Unfriendly Skies (Priv)

Kiru sat on a small grassy island in the center of the whirlpool. Apparently this was used to deepen the bond between a summon and potential summon. The water flowed around him and made little to no noise. Kiru was almost at peace. This would be easier if he didn't have a dragon in front of him that he was supposed to be bonding with. Instead though, they were simply sitting, and supposedly meditating. Kiru had come here to get stronger, not to sit on his butt all day. Arguing with a six foot tall dragon with chains wrapped around its legs didn't seem like such a good idea though. It already didn't seem to like the boy, and had what Kiru could only describe as an angry grimace. The dragon had a steel gray body, and its scales meshed together like armor. Kiru had been told that this particular dragon was one of the least experienced, and could only really use its chains in battle, unlike the others who had quite a number of sealing techniques. So far, the dragon hadn't even really looked at Kiru. Its eyes remained closed and focused, and seemed like it was doing its best to ignore the ninja's existence.

The dragon was having similar thoughts. The boy was supposed to be meditating, but was constantly fidgeting. He wore a ridiculously long blue coat, and didn't even have a shirt on. He had a sword balanced in his lap, but was obviously no swordsman. The dragon was not pleased with its supposed partner. How could he work with such a novice? It was unthinkable. He would rather resume his training, and get stronger so it could become an elder someday. He couldn't do that with this fidgety boy, who seemed to lack any sort of control. The dragon could even see that he was attempting training with an arm not fully mended. That the boy would leave his village with such a liability as an injured arm was beyond the beast. The elder must be getting senile to think this kid could ever reach strength enough to be an ally of their kind. He looked like he barely had strength enough to fight his own battles.  The dragon would do his best though. The elder had given him an order, and he had to do his best to follow the great dragons wishes. However ridiculous they may seem.

Both huffed a bit dejectedly almost at the same time, and actually reached a state of calm. This of course activated the islands special effect, and brought the two into the true purpose of the bonding exercise. They both were startled and their eyes shot open. They now sat in a grassy forest, without an inch of snow to be seen. Kiru stood, looking around in amazement. "I don't think Yuki has a summer. Where are we?"
The dragon answered in a gruff tone, "We are in the training zone created by the elder. It is an advanced space-time technique probably only he posses. We will have to fight waves of enemies, and solve puzzles of sorts. Our real bodies are not out of danger either. This will put stress on our bodies as well as our minds, so we can get actual training done without being in a large space."
Kiru nodded in understanding, a look of amazement still in his eyes. "This is really cool, when do we begin?"
The dragon pointed to some shadowy figures exiting the forest and charging towards them. "Roughly right about now. The names Tatsakawa by the way."
Kiru smiled at the opportunity of a challenge, and responded to the dragon in a pleased sounding voice. "I'm Kiru. Lets see what you can do."

The two rushed at the figures. There were only twelve currently, and seemed to literally be made of shadow. Kiru snapped a chain out of his sleeve, and whipped one through the chest, and it disappeared in smoke. They appeared to be similar to shadow clones. Tatsakawa had already destroyed three simply by slamming into them, and took out another two by smashing a chain through them. As they were destroyed though, more kept appearing. Kiru ran at one, jamming a chain into the area where its heart would be, then he smashed his leg into the chest of one trying to sneak up behind him. He barely dodged a shadowy fist coming from his left, and destroyed it with a well placed chain to the shadows face. He was becoming quickly overwhelmed though. All his punches and kicks seemed meaningless as the horde of shadows multiplied. He lost sight of Tatsakawa and started to fear for the dragons safety. Had something gone wrong? His fears were relieved as he was suddenly grabbed around the chest by a chain and flung into the air, landing promptly on the dragons back. The dragon gave Kiru a toothy smile. "You did good out there, for a novice."
Kiru laughed, and rubbed his still injured arm a bit. "You did good for being a giant lizard."
The dragon snorted at the boys response, and looked down at the mass of shadows. "They just keep coming don't they?"
The dragons tone was a bit gruff as he spoke.
Kiru also peered down at the shadowy figures that had formed a literal army. "Yeah, this seems a little much for training."
The dragon seemed lost in thought for a moment, before returning his gaze to the boy. "I believe we were meant to make a retreat in this situation. If we wait a few minutes, I believe we will be sent to the next instance momentarily."

True to what the dragon said, the scenery began to change. The shadow men all disappeared and were replaced with a concrete terrain. The forest had become a cityscape with buildings that reached high into the sky. Kiru sighed, as he could already see where this was going. "So this is going to be flight maneuver training? If I get sick you can't blame me."

The dragon huffed in response, and around the side of one of the buildings two dark shapes began hurtling towards the pair. They had a similar look to the previous enemies, but these were more defined. Kiru could actually see the detail in the dragons, though they didn't share the chains of the species Kiru had befriended. On the backs of the shadowy dragons were humanoid looking shadows, carrying lances. Obviously this one would be about taking down these tougher enemies while in flight. Tatsakawa took off towards them, and Kiru unsealed a chain to travel behind him. He planned on using it as a lance to defend against the other enemies weapon. Tatsakawa turned suddenly, Kiru barely missing being impaled. However he was also unable to strike his enemy due to the turn. Neither sides attacks had effected each other so they would both have to make the effort to turn around. This was not what Tatsakawa chose to do however, and instead flew around the side of a building, out of the sight of their enemies. His head turned and looked up towards the boy on his back. "Kiru, draw your blade. Aim for the wing of the dragon we get closest too. They will destabilize and fall."
Kiru nodded and they turned around the building again, putting their enemies in view. Kiru drew his sword, the blade glinting in the sun, his coat flowing behind him in the fast moving wind.

They approached their enemies at alarming speeds. The two shadows were ready this time, and instead of rush forward, waited back to bide their time to strike. If Tatsakawa didn't turn at the right time, and Kiru didn't take out at least one of them, This could very well end in defeat.  Kiru concentrated, calming his breathing. He couldn't let the rush of adrenaline go to his head and cloud his moves. He had to be precise and quick, without any hesitation. The moment of truth rapidly arrived. It went almost as slow motion to the genin. Tatsakawa turned from the spear of the first spear, putting him in range of the second. Before the other one could strike, Kiru's blade decapitated the shadow, and sliced through the dragons wing like paper. Both the dragon and rider poofed into smoke, leaving only one left to fight.

Kiru and Tatsakawa sat in the air, staring down their shadowy opponents from a safe distance. Neither had yet to make a move as they gently floated up and down, keeping themselves airborn. Both were waiting for the other to make a move, and a deadly silence came over the area. Both shot forward suddenly. Kiru blocked the spear with his sword, a clashing of sparks erupting where the two objects met. Both dragons attempted to tear each others throat out, but only managed to bounce each other apart. The shadow began following Kiru and tatsakawa, and the foes began spiraling up one of the tall buildings. Kiru reflected each spear strike with his blade, but each of his strikes were reflected by the spear. Tatsakawa himself repeatedly attempted to bite the other dragon, but the two usually just forced themselves away from each other. This clash climbed its way up the building, Sparks flashed as the two weapons met repeatedly, and the two constantly rebounded as the dragons attempted their own attacks. Any time Kiru attempted to hit the wing of his enemy, his blade was either met with a spear, or the shadowy creature would make a sudden dodge. If the spear attempted to destroy Tatsakawa's wing, Kiru would bat it away, or the dragon would turn sharply. This continued seemingly indefinitely as they spiraled up the building, until they finally reached the top. Kiru and Tatsakawa both were breathing hard and were tired. This had been extremely taxing, and the shadow enemies didn't seem to tire at all. The shadow enemies meanwhile watched with dark gazes, giving off no indication of their thoughts or plans. Kiru's sword appeared to be chipped in places, and was no wear near perfect condition. he had also suffered several cuts and bruises from poor blocking of the spear. Tatsakawa himself had several cuts and bite marks where he had been a tiny bit too slow. The clouds above them became stormy, and rain began to fall. Thunder seemed to reverberate around them as the two enemies began to plan their final moves. Kiru began the proper handsigns for a jutsu he knew well. Then he blew the Chakra into his hands, creating a spiral wind ball. Their opponents couldn't due something of that magnitude, and didn't seem to react to it. As they both finally seemed ready, the pair charged.

As the two foes zoomed towards each other, Tatsakwa stopped suddenly. Kiru jumped, and was flung off the dragons back and strait towards the shadowy spearman. He caught the spearman dead on with the windball to the chest, and they both began falling as the shadowy man was launched from his dragon. Tatsakawa grabbed the shadow dragon and spun. It used the other dragons speed against it and threw it into a nearby building, causing it to poof into smoke, clearly defeated. Kiru's enemy on the other hand, was a little more tenacious. Even falling he thrusted his spear at the genin, who blocked the blows with his sword. They had likely reached terminal velocity by now, and were heading towards the ground at an alarming rate. While the shadow had nothing to be concerned about, Kiru was a little unnerved by the rapidly approaching ground. He slammed aside another thrust from the spear, and was finally able to land a killing blow, his blade piercing the shadows chest. It poofed into smoke, and just before Kiru would have hit the ground, he woke up. 

He was back on the island in the center of the whirlpool. The cuts and bruises were still there, but his sword seemed untouched. Physical objects didn't seem effected by the realm. Tatsakawa on the other hand, was smiling proudly at Kiru. "You can summon me anytime you want partner."
Kiru smiled happily, then fell backwards into the soft grass, eager for a rest.

WC- 2049
Claiming C-Rank Summon
Claiming 10 stats

Approved