Journey for the cursed blade

Stepping on the sands of the shore the girl would relax and release the chakra at her feet responsible for keeping her on the surface of the water this whole time. She would sense Xyxer next to her doing the same. Well, they won't need it until their trip home, the place they were looking for was somewhere inside these woods. After putting his dogs down Xyxer would break the silence. He would admit that it was surprising for him to see people risk their own lives for others, that it was not something he has seen much and not something he was used to. Following her Mizukage into the forest before them Youta would stay silent as he was speaking. Although her gaze seemed focused on the path they took, she was actually paying most of her attention to his words. Finally he would finish, with a question. Youta would make an unnoticeable sigh, she was not really sure what she could say but began to speak nonetheless. "I don't think I can explain it in words. Although it is clear to me now that when you care about someone you wish to protect them and that no harm comes to them. I sort of thought the leaders of villages defended them for that matter, just as solders defend their country, just as fathers defend their children, as mothers defend their cubs. Not for the thrill or glory of it, although I will not decline that both can be found in doing so, but that is not the main reason people fight." She would go about these philosophical moments while glancing left and right, looking for something that could help her find the way. At some point her eyes would reach the sky and she would regret not bringing Cael with. He could fly and scout the area for them, point them in the right direction.

What the girl had started to say had made very little sense to Xyxer. Fighting for love seemed like a fool's mission.. If one was so easily manipulated by the strings of their heart, what was the point of becoming a soldier in the first place? A shinobi's mission was to kill, not to love. By all rights, they should have forfeited that privilege when they had accepted the rank. However, it was around about this point when Xyxer started to realise something about himself, something that was perhaps why Suzaku had seen Xyxer as more prominent than his comrades.. He was unlike them. He could not love anything other than suffering or inflicted great pain upon others. In fact, the only reason Xyxer believed he was granted the gift of life was so that he could reap it from others, one artistic stroke of his blade followed by another, painting the grassy canvas a blushing red. Perhaps, for style, a few limbs or two would accompany the pretty picture.. Shaking his head of these thoughts, he decided to preoccupy his mind from the slaughter as he felt himself on the very edge of a rampage.. it felt like just back in the days of Tengakure No Sato.. the day he had executed the child just to prove a point to Kenchi.. he did not feel as if that was above what he should do, but both Kenchi and Shinji had demonstrated extreme repulsion at such an act, Shinji even going so far as to consider exiling the lone Abysswalker. He crouched down towards the ground, spotting small indentations of the earth that were.. peculiar. You see, Xyxer was a man who enjoyed a hunt.. he hunted a lot, even having his dogs join him in the festivities as of late, so he could tell the basics from prints. Gliding one of his hands across the indentation of the earth, with the depth of the marking and the formations of the toes, he could tell that there had been claws on the feet of the bipedal creature with a decent weight upon it.. Perhaps around the size of an average human in terms of weight. It was all heading deeper into the jungle and he was excited.. He could finally sate a craving, but the one he had hoped Youta could aid with seemed to be a mere hopeful thought. She was distant to others as well, which meant she could not properly articulate her thoughts.. perhaps love was something that people should not be able to describe, well, he would never know.

Nodding his head down to the tracks, he'd stand up and begin to follow them carefully, making sure to not step on any grass or branches as he stalked the prey. In fact, Xyxer did not come here for any artifact, he came here to soil the tainted ground with the blood of the cursed. However, something about Youta's speech had caught him somewhat off guard, which he attempted to respond to, "People fight to not die. Willingly putting yourself in a position against a person of superior strength is foolish, becoming a martyr.. is foolish. I fight to defend Kirigakure, glory and fame come to me from that." He smirked a little as he turned his head towards the girl, deciding to prod at her some more about her home, "I was the only shinobi in Tengakure to fight through all of the conflicts the village had seen. I am an abomination of war who has always defended his village before others, no hesitation in mind. Now, I have my own village, this will not change." A few thoughts went back to the time of Suzaku, remembering how he had decided to die alone within his village with the villagers than to escape.. Impending doom seemed to be the fashion for Mizukages. Turning his head back towards the area they were heading, there were more vines hanging from the trees at this point with sunlight having difficulty piercing the leafy haven above. Perhaps this was where true monsters lie, "But, enough about me, Youta, we came here for you. Tell me, what are you? A demon? A lover? A lost soul?"

It was as that previous phrase was being said that he heard something.. a distinctive crack. Approximately twenty metres to the north left of Xyxer, hidden behind a partially destroyed wall. However, by the time he had turned his head towards the noise, he had noticed a quick flicker of movement.. something ducked behind the remnants of the stone wall. Turning his head behind himself to see his pets, their eyes trained on the same spot he had just been looking at, much akin to miniature prone lions, analysing their prey intently.. Did they see something that he could not? Turning his head back towards the wall, he had assumed that Youta would have noticed the same thing, given that she was fast on her way to becoming a member of Kirigakure's ANBU squad. It seemed that the sword on his back could even feel it's owners excitement, the handle of Samehada bending over the male's shoulder, fixing it's skeletal gaze upon the wall too, nodding it's tiny head as if it was agreeing that this could in fact become a very fun event. So now, Xyxer stood up fully from the ground to look towards  the construction before the two shinobi, and of course, the three bloodthirsty pups. It was a rather large, decrepit ruin. Walls made of archaic stone littered the area in what would have once been a solid foundation, but just like most things left forgotten, time had consumed the area. Vines drooped over almost every surface giving the illusion of the area being a cornucopia of green snakes. Pythons, maybe? In fact, Xyxer was sure that at some point he could even see the vines pulsating as if there was something here capable of emitting a strong energy.. Perhaps, the trip for the blade would be of use yet. This certainly seemed exciting so far, and so Xyxer wished to experience it further! The hilt of Samehada continued to stretch, writhing across the shoulder of the male much like a threaded snake, so it was inevitable that he would take the weapon into his hand, drawing the broadsword from his back and holding it out to his right.. It was soon going to taste blood, he could tell it.. even if the guardians here were friendly, the blade would not be denied it's right. It was around about now that across the ruins, figures started to show themselves, some scurrying through the shadows created by the ancient buildings and foliage. However, one stood in front of an intact arch that was before Youta and himself. The man, standing at around seven feet, wore a tanned, leather loin cloth, what appeared to be skeletal shoes with claws erect from the toes, of course, bony claws protruded from the male's hands as if some physical mutation had taken itself upon him, perhaps the place truly was cursed and tainted those around it.. or perhaps these guys were just fucking weird. To top it all off, however, the muscular male also wore the skull of some horned beast.. perhaps it was a ram skull, or a buffalo skull.. Xyxer did not care, for all he wished to see was the shedding of blood. After a faint shiver of the adrenaline, Xyxer charged towards the male in the doorway with Samehada held high, his small dogs chasing behind him, not wishing to be denied their own meal from their father's hand.

They would stop for a bit. It seemed that Xyxer was considering her response, but after a moment she would understand otherwise. Well, maybe he was indeed thinking about it, but it certainly was not the reason he stopped and crouched. Youta saw some sort of track which she would not have noticed had she not been trying to understand what Xyxer was looking at. After inspecting them in silence the Mizukage would rise and start following the track like a hound who caught scent of its prey. Somewhat interested in what kind of creature they were stalking, but not really seeing a way out of this either Youta would follow him. Xyxer's reply was more or less what she expected, honestly. Fighting to him was not to protect others or the village. It was fighting for the purpose of fighting itself although he seemed to do it in the name of his village. Mentally sighing she would think to herself - why would he ask her the reason she was willing to sacrifice herself for Altar if he was not going to listen?

She would not be given the chance to respond to his question though. His, the dogs' and her attention would be grabbed by a movement. Looking in the direction the female Jounin would spot the ruins there were looking for. She was of course excited to finally get here, but it would not make her lose her cool and forget about the movement or the rumored guardians of this place. However unlike her companion and his hounds, upon discerning that sight alone was not enough to locate the enemies, Youta would focus on her chakra sensory. With her eyes closed, one by one the tiny flickers of chakra would light up in the forest around them, extending deeply into the ruins. Opening her eyes again she would not know where and how many of them there were. She would spot one of the natives come before them. The skull and bone theme of his leather clothing indicated that these were hardly civilized people. Sadly, they did not appear to be peaceful at all. And Youta was both sad for their upcoming death, of which she was almost certain given the look of Xyxer's face, and at the same time she was feeling the vibration of excitement for the fight herself. So when Xyxer charged forward with his strange giant weapon of some kind the girl would draw her two ninjatos and follow suit, diving into the fray together with the hounds.

Of course, the male that was opposing the will of Xyxer (Which was, ultimately, to kill the man for pretty much no reason other than sport) retaliated when the weapon was being brought down upon his pretty little head. This was already a new style of fighting for Xyxer.. this was more of a heavy weapon, a club. He was used to swinging a more efficient blade, good for the precise shots he aimed towards his opponents. However, with the help of these foreigners, he would soon become proficient with this blade and all of the properties it possessed.. Their blood would bring forth the spirit of Xyxer, the true spirit that was deep within. Atlas was a face that could not be maintained, and never would be able to. Deep inside of the vessel that was Xyxer, hatred devoured his very being for every mortal creature upon this world. His rage.. his fury, would know no limits. Where was Kenchi? Why had he abandoned him? The male before Xyxer attempted to backpedal away from where Xyxer was aiming the sword, but that was anticipated by the male who quickly double stepped towards the male, flicking his outer foot towards the inner of the male's calves in order to prevent his backing, forcing him to fall when he continued his back pedalling manouver. Now, of course, when this male had entered the domain of the ground, he had signed the contract that Xyxer had presented to him with a bloody promise of fun. No.. that was not enough. An example had to be made. This was now the territory of the demon, and they would understand this, no matter how much pain must be inflicted on the wretched soul below him. His eyes fell upon the male who seemed more enraged than terrified, but that was not important as of right now. These foreigners would remember him, and they would revere him as a monster that emerged from the sea.. this was what Xyxer needed. Fear. Youta would carry his brutality back with her all the way to Kirigakure, potentially making her reconsider crossing Xyxer.. but she was a wild card, and Xyxer could appreciate that fact about the girl who was with him on this trip. One of the savage's hands reached out to find purchase on the ground to push himself back up, and that was good. Xyxer flicked his foot out towards the wrist of that arm, allowing his heel to dive down into the toned flesh  with the driving force of the superior shinobi's strength, a loud crack emitting from the source as the male's wrist was inevitably destroyed almost instantly. He did not scream, and the demon admired him for that.. but that would not do. Xyxer needed him to scream, to submit to his will. He appeared to fight through the pain, his other hand moving faster, albeit shaking somewhat to push himself upon once more.. So, like any regular Kirigakure shinobi would do, Xyxer twirled. He placed one foot gently on the chest of the male, not using his heel so his strength was spread out as to not crack his chest cavity, and instead dove his heel back into the other wrist to shatter that one too. This time, however, he allowed his heel to dig in even after the breakage, forcing the male to endure thet pain longer than he did originally. He saw tears blooming in the male's desperate eyes, it truly was like maiming an already wounded animal.. so if he was an animal, there was no point in showing mercy, Xyxer did not believe animals had feelings, so why care for them? It was around about this point true signs of pain appeared to be forming in the male's expressions.. wincing, biting of the tongue to force themself to not scream.. admirable.

Xyxer glanced away  from his prey momentarily to see where the rest of the foreigners were, what were they doing? Well, he could see some advancing upon him. Savages, they were. Total barbarians. He'd have to act faster. Shifting his body weight to the side, he moved from the male's wrist towards the ankle of the barbarian, stomping down onto his foot to force the toes to touch the ground with the back of his knee pressed to the ground, which, of course, if you know anatomy, would mean his foot had just been broken in order to accomplish that task. Ligaments attempted to hold the two parts together, and that was adorable truly, so he had to do the same to the other to truly make it a pretty picture. Two loud snaps later, and Xyxer had pretty much disabled the peeping Pete. The foreigners continued to get closer, ignoring the growls of his pups who demanded they be respected, they learned rather fast which was nice. In fact, Xyxer watched as one of the pups, Tatsuya, gnawed at the strings connecting the muscles of the male's ankle, scraping across his bone marrow with their teeth. There it was that the music struck within Xyxer.. the chord he had been itching to play had finally been hit.. the male was screaming in agony. Unrestricted agony.. no longer did shame with hold his pain.. it was truly musical. Naturally, as Xyxer had not been paying too much attention to the back of him, a rather thin savage was beginning to leap from the wall roughly 5 meters behind Xy, attempting to shove their weapon of choice into his back. Hopefuly he'd get back up!

One slash, second slash, parry, thrust. Three corpses, three finished stories, three broken worlds, three cut strings of fate. Compared to Xyxer Youta was very merciful. She did not enjoy tormenting people, she did not enjoy their agony or screams. Instead, during the time the Mizukage barely managed to oppress one, the female would have slain a dozen. Her dance of blades leaving red scars on bodies of her assailants, her sharp eyes finding slightest misstep to exploit and the two ninjatos working by all the laws of anatomy. Swiftly, efficiently. A thrust through the heart, a slice of the carotid artery, piercing lungs and throat. Her expression was dim and empty. This was nothing to be excited about, this was a one sided massacre, an extermination. It did not interest her. If Youta had a dark side to herself was that she could get excited about a fight and enjoy it. But it had to be a fight, where she could lose. And this about as interesting as beating a target dummy. These people had no shinobi training, they probably did not even know what a shinobi or what chakra is. They stood no chance against them.

Deciding to cut the way through the ruins quickly Youta would keep working at it and she would remember that before the fight started Xyxer asked her a question. Having just finished her twelfth she would turn to him to reply and she would spot one of the natives sneaking up on the man with a dagger in his hand. With a slight move of the wrists she would fling both ninjatos into the air above her. For a moment her arms would connect, as each hand would go into the opposite sleeve, as if she was some circus actor about to do a trick. But then with a swift motion she would fan out five shurikens which bolting past Xyxer would hit the man behind him as well as his two friends who weren't too far behind as well, each catching a star in the throat, stumbling for a moment confused as their lungs got filled with blood, then slumping down on the ground, silent forever. Youta would catch her two blades and respond to the Mizukage. "Why do I have to be either? Could I not be all? Could you not be all? Who says demons cannot love or get lost?"

The male heard the whistling of metal and the thuds of bodies all around him, it seemed Youta was making short work of the foreigners surrounding them both, but Xyxer.. He was captured by this male below him. He was screaming, with good right.. but he could not remove his eyes from him, nor his attention. Bodies continued to drop and shuriken even buzzed past him, but he could not draw his gaze from the body. By now, his dogs had begun feasting on the flesh of the slain, no longer bothering to help bother the others as they were simply hungry and wanted to satiate their needs for flesh. Their own primal desires. Xyxer, however, put one leg either side of the male's chest and crouched down, sitting somewhat on his muscly torso with Samehada being released from his grasp, albeit the hilt of the blade wrapped itself around his forearm to make sure it'd be entwined with it's mater, but this male.. Xyxer's hand moved towards his chin, with the other moving towards his forehead before slowly prying it open. No longer was this suffering purely for the screams of the male.. his screams were pleasant,  but not.. required. He removed his hand from the top of his head but pulled harder with the other hand, dislocating the jaw in a quick movement of the bone, a cracking sound eminating from the head of the savage. No longer could Xyxer absorb what was happening around him, not even the sounds, he had faintly heard a feminine voice before his act had begun, but now it was gone.. all that was left were the sounds he could produce from the musical instrument before him. Putting his index finger onto one of the exposed teeth of the male, he'd tighten it by applying his thumb to the other side to provide pressure, twisting, and then pulling. It took a few seconds, but there'd soon be a crunch and a pop, followed by a small amount of blood. A short cry. He moved his index finger to the tooth next to the one removed prior, putting it behind the tooth before slowly pulling on it towards himself. Of course, he wanted this one to be drawn out to truly delight in the moment.. relish the gift some god had granted him here. There was the strain of the stained tooth to remain upright, but it bent somewhat, giving the finger of Xyxer enough leeway to suddenly snap it downwards, pointing out towards it's aggressor much like an accusing old lady pointing out the man who robbed her handbag. Blood. Cry. In fact, it was beginning to become rather rudimentary with all of this basic stuff.. He had done it many times before, but this time he could make it a bit more.. exotic. Pointing his thumb out, he'd slowly move up from the male's mouth towards the glassy eyes of the male under him, or rather, eye, since it was one thumb. In retaliation, the male closed his eyelids instantly in an effort to protect them, and of course, it was a decent attempt since he had no other means to protect himself from the demon who flourished above him. Pressure. That was applied towards the covered eye, slowly moving downwards to apply more. He felt the squishiness of the eye as he continued this slow movement, how it moved to accompany the new found object in it's path to try minimize damage. It was all so.. fascinating. No longer could he hear the increasingly loud scream of the savage as his thumb found it's way into the protective shield, into the vital area. The jelly like substance around his thumb did not bother him, nor did it impede him. His thumb continued to move downwards until it touched the back of the eye, scraping it softly with his thumb much like a person would do to the chin of a kitten. Slowly the thumb began to emerge from the eye, and another thought came into his mind.. he picked up the tooth he had dropped previously, moving it towards the male's other eye that was watering a great amount, perhaps even bleeding before anything had begun due to the other act. He placed the root of the tooth against the eyelid and started applying pressure once more, allowing the skin to slowly be pierced before it scraped against the soft surface of the eye, forcing pain to shatter across the male's skull. However, it did not stop as it continued to head downwards, piercing the eye in two spots before forcing both spots to conjoin into a large slit to accompany the eye. After a  few seconds of this act, Xyxer leaned back from his work and looked down at his bloodied, mangled face. A smile formed upon his face, the blood having splattered across his features during his acts.

Atlas was no longer with the man in this moment, he had retreated. This was a losing battle, he knew the demon would only thirst for more blood when it had been exposed to it. So now, within this vessel of homicide, only Xyxer remained currently. Suddenly, his hands began to act of their own accord, moving towards the temples of the male below him thunderously. One, two, three, four. One, two, four, three. One, four, three, two. One, three, two, four. He lashed out at the male's head in varying combinations, no longer feeling too much control over his own muscles as he punched the remnants of the skull against the ground, brain matter splattering everywhere around him, but he could not understand the male's demise. He continued to ground and pound the non existant head, punching the bone fragments against the ground in small craters. He continued this movement with even more blood covering his face before standing from the body, the event finally crossing his mind that perhaps the headless horseman was dead. Bodies littered around him, he was unaware of whether he had killed them or if Youta had due to his sudden delirious nature with the frenzy. He simply advanced towards the people who had started to run away from the brutality of the male and the finesse of the girl, using his superior speed to bat against their legs with his shark skin and then end their miserable life with a brutal swinging downwards of the maul into their pudgy heads, allowing his sword to delight in the glorious bloodshed that was occurring. Of course, with all this happening, they would soon be led to an entrance, one that the people seemed to have been fleeing into.

It seems Xyxer was too preoccupied by tormenting the poor man to respond to her. For a second she considered just finishing the native off. However, that thought would not turn into action as before she could fully consider it she would be attacked from behind. Having to react the female Jounin would turn, deflecting the strike with the blade in her right and then immediately burying the blade in her right into the guy's throat. Pulling it out she'd kick him away and engage another couple of foes. It seemed their numbers were thinning. Maybe she had killed enough, maybe they did not appreciate the extreme brutality shown by Xyxer, maybe both, whatever the reason their attackers were no fleeing deeper into the ruins or scattering into the forest around them. After dealing with the last remaining few Youta would notice Xyxer dashing past her and starting to kill the runners, using his huge weapon of some kind to basically crush them.

Following her Kage the girl would soon spot what appeared to be an entrance deeper into the ruins, probably underground. What used to be a magnificent arc of marble and silver was now partially crumbled, covered in green vines and the metals washed away from the ages of rains that fell upon it. Looking at it one could certainly feel the passage of time. This was it, no doubt about it, they had to go in. Quickly dispatching the few natives at the gate Youta would step into the shadows. There was faint light here, so it was not in complete dark. The passage seemed to be descending at not too steep of an angle. Soon they, assuming Xyxer and optionally his dogs as well followed, would enter a sort of a hall. It was way brighter than the corridor they came out of because of a hole in the ceiling, through which the light of day could flood inside. The architecture here was same as the rest of the ruins, unlike the arc through which they came. There were also obvious marks that the locals had made this chamber their home. There appeared to be something like bedrolls here, pots, piles of wood and other stuff. At the center of the rooms was a round fireplace of about two meters diameter, it was filled with ash but Youta could tell that it was lit just the night before. Given the amount of wood in here, they probably planned to light it tonight as well, maybe they did it every night actually. Other than the way they came in, there were two other passages that led here. One of them was clearly collapsed and blocked in rocks and dirt. The other one was in the dark, so Youta would not rush into it. She would look around for a minute and find something that looked like a torch. With it she'd walk up to the fireplace at the center and finding an amber light the stick. If Xyxer was here, she would gesture to him. "It must be this way. We need to go deeper into the ruins." With that she would lead into the dark corridor which she was certain would go deeper underground. And she needed the light from the torch because she knew they had not killed all of the barbarians here and the chamber was evacuated deeper, so it was likely that they will encounter some more of them there. So, she preferred to see in case she was walking into a trap of some kind.

Murder.. Defile.. Ravage.. Salt their lands.. Break their will and their children's backs.. Create a new slave force for Kirigakure. These thoughts started to run rampant around the skull of Xyxer, and they grew more tempting as time went by. This is what his ancestors would want.. So much blood spoiled in their name. His mind ran back to the time he killed a man's family, including his children and wife, right in front of him. It was a mission involving himself, Yozora and Kenchi. It was a fun one. Back then, the world was different, at least, in his perspective. He was the right hand of the Mizukage and not one to be admired or revered, but purely to be feared. It was what he had been raised to be, much like Xyxer's pups had been bred to become fighting dogs. Now he had to feign humanity. Politics was a fickle game, but a war between four villages and himself seemed problematic to say the least given the state of his shinobi so far. Small timers from Tengakure and Shimagakure combined, too small for the ideas that he could only dream of.. their loyalties not as strong as he expected of his ninja. Regardless, he entered behind Youta with his dogs close by, the promise of the hunt still stimulating his senses.

They would continue to make their way through the dark hallways, lit only by the torch in Youta's left hand. The girl was on alert, scanning every dark corner where her eyes could see, but so far they did not seem to have encountered anybody. She would lead through several different halls, the place appeared to be in a pretty bad shape. Despite there being many different hallways you could turn different rooms, most of them were full of rubble and impossible to pass. So far she followed the only path she saw passable. It was obvious they had already progressed rather deep into the ruins and underground judged by the time they had walked, by the air in the halls and the changed architecture. It was as if whatever halls they walked previously were built on top of something much more ancient. The walls were of some strange dark marble which interestingly showed no sign of wear and tear, there were torches here and there and an occasional statue of an armored figure with a monstrous face. Overall it reminded the marble arc that they entered through to get inside the ruins.

Turning around a corner Youta would find herself in a larger chamber. There were several entrances into this room and several columns in a circle in the middle. A few torches on the columns would cast long and deep shadows throughout the chamber and in those shadows the female Jounin would see movement. She was certain this was the ambush she expected. There appeared to be some things on the floor here, things that people might have had with them when they fled here, but that were not needed in a fight. She would smirk and start walking towards the center showing no sign of knowing about the imminent attack. Otherwise, the room appeared like some place of worship for these people. In the corners were more of the statues and these were decorated by the locals. In the middle also seemed to be something resembling an altar, although Youta was no expert of faiths so she had no idea what kind of practices or rituals these people might be using this chamber for.

She would walk up to the altar and stop. That's when the natives would finally jump from the shadows. Youta's objective was to find out which way to go now. With a flash of Shigure in what would seem like an instant she would slash apart the two nearest attackers. Holding the sword horizontally with her right hand, the arm extended fully, she would spot three more targets in front of her, though there were many more around as they seemed to start running from some of the entrances. At this point she decided to try and create some panic, maybe that would reveal the path. Swinging her blade Youta would cause an enchanting chime, a sound that when heard by any native in range would make them for a couple seconds see their demise, as if they were suddenly slashed to peaces. She would use the opening provided by the illusion to cut down the three before her. This action would send a wave of fear throughout their ranks and Youta would spot some of them attempting to flee. One who caught her attention as he seemed rather important, maybe their priest or shaman of some kind, would turn around and run into a tunnel she had not seen anyone enter from yet. Youta decided to take that. Provided that Xyxer was with her and still fighting, she would shout out to him "I'm heading after that guy, I think the blade is there! All of these guys are yours." Then she would cut her way to cross to room and enter the dark hallway.

It was dark and she had dropped the torch in the fight in the previous chamber. But feeling and stumbling around she would progress. The tunnel was rather narrow and went more or less in a straight line without any hard turns so she did not have too much difficulty navigating. Finally the girl would see a faint light in front of her and would walk into another chamber. This one however was several times bigger than the previous ones. There were no torches here. The faint, seemingly red, pulsating light was coming from a metal lamp or something of the kind that hanged from the ceiling in the middle of the chamber. From the sides of the chamber, from the walls several giant statues not unlike the ones seen before appeared to gaze straight at the girl. These were much bigger though and their eyes for some reason instilled a sort of awe and fright. The middle of the chamber had a sort of high that you'd have to climb a bit using the stairs carved into the stone. There was something in the very middle of it, but Youta could not see it from here as the guy she chased was there and he obstructed the view. Making quick but silent steps the female would start going towards the center, beginning to climb the stone stairs. This chamber sure had an atmosphere. The pulsating red light seemed to be alive and the eyes of the giant statues although stone felt as if they continued to follow her. She was not surprised a sort of cult would make this a place of worship. Making her grip on Shigure in her right hand more firm she would continue to climb until she reached the top. The shaman did not hear or see her there, he seemed to be mumbling something in a rather frantic manner. When he left her behind him and turned around it was already too late. A swift strike and his headless body would collapse next to her feet as his head rolled a few steps down the stairs, but Youta would not notice it. Her attention was captured by the First Blade, which was peacefully floating in the air at the very center of the chamber, no the center of the whole building, the whole ruin and right now the center of the whole world.

As the dead man's blood was seeping into the cracks in stone at her feet the First Blade was whispering to Youta in ancient and long forgotten language. It was the language of war and ruin, language of murder and death, tongue of killers, voice of endless certainty and completeness. It was both terrible and unimaginably beautiful. Youta could not take her gaze off the demon that ensnared her. She knew. It wanted to be released, it wanted the seal that holds it shattered, it demanded this, it commanded her. The slayer would see blood again, it will slay kings, it will massacre armies, it will slaughter defenseless villages and Youta will be the hand that holds it, she will become the Herald of Blood and Death, she will carry the almighty, she will be the stormbringer. The girl's hand slowly extended towards the sword as the visions continued to pour into her mind, her gaze fixed on blood red runes on the blade before her which like eyes stared down her soul. But before she would touch it she would be shocked. A field surrounding the blade would hit her left hand and the sudden pain would snap her out of it. Youta would look around, the scenery had changed. Above her the crimson ruby that she mistook for a metal lamp was pulsating intensely and below her the stone was painted in patterns of blood which would pulsate in dark glow at the same rhythm as the light above. The whole center area around the blade and the stone stairs seemed to be covered in it. Although the light was still faint and shone directly from the center, the giant statues somehow cast shadows and all of them converged on the center where she stood. Suddenly Youta would feel incredible heaviness, a pressure, as if someone massive and ancient was about to step on her, this feeling was pulling her to run away, leave the room and the island, it was tearing her from the inside. Suddenly she would hear something and looking down she would see the blood raising from the stone in thin red lines. These lines like cloth would shoot for and start binding the blade. But Youta would not let them. Not knowing why herself, not knowing what drove her but she would imbue her blade with chakra and start cutting the lines one after another. With each one down the sword in the middle of the chamber would chime louder. Now, it was no longer whispering but singing. And its song was all the girl could hear, yet at the same time she did not listen to it at all. It was as if her consciousness had withdrawn completely. Suddenly she would realize the blade in was already in her right hand. How it happened went in a flash, but the lines of blood turned into blood again and were slowly flowing from the center down, the giant statues were now hallow husks, some of them were even crumbling. The light above her began to fade, the pulses began to slow down, as if it was a dying heart. And with Shigure on her back Youta would look at the obsidian katana in her right hand. Power emanated from it.

Suddenly Youta felt an urge. There still must have been some barbarians left in the previous chamber. She needed to reason, she just wanted to kill them. As the light failed and the dead crystal fell and shattered, the wielder of Stormbringer rushed out of the chamber that served as the blades prison for a very long time.

[If we fight now, as planned. Let's start with full AP?]

So it was that Youta explored the tomb forgotten by man. Were these creatures really men? Could they even be classified as humans with how much they had been warped by this island? The question piqued the curiosity of Xyxer for but a moment, because now there was something greater that tugged at him. As he moved through the narrow caverns alongside Youta, the flickering of the torch played games with his mind. He saw people in his peripheral vision, dancing on the side of the darkness. Their clothing was what proved the most potent force to him. Blue vests. Remorseless faces. The headband of Kirigakure. It was normal now for Xyxer to avoid wandering around poorly lit areas, his mental condition having rapidly deteriorated with the absence of anybody he could trust. Everyone he had once known had died, at least, his good friends. His cousin had disappeared during the assault of Kirigakure, Tachi.. Yet there he was, dancing around with the other souls in the darkness, teasing him. Xyxer was in a constant state of warping.. He had once heralded the name of Abysswalker for a reason many did not understand. He appeared to be a cut-throat soldier at one point during the times of Kirigakure, no other side to him. However, as time progressed, the nickname started to meld it's way into his life.. as he lost friends and family, his personality twisted and exposed the true horror that his depraved suffering had led to. His mentality switching from a callous thug to a caring leader, the changes often so rapid he could barely understand it himself.. His emotions had became an abyss, as well as his mentality. Empty, yet if someone was to truly look into it, they would feel a reprisal of their efforts... or was that the demon inside of him that wanted him to believe that? Was that the soul's hope of making the malicious deeds he commits less harrowing, shifting the blame onto another force? He would most likely never find out. He shook his head, keeping his eyes to the ground in order to ignore the bodies that wandered around him, unable to tell the difference between his own allies and the enemy.

Eventually, they reached a small area where something seemed to launch at the duo. A flickering of the light alerted Xyxer that something was amiss, the sudden shifting of shadows alerted him and his eyes removed themselves from teh floor towards the flying bodies all around them. His dogs let out yelps of ferocity, not shying away from the combat as they immediately tried to nibble the toes of those around them. He heard nothing as the girl ran off, but instead he swung the heavy blade in his hand around clockwise, aiming to clear his body of any of the savages that tried to catch him off guard. He hit one in the ribs, causing the body to twist to one side forcefully before whiplashing to the other as it got sent towards the ground, most likely with grave injuries. Was this fun? Was this for his survival? He continued to swing the bandaged blade towards the men, continuously destroying their ranks with more brutal standards than he could have ever held before. He did not care any more. He did not wish to prolong their death. He did not wish to feel amusement. He just wanted to leave the darkness. Swinging Samehada around continuously and furiously, he continued to make contact with the opposition, multitudes of breaking bones and tearing ligatures being heard all around them. Naturally, the dogs tore the throats out of those unfortunate enough to be left only maimed. For the final one that jumped towards him, he simply twisted his foot on the ground and propelled the sword up towards the gut of the flying male, crashing it brutally into the abdomen and causing major internal injury before slamming them down towards the ground and battering them with the possession.

Soon after that brutalising, he saw a figure in the cavern approaching. His gleaming white hair, a soft smile that warmed the heart of Xyxer. He remembered him on the arch of Tengakure moments before a mission.. His brother in arms. He had always been the rational side of Xyxer, yet he followed his orders. He was a true shinobi of Kirigakure.

Yet he had abandoned him.

Had he been in the village as it was demolished? Was Xyxer responsible for the death of Kenchi? He twitched a little at the prospect, one of the few people he truly had a connection with possibly having died because of him.. No, no.. Takeo would not be capable of overwhelming Kenchi. He was of Tengakure descent. That was impossible. After what would be seconds in real time with the thoughts of Xyxer swirling around his head, he finally decided he had had enough. His instincts took over, and his dogs ran towards the sides of the caverns as they felt a new, primordial intention bursting from their owner's aura. However, there was no fancy display of chakra. No prior warning. Xyxer twisted his left foot off of the ground and darted towards the visage of Youta who he could not truly see. There was a gap of 15 meters between the two. As soon as he launched his first step, the Abysswalker armour covered his body in it's metallic enamel, Samehada held back in his right hand with his left shoulder leading the charge towards teh girl, his eyes focused on what he could see as Kenchi.If allowed to get to her uninterrupted, he'd simply swing the blade horizontally towards her, using momentum from the charge. Naturally, if it missed, he'd most likely simply release the blade and allowed it to travel a single foot towards his left hand, catching it and then changing his posture so that he could let his arm swing back comfortably and sternly while keeping his gaze on his opponent.

[sure bbycakes]