Chapter Text
Kira hovered above the ground. Her legs were pulled into her chest in a delicate pretzel position, leaving around three inches of space between her and the dirt path below.
She breathed in, feeling the calm air circulate. Slowly allowing the awning and training grounds behind her to fade from her mind before hissing out a held breath.
She felt her feet twitch slightly from under her, probably a result of not having anywhere to rest on while hovering, but she paid it no mind. She needed to perfect her meditation techniques and, with the rare occurrence of the training area being temporarily unoccupied by other students, she knew that she didn’t have much wiggle room for leniency.
She slid her eyes closed, listening only to the distant sounds around her. The plum trees evenly shedding their leaves, the content sound of cattle from the nearby farm, the soft scuttle of wind twisting through the gates. She registered each one before letting those sensations fade into the back of her mind, awaiting the next cluster of senses before restarting the process.
She felt a previously unnoticed tightness in her chest begin to unwind itself from her torso. Distantly, she heard something in her upper back unlock and loosen.
She breathed out again, drifting in the feelings of near perfect calmness.
There was no one left behind to observe her. There was no bystander silently criticizing her skills. No one to compare her abilities of legend to those in reality.
She was just here. She was on her own. She was in control.
Kira could distantly feel a slight numbness creeping up her left foot, but she pushed the sensation aside. She needed to see how far she could push this technique, could push this feeling. She doubled her efforts, her closed eyes adjusting ever so slightly beneath her lids. It was just as she felt herself pass by her personal meditation record did she sense something off.
A larger figure was attempting to sneak across the dirt road, yet its bulky size did a poor job at masking its movements. It would almost appear clumsy, yet Kira could tell that it moved with a sense of purpose, no step misplaced. She heard it pause briefly, possibly looking for something before changing direction.
Kira felt a slow buzz start to build within her gut. The intruders' longer range between steps only alluded to its large stature and its movements did not match that of the ninja training similar to her or related clans. No, it almost felt like it was trained to be the antithesis of her style, the polar opposite of her clan’s form, but not in a sloppy way.
No... this was very refined.
She lowered her breathing, concentrating on how the entity placed its feet, how it shifted directions.
The figure was eerily focussed.
It was oddly calculated.
It was coming right for her.
Kira snapped her eyes open, her hand flying to her sword handle strapped around her back. She had just managed to swing her blade out in front of her before feeling the colliding vibration of another sword clash against her own.
She took a step back, attempting to dislodge her blade before glancing up at the figure. He towered a good three feet above her. A green outlined garment strapped around his shoulders with a few spikes growing outward near his shoulder blades. A green tinted helmet also coupled with twin-like horns stood atop his head, completing the look.
Kira’s eyes widened a bit at the figure’s outfit. It was the tell-tale sign of a Mountain kingdom Warrior. Her clan and his were enemies, always fighting a seemingly endless war, usually promoted by the other side; yet she hadn’t expected one to come down here, in the middle of a monastery no less.
She continued exchanging blows with the warrior, her blades hitting the target’s weapon quicker in intensity. She felt her blade briefly nick her opponents side, yet from the way he simply brushed it off it didn’t seem life threatening. That or the adrenaline was keeping most of the pain at bay.
He backed up suddenly before planting his heel into the dirt, pushing his blade out defensively in front of himself.
Kira felt herself grin beneath her mask. Her eyes lit up with the onslaught of adrenaline.
It had been awhile since she had been in a real fight.
She rushed forward, aiming the tip of her blade toward the Mountain Kingdom warrior's hands, hoping it would be enough for him to drop his katanas from his fingers.
Yet, he only shifted his blade up, parrying the blow. Quickly he sliced both swords back in a downward arc, barely missing Kira’s stomach.
Yikes, too close there.
Kira backed up again, her back now just a yard away from her old Master’s sleeping quarters. She could feel a few drops of condensation form beneath her cloth mask.
She took a breath in, glancing up at her opponent before booking it towards her ex- master’s shack. She felt the green-clad warrior pause before giving chase.
Ok... she felt her breathing becoming a bit more uneven as she ran. Her shoes pounding against the dirt as she neared her target.
So he’s not just an amateur glory hound looking for a few “honor” kills.
She flicked her gaze over to the warrior's uniform, tracing along the garb more deeply. The well stitched top, the turtle shell plated helmet, the personal twin katana’s seemingly a perfect fit for his hands. No average soldier had gear of this quality. She felt her pupils dilate slightly.
He was very well trained.
Kira was now only a foot away from the outside of her old master’s building before leaping at the walls rafters. She quickly hoisted herself upward, just missing the swiping of her opponent's blade near her calf before pushing herself off again, her feet and hands lighting up in a brilliant blue, knocking her opponent off balance.
The green-clad warrior lay a bit stunned on the ground, clearly not expecting such an unorthodox attack. A few stray, non lethal sparks from Kira’s onslaught danced across his torso. Before Kira could rush him he stood, wiping a smudge of dirt off his check. His red rimmed eyes blazed.
He was pissed.
Good.
She rushed him again. This time aiming for his legs, yet he managed to block all advancements. His eyes never leaving her own.
His back hit a wall as Kira attempted to attack with a new onslaught of hits, yet each one only continued to graze metal. Even with her opponents back against a literal wall, she couldn’t get a decent hit in.
He shifted his form, bringing now only one katana up to protect his chest while the other was slightly lowered.
Kira continued slashing at the one blade regardless, but still, she could not land a meaningful hit.
Is this his way of frustrating me, of tiring me out?
The female ninja stepped back for a better opening, right as the warrior’s other blade bit into the side of her knee. She gave an outward hiss as the red crimson began to slide down her calf. She kept herself upright, briefly glancing down at her injury.
It wasn’t life threatening, it could wait.
The soldier took this opportunity to step forward. She now noticed that his right side was turning a rather concerning shade of red. Whether this injury was due to her towards the start of the fight, or an older one that had just reopened she didn't know. It didn’t matter at the moment.
This time it was the stranger’s turn to rush forward. Turning his armor plated side towards Kira for more defense, he lunged his left sword forward. His right sword slashed too close to her injured leg before Kira could attempt to fully parry it, leaving her unbalanced.
The warrior seemed to sense a change in mood, for he straightened himself upward, a bit higher than his normal height, practically another half inch, before landing a well timed kick to the middle of Kira’s stomach.
Kira’s bottom hit the floor. She felt her teeth clack together on impact. The wind was knocked out of her, but not to the point of gasping. She rearranged her grip on her sword, attempting to stand before the tip of her opponent's blade flashed into her field of her vision.
Shit
The green clad warrior stood over her, the beginnings of an amused smirk creeping into the corners of his eyes. He walked forward, a somewhat cocky air surrounding his long paced strides. The blade was now only half an inch from slicing into her throat. Kira felt her adrenaline skyrocket.
The soldier cocked his head slightly. He looked borderline bored, like he expected the fight to last longer than it had. He lowered his blade slightly, giving Kira just the slightest bit of wiggle room before re-locking his eyes to her own.
“Your Kira.”
It was a statement, not a question. Kira forced her breaths to come out evenly before uttering a response, she hoped that the ever rising adrenaline was absent from her voice.
“Yeah, and why are you here?”
The green-clad soldier gave a silent chuckle at that before his gaze hardened again. The red tint of his eyes now just shy of blazing.
“You're not really in a position to make demands.”
Kira glanced at his other blade. He was using it almost like a support stick, helping him remain upright. Clearly his side injury was causing him a bit more difficulty than she had originally thought.
The female ninja smiled beneath her face covering. She hoped that her mask of concentration was enough to hide the spark of determination readily rising within her.
I can work with this.
She glanced back up at the figure, sliding her non sword hand behind her in a way she hoped wasn’t conspicuous.
“So, what? You here cause of a bounty on my head?”
Honestly that was the only reason Kira could think of that made any semblance of sense. A live bounty was worth way more than a dead one, especially if said person had rare power-up-like abilities.
“No,” The warrior shifted slightly, a few drops of blood landed near his right shoe. “I have a task, a proposition for you.”
Proposition? It wasn't much of a proposition if she was forced to consider it at knifepoint.
She focussed her energy into her hidden hand, concentrating on the rush of blue silently bubbling from the pit of her gut. She slowly coaxed it out of its hiding place before it rushed her fingers, creating an almost spider web like tingle that stretched across her palm.
The soldier took a half step closer to her, he was near enough for her to notice the even stitching of his mask.
“And unfortunately, I can’t do it alone.”
Kira’s hand was fully covered in a chilling flame now, but she wanted to charge it more, give her more of a head start.
“So, important that you need a Plains-clan warrior’s help? Funny, I thought that our clans’ were kind of at war with each other?”
The blue was beginning to flash brightly. If Kira could turn around she would see that the skin of her hand was no longer visible. The silent flames beginning to lick at the edges of her wrist.
The soldier grunted, rolling his eyes away from her. “Unfortunately, yes. No one else in my clan even comes close to my skill level, so I had to find the next best thing.”
Kira’s hand buzzed against the ground. Her attack was nearly prepped now.
She attempted to dissect his last sentence, though it proved somewhat of a challenge with the majority of her concentration forced on her hand.
Did he just indirectly compliment me?
“And, unfortunately for me, I had to go searching for clansmen from other tribes. He sighed to himself, a hint of agitation creeped into his features.“Even if they were keen on joining, most were too unskilled to accompany me. They would have been more of a liability.”
He paused, seeming to mull over his last comment before continuing. His gruff voice echoing down the path.
“None of them were gifted with spirits power.”
Kira felt her hand start to blaze, the blue light morphing into a steady gold.
Any second.
“When I heard of a promising young soldier, fresh out of basic training during my travels, I knew that I had a lead.” Her opponent scrunched up his face a bit before continuing, a sour taste seemed to fill his mouth. “Ironically, she was a Plains warrior.”
Come on…
“And, as she just kindly demonstrated to me,” he lowered his face toward Kira, his eyes now had a sickly sparkle like quality to them, the red seemingly glowing on its own accord. “She is without a doubt a spirit’s power wielder.”
One… two…
“What I'm trying to say, is that we should join forces, there's something bigger than both of us. It's bigger than our petty rivalries.”
Kira shifted slightly, her hand now resembling a blazing inferno.
“But, I need your help.”
The Plains Ninja felt her hand start to pulse evenly, Her fingers twitching to each heartbeat. Her attack was ready.
“Well, you're just going to have to keep looking.”
Kira slammed her golden hand into the dirt. It shook the ground, cracks and lacerations beginning to tear into the landscape near her punch, the contact forcing the ground around her fist to give, caving in onto itself. The warrior was thrown back, losing one of his katana’s in the process. The other just barley grasped by the warriors fingers.
His helmet clanked against the ground, the turtle shell plates spider cracking on impact. His vision blurred as Kira stood over him triumphantly, shakily holding her own weapon to her opponent's neck.
She glanced down at her injury. Her bad knee, jostled by the explosion had further opened, the blood starting to soak thickly into her pant leg.
She gently pressed her non-sword hand against the hole, gritting her teeth on the flair of pain that suddenly shot up her thigh.
Great. The adrenaline was wearing off.
She bore her gaze back onto her opponent. He remained flat on his back, his eyes somewhat glazed over. His mouth opened and closed like that of a fish, fighting for air.
He blinked slowly, once, twice before his pupils slid over to her figure completely. His shocked expression quickly morphing into that of rage.
Kira wasted no time. She was too pissed off to engage in more cat and mouse banter.
“Talk. Now.”
The warrior blinked again, the last of the fog draining from his eyes. He took in one last larger breath before answering, his voice dipped in slight condescension.
“About what?’
Kira’s gaze hardened, her own blood continued to drip against her calf. A few black spots danced across her vision. Possibly from anger, but more likely from the pain. Her voice turned into a growl.
“You know what.” She narrowed her eyes, shifting her gaze up and down her opponent's body. “You were practically villain-monologuing about looking for another warrior to “help” you with something. You were going to force me to come with you to do it.”
The green clad warrior slightly cocked his head at her, the ghost of a smile visible through his slightly dipped down mask.
“I wasn’t going to force you.”
The soldier shifted onto his side, allowing his left arm to prop himself up. His right hand had moved toward his ribs, fully covering the injury. Kira didn’t know if he was in a state of shock or just had an abnormal pain tolerance, but he didn’t flinch... at all.
“Oh, really? That's very reassuring from someone who broke into the monastery and ran up to me armed.”
The large man chuckled, he slowly lifted his right hand. No new blood had collected between his fingers. Satisfied, he lowered his hand to his side, reshaping it into a tight fist.
“And who exactly attacked first?”
His eyes seemed clearer now, more focussed.
Kira felt a low growl begin to grow from the pit of her stomach. “You pulled out your blade after you came up to me.” She saw a few more black dots creeping into her vision, but pushed them aside.“You don’t walk up to someone, pull a weapon on them and expect them to not defend themselves.”
The warrior blinked up at her again, his face now surprisingly neutral. “I wasn’t sure if you would have freaked out and attacked me.” He glanced at Kira’s injured knee, the wound finally starting to slow down its steady stream of blood. A flicker of something passed through his vision. “And, look at that, my hunch was right.”
Kira stamped her good leg, causing the remaining eye spots to harshly flicker. She tilted her blade closer to her opponent's throat. There was only bite in her tone now.
“What. Do. You. Want. With. Me?”
The warrior sat up straighter before answering, the grip on his weapon tightening.
“Do you know about the Dragon Medallion?”
Kira narrowed her gaze. She had known about it to some extent. A powerful relic, hidden from all eight tribes. It was rumored to grant the holder great power, strengthening their abilities beyond their normal capacity. Yet, it still remained a rumor. No one truly knew if it existed.
“Maybe.” She shifted onto her bad leg briefly, testing her flexibility. “What about it?”
“I know where it is.”
Kira felt her breath briefly catch in her throat. There was no way he truly knew its location. Yet, why would he risk coming down to the Plains-tribe training grounds if he wasn’t certain? Why would he directly tell her?
She felt a few hairs bristle near the back of her neck. Something had to be off.
She traced over the warrior's face, staring deeply into his complexion. Yet his eyes only locked forward in certainty and his breathing remained neutral, not steadily increasing the ways most did when lying.
“How did you…”
“Abnormal activities have been occurring near The Hills.” He paused, seemingly making sure that Kira had his full attention before continuing. His tone taking on a sharper edge.
“A prophecy states that when two ninja, gifted with abilities which would normally be beyond their natural limits, finish their training, the doors of a Plains temple will open.” He paused glancing back up at Kira. She had gone somewhat still, tracking his hand gestures akin to that of a watchful predator.
“An artifact, famously known as the Dragon Medallion, is said to reappear somewhere in the world to accompany said prophecy. It is meant to act as both the key to the temple, and as the catalyst of untapped power.”
Kira’s eyes had expanded a bit, a flicker of something akin to poorly disguised curiosity flashed across her features. The warrior continued.
“As I traveled along the roads, looking for other clansmen, a golden streak of lightning, not unlike the color of your recent charge attack, hit somewhere among the outer tree line of The Hills.”
He began drumming his blade hand against the edge of his katana’s hilt, his fingernails lightly clicking against the metal guard.
“If it had happened once, I would have thought nothing of it.”
He was grinning now, his lopsided mask not nearly wide enough to hide its shape.
“Yet, not five minutes later, an equally golden lightning bolt struck the ground.”
He looked up at Kira again, her expression fighting to remain neutral.
“When I approached the area of the second lightning strike, I noticed that it had landed right next to a road sign, the very one which pointed to a Plains-tribe monastery.”
He held his gaze onto Kira’s features. If she didn’t understand yet, she would surely understand now.
“It was the very same place that one of the best Plain warrior’s was temporarily stationed. A gifted student, a soldier on the path to becoming a master.”
Her eyes seemed to widen at that, the warrior's teeth were now peaking through his too-wide smile.
“The prophecy Kira, led me directly to you.”