Academy

"Do not leave. Go to sensei Daichi. Under no conditions are you to give chase to Zhao." Takahata ordered the students. "The last thing we need is you all to risk your lives doing something stupid." He grabbed his shuriken and took off, moving in the direction Zhao flew off too. He jumped high into the air, looking for where Zhao could've run off to. He noticed a flock of birds fly into the air near the riverside, as if something surprised them and caused them to fly. "That's probably where they are. I don't want to, but I might have to kill Zhao." Takahata sighed as he turned his body to face where the birds were. He kicked off of the air, using his void instant movement to quickly get to the ground.

He landed quietly in front of Zhao. "If you truly believe yourself to be a cultist, then I will have no choice but to kill you. Turn back now or seal your fate."

 

Zhao sharply turned around, looking at his aggressor.
"Do you know how powerful I could become if I turn Cultist? Throughout my life, all of you have restricted me of my true powers. I am darkness. I came from the Cult. You did not have the right to take me away from my parents and strip away the life I once knew. We aren't the only ones with dark minds. You have killed the innocent of my people too."
Zhao dashed towards Sora and grabbed his unconscious body, putting a knife up to his throat.
"Now, you're going to let me go or I will kill this child. I know you do not want this little boy's blood on your hands."
His knife etched towards his skin, causing a small slither of blood to droop down his throat and then onto the grass. Zhao started to move back and then took off with his wings, hovering above the ground, still holding the boy captive. He started to move away in the air, over the riverbed like a sparrowhawk, over looking its prey.

Arata, as soon as, Takahata left, shook his head.
"There must be something we can do. I can't believe he's leaving us here like this. We've trained for years. We need to go after Sora. Zhao might have already gone to the Cultists by now. Sensei can't face that force by himself"

 

Takahata sighed. "You really shouldn't try arguing philosophy with me. Not unless you truly know what you're saying." Takahata set his hands down to his side, his palms facing in front of him. "No sense in taking any risks. Might as well use Kankahō, if only for a brief moment. Magic in one hand, ki in the other." Energy gathered into each of Takahata's hands. He put them together, fusing the two energies. "Combine them; become nothing." Before Zhao could notice, Takahata was already behind him. He pulled Sora out of Zhao's grasp and smacked him into the ground. When Takahata landed, he placed Sora's body into a shadow, out of Zhao's grasp. "Even if you do not wish to follow the path we laid out for you, that does not mean there are only two roads. The academy, and the cultists. There is more to the world then just those two. It is a shame you're judgement is too clouded to see this."

 

Arata looked out at the stars. Beautiful night, if it wasn't for the fact that Sora was missing. He glanced over to Sakura and whispered, "let's go"


Zhao snarled as he got back up.
"You are too clouded within Daichi's teachings to see that your side is just as terrible as ours. I am fighting for what's right; for my people. The Academy used me as an experiment. I think we should do the same for Sora, over there just so you can be taught a lesson"
Zhao then disappeared as smoke risen from the ground. The grass went grey and suddenly from the river and the dew from the grass, blades of water, the size of the trees themselves started to strike Takahata from all sides like pirahna chasing their target. Before Takanata could react, Zhao took Sora and ran.
Zhao sent a message across the region.
"I am from the Academy and am willing to join the Cult. However, I am being chased by one of their senseis. I am in need of assistance. I have a boy with me who has potential. We can do the same as they did to me; taking me away and training me as one of their own. His name is Sora."

 

The ground in front of Zhao suddenly exploded in a violent fury of debris that rained down, and a cloud of dirt that choked the lungs. It was such a furious motion that sundered the earth, cracking the mighty skin of the planet and to forever scar what was once an other wise unremarkable spot.

When finally the dust began to settle, all there was standing in the center of the minor destruction was Sei in his tattered purple cloak. His staff was across his shoulders, and he looked down at the young boy with a predatory gaze. Like a tiger sizing up his next meal, or a butcher inspecting cattle. He didn’t even bother showing concern for the approaching teacher who was but mere meters away, and instead fixed Zhao with one simple question: “Did you beat him, boy?”

 

"Yes, I knocked him unconscious" Zhao told him, not knowing what to say to such a powerful being. He never saw anything explode from the ground before and his presence seemed higher than a majority of the Academy Senseis. He then noticed Takanata standing before them, ready to fight for Sora.
He exchanged looks with him briefly and then switched his view to Sei.
"What do you want me to do with him? Kill him? Take him to the Cultists?"

Arata waited by the entrance, looking at his hands.
"I hope I don't have to use these again for him..."
He then slapped his forehead. "How could I be such an idiot to let him go like that?"
His hands then started to illuminate in an insignea of a bird. Arata stepped back and hit himself on the head on the wall behind him because he was so shocked.
"What the hell?"
Suddenly origami paper like wings formed on his back, as a tree nearby was sapped full of energy. It was now dying and grey. Arata's eyes felt drooped and his body felt strained. It took a lot of energy within him to create such a power. He looked up with his drooped eyes and noticed the paper like wings.
"Could paper really be used for flying?" Arata thought. The boy tested it out and just like an extension of the arm, his wings flapped as he jumped off the ground. He hovered, but with each passing beat of the wings, Arata hovered lower. It was tiring. Sweat poured down his shirt, as he tried to remain in the air.
"Perhaps if I fly higher and am in a horizontal direction, it would be easier to fly"

 

Hiromi ended up in her room, sighing heavily once she reached her bed. Stretching out and unveiling herself, she groaned, "Nnnn~ It's such a disappointment. . . Sora was such a cutie. . . I really hope that he's alright."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jin sighed, hearing the explosion in the nearby woods.

"Wonderful. I hope Sei doesn't get himself killed. . . It would be embarassing for one named 'the Giant', after all, to be felled so early on in our plans. I had better ensure that he is safe, then."

The Chinese ex-noble got up off his rather comfortable seat amongst the fallen leaves of the forest, and began traveling in the direction of the explosion. Once sufficiently located on the outskirts of the minor skirmish, he generated some Stars, ready to be thrown at a moment's notice. He made no attempt to make himself known, however, as entering the fray before knowing what you are up against is a fool's errand.

 

Takahata sighed. "Kankahō is starting to run out. I guess that's what happens when I put such little energy into it. Now that a cultist is here, I'm gonna have to be sure to hold back as little as possible. Not only that, but I messed up with Sora. I let Zhao get to him. Next time I get a chance, I better be sure to seal Sora into a shadow that Zhao can't get into." Takahata tightened his hold on his massive shuriken. With his instant movement, he was immediately behind Zhao and Sei. "Any cultists who dares to step foot on this ground shall be mercilessly killed." With a quick turn, Takahata swung the shuriken at Zhao and Sei, aiming to cut them down immediately.

 

Zhao sharply turned to see a shuriken zooming towards him. With a quick breath, he took Sora and rolled into it, ducking the horizontal attack. He then dropped Sora by the side and rushed towards Takahata.
"Right, no more running. Its time to die, you bitch"
Zhao's hands illuminated in fire and as he unsheathed his sword, it emblazoned within it. However, when he was about to strike, he disappeared from within the grass, under a sheet of darkness and reappeared behind Takahata, holding his head with the flames of his hands. He then hummed like a snake, enchanting something not usually heard on human tongue. His hands then immediately turned green.
"Let your nightmares become reality. Sink into darkness"

 

Alright! Now things were getting crazy! Sei couldn’t help but grin as everything started to roll down hill.

The shuriken of the teacher dropped in towards his chest, yet the Giant made no effort to move. Picking his foot up as Zhao disappeared from sight, he slammed his heel into the ground, rocking the earth.

Takahata’s body staggered, and the path of his blade altered. Sei reached up and grabbed the blade in an empty hand as his eyes fell on Zhao's form. Much like the teacher, Zhao had been effected by the mini-earthquake, and was now laying a few paces away from Takahata.

“Easy now boyo. I think you’re jumping head first into something that grownups should be handling.” His eyes shifted to Takahata, but he addressed Zhao. “Leave the other boy here, you go on to the old man. I’m just gonna sit down and have a talk with your teacher about your transfer. I’m sure he’ll understand when I’m through.”

Rolling his shoulders, Sei pushed the blade of Takahata’s shuriken away from him and smiled coolly. “Now then, Mister Teacher-man, what say you and I talk about the kids and their future.”

 

Haruki was on top of a tree waiting for anyone to come out. "They all think they do good by Killing the enemy...how stupid..." he said taking out his sword and cutting his hand blood spilled on the grass below. With that Haruki began to chant a spell "Takasho mike soneku horo chanagu. " with that the blood stains on the grass expanded until they formed a huge puddle. "Now...kill all that you can kill...take no prisoners..." he said as creatures rose from the blood and headed into the academy. He was planing to distract the students then take the teacher's life himself. "Okay Daichi...your times up..." he said then broke in to the academy behind the blood stains.

 

OOC: Actually, NAGANO is a real name. I took it off this one amazing contestant on Ninja Warrior.

Jin plunged his sword into the earth, channeling his chi into it. Concentrating it, molding it, moving it, reshaping it. . . until the ground beneath Zhao and Sora began getting coated with ice. In the middle of it, Jin's face appeared, saying, "Do not be alarmed. I am simply transporting you to my master before this teacher has a chance to interfere. Please wait."

Once the hexagonal platform was fully under Zhao and the unconcious Sora, the sides began extending upwards, starting to enclose them in a barrier of ice.

 

Heat grew within Sora's body and started to melt the ice around them. He was starting to regain consciousness. Zhao did not notice, however, as he was focusing on the battle inciting around him. Sora opened his eyes and noticed Zhao wasn't looking at him so he slowly got up to his feet and ran towards Takahata, one of the senseis he met in the Academy. Zhao, at that point noticed what was happening but as he tried to go into the fray, the ice barrier came back up, stopping him from escaping.
"It's that kid! That f***in kid! He froze it back up! No kid can learn that fast! F**k!"
Zhao was not specialized in the use of fire within confined spaces so when he shot one towards the barrier, it bounced off the surface and scarred his face. His fury got the better of him. He screamed in anger and pain but then approached the situation a different way. He touched the ice with his hands and radiated the heat energy into the ice itself, making it melt. By that time though, it was too late. Sora was behind Takanata. They were about to escape.

Arata nodded, but as soon as he was distracted, he fell and his wings disintegrated into ashes. He fell on his bottom and simply looked up at Sakura.
"I'll probably be able to summon those wings again. Kinda sucks they're paper though..."
He got up to his feet and tried to focus on his wings coming back but nothing happened.
"Damn" he muttered.

 

Arata was confused, as to the fact she held his hand to get into the forest. Was she sending the wrong messages to him? He didn't really see Sakura in that way. Arata slapped himself, taking that thought away.
"Not important" he muttered under his own breath. They jumped across the trees, looking for one boy in a sea of trees.

 

"There is nothing to speak of to the likes of you." Takahata spoke to Sei. He was just about to jump and stop Zhao from teleporting away when Sora ran up to him. "Damn. I hate to end it like this, but this kid's safety takes a higher priority." With his free left hand, Takahata picked up Sora and slung him across his shoulder. "Hang on tight. We're getting out of here." Takahata tightened his grip on his shuriken and vanished, using his instant movement to head towards the Academy.

Once they were a far enough distance away, Takahata slowed down. "Listen Sora. I understand that you don't want to go underground with the other children your age. But as you can see just now, it is for your safety. I'm taking you to sensei Daiachi. He shall decide what will happen to you now."

 

Sora watched the sunrise come up, as Takahata and him flew over the forests. It was quite the spectacular sight. Takahata, at that point, slowed down and asked him to go underground.
Sora simply mumbled in a positive manner and sighed. He wanted adventure and despite Takahata saving him, he wanted more.
"Arata and Sakura would keep me safe" he told his master, hoping he'd say yes.