Protect the Martial Arts! [Custom Mission Happenings]

Posts : 65

Objectives!:

There was actually nothing like the feeling of freedom when one woke up with the sound of birds chirping in the morning, sitting by a tree. As far as Teia knew she was the only person sleeping upright, she just didn’t feel too good about rubbing her face to the ground a lot and didn’t have too much free space to carry around sheets to sleep in. Sleeping upright was one of those talents that the girl mastered quickly and right after she left the village to pursue the short life of a free woman.

Without a single glance or worry if her Jiangshi companion was awake Galateia walked up to the nearby lake based in a huge mountain hole, the rain must’ve accumulated in a hole something blew on the top of the small plateau making it a pretty neat place to bathe. To some it may have looked a bit sanitary and very mature to care about hygiene when being a nukenin but one should’ve rest assured that Galateia did not do it because she wanted to be clean, she just liked to splash around the water like a little kid. She often overstayed her time in the water which gave her blue lips and brief shiver at times.

After cleaning herself Galateia stood up and dressed in her new white cloth top granted to her in the arrest house some days ago and covered up her least pleasant places to be hit in with armor plates. After stretching her hands out a little bit the woman did not wander back to the small camp that she had made yesterday where her companion was most likely sleeping but instead chose to keep on walking forward – it was his problem if he overslept and Teia left without him.

The warrior lady had to hand it to the boy, he was persistent and could follow her around with quite the skill, even if she left him behind at times he was quick to catch up and find her. To the warrior who didn’t know the meaning of words such as “footprints” and “tracking” it appeared very strange and it amused her when he managed to find her when she genuinely tried to run away. This immature game of hide and seek provided Galateia with a lot of pleasure and entertainment and she started to see the benefits of having this strange boy around, even if his resemblance to a mythical gut munching monster was uncanny…

It has been a while since the two had seen a town, the last town that Galateia has been in was the last time that she escaped the boy’s line of sight only to be imprisoned by some Security Force officers for her actions in the small port town causing a fight. It was an amazing encounter, the security officer she fought for entertainment was some of the most pleasant time she has had in a long time. By Galateia’s guess some town was supposed to be close.

Just like the warrior had guessed as she left a forest clearing and gazed into the distance she could see a deforested mountainous area where a small town resided in. It looked like nothing more than a pit stop for weary travelers as it only had one large street to it spanning a bit more than 5 kilometers by Teia’s estimation. Of course to the young girl it didn’t look like “5 kilometers”, her guess was “pretty damn far…”. After allowing the sight of the small mountain town sink in and getting the general destination in case she finds an obstacle requiring a detour Galateia set off.

“Sigh, probably not many people to fight in there… Small towns don’t have a lot of people so even fewer fighters among those people and even fewer of them are good ones.” The young woman was a bit disappointed by her future prospects at finding a decent fight to satisfy her for that day. She had to grow stronger so that she is able to match swords with the next enemy like that Security Force officer. He used to be a Daimyo’s bodyguard so when he got serious he destroyed Teia. If all she can find are some stupid bandits and no one to challenge her she’ll get even weaker than she already was!

Right as the young lady descended from the plateau to the small town below she could hear whispers. “The Kuzuri-dan attacked the Boshi Kama Dojo I’ve heard!” “Those Kuzuri-dan, when will they leave us alone?!” “Two dojo in two weeks… Poor Sensui Tsubame Dojo must be scared for their life…” “What do you think, I heard they’ve lost almost all students!” Galateia was actually quite interested in these rumors of some mysterious “Kuzuri-dan” causing havoc, maybe she could fight those guys.

“Who are these Kuzuri-dan? Are they strong?” Galateia inquired walking right up to one of the old women spreading rumors and stories around the town. Every town that the warrior was in had a lot of those, the girl didn’t get the appeal of just talking to everyone everyday for the rest of one’s life but at least they gave information easily. It just happened sometimes that these women didn’t always tell things as they were which was odd because they wore no bowties or funny moustaches so there was no way of indicating if they were telling the truth!

“They are the saviors of our graceful town! Eradicating those pesky martial artists so that there are no more barfights and no more racket at night, that’s who they are if you ask me, girl!” the woman shouted out before an old man slapped her with a backhand slap.

“Have some shame, spinster, these men are nothing more but murdering bandits, if you are a swordswoman or a martial artist you should leave, girl. The Kuzuri-dan are a band of killers and bandits who lay sieges to the dojo they come upon and tear the buildings down to the ground killing every member of that dojo… These silly women who know no lives but their own homes do not know the pain that they cause, I used to be a historian so I do not know the pain in martial artist’s heart too but… They destroy many styles and cause them to go forgotten, they destroy and burn any scrolls with hidden techniques of those styles too… They are hooligans, vandals, nothing more!” the old man shouted out.

Teia’s face changed to complete rage, these men sounded like bad people, people who defined everything that Galateia despised – a brutal fight with no honor, just for the sake of killing. No pleasure came from such a fight just pain, suffering and death. By wrecking all those gyms they indirectly challenged their ideal of what a fight was with Galateia’s so they all made an enemy today. “Where can I find those men?” Galateia uttered, still angry and filled with rage.

“Well, they have already burnt down two of our three dojo, the last one is at the right side of the main street about three kilometers that way but… Are you sure, girl!? These men are…” “What’s a kilometer? How long is that in walking time?!” Galateia yelled out impatiently and rudely interrupting the man. The old timer looked really confused and scratched his bald head, while before he thought that Teia challenging them MAY have been a bad idea, now he thought it DEFINITELY was a bad idea. "B-b-bout twenty minutes for a healthy gal like you..."

“I will fight Kuzuri-dan… I will start walking the path of “Aku Soku Zan” that the officer from the small town spoke of to become as strong as he is!” the warrior thought to herself as without a single word or gesture of reply she just started walking towards the appointed direction.

Posts : 45

The girl was true to her word, already she had managed to sneak off without his notice once. However, she had been unable to evade the authorities who quickly took her into custody. Aoi had managed to avoid capture and remained in the woods, occasionally using the transformation jutsu to get information within the town. Eventually the girl had been released and his tailing resumed. It was during this time he had finally learned her name. Yoruma, Galateia. He had been educated on the Yoruma clan back in Kirigakure, they were a small but prominent clan in Konoha who focused on the art of assassination. The men were trained to be fighters while the women espionage. Galateia however, had not taken too well to those teachings. While she had not spoken on the matter, her attitude, appearance, fighting style, everything about her rebelled against those clan teachings. She was no assassin or spy, she was a warrior. One who challenged her foes head on and never backed down from a fight. The scars she bore were both proof of her determination and punishment of defection.

For the moment, the two were again aimlessly wandering through the forests of the Lightning Country, at least, he estimated they were still within those borders. Out in the wilderness, there were little landmarks to go on that helped define the borders of the various countries. You would not really notice until the more obvious marks of the nations appeared. Lightning country was rockey, most trees were pines, suited for life in the tough soil and thinner atmosphere of the mountains where as the Fire country had thicker, greener foliage with much more variety. His own homeland was thick with marshes and lakes as expected of the Water Country.

This morning began like many others. Galateia was a light sleeper and always awoke at the crack of dawn. A skill that Aoi was never that familiar with and the leading reason she was able to escape so easily. Aoi was trying to wake himself up at the same time, but it was hit or miss, most often the latter. Today however, he did manage to awaken shortly after Galateia had wandered off. Getting to his feet, Aoi quickly stretched to get the kinks out of his muscles. Sleeping outside was never the most comfortable and always left him feeling sore and stiff. He could never quite move out the kinks either due to his preference of flying everywhere. Indeed, over this last year he had probably lost whatever muscle mass his family had worked so hard to try and build on him.

The soil here was soft and held prints well, thanks to the aid of the nearby lake. This make tracking the wandering warrior a simple task, not that she had gone far. It took Aoi only a minute to follow the trail to the lake where Teia was bathing. Well, not really bathing. The girl was splashing around almost, what was the word? Playfully? Aoi had seen young children do this in hotsprings and public baths he had visited in other towns. However that appeared to stop once most children reached a certain age. Teia however, was whimsically splashing away. He felt a smile crossing his face, only to dissipate the moment his mind became aware of the action. "Strange". He mumbled. Turning away from Galateia, Aoi made his way down the lakeside. There was a large tree stretching over the water a few meters away. Behind it, he stripped down and stepped into the water. The lake was rather cold due to the time of day, not that it bothered him much. Being a member of the Yuki clan, Aoi had a natural resistance to the cold.

Unlike Galateia, Aoi's bathing was quick and efficient. He wasn't there to enjoy himself. Simply clean himself off and go on with his day. Once he was finished, Aoi climbed back onto shore. He left his clothes hanging off one of the branches and there they would remain until he felt dry enough to dress himself. He had plenty of time as Galateia was clearly in no rush to leave.

Continuing on their aimless journey, the two eventually stumbled upon another town. It was a small place, built along a mountainside with a single large road passing through it. Likely this place was an outpost or checkpoint. Galateia took a moment to observe the place before sighing loudly. Aoi had been with her long enough to know that sigh, she had few others. That sigh was of disappointment in relation to a fight. It was unlikely there would be any strong fighters in a place like this. The strongest people there were likely hunters, while not weak they were trained to track and kill animals, not to fight humans. Still a town was a town, there was always something new to see. That simple prospect was enough to cause a strange sensation in Aoi's stomach. The sensation only grew as they neared the little town. It wasn't nausea, but it wasn't an alien sensation either. Aoi often felt it when approaching new places or seeing new things. The first time had been the day he decided to leave Kirigakure. The feeling was so intense that he wanted to throw up, but somehow he managed to push through. Looking at Galateia, he was glad for it too.

They quickly stumbled upon a group of older women gossiping with one another. Something about the 'Kuzuri-dan' attacking a dojo. Immediately Aoi knew that would get Teia's attention. A dojo meant fighters. Knowing her, she'd try and challenge every one of the students there before nightfall. From what he could hear, two dojos had been attacked, with the third and last at high risk. Galateia wasted no time jumping into the conversation, spurred on by the prospect of battle. The conversation quickly grew heated, with people both supporting and rejecting this Kuzuri-dan. Teia continued to demand where these people were located before storming off, Aoi floating in pursuit.

As he passed the villagers however, the older women took one look at him and screamed. "JIANGSHI!! RUN!! RUN!! JIANGSHI!!" The group then screamed and scattered, leaving Aoi floating on the spot, mildly annoyed. "Why do people keep calling me that!?" Grumbling, he floated after Galateia, calling out to her when she started to outpace his flight speed.

"Hey, hold on. Stop for a second." The girl was not entirely likely to stop, once she had a battle in sight, Teia would lock on so hard that almost nothing could break her concentration. If his shouts did not attract her attention, Aoi would have cancelled the jutsu and ran to catch her, cutting off her path so she would have to notice. It would not have been easy though, Aoi was short and physically weak while Teia was tall and fast. Still, so long as she was walking he could catch her. "I just wanted to warn you, these guys are not likely to fight fairly. You might end up in another brawl like what happened in that port." There was no way this would get her to back down, Aoi had just felt it was the right thing to warn her. She was not the kind of person to think things through, much less think half a step ahead. More than likely, Aoi would need to step in and lend a hand.

Aoi would continue to follow her down the street, reengaging his flight jutsu. Teia would put some distance between them, but this would allow Aoi to move in quietly and watch from the shadows. If there was any foul play to be had, he would step in and lend a hand. He knew that Teia would resent him should he interfere with a proper one on one fight.

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Posts : 65

Yet again Aoi managed to follow her without any attempts from Galateia’s part to keep him around. It was quite interesting all by itself that this boy found complexity and interest in something as primitive and easy to understand as Galateia was. He just floated around her, like a cloud… People used to call Teia “Little Sun” when she was a kid and ran around because of the color of her hair. That lovely nickname went away as soon as the girl started picking fights with the boys instead of running around and twirling around with her dress like girls of her age did.

Galateia wondered what should she do with Aoi, most of her thoughts were weird and simple like: “Was he actually a boy or a Jiangshi who thought he was still a boy?” “Will he need to eat guts to sustain himself” “How does Galateia fight him if he tried to eat her guts?” etc… But sometimes something more complex came up, during her less proud moments the girl actually cared about where Aoi may have come from and why he was alone. Initially Teia didn’t really like having him around but… After those fun games of hide-and-seek and his general weirdness the girl started to just not mind him and treat him like a part of her life, at least for a while, until he found a place to stay.

The warrior noticed some other women thinking that Aoi was a Jiangshi, it was somewhat amusing as it made Galateia nod her head with pride and mumble “Said so, didn’t I?” to herself, it may have been meant more to Aoi but Teia didn’t want to make the spirit sad. Some part of the warrior started wondering if referring to the boy as “Jiangshi” even made sense anymore – he didn’t want to be treated as Jiangshi so why should he have been? It’s the same as if Teia cut her hair and started talking like a boy, everyone should treat her as a boy because she’d kick their asses if they didn’t!

Aoi tried to stop her during her walk to the dojo, the last one standing in this town, last one to burn down and destroy before the Kuzuri-dan could move to another town. Galateia stopped and looked back at him, flipping her head back with a blank stare, as if she spoke to a stranger who asked her for time on the street and she told him that she didn’t know what time it was because she couldn’t tell if the Sun was at the twelve hour mark or six because she forgot where the numbers were on a clock. Not that it happened often but if it did, that would have been how that would have gone down…

The boy told her that these men were killers, that they were likely to cheat and try to attack her all at once like those foul fools in the port town did. She tightened her gloves and smiled “That’s what I’m counting on, wouldn’t like to let assholes like that who destroy people’s lives and make martial arts go forgotten out alive would we?” She was really pumped for this fight, after her crushing but immensely entertaining defeat by the Security officer in a small town several days ago Teia was hyped to prove herself. She desired to fight someone great having tasted a great fight so not long ago.

Just as the old man predicted it didn’t take long for the two to reach what looked like a dojo, Galateia may not have been a genius exactly but she knew how a dojo looked like. She knocked on the door only for a man to open it a couple of moments later. He had some more backing him up, each of them wielded some small knuckle blades or something as if this was a dojo that trained this particular art of fighting. “So you have come, Kuzuri-dan!” the man yelled out as he threw a punch that Galateia dodged and knocked the man in the back of his head as she drew her sword with the claymore’s handle.

“KUZURI-DAN! WHERE!?” she shouted out in excitement, completely hyped and unable to restrain herself. The men inside the dojo looked completely dazed by Galateia’s display of strength, they were probably still trainees so they stepped back inside the dojo and took fighting positions. “Where is your leader, Kuzuri-dan!?” Teia shouted out as she charged forward, the men were trembling in their boots the several that the warrior had targeted with her swings jumped back and then jumped back in for the counter attack but Teia jumped up using the sword as a support and flipped over them kicking them in the back of their head.

“ENOUGH!” a loud and authoritative voice shouted out as an old man entered from the next room. “I am disappointed in you, students, not only you failed to welcome a lady and her friend in but you accused them of being the enemy without making things clear. And you, swordswoman, your quarrels lie not with our dojo, we are not the Kuzuri-dan, the Kuzuri-dan will attack us in the closest time. It is likely to happen this evening, they always strike at about this time of the week which is why my students were so scared, please forgive them!” the man bowed to Teia and gestured for Aoi to enter if he hasn’t done so up to now.

“Hmmmm… I dunno, that’s what you would say if you WERE the Kuzuri-dan… Why would you be afraid of fighting though, aren’t you all martial artists? Didn’t you enroll the dojo to find people to fight?!” Galateia replied with a voice full of passion and hype for battle. These men made her really excited for a possibly fun battle and now she had to wait until the Kuzuri-dan came once again. “I don’t know who you two are but if you wish to help, you are welcome guests of my dojo.” the old man nodded “My students are only afraid because they know what is coming, no dojo in the several towns the Kuzuri-dan terrorized have been able to fend them off, when Kuzuri-dan comes for you… Absolute death awaits.” the old man lowered his head as if he was in a lot of pain, though he didn’t appear injured… Could people have pain INSIDE their bodies too? Nah, Galateia was just getting all worked up by that battle, she needed to calm down.

“Can I offer you some tea or something to eat?” the old man nodded as Galateia looked around the dojo, it was a fitting place for a killer battle. It will do nicely. The girl let Aoi respond first before she asked, “Your weakling students fired me up a lot, I can’t think straight when I’m in my warrior’s rage, do you have some room to calm down?” she asked “Also, cold tea would be nice!” the girl laughed out.

"W-W-Weakling!?" some of the students shouted out in anger, Teia grinned with a full smile and grabbed the handle of her claymore again. "What, wanna fight it out, ponytail?!" she asked before laughing out, these men were actually quite decent, stronger than most common bandits who couldn't survive even a single exchange of blows with Teia. These men had some skill when facing a sword user...

The old man broke up Galateia's funtime by showing her to a small room upstairs. It was nothing special but it worked for the intended purpose. Soon the old man walked back up with the tea as well. Itwas just a mere cup, barely fitting for a single taste.

Galateia chugged down the entire cup and looked at the man, “What is this? I asked for something to drink, not to moist my lips! Bring me a jug or two!” she yelled out. Some people had the misconception that warriors lived on eating, that they ate a lot. Galateia ate just like any other people if not a bit less, drinking beverages like beer and tea or water was her secret. She could fight as long as she’s perfectly hydrated. It didn’t make much sense knowing that she didn’t use water techniques or anything but drinking just revitalized her whole body, it gave her more energy than a good meal ever could!

“And so we wait…” Teia mumbled and closed her eyes waiting for the first signs of battle.

Posts : 45

Something was different about Galateia today. When Aoi had moved to intercept her, the response he had gotten was not what he had expected. Back in the bar, the simple fact the men were ganging up on her had thrown the girl into a frenzy. Now, she was looking forward to the fact. It was as though she had found a new reason beyond simply finding fair fights. Something that urged her on and pushed her to become even better than she was now. Aoi could do nothing but stand frozen in surprise as Galateia strode confidently down the street. Finally coming to his senses, he turned back and ran after her, using the momentum to hop back into the air as he reactivated his jutsu. What could have caused such a change in her? What happened during her time incarcerated? A strange feeling of excitement began growing within Aoi's chest. Anticipation to see what this new attitude would produce from this girl. "So Galateia, what are you going to show me today?"

Arriving at the dojo, Teia was immediately attacked by a man leaping out of the door shouting something about the Kuzuri-Dan. Unfortunately for him, Galateia swatted him away as though he were merely a fly. Aoi was still a good distance away, approximately ten meters and closing as fast as he could while Teia searched frantically for the gang. Obviously confused by the man's battle cry, Teia was ready to attack the next thing that moved. Raising her sword, she charged into the building with a mighty cry. "What, no! There not the Kuzuri-Dan!" Galateia was making a terrible mistake, those were the members of the dojo they were supposed to protect and she was charging them head on. Cursing himself for not being able to move any faster, Aoi floated steadily forward hoping he wouldn't be too late. That was when a massive shout echoed from within the building. Even from this distance, the shout was practically deafening. Once the sound had died down, there was an eerie silence in the air.

Finally reaching the door, Aoi looked inside to see Galateia facing down an older man. He was apologizing to Teia for his student's behavoiur. It appeared that both sides had jumped the gun. Thankfully, this man had stepped in and managed to quell the violence before it began. Of course, that didn't stop Galateia from being Galateia. Her question left the students looking to one another in confusion. Aoi felt a chuckle escape his lips. "No one can expect what she will do or say." Floating inside, he lowered himself so his feet were just above the floor while pulling himself into an upright position. The old man was the first to regain himself and welcomed the two to his dojo. Aoi bowed out of respect and thanks as the man began explaining their situation. With the latest mention of the Kuzuri-Dan, the mood in the building suddenly changed. Aoi could visibly see the fear on the faces of the students. If the one who charged Teia had been any indicator of their strength then these kids were just lambs to the slaughter. When the Kuzuri-Dan came, there would only be blood and bodies left behind.

"Why don't you just leave?" Aoi asked, his voice soft and small like himself. To this, the old man visibly stiffened. "I cannot leave. This is my home and I will defend it to my last breath. Even if it is futile." At this, his students all stepped forward, fear was still in their eyes but something allowed them to suppress it. "We won't leave either. This is our dojo, we won't let them have it!" The students then shouted together with a collective 'OSU'. Looking to the old man, Aoi could see the glint of tears forming in his eyes. Fighting them back, he offered them some tea. Aoi could feel Teia glance at him and he silently nodded in acceptance. Teia also accepted, yet her usual bluntness earned her the ire of the students. For a moment, it appeared as though another fight would break out when the old man stepped in again. Leading them upstairs, they entered into a small tea room. It was not much, simple tatami mats layered the floor. The walls had been painted a calming light blue and the sunlight was shining in through the single window in the room. There were a few cushions laid out around the room so Aoi floated over and sat himself down.

The tea followed shortly after. While Aoi was content to take small sips, Teia downed her glass in one shot and demanded a jug. Aoi looked to the old man and with a small smile, simply said "It might be best just to leave the kettle here. We'll call for a replacement if it becomes empty." With that, the old man left and Aoi turned back to his drink. Teia meanwhile stretched herself out and closed her eyes. Likely planning to simply nap away the afternoon. It was good to conserve one's strength before a battle and there was no worry of her oversleeping. Teia would wake up at the slightest noise if need be.

When the old man returned, Aoi invited him to sit down. "What can you tell me of these Kuzuri-Dan? Do you know how they fight? Anything in particular we should look out for?" Galateia was the type to throw herself into the thick of things without thinking. Aoi however, had been trained to win no matter the cost or means. If this old man had any information that could be useful, he wanted it.

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Posts : 65

Galateia just sat there with her eyes closed, a battle was raging inside the girl‘s heart however, her small eyebrows were lined up and twisted suggesting accumulating anger for the Kuzuri-dan. Despite her attempts to calm down her hype for the upcoming battle and the rage for the despicable people she‘d be fighting against the girl still listened in on the old man‘s speech of the Kuzuri-dan after Aoi asked him about what he could tell them of the Kuzuri-dan.

The old man coughed before beggining to speak, „We don‘t know too much, no one who fights them really survives, we’re not sure just how strong they are. On one hand they have burnt down to the ground every martial arts dojo they’ve come upon, on the other I don’t think they’ve fought ninja yet. Lightning country just doesn’t spare us any to help, only chuunin can tread so far into the Lightning country but chuunin are overqualified to deal with the Kuzuri-dan so they are simply allowed to do whatever they want…”

Galateia’s eyes shot opened as she slammed her palm on the mat in front of her making her pot of tea jump up. “Nevermind that, tell us the most important thing… Kuzuri-dan… Are they actual wolverines?! Wolverines are mean creatures… They can fight mountain bears even so if they mastered the Secret Techniques of Walking they will be truly fearsome opponents!” the warrior exclaimed as the old man’s mouth just remained open. He just couldn’t understand if the girl was bad at humor or if she truly thought that the dojos were being incinerated and slaughtered by angry walking wolverines.

“Well… I think… It’s safe to say… That they are not wolverines… I am quite certain they are not…” the old man said as he wiped the sweat off of his head and looked down. Galateia sighed, some part of her was happy that she won’t have to deal with those nasty furry creatures, the other one was disappointed, fighting walking wolverines would have been quite the site. “Hmmm… That’s too bad, then again, you said you haven’t seen them so you can’t be certain, we need to be ready for anything… I’m off to pee!” the girl said as she jumped up and ran off holding her crotch.

Just mere moments later she returned up the stairs and laughed out. “I’m sorry, old man, where is the pee-room?” the girl asked as the old man slapped his face with a palm. “I will show you… But… Perhaps you shouldn’t be doing this? I don’t think you fully understand what is going on…” the old man replied as he looked at both Aoi and Galateia worryingly. He was confused by Galateia’s lack of intelligence and awareness of social and moral norms and believed that she was just a retarded person wandering the world and shouldn’t be in a fight.

The old man showed at the room downstairs and returned to his seat as the girl nodded and ran down the stairs in quite a haste. The warrior entered the bathroom and sat down on one of the many cabins. She knocked on the left wall for the young man in the next one and laughed out. “Don’t worry, we’ll beat the Kuzuri-dan for you weaklings, you don’t need to loosen your weenie about anything!” the man jumped up and ran out of the bathroom yelling some angry rants in the air. Something about a girl being in the man’s room and how she and her short friend ruined their last days or whatever.

The warrior was back in just a couple of short moments and assumed her position back at the same mat, filling her glass with tea again. The old man looked at her funny and pointed at the jug that was quickly emptying. “Perhaps you shouldn’t drink that much, young lady, are you sure you’ll be fine facing off against Kuzuri-dan this way?” Galateia smiled as she took a couple of large gulps, “Don’t worry, I’ve never missed a fight because of having to go to the pee-room, I’m a big girl and I know how to hold it…” It was then that the man stood up and started walking towards the stairs below. “I don’t think that this talk is helping my morale, I’m sorry, I should try to boost my men’s confidence…”

“TELL THEM IF THEY TOUCH THE LEADER, THEY’RE DEAD!” Galateia yelled out energetically by lifting a fist up in the air. It was then that a rock flew through a window hitting the girl straight into the head. She jumped up and ran to the window to look outside seeing a bunch of men in black outfits and cloth masks and four men that looked like they were in charge. “Ohhh! It’s the Kuzuri-dan, you guys! Finally! HEY KUZURI-DAN, WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU, COME ON AND FIGHT US!” Galateia yelled through the window. She then scratched the back of her head and mumbled “Jeez… That hurt…”

The warrior looked at Aoi had he chosen to remain on the second floor and smiled to him, “Let’s go fight them, you can eat as many Kuzuri-dan guts as you want, Jiangshi-kun, just let me handle the leader…” Galateia shouted out energetically as she slowly descended down the stairs. The old man still looked confused. “Why would she say that? Are you two kids cannibals or something? I don’t understand…” but before he could voice any more of his confusion the Kuzuri-dan entered the dojo. They were just four!

“Get ready, Sensui Tsubame Dojo! We are the Kuzuri-Dan Fighting Team. Once we kill all of you in combat the Incineration Team will burn your bodies to the ground. Let us begin!” one of the four men said. Each of them wore full body black cloth outfits and strange kabuki face paint. Each one of the four had a different weapon with one of them having attached steel claws, just like a real wolverine would, the other one had a trident, third one seemed to have wrist blades while the fourth one had twin short blades.

Pushing everyone out of the way Galateia jumped down the stairs breaking some wooden handle in the process. She had not had the chance to properly examine the four but she still jumped in and placed her handle on the sword preparing herself. “Yahoo! Which one of you is the leader? I wanna fight him! Ehhh… You guys aren’t actual wolverines… Too bad, would’ve been really fun to fight actual wolverines…” Galateia laughed out. The martial artists remained on the stair case, they were completely stunned by the ignorant and death-wishing nature of the blond girl. Not only did she jump out to the frontlines against the Kuzuri-dan but also she openly mocked them.

“We have no leader, girl, Kuzuri-dan Fighting Team fights as one, all four of us!” the spokesman of the team replied as the men readied their weapons. Galateia ignorantly turned her head back at Aoi and asked him with a confused and childish face. “They don’t have a leader, what should we do? How much guts do you need to munch on? How many can I fight?” as the girl asked questions the one with the short blades dashed at Galateia slashing at her chest. The injury knocked the girl back out of sheer pain and shock, her body hit the staircase looking almost lifeless.

“Heh, serves you right to mock the Kuzuri-dan… Now, who dies next?!”

Posts : 45

These Kuzuri-Dan were good at keeping their secrets to themselves. By leaving few, if any, victims alive they were able to hide their abilities and numbers while still spreading their reputation. Despite that, they were still considered to be too small time for the Chunin of Kumogakure to deal with. Somehow these people had found a sweet spot in the law, too small to be considered a true threat, but too strong to be dealt with by local forces. Of course, if Teia had her way, that would all end today. More than likely, Aoi himself would also be participating in the battle. Should that happen, it might be best to force at least a few of them outside. There he could use his jutsu and puppets without restraint. Indoors, he was rather crippled. Many of his jutus had long range and his Yeti puppet was gigantic. Even if they were to fight in the training areas, it might not be enough room. Outside at least, there was a large yard as well as the road.

It was then that Teia leaped up and asked if the Kuzuri-Dan were wolverines. The old man's jaw dropped at the mention of something so outlandish. Even Aoi was dumbstruck at this question but was at least able to hide it by sipping his tea once more. When her theory was denied, Teia was noticeably disappointed before the notion was forgotten completely. Running out the door explaining she needed to pee, the old man looked to Aoi. "Is she... always like this?" He asked, not knowing what else he could say. Teia returned before Aoi could answer and the man escorted her down the hall to where the washrooms were. Suddenly alone and in silent, Aoi took another sip of his tea before setting it on the floor. Turning his head, he looked out the window to the clear blue sky outside. "They should be here soon. Perhaps we should try and make a plan for the students to follow." Having a plan would give the students something to focus on. That fear he had seen in them would get them killed. Once the first few fall, the others would break and everything would fall to chaos.

The old man returned alone and took his seat, sighing heavily as he did so. "I'm not so sure about this. Perhaps I should just get the students out of here before it's too late. I'm touched they are willing to fight for me but I don't want to see them killed. For a moment, I allowed myself to hope that you two could help but, that girl... I just don't know anymore."

Taking another sip of his tea, Aoi raised his head to look the old man in the eyes. There was so much doubt within him. His students looked up to and respected this man. Should they see him falter, their own morale would wane. "You would be wise not to underestimate us. Galateia-san is much stronger than her appearance and manner would lead you to believe. We will stop the Kuzuri-Dan here, but we may need your help. You need to be strong for your students and your home." With that, Aoi lifted his cup for another sip while the old man composed himself. "Yes... yes, you're right. If we were going to run we would have long ago..."

Teia returned a moment later, sitting herself down and began drinking again, much to the old man's worry. Raising himself to his feet, he planned to go and try to raise the morale of his students before the fighting began. Teia took the opportunity to call dibs on the leader, throwing her fist up into the air. The next moment, she was yelping in pain as a rock flew through the window, striking her in the back of the head. Flying to her feet, she moved to the window and unbound joy burst forth from her. The Kuzuri-Dan had arrived. "Hmm, they're early. I thought for sure they'd come later so they could escape under the cover of night. Perhaps they're growing bolder." Aoi thought to himself as he finished his cup. Teia turned to him with a smile and invited him to join in the fighting so he could 'eat some guts'. "I don't eat guts and I'm not a Jiangshi..." He mumbled knowing full well she wouldn't be listening anyway.

The old man could only mutter in confusion at this exchange before being interrupted by something crashing downstairs. The gang had likely kicked the door down. Out in the halls, the students were running to investigate the commotion knowing full well what was about to happen. Teia took off herself, charging past, and in some cases through, the other students. Barreling her way down the stairs as the Kuzuri-Dan were issuing their challenge to the dojo. Aoi himself was running but lacked the speed and strength of his companion. Even over the commotion, Aoi was able to hear the mention of an incineration team. "So the Kuzuri-Dan is split into two teams. The first team moves in to fight and the incineration team cleans up the mess. This fight won't end with this team's defeat then."

Reaching the staircase, Galateia was already facing down the Kuzuri-Dan. To Aoi's surprise, there were only four men. Four men had overpowered several dojos, honestly it was rather impressive. These four were not to be underestimated it seemed. Teia was laughing at the moment while the other students crowded at the top of the stairs, too scared to press on. Forcing his way past, Aoi began descending the stairs as Teia called out the leader. When the Kuzuri-Dan responded that they had no leader, Teia turned her attention to Aoi and voiced her disappointment. "No you fool, don't turn away from an enemy!" Aoi screamed in his mind as the man with the short blades darted forward, slashing at Teia. His strike was true and she was sent flying back into the stairs where she lay bleeding and lifeless at Aoi's feet.

The man with the swords then called out for the next person to die, as though this were just some slaughterhouse. With Galateia down, Aoi was the next one they would attack. Even if he didn't say anything, he was the closest person. Taking a quick moment to look over the area, Aoi knew he had to force them outside. The stairway was narrow and cramped, if they attacked now he wouldn't stand a change. Hands flying together, he flipped rapidly through three handseals and his chakra flared within him. An action that did not go unnoticed by the swordsman. "Ah fu- They got a shinobi here boys!" Raising his blades, he charged forth at Aoi a moment too late. Pointing his hands forward, Aoi unleashed a massive blast of wind that struck the man directly, blasting him back and into his buddy with the trident. The other two were able to dodge away from the blast, but Aoi's job was done. The two that were hit flew back through the door and out onto the street. Hopping over Teia, he charged past the remaining Kuzuri-Dan to engage the ones outside. Hopefully the wound on Galateia wasn't fatal. So long as that wasn't the case, she would get up and engage the two he left behind.

Once outside, the two members were getting to their feet. They had not suffered much damage from his attack, at best it would leave a few nasty bruises. There was still quite the fight ahead of him. "Damn brat, I'm gonna skin you for that."

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Posts : 65

Galateia remained downed for a while. Long enough for all the martial artists and the old man to start believing she was dead. One of the martial artists ran up to the girl and checked her pulse. “Sensei, she’s got a pulse, it’s very rapid though… I think she’s dying.” The master of the dojo punched the wall with the back of his fist cursing out loud. “Damn those two! I warned them to not mess around… That girl… She was too stupid, I shouldn’t have let her out on the field of battle, I was selfish trying to…”

“Damn right it’s rapid! I’m mad as shit!”

Galateia’s loud voice roared out through the gym. Her weighed down face lifted up revealing a face with a childish pout, completely ignorant of the painful gash on her chest that formed a gruesome “X”. Within moments the warrior jumped back on her feet and picked up her claymore putting it back on her shoulders. She was as angry as one could have gotten! Not only did one of those Kuzuri-dan scumbags strike at her when she wasn’t prepared but Aoi also dared to take him all for himself!

Galateia’s anger couldn’t have been restrained, she forced it all out making her chakra flow irregularly, of course no one in the room could’ve seen that. It would have taken a sensor to see just how angry and unrestrained the girl was. She barely had any interest in the two Kuzuri-dan Fighting Team members that Aoi had left her. The one with the claws roared out loud into the air lunging through the air at one of the martial artists still on the stairs. Trying to pick off the weaklings that were afraid.

His claws met resistance middle way with Galateia’s blade. The man seemed to growl like a dog and jumped back having kicked off of her great sword. “Picking off the chicks is a tactic of a vulture, not a wolverine… Too bad for you I eat both of those regularly…” Galateia’s angry voice exclaimed. It was true, she was actually stupid enough to eat vultures when she was traveling through the desert parts of Lightning Country, normally she ate pretty much all that moved. The clawed man growled and got ready to lunge at her instead but the one with the wrist blades stopped him.

“This girl isn’t a normal kid, she’s a kunoichi, a nukenin probably, we’ve never really fought against them, we need to work as a team!” the wrist blade man said after examining Galateia, it looked really odd to the girl that they decided to take a slower approach – her stance was quite basic after all. She just stood tall with her claymore on the back of her shoulders, ready to swing at them if the enemy chooses to attack. The two opponents lunged at Galateia collectively, the girl moved her sword trying to block them but she couldn’t. The collective attack was just too fast, more and more slashes reached her body leaving grievous gashes and some pretty nasty wounds.

Galateia roared out of sheer rage swinging her sword in a wide arc but the vulture man with claws jumped up right to the ceiling sticking to it like a bat before diving down at the girl.

“Kuzuri-dan no Ougi: Hagetakadaibingu!”

The man just jumped at Galateia when she was vulnerable after her huge and powerful swing landing on top of her and knocking the girl down. The man also pinned her body down strongly with his legs, pressing her hands to the ground with his knees. The man lifted up his claws into the air and drove them into the girl’s body. Galateia shouted out in pain and her head fell back. The man grunted, “Pffft, I didn’t aim for her vitals… I wanted to play a little longer.” His companion smiled, “You always do, the last one you played with for hours, it’s tough for us three to deal with an entire dojo as it is, you know…”

The man pulled his claws out, Galateia felt a warm stream of blood shoot out of the wounds, the claws weren’t really that huge, they reminded more of elongated and thicker needles than actual swords, they were designed for quick slashing maneuvers. The man with the claws kicked Galateia pushing her body to the wall, he then brandished his claws. “So… Who’s next?” the man with the claws grunted out. A loud clang interrupted the massacre that would have followed, both of the Kuzuri-dan turned at the girl to see her back on her feet standing up using her great sword for support.

“GREAT! I wanted to play with you more!” the claw man shouted out with a growly voice and charged at the girl together with his pal. Galateia had to admit, had she fought all four of them at once she’d have lost. Good for her that she was a good fighter and almost instantly noticed flaws in her opponent’s techniques. As the two men lunged at her she now knew that she wasn’t fast enough to fight back against both speedsters, she needed an edge and she had it!

“Quickblade”

The girl shouted out waving her sword around with the technique granting her just the speedboost she needed to deflect every attack, her sword was heavy enough to leave openings in her opponents once she deflected their blows. After the initial shock was deflected the girl jumped in between the two opponents swinging her claymore backwards and smacking the claw user in the back of his head. Blows like that were pretty rough and could’ve easily caused a concussion or even death. Now that the claw user was incapacitated only the wrist blade user remained. Teia knew she had all the chances to deal with any one of them.

She sheathed her sword and lowered her head, acting out as if she surrendered. The man grinned, “A noble effort, girl, but… I’ll make it painless!” he shouted aiming his wrist blades right at her neck, wishing to cut the girl’s throat as if he was using scissors. Unfortunately two small kunai greeted the man’s wrists when they were close to the girl’s neck, right between the blades. “ROOOAAARGHHH!” Galateia shouted proudly as she turned the kunai using all of her force breaking both her ninja tools and the man’s blades. The man looked incredibly shocked, he tried stepping back before Galateia’s palm smacked into his face as the girl moved forward.

“Sit DOWN!” she yelled slamming the man’s head into the floor breaking it effortlessly. “You cheater…” she finished the sentence holding her wound with one hand as she placed the hand on the handle of her claymore, already preparing to deal with the other Kuzuri-dan. The claw man tried to use his stupid technique again, he jumped up to the ceiling and stuck up to it with his feet like a bat, brandishing his claws. Within just mere moments the Kuzuri-dan lunged at Galateia with the girl also responding with a technique of her own.

“Kuzuri-dan no Ougi: Hagetakadaibingu!”
“Quickdraw!”

The air became heavy just before the techniques clashed but the slight boost in speed allowed Galateia to not only draw her sword faster but increased the first strike with it, using the strength of the sword draw to boost the force of the slash so that the downwards slash hit the man right into his skull. Galateia’s sword went straight through the flesh of the Kuzuri-dan thug leaving the man cut in two, claymores were very gruesome swords, once they cut something the blood shot out immediately, they weren’t as subtle as the katana so the dojo instantly dyed in Kuzuri-dan blood.

Galateia sheathed her sword and fell on one knee, her body was strained a little bit from the battle and the wound made her loose a bit of blood even if it was more of a torture wound than killing blow. The old man and his martial artists just couldn’t believe their eyes, they remained with their mouths open and utterly speechless as Galateia left to the yard, not using the kicked down front door but kicking at the wooden wall of the dojo to make more of an impact.

“OY! Aoi! You took my twin bladed idiot! Are you at least done yet?!” she yelled out revealing the gruesome sight inside to any passing by people or any Kuzuri-dan members that were still alive like the incineration crew. Were any of the incinerators still around they would’ve started running off yelling out that they’ve been beaten.

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Posts : 45

These men were far from happy. They had entered the dojo expecting to participate in a slaughter, yet now that they had encountered real resistance, their attitudes had shifted greatly. While the damage they had sustained physically from Aoi's attack was minimal, the damage to their egos was tremendous. It was likely that they had never been attacked like that, much less from a kid like Aoi. After all the dojos they had destroyed, it was too much for them to take. Once they were back on their feet, they made the most predictable attack ever, the two charged Aoi.

Aoi however, was not one to just stand around and wait for his opponents to ready themselves for the next round. The moment he had blasted them out of the dojo, his next move was in the works. From his fingertips, strings of chakra began to grow and weave their way into the kit on his back. In there, they would find his shuriken and begin wrapping themselves through the central ring. He had a total of ten shuriken stored in there, not enough to deal fatal damage, but they would make an excellent distraction. He had to wait however, striking them while they were down would only allow them to curl up defensively and minimize the damage. Even with his chakra strings aiding the throw, shuriken lacked any real punch so he needed to time it just right.

That timing was their charge. Blinded by rage and bloodlust, they would not be able to form an adequate defense, nor would they be able to stop their momentum and dodge. Once the thugs were in full sprint, Aoi threw his arms forward, the strings pulling tight and ripping the shuriken from his pouch and firing them forward. Five shuriken apiece flew at their targets, forcing the men to stomp their heels into the ground and raise their arms in defense. The metal stars impaled their skin and drew blood. However, their last second recoil had allowed them to protect their more vital areas.

"Dammit! I didn't even see him grab those!" The trident man yelled out as the weapons pierced his forearms. One however was able to break through and struck him deep in the stomach. The softer flesh giving way more than the hardened arm muscles. The twin sword user was a bit luckier, only being struck in the arms, he let out a cry of rage and resumed his attack. Aoi meanwhile, had been going through several handseals from the moment his shuriken left his kit.

The man charged, arms crossed before his face. A defensive run in case Aoi attempted the same trick again. However it also meant his next attack was quite predictable. He would use a cross slash, likely aimed at Aoi's torso. This would force the man to bend down quite low due to Aoi's short stature. That fact only worked more in his own favour. His jutsu was primed and ready by the time the swordsman unleashed his attack. Like Aoi predicted, it was a cross slash aimed right for his stomach. An attack like that would have his guts splashing all over the road.

Today was not Aoi's day to die. Instead of being gutted, Aoi mustered up all the strength his little body could provide and jumped straight up into the air. Normally, if he were to try this, his maximum height would have been about a meter if he tucked his knees in. Thankfully, he had a jutsu to help out with that. Rather than falling back down, Aoi simply continued to ascend into the air. It wasn't the fastest ascension ever, but it was still enough to avoid the attack and move into the man's blind spot.

"What the hell!? Where did he go!?" The swordsman shouted, frantically looking up and down the street for his target. "Above you! The little rat is flying!" Replied the man with the trident. At the moment, Aoi was about five meters above ground. High enough to just be out of reach from counterattack. The only thing he had to worry about was the trident man throwing his weapon. At this range, he would not likely escape unscathed. "I got him!" He suddenly shouted, raising his trident as though it were a javelin. "Ah crap"

Mere moments before the man was to throw his weapon, Galateia screamed from inside the dojo. It was good to hear she was still alive, but more importantly, her shout had distracted the two men. Immediately Aoi disabled his jutsu and fell to the ground. Landing was painful on Aoi's legs, but it was a small sacrifice. Kicking himself forward, Aoi pushed himself to move as quickly as possible, running past the trident man as he began to string together another set of handseals. The man wasn't going to let him get by so easily however, as he forced his weapon downwards in an attempt to skewer the boy. Thankfully, his reaction was slow due to Galateia's cry and only managed to slice through the back of Aoi's coat before impaling the weapon into the ground.

Aoi ran until he was across the street. Here, he had a straight shot at both men. The swordsman was charging at him again and closing the distance quickly while the trident user was trying to pry his weapon from the ground. Aoi's chakra was flaring as he raised his arms up, hands facing each other before his chest. Between his palms, a glowing white light began to form. Aoi's strongest jutsu.

"Diamond Dust!"

Pushing his palms forward, a storm erupted from Aoi's palms. Blasting forth in a large cone, icy winds pelted the members of the Kuzuri-Dan. The swordsman was forced to stop as he blocked his face from the cold. The other man stopped trying to extract his weapon to do the same. The storm was so intense that the winds began blowing into the dojo itself. However, it would just barely make it past the doorway. As for the Kuzuri-Dan who were subjected to it, all they could do was wait out the storm as ice began to form on their bodies. Arms, legs, torso, all were covered in a thickening layer of frost.

The storm only lasted a few moments. The winds died down and Aoi relaxed his arms. The Kuzuri-Dan were left shivering on the spot as they tried to move their limbs. The ice covering them cracked and gave way, but still clung to them tightly. "D-damn... I-i-ice!? S-so cold..." The swordsman mumbled. At this point, Aoi began to walk calmly towards the men. "W-what are you doing!? S-stay b-back!" One of them called out in fear, uncertain of what Aoi's next action would be. The swordsman, fighting through the ice that limited him, began raising his arm to try and cut down Aoi.

Thanks to the ice's limitations, the man was not able to strike in time. Aoi walked right up to him and simply placed his hand on the man's frozen stomach. The true brutality of his jutsu was revealed here as the ice covering the man cracked and shattered. The scream he gave was almost inhuman and would curl the blood of those who heard it. When the ice shattered, it had taken all the skin that it had frozen with it. With skin and clothing gone, the man's muscle tissue was exposed to the open air and blood began pouring out from the wounds.

Falling onto his back, the man continued to scream bloody murder as Aoi's attention turned to the trident man. Staring at his mangled companion, the poor bastard could only whimper in terror as Aoi began his apporach. "No... no... stay back! STAY BACK! DON'T TOUCH ME! NOOO!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH" His scream was just as terrifying as the last as he too fell to the ground after his skin was shattered like glass.

At this point the fight was over. The men were in too much pain to continue so Aoi made his way back to the dojo. Just as he was approaching the door, Teia came charging out, shouting at him for taking the swordsman for himself and if he was finished with them. Teia was covered in blood, both from her wound and the ones she had inflicted on the Kuzuri-Dan. Since she was standing here, it had meant she had won her fight. "Sorry, he was just the closest one at the time. I'll finish up now." Flipping through one final set of handseals, Aoi held his hand out. There, a small piece of ice began to form, growing larger until it was equivalent to a large Frisbee. The disk was nearly paper tin and transparent, but also extremely sharp.

The disk hovered just above Aoi's palm as he turned back to the screaming men. As he threw the disk, Aoi once again summoned up a chakra string and attached it to the disk. Now that it was formed he had no need to use chakra to sustain it. Using his string he was able to manipulate its flight path and slice both of the screaming men's throats in a single flourish. Silencing their screams in an instant. Afterwards he just detached the string and allowed the bloodied disk to embed itself in the ground where it would eventually melt.

Turning back to Teia, Aoi bowed slightly. "Now I'm done."

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Posts : 65

It appeared that Aoi had just finished the moment that Galateia busted through the wall to reveal herself, those must’ve been some pretty mean last moments for those Kuzuri-dan that he took on – knowing that one’s friends were dead and that they will soon follow. Knowing that nothing you’ve done worked out at all was the most frustrating last feeling ever, not that it mattered much what last feelings were – they were final, momentarily and pointless after all. Still, Galateia was impressed to see some Jiangshi magic and just how strong it was, Aoi may not have been someone she wished to fight but it was nice to see that he had skills to back his desire to eat guts up.

After seeing the boy finish his battle off and seeing the incineration squad running off wildly Galateia’s eyes changed from angry and fighting more to a calmer, somewhat more satisfied and almost happy look. She had a pretty good battle and that was surprising – she faced two opponents after all and got cheated. Maybe cheating didn’t necessarily amount to a bad battle, maybe she could still work it out to be rather decent? That was something to think about in the future, the old man in charge of the dojo ran out and bowed to Galateia and Aoi.

“Thank you, thank you for helping us and preventing any sacrifices… Without you many of my students would have perished. We remain in your debt.”

Galateia pouted and smacked the old man in the back with her palm causing him to trip and fall on his knees, his students jumped up and got ready to fight but then they saw the innocent and smiling expression on Galateia’s face and calmed down. She just miscalculated her strength…

“What are you talking about? If anything we should be apologizing for getting excited and taking your battle away from you, it was a really good fight I must admit… I must thank you for it, old man!”

The girl shouted out and bowed to the man, the owner of the dojo stood up off the ground and laughed out.

“You may be a decent fighter but I still don’t understand you… Anyways, you guys should move, Security will soon be swarming this place and I don’t think you’re in the clear with those guys, call it a hunch…”

The man’s words made Galateia wonder, why didn’t the security present itself earlier? Didn’t those guys love fighting? Something here didn’t make sense but thinking about it got the warrior nowhere – it just made her head itch needlessly. Some part of the girl wanted to stay around and fight the Security force but spending time in the arrest home again would have been a drag, prison walls aren’t as fun to sleep leaning against as trees. Plus if they hold Galateia isolated for long she won’t get to fight anyone which is going to be a problem with her…

“STOP! ARREST THOSE TWO!” loud shouts reached the girl’s ears, a chubby man with a funny moustache was furiously waving his finger at the girl and Aoi as a bunch of security officers started flooding the area. The men surrounded Aoi and Galateia almost instantly, there could have been several tens of them and if she and Aoi had to fight them in their current state it may have been difficult. Teia felt like she had some wounds to patch up and Aoi probably was short of that Jiangshi magic energy he used for his magic spells and tricks.

“You… Leader... What is the meaning of this? Were you preparing to arrest them this whole time? We were attacked by the Kuzuri-dan, they must have passed right by you! Why are you arresting these two, they are clearly the heroes here! They saved my dojo!” the old man started shouting out and waving his hands around furiously, the security force officers looked both confused and annoyed, some of them were angry at the man for standing in their way while some thought he was right.

Galateia’s hand gently tapped the man’s arm and pushed him sideways, she knew what will follow so she walked forward knowing full well where this situation will go. She turned back and smiled for Aoi, “Remember what I told you when we met? About not getting too attached?” she laughed out and stepped towards the chubby man making him tremble and shout in a mad voice for the men to hold Galateia, at least four guards jumped at her and kicked her in the legs forcing the girl’s tired body to fall down. The chubby “leader” then walked up to her and spat her in the face.

“That’s right, I told the security force to hold… Because we couldn’t handle the Kuzuri-dan in our current state, we lack the funds, you two however… We had our eyes on you the entire ti…”

The man’s crazy speech didn’t get a chance to end, Galateia jumped up grabbing both men holding her by their throats and pushing them away, the two others tried to pull their blades but they were silent by elbow blows to their temples. The fat man squeeked like a pig when the girl’s hands went around his face and snapped his neck. For a moment silence set in, no one could believe what have happened, the security force, the martial artists, the innocent bystanders… They were all in shock.

"You're pathetic... What warrior chooses their opponent because they're weaker? A true warrior fights an opponent no matter how strong, stronger opponents are even more exciting!"

“WHY YOU!!!!” one man then triggered a huge chain reaction, everyone got called to arms, they were ready to kill this stupid girl who had just killed their government official, Galateia stood up with the sword in her hand and ready to fight until she could fight no longer but something very strange happened – the martial artists started fighting back the Security force, then Galateia jumped at them to help causing the entire force to go back for back up. The old man waved at the girl, “Run! We haven’t done anything too bad, just some assault charges and assisting a criminal or whatever… We’re gonna sit our time proudly! You two reminded us what fighters should be like! It’s about time we showed the rest of the world…”

Galateia nodded, she sheathed her sword and still holding her bleeding wounds she started moving to the cover of the forest, moving until the first forest clearing further away from the small town that they had just caused a revolution in. This couldn’t have been very good for their bounties, so far Galateia had caused at least two similar revolutions and killed at least three businessmen or government officials. That was first way to a death sentence… The girl tore her clothes off and sat by the fire she just set up, she had a lot of wounds to check up on and patch.

“I hope at least the person they send after us is strong!” the girl thought to herself as she examined the X mark on her bare chest and started applying bandage over it. Recently they’ve accumulated a lot of medical supplies using the dead animal money, selling meat for the local butchers. It was about time that those medical supplies were put to use.

[MISSION COMPLETED]

Posts : 45

It had been quite some time since Aoi had exhausted himself to this extent. He had burned through over half his chakra reserves in that short fight. Beads of sweat were forming on his brow and his breathing was heavy, but it was over. They were victorious today. The Kuzuri-Dan was no more and that smile on Galateia's face made this all worth it. He was a bit disappointed he was not able to see her fight, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, she was not the type of person to stay down long. There would be another fight in the future for him to witness. Another opportunity to see what drives Galateia to be so free.

Filing out from the dojo, the leader and his students lined themselves up and bowed. There were tears in many of the student's eyes, but none more so than the old man himself. When he stood up again, waterfalls were practically falling down his face as he thanked them over and over again. With a brilliant smile, Teia strolled up to the old man and gave him what was supposed to be a pat on the back. Unfortunately, the girl was still calming down from the high of the fight and ended up dropping the poor man.

In usual Teia fashion, she apologized for stealing the fights from them. Even though they would have been utterly outmatched and slaughtered, her mind just could not work any other way. The old man was certainly tougher than he appeared. Even after that blow he was able to get back on his feet and simply laugh it off. However, his laughter soon turned deathly serious as he warned the two that they should leave immediately. He was worried that the local security forces would soon be descending upon them.

Glancing at Galateia, Aoi could see that even she understood the strangeness of this. Why would the security forces only be moving in now? The dojo knew of the impending attack so they should have as well. Yet they only chose to move in after the Kuzuri-Dan had been defeated? What was their aim? Before he could put anymore thought into it, they arrived with the declaration to arrest the two of them.

In moments, Aoi and Teia were surrounded by officers. They were being led by an extremely overweight man with an obscene mustache. It appeared that the simple effort of shouting was enough to knock the wind out of the man. He had likely gotten his position through illicit connections, familiar or otherwise. The leader of the dojo came to their aid, demanding to know what was going on. Why they had ignored the Kuzuri-Dan but are about to arrest the two who saved their lives. His words were able to sway about half of the officers, while the other half became enraged.

Teia then turned back to Aoi and gave him a smile as she reminded him about the no attachments rule. As she turned and began to approach the leader, it had felt like Aoi had been punched in the chest. All the air left his lungs and for a moment, he found himself struggling to breathe. What did she mean by that? Was she turning herself in? Was she planning to die fighting these officers!? If that happened, he would never see her again. Never learn what made her who she was, how she could be so free.

As Teia stood facing down the leader, four officers swarmed her and forced her on her knees. The piggish man snorted and spat a gigantic glob of snot and saliva onto her face. He outright admitted that they were too weak to fight the Kuzuri-Dan, but were capable of taking down the two of them now that they were weakened. Before he could finish his sentence however, Teia was on him. Grabbing both his throat and the guard beside him. The others tried to stop her but were downed by quick elbow strikes.

Even in her weakened state, Teia was more than enough to overpower these men. Throwing the two she gripped to the ground, she then approached the fat man who could only squeal in fear as she grabbed his head and twisted. The sickening crack echoing through the streets as his body fell limp. Silence fell over the area as everyone stood in shock from Teia's actions.

As Teia called them out on their weakness, several of the officers only became even more enraged and charged her. To both Aoi and Teia's surprise however, the students charged into the fray, attacking the officers. The old man then turned to them and over the chaos shouted for them to run. They would repay their debt here and proudly serve their time for assault. Galateia immediately understood, sheathing her sword the girl turned and ran for the woods on the outskirts of town. It appeared that there was even times where she could reject a fight. Whether it was from her own wounds or she was just impressed at the fighting spirit of the students, he couldn't tell.

With Teia running for it, Aoi gave the leader one last bow. "Thank you." He said as he flipped through his handseals and reactivated his Fairy Wings Jutsu. Raising himself five meters above the ground, he would be safe from the fight. Turning himself towards Galateia, he floated after her as fast as he could without exhausting anymore chakra.

He found Teia leaning against a tree, clothes torn away so she could tend to her wounds. She had recently purchased some medical supplies for just such an occasion. Lowering himself to the ground, Aoi approached her, picking up a cloth to help wipe away the blood. "Here, I'll give you a hand." Helping Galateia clean and cover her wounds took some time, when they were finished the sun was setting. It was going to be a long night, they were still close to the village and the chance of pursuit was high. Still, Aoi was exhausted and quickly found himself falling asleep.

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[Exit]
[End]