind of situation can do that." Shizune smiled.
"It could've also turned him insane." Aika commented idly. "But he seems decently stable, as do the rest."
"I'm worried about Arine though." Shizune started. "That night probably traumatised her a lot. If she became angry and attacked one of them…" she let the sentence drop as Aika seemed deep in thought. She was silent for a moment before responding.
"For now I just want to revel in the fact that they're alive and well. The future is the future. We'll deal with it when we can." Aika answered. Shizune nodded.
"I agree." She looked to the door. "Should I come back early tomorrow? One quick final fix up?"
"Sure thing." Aika smiled. "I always enjoy your company." Shizune smiled, said her goodbyes, and left the hotel. Aika watched her go before heading back to see her students.
"You all ready?" Aika asked, the next day.
"Oh yeah." Denji stretched. "I could go on forever."
"Doubtful." Yukio commented. "No one can go on forever."
"Eh, speak for yourself." Aika replied. "I should be dead, several times over, but I've pulled through."
"Enough talking." Arine interjected. "Can we go?"
"Yes, of course." Aika answered. "You really sure you're all ready?"
"We're ready." Yukio answered. Aika smiled.
"Good. Let's head home." They walked from the village, into the rising sun, towards home.
A/N: Hope that was a great arc end chapter. I mean 10,000 words, JESUS CHRIST! Longest chapter I've written ever. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, come next time for a little bonus before the next arc. Read, review, follow, favourite!