Searching for Zodiark

Kiun cursed under his breath as he sped through the forest at full speed. The rain poured down heavily, mixing with his flowing blood and washing the wound. He looked down at it and cursed more loudly this time. There was a gaping hole in his left arm, which he didn't mind. However, what he did mind was the fact that the man who had given it to him was still chasing after him. He was followed by nine ninja hounds and three Chuunin. Kiun could take any of them out one-on-one, but the damned dogs were making it difficult to fight. Looking down at his leg he stopped to examine the bite he had received on his left shin. It was bleeding profusely, and it might have been infected.

The ninja had begun to chase him at the border of the rain village when they had recognized him. They chased him down with their ninja hounds-probably gifts from the goody-two-shoes Konoha- and circled around him. He was able to break the probable Jounin's shin before the dogs got too close. There were ten hounds when the battle had started, but the one that was unfortunate enough to sink his teeth into Kiun was shattered beyond recognition. Pissed off and wounded by one of the Chuunin's katanas, Kiun knocked the closest one into a tree and sped off into the woods. He had heard of a village known as the Bloodmist, but it was supposed to be just a rumor. As he neared the gates he realized it wasn't. Turning around, he cursed as he saw them coming closer. "Can't let them live now that they've seen the village. Zodiark would never train me, let alone let me live." He mumbled to himself as he prepared to fight. The first of the hounds appeared, jumping at Kiun with his foaming mouth open. Kiun side-stepped, striking it directly beneath its skull and snapping its spinal chord. It fell limply to the ground, its companions circling around him with the four ninja behind. The Chuunin he had knocked into a tree was bleeding from his skull, and was loosing blood fast. His headband had become a make-shift bandage, but it wasn't helping much.

Calling upon the power of the blood that had brought him here, he activated his innate talent. Suddenly, a massive knight appeared next to him. It wielded a flail and tower shield, and it was massive. He took his place in front of Kiun, smashing a hound with its massive flail as it neared. He caught another one by the neck between his shield and the soaking ground, beheading it with little effort. Kiun reached into his vest and produced a wire full of kunai. There were nearly a hundred kunai on the wire, and Kiun prepared to use them all. Launching volley after volley into the ranks of the dogs, he lit them ablaze with explosive tags and caused them to run off into the woods yelping. The chuunin turned to run, but were rallied by the Jounin. Suddenly, Kiun jumped toward the chuunin. He struck them both in the necks, poison seeping into their bloodstream through their pores. The poison was a tranquilizer, and they fell limply to the ground. The flail knight dispatched of them quickly. Breathing heavily, Kiun removed bandages from his pocket and tied up his two wounds. With the bleeding stopped he focused on the battle. The other chuunin had been slain, but the Jounin was holding his own. Seeing his chance, Kiun summoned a spear from his back and sunk into the shadows. When the knight had pushed the Jounin back far enough for him to be within Kiun's range, he jumped from the shadows and impaled the Jounin. Letting his corpse drop to the ground, he released the knight and turned to knock on the massive gate. I hope my sources were correct....

Zodiark sat atop the city gates watching Kiun. The rain pelted his back as he silently observed the him fighting off the pursuers. Sweeping the soaked hair out of his face, he swept it back into it's normal slicked back and spiked style as he stood up and jumped down behind the gates. Leaning against one of the two massive doors, Zodiark waited for Kiun to enter the village, but after a moment there was only a knock at the gate. Letting out a heavy sigh, Zodiark raised his arm and slammed his fist against the opposite door causing it to fly open towards Kiun. "Why bother fighting your way to a city's gates only to knock?" He questioned, not bothering to move from his spot against the door, his hair again falling in front of his face due to the heavy rain.

Kiun smiled as the door next to him swung open. It was incredible to think that someone could do that on their own, but somehow Kiun knew that the man who had done it was the man he was looking for. Kiun took a step into the village, and turned to see Zodiark. His hair was slicked back and spiky, white as snow. Smiling at him, he winked. "Has being a legendary mass murderer for so long made you forget about manners?" He asked in a teasing manner. However, he kept his distance. It's best not to tease him too much while in swinging distance... He thought to himself, staying alert in case there were anymore surprises for him. Your right boy...We wouldn't want to die so soon, would we? Said the screeching, annoying voice of the half-chicken demon that found its home somewhere within the seal that was placed on the left side of Kiun's chest. Soukou liked to tell him that he lived in his heart, but Kiun knew better than that.

"Manners have no meaning out here." Zodiark leaned off the door, the open one seeming to just slam shut on it's on. With the two massive gates closed, it gave the appearance to those on the inside that they were trapped, with little hope of getting out. Zodiark walked a few feet away from Kiun than turned to him and tilted his head forward, causing his hair to fall forward in front of his eyes. Glaring at Kiun from behind his hair, it appeared as if his eyes weren't eve human, but belonged to some far off demon. "You have 5 seconds to give me a good reason why you came to this village, or else you aren't leaving here."

"Hiromaru Kimura is my birth name. Kiun is my alias. I came here so that you could train me to the point where I could withstand more than the fourth level of our kekkei genkei." He said in a casual tone. He would not allow Zodiark to make him feel fear, and he would not show anything but his relaxed nature in front of him. Kiun's eyes met Zodiarks. Kiun imagined that a poet would describe this event as something similar to 'An imp meeting eyes with a demon'. Kiun's eyes held only impish mischief. Zodiark's, however, held the malicious gaze of a demon that Kiun hoped to one day achieve. He would reshape his personality to be more fitting with his life style.

"No. I'm not going to train you. You're to weak minded." Zodiark flipped his hair back so that it was no longer in his face. Turning around, Zodiark began to walk down the main road of the village. He could have just as easily vanished from the site all together, going off else where to avoid the nuisance that had shown up. Reaching the center of the village, Zodiark sat down on one of the benches surrounding a large fountain in the middle. Despite the fact that the rain was pouring down in buckets now, Zodiark sat down on the bench soaking wet, as if it were a bright sunny day.

Kiun watched as the man walked away. He chuckled to himself and stuck his tongue out at the fading figure. "You will train me. I want you to, there is no better reason." Kiun said, addressing Zodiark but only speaking to himself. He walked along the road, his hands in his pockets while he whistled a tune. As he came upon the sight of the man who had refused to train him sitting on a bench, Kiun got an idea. He scaled the wall of a nearby building and lay flat on his belly. From there, he called down to ark.

"If you want me gone, catch me and kill me. But as long as I live I'll bother you until you train me." He said challengingly, keeping low. He had a talent for ventriloquism, so his voice range out from every direction; making it nearly impossible to track. If he has the senses I do I might be caught already though... He thought to himself worriedly. He felt a pain near his heart, and he reached toward it as if the feel of his hand on the soaking cloth would soothe it.

Did I not just say that we don't want to die yet? Soukou asked irritatedly. Kiun glared down at his chest and thought up the most curses he could think of. The pain subsided and he stopped his cursing. Idiot, if you don't want me dying don't cause me pain. You keep acting up and I'll make sure he catches me. He spat back in his mind, almost saying it allowed. He continued to lie on the roof, allowing the heavy rainfall to hit his back. It was like a massage, very soothing and very relaxing.

Zodiark already knew where Kiun was hiding. It was far to difficult to hide from him in his own city. Without even turning his head around, he shouted back "A child like you has no place in this village, nor do you deserve to be my pupil.' He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. After a brief silence he continued "And i'm not going to play your game either, no matter how bothersome you are, it won't get me to train you." He again paused, but instead of taking a deep breath, he began to chuckle "Hell, go ahead and stay here, i'm sure the other 8 people in this village will have no problem attacking an intruder."

Kiun dropped from the roof and landed directly behind Zodiark. Sighing, he removed his hat and hopped over the bench. Landing a short distance from Zodiark on the bench, he took a seat. Turning his body toward Zodiark, he lay one leg on the bench and allowed the other to dangle over the edge. All of his height was in his torso, unfortunately, so his foot was only millimeters from being able to rest solidly on the ground. He eyed Zodiark with modest interest. "Phooey, your no fun. Y'know that?" He said, using a voice of mock annoyance. He smiled at the man and produced a bottle from his messenger bag. Placing it between them he uncorked it. "Have a drink, talk a while. You don't have to turn me away so quickly." He said, producing two shot glasses from his bag as well. They were both made of clear glass, and had the four suits in a deck of cards printed along their sides. He unfolded a small umbrella and stuck it in the open hole that was provided by the un-topped middle pole holding the bench together. It blocked the rain from reaching both the two men and their drinks. And you said that umbrella would never come in handy. He thought to himself, though he knew that Soukou could hear him. Unlike some Bijuu, he was very close with his demon. They communicated often.

Zodiark grumbled and grabbed the bottle. Leaning forward, he disappeared faster than kiun could blink. In the same instant, he appeared on the opposite side of the fountain, in the same leaning forward position, but this time moving back to lean against the bench. Without saying anything, Zodiark quickly drained the bottle before throwing it back towards kiun, shattering it against the bench where he was still sitting.

"You could have at least saved the poor bottle. I hate having to replace those." Kiun grumbled. He wasn't quite as fast as Zodiark, but he was able to move at a speed that would have seemed like a teleportation to a normal person. He perched himself on the back of the bench, sitting like a gargoyle. His deck in hand, he began to shuffle as he watched Zodiark. As he did so he thought of some ideas. He'd kill me if he caught me cheating...He'd kill me if I challenged him...His friends'll kill me or die if they attack me, and I'm sure their deaths will not please him... He thought to himself, running down his mental list. He decided to go for the easiest and most direct route. It was a tad risky, because this way he wouldn't know how it would end, but he was a gambler. Odds were, Zodiark responded with something that would kill him. Or worse, respond in a way that would force him to reveal his demon to Zodiark. Akatsuki are not so nice to Bijuu... He thought to himself. Soukou responded.

No shit Sherlock... Make sure you know what your doing here... It said in an anxious, screeching voice. The voice then faded, as if it were crawling back to the farthest wall of its cage. Kiun turned to Zodiark and watched him carefully. When he spoke, he did so slowly; as if he wasn't quite sure he should be doing it or not. "Tell me...What it is that I need to do...For you to train me." He said, his voice flat and monotonous. There was no pleading, no anxiousness, and no irritation in his voice. It was strictly business at this point.

[[Les BUMP]]

Zodiark just st there, the rain beginning to get heavier as time passed. Zodiark didn't even bother to move as Kiun continued to pester him. "What makes you think that anything you could do would persuade me to train you. Now leave me alone, you're starting to ruin this beautiful day." He lifted his arm and waved his hand, motioning for Kiun to leave.

"Because I have something you want. Now, I'm sure you could kill me. But your skills aren't fit for taking on someone like me and letting me live. If you train me, when I've done what I need to you can have my Bijuu." Kiun said, hopping off of the back of the bench. He landed hard on the bench, making quite a thud and splash as he kicked up the water that had been resting there peacefully. Pushing his soaked hair from his face, he sat completely still as he waited for Zodiark to respond. If he wanted Kiun dead, he would kill him; but Kiun was pretty sure that the Bijuu factor would keep him alive at least a little while longer.

"You realize i could just keep you from leaving and take the bijuu without training you." Zodiark didn't even so much as flinch, and in an instant there was a metallic clang behind Kiun, than the sound of two large metal plates sliding across each other as a sword larger than Kiun was slid down from behind him. The sword slid from his collarbone, down across his chest, than in between Kiun's legs. The sword itself could hardly be seen through what could only be described as a black fog that seemed to hang to the blade. "You see either way, I win here. I train you fro nothing than kill you by taking the bijuu. Or i just take the bijuu. Either way i get rid of you, and i get a bijuu." For the first time Zodiark actually turned his head to face Kiun as he was talking, but as he looked over, the knight began to press his blade tighter against Kiun's chest, the slightest move and he would be cut by the blade, dropping him into a genjutsu that would remove the use of his eyes. "You are simply to stupid to be my pupil. You lack any basic knowledge of how to properly use your closest thing to a bartering tool."

"Stupid? Hah." Kiun said, as the blade began to push against his chest more heavily. Using my kekkei genkei against me... Kiun thought to himself, frustrated at the blatant taunt that came from using such a low level of the kekkei genkei. However, it was the highest he could go on his own. Suddenly, his body exploded in a flurry of weapons. The blades protruded from his skin, tearing his shirt and vest from his body and ripping holes in his jeans. Looking like a massive porcupine, he was pushed off of the bench by the blades in his back. The blades in his chest caught the broadsword, pushing it away from his skin. With a simple spin, he sent the broadsword flying from the knight's hand. It landed next to the bench he had previously been sitting by. As he stared at Zodiark from where he stood, the blades retracted. He now stood, his bare chest exposed and his jeans badly torn. On his chest were a surprising amount of tattoos. They ranged from skulls to suns, all fitting into one massive pattern. It seemed like a war between the skies and hell, undead fighting against stars and moons and suns. One massive eagle held a skeleton in its talons.

((Kiun is dead, Ark has his Bijuu. End of story))