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"Earthquake" [Mt. Rakutei]
It came down in sheets, striking the trio's
bodies without reservation, like thousands of vicious slaps, never
ruining it's perpetual motion. The rain had started just moments
before their incline of Mt. Rakutei, and now, it just wouldn't stop.
It slanted to the left, forcing Zamza to keep his eyes squinted and constantly
having to wipe the tiny, dripping, droplets of water from his brow.
The hard, dirty, rocky surface of Mt. Rakutei eventually gave way to the
pouring, and was extremely slick now, the dirt no
But despite the growing anticipation creeping into Zamza's gut, not only for the eventual meeting, but to also see if he got away with his plan, there was a large sadness emanating from his rune. He felt it inside of him, this overwhelming melancholy, and although rain had never bothered him before, no matter how hard it was, Zamza couldn't help but feel overly depressed as well. Why his rune would give out such a bleak feeling was beyond him, but it was there, and each time lightning split the sky and the thunder rocked the silence, Zamza felt near tears, the awful vision of a man hanging from a tree. He shook the vision from his sight, and tried to concentrate on the impending encounter. Just think, he thought to himself, in just a little while he may actually know where Vandle is. The thought gave him goosebumps all over, though he didn't know why. But why would Slade give him this information? Slade may be happy with dying at Kage's hands, that way he would still have something Zamza wants, and with him being dead, he would win. If Zamza was lucky, however, than Slade still wants to live, and maybe with a promise from Zamza to get him out of this mess with Kage, he would take him to Vandle's location. He could only hope that Slade had the intention to live, if not Zamza was screwed. He glanced over to his left and looked at the two ninja. Fuma looked exhausted, his face pale with dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. He kept pace with the other two, but it was a trying experience, it was obvious he wasn't used to walking like this. Kage looked, well, Zamza couldn't really tell how Kage looked. His light blue(and I do mean really light blue) eyes were like stone, never shifting his gaze from straight ahead. If he was tired he didn't show it, he continued to move with an impeccable grace, never slowing down or slipping on the slick, stony earth, and taking long, smooth strides that kept the three's pace at a premium level. Kage moved with a frightening subtleness as well, never making a sound as his feet hit the muddy water, or the jagged rocks. He could have been right behind Zamza all the way from Muse and Zamza would have never known about it, and that was pee-your-pants scary when you remembered what it was Kage did for a living. The three continued up a slight curve, and came around a bend. When they made it past the turn, Zamza saw him. He stood at the end of a cliff, his back turned towards them, his long, black hair dancing in the wind, moving as though it had a mind of it's own. The trio halted about twenty feet from him and only Zamza continued to move. "You have five minutes, Zamza" Kage stated cooly. Zamza continued, and when he was about five feet from his nemesis, Slade spoke up. "I was so hoping you would come, dear Zamza. Our battle was so rudely interrupted last time that I felt it appropriate that we have it over, no large griffons this time, my friend. I will kill you here and now, your life to be forever deemed as a failure" Slade said, his back still turned towards Zamza and the two ninja. "I'm not here to fight you" Zamza started, "I just want to know where Vandle is, you no longer concern me." "No?" came Slade's retort, slowly turning around to meet his rival.
Kage watched with great interest. There was a huge amount of tension beaming from these two, and Kage was curious to see if Zamza could get the information he needed in just five minutes. Kage looked at Slade and tried to evaluate him. He was only about 5'10" or so, and probably somewhere around 175 to 180 pounds, all of it pretty much muscle. He had a belt of daggers around his waist, and Kage guessed that he probably relied on these a little too much. Kage knew, however, that he was fairly smart, this location was priceless. This spot of the mountain was actually stuck between two large cavernous walls, placing the men in a valley, with very little room to maneuver from left to right. The ground itself wasn't as slick as the rest of the mountain due to the nice shield provided by the walls, but Kage could definitely see someone slipping if they weren't careful. He watched Slade turn around and caught the shocked expression that masked his face when Slade saw the two ninja. It was gone quickly, but Kage knew that Slade didn't expect him and Fuma to be there. The look was replaced with an angry scowl, directed straight at Zamza. Two minutes, Kage thought, he'd better hurry this up. They were talking quietly now, making it hard for Kage to hear. He glanced around once again and marvelled at Slade's wonderful sense of setting and location. First the Greenhill forests, where there were so many secret pathways it boggled the mind, and now at the top of Mt. Rakutei, where almost everything was to his advantage. Slade stood towards the end of the cliff, probably no more than a couple feet away. It was a deceptive position for him to be in, and Kage knew that was why Slade had chosen it. It would place a tiny, but altogether earsplitting voice in Zamza's head, giving him a little comfort. To Zamza it would appear that just two more feet and "bye bye" Slade, but in that comfort would be more room for err, and a bad move would have Zamza flying over the end of the cliff. Kage watched the two, when he caught something rather peculiar. It was nothing more than a casual glance, but Slade had kept his eyes there for almost a full second. Kage glanced to the spot Slade had looked, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. But Kage refused to let that glance go, it just didn't seem to fit. "Fuma, move over there" Kage said, pointing over at the cavernous wall Slade had looked at. "I don't think we're alone in here." Fuma nodded and did what he was asked. Kage silently stalked to the wall opposite the one Fuma was currently standing next to. He surveyed the wall extensively, but, there was still nothing there. He looked over at Fuma and held up his hand, telling him to wait. With his hand still in place, he pushed the face of his palm away from him, signifying to his fellow ninja to back all the way up against the wall, if there was something up there, as Kage believed, then Fuma would be safest under the wall. The red-garbed, exiled ninja did as he was told, and Kage crept up the left, cavernous wall. After about five steps, Kage found what he was looking for. The two cavern walls began to diverge as they moved closer to the cliff, and about ten feet above the ground of the valley, was a small ledge tucked neatly behind the slowly curving wall. It was a good fifteen or sixteen feet in front of Kage, yet still about five feet behind where Zamza and Slade were. It was small, protruding only about a yard or so from the wall, big enough for just one person. The whole situation was planned out brilliantly, Kage thought to himself. This man was no fool, that was for sure. He had a wonderful sense of his surrounding areas, and a fantastic knack for using them cleverly. This also added a whole other factor to Slade's position near the cliff. Kage, himself, had liked it because of it's deception, and although Slade might of had this in mind for a backup plan, he had no doubt picked it for another reason; an ambush. The shelf didn't stick out from the precipice enough to be considerably noticeable, so unless Zamza had search for it specifically, and Kage knew he hadn't, Zamza would never know about it, and plainly put, he would be nothing more than a sitting duck. Four minutes, man, Zamza was one lucky bastard. Kage moved a little closer to get a better view of the man on the ledge. He stood there, arrow pulled back and ready to fly. It just looked like he was waiting for something, more than likely a signal. A long sword hung at the man's waste, and, in all respects, the man was dressed like a ninja, shroud over face, the flexible uniform, everything, except that no ninja would ever wear a yellow ninja suit, it would be too easy to spot. Kage pulled out a couple of shurikens and got ready to wing them at the sniper. The wind had picked up considerably, now, and the rain was coming down harder, if that was even possible. Kage inhaled and exhaled a big breath, then, with his his standy, he flung the two shurikens one after the other. The distance was considerable, fifteen feet in swirling winds and in a surging rainstorm, but his aim was as true as it could be, and the first shuriken planted itself in the man's bow hand. The man let out a cry of pain and surprise. He jerked the bow with an unmeant for reaction, and the hand he had pulling the arrow back let go. The arrow line-drived it's way through the air, flying right past the back of Slade's neck. There wasn't much time to think after that, seconds later the poor man, who haphazardly dropped the bow to the ridge below, felt the second shuriken penetrate his ankle. He howled in pain, and when going to grab his foot, slipped of the tiny shelf, following the suit of his bow, and plummeting to the ground below. Zamza was alert now. The arrow had waken him from his peverbial trance, and when he shot his head behind him, he saw a man fall to the ground. All at once(but in all reality, it was too late), he knew what was going on. Slade had set an ambush, only this time with another person. In Greenhill it was different, Zamza had suspected traps like the tree stump one, but here Slade didn't even have the courage to finish him off himself. Zamza could feel himself getting angry. The rage was so...intoxicating. Slade must have seen it on Zamza's face, because this was when he shrugged, giving Zamza a look of, "I had to try it". "Heh, once again someone saves your ass. When are you going to learn to protect yourself, eh buddy? It's okay though, I'll finish you off myself, and even if I don't, I've got more friends than you could possibly dream of, and I'll be sending them after you soo-" Slade didn't get to finish his last sentence, as Zamza's flaming right hand connected with Slade's jaw. Zamza threw a left this time, and it connected
solidly with Slade's kidney. Not willing to give the offensive up,
he pressed on, sheer fury driving him forward. "Why do I feel this
way?", Zamza asked himself, throwing an uppercut which was blocked by Slade,
"Just because he decided to get someone else to kill me? That's crazy,
you need to calm down, this should've been
Zamza, ever coherent, quickly flipped his captured around on Slade, pinning Slade's arm in almost the same position as his was just moments ago. Caught a little off guard, Slade's thrust went wild, and Zamza grabbed it right out of midair, putting that arm in the same position as Slade's other one. Thoughts raced through Zamza's mind at a mile a minute as he held Slade in this horrid predicament, and it all came down to one thing, which was more important, killing Slade or finding Vandle. Pushing the hatred and anger he felt for Slade out of his head, Zamza turned Slade over towards the wall the sniper had been at. Using his feet as a sort of boost, Zamza hopped off the ground, Slade's arms still pinned under his, and placed his feet square in the middle of Slade's chest. Pushing off his legs with a huge amount of force, Zamza let go of Slade's arms and fell to the ground, landing on his tailbone. Slade wasn't so lucky. The force of the 'kick', knocked him straight back. It wasn't the 'kick' that caused Slade problems, sure, it sent him flying backwards faster than he could run, but, it was the slick surface of the ridge that complicated it for him. He flew backwards, and not able to keep his balance, Slade's body twist and turned in odd directions as he smacked into the cavern wall face first. Zamza immediately hopped to his feet and hustled over to where the babbling Slade laid. "Tell me where Vandle is!!" Zamza shouted, holding Slade's shirt. Zamza never got to hear an answer, however. One moment he was holding Slade, the next thing, he was being picked up, flown high into the air, and dropped down unmercifully. Zamza got up groggily to see what the hell just happened, and wasn't happy with what he saw. "Oh, shit, it's a harpy!" Slade's sniper said at the top of his lungs. "What?!" Zamza asked, but once again, he was rudely interupted. The harpy swooped down, and bringing out it's nails, slashed Zamza across the chest. Zamza tried to retaliate with a quick backhand and uppercut, but the harpy had already returned to the air above him. Kage studied his surrounding area, and suddenly he wasn't too fond of them anymore. In this place, the harpy had all the advantages, which is never good when dealing with monsters. Pulling out his sword, he moved silently behind rocks until he was close enough. He glanced over to see Fuma, still on the wall opposite him, trying to do the same. Kage waited, and when the harpy made it's move against Zamza once again, Kage and Fuma burst out. But somehow, the harpy knew they were coming, without even turning around, it reversed it's direction from forward to backward. When it reached a high enough point in the air, it began to flap it's wings at an incredible speed, and suddenly two tornadoes appeared out of nowhere. 'The Shredding', Kage thought as he tried to dodge his way out of the path of the tornado. It didn't work, and he and the other four men were gobbled up by the extreme winds. When the twirling stopped, Kage was thrown to the ground next to Fuma, Slade's sniper over towards the end of the cliff, and Zamza and Slade thrown right under the harpy itself. Kage got up quickly. Pulling out a few more shurikens, he fired them at the harpy. The harpy dodged to the right and then to the left, and the shurikens sailed harmlessly into the sky. 'Shit, it's like he's being controlled or something' Kage thought to himself, extremely agitated. It knew everything they were going to do before they did it, and no monster was that smart. If they were going to beat this, Kage decided, they had to do it with a better strategy than this one-on-one crap. As Slade, his friend, and Zamza, tried to fend off the pissed-off harpy, Kage pulled Fuma to him. "Listen, we need to get that thing closer to the ground alright? I need you to fire as many shurikens as you can at that thing, if you hit it, great, just make sure to make it go down" Kage instructed. Fuma agreed, and in seconds was letting them loose. He didn't hit the thing, but, he did get it
to move closer to the ground. Running as fast as he could, Kage began
to fire his own shurikens, just above the harpy's head. As the harpy
moved down once again, it was hit with a barrage of attacks. Zamza
and Slade, understanding what Kage was doing, pounded cruelly at it's feet
and legs, while Fuma charged in with Kage. The
The harpy howled in agony as the five men's attacks came at once. Zamza and Slade were tearing the thing apart from underneath. Kage and Fuma jumped from the ground at once, swords drawn, and their swords converged in unison, slicing the monsters chest up. The sniper, stayed back, hitting the harpy with three straight arrows. When the arrows finally stopped coming, the harpy flew back in the air, bruised and battered. It struggled to stay in the air, but it's willpower kept it up their. Forgetting the pain, the harpy flew back once again and began to flap it's wings faster than it had the first time. "Watch Out, Guys!!!" Zamza shouted, but it couldn't be heard by the others, as three huge tornadoes emerged from nowhere. They picked the men up like they were ants, and cut through the ground like a knife through hot butter. The tornadoes continued to turn, breaking through the ground, and shredding what had once been the cavern walls. The spinning finally stopped when there was no longer any ground to spin on. It threw the five men out of it's grasp, where they waited to hit the ground. But the ground never came, and quintet was plunged into the dark abyss below...
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