Duel Of The Fates [P Shien]

Kumogakure sunrises were unparalleled, no other village in the world offered a view comparable to that of the mountain top village. To watch the sun rise above the clouds, rather than a horizon was something few if many ever got to see, and Ikigai took delight in being one of few. He watched the view from a rustic metal railing that lined the edge of the village hidden in the clouds.

It was early morning so hardly anyone was awake, and the usual sounds of the villages bustling street life had yet to pass. In front of the young shinobi laid no visible land, today was a day that clearly showed why the village had earned its name, and all one could see was a thick curtain of clouds beneath them.

It looked soft, and calming.

Even more so when the tip of the sun appeared above it, painted the white cotton a magnificent blend of orange and red. He’d watch the spectacle with his eyes slightly averted so that the sun could not damage them, for as long as he could before the sun had found its place in the sky and clearly illuminated the village. With the view finished he'd turn away from the railing and towards the barren earthen slab in front of him.

It was the signature look of kumogakure, a village that had been carved in mountain. With a few exceptions like hakai's academy and the rot forest at the lower levels, most of the village looked just like this. Barren rock. Ikigai paused as he let his blue hands feel the double sheaths resting on either hip. On the left there was Cloak, a sword forged in Hakai's academy that he had just recently finished. And on the right was its sibling blade Dagger. One designed for defensive purposes and the other for the opposite. They were two swords each designed to compliment the other.

He was still getting used to their weight, they carried a much different feel than his katana which he still kept sheathed on his back. Some may think that three swords for one man was excessive but Ikigai had always been sentimental, and that Katana was his first blade. He'd carry it till it broke, and when it did he'd put it proudly on display. He'd take a breath as he walked towards forwards, before stopping in the center of the training ground.

His hands would clasp around the pommels of cloak and dagger, before drawing them out of their sheaths and placing them protectively in front of his torso, pointed at an imaginary enemy. They where lighter than he'd thought they'd be given their durability and design. He'd twirl dagger first and then cloak, before performing a series of practice jabs and slashes that Hakai and Boru had been sure to drill into him over the past few months he'd been their student.

Not that Boru was officially his teacher, but it was apparent to anyone who knew them that the man far outranked him as a shinobi of the village. And he was always willing to lend a helping hand in the young Hoshigaki's studies. Sometimes more so than Hakai himself. As he swung at nothing he couldn't help but wonder when his sparring partner was going to bother to show up, the green skinned lizard boy had agreed to meet him here at roughly this time.

So what was the hold up?

WC: 576

The warmth of the sun’s rays cast on Shien’s face, beckoning his eyes to open. The Doku’s viridian eyelids fluttered open, flashing his vision in several cuts to black, the soft morning sunlight breaking through his eyes. Shien stirred, twisting about in his sheets and pulling the thin sheets over his face. He smacked his lips, locking himself in his bed as the light grew warmer, brighter. His bed was a mother’s hug, trapping him in its comforting embrace.

“OH SHIT I’M LATE!”

In a blur of motion, Shien thrusted his sheets from his body, twisting his thin, tall body from his cot and plopping his feet onto the cold wooden tiles spread across his room. Launching up in shock, the Doku scrambled, jumping a top his bed as he felt around for his clothes with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the other. Slamming his feet into the floor, the ninja dashed across his room, hissing with venom in his teeth. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” he cursed with every step, ending up on the portion of the floor warmed by the sun’s rays. He scattered through his drawer, throwing on his pants as he wrapped his coat around his torso.

“Damn you, Ikigai. Why the hell did I agree to this?” he spat, bouncing around the room as he struggled to fit his other foot into his pants.

Interrupting the light rhythm of his bouncing foot, a boom echoed throughout Shien’s room like thunder. It shook the walls, rattling the wooden supports that held the building forever. His ceiling hummed, dust falling from it and scattering onto the Doku’s clothes. He watched in horror as boom after boom echoed about the complex.

Boom.

Boom…

Boom…

The wooden door rattled, splintering with each knock.

Shien swallowed, beginning to shake, the rest of his motor skills suspended in fear like gears locked with rust.

Boom…

Boom…

The Doku felt death. This was it, his ultimate end. It called to him from beyond the door, his last defense. It grew and grew, a crescendo of death. It was a terrible elegy…

…ending in one shattering quake.

“SHIEN!” Boru shouted.


“DAMMIT BORU YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!” the green-skinned ninja screamed, sighing as feeling came back to him.

The burly man’s face had been forced through Shien’s door, peaking through the paper sheets acting as frames. “Terribly sorry, Shien!” he called out, his voice resonating throughout his room like a hurricane. “The door was stuck, so I let myself in. Or my face, at least.”

Shien continued about his work, stuffing various items into his bag: kunai, shuriken, wire. “Yeah, yeah that’s great Boru,” Shien exclaimed, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

“Going out?” the Viking-like man asked, following Shien with his eyes as he moved from side to side.

“Supposed to be meeting Ikigai. Sparring,” he mumbled briefly, stretching his shoes onto his feet.

“Ah, I see! Nothing like a morning routine. I love seeing my students learn from one another. Makes my job easier.”


“Yeah, it let’s you stuff your face more often, too,” Shien remarked, slipping on the other sandal.

“Aha! Very true!” Boru chortled. “Speaking of, I brought you breakfast since you decided to not come to the mess hall and sleep instead. Can’t duel on an empty stomach,” Boru nodded, bumping his head into the panel’s frame. He retracted his face, inserting his arm, which was astoundingly the same size. In it, the duelist carried a small, compartmentalized food tray, each section containing some heated meat.

“Oh, thank the ancestors for you, Boru-Sensei,” Shien sighed, grasping the tray from the man’s grizzly hands.


“No problem!” the man shouted, muffled by the door. His hand formed a thumbs up, then, in a flash, disappeared. His face sliding back into the missing frame, Boru eyed the damage. “Also, Shien, get this door fixed.”

 
“So, as you can see, the village infrastructure budget definitely needs an increase if we’re to build a new bridge to Irigachi’s ramen shop,” Yamoiki concluded, gesturing to a large chart secured on an easel.


“I’m still confused on what’s wrong with the old bridge,” Samoki questioned, a confused expression mapped on his face.

“I’ve explained this to you, Samoki, the road is way too bumpy for carriages to-“ The man paused, squinting. A blur flashed over the window, followed by several soft thuds rapidly fading.

“…to what?” Samoki asked, leaning forward.

“Wh-what was that?” Yamoiki asked, his eyes tracking the path of the thuds.

“What was what?” Samoki continued, his tone shifting to that of frustration.


“I…I think it was a lizard ninja.”

Scaling the towers at the highest peaks of the villages, Shien sprinted as fast as he could, channeling his chakra to his feet as he dashed across every window pane, scarfing down his food as passed business meeting after meeting. This was the meeting place Ikigai had assigned. It wasn’t particularly safe, but the breeze was nice, and the view was incredible. He could just barely make out the shark man’s dangling feet.

“IKIGAI!” Shien shouted, leaping in front of the ninja as he flipped over him, likely scaring the shit out of his fellow student. He landed near-perfectly, panting. “Sorry I’m late. Boru kept me, but I’m here now.” 

WC: 881