Lazarus' fishing day

Lazarus is sitting on a rock, a makeshift fishing pole in hand. The pond is calm, and the surrounding area is so quiet, one could hear the slight splashing of the fish breaching the water to investigate the odd being resting at the waters edge. Lazarus couldn't imagine why the villagers don't appreciate the subtle nuances that nature provides, when left to it's own devices.

"Why do all these people insist on socializing in groups?" Lazarus asked a fish that has poked it's head out of the water, and looked at him. The fish replied by diving back down into the water. Lazarus sighed and leaned forward, reflecting on his morning.

It had started out just as any day would have, Lazarus woke up in his little alley between a general goods store, the name of which he never cared to know, and a ramen shop with an old worn out sign. He, slowly, stood up, using the wall of the general goods store for leverage.

Today was going to be an interesting day. Lazarus had planned to go buy some fishing bait, from the general goods store, with the store credit that he had left over from what he had earned from helping out at the shop, and go out to a pond that he had found while exploring some of the woods scattered about the village.

Once he was adequately awake, he walked into the shop and asked for the bait from the shopkeep.

"Sure thing, Lazarus." He said, handing over the small bag of dirt and grubs. "If you catch anything good, I could always take it off your hands for more credit."

Lazarus nodded in response to this and walked out of the store waving goodbye to the shopkeep.

He then started on his way to the pond, avoiding all the crowds he could by cutting through the back alleys that he had grown accustomed to using over the passed few months.

He just didn't feel that he was a part of the village yet. Despite everyone being nothing but nice to him, in addition to being very helpful in any way they could, he still felt like a worthless urchin. Not to mention that he didn't always want help. Sometimes he thought that the people of this village were almost to nice.

He was brought back to reality when he had heard a growling coming from behind him. Lazarus, slowly, looked over his shoulder.

An ash gray canine was standing about a yard away from the fishing ninja, teeth bared and now snarling. Lazarus sighed.

"A wolf, really?" He muttered, as he nestled his fishing stick into a crack in the rock.

No sooner than Lazarus positioned his fishing pole did the wolf lunge at him, jaw wide to snap shut on the ninja, giving him barely enough time to raise his right forearm in front of his face, catching the wild dog under its jaw. He then extended his arm out, causing the beast to roll to the right, and landing about a yard and a half away.

Lazarus stood up and positioned himself to counter the next attack, left foot in back, right foot in front, and waited. A few seconds passed before the wolf pounced again. When it did Lazarus pivoted on his right foot, swinging the left side of his body back. As the wolf passed by him, Lazarus dropped his elbow down on the base of the wolf's head, where the neck met the skull.

The wolf let out a slight yelp before falling onto the rock and rolling into the water, somehow missing the fishing pole.

"Well then, where are the rest of-" Lazarus was cut off by a blow to the side of his head, he quickly recognized the pelt, dry and scratchy, almost like hay, as that of another wolf. As he started to fall sideways, Lazarus grabbed the wolf, by what he assumed was the head, and snapped his upper body so that the wolf was slammed into the ground in roughly the spot that Lazarus would land. He didn't have the opportunity for a soft landing, however. Before Lazarus landed he was tackled by third wolf, this one propelling him and itself towards the pond. Lazarus took a deep breath as soon as he realized the direction in which he was going.

They breach the surface of the pleasantly cool water with a harsh splash, causing the few fish that remained, from the entrance of the first wolf, to scatter away from them. This infuriated Lazarus. He let out a little bit of air, through his nose.

While still submerged, he looked around in the clear water for the wolf that had entered the pond with him. He didn't have to look very far, as it was swimming straight for him off to his left. He let a little bit of air, through his nose.

 Lazarus grabbed the wolf's snout, creating a muzzle with is hands, and bit down on the wolf's nose as hard as he could before pushing the wolf away with all his strength, at the same time he jerked his head as far back as it would go, tearing the canines nose right off. He, then swam to the surface, releasing all the air in his lungs as he breached the surface.

Lazarus took a deep breath through his nose. Then looked around for the second wolf, which he spotted,  sitting in wait, on the rock that Lazarus had been sitting on whilst fishing.

It was now that he realized that this wolf was much larger than the others, and covered in scars, most notably the 3 slashes stretching from above it's left eye, to it's nose. Lazarus was in awe of how beautiful the massive dog was.

He swam to the shore, about 10 yards away from the hulking canine, never taking his eyes off of it. The wolf, however, moved only it's head to watch the ninja. Once Lazarus was on shore, and standing upright, the wolf stood up. 

Glaring at Lazarus, the wolf starts running at him. Lazarus unbuttoned his weapon pouch and grabs a kunai before bracing himself for a swift motion.

This wolf was slower than the other 2 wolves although it was obvious that it was a lot stronger than the others to compensate. It was apparent that Lazarus would want to avoid this beast making contact with him.

When the wolf had finally come close enough to Lazarus, who was observing the wolf's breathing at this point, that it would be able to pounce him, it did, it's head tilted to it's right with it's enormous jaws open wide to crush the ninjas entire neck. Lazarus expected this course of action, however, and when the wolf was inhaling, about a foot away from him, he spat the nose of the second wolf into the mouth of the massive dog and dropped backwards. The wolf instinctively closed it's mouth as the foreign object made it's way down it's throat, getting lodged in it's windpipe. Lazarus took this as a cue to plunge his kunai into the chest of the large wolf. As soon as the blade entered the wolf's flesh it started cutting the beast open, due to the speed at which the bodies were moving. The mass of fur reacted to this with a very strained screech, although it was caught by the nose in it's throat, so it sounded more like guttural moan. As it's body opened up it released it's cache of blood and bodily fluids in a spray that doused Lazarus, as the ninja landed, and the ground below the wolf as it continued on it's path, until it landed with a dull thud a few seconds later.

Lazarus walked over to the bloody mess of a wolf and watched it for a second. It was lying on it's right side, blood readily flowing from the exponentially large gash in it's abdomen, and it was struggling to breathe.

"Still alive, huh?" Lazarus asked the heap of blood and fur. "Even the most brutal of animals deserve mercy." He grumbled with a sigh.

Lazarus grips his kunai tighter and positions it in front of the wolf's left eye.

"Rest in peace, you magnificent beast."

He then plunged the blade into the wolves eye socket and twisted a few times to ensure it's death. He checked to make sure that the wolf was, indeed, finally dead. When he saw that it was completely still, the ninja removed his kunai from it's skull.

Lazarus then turned to look back at the rock that he was sitting on when the first wolf made it's appearance. The fishing stick was in pieces and the water was stained red from the second wolf, which was now floating in the blood pond. There was no sign of the first wolf anywhere.

"Must have run off." He muttered.

It was all to apparent to Lazarus that he was getting no more fishing done here today. As the sun set over the pond, he started on his way back to town and, more specifically, to his little alley between a general goods store, that he never cared to know the name of, and a ramen shop with a worn out sign.

(WC 1551= 7 Stats)

Approved of Appropriate Rewards