The Hunter or the Hunted? [Private]

[Skulking Shinzu]

“Friend?” The old man raised his blade to meet with the shadows throat. Although old age had made his movements sluggish and slow, he still had his reflexes which allowed him to stop a mere centimeter from the clone’s ‘flesh’. “That thing is no friend.” He spoke coldly before lowering his blade and charging at the beast. Mockingly, the Behemoth simply sent the old man flying and crashing onto the wet soil with a flap of its wings. It didn’t seem to be taking things too seriously. Yet even then, the attack generated enough force to knock the clone off balance too and tore a trench into the soil directly in front of it. This thing was powerful.

[Starnaess]

A fight had broke out. The surprisingly strong creature had sent the old man flying with a a flap of its wings almost as if he regsrded the old man as an insect. The shadow was simply caught off guard for a brief moment and had lost his balance. The first thought of the shadow was to immediatly retaliate and attack the creature ,however thia trakn ofthoughts was immediatly alted by the twins. They were there to make sure nobody got hurt, old man included

"Take care of the old man, make sure he doesnt die!" Said Kael with a serious tone through the mind link. Right after that the shadow wojld hurry and reach the old man's crashing impact "are you okay?" Said the shadow as he put himself between the creatuee and the old man.



One thing the creature didnt do however was to check his surroundings for more enemies...huge mistake. 

Kael being on the right side of the creature roughly 10 meters away while kaelynn directly on the opppsite side of him had been waiting for this moment for tbe past few hours, having the creature distracted completly from their presence. That was their plan atleast.

They would immediatly shunshin toward it first to close the gap ground wise , then right up in the air finding themselves next to it. They would use their strenght , further increased by their nenyana powers due to the damage they had taken from the creature previois attack, they would u leash all their power throigh their first making a series of punches aided by their buredono skill in the second and third layer. Their aim would be his wings and his sides hoping to either ki him or gravely injure him.

[Skulking Shinzu]

“I don’t need your protection!” Snapped the old man. Unfortunately, despite his confidence, it was clear that he did. As he pulled himself off the ground, he grabbed his side. A rib was broken at least if not more. “Forget about me… Just kill that abomination!” There was a look of vengeance in the man’s eye. This was personal. That much was clear. There was a sense of pain in the man’s voice too. It was as if he wanted to be the one to slay the creature. However, his body was failing him. Training could only take him so far when age was destroying all of his skill.

“Zzzzt!!!” The creature howled out in pain as the flurry of punches tore into it. With it’s fragile underdeveloped wings nothing more than thin sheets like that of a fly’s, they immediately disintegrated under the force of the attack and the creature hurtled to the ground. However, not without penance. As it began it’s descend and lost an arm from the attacks, it unleashed a violent screech so powerful that the water droplets became like needles and bombarded into everyone within a 10m radius of it. Within a 20m radius, the shockwaves blasted out and knocked everyone away with the force of a S-rank attack.

[Starnaess]

The attack of the creatuse could've been avoided, if only the twins has wished to. However they had no intention of doing that, instead their nenyana's urged kicked in. Almost as if they were craving to get hurt  and feel the pleasure of pain once more on their bodies the twins simply stood there in mid ait as the droplets hit them, with each hit they would feel as if they were closer and closer to heaven.

However, pleasure was not the only thing that they gained from such an attack. Much like the previous rain, they would use the power of the jutsu that had just hit them and use it to fuel their own power, increasing their speed aswell as their perception of their surroundings and to top it all off their damage would increase by a huge margin. The twins would , after being hit by the attack, immediatly shunshin toward the creature once more and repeat the previous attach, this time however both the originals and the shadows would be doing it at the same time.

Making a four point attack with the creature in the middle they would use every ounce of their power and unlash yet another barrage of three layer attacks onto the creature.

[Skulking Shinzu]

“Zzzt!?”The creature, bearing above average intelligence, displayed confusion as its bombardment of attacks slammed into the opponents. It was clearly used to seeing its prey cowering in fear and suffering. Pleasure – was an expression it had never witnessed before during a hunt. “Zzzt!” The beast let out one final wince of pain as the quad-barrage of attacks landed at the same time. Unable to defend or detect the Shunshin, the beast simply fell to the ground with lifeless eyes and a lengthy blood-stained tongue hanging loosely from its mouth.

“Y-You defeated it!? So easily!?” The old man pushed himself off the ground despite his broken ribs and made his way over to the fallen Behemoth in order to inspect it. All the meanwhile, using his sword as a walking stick. Most creatures would have disintegrated or been reduced to a pile of mush by the combination of the four empowered strikes. As a testament to the beasts strength, although its sides has been blown away and its guts/organs left exposed to spill all over the ground – its body was still miraculously in one piece.

“My revenge…” A tear filled the old man’s eye. He allowed himself this moment of weakness out of pure joy before he wiped it away and resumed his stern expression. “I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you again that you would fall.” The old man spat at the beast’s face. Lifeless, it did not move or react as the old man dropped his sword into the Behemoth’s eye and twisted it with a gruesome ‘squelch’. “Although strange… He’s still the same size as all those years ago….” The words hung over the air eerily as the ground began to shudder and vibrate. Losing balance, the old man slipped and crashed onto the wet floor. The heavens were now pouring. Rather violently so. It was as if the heavens themselves were gushing with enough force to create a flood in mere minutes.

[Starnaess]

The rain started to fall stronger , ha rder and faster than before. the quantity had increased too , clearly something else was lurking around the city. Could it be another behemoth? The twins didnt know yet, however they were sure they would find out soon enough. As they landed onto the ground they would immediatly scatter to  avoid being hit by some sort of aoe attack - and they would also attempt at hiding once again, both originals and shadows , using their stealth skills and the cover that they could find around them.

This tactic was rather simple, they would hide and use the old man as bait for he seemed start some sort of reaction to the behemoth they just killed, perhaps he would too versus the next  enemy. Even though it may seem cruel, the twins would make sure to keep the old man save and if in trouble they would immediatly heal him.

Regardless of this both originals and shadows, right before entering stealth , they would turn incorporeal to avoid being hit by the rain.

SPOILER: Click to show

Density Manipulation 5
Rank: "S"
Type: Augmentation
Effect: User is able to increase or decrease their density, granting them the following abilities.
Special: To perform: 12 hour; Duration: Permanent
Drawback: User may only use one of these at a time.
Description: Internal - Takes up 6 Augmentation Points. Reduce Density: Gain the ability to become incorporeal. Increase Density: User can gain Damage Reduction equal to 2 per Class Level. Furthermore this Damage Reduction stacks with any other form of Damage Reduction the user might already posses, including Techniques, Armour, Rituals, and Traits. User may use this ability a number of times equal to 2 per Class Level per day.
Limit: Must be a Ritualist for Augmentation Rituals.
Cost: Market Price: 48,000 Ryo Performing Price: 36,000 Ryo

[Skulking Shinzu]

Various areas of the muddy ground began to pool and form wide puddles. Things were becoming dangerous. Luckily, the twins were smart to scatter. “ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT!!!” The vibrations continued and tore the earth apart. An earthquake was now striking the land and tossing everyone around like rag dolls. They immediately wished that they paid the earlier vibrations more heed and remained in the sky. Stealth, of course, was pointless. As they were flung around, particles of mud bombarded them from all directions. They now stuck out like sore thumbs.

“Y-You.” Whispered the old man as the earth opened up like a maw and spat out a titanic black furred beast. It looked similar to the Behemoth that was slain. However, this one had a weird humanoid mouth and more feminine slender fingers. “ZZZZZZZTTT!!!” With a flap of its many wings – all the mud and soil in the area blasted away with considerable force. From this action alone, a 50m crater formed around the godly creature. A roar from its mouth then forced the heavens to open and the clouds to scatter. Sunlight returned to the area – though not before the true Behemoth leaned over and bit into the fallen creature with a horrible ‘crunch’. In one bite, it’s upper half was gone. In another, everything was. It was just that large.

“T-That’s the one. That’s the one!” The old man yelled wildly as he spotted a tiny scar on the creature’s forehead. It looked like an old injury. One that was likely sustained years ago. “ZZT.” The creature laughed – the act of which causing it to drool the blood and guts of its child. The old man, despite his tall size, only reached about the size of the creature’s shin. Even so, consumed by rage, he charged at the beast only to fall to the ground and collapse prematurely. The earlier earthquake had damaged his legs. The twins and their clones would find the same too – their bones batter and bruised by the titanic creature's appearance. How much damage could it do if it really tried? Luckily, having had its meal, it simply pushed itself off the ground and flew away into the horizon. It appeared bored. Unwilling to even entertain itself with such lowly creatures. “Come… Back.” Muttered the old man as he extended his palm outwards. The beast paid him no heed as it vanished into the horizon just as the man's wrinkled and scarred fingers clutched together into a fist.

[Starnaess]

The behemoth was huge - bigger than anything the twins had ever seen , and its power wasnt something to joke about either. They didnt like the fact that the behemoth went away, but they had the feeling that if it  stood and fought against them they wouldnt be sure about the outcome. They took this as a sign a nd decided to let it go without pursuing after it.

Instead, they decided to rush toward the old man and immediatly begin healing his wounds aswell as dragging him away from the fetid area that the behemoth had created. "Are you ok?" said both twins in unison as they healed the man's injuries. "You seem to be quite tought for an old man huh", continued the twins with a smile on their faces. "Lets get you home for now"

They wanted to know about the old man's past but they knew that this was not the time for that - If the old man wanted they would've carried him home and then listened to his story there.

[Skulking Shinzu]

“Thank you…” The old man was grateful. However, having just seen the slayer of his family go free after this many years of hunting it down, he clearly couldn’t help but show some degree of sorrow and self-loathing in his voice. “Do I look okay?” Snapped the old man. The prey of a lifetime had just escaped. Did he have enough years left to find it again? The thought was a depressing one. “Forget home… I no longer have time to wait another twenty years. I need to find that thing now. RIGHT NOW!” Despite the anger he’s been carrying all this time, this was the first time he so visibly snapped in front of the twins. He clearly wasn’t going to let this go.

[Starnaess]

"Can you tell us your story? Who is this monster and why do you hate him so much? We were assigned to protect the city but it seems like there is more to be told here..."

the twins  wanted to hear the old man's story - they needed to know what had caused such a strong man to fall to anger like that - if the man answered the twins would simply listen to every word trying their best to understand how he felt and the situation he was in. They had no reason to ask this , nor to help the man and their mission was completed and succesful however something told them that this was the right thing to do.

[Skulking Shinzu]

“What is there to tell beyond the ramblings of an old man.” Exhausted and bruised, the old man sheathed his katana and resumed its use as a walking stick. He appeared to clearly need it now that the ground was essentially one giant crater – leaving the old man on a steep gradient. “My wife… My children. That abomination stole them away from me twenty years ago.” A single tear returned to the man’s eye, though it quickly vanished as anger and fury forced his grip around his sheathed katana to tighten. “I was too weak to protect them. At the time, the Behemoth was only about the size of the one you defeated just now… It must have been a mere child back then. To think it grew even more powerful since while the assaults of time only weakened me.” The man looked down at his frail wrinkled hands. He wondered if he could defeat it alone when he hardly stood a chance all those years ago. “Y-You. You defeated the other one so easily. What is it you seek? Money? Fame? Assist me in taking down the object of my hatred and I will see to it that you have both!”

[Starnaess]

The twins thought about that question for a moment - what they sought most were both power and knowledge but they were not limited to that. Having a man of his caliber in their ranks would provide them with incredible advantages, and what he asked was to exhact his revenge. A totally understandable cause. While they didnt have a personal grudge against the behemoth, they didnt like the fact that they couldnt make an exact prediction if they had another chance at fighting the behemoth as of this moment. Adding the old man, whose name they had yet to learn would prove to be a very smart decision and he to be a formidable ally with many years as a warrior under his belt.

After a brief moment the twins answered "What we seek and want could be  described in one word - Everything. You want revenge and we can help you achieve that - in exchange we dont want you to join us as a mercenary - we want you to join our family and perhaps find some solace from your pain. Tell us your name and come with us, with you by our side we will do great things."

The twins spoke in unison and with sincerity looking the man straight in the eyes - if he accepted he would then immediatly join the Valeferic family.

[Skulking Shinzu]

“A family…” The old man looked down at his wrinkled worn out hands. The answer the twins gave was eerie. Even more so coupled together with the fact that they spoke in unison. Still, if it brought him one step closer to revenge, he’d take the opportunity. Unfortunately, time just wasn’t on his side for him to be able to wait it out and find someone else as strong and as willing to help as the twins. “Assist me – and I will treat you as blood.” As if to seal the pact, the old man exposed his katana slightly, cut his palm against it and extended his hand in a polite gesture. His word was his bond. However, to a soldier, a ‘blood pact’ was even more sacred.

[Cohort attained!]

[Starnaess]

The twins would extend their own hand right after cutting it, then they would exchange it  with Urien's to form the blood pact. They were happy to have such a man join their family and they welcomed him with open arms. They just hoped that they would be strong enough one day to exact revenge together with him against the behemoth  they met today.

/exit