This is my rifle, this is my gun...

Altar snagged the torn piece of paper off the board. It was a strange flyer to be hung on a communal bulletin board, to be sure. A wanted ad for one hell of a killer. From the sound of it, strange creatures had inhabited some of the smaller islands of Kirigakure. Altar snorted at the thought. Probably creatures left from the dying days of Shimagakure. He had known little of the place but it had sounded barren and almost barbaric. Folding the piece of paper, Altar would leave to seek out one of the ANBU of the village, Jester.

After a short meeting, Altar was on a boat ready to ship out. Jester had informed him of the pretenses of the mission. It was a mass extinction - or - capture order. Sounded like one hell of a party to Altar, so he decided to take up the mission. Besides, it payed well and Altar loved him some money. His family had been rich but he couldn’t use that money to buy battlements or equipment. It had been a dying wish of his grandfather, and he would never tarnish that wish.

The ride was a long one. VERY long. And very rocky. He had been rocked and jolted all around the boat, resulting in a few bumps and sore spots on his body. Of course, nothing to whine about, but it was annoying as all hell. And seeing as he was on a mission to mass exterminate a herd of incredibly deadly creatures, he really didn’t feel like annoying things were going to benefit him.

As Altar trudged through the muck and leaves of the untamed forest on one of the numerous and close between islands, he silently started wondering to himself. Who the hell had lived here? Someone had to have at one point, right? Otherwise how did these creatures come to be? Some form of primordial soup type deal? Oddly enough, the name ‘Dumplin’ rang in his mind as he thought of the primordial soup. The name sounded like it belonged to one of, if not, the world’s strongest warrior. No doubt.

Shaking his head, Altar thought of the task at hand. He was to either completely eliminate all hostile life on the island, or capture them for further… testing. Or something of the like. Did it really matter? They weren’t human, nor were they of Kirigakure, and he was getting paid for this. The dirty details could be spared. So long as he had fun and got paid that was what mattered, right?

After a few hours had passed, Altar was pretty proud of himself. He had established a meager base, marking several spots that had seen foot traffic, placing noise makers and traps, and making a little shelter. It wasn’t anything great but it would do for the time being. He wasn’t gonna be here for very long anyways. About 12 hours, give or take. No more.

As night fell on the small island, Altar felt his eyes slipping shut, his nightmares taking him to another realm of existence.

Altar had found himself in the plains once again. He could've sworn that he spent more time out here than in Tengakure itself. He guessed the fact that it was so serene and quiet added to the appeal for him. It had an almost innate, untouched aura and feel to it.

Sure enough, tonight was a bright night, the moon being as bright as it could be, aiding the soft glow of the moon flowers in their task of illuminating the rolling plains. Altar, however, hadn't been getting much sleep the past few nights, so he was sitting under the tree out in the plains, resting his eyes. To some people, it would appear he was sleeping. However, he was keeping careful watch on his surroundings using his ears.

Youta was out for a night walk with Cael in the fields around Tengakure. The creature actually soared some twenty meters above her clapping his wings from time to time as the steady winds of the plains carried him. The same winds, though weaker by the ground, also blew at Youta's hair slightly, but it was not cold, despite it being dark. The girl now a Chuunin actually hoped to practice under the night sky, but her senses caught somebody some distance away, she would rather quickly recognize the chakra that was Altar's. This actually was a chance for her to ask about his surname and maybe the clan he belongs to, so she would start to go in that direction until she approached him. Cael in the mean time would rise higher until his wind clapping could be barely heard.

Altar was weary, almost falling sleep, when he heard someone walking, somewhat close to him. Opening his eyes, he saw the person was a girl, and looking to the face he immediatly found a name. It was Youta. Altar would blink a couple times, thinking back. He found it strange that somehow she and him had always found themselves together, despite circumstances, but they had never really talked. What the cause of this was, Altar didn't know. It could've been lack of trying, or perhaps she had just never really wanted to talk. He found this strange though, considering she was here now, seemingly for him. Altar would look up to Youta, a slightly confused look on his face.

"Hi, Youta. What...what are you doing out here?" Altar would say, his words coming out somewhat stumbled and hesitant. He had never even spoken a word to Youta, so he wasn't exactly sure how to handle her. She could be friendly and talkative to him, or she could be anti social and aggressive and snap at him.

After speaking, Altar would rise to his feet and lean himself against the tree.

Youta stopped when she could hear him speak. From what she could see in the partially illuminated dark, Altar seemed confused. Looking far out into the plain Youta replied "I was actually out to train, let Cael stretch his wings..." she gestured at the flying silhouette that covered a small portion of the stars. The Chuunin hoped she was no interrupting him. "Mind if I join you?" She would make a faint smile.

Altar's confusion went away as Youta explained she was out here to train her self and her dragon, Cael. As she motioned to the stars, Altar would look up and away towards where she pointed to see a somewhat large figure shrouding and covering some stars in the sky. Judging by the faint, almost inaudible claps of wind, Altar guessed that the figure was Cael.

Youta then asked if it was okay to join him. This brought a bit of confusion back to Altar. What was there to join? He wasn't really doing anything...

"Not much to join, but i'm not gonna stop you. I don't mind, actually. Just sitting out here with nothing to do and no one to talk to can get pretty boring sometimes, so i'm actually kinda glad you strolled along when you did." Altar would say, a small smile of his own beginning to form on his face. He had been looking for an excuse to talk to the girl anyways. He had always wanted to, she seemed intriguing and interesting, but he had never gotten the chance. Despite the oddly semi-romantic circumstance that the plains held, and had always held, this may prove to be his chance to learn more about the girl. Hell, even have one conversation with her.

Youta somewhat relaxed as the Genin gave his couple lines of reply. For some unknown reason she was a bit tense when she asked. "Good." would be all she said as she sat down on the grass about a meter from him. Shigure would be put on the ground next to her. Unless Altar started a conversation there would be a short and possibly awkward pause, as the girl was not sure how to begin. Eventually she went with "...In the tournament. I heard your name was Shinkou... Does that stand for a clan?"

Altar would watch Youta sit, about a meter away from him, in the grass. She had also laid down her weapon, something he guessed she wouldn't need in this moment and situation. Here was too hoping, anyways. There was a brief pause between the two, as it seemed neither of them could find anything to say. Youta was the one to break the silence, asking him about his last name, and if it was for a clan.

"Yes, i'm a part of the Shinkou clan. From what I understand there aren't many of us. At least, I don't think there are. I've never met another Shinkou, save direct family. Why do you ask? Oh, and speaking of the tournament, congrats on Chuunin." Altar would say, holding his gaze on Youta, his smile slowly growing. All in all, this was going well so far. She wasn't at his throat, which he would take as a definite plus.

"Thanks." She would reply as he congratulated her on the promotion. Not actually being weird in nature, being congratulated by him felt a bit strange. For a moment she would think back to the tournament, only now would she wonder why Takeo did not promote the boy as well. He was about as fast as Youta and even managed to land hit on Haru, even if it had no effect. Her own actions or those of Aqua were hardly more successful.

She would then realize her mind got carried away. "Ah, your name intrigued me because my master, the one who taught me kenjutsu, was also a Shinkou. From what I heard she was Haru's superior and possessed a doujutsu of some kind..."

In the mean time Cael would shoot down and crash into a small forest some half kilometer away. He had spotted a boar you see. Distant noise of breaking trees followed as he would hunt in the dark, none of it loud enough to actually disturb the ninja though.

Altar would sit quietly as the girl seemingly got lost in thought, before coming back to the topic at hand. She revealed that her master, one that had taught her kenjutsu, was also a Shinkou. It would appear that she had also been Haru's superior of sorts, and that she had retained her Meigan, as Youta said she had a distinct doujutsu. Altar noticed the use of past tense when talking about Youta's master. He idly wondered what had happened to her.

"Hmm. Well, the Shinkou have a doujutsu to themselves. It's called the Meigan." Altar would say, enunciating this by activating his Meigan for a bit, the crimson eye turning a jade green, before he de-activated it and it went back to it's normal state. "It operates a bit differently from other doujutsu, and has some of it's own special quirks. As you saw, mine turns a green color when activated. From what I understand, that is only one of the paths the Meigan can take, out of a total three at this stage." Altar would explain, looking to Youta to see if she had any more questions of the Shinkou.

The girl observed as Altar demonstrated Meigan while explaining about it. "Amazing..." She would say as he told her that Meigan can take three different paths. She had noted though that only one of his eyes was red and turned green, while the other remained white. She had already seen it times enough to recognize byakugan. She wondered what the story behind that was, but decided to withhold it for some other time. "Does Meigan have genjutsu related abilities? See my master had a unique style that she explains in this book" she would take out a copy of the Bladedancer and hand it to Altar, who probably would have no idea what most stuff in it meant. "...and so far I was out of luck in my attempts to reinvent it. I was wondering if maybe her doujutsu played a vital part in it."

Altar's face grew confused again, as Youta asked more about the Meigan, and handed him a book, called Bladedancer. Altar would open the book and flip a few pages, noting the various diagrams and pictures on the pages. He didn't understand much of it, but from what he could gather it seemed to be a manual or training guide of some sort involving various sword techniques. It also seemed to include some pieces from the writer's past. Altar would close the book, guessing that Youta's mentor was the one who had written the book. It was, however, fairly complicated, and Altar was unsure of it's use as a manual. Half the stuff written he couldn't comprehend. He would hand the book back off to Youta, moving to answer her question.

"There are a few Meigan genjutsu. They normally tend to revolve around keeping the victim on your side, or completely paralyzed. That might've played a pivotal role in her style. I, however, don't know any of the Meigan genjutsu. Genjutsu has never been my strong suit. I've always enjoyed the premise, but never been that good at it." Altar would say, answering her question and getting a little off topic.



After getting the book back Youta listened to the boy's explanations, nodding once in a while. So apparently Meigan is capable of genjutsu, which means it is very well possible that Yozora's style could not even be replicated. Youta while considered herself somewhat capable of genjutsu now realized how little she knew of it. She was clearly lacking something to rediscover the Singing Blade, but maybe it was not just the ability, maybe she lacked the knowledge. For now the girl was satisfied with the information she gained, it might save her from meaningless search later. "Well, I don't think I'm much good at it either, really. But I hope to get one day." She would giggle slightly. "You seem to be good with ninjutsu though from what I've seen in the tournament. That lightning jutsu you did was rather impressive" It would appear that she would continue this line for now, not really sure why.

In the background Cael had finally caught the boar, his sharp claws piercing its body and letting the life flow out of it. His victory screech would bellow, somewhat interrupted by a falling tree as he had to evade it. A silent feast in the dark followed.

Altar's gaze dropped to the ground when mention of his performance in the tournament was brought up. His cheeks would flush slightly, embarrassment clear on his face. He had been able to achieve the hit, sure, but what good was the hit if it had done nothing? Altar would return his eyes to Youta's.

"Ah, you seem very smart and sure. I'm sure you'll do well with Genjutsu. And as for the tournament, thank you for the compliment, but it wasn't all that impressive. It was a hit, but the hit did nothing. What's the point in a strike if it leaves no effect? I...didn't and don't deserve what the tournament was giving anyways. Not yet, anyways." Altar would say, all traces of his smile gone from his face.
Youta was slightly confused inside. "You know my slash did not do anything either, his hand and armor regenerated and I barely managed that either..." It seemed like the boy had a lack of confidence in his abilities, she wondered for a moment if that was because of the tournament, or maybe had a reason prior to that. In the moment of silence the Chuunin would hear the distant sounds of Cael's small rampage, which would give her an idea to maybe boost Altar's confidence. "Tell you what, why don't we spar and you show me if you are actually as useless as you appear to think you are." She would say picking up her blade and standing up. "Can you wield a sword?" With that she would take the second katana that had a strange symbol on it and rested on her back. Unless he objected she would throw him the weapon.

Altar's eyes widened a bit when Youta brought up the hit that she had landed on the ANBU. It, from her description, had been a hit, but he had regenerated faster than actual damage had been made. This did a little to make Altar feel better about himself, but it was an attempt on her part, and that in of itself brought him out of his saddened mood. Still...he lacked confidence in his skills. He knew this clear as day, but hated to admit it. He wanted, and needed, to be stronger, but he had always felt that he wasn't strong enough. He always needed to be better, faster, stronger. More agile, more fit, anything to improve himself. That was what he had always felt was expected of him, yet he always thought he had never been able to reach those goals. The tournament only emphasized that. It had only showed him as the lowly Genin, unable to keep up.

After a brief pause, Youta seemingly thinking about something, she offered a spar and stood up, asking if he knew how to handle a weapon. A sword, in specific. Altar would nod slightly, answering Youta's question after catching the blade thrown at him.

"I can wield one, yeah. Not great, though. Never been my specialty. Swords and weapons of the like carry a need of finesse that I've always seemed to lack. I can swing a sword, sure. But getting it to connect and be meaningful, all the while preparing another strike is what I get kinda handicapped in. I was once told to see the weapon as an extension of your body, but i've never been able to so that. To me, it's just a weapon, and a weapon is only as good as you can make it." Altar would say, before taking a stance and unsheathing the weapon, testing it's length and weight, and taking a few practice swings with it. During doing that, he noticed a strange symbol on it. Sheathing the sword again, Altar would look to Youta, a slightly confused look on his face.

"So...what's with the symbol? Something significant, or just some random little scrawl?" Altar would ask, preparing himself to fight in the meantime.

Altar seemed to accept the offer and caught the katana. His rant seemed like a long way of saying he was not very good with a weapon, so Youta let most of it slide, but the last part to which she responded. "As is one's body." The girl would observe as he made a few swings to get the feel of the sword, then after sheathing it again looked at her and inquired about the symbol on the blade. "I am not sure, it seems like some sort of seal, but I never managed to figure it out. The blade belonged to Yozora, so maybe it's some sort of heirloom, because other than the mark it has nothing special about it." She would say while taking up an opening stance. Shigure would slip out of the sheath and hum slightly before stopping still horizontally beside her, shoulder level.

In the background Cael had finally finished his feast, somewhat filling his stomach. He stood still for but one moment before shooting straight up back into the night sky again. On his ascension though a trail of white would be left, like snowflakes falling from his wind. This effect was one of his ability, which he decided to train a bit, not using it to full power, but enough to trigger partial effect. He would flap his glowing wings a few times to reach some high altitude, then just soar covering the area with harmless shining flakes.


Altar would sigh at Youta's response. This was going to trouble him now. Especially that he had a nagging feeling that he had seen the symbol somewhere before, but he couldn't place it. It seemed significant, but he couldn't remember why. Hopefully it would occur to him later, as for now he was stuck partially in the dark about it. He had a strange feeling it would come back to him, though, which helped ease his mind on the matter. However, knowing his luck, it would occur much later...

However, Altar didn't have time to think about that, turning his attention to Youta. As he did, he would see something surprising in the sky in the background, squinting his eyes to ensure he was seeing right. It seemed little white flakes were coming down from the sky, and what's more, it seemed they were following after the shape in the sky. It appeared to be... snow? No, that couldn't be right. Eh, just another thing to ask Youta about later. Perhaps she would have the answer.

Now turning his full attention to Youta, Altar would place the sheathe at his left side, the blade already out and in his right hand. He would begin to slowly walk towards Youta.. If she didn't react in any way, Altar would start to pick up pace.

Before their fight began, Cael seemed to have began training his fancy flying ability. While Altar was captured by the sights, Youta put Shigure away and unsheathed a ninjato instead. Shigure was a very powerful blade and she did not want to damage her master's heirloom with it. Then as the boy began walking towards her, she understood it as a sign to begin the fight. And that was reason enough to start with a lunge and aim a thurst at his left shoulder. She would only go at half speed though, the goal was to see how good he was after all.

Altar's eyebrows raised a bit at Youta's sudden lunge and stab, as it seemed she was holding back a bit. She was moving somewhat slowly, as if simply testing him instead of actually trying for an attack. Well, Altar was not one to disappoint.

Altar would bring the katana vertical to him and spin his body back and to the right, allowing himself more freedom of movement, then clash it with Youta's blade and push it slightly away from himself, keeping his right elbow slightly bent and ready to move again if need be. Deciding that this was a moment for show of skill instead of actual sparring, Altar would move again, sliding backwards and gaining slight distance from Youta. After this move, Altar would bring the blade back down and return it to a normal position.

"Oh, eh, one more thing before this really gets hot and heavy. Try not to cut my head off or severely injure me. I quite like my life and body parts as they are, and i've had enough near death experiences for my lifetime and then some." Altar would say, grinning as he finished.

Altar managed to deflect the thrust and then back away. She would not pursue, but instead regain her footing. As she stood straight again, the boy would speak, asking to hold back a bit. She would nod at his last statement, for she too had nearly lost her life once and survived only through a miracle. "Of course." Then she would get ready again, but this time she would let him attack.

Youta seemed to agree with his request. Altar knew he was outmatched here, at least it skill with the weapon he was holding. If it had been a fight utilizing jutsu or hands, he would believe in himself more. However, he had only held a sword a few times in his life. He wasn't sure of his skill with them yet, though he had always felt somewhat drawn to the weapons. Perhaps if he had time, he could ask Youta to teach him the arts of sword combat. It seemed intriguing to him, more so now that he knew a Shinkou had been skilled in those arts, and had had the knowledge to combine the Shinkou arts with sword combat.

Youta was waiting for him, so Altar didn't take much time for fear of another lunge from her, this time not nearly as testing. So, Altar would begin to plan his next attack as he moved towards Youta. He would lunge forward when withing range, keeping his feet below him, and feign a stab at Youta's left shoulder, as she had done to him. However, Altar would not follow through with this strike and drop his weapon lower, then extend it and aim a slash at the girl's midsection. Altar would follow through with this slash, then aim another at a lower angle of her stomach.

All of this would be notched down from his top speed. Altar's point in this flurry wasn't to actually strike Youta, but to see how she would react. If he could understand how she reacted, he could use it to his advantage.

Youta saw Altar's feint. This attack was turning into quite a bother for her. She could probably just deflect the strike when he finally made his mind, but decided not to bother with it. A sudden surge of chakra would blast wind from away from her in nearly all directions. If Altar had been in a stable pose, he could probably brace against it, but as it was he was mid-dash. The blast would no doubt destabilize him, even if only momentarily it would be enough. Youta would use that moment, stepping forward, swinging the ninjato to parry the katana aside, then thrust her left hand forward pushing Altar away, possibly even throwing him on the ground, if he did not find a way out of this, or somehow regained his balance.
Following this, Youta would thrust the ninjato aiming it at his knee. She would however only slighting cut it if she saw there was no getting out of it for him.

In the mean time Cael finished his technique, the shining snow like stuff stopped falling and he disappeared into the night sky for a good minute. Then after gaining enough altitude he would fold his wings together and take nose dive, emitting a rather joyful screech as his speed increased each second, until at the very end, he would flap his wings, stopping his descent just a moment before he crashed into the ground, changing the direction and rising again. His screech coming together with the speed he was falling would hit the ground, making a sort of a small shockwave. Then he would be gone again.

Altar wasn't very surprised when Youta seemingly saw through his plan to feint her. What surprised him was the sudden blast of air that knocked him off his balance, and the girl's firm push that sent him tumbling around. Altar would turn with his momentum, landing shakily on his back and rolling slightly to his feet. Then the girl came at him with a slash of her blade, seemingly aimed at his legs. Altar would use his own blade to knock hers aside, and use her forward momentum against her. After parrying her blow, Altar would aim to grab her right wrist with his left hand, and spin her around, throwing her after he had finished a 180 degree pivot.

"So, convinced yet? I already told you, i'm not great in the art of swordplay. Not great at much, really. Besides having a knack of getting out of bad situations and nearly dying. But if I were to guess...i'd say you're holding back more than you want to and more than you should. This isn't some feel good trip for me that you planned, is it? Not planning to take a dive?" Altar would say, narrowing his eyes somewhat in suspicion of Youta. She was much more skilled on the art than he was. She could have ended this ten times over at the start of it all. So it made no sense for this to have still been going.

Her thrust was deflected and Altar would grab her wrist, starting to spin. There probably was a way out of this, really all she had to do was resist using her weight because by deflecting the blade that was in the same hand, he also changed its path. But she would let him to through with it, making a roll after she was thrown and standing right back up immediately after. Turning back to face him, Youta would hear him talk. It seemed he was not in high spirits really. "What happened to the 'please don't hurt me'?" She would say partly mocking. It was true she was not going all out, there were multiple reasons for that, for one she did not want to damage the blade Altar was using, second she probably could not offer him a challenge with ninjutsu and there was really no need to beat him down. As far as she was concerned this was a friendly sparring and it was going just fine.

But if he was not satisfied, there was not much she could do. "Want me to dust you eh?" She would ask a second before her Seigan activated, casting Altar in a genjutsu, were he to gaze upon her eyes at the moment. Regardless if it was successful or not, she would follow up with a wind infused swing, which would send out of rather weak gale blast, only powerful enough to deflect projectiles and probably knock him on his butt.

Altar's gaze dropped as Youta asked him what had happened to his plea of weakness. "Don't misunderstand me, Youta. I don't want you to KILL me. You're much more advanced in this form of combat than I am. But that doesn't mean you need to reserve your strength until there's nothing there, and that doesn't mean you need to take a dive or anything to fuel my self esteem." Altar would say, smirking and turning to look at Youta after her second comment.

And suddenly he found himself on the ground. Before he had even realized what had happened. It felt almost like he had been pushed by nothing. So, either Youta was unbelievably fast, or she had some form of wind jutsu. Probably something revolving around her sword, or at least that form of combat. The next problem was why it had happened so fast and he hadn't been able to fight it. Of course, being the skeptic he was, Altar immediately jumped to genjutsu. It seemed the only way. So, he'd have to beware direct eye contact, then.

Well, he hadn't been harmed, but he had been knocked flat on his ass. And so, Altar would smirk and look towards Youta, making sure to keep his vision lower and away from her eyes. "Ah, so that's how it's gonna be now, eh? Well, fine. But if it's a fight you want, then let me warn you..." Altar would say, before standing again and activating his Meigan, as well as his Byakugan "It's a fight you'll get."

Altar would emphasize this statement by flicking the blade in his hand, before moving it back to a ready position. He would await Youta, and if she did not charge him, then it would appear he would need to be on the initiative.

Youta would smirk as Altar activated both Meigan and Byakugan in preparation for their fight. She was rather excited for a chance to see both doujutsu in action at the same time, as well as to see Altar fight wielding them. She would unsheathe a second ninjato, now wielding one in each hand, and after assuming her stance she would exclaim "Come, then!"

Altar would hear Youta, and let out a small sigh. He hadn't wanted to be the one to take charge. Then again, he couldn't exactly afford to let Youta take charge and strike him down without even trying. Taking a deep breath, Altar would start moving, slowly at first before picking up speed, turning into a run.

Gently swaying softly from side to side, once Altar reached Youta he would have made his plan of attack. Altar would move from coming at Youta dead on at about 1 and a half meters from her, and swiftly jump to his left, moving past Youta's right. As he did, he would take a swing at her hand, and two swings at her leg, one at thigh level and the other aimed for her heel. This would hopefully prove to numb the girl's hand as well as immobilize her.

Given that these strikes landed, Altar would keep going on for another 2 meters behind Youta, then turn to face her again and assess the new situation.

As Altar dropped to her right Youta would prepare to defend. She would block his initial slash, locking his blade and preventing any further slashes with the ninjato in her right hand. Making a small step with her left to bring it closer she would jab the other ninjato at his right shoulder, should he fail to avoid it.

Altar could feel the blade being locked as it refused to move forward with him. So, he would take one more step, landing left foot, and pivot, spinning to his left, and using this newfound momentum to swing the blade around with him, hopefully unlocking the blade, and if not that, then it would at least knock Youta off balance. Altar would then shift his right foot behind him, and draw the blade back, aiming to unlock it now if it hadn't been already, and start a stab at Youta's left shoulder.

Seeing as Altar was moving the blade away from her, Youta would let it go. After spinning around he would send it for her left shoulder and that's where it would meet the ninjato that he just barely avoided. The two would meet and his blade would be locked again. In the mean time she would use her right arm to take a wide swing meant to knock the katana she lent him out of the boy's grip.

Altar once again felt his...well, her, after all he was only being lent the blade for this fight. Anyways, Altar felt the blade lock again, and before he could really react it was sent from his hand, landing not far from him, but far enough so that it was out of reach. Altar was left defenseless in this case.

Altar needed to think fast. If he didn't he'd only be shown up again, and that wouldn't do much for him confidence wise, let alone impress Youta. Wait...since when had that become a motive. He wanted to think this over, but had no time. He needed to act, now or never.

And so, Altar would form a Chidori, not needing handsigns, and swing it at Youta at about shoulder level. He would purposefully miss, keeping it just short of hitting the girl. His purpose with this wasn't to hit her, but to make some room and blind the girl with the lightning. After making the half-hearted swing with the chidori, Altar would jump slightly to where the sword he had been wielding lay on the ground, and pick it up, keeping his view on Youta the entire time. He may not have needed to due to the Byakugan, but still felt it was necessary.

Right after Youta knocked the sword out of Altar's hands, there was a single moment where he did not do anything, which was mighty strange. She would not know if it was over, or what. But then the next second the would swing his hand which beamed with lightning chakra. Or so she assumed, as it was something of the sort, emitting a high pitched screeching sound. Ducking below the swing, Youta's eyes would follow the nearly blinding source of light as a smile marked her face. Maybe because there was nothing preventing her from cutting his extended arm off, or maybe because the fight was not yet over. Allowed to disengage the boy would jump back to where the sword was and pick it up.

Establishing her stance again, the girl would giggle. "Very nice." complimenting the move and lunging at him again. The blade in her left hand would go for his right shoulder, while the second blade in her right hand would try to reach his knee.

Altar grew a smile when he heard Youta giggle a bit, complimening his jutsu. It was always nice to have someone throw an unexpected compliment at you. Then again, he wondered why it had been let through in the first place. It was a move that could've been easily stopped, hell, she could've cut his damn arm off. But she didn't. Maybe that was a sign of something? Altar half-heartedly wondered what it could be, when Youta made her lunge.

She seemed to be aiming two strikes at him across the body from each other, judging by the way she was moving and aiming. Sure enough, one came for his right shoulder, the other for his knee. Altar would parry one blade, the one aiming for the shoulder, knocking it aside, and step out of the way of the knee strike. Once he had sidestepped, he aimed a slash at the girl's midsection. If it landed, it would bite into her right side, not too deep.

Once done, Altar would return to his ready stance, preparing to make a strike at her.

Altar would do good work making sure neither of the attacks reached him, deflecting one with the katana and side stepping to avoid the other. However it was not like she was going to get hit either. Now that her left hand was deflected to the right side and she saw the slash coming from there, Youta would cross her ninjato's to parry the strike aimed at her mid section, locking the blade once again. As that happened she would shift her weight to her right leg, helping with the block as well as allowing her to raise her left off the ground and play it into a kick aimed pretty much at Altar's face. After all, it wasn't like a blade user could only use the blades, right?

Assuming it connected, the kick would be only strong enough to send Altar staggering back. Were such to happen, the girl would move forward, putting one of the ninjato's dull side by Altar's foot and pulling it back, relieving him of his balance completely, while the other blade was ready to defend her.

In the background, Cael began another fall. This time it was not entirely a nose dive as he gently arced his descent and landed in the plains, among the many moon flowers. The dragon had tired somewhat and would now fold his wings and rest. Being somewhat of a teen dragon, his rest would not be long before his attention was stolen by many fireflies around him, which he would begin to chase around.

Alar heard the familiar clank of locking blades. That seemed to be one of Youta's favorite defenses when it came to this. However, this time, Altar would not be stopped. He had gotten out of this every time so far, and this time would be no different. Or so he hoped, at least.

He would look to Youta to see her lifting her foot off the ground, seemingly aiming a kick straight for his face. Altar knew he needed to take this advantage, at least, to get out of this situation. And so, with Youta's leg off the ground, Altar would push his blade against the girls blades, to the girl's left, his right. As his was locked in position, this would hopefully knock her off balance, possibly even off her feet. After doing this, Altar would draw back the blade, unlocking it, and if she was still up, aim a slash o her midsection, then a stab at her left shoulder. If she had fallen over, only the stab would be attempted.

Just as she was about to send the kick, Youta would feel the push of Altar's blade. He obviously meant to make use of her unbalanced position, which would succeed as it would force the girl to abandon the kick and put her foot back on the ground. The free katana would now be taken for a swing at her center. Moving the two blades apart for a second, spinning Youta would step closer to Altar, swinging her left blade upside down parrying the katana away from her body, while her right arm would be bent to send the blade through her left underarm at the boy's chest. She would stop it before it reached him though, if it came to that. To make this more likely, she would also attempt to step on his left foot, with hers.

Altar saw Youta spin, moving her two blades apart from each other. However, what surprised him was that she made no clear attack at him, nor did she parry his blade immediately. This gave him some time to adjust, shifting to face the girl as she spun. His blade would come with him, continuing the slashing motion it had carried before. And then came the parry he had been expecting. But it was not AS he had expected it.

As she finished spinning, Youta swung one blade under and upwards of his own, knocking his blade aside. She then aimed another under her already raised arm and stood on his foot with her own, and before he could really recognize what was happening, there was a blade just short of his chest, directly in front of where his heart lay. And what a time for said heart to start beating.

He stood in his place, frozen. Altar didn't notice so much as he took it in, all at once. Here he was, engaged in a beautiful dance, filled with the sounds of clashing steel and their own two voices. Even the crickets had quieted down, seemingly watching on in awe at the show they were giving. In the plains, there was no noise, no movement, only the two of them and the stars above. And Altar started to take it in. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before, but he noticed now. She was beautiful, in every way, and her own. And now, with the way the moonlight lay on her face illuminating her features, he came to realize that he was falling.

And that realization brought Altar back to reality. He grinned at the girl, dropping his arms to his side, his right hand still holding the blade. Taking in their positioning, the girl's foot on his had brought their bodies a bit closer than normal. Not close enough to really be awkward or noticeable, but closer than needed.

"Well, you got me, Youta. It would seem i'm not going to be able to best you at swordplay. Oh, and by the way..." Altar would say, now leaning in closer to whisper to the girl. "The first rule of dancing is never step on your partner's feet."

With his movement impaired by the girl stepping on his foot, it would seem that this time Altar did not have a way out. As his slash was defended against, the sneak attack under her left arm would go through and Youta would be forced to stop it as she saw he was unable to avoid it, the blade halting just moments before his heart. For a moment they would just stand there, Youta's eyes inspecting the boy's face. And she would wonder what it was in him that interested her. Clearly he had more hidden potential that he let on, or maybe it was that mysterious clan to which her master also belonged. Or maybe there was some other reason for her sympathy? For a minute, maybe less, or maybe more, the whole world seemed to halt. There would be only them, in the plains of night coated in stars, standing in a field of moon flowers. Locked in a sword fight. It seemed quite romantic.

But the fight was now over. And Youta would be pulled back to reality as Altar started moving his arms down, admitting his loss and complimenting her swordplay, in a way. But then he would lean closer, whispering about a rule of dancing being not to step on your partner's feet. For a moment there, Youta had an urge to just run the ninjato through his heart. It would have been easier to control herself if she was not so confused with her feelings. But in the end she managed to get a grip on herself. Taking down her blades, she would sheath them before placing her left hand on Altar's shoulder as if to caress, sliding down his arm before taking the katana back. "I'll keep that in mind." A grin marked her face. With that she would turn and put her master's blade in its sheathe. "Thanks for the dance!" And with that she would flicker away. It was more than she bargained for for one day, thoughts needed to be run, feelings put in place. The shadowy blue silhouette would follow her to the village, only landing on the ground as she reached the gates. Cael would give her a worried look as she stopped, her face quite red. The dragon though had eyesight capable of catching that even at night. For a moment it would look at her, then snort and make its way home, followed by the girl in second.

Altar knew that their encounter was over now, and while not having accomplished the original goal, Altar felt that he had accomplished something. He was sure of what he felt now, but he didn't know just what Youta felt. Not yet, anyways, and he didn't feel now would be a good time to ask. The next problem Altar had to tackle was deciding what to do what his feelings. He thought he had a decision, when Youta put her hand on his shoulder, running it down his arm before grabbing the blade from his hand, sheathing it. She said she'd remember the tip, then thanked him for the dance.

"No problem. We should do it again some time, maybe without the weapons, though." Altar replied, giving a wave as Youta as she flickered off. After she was gone, Altar would sit down, exasperated, halfway between exhilarated and out of breath. He wasn't sure exactly what to feel anymore. He decided that home would be a better place to think things over than out in the wide open plains. And so, home he went.

Altar would walk through the door, and see Tenebris laying across the floor. Looking to him, the dragon asked where he had gone. Altar told him.

"You've fallen for the girl, then." Tenebris said, eyeing Altar now suspiciously.

"I suppose I have. Why do you care, though?"  Altar would say back to the dragon, genuinely curious.

"I am bound to you. As much as I may not show it, I do care for you, Altar. And I am advising you now, be wary. You are young and naive. You will fall and love for who you may, but just be sure of what you are doing before you do it. And ensure that the girl feels for you what you feel for her." Tenebris said, his slight accent coming through as he went through his explanation, imparting wisdom Altar already knew. Still, it was incredibly nice of the dragon to say. Giving Tenebris a nod and a smile, Altar walked up to his room, wanting nothing more than to think through the events of the night, and figure the situation that he found himself in.

"So, convinced yet? I already told you, i'm not great in the art of swordplay. Not great at much, really. Besides having a knack of getting out of bad situations and nearly dying. But if I were to guess...i'd say you're holding back more than you want to and more than you should. This isn't some feel good trip for me that you planned, is it? Not planning to take a dive?" Altar would say, narrowing his eyes somewhat in suspicion of Youta. She was much more skilled on the art than he was. She could have ended this ten times over at the start of it all. So it made no sense for this to have still been going.

Her thrust was deflected and Altar would grab her wrist, starting to spin. There probably was a way out of this, really all she had to do was resist using her weight because by deflecting the blade that was in the same hand, he also changed its path. But she would let him to through with it, making a roll after she was thrown and standing right back up immediately after. Turning back to face him, Youta would hear him talk. It seemed he was not in high spirits really. "What happened to the 'please don't hurt me'?" She would say partly mocking. It was true she was not going all out, there were multiple reasons for that, for one she did not want to damage the blade Altar was using, second she probably could not offer him a challenge with ninjutsu and there was really no need to beat him down. As far as she was concerned this was a friendly sparring and it was going just fine.

But if he was not satisfied, there was not much she could do. "Want me to dust you eh?" She would ask a second before her Seigan activated, casting Altar in a genjutsu, were he to gaze upon her eyes at the moment. Regardless if it was successful or not, she would follow up with a wind infused swing, which would send out of rather weak gale blast, only powerful enough to deflect projectiles and probably knock him on his butt.

Altar's gaze dropped as Youta asked him what had happened to his plea of weakness. "Don't misunderstand me, Youta. I don't want you to KILL me. You're much more advanced in this form of combat than I am. But that doesn't mean you need to reserve your strength until there's nothing there, and that doesn't mean you need to take a dive or anything to fuel my self esteem." Altar would say, smirking and turning to look at Youta after her second comment.

And suddenly he found himself on the ground. Before he had even realized what had happened. It felt almost like he had been pushed by nothing. So, either Youta was unbelievably fast, or she had some form of wind jutsu. Probably something revolving around her sword, or at least that form of combat. The next problem was why it had happened so fast and he hadn't been able to fight it. Of course, being the skeptic he was, Altar immediately jumped to genjutsu. It seemed the only way. So, he'd have to beware direct eye contact, then.

Well, he hadn't been harmed, but he had been knocked flat on his ass. And so, Altar would smirk and look towards Youta, making sure to keep his vision lower and away from her eyes. "Ah, so that's how it's gonna be now, eh? Well, fine. But if it's a fight you want, then let me warn you..." Altar would say, before standing again and activating his Meigan, as well as his Byakugan "It's a fight you'll get."

Altar would emphasize this statement by flicking the blade in his hand, before moving it back to a ready position. He would await Youta, and if she did not charge him, then it would appear he would need to be on the initiative.

Youta would smirk as Altar activated both Meigan and Byakugan in preparation for their fight. She was rather excited for a chance to see both doujutsu in action at the same time, as well as to see Altar fight wielding them. She would unsheathe a second ninjato, now wielding one in each hand, and after assuming her stance she would exclaim "Come, then!"

Altar would hear Youta, and let out a small sigh. He hadn't wanted to be the one to take charge. Then again, he couldn't exactly afford to let Youta take charge and strike him down without even trying. Taking a deep breath, Altar would start moving, slowly at first before picking up speed, turning into a run.

Gently swaying softly from side to side, once Altar reached Youta he would have made his plan of attack. Altar would move from coming at Youta dead on at about 1 and a half meters from her, and swiftly jump to his left, moving past Youta's right. As he did, he would take a swing at her hand, and two swings at her leg, one at thigh level and the other aimed for her heel. This would hopefully prove to numb the girl's hand as well as immobilize her.

Given that these strikes landed, Altar would keep going on for another 2 meters behind Youta, then turn to face her again and assess the new situation.

As Altar dropped to her right Youta would prepare to defend. She would block his initial slash, locking his blade and preventing any further slashes with the ninjato in her right hand. Making a small step with her left to bring it closer she would jab the other ninjato at his right shoulder, should he fail to avoid it.

Altar could feel the blade being locked as it refused to move forward with him. So, he would take one more step, landing left foot, and pivot, spinning to his left, and using this newfound momentum to swing the blade around with him, hopefully unlocking the blade, and if not that, then it would at least knock Youta off balance. Altar would then shift his right foot behind him, and draw the blade back, aiming to unlock it now if it hadn't been already, and start a stab at Youta's left shoulder.

Youta saw Altar's feint. This attack was turning into quite a bother for her. She could probably just deflect the strike when he finally made his mind, but decided not to bother with it. A sudden surge of chakra would blast wind from away from her in nearly all directions. If Altar had been in a stable pose, he could probably brace against it, but as it was he was mid-dash. The blast would no doubt destabilize him, even if only momentarily it would be enough. Youta would use that moment, stepping forward, swinging the ninjato to parry the katana aside, then thrust her left hand forward pushing Altar away, possibly even throwing him on the ground, if he did not find a way out of this, or somehow regained his balance.
Following this, Youta would thrust the ninjato aiming it at his knee. She would however only slighting cut it if she saw there was no getting out of it for him.

In the mean time Cael finished his technique, the shining snow like stuff stopped falling and he disappeared into the night sky for a good minute. Then after gaining enough altitude he would fold his wings together and take nose dive, emitting a rather joyful screech as his speed increased each second, until at the very end, he would flap his wings, stopping his descent just a moment before he crashed into the ground, changing the direction and rising again. His screech coming together with the speed he was falling would hit the ground, making a sort of a small shockwave. Then he would be gone again.

Altar wasn't very surprised when Youta seemingly saw through his plan to feint her. What surprised him was the sudden blast of air that knocked him off his balance, and the girl's firm push that sent him tumbling around. Altar would turn with his momentum, landing shakily on his back and rolling slightly to his feet. Then the girl came at him with a slash of her blade, seemingly aimed at his legs. Altar would use his own blade to knock hers aside, and use her forward momentum against her. After parrying her blow, Altar would aim to grab her right wrist with his left hand, and spin her around, throwing her after he had finished a 180 degree pivot.

"Oh, eh, one more thing before this really gets hot and heavy. Try not to cut my head off or severely injure me. I quite like my life and body parts as they are, and i've had enough near death experiences for my lifetime and then some." Altar would say, grinning as he finished.

Altar managed to deflect the thrust and then back away. She would not pursue, but instead regain her footing. As she stood straight again, the boy would speak, asking to hold back a bit. She would nod at his last statement, for she too had nearly lost her life once and survived only through a miracle. "Of course." Then she would get ready again, but this time she would let him attack.

Youta seemed to agree with his request. Altar knew he was outmatched here, at least it skill with the weapon he was holding. If it had been a fight utilizing jutsu or hands, he would believe in himself more. However, he had only held a sword a few times in his life. He wasn't sure of his skill with them yet, though he had always felt somewhat drawn to the weapons. Perhaps if he had time, he could ask Youta to teach him the arts of sword combat. It seemed intriguing to him, more so now that he knew a Shinkou had been skilled in those arts, and had had the knowledge to combine the Shinkou arts with sword combat.

Youta was waiting for him, so Altar didn't take much time for fear of another lunge from her, this time not nearly as testing. So, Altar would begin to plan his next attack as he moved towards Youta. He would lunge forward when withing range, keeping his feet below him, and feign a stab at Youta's left shoulder, as she had done to him. However, Altar would not follow through with this strike and drop his weapon lower, then extend it and aim a slash at the girl's midsection. Altar would follow through with this slash, then aim another at a lower angle of her stomach.

All of this would be notched down from his top speed. Altar's point in this flurry wasn't to actually strike Youta, but to see how she would react. If he could understand how she reacted, he could use it to his advantage.

Altar would jolt awake at the sound of a trap zipping shut, and a horrid sounding wail. Quickly grabbing his overcoat and sword, Altar would dash out the makeshift door of his makeshift shelter. Treading carefully, Altar would happen upon one of the vile creatures hung in the air, it’s ankles caught in a line of hardy serrated rope.  The teeth had dug into its ankles, causing some blood to spill. Red blood like humans, but it was most certainly not human. An almost hollow figure comprised of nothing much more than skin pulled taut over flimsy bone. It’s face was empty, a haunting mask with bulging eyes and a horribly jagged mouth. It’s hands were claws that were digging at it’s ankles, seemingly in an attempt to free itself. As Altar watched on in horror, the creature curled up and started to self cannibalise it’s own legs to be free of the trap.

Altar composed himself, unsheathing his sword and sliding it against a nearby tree. The creature stopped it’s feeding to look at Altar and start swinging. Of course this beast had speed above a normal human’s. But Altar had speed beyond a god’s. Faster than lightning itself, Altar slid over to the creature and sliced it’s head clean off in one fluid movement. No motion or energy wasted. Before the creature died it let loose a harrowing cry, and as it did horrendous crys that were eerily similar echoed out from all over the place. Of course, Altar simply smirked and sheathed his sword. Every single one of them had fallen into his trap. Quite literally. A few seconds later, a few hundred zips and twangs could be heard, then silence.

It was an easy task to behead most creatures. Then five of them had been stowed away in Tengakure Tech designed hostage bags, to be transported back to the main island for… science purposes. Altar himself, however, was already on a boat headed for home. He had met with Jester to see the mission approved, and he had been handsomely rewarded. As Altar flipped through the ryo, quadruple counting it, his thoughts were on this adventure. Perhaps he should pick up hunting as a full time hobby.

~TWC: 10216~
~S-Rank Mission Complete - Where the Wendigos Are~
~+5,000 Ryo~