A Moving Target

Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:51 am

It was difficult enough getting permission to leave the hospital. With the mess that Hunter and Asura had made in Asura's hospital room, the nurses were convinced that Asura was a detriment to his own health. But he could have explained it all - really. The chair thrown out the window? That was Asura aiming at Hunter's turtle to try to throw him off his game. Who could've predicted that the turtle could chew up and spit out an entire chair like that? The upturned bed and IV stand? That was the Demon trying to create distance from Hunter, who was obviously the faster swordsman. Oh and the blood-red paint everywhere on the walls? Yeah that was blood. But no one was cut open. The Demon had spat it out in a mist to blind Hunter.

And Asura was not unsuccessful. He wanted to land a hit on an opponent that was able to use Chakra. These Shinobi and their parlor tricks were really something, Asura thought as he walked to the training grounds. They could disappear, reappear, create, and destroy. The feeling in his stomach, a clenching pit, was a familiar reminder that he was not unbeatable. He carried his ninjato out along his side, dragging its tiny metal end along the grass, and it caused the children in training to become wary while their mothers watched him suspiciously. He was much too old to train at the training grounds, at the age of 22, but what other choice did he have? He joined Kumogakure to learn their ways, and if they hadn't seen a dark-skinned red-haired man strike at trees with his sword for two hours, then they'd have to find a way to deal with it.

But he had gotten enough stares last time, when Hunter asked him to come over and train with him. This time around, Asura wanted privacy. So he threw the hood over his features and bolted into the woods, stopping only once he found a suitable clearing. The quiet turmoil of the forestation was all the background noise he needed as he ran his palm over the cold and collected surface of his blade.

Now, to practice some of this Ninja crap.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:30 am

The day was bright and sunny, the glimmering beams of the sun's golden rays stretching out to encompass the village like a lion grasping a cub. It cradled the village in its light and heat, relentlessly bearing down on the area. One of the few areas that offered refuge from the overbearing lioness above was the nearby woods, which Megami had no qualms with training in. After all, anything that would save her from the oppressive overabundance of the sun could not be rejected. She despised the sun and its heat for numerous reasons; one of such being that heat led to sweat and sweat was a sign of uncleanliness. Uncleanliness was unacceptable for a person of her statue, she proposed to herself. Indeed, she was above such things as filth and sweat. She must remain graceful and without blemish.

She was poking and prodding her way through the woods and foliage, in fact, when she came to take heed of another person within the immediate vicinity. In fact, he was a mere five meters in front of her when she finally realized his presence. "Eh... I really should become more aware of my surroundings." she noted to herself aloud, standing up straight and addressing the man whom stood before her. "Greetings, sir! I am Megami and it is a pleasure to make thine acquaintance! To whom am I speaking?" she questioned him in the latter sentence of her brief monologue, genuinely curious as to the nature of the man's presence in the woods. After all, his appearance alone intrigued her. He looked a tad bit different from those shinobi who were from the Cloud village.

She stood steadfast and firm, her feet planted squarely in place as to offer a quick getaway if this man turned out to be hostile while also being in a position to ease the brunt of an attack if he turned out to be faster than her. In essence, her stance was purely tactical. One could never be too sure, especially seeing as how the youngster from earlier had attacked her so openly earlier. Not only that, but she had just finished disciplining young children who were harassing merchants and trashing the district. Such a hand full people were... She had hoped that this man would be different and offer sensical thinking and words that were of logical reasoning to her. Not only that... but perhaps a sparring partner would be perfect for her training, nay?

Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:02 am

Unlike Megami, Asura was painfully aware that the distance between them was closing in no hurry, like sand in an hourglass, but it closed still. Was she just not paying attention? By the time of her arrival, he had already worked up a sweat, but his eyes could not have been playing a trick on him. This girl was definitely just strolling over to him as if he were another tree in this forest of many. Panting, he stopped, allowing the reflexive wave of frustration to breathe down his back. That technique was hard to master. He could barely use 'Chakra' to walk on walls, let alone incorporate it into an attack. And after having failed on his umpteenth attempt, the last thing he wanted was to add confusion to the myriad of things he felt.

He held his breath for a moment, as the heartbeats inside of him grew louder, and allowed for his pulse to decrease. It was while he tried lowering his heart-rate that she saw him. 'Yes, you really should,' he heard his mind say, when she made a comment about her own attentiveness. 'What in the fuck are you saying,' was his second thought, this one harder not to vocalize. With someone dressed like that, perhaps it wasn't a surprise that she spoke that way too, carrying with her that big red blinking sign that said 'I'm rich and gullible.' "Who the flying red fuck are you?" His voice grasped for air at the end of every other word, but perhaps the flustered state of his mind could still be conveyed.

As a matter of instinct, the Demon raised his blade, and pointed it to where she stood. From his vantage point, someone weak and slow and antiquated was standing her ground where his blade was directed. A piece that did not belong. Involuntarily, his eyes moved to the metal of his blade, upon which was reflected his own face.

"Tell me your name and I'll tell you mine."

Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:13 am

Megami watched on as he raised his blade in her direction, pointing the relatively sharp tip directly at her. She tilted her head and giggled gently, bringing her hand up to try and muffle the sound itself but evidently failing. She surveyed his body up and down, quickly realizing that he was covered in sweat and seemed rather irate, though that was merely how she perceived him given his present mannerisms and style of speaking. She sighed and pulled out one of her five kunai, pointing it in his general direction. "If thou livest by name for name, I shall match thee with blade for blade!" she gigged even more now, her light-hearted personality taking hold of her.

"My name is Megami! Megami Kuraistu. Thou may callest me Meggy or whatsoever thou pleases." she told him rather plainly, smiling at him. "Though after you tell me your name I find it relevant to request an explanation as to why thou pointeth thy blade at me?" she asked him the question quite boldly, with complete disregard for the underlying threat that was represented by a blade pointed at her person. She was, after all, not gullible but trusting. There was far too great of a difference to bunch the two together. After all, choosing not to trust someone was quite offensive. Then again, his lack of trust could be used to the betterment of their spar session to come. At least, that was what she believed was to come. It seemed, at least to her, self evident that the two would soon engage in combat. Whether it be out of disregard for each other or for complete regard for each other, the reason was irrelevant. She simply wanted to get stronger.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:42 am

Kuraistu. His head tucked to the right, hands from his past grasped at his attention, and as quickly as they had come, they were gone -- leaving only his thoughts that were hungry for more. Where had he heard that name before? Looking up at her again, he searched for where he had seen those same eyes before. Was it in the desert? "Asura - You can call me Asura." He was compelled to tell her his real name, some strand of fancy convinced perhaps that she would feel the same recognition that he did. But it was just not possible, and before it flourished in the field of his thoughts, he stomped the feeling away. They had never met before.

She asked, reasonably, why he was pointing his blade at her. Her five kunai were an understandable response, and given how things seemed to work here, she could probably turn Kunai into fuckin' machine guns. So you can see why he kept his guard up.

"Well you're here, at the training grounds, with... armor?... and kunai. I'm guessin' you're here to train." Against his battle-soaked intuition, he did not meet her eyes. Why had her eyes seemed familiar when the rest of her was not? Taking a step forward, the distance between them slipped into new lows. In a mechanical and predictable motion, he raised his armed left hand and sliced down at her, curious to see if his assumption on her training intent was correct. Of course if she covered up and shriveled, he would stop the blade. It was not his intention to hurt her, nor was it his goal to figure out why he was being hit by pangs of nostalgia from meeting a stranger.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:01 am

Megami listened to the names, further inspecting his appearance as she became overwhelmed with a sudden surge of thoughts that brought back memories of a younger boy, though still older than her, who had left quite an impression on her back when she was younger. She now understood why she was so impacted by his appearance and yet was not so much so as others. It was simply due to the fact that they had once met. In the distant past, albeit, but they had met in a distant land. Her musing of the past was cast aside, however, as Asura now closed the distance between them, though at a slow pace. She pulled back onto the ball of her heel, instantly running numerous potential scenarios through her mind.

Though she immediately calmed herself. He had an air about him of superiority and strength. If he truly wished to do her harm, she would not have such a chance to defend herself. Rather, she deduced he was testing her just as she liked to test people. 'Interesting... We're not so different after all, Asuna.' she thought to herself, noting the way he raised his blade above her head and began to bring it down. It was not with the full speed and force one would have used to, in all seriousness, dispatch a person. He was testing her. She, for a split second, debated cowering in 'fear' to test his intentions and emotions but decided instead to play into it.

She used what meager speed that she possessed to jump back and toss the kunai at a high velocity directly at his sword with what little strength she possessed. The kunai, aimed at the sword, would merely deflect off of it if nothing else but she threw it for no other purpose but to show her precision and accuracy while also displaying to him that she was there to train and hone her abilities, something that was a necessity to even possess such accurate aim. "It's nice to meet you, Asuna. Again." she smiled, stepping towards him. "I believe this is our first time meeting in such a place, however." she looked up as if in thought. "I seem to recall an odd place in the desert? Surrounding an oasis? Am I wrong?" she mused the aspect, wondering if she was correct. If so, her memory was indeed impeccable.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:16 am

A-Asuna?!" His strike gained velocity mid-stroke, so maybe it was for the better that she had managed to evade. Jumping backwards gave her the luxury of distance, since her weapons were ranged ones after-all. The lingering vibrations of metal striking metal remained in the core of his weapon when he moved forward again, this time faster. Moving towards her would introduce a risk if she were to try to evade backwards, and this time, his slice wasn't so easy to counter-attack. His left hand poised to his right side as he pushed towards her, his eyes finding some way to target her without looking into her eyes.

"The name's Asura, idiot!" The possibility that perhaps she had fudged up his name intentionally had not occurred to him, which was for the better, because if he assumed that she was taunting him, then he might've gotten angry. Instead, he chose to only increase his speed further with another push against the grassy ground. In the next moment, he was before her, only a thin arcing line documenting the trajectory of his blade as it approached her left shoulder. Maybe a little cut wouldn't be so bad, he reasoned, a moment before the fluidity of his motion froze and crumbled.

"Don't know what you're talking about," came his voice, as what was left of his distracted attack came flying towards her at lower speeds and strengths than where it had started. His mind, meanwhile, struggled with the webs of implications that were spun from her words. And while he spoke none of what unfolded in his mind, he made the mistake of looking her in the eyes, and perhaps the way he looked betrayed the way he thought. Was she really that same girl?

Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:34 am

Megami caught herself as she realized her mistake, blushing a deep red as she realized her Hebrew accent had caused her to accidentally call his name as 'Asuna'. Before she could correct herself he had already lurched forward with a secondary attack, the speed and strength of which were clearly raised to test her even further. It was at the end of her last sentence that he faultered, pulling back ever so slightly. She took advantage of this opportunity and side-stepped to her right with whatever speed she could muster, channeling chakra into the seal on her left palm. "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all these things." she recited as the chakra instantaneously manifested itself as two tendril-like snakes which, rather than stopping the blade itself, were aimed at his hand and the hilt, wishing to restrict the part of him that controlled the blade and stop it in its place long enough.

If this was successful she would simply move forward and ever so lightly allow her soft lips to gently brush the skin of his cheek, kissing it lightly to thank him for all those many years ago where he had saved her from being lost and returned her to her parents. "Thank you, Asura. I am sorry." she would then whisper. If she was unsuccessful, she would do this none-the-less as the attack would have been slow enough for her to maneuver around and do so. However, she wanted to make sure he did not get too flustered and accidentally do her harm.

Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:12 am

Had his weakness been so apparent? She did the last thing one should do -- moving in the direction of his slash. He could have kept his swing, cut at her legs, or even used her own momentum to take her down in that single slicing motion. But, perhaps out of dumb luck or his inability to hide the flux of recognition, none of those tactics came to mind. She moved to his left and his slash ended gracelessly at its empty destination, no drop of blood drawn.

When he whirled around to face her new position, she spoke an incantation that dragged its terrible nails down his spine in a flash of recognition. Her mother had said those words. But they didn't have the youth that she did. A mouth in the heart of the desert within which there lied an endless oasis of water. The sky and earth blistered together under the hateful gaze of the sun but the people of that place felt no thirst. When Megami commanded two snakes to shoot out from her palm, he had not enough wits about him to react.

A place that defied the way of nature should not have existed. But he was too young then to take in the awe of a hydro-powered society in the middle of the lifeless sands. With dunes everywhere about their borders and enormous waterfalls in their center, the Grand Heart of Noa was the name of that city.

He looked down at the snakes that wrapped both around his wrist and sword. His right hand immediately grabbed the snake at his wrist, to stop it from biting into him. His reactions were timed and tailored for a battle, so when she broke out of their theatrics for a moment and brought down the weight of reality onto him, he did not know what to do. Her kiss was not as heavy as her words.

"Wait," came his muttered response. It was all mixed up in his mind. One image intertwined with the next, and what had been a certainty seemed to fade and flirt with uncertainty with ease. His expression took an unexpected turn, and his eyebrows furled and the sharp crocodilian teeth behind his lips gritted together. "Why're you here?" The snakes about his wrist made it difficult to pry it loose, so he dropped the blade he held, allowing him to slip free with one quick motion. From his utility belt he pulled out a bladed boomerang in each hand, holding them at the center as though they were brass knuckles. "Why are you following me?!"

Panic was never an emotion he had grown comfortable with. And in its stead, when he felt cornered and out of options, he would become aggressive. It worked in the past when it should not have, and out of pure luck he became reliant on this aggression to get him out of this corner. But what corner was he in? Why was this sudden confirmation that they had met a thing to fear? Was it simply because his memories from so many years ago now mangled into one? Or was it because of something that had happened after he had returned her?

"Family full of fr-," he trailed off before shooting forward at her. He crossed his arms, one bladed boomerang on each side, and aimed to pin her between his forearms and the tree behind her. He had lived in fear for so many years that this comfortable silence he felt in Kumo had made him forget what it felt like. Should he trap her between his arms and the tree, the wild and carnal look in eyes would zero in on hers. But whether she was within his trap or not, he would still mutter between clenched teeth, "How did you find me?"

Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:28 am

Megami was not too surprised that she was successful in her movements. Primarily because she had already deduced that he did not intend to do her serious harm. Though she instantly came to the all too true realization that gambling on emotions alone might leave her short a limb or two. This was why she decided instead to focus on combat while they engaged in combat. After all, it appeared to be her only option. She giggled at his words and actions, taken by surprise by his mounting panic and actions. She honestly, for the life of her, could find nothing in her knowledge to explain it. It was then that it dawned on her... The way her family had treated him when he had returned her those many years ago.

Out of fear for her they had treated him like a wild animal, a beast. They were fearful that he would infect her with carnality and sin that had been somewhat abundant in many places they visited on their missionaries to foreign places. Megami sighed.

"Why are you following me?!" he asked her but she showed nothing but surprise. "Following you...?" she questioned, uncertain as to what he meant. "Shouldn't that be my question?" she didn't wait for a response as he now charged at her with dual bladed boomerangs. She quickly maneuvered through the necessary handsigns for one jutsu that came to mind, the Clone Technique she had learned in the academy. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness!" she shouted the verse distinctly while doing the handsigns as three clones of herself appeared before her, locked in arms as to obscure the boys view of the real Megami.

Meanwhile, the real Megami leaped backwards into the top of the tree, retrieving a kunai, which she stopped momentarily to fiddle with and attach something to, before throwing it at the feet of her opponent into the ground. "Asura, I know my parents weren't understanding but please understand, this is my home village... I was raised here. Not there." she told him calmly, retrieving her third kunai from within her armor, preparing for her next move already.

A Moving Target

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