Revelation (Private)

Salzem prowled the streets, attempting to make himself at home with his commandeered village. It was now his, after all. It... it just wasn't Konoha.... It just wasn't like where he started. Here, it smelled of smog, and alcohol. In Konoha, it smelled of morning due and fresh air. Here, gambling machines and cries of frustration filled the air. In Konoha, the rustling of trees and the sound of conversation filled the air. It was also brighter in Konoha too. Salzem could see the sun. It was right there in the sky, same as everywhere else, but not quite enough of it's light seemed to reach them. It was like they were always living under a faint shadow even without a cloud in the sky. He cursed himself for his impulsiveness as he coughed up the disgusting exhaust from the casinos. Had he never forced himself to leave Konoha in search of his friend's murderer.... had he just mourned for Isshin and just stayed.... had he not been a child, he probably would be home right now.... he would have been surrounded by his closest friends. He never would have hated Yensung for turning him in, he never would have been hunted, but then... he never would have met Kira either..... Oh yes... his stupidity hurt her too.... twice.... Salzem's life was just one nice big ball of stupidity wasn't it...? The noise and sense-dulling smells were starting to get to him. His patience was starting to be shaved away, his head was throbbing and hollowing... his thoughts barely ringing through the veils of distraction. He didn't even know where he was going or what he was really doing anymore. He just seemed to bounce from place to place, meeting people and then disappointing them. Story of his life it seemed. Why did it even matter? What was even going on in the world? He didn't know.

He laughed bitterly as he had a sudden revelation: He barely knew anything at all. He used to think he did. With rank came wisdom, he thought and he filled his head with such foolishness. He began filling his head with ideas he never questioned. He began thinking he knew the world without ever really being in it. He lost a friend and all that didn't seem to matter. Then, he tossed off his rank, thinking he was free. Only then did he realize what he'd lost. On impulse, he threw away his livelyhood, his friends and then eventually, his family. He found his mother. Oh yeah, she found her. And then he chose never to see her again... because he was stupid. He was stupid and he let his ignorance fuel his anger. What happened then? Why, he got bitten and turned into a monster. If he wasn't impulsive before, he was the embodiment of it now. His frustration boiled as he recounted his stupidity. Shame seared his thoughts as he saw his childish actions. Salzem has been little more than a kid. He hasn't grown up at all... He just became stronger... A kid with an adult's power. He could kill, he could spare. He could feed, he could starve. He could pay, he could withhold. None of that really mattered so long as he stumbled blindly through these actions. Salzem veered off the road through the middle of the village and took a right into an alley. He didn't care where he was going. It all looked the same to him right now. Who the hell was he to judge where he's going? He hadn't made the right choices before. He was aware he was being stalked. He smelled their cheep cologne... fake flowers.... disgusting. He heard the familiar click of the knife as it popped out of it's handle. Feh... He could easily dispatch of this stalker but what did that matter? No one cared about him. He was an idiot and a monster. At first, he hated the idea of killing. Then.... he thought he loved it when he first transformed.... it tasted so good.... it felt so good... It was good... Until.... well.... Perhaps it still did. Like before, he didn't know anything.

He felt the figure draw closer and as it did so, he noticed how much shorter the person was to him. Perhaps child size. So... they were sending little-ones after him now... Talk about desperate. Pathetic really. Perhaps even sad. Salzem rolled his eyes, deciding he wasn't quite ready to die yet. Perhaps later. Her turned around, catching the person's arm with his hand as their hand holding the knife came down. The kid (yes... it was a kid) struggled in Salzem's iron grip as he looked her over. It was obvious her gender. Long hair black hair, feminine figure, under her dark baggy clothing. Her face, however, was covered in a mask resembling that of an anbu, but with no ears or animal mouth. Just flat white with two eye-holes. She made not a sound as she struggled to get out of Salzem's grip and failing. He stared at her, swearing that there was something familiar about her. his fingers loosened and her arm slipped free, allowing her to whirl away from the sanguine-eyed creature. Her body heaved up and down as if out of breath already, holding the knife in front of her as if it would be her protection. Salzem seemed somewhat disappointed, his wolven side already influencing him in the rush of battle, if you could call it that. He wanted something he could sink his teeth into and struggle with, not... this facade. She lunged at him again, thrusting her knife at his chest with such a wide motion that it was a wonder how a normal citizen wouldn't see it coming. Salzem simply lowered his gauntlet-clad right hand across his chest, causing the blade to strike that instead, breaking off it's tip. She seemed dumbfounded by this but recovered and dropped the knife. She raised her hands in some kind of aggressive form and lowered herself into a fighting stance. Why couldn't she just run away after she was left defenseless? That have been so much easier.... They both knew that. Salzem just sighed, almost resigned to the situation. Almost. Salzem ducked and slipped out of the way of each of her attacks, be them punches, kicks or chops. Nothing hit and once again, very quickly did the girl become breathless. Throughout this little fight, Salzem hadn't thrown a single attack and the girl had already lost. Her guard was lowered, she was breathing quite heavily, but despite all that, she  still held a determined look with Salzem. Why would she? Did he know her? At all? Did someone put a bounty on his head? Again? Was she actually trying to kill him...? The wolf inside wanted to devour her... make her a nice snack. His humanity was stronger though. He felt pity for this little one. She was attacking him, yet she didn't know how to fight, nor did she even seem to even know what she was doing. He doubted she even had ninja training. If this kept going, She might even end up hurting herself more than Salzem would. She lunged at him, intent on throwing a straight punch at Salzem's cheek. He simply ducked his neck to the right, causing the fist to fly wide of it's target and allowing an opening. He curled his pointer and middle fingers behind his thumb, and quickly leveling them so that they would flick her forehead. Building up some kind of power, Salzem released his fingers and they struck her skull, sending her rolling at the very least 25 feet backwards and out the alley. If this were one of those picture stories, he was sure her eyes would spinning right now. Salzem simply sighed, actually disappointed with this unfortunate nessesity. Harming those that couldn't even defend themeselves was sad.

"NO ITS NOT" objected the wolf. "THEY MAKE FOR GOOD FOOD!

EXIT
WC: 1334
Claiming 1334 words toward Eclipse Dragon

Approved <3