OOC - Fourth Memory - PG-13
It was dark, but the stars and moon provided enough light to see his surroundings by - thick branches high off the ground. Wood and leaves flew past, he was running, and the wind was cool on Youth’s face. Accurately he went from branch to branch, quickly enough that the limbs hardly had time to bend before he was on to the next. This continued for a while. Whether it was one hour or two he wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. He was approaching his target.
Youth pulled a mask down over his face. It limited his vision just a little. He wasn’t sure why he would use a mask that cut down on his peripheral vision, but it felt fitting for the situation. That was when Youth took in the rest of what he was wearing, dark pants and a sleeveless top, white armor over it. White armor? At night? Maybe this was a self-challenge. Don’t be spotted when wearing white in the dark with a mask on.
Suddenly he stopped. There were no visible signs as to why he’d stopped; he’d simply gone from extreme speed to absolute stillness. After a few moments the creatures in the woods resumed making noises: crickets and birds and frogs. They were secure and content.
Youth could feel his hand moving very, very slowly. It wasn’t enough to catch any sort of attention, and his eyes were fixed downward. He still couldn’t see anything or hear anything, but clearly he was waiting for something. After his fingers closed around a small hilt he stilled again. Even his breathing was silent, waiting, ready. Everything was still and dark.
There was no telling how much time passed. He didn’t change position or readiness.
Eventually four people came down the path. All of them wore headbands with a musical note on them, and they were talking and laughing quietly. He could feel an inhale of breath as if he was sniffing the air, but picked up no scent. Nonetheless, his muscles went from waiting to poised to leap.
Each face got studied, one at a time. It was a calm focus. Details were taken in and then he looked at the next.
All four were past the tree when he dropped to the ground behind them. As silent as a shadow Youth stepped forward, bringing the weapon up. It was a small knife, a kunai, his mind told him. As fast as thought he had the rearmost person captured, and the blade jerked across their throat. A few drops of warm, sticky liquid landed on his hands, but he was already moving to the second as the first gurgled and collapsed. The second was half-turned when Youth’s blade slashed a second time and he went down. There was more liquid now, but it wasn’t slowing Youth down.
The remaining two were facing him. The man had a short sword out, while the woman’s hands flashed in a pattern that was amazingly familiar. Ram, Serpent, Tiger, Youth’s mind identified, before she called out “Kage bunshin no jutsu!” Suddenly he was faced with three women, making a total of four enemies once more. Youth had to move quickly.
There was something about the edge of the sword that was blurry. Youth couldn’t make it out; it almost seemed to be moving. But that didn’t seem to be a big priority. He focused on the copy of the woman kneeling, rolling out a scroll and pricking her finger. Both of the other female clones tried to get in the way, but Youth moved faster than them. Two shuriken were suddenly lodged in her chest, and he was kicking the scroll away. The downed woman vanished and Youth turned to another woman. His foot connected with her arm, knocking her back, just as a lightning bolt zapped behind him.
Another form dropped from the branches. Dressed like him, the male shape wore a raccoon mask and had dark hair. Youth didn’t feel any change in his own body, no rush of apprehension or extra adrenaline, and then he turned to the woman who had flung lightning. The newcomer was an ally, then.
The ally pulled out two trench knives, and Youth could see that their edges were just as blurred. It was a specific form of weaponry, he would guess. His back went to the ally and Youth attacked one woman with a quick series of jabs. She fell back, and he followed it up with a quick kick, knocking her back farther.
He turned, just in time, as the second woman charged at him. His flattened hand struck her in the throat, and could hear her struggling with all her might to breathe. As she sank to the ground he pursued the last clone. One kick to her side shattered ribs, and then a punch to her solar plexus finished her. After she blinked out of existence, he turned and took in the original female ninja, drumming her heels against the ground as she fought for just one more breath. Taking pity on her, Youth reached down, pulled her up a little, took hold of her chin, and snapped her neck.
His ally had finished. Youth pulled a scroll out of a pocket and unrolled it. All four of the dead were on it along with six others.
“Make sure that he has the right scar along the back of his neck,” Youth said. “Two parallel lines, from the fourth vertebra to the seventh.” The ally nodded, bending over the body, and Youth quickly checked the woman for a birthmark on her hip before checking the other two for identifying scars as well.
“It’s them,” the ally said.
“Good.” Pulling a pen out of another pocket, Youth marked a red x over each of the four pictures. “The other two?”
“Dealt with.” His voice was rough. For some reason Youth had a feeling that normally the voice was far more friendly and encouraging. Then again, so was his. Right now he sounded detached, precise.
Youth nodded and marked two others off. “That leaves the pair ahead and ---‘s pair.” There was a rush of air in his ears, and Youth couldn’t hear the name he’d said.
“Easy.” The raccoon-masked man fished in a pocket, half-pulling out a pack of cigarettes before shrugging and pushing them back in and leaning against a tree. “She won’t be long.”
Sure enough, a few moments later a woman joined them. “Arriving!” There was a dark sort of joy in her voice, and purple spikes of hair fanned out from her head behind the stylized snake mask.
Youth nodded. “Two left.”
“There’s going to be traps,” she said. She might have sounded happy about it.
“Of course.” The other man pushed himself up to stand.
Once more Youth nodded, and then he was off, running again. This time the woman was to his right and the man was to his left.