Hunting (Dachi Ishii)

A monster was what Salzem was now, but that was okay. He was just fine with that description. He was a freak of nature. An abomination. I creature that should have never been but is. In fact, Salzem enjoyed his new form. He's able to do things he had previously never been able to do and that filled him with a certain amount of pleasure. It wasn't exactly power, although this form certainly gave him that. It was more of a general sense of everything. A new perspective. One so simple and direct that he wouldn't get sidetracked with all these other petty things life threw at him. His goal was simple: Hunt, kill, eat, sleep. That was good enough for him now as he waited for Koro to finally send him home. It was a way of making sure he was ready to gut the fool that killed his best friend. Salzem snarled angrly as he tried to remember who exactly he was. He couldn't quite remember a name.... What was it..... He knew he was an uchiha. A lazy, annoying uchiha. Feh. He knew not what the name was nor did it really matter. He was on a hunt.

Salzem sat crouched atop a wagon of barrels and crates, a couple bodies of dead murderers and drug traffickers littered the sand around him, their blood being absorbed by the sand. Any and all damage he might have sustained was quickly erased due to his healing factor and soon, the only blood he was covered in was that of the evildoers. Salzem contemplated the meaning of that word, "evil" while he licked himself clean of the dust, grime and blood. He supposed that by the traditional definition, Salzem was, in fact, an evil force, if a primal one. Human words were so hard to really understand now... Their many meanings frustrated Salzem, causing him to snarl and hop off the crate he was squatted on. He landed deftly on all fours in the sand and began his way back in the general direction of Suna, all the while, Salzem attempted to wrap his tainted mind around the word "evil."

Dachi stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the figure in the distance approaching him. Perhaps it didn't see or notice him, but he certainly saw it, and it was terrifying to him. He didn't know what it was, or why it was out in the middle of the desert, but as Dachi stood trembling, he was certain he had made a wrong turn somewhere.


"This is the one," Kasai said, causing Dachi to wince, and place a hand on the side of his head. 

"B...but fire man," Dachi said, looking at whom Kasai knew to be Salzem. "That's a m-monster." His voice trembled to match his stance.

"Friend," was the only response he received before Kasai fell silent.

Perhaps the spirit of fire had finally brought little Dachi to the end of the line. He hadn't expected it to happen, and every time he seemed to get in trouble, Kasai had always led him the right way. Yet, here he was, looking at the hunkering shape of some demon that Dachi had only seen in nightmares. 

"P...please don't kill me," he murmured, feeling his body begin to shake more. 

With the wind blowing through Dachi's thin, white robes, he must have appeared a cloud, stranded on the sand banks, though he did not think this. All that ran through the boy's mind was terror at the sight of the creature that was before him.

Very slowly, Dachi began to back away. Perhaps, if he did so slowly enough, he would be able to slip by. After all, this had only been a sudden idea of Kasai's, to visit a friend along the way before continuing along the road. Yet, in the moment, Dachi could not possibly comprehend how this wolf-being before him could be a friend at all.

(Miss me?)

Ishii wasn't one to lose his sense of direction, of course being who he was and stand for. He usually traveling on his own, currently he was trying to stay calm. He might have heard a howl in the distance, but a wolf in the dersert? That wasn't very likely right? He was doing his part, until he spotted someone in the distance. Slowing his wagon, he didn't approach right away. Waiting to see if they were friendliest, or just plain trouble. 

It was someone in a cloak, but the other started to appear. His jaw seemed to drop in the distance, just admiring....what ever the hell it was, what was it? It looks like a hairball, it was scary and he didn't know if his skills were enough. He doubted it, what could one do to such a thing and soon he was debating rushing off in his wagon at top side. 

No he knew that might just get him hunted down and killed, not the best choice. So he just pushed on slowly towards the others from a distance, trying to see if his luck would be enough to help him out of the jam that he would be walking into.

Salzem's mouth curled into a snarl as he saw someone approaching him. A human child, by the look of him, dressed in a white robe too large for his figure. Salzem drew to his full height, his twisted, inhuman form towering over the kid menacingly. His glowing red eyes locked onto the kid's, daring him to try anything. In this particular form, Salzem was wary of everyone to a certain extent. His instincts told him that everyone was a potential thread, even the children, and needed to be eliminated. However, Salzem's intelligence prevents such a rash move. He knows that not everyone around him was a threat. he knows that some people only want to help him. Some people, like this child, had the misfortune to stumble upon him but the fortune that he had just ate. A weird twist of fate, that. Salzem studied the kid, his twisted mind registering something resembling recognition in his eyes. Maybe.... they had met...? But then why didn't he remember a name...? Salzem tried to speak in the human tongue, his own tongue unable to create understandable sounds and phrases. He hadn't needed to talk to anyone since the transformation so he needed to learn how to speak fluently again. After a few tries resulting in his words coming out like garbled, scratchy snarls, Salzem finally managed to say something.

"What..... do you want......?" He managed to choke out, his voice heavy, gravelly and low, nothing like his previous form. Speaking of forms, around 40 meters behind him, he caught the smell someone else approaching, this one seemed to be in more stress than Salzem or this kid, making him think that he was hauling something. A cart or maybe a sack of stuff. He was approaching so there was no reason to hunt him down. His attention turned back to the kid in front of him, likely still shivering in fear of his wolven body.

"Are.... you...... l-" The rest of the word came out an illegible snarl. Salzem tried again. "-lost...?"

"Yes, this is him," Kasai said, echoing off the walls of Dachi's head.

Dachi, however, was paralyzed with fear. Staring up into the great beast, he felt his legs threaten to give out underneath his body. 

Then, it spoke to him, and Dachi drew in a small, short little breath, sounding much like a gasp. Had it asked him if he was lost? If so, then he certainly believed he was. Yet, Kasai seemed convinced that this creature was a friend, and if that was the case, then he had so say something. It had not killed him yet; perhaps it did not intend to.

However, no matter how hard he stared at the creature, he found it so very difficult to bring words forth. He had seen Salzem in a dream once, and he had been a man. A strange man, but a man none-the-less, unlike the great wolf that now stood before him.

"Y-ye," Dachi started, after what must have been long minutes of silence. "A-ah....Sal.....er...lzem?"

He tried so very hard to ask the question which he knew he was meant to, but with that, Dachi felt his legs give away, and within a second, he was sitting on the ground, his head spinning, and tears starting to come to his eyes. He didn't want to die.

Ishii was moving his wagon along towards the distance figures, he was a little scared. Or was it excitement to be meeting people on the side of the road, on this journey. All he could do was play the part of the hermit, never stray to far without a plan or a way out. Of course thinking about it now, it was much harder now that he was increasing the error of margin rate, because of his ability to walk into danger right at the start? All these random ninja's and the way they dress up, or what they become to gain more power. 

Closing the distance on his wagon, he would only be about 10 meters away from them. Maybe he should invite a train, that would make traveling much easier. Then he could put armaments, maybe a big bomb inside of it. Kunai launchers, full 360 defenses, increased hull resistance....ah the joy of it all. What could power such a thing? Maybe Coal, or would he need to find an even stronger source of power or easier to obtain....oh the wonders of it all~

Then he snapped out of his day dream, as he came closer to the group in the middle of nowhere. 

"Hi? I'm just a traveling....well guy, hi?" he said not knowing what else to say.

Salzem's eyes widened as the kid managed to speak his name. He was sure he hadn't met the kid before and yet, he was able to quote his name... Salzem looked at the kid, unsure of how to feel about this whole situation. The boy had fallen over, landing on his butt. His eyes seemed to be loosing focus, as if he were about to pass out. Salzem noticed that perhaps it was his form that was giving the kid so much trouble answering. He watched as tears came forth from his eyes, the reaction perplexing the great wolf. He had fought and killed many a criminal and never once did they ever break down like this. He felt something resembling pity for the child, seeing how badly he was taking this whole thing. He didn't have the look of a killer nor the pockets of a thief. He didn't have the smirk of an illegal arms dealer or the vacancy of a drug dealer. By his judgment, this kid had been completely innocent and Salzem had done a fantastic job in scaring the poor boy senseless. Seeing no more reason to be on his guard, Salzem dropped to a much less threatening stance, relaxing his muscles, letting his shoulders slump and tried approaching the child again.

"There... There is no need to cry..." Salzem comforted the child, trying to be as relaxed as possible out in the open. "I won't hurt you..." He tried to speak, quietly, in comforting whispers as one would comfort a dog, but his voice just wasn't made for such a complex speaking method. Instead, what came out was a mix between growls and words so it was likely that the kid wouldn't quite get all he had to say. Behind him, he had heard another voice, one sounding older than the little boy bawling in the sand in front of Salzem. He turned his head so that his lycan face was visible and one glowing wolven eye was sizing him up. He was still a kid, only around 12 or 13, pulling a wagon of... something. Right now, what this kid was carrying didn't concern him as much as the white-robed child crying in the sand. His body tensed up again, acting protective in the event that this newcomer would become hostile.

(If I take too long to post, feel free to skip me or pm me. I didn't get an email notification for some reason.)

Dachi hiccuped, trying to keep himself from crying. The wolf creature... it seemed to have talked to him. Could that be? He had heard tales and stories of talking beasts and legendary creatures, but never had he imagined that one could exist. Perhaps this was the man that the fire spirit had talked about. Dachi had assumed him to have been human, but then again, fire man was no human, and maybe spirits had strange friends. 

Attempting to muster all the courage he never had, Dachi tried to speak, seeing as the wolf hadn't attacked him, and if he understood it correctly, it seemed as if it was friendly.

"A fire sp....ah, man....sent me- er, said you would...or I mean c-coul...friend?" Dachi was unaware of how many different sentences he was trying to say at once, or the fact that very little, if any of it made sense. Small as he was, the fear took over his mind, and destroyed any mental capacity he had.

He did not notice the other boy, with the wolf in the way, and even if the boy had been next to him, all Dachi knew now was the massive, terrifying wolf that stood in front of him. 

He tried many times while he spoke to push himself back up onto his feet, but each time ended slipping or shaking too much to do anything, and to others, he no doubt looked like he was having a seizure, or spasm.

Ishii was just stopped the wagon, it would seem that the wolf was not caring about him at all. He was glad, but at the same time. What could be more cooler then a mysterious wagon? Who knows, but he was going to stop for now. Watching how they reacted to him, it was like he was a friendly. Did the village have someone like that? Just walking around in a wolf form? It was pretty scary, he didn't know what type of twisted people would lie in suna?

Looking back towards the two, he didn't know what else to do. Could he just talk to them? Maybe they were like him, looking for a adventure on the borders. No one to tell him what to do? He wasn't sure, but he was going to have some fun tales to tell them about. Maybe he should get a lute, go by people trying to get Ryo by doing music or odd jobs!

"So what are your names, fellow travelers? You can call me Ishii King the fateful wanderer, who is dreaming of becoming a weapon smith!" he said with a smile on his face as he gave his ninja way....maybe, he was just trying to get by.

Salzem eyed the strange kid as he told his whole backstory to a giant, inhuman wolf, and a crying kid in the sand, as if he were telling the plot for a book. He seemed harmless enough, allowing Salzem to focus on the kid. Losing bodily fluids out here in the desert whether it be by blood, crying or otherwise, that kind of trauma can be fatal out here. Salzem kneeled down so that he was almost at eyelevel with the sobbing child. He then offered a large, gnarled hand to the kid before giving the kid a closed-mouth grin.

"Friend." Honestly, what else was could he say? This kid would be dead within the hour if he didn't stop crying.The desert was that dangerous. He handed the small, robed kid a large canteen that hung from the rags of clothing that hung on Salzem. "Drink." Salzem commanded before turning to the other one, the one narrating his life to a couple of strange strangers.

"Is this normally how you talk to normal people?" Salzem questioned, cocking his wolven head to the side. "My name is Salzem." He gestured to the younger child, hopefully drinking from his canteen. "Don't know about him, though."