narutorpg.myfreeforum.org

Aendri · Site Admin Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 76

This is a work in progress. Do not steal it, it is of my own production, and I can prove it. Also, please no comments until I ask for them. This is not based exactly on this site, but rather in a very similar place. HEX is the only person allowed to do the same, and post outside of this site's universe without my specific permission. Thank you for your understanding.

Book One

The man stood, and looked back at his partner. He wore a white cloak, and had a mask on. “It’s him all right,” he said. “He was here.”
“Are you sure?” said the other. He wore a black replica of the first’s robe, and a cloth over the lower half of his face instead.
“Dead certain. Look at them. They’re all special operations troops, and they’re all facing the center of the bunch,” he said.
“As if looking at one man?”
“That’s right. And all of the times of death are close together.”
“I’ll go back and report to HQ. Maybe get a tracker, and an elite squad out here. We might finally catch up to him,” said the man in black.
“I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot. Hurry back with whatever you get. I’ll go on ahead and see if I can locate his camp, you catch up to provide back-up.” The man I white shouted over his shoulder as he began to run. “If I’m still alive that is,” he muttered under his breath.
“Will do!” said the man in black, and promptly disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20 miles away

“Are you okay?” Mitsukai asked, applying some ointment to the wound on Aendri’s arm. She looked worried.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch. They caught me by surprise,” he replied, lying back on the ground.
With this, he fell silent, thinking about the day that was ending, and remembering what he had done that morning. Mitsukai continued her ministrations, applying salve to the smaller cuts and scrapes elsewhere on his body.
A few minutes passed this way, then…
“Mitsukai, there’s something coming this way,” Aendri whispered.
“Want me to go see what it is?” she whispered back, worried.
Aendri sat up, and pulled on his jacket. “It’s okay; I’m up to someone this strong. Would you start dinner now, I’ll be hungry when I get back.”
Saying this, he stood up, and jumped lightly to a tree branch. “On second thought, please break camp and move out for our hideout. I am sensing a fairly large chakra presence from whatever it is, and there is a larger presence not far behind it. Go ahead now, I will catch up later.” Aendri then disappeared into the foliage, moving silently. Come back safely... Mitsukai thought. Please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 minutes later

Aendri jumped to another tree branch and stopped. Whatever it is, it is getting close, I should stop and catch my breath now, he thought to himself. As he waited, he fiddled with the sword belted at his waist. Goddess, don’t make me kill again today.
Suddenly there was a rustle, then a sound of metal striking metal and a flash. When the air cleared, Aendri stood with the sword in his left hand, and a knife was embedded in the tree behind him.
“Good reflexes,” said a voice behind the tree twenty yards in front of him. A tall figure stepped around the trunk of the tree. It was a human, wearing a voluminous white cloak, and a traditional Japanese animal mask. Aendri guessed it was a man, as the figure had short, lanky white hair, and a rather forceful presence. “Might you be the one I’m chasing?” the man inquired sardonically. “Are you Aendri?”
“Maybe I am, maybe I am not. Why would you think that?” Aendri replied cautiously. “My reflexes mean nothing about my identity; much less do they define who I am to a total stranger.” He sheathed the sword.
“Reflexes like yours? I think reflexes as good as yours are quite uncommon. One might even call them one-of-a-kind,” the man stated.
Shrugging, Aendri inquired, “So, am I to be given the honor of you name? Seeing as you have guessed mine already, it only seems fair.”
“My name? My name is Aestaes Pylol, A-class Jounin tracker. So, you admit to being Aendri?”
“That was the implication behind my statement, yes? No don’t answer that, it was rhetorical. More importantly, why are you trying to kill me? I ask only because that knife was not intended as a friendly greeting, and I do not recognize you, so you must be trying to kill me; at the very least you were trying to get my attention in a not so friendly way.”
“Trying to kill you? Come now, we both know that knife wouldn’t have killed you. Aendri is renowned as a combat specialist, a knife thrown from any kind of distance is unlikely to hit. ” A new knife appeared in his hand. “However, this one is likely intended to kill you, regardless of how skillful you are.”
Suddenly, the man’s cloak was in the air behind him. He had light gray banded mail on underneath the cloak, wrist and elbow guards also apparent on his bare arms. He was wearing black stealth pants that left his ankles bare, though shin and knee padding was prominent. Aendri let his jacket slip down his body to his waist. He was wearing a glossy black linen shirt without sleeves, with a light leather breastplate on top. As his jacket settled, he pulled on two thin, black leather gloves with heavy padding on the palm of the hand, and black, steel studs on all of the knuckles.
Aendri drew his sword out of its sheath. It was a traditional katana in most ways; however, it was slightly longer, and had a matte black streak along the groove in the blade. It had a plain hilt, adorned with a black leather grip, and 3 short black strings dangling from the pommel. It also had a small amount of runic text running along the flat of the blade. Holding it in his left hand, he balanced it there as it were a child’s toy. “What, only an A-class to take down one of the most wanted men in the world? The Koushokage must be slipping.” With this, Aestaes angrily flung the knife in his hand at Aendri, grabbed a new one from its sheath, and started running along the branch next to him towards Aendri. Aendri merely twitched his upper body to the side, dodging the first knife, and settled into a light fighting stance, resheathing his sword, and waiting for Aestaes to begin the fight in earnest. As Aestaes lunged at him, feinting with quick sure strikes to either side, and then slashing at him from the left, Aendri’s form seemed to blur, catching Aestaes off-guard. Aendri then disappeared, and reappeared behind Aestaes, merely backhanding him, but launching him a good ten feet through the air to smash into a tree face first. As the dust roused by the blur of events settled, Aendri gave a short, unamused laugh. “As I said, the Koushokage is slipping if he judged me that badly. A mere Jounin does not even stand a chance against me, let alone a Jounin of your class and specialty.”
“Misjudged you? Hardly. First, allow me to correct you in two parts of that statement. First off, this attack was not misjudged, I simply came ahead to judge your skills and power, and decide what force we would need. Second, the Koushokage is on her way, and the kage is no longer Jhaesali. It is Skye Dantra.”
“Skye? That is not very surprising actually; she was a quick study, and a very good copy ninja. I assume she copied my chakra boost technique. If she was selected as Koushokage, who took over as Black Ops commander in my place? She was my first choice.”
“Shayla Baill took over. Naturally, you were the first choice to take the position, but with you gone, and Skye holding the Koushokage position, it considerably narrowed the playing field. She was the only real choice, as most happen to be very light on cash at the moment; the money would be quite helpful.”
“I would love to contribute to the Poor Aendri Fund, but where you are going, money will not be an issue. You know you are going on trial, most likely to jail or the death sentence if we bring you in. I’m sorry, but we have to do this. Ready yourself, we will get this over with.”
Aendri held steadfast to his earlier position. “I do not want to fight you, Skye. I bear no malice to either of you.”
“It is your death wish of the other choices have been eliminated chasing you. However, I would have thought you would know this information already.”
“Really?” Aendri asked, interested. “Apparently you know something about me that even I do not know. Do tell. As a wanted man, I find it hard to pick up a copy of the news often.”
“Oh, come now. Don’t play dumb, we both know that you have the abilities to observe things from both up close and far away without being detected. For one thing, you’ve been sighted at least three times in Koushogurake, and twice in other surrounding areas. I must commend you on your speed however, every time we get there to try and capture you, you are already gone, and none remember your departure. We also know, from your squad mates, as well as your teachers, that you have developed some jutsu that allows you to view things from a great distance, regardless of line of sight. So we know that you can manage to view things from a distance or in person, and we can’t stop you.”
Aendri shrugged. “Oh well, you caught me. I guess I was not careful enough this last run. However…”
As he spoke there was a light thunk from behind him. Without turning he smiled, and relaxed slightly. “Hello Skye. Are you doing well?”
A light, smooth voice replied, “Yes I am, thank you for asking. And you?”
“Oh, I have been better, but for a man on the run, things could be worse. How long has it been now? Four, five years since we have seen each other last? How is everybody from the squads?”
“It’s been four years now Aendri, four years going on five next month. And everyone is doing fine. Many of us miss you, you know. Why won’t you come back and explain that night to the council. I’m sure they would understand. And many of us would like to know the story ourselves. You, Juso and Mitsukai are the only ones with that knowledge that remain among the living to our knowledge.”
A pained look came across Aendri’s face. “Then Luminia is still missing? Have you learned anything?”
“Yes, she is still missing, and no we have no new information. I’m sorry; I know you care for her.”
“More than most can know, but I can not even help. Would you not pardon me, at least until she is found? Afterwards, put me at number one on the list I do not care, but allow me to search for her.” Aendri said.
“Would that I could, but the council ruled it out. Masyrn is missing too Aendri, she disappeared not two months ago. We think it may be the same group, as the marks were the same and the trail led in the same direction. However, we could learn nothing more from her abduction.” Skye said, her face showing pain. “I’m sorry, but if you make it out of this, would you pass that on to Mitsukai?”
“That I will. And do not be sorry, it has nothing to do with you, and you are not responsible. Thank you for your concern however.”
Skye ducked her head. “However, Aestaes and I are supposed to bring you in if at all possible. We should be fighting, not talking.”
Aendri’s mood fell even more. He shifted uncomfortably, and sighed. “Do we have to fight? I has been so long since I have seen you. I have not wanted to fight from the beginning, let alone fight you. Add to that the fact
that most of the people I meet nowadays are trying to bring me in, and you have a very annoyed and woeful me.”
“Well, what do you expect? The price on your head isn’t exactly small, and bringing you in would grant most people a pardon for their crimes, for sheer bravery if not true repentance,” Mitsukai said with a shrug. “Personally, I would love the money; however as a friend it pains me to have to do this.”
“By the gods, I would LOVE the money; if nothing else it would give me more time without having to attack anyone. It is a little hard to cash in on yourself and get away with it though.” Aendri asserted, rolling his eyes. “I Aendri,” Skye said. “I have outstripped you, I can tell merely by standing here, and your chakra presence. With Aestaes here, you are completely outmatched.”
Aendri moved his hands and formed a single seal. He then murmured the word kai under his breath, releasing a seal. The power in the small grove of trees jumped, skyrocketing, with no apparent limit. When Aendri next spoke, his voice had changed, become deeper, and yet purer and lighter at the same time. “More powerful? Nay, I have never shown my true power, not even to Mitsukai and Juso.” Then, making three more seals, he murmured something else under his breath. The power level in the area dropped to a much lower level.
Twenty feet away, Aestaes gulped in air, filling lungs strained by the sheer power Aendri had exerted moments before. Using mindspeech, he asked Skye, “Do you really think we can defeat him? I could barely breathe, and he was standing there, shedding power like it was water. Should I call for more backup?”
“No,” Skye replied, speaking in the same way, “I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Don’t forget, I was in his squad for three years, I have come to understand a lot about him.”
Then a third voice entered. “Now, now, children, speaking on encrypted levels in the presence of others? That is not very nice.” Aestaes gasped, and stared and Aendri, who wore a faint smile. “But, but how? It’s impossible to break in on a conversation of mindspeech, unless you are invited. What you just did should be impossible.”
“Impossible has no meaning to mean if I wish it. You have felt a fraction of my power; do you truly doubt I am capable of such things?” Aendri smiled ruefully. “The explosion of power nine years ago was mine, and mine alone. I am responsible for the deaths of my family, though the circumstances were out of my hands.” As he finished, a strange look came over him, and a slight sweat broke out on his forehead.
“What the hell is going on,” Aestaes queried, anxious. “What is he doing Skye?”
Skye stilled his questions, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. “Be quiet, and calm down. He is can presage certain things, never far in the future, but they are very useful from time to time. They usually predict events that involve him or those close to him. Hold your position; we will inquire as to what he saw when he comes out the vision.”
They waited for about another minute, when all of a sudden he collapsed on the branch he was on, one hand anchoring him to the main tree, another below him on the branch, breathing heavily. In an instant, Skye was next to him, supporting him. “Aendri, what did you see, please tell me what you saw. One moment he was sitting in her arms, panting, and the next he was behind her twenty feet away, bracing against a tree, but standing. “Skye, I’m sorry. This time you can not help.” He said, standing straighter, and slowing his breath. “However, if I learn you are responsible for what is happening to Mitsukai, I can guarantee you will see me much sooner than you want, and definitely not in a way you want.”
With this he disappeared, running at an incredible speed. Aestaes shook his head as he tracked his chakra presence for the first 3 miles. “How is it possible to move that fast? He has already gone more than 3 miles, if we try to pursue him, I am not sure if we could keep pace with him, let alone catch up to him.”
Skye stared off into the distance, in the direction that Aendri had gone. “There is no point. We would ever catch him, and if he is correct, we will not want to catch him. He implied very implicitly that he believed Koushogurake was behind the attack on Mitsukai, and if he believes that, no force could stop him.”

As he raced, Aendri formed a series of close to thirty seals, and then stated clearly and loudly into the mist that formed on his palm, “Juso, get Elyse and go to the third hideout. We have one major friendly injury, damn close to, if not with a mortal injury. I need max speed, and heavy medical supplies.” With that he closed his hand and opened it, the mist gone. He shook his head to speed up the speed at which the vision was clearing from his mind, and ran on, trying not to think what was ahead.

~+~

As he closed on the hideout, he closed his eyes, sending his mind wandering, searching for presences, and allowing his feet to travel a path that they had followed many times. As he ranged, he felt something that made his heart go cold. He launched from a branch, landing five feet into the clearing in front of the hideout, and froze. Mitsukai was on the ground, blood beginning to pool beneath her. Standing above her, was a man wearing a full black ops cloak, concealing his body, and closed toe shoes. He also had a mask over his entire face, excluding the eyes.
Aendri began to cry as both he and the man in front of him shimmered and then disappeared, Aendri next to Mitsukai, the man to an unknown position. Aendri sat there, desperately forming seals and closing the wounds, believing he was too late. As he worked, he heard and felt dozens of presences surrounding him, but not caring. Finally, after almost two minutes, he finished closing the wounds, and he stood. He turned around to look at the leader of the group. The man who had killed Mitsukai was not there, but another man, wearing similar, but more reinforced clothing, stood at the front of most of the group.
“I assume you are responsible for her death?” Aendri said, gesturing towards Mitsukai’s body. The man didn’t speak, he simply nodded. “Then I would also assume you are attempting to collect the bounty on us, correct?” Once again the man nodded, no expression on his or his men’s faces. “Then collect already,” Aendri said angrily. “If it was important enough to kill her for, then hurry up and get on with it.”
Suddenly, his sword was in his hand, and a main droit was in his right. His eyes had a manic gleam to them, and he was having to work very hard to keep from twitching. Several of the opposing men edged away, slightly afraid of him now. Their leader stopped them, saying, “He’s only one man, we outnumber him. There are dozens of us and only one of him! We can take him.”
Aendri Chuckled, the sound seeming almost evil in the current situation. “I like the way you think, my man. Normally, you would be correct. However.” Saying this, he formed four seals in quick succession, and there was a huge cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there were forty clones of him, forming a complete circle around Mitsukai’s body. “However, there are a lot more than one of me,” he said, a sadistic smile spreading across his face. “A whole lot more.”
And then he absorbed about 30 of the clones. “However, that would be no fun now would it?” With that, the remaining clones closed the circle down, to form a solid wall around Mitsukai’s body. Aendri was left standing about 5 feet outside of the circle. “Here is the deal, boys. You can do anything to me you want, and I will show some restraint, maybe not kill all of you. However, the condition is that you will not attack that circle. I love that woman, and you will not touch her, even in death. Deal?”
The leader nodded. “Right then. Let’s get this started.” Aendri began walking towards the leader, with slow, steady steps. As he did this, about 50 shuriken came flying towards him from all directions, with about 20 or so kunai mixed in. Not even altering his stride, Aendri simply flicked his wrist, sending a ball of chakra in all directions, blowing the weapons out of the air. In the wake of the kunai, several blasts of air, fire, water, and earth came flying in, with no chance of destroying them all. Aendri’s form flickered, and he appeared just outside the ring of destruction, still not changing his stride. The troops simply gaped, and began whispering among them selves. “Is he human?” “Can we really beat him?” “What are we thinking, we can’t win this.
Then their leader gave the signal for silence, and ordered them to form up in front behind, and to either side of him. He also told them to hold attacks to a minimum in order to conserve chakra and stamina. Aendri merely smiled, and bent over to remove his shoes. After doing this, he removed his cloak and body armor, and folded them neatly underneath his shoes. He looked up and shrugged. “Just making it more sporting.” He pulled his sword and dagger out of the ground. “Now we begin in earnest.” He then flickered, appearing between a group of about fifteen of them. The men instantly began to turn inside, to guard against his attacks. In a blur of thrusts and cuts, Aendri dropped six of the small group, leaving himself surrounded by the remainder. He smirked, a twinkle in his eye, standing still in the middle of them. Then he exploded into motion, dropping two in quick order with speedy cuts, one across the throat, the other to the chest. He then planted the dagger in the ground, tossed his sword up into the air, and dropped to the ground, his left hand on the pommel of the dagger. He the pivoted, using his free hand to provide additional thrust, and kicked two of his remaining opponents in the jaws, sending them down. At this point, the remainder of the enemy forces, had recovered from the shock of his lightning fast attack, and were beginning. As Aendri came out of the kick, he sensed a thrust coming from that direction in the wake of the falling men. He pulled himself into a full handstand on the dagger and the ground, pivoting to face the attacker as he went. Seeing he was in no immediate danger, he allowed his body to drop behind him, landing on his feet, and immediately moving into a high back flip over the heads of the men and women behind him. He landed, and immediately reached to his left, to grab the sword waiting there. He then launched the dagger at his opponents, taking his sword in both hands, and running at full speed. As he ran, he yelled an unintelligible battle cry, launching himself at the forces with a fierce abandon.

~+~

Meanwhile, Juso and Elyse were just beginning to come within earshot of the clearing. Juso froze on a branch. A smile spreading across his face. “What is it?” queried Elyse. “What’s so funny?”
“You mean you can’t hear it?” Juso said, starting to laugh. “Aendri started the fight without us, and by the sound of it, is having a damn fine time.”
“Oh. That would explain the insane howling off in the distance I guess,” Elyse said rolling her eyes. “So his grip on sanity is finally gone, huh?”
“Wait, don’t even joke about that. You remember the night 9 years ago, right? That was him. That was one of the last times he ever lost control. Now you mention it, there is something wrong though. I can feel it.”
“What do you mean, ‘you can feel it’? You can sense him from this far away?”
“What, you didn’t think being a blood brother came with no benefits, did you. Since we became brothers, I can sense him if he is anywhere within 20 miles of me. And there is a definite tinge of madness and despair there. It seems like it might be related to Mitsukai, though I’m not sure how.” A look of pure fear flickered across his face. “Oh no. He said one friendly person was hurt badly, right?” He turned to look at Elyse. “What if he meant her?”
“Why would it matter? No matter who it is, they are still a friend, and he would try desperately to save them anyways.”
“It’s not that. It’s that she is the only one who can bring him back from the insanity he might fall into. The demon he released 9 years ago could be released again. And this time, there wouldn’t be anyone who could stop him.” He turned back the way they had been going. “Let’s hurry. The faster we get there the better.”

~+~

Aendri was exultant. He had stopped counting the enemies long ago, now he simply lived for the fight, falling almost entirely into the battlerage coming over him. The grin on his face was truly demonic now, and his entire body was flecked with spots of blood. His eyes were a strange silver, with red whorls at three points, spaced evenly in each eye. He laughed, loving the feeling of power this gave him, and reveling in the beauty of combat, knowing great amounts about his opponents, merely through fighting them.
The leader stood back from the slaughter going on, shaking his head in amazement. There wasn’t a man under B-class chunnin in the entire force, and this man, this Aendri, was slaughtering them like they were mere genins. It’s decided, he thought. I will run, report the failure to my superiors. I will be in trouble, but better in trouble then dead. He turned, and met face-to-face with the ninja from earlier. “Thinking of running are we?” said the figure, with a gravelly, deep voice. “And we had such high hopes for you too.”

_________________
HP: 410
Chakra: 279
CC: 95%
Strength: 213
Speed: 292
Dexterity: 228
Intelligence: 312
Constitution: 207

Ninjutsu skill: 100/100
Genjutsu skill: 100/100
Taijutsu skill: 100/100
Doujutsu skill (restricted): 100/100

Increase the population