You Flee Like An Invalid Snail! (P. Xuba)

Kohei scampered through the undergrowth.

His gasping and wheezing would be clearly audible to anyone within twenty meters.

One of his pursuers was down for the count, some of his blood on Kohei's hands, sort of metaphorically speaking. The other two were taking care of him.

Shit.

He had never aimed to kill before. It had been an accident, he was throwing a stone to try to scare off one of the opponents. The pursuer, an enemy of the former village of Tengakure, he recognized as one of those assigned to track him down. Drat. He had hoped they would leave him alone by now. The stone was not aimed to hit the man in the eye, apparently, Kohei could throw faster than he thought. He remembered the way that man dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap, like a rag doll, the image not leaving his mind. The splatter visible as the rock hefted its way towards the man's brain. The utter horror and desperation visible on his comrade's faces as they beheld the damage.

He didn't know if he could sleep. He had turned and run away, even though they were no longer interested in chasing him, desperate to get away from that corpse. The images wouldn't leave his mind.

The irony hit him and he began to laugh, in a slightly maniacal fashion. His thoughts were scrambled.

Pursued as a missing ninja for doing my job. I always protested that I was not a killer, that I was better than my enemies.... but now I truly am the killer they conveniently labelled me. Not like I wanted to, but what's done is done. Guess I won't be visiting any villages for a while, now that they have something provable to pin on me. Nobody would believe it was an accident.

Frustrated, he stopped, coming to a halt in the middle of a clearing. He punched the ground, ignoring the minor damage to his knuckles. For once it was fortunate that he was not very strong.

Damn it. There was no going back now.

He had to become strong quickly, to survive.

What had he gotten himself into. His frustration started to boil over. He needed a brawl.

The underground. The slums in the eyes of  the ninja commonly found in villages. However, in the eyes of missing shinobi, it was a living paradise. The  sounds of theives running amuck, and scoundrles taking advantage of the gulliable.

This day xuba was contemplating on his recent encounter. The safety of the borders seemed to have gone up; since there were actually decently armored shinobi  traveling. A tempoary concern to xuba as it was to very little  effect. His attention was to  a wheezing induvidual being chased by a gang.


This gang wasnt that much to xuba. In the respective note he wouldve called them "scrubs" however, that was a praise to these summy of the scum. Xuba's grey eyes scanned the boy for valuables before simply glancing once more at the pack of scummy induviduals chasing him.

One, two, three, four, five, six, thats two.... hm theres three,  is that a fourth one?  There is a cat, a dog, ah! There are two more! So 12 people....12 on 1. How dull. He should get big. Or step up his game? Wait! He is running in shock and out of fear... man! First kill chills i see... better go get them.


Xuba thought as he hurried after the group. Xuba easily caught up to the group without breaking a sweat and his right hand grabbed one of the guys. A skinny and squirmy guy. Perhaps known as the guy who enjoys kicking guys when they are on the ground. Xuba aimed a light shin kick and snapped the skinny guys leg in a grotesque break. Shin bone and all out. 

The skinny man howled in pain as xuba tossed him aside like trash and had an idea. It was crule but nessary.

Punching bags!


Xuba thought as it was a good way to practice. The following two fools did not fare any better. They enjoyed the taste of mud, blood, and gums as xuba merely back handed each one and shook his head as they murmured gazing at the dirt. Xuba payed no mind since they were no more than branches in the forest. Easy to brush aside.

The fourth and fifth one gazed in shock as they instinctively thougt it was a great idea to stand in xubas way and put up a fight. Sadly if they were wiser they wouldve picked someone xubas size. As each one attacked they were met by a hand over their face and  meeting the ground face first. They needed an earthly reminder anyway.

The remainder of the thugs except one had a good grasp and reached for an assort ment of knives and chains. Being idiots seemed like a common role in the slums.  Xuba looked as if he was a teacher that had the word "wrong awnser" stamped across his face. But it takes a lesson to learn the dangers of weapons of course.

With the knife weilders and their stabs and slashes, xuba simply took to stepping back and to the side whe the chain guys attempted to run and swing their chains like whips.  A well timed lazy slap on a knife weilders nerve on his wrist made the knife fall to the ground as the young man gripped his wrist. Then xuba kicked the knife at the knee of one of the boy's weilding a chain. The knife went Straight through the cap and back of the knee.  It was the dangers of sharp weapons of course. The boy could not even kneel in pain and shock. His buddy got fanatic, and started whiping his chains around like a ribbon dancer. Just to discover that xuba caught the chain and narrowly avoided a knife nearly being jabbed in his side.

Xuba merely yanked the chain andsent the boy stumbling towards him. Midway using the tug, xuba aimed a upward thrust with his free hand under the knif weilders neck. Hence he gripped and the snapping and tearing od muscles and bones could be heard. Xuba lifted the  guy and threw him head first into the stumbling man. A resounding "squinsch" could be heard as xuba turned towards the boy that was assaulted. The gasping rasp of the young man who had another mans head burried in his chest. 


"Sorry but i dont belive in goons trying to 12 v 1 a lone man. You couldve crushed em all, but i can relate. I hated being bullied."  Xuba stated remaining aware of any idiots that would try to sneak up on the pair.

"Names xuba"

(Sorry, this felt more natural as a continuation than going to training right away)

As it turned out, there were more pursuers. Kohei had done poorly to not notice them all, but at least he had had some distance on them.

His breathing slowed, and his gasps quieted, his mind slowly clearing a little, enough to hear the continued sounds of battle. Who... What? It was hard to imagine that his pursuers were fighting each other, and they could not have ignored him.

Attempting to shake the image of his first... body... from his mind, he shakily got to his feet, and turned to face his assailants, trying to prepare himself for a bitter conflict. Only to find them on the ground in various gory states, and another fellow figuratively dusting his hands off.

Ordinarily, he would have thanked the other individual, but there was something else more pressing on his mind.

"How do you do it?" He spoke after a brief pause in which he regarded the other individual.

His eye caught the staring face of one of the nearby corpses. Then another. And another. His breath quickened. He fell to his knees, not noticing the pain, his hands covering his tightly shut eyes, willing to bare his weakness to others if it meant he could stop seeing those awful images plastered in his mind.

After several long moments which mostly consisted of Kohei hyperventilating with his eyes covered, he spoke again. "How do you do it? How do you make it go away? Every time I close my eyes, I see that man with a stone in his eye, the fluids splattering, his horrified expression, the blood.... I can't get it out of my mind. I see more carnage every time I even thought about fighting back, imagining their dead bodies splayed around me with an overwhelming feeling of revulsion. I think I will go mad."

Speaking about such was enough it seemed. If he had eaten, he would have thrown up. As it was, he collapsed to his hands and knees, his stomach wailing in massive dry heaves and retching, new spasms wracking his body every time one of the dead bodies came to mind. After a little while, his body began to calm down, he was trying to block it out by deeply analysis g a jutsu he needed to learn, the many details helping him to keep his mind and thoughts more under control.

He staggered to his feet, a little dizzy.

He saw the bodies again, and leaned forwards, his hands resting on his knees, his legs somehow still standing.

"Do they ever leave you?"

It didn't occur him to elaborate that he meant the bodies of the fallen, from ones mind. Of course, he was rather distracted with said topic, it was hard for him to think about anything else.

Xuba stared at the boy as he simply had an episode of his own. Well who wouldnt? The number of fools that deem it wise to play a number game against a lowley weakling. It would be like a child being bullied by three grown adults. 

Unacceptable


Xuba thought as the boy  began to panick and for several minutes xuba stared at the boy unmoving as he let the boy get himself back up.

Perhaps the first lesson of this life is the most brutal lesson. Accept your hands will become rivers of blood. Second lesson is understand you cant lay down and wonder why?


Xuba thought  as he actually looked up in thought at his possible awnsers. In the span of time it took for the boy to finally get his act together. Xuba had a reasonable response.

"Well for starters. Welcome to the life, you kill a person you move on. Thats the reality of the cut throat and the skilled. Thoes allgers will not hesitate if they cannot help themselves. You get hounded and hunted. Secondly you move on from the guy. A dead body only leaves a trail to you. Cover the trail you stop the scent. Thirdly... i remember each life i take, but i do not dwell on it. I live to exist none the more then that. I utilize philosophy and reason.... even if wrong. You survive. Through winters, through brimstone, and through fire. You live. Each day you hunt, kill, and scavenge. Every night you wish it was easier. I have done this for years."


Xuba kicked a corpse still warm from blood, and pain etched as an eternal reminder of its mistake. The truth in plain sight. The void in its eyes were merely globes lost in the darkness. Never to get its light back. As a result its body still and heart stopped beating.

"Why did you flee? You couldve fought."

(ooc: might be able to post during class break)

Kohei forced the feelings of revulsion under, for the moment. The initial shock was starting to fade a little, replaced by an unhappy acceptance.

"Don't know what I expected. I guess I was being naive, to assume I was not important enough to attract attention from bounty hunters. I guess deep down I figured that nobody would bother hunting someone clearly framed for murder, but I guess some only care about money. There's no going back to the old life now."

He sighed deeply, more than a little annoyed with he situation.

"Guess I wasn't a born killer, huh?" He smiled wryly.

Well, he would have to work with what he got. When life gives you lemons, take out a minor loan, make the fruit juice into lemonade, buy a shop front, set up a supply chain, pay back loans, and continue he cycle, hopefully with a profit. Ok, maybe not the best way to think about it, but if the other fellow was right about one thing, it was that Kohei couldn't afford to mope around. Life is in large part what you make of it.

On the bright side, his enemies might think he beat all thirteen opponents by himself. There were twelve bodied nearby, plus the one he took care of.

"Why did I run? Damn. Well, I killed one by accident. I've never seen a dead body outside of a casket, let alone killing one myself. I was overcome by feelings of revulsion and horror, though I am better now. I didn't know there were more of them though. I only saw three, the rest must have been catching up, so it's really fortunate you showed up when you did. Thanks. Really saved my bacon."

He gave a small smile to the other.

"Will you teach me?"

While the boy was going through what was considered his moment of realization. Otherwise known as a moment of clearity. An natural occurance in many newcommers to the real world. However, this was only a brutal awakening to a person fresh in the world.

Xuba listend as he killed the remaining survivors out of spite. Clean work required a bloody hand as he sped around breaking necks and crushing throats of the dumb gang members that attempted to step in his way.

Foolish grimlins.


Xuba thought as he now finished with the deed done turned his attention towards the boy. His request to teach the boy was noted as xuba stared at the dead for a few moments.

"This road is not an easy road. It only gets harder each step you take. No short cuts. No hand outs. I do not enjoy killing.... but i am honest with myself. A threat is in every person out here. Village, or outcast. Good, evil... they do not matter here. Its about you. You break a bone, you have to fight ten times harder... i can teach you. I can even help you.... but not if you betray me or are a dead cause to me. At the moment you leave my eye i will rip your beating heart out. You do unessary evil i will throw you over a village wall, and have their justice take care of you... this you will have to accept. No compromises nor easy ways out. Am i understood. Because if you say yes, understand you accept the conciquences and the  rewards. You get only two chances. Once you say no, you can only say yes next time, or reside your fate in my presence. Understood?"

To make his point xuba slowly walked towards the boy his grey eyes staring into the boy's with an intensity. It was not a place even in the safe havens to try to play petty games with xuba. His time was precious and tje boy should understand this 

"Pick up the dead peoples head, and accept their death. Speak to them as you bury them and wish them a better choice in the next life."

Well, this fellow certainly made sense.

"You're right, its dog eat dog out here. Wish it could be different, but there are so few to trust...."

Kohei's voice had dropped to a murmur, as he contemplated the deed he was volunteered for. His eyes shut for a few precious moments, his mind slowly making peace with this unfortunate reality.

When they opened, his voice was at its normal strength. "Well, I hate to waste people's time, and backstabbing is not my thing. So that shouldn't be an issue."

As it so happened, he had a some weapons on him, previously unused since he didn't want to arm the opponents.

He slowly exhaled as he approached the bodies, the nearby ones that Xuba had killed, anyway.

Oh, right.

He turned to look over at Xuba. "I'm Kohei."

It was an awkward time, and after a significant delay, but it was that or not say it at all, now. Besides, awkward rather defined Kohei's social interactions, in general, so this was nothing new, even if he was conscious of it. He nearly mentioned his heritage, but it was not evident, so no point really. Even if he could trust Xuba, information had a habit of leaking itself out. Kohei was already not a common name, so his enemies would more swiftly find him, even if Xuba was a potential friend.

He tried not to think about it too much, but he buried all of the bodies. Took a lot of work, digging without a shovel, but it was good exercise at least. As he buried the bodies, one by one, he looked the body up and down, wondering what had led them to this fate. Surely some of them left friends and family behind. As each was being buried, all twelve of the bodies, he wished them to make better choices in life, so that they could leave more fulfilling lives, and become stronger opponents in the future. He explained how he did not want to kill them, but someone else did to save him, and that he did not desire this kind of situation to arise again. Next time, he would be able to handle this by himself.

Its strange, how talking things out can make the mind relax. While he still had relapses of revulsion and horror, at first, slowly he calmed down as he talked. Not entirely, seeing the bloody messes that Xuba had made of some of the bodies was rather... unnerving to say the least, but he was slowly getting less uncomfortable with the idea.

Next thing you know, he could be a doctor, at this rate! Like a similarly named Yuki

When he was finally done, he cleaned his hands off on a patch of grass, and turned to talk to Xuba.

"It is done."

Xuba quietly watched as the boy worked. His resolve was admireable  and it brought xuba back to a time when he was younger. Defenseless and fresh from murdering his mother. The cold he recalled it as his bloody chest still scabbing over.

His scar tingled  as he recalled the long day as he watched the boy work. He watched the boy grow comfortable as he spoke up as the boy confirmed his work done.

Xuba nodded at the  boy's words he took a moment to consider the boy's request once more as he studied the boy.

"You wish to grow strong. Your body must be strong and fast. No weapons, but strike and strike hard. You mess up i will break a bone. Till i say stop you shall work up a sweat" 


Xuba stated as he took a casual stance

Urk.

He was supposed to fight this guy?!?

Kohei found himself wishing he had paid more attention to Xuba when he was beating the hell out of the bodies that Kohei had just buried. He did not have a good sense of how fast or slow or strong Xuba was, though it did seem he won bare handed. This would get ugly for Kohei right quick. But at least he could use the exercise.

"I'll try my best, but I'm not really a melee combatant. I was a beauracrat before I was wanted, I doubt you will find me particularly interesting or tough to fight."

God, he wished what he said wasn't painfully accurate. Hopefully Xuba didn't punch a hole in him or something, that would really suck.

Unsure of what to do, Kohei put up a clearly amateurish boxing stance, his guard too low and too high at the same time, to be significantly useful in a close range fight. His right foot was forward a little from his left, the feet about half a meter across. He made a few practice jabs before running at Xuba from all of five meters away. Yes, you read that right. Kohei doesn't know how to throw a proper jab yet.

He knew that, but not how to do it proper, nor what was wrong with it, unfortunately, and his stance was copied from a fighter he had seen in a ring, who had performed most sloppily. Not that Kohei knew the latter - he had been mostly busy sorting papers and was not watching the majority of the fight.

Assuming he had not already been flattened or otherwise defeated, he would charge at Xuba, his face a look of silent determination that belied the rather slow pace he unfortunately set. When he was almost in striking range, he would angle his right shoulder, aiming for a fast jab at Xuba's right cheek. From the sounds of it, Xuba expected Kohei to go all in on this, and not go soft. He would oblige, though Xuba might not notice.

Xuba remained poised as tge boy spoke he smiled inwardly as he kept his hopes up.

Trying... lesson 2 to the world is the best. Strive and try perhaps it could be the dawning of a new threat on the borders. Perhaps he could make me feel alive in the thrill of hidden talent and effort. Perhaps his resolv-.... what the hell!


Xubas nose twitched at the stance of the boy. No width, no grounded foot work. Perhaps had a guard but xuba felt that if he breathed even wrong the boy will fall over half dead and due to improper stance and posture he would perhaps twist his ankle?

For this in a fourth wall reference his mind sort of derped and xuba was half wondering if one of the boys shouldve shanked the boy where he stood... no helping that now.

Lorde! Has he ever seen a fist clenched? Why is he charging? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why??????! Who the hell telegraphs a punch? Who telegraphs a charge? What idiot attempts to cockback a fist and then throws!!!!

Xuba thought as he agonizingly watched the boy aim his jab at xubas face. The sad truth about this was that xuba out of pitty simply swept the boys' right foot by xuba using the insole of his left foot, and leaining to the right enough to avoid the jab with ease. Then xuba would pivot [size=31]on his right foot enough to put his left foot down, and bend his knees propeely into a light fighter stance.  Meanwhile the sweep would  knock the boy off balence and sending the boy stumbling to the right half a meter. (Speed is 10 for lols)[/size]

"Rule one. Do not charge and try to throw a punch. Your momemtum prevents you from really doing anything else. As for that rule two. Take a stance, make sure you are grounded, and approach at angles. Rule three. Keep your hands in a guard and open please. I see your fist clenched again i will break a finger... try again. I want to see a jab. Not some amature at work. You are always learning, and correcting. If you are not then you are improving. Otherwise you are going to throw a punch and run straight into  a knife. A knife you couldve grabbed if your hands were open. A knife you couldve dodged if you did not run forward.  If you have a brain use it. Mind over matter. "

Poor form had a sore spot in his heart. It was like half the world forgot what a stance looked like or never took it seriously. That and no one had heart to improve it. He hardly had to move as he swept as if kicking away some trash on the ground.

Guess i should make sure he at least knows how to actually fight. So he does not trip over a tree root an snap his shin because of no foot work..  


Xuba thought as he waited for the boy to strike back with an improved punch now. Hand to hand may not be loved but it was nessary.