Hostile in Haven

Crack, the blast could be heard clearly for who knew how far. A subtle entrance? Nope, not even when attempted. Maku stood at the center of where the blast had originated from, sound finally catching up with his body. He had traveled as fast as he was able. A speed that he doubted few could reach. Or perhaps they could, he wasn't totally certain, but still it made him feel good to think so.

Entering the capital, was.....:well it wasn't the challenge it probably should have been. His cloak had activated fairly early in his walk to the walls, and he now viewed the city in the specter world. The black blobs of figures, flowing dark lines, and the white fire were all the proof he needed of what had happened here. Chakra was evident in some places, but it was not the most significant factor he had found.

Once he had safely slipped beyond the walls and into the heart of the city, he allowed his body to renter the corporeal world. An ally, so cliche he thought. Yet, he couldn't argue that an ally was a good spot to apear. After all no one would be arou......."and who the fuck might you be..."

Turning a bear stood from the rubbish. Wait, not a bear, more like a man who resembled a bear. Tall, shaggy hair. His shirt was torn, and congealed blood spotted him like a macabre leopard. His voice had been a snarl, full of rage and anger. It would be best to proceed with caution.....then Maku laughed at his own internal monologue.

"I might be fucking.....Fulgrim." He would say. Why give these people his real name. Though he doubted they knew him, it wouldn't do to give the enemy the intelligence before he had already swept the board. He had made up the name on the spot, but it seemed to suit him. He also enjoyed the rage lines that the bear mans face gave birth to.

"You don't know who your talking to runt......see that." He gestured behind him. A large bakery was still lit. The smell of bread wafting to his nose, though mostly burnt. "They laid no respect either. You'll get what they got." A long sigh greeted these words.

"Yes yes, that's super cute I'm sure the sheep tremble at your coyote antics. Leave me alone, please or you'll see what a wolf can do." With that he would wave his hand and begin to walk away. A shard of glass tipped him off....well that and the man's breath and heavy steps.

His cloak activated and deactivated in quick succession as his body turned a bright gold. As the man moved where Maku should have been he would reappear. His golden right hand encased in the cestus would puncture through the man, and then with a kick and a hook his back would break. Leaving him in an impromptu tango style hold by Maku looking in his eyes.

The life was already leaving his eyes as Maku's own swirled leaving the gold behind. After half a second the man would drop. His eyes completely dark. Maku's own where alight however. The Tsukoymi had given him the man's life story. Now he knew exactly where he needed to go.

It was easier going once he had left the "safety" of the alley. Not to many buildings where actually damaged in this area. Getting the lay of the land as quickly as he could he noticed the main city gates had to be about a kilometer to his east. However, the mind of his would be attacker had given him everything he could have desired, like an easy lover. Though Maku thought, if he went that way he hoped he could get a better looking man than that.

Crossing the streets, and entering into a restaurant he smirked. Ironic in a way. How often did Maku use the restaurants around him. Even his personal dimension had taken it to heart. The world was funny like that, when you believed ironies improbable they seemed to pop up just to refute you.

The doors where a heavy oak, the sign decorated in gold filigree. Around him, where almost everywhere showed some damage of one kind of vandalism or another this buildings remained pristine. This alone would have sent a bell ringing in his mind, but sometimes it was easier when one had simply told you.

Inside he already knew what he would meet. Before he entered he seemed to play with the diamond cuff links at his sleeves. The white of his robe would transform into a one purple suit. Black pants and shining gator skin shoes. A white vest lay underneath the purple, a black belt with a silver fastener adorned his waist where his trusted sword lay.

The mask that had hidden his face from view also seemed to transform. Now a red and black bandana keeping his blonde hair from entering his face. It's powers still perfectly intact. As he made to push open the door a quick pluck brought a red rose to his nose before placing it in his lapel.

The stares that greeted his alien precense where.....well icy at best he imagined. His smile and eyes remained alight though. Such dark times deserved beacons of joy. Sitting at an empty table he waited.

After around five or so minutes and a lot of muttered conversation a buxom beauty appeared next to him. "Your order sir?" She said. Looking at her his eyes twirled for a moment. To those watching it would seem like he was simply watching her and considering what he wanted.

Breaking the gaze and keeping the women from knowing what had transpired. "I think I'll have a steak, rare with just the proper seasoning." The code was simple. So simple t really did seem like a normal order. None of that cloak and dagger nonsense. Whoever ran this business....well he at least knew a little bit of what he was doing.

In addition to the girls eyes widening what had been a muttering became dead silence as her voice broke slightly on her next words. "Ahh fine taste sir, this way for a more private table." Standing he would follow her past the kitchen doors and into the seller.

As he descended into darkness, a large wine cellar opened before his eyes. Well lit, no cobwebs, this was no place that lay to rest. Instead a well used place. As the winded farther and farther he began to pick up movements that were more than mere shadows. The tips of crossbows, the clink of held knives and the breathing of the anticipatory predator all assaulted his ears.

Though none came to the light, and he gave them little more thought than their position. Besides if he truly desired to focus his sharingan would reveal to him what he needed to know. After what seemed like a truly ridiculous amount of distance for a cellar, he was stopped in front of a large wooded table. Well work, and decorated with maps and markings.

Leaning in the chair, was an older gentleman. Well dressed, dusted hair. He emitted an air of authority. It was a shame he was probably going to kill him. "So.....I do not recognize you. I do not know of you. I have not heard of your coming, how is it the knowledge of that code came to your ears?"

His voice was low, smooth. Aristocrat in quality even. A man used to hearing what he wanted, and most likely not taking kindly to what he didn't. Looking at the man, Maku was disappointed not to sense much more than the most mediocre of chakra levels. He probably wasn't even aware of chakra, it was more to do with his powerful precense.

No doubt one of the passive reasons of his ascension. "I heard it from one of your men. A man named Gunter. Right before I killed him of course. You can find his body in one of the allies just south of here." As he finished he felt rather than heard a shadow dispatch from the room. No doubt to check the validity of his story.

"You kill my men, and you enter my home anyway, your either ambitious or stupid........which do you think?" It made Maku chuckle.

"Well I suppose ambitious, but I mean really, wouldn't it be stupid not to be? The dregs....they are beneath us, why lay with them?" His answer made the man's lips curl up ever so slightly. "I'm not interested in being intimidated, I'm not interested in the flexing of the 17 other men within this cellar. 6 with crossbows, 3 holding throwing knives, 4 with drawn katana, 1 with a spear, and a further 3 with some kind of mace type weapon." He waited letting his words sink in.

"What I am interested in, is moving up in this world free of....well let's call them restrictions. I don't want someone to tell me when and where I can enjoy life." He would culminate his words with breathing in the fragrance of the rose before tossing it in front of the man.

Lifting the flower his opposite seemed to consider. He couldn't hide the crease that had formed across his forehead. Maku knew he was one of the leaders of this district of the city. The ones attempting to destroy the royal family, it was why he was here. To join this group. He also knew he probably had next to no true information on the ones Maku and den where actually after. This was a stepping stone to a better path.

"I think your stupid. Though, maybe just the right kind. Killing my men though, not the best way to make a good impression. Though.....undeniably effective." He considered again. The fate of this encounter on the edge of a knife. Only to fall in favor it would seem.

"Want in? You need to prove it. Not with words, but with deeds, written in blood." His face had become serious: Maku wasn't certain the actual cost of one of his men, but still one never liked inconsequential losses. "My men have a raid, go with them, prove you deserve it, and we will rekindle this conversation. You'll stay upstairs in one of the rooms till then."

Waiting in his allotted hotel room, Maku took a shower, ate a meal the bar maid had brought him and contemplated his next move. He was confident he had beaten Den and Aki....not for long though. He wanted to get a head start on his part. Uncharicteristicly he had not offered anything in the way of cheek to the one who remained downstairs. This was important and every now and then a little grace was required.

It was 2 hours past dark when he was fetched. The men told him they were raiding one of the districts closes to the gates. They refused to donate to the "cause" and as such would be punished. Following the men he made his way along with them.

Once they arrived it was what one would expect. These weren't soldiers, or shinobi, they were cutthroats and highway men given power. Maku participated, though he took No pleasure in it. This was not a test of his skills, but laying to ground wheat from a scythe. It was necessary though, at least in his mind.

He estimated 45 minutes had passed, the initial wave of screams had died and now the moans of the injured and the breaking of beams beneath flame circulated through the night. It was then that he heard the men he was with begin to scream. He had came on this mission with 12 souls, when he didn't need any of them. Upon turning to the direction of their voices however it was clear 7 would never return.

Brilliant armor gleamed and refracted the light of the fires. Two individuals stood atop the bodies. One tall and one slightly shorter and obviously feminine. The tall ones armor was red, a massive broad sword in his hand fresh from its feast of flesh. The other was dressed in orange, tin rappers dancing from her hands as the air saw them cleaned.

"Queens guard!!" One of the men shouted and the others began to clear the square, now this was why one had patience. He thought to himself as a Cheshire grin took hold. Cracking his neck to the right side he ignored his compatriots as he walked straight to the two figures.

"Fool, you'll die!" One said as he pushed past Maku, though it did little to stop his advancement. Once he was only a few feet from the two he saw that both lay scarred. The man though probably never classically handsome, had all the same become almost gruesome. One eye clearly blind, his lips parted slightly on the right side of his mouth.

The female had much the same fate. She would have been beautiful. Dark raven hair, and a pale face now high listed by the lines of scar tissue. These two had seen many battles, and probably recently. He would put their struggles to rest though, a mercy to what the ones cowering behind him would most likely have done.

"More scum to fall.." The man growled. The women said nothing but merely shifted into a stance Maku had never seen before. "Please, attack me at once......I just don't want this to look to bad. Your people are watching." He would say gesturing to the alleys that cradled the wounded and the frightened.

It didn't take much, the man was in the edge and he immediately charged. Lumbering, his armor heavy and strong. The blade easily the length of Maku's entire body made to behead him in the opening blow.

Ducking forward he felt the wind clear just over his head as he moved into the man's guard. His own katana already drawn he pushed it straight up to further remove the steel from contention.

As he made it to striking distance, his assault was cut off by a flash of steel. The flames illuminated the rapiers giving him the chance to dodge. Pulling in his stomach one edge was dodged, leaning back with his left shoulder he watched the other make contact with air.

Continuing through the mid air turn, he would complete the movement sending out a one handed slash towards the girls waist. However she was already gone and the executioner swing of the larger man was coming down attempting to enter through his right clavicle.

Bringing his own sword to reflect the attack he used the man's strength to push his own body away, giving him distance. Only to once again be met by the females flurry. A smile would continue to grace his lips, the fun had was only growing.

The fight continued in this way for several more minutes. Every second it continued Maku began moving faster and faster. At first the two had seemed the dominant force. However as the fight continued soon both where on the back of their heels.

Maku's speed, that of a trained shinobi must have seemed alien to these two. He had no doubt of their martial prowess, but it didn't matter. Blood was first struck to the larger man's right side. A gash across his ribs. The next blow landed on the females thigh, her movements immediately restricted.

Their breath was heavy, the fire revealed several lacerations across their bodies all new. For his Part Maku had recorded no strikes. It was to bad, it had seemed almost a challenge.....well without the use of jutsu.

Only when he had believed he had won, the two revealed a hidden power. It was somethin akin to jutsu. Blasts of energy and wounds healed as they renewed their assaults.

For the first time Maku had found himself in the defensive. It was invigorating, and yet it was time to end. It was a charade, they had hope because he gave it to them. He wanted to assert himself with this new group so it was one to do just that.

His skin lit with old and he pressed forward. Breaking the sword of the large man with a swing, he spun into his guard and punched straight through the man. Letting him fall, he turned to witness the unadulterated horror that had covered the female.

She gasped, clearly so shocked at how her compatriot had fallen that no doubt years of training had been thrown away. Walking forwards, she attempted to fend him off. Though her swords simply glanced off. When she saw it was hopeless and had lowered her weapon, he leaned in to whisper so only she could hear.

"Be grateful. This was better, kinder than what you would have received from them." He said with the smaller of nods to the men who had gathered behind. "I'll make it quick, say prayers to whatever diety you wish..." Leaning a little more close only she would be able to hear the music of his voice. "And know....I do this to end all these men who would see you fall."

Her prayers to someone, or something halted as she looked in his eyes. His genjutsu showed her the truth of her statement and a flash of peace crossed her face, as a flash of steal saw it removed from her shoulders in a mercy blow.

The rest of the night passed without much incident. They finished up and left the district. They brought the bodies of the "queens guard". With them and the men regaled at the story of how he had slain two in single combat. Drink, praise, songs, and women greeted Maku for the rest of that night.

He embraced it, for the blood on his hands had brought him much. Though he partook in all of the earthly pleasures that presented themselves, his mind drifted to that place he had gone not so long ago. These deaths and souls, he wondered what they had cost him when the music finally came to an end.

-----------------------------------

It was the next day, and though Maku didn't know it, it was when his true allies had arrived. They would see his handy work even if it wasn't evident. In the early morning, Maku had led a small group and strung up the bodies of the two queens guard he had killed. They would be left hung from the gates of the palace, the bodies of those who tried to stop them piled beneath.

In a matter of one evening he had made his way into the districts main group. Later that day, while Aki took to healing, Maku would kill the leader in the very cellar he had been given his start. Taking hold of the group as his own, he would spend the rest of the day attempting to contact the next person higher in the food chain.

The men who had seen him in action had done most of the work for him. As he had thought these were men who only knew cruelty and evil. They were bullies, and Maku was a more powerful leader that could let them play the part to greater effect. Of course they followed him once he had taken out the leader.

What now where his spies reported the appearance of Aki and Den. He would have to meet them soon, give some kind of report. For now though, he ate from his plate, and drew up his plan to continue ascension through the ranks of those they would see fall. No doubt some would be unhappy with how he had taken the group, certainly the true ring leaders would reveal themselves in due time, patience though, well it was a virtue.

(Wc = 3327)

Exit

Claiming 1600 ryo and Dynamic Entry and QuickDraw jutsu

Approved