The Hunter №4: Winter's Breath [Tutor]

[Okada Kaji]

Kaji Okada's Hunter Chronicles, Entry №4
Winter's Breath​

Continued from The Hunter №3: Banshee
The was a single prolonged scream as the Banshee fell, embracing the darkness of death with a final cry out. It was as if the fiend had called every denizen in the mountains then, as the frigid wilds of Momento Deo began to quake with the moment of evil things creeping through the shadows.

Kaji’s trusted steed was a tall Sunan Mare he affectionately nicknamed Kukki (Cookie) for her chocolatey complexion, and spots of rich espresso fur. Kukki was standing by her lonesome outside of the arching cave entrance the rider vanished into only moments ago. The horse was incredibly intuitive and was frightful as the emeraldine glow of Eelspine precluded the return of her incredible master through the thick fog lining the mountainside. Normally the presence of Kaji put the horse at ease, however, she still stirred, and Kaji picked up his pace as he noticed her uneasiness. “What’s the matter, girl?” Kaji asked his equine ally with a hint of concern. “I have slain the Banshee... she won’t be luring any more travelers into her lair.”

No, it was not the Banshee, or such Kukki indicated as she shook her head and mane at Kaji’s declaration of victory. The Hunter began a visual scan around himself and the mount, and then climbed onto her saddle when he could not detect the presence of more enemies. “Let’s ride, Kukki,” he said encouragingly as he patted the nape of her neck softly, “The others cannot be far from here.”

And so, Kukki began a galloping stride through the wintry woods of Momento Deo’s highlands, with Kaji on her back, and his cloak riding the wind at his back. They hit the trail hard with such speed and grace that Kaji had to practically let the horse decide their course, as he now sensed the coming of more denizens as well. “I can feel them now,” he called to the horse under the constant howl of wind, “I can feel in my bones, and you were right; we are being followed!”

“Cut right” Kaji demanded the steed and pulled at her reigns as they strode towards a fork in the mountainside path. The horse zipped to the right, and they knowingly evaded the path that would lead them to their allies further down the trail. Kaji’s apprentice Tatsuo was left riding on a carriage with two farmers hauling butchered meats and cheeses. The rider was unwilling to bring trouble to his companions and cycled back into Momento Deo so that he could lose whatever was chasing him.

But then, a trap set for the hero and his remarkable beast was snared, and the duo ran through a net of high-tensile webbing. Kaji quickly realized that the mountain’s many giant spiders were upon them again, but not in time to avoid crashing in their trap. Both Kaji and his steed barreled off the horse’s hooves in a nasty spill. They were fortunate enough for the thin layer of snow that helped break their fall, though Kaji couldn’t appreciate it much as his left leg was pinned underneath Kukki’s side. Kukki wasn’t in bad shape and shook off the fall, however, Kaji seemed less fortunate, and hadn’t gotten up so quickly.

The horse made fearful whines and was rearing up on her hind legs as she spotted the vile creatures closing in upon them. “Away Kukki,” Kaji ordered the steed as he sat up in the snow, and observed his own twisted ankle. Several enormous spiders had found them, with the sounds of much more lurking beyond the cover of dense fog. The horse, though scared, would not leave her master’s side. But then Kaji waved a hand towards her and used his power as her summoner to banish the valiant steed from his side. She quickly disappeared in a plume of interplanar steam. This would be no battle meant for a horse.

Now by his lonesome with the horde of vengeful beasts, Kaji drew Eelspine from its sheath and arose to face the challenge, hobbling on his one good leg. Hundreds of ruby-red eyes glowed through the shroud of fog surrounding this battleground, all reflecting the emeraldine glow of Kaji’s blade.

Kaji needed a miracle.

- WC: 723
- This is a contract search.​

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[Tomomi]

Re: The Hunter №4: Winter's Breath [Contract]

Unfortunately, you did not find anything this time around. Please try again in 2 months!​

 

[Tatsuo]

While Tatsuo was no miracle, he might just be enough to save Kaji.

Emerging aerially from the thick fog, Tatsuo entered the battle field. He formed a few hand signs, mid air before cocking his fist back. When he punched, instead of connecting with anything a fist sized block of wood emerging from his fist. The block went straight to the nearest spider, crushing a few of those ominous ruby eyes in the process. The injured spider growled in pain, however this attack failed to supress the spider, instead sending it into a mad frenzy towards the master and his apprentice. However Tatsuo lunged forward, bringing him just a arms distance from the coming spider, dropping low he went to do a sweeping kick on the spider. However he struck just too early, leaving his back side exposed to the spider's vicious fangs.

The fangs went down hard on Tatsuo's back but the boy quickly rotated his body, bringing his elbow over to hit the spider in the fang hopefully to dislodge it, but he missed and hit the spiders thick skin, sending the spider crawling backwards. Tatsuo would've sighed in relief, but he had no time considering the trio of spiders now lunging at him. His hand shot to his back pocket, retrieving his kunai while standing and lifting his arm into a guard position. He had no chance at hell in dodging, he would just have to hope a parry or a block would be enough.

WC: 248
Total WC: 248
Post Count: 1/5

 

[Okada Kaji]

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Unfortunately, the only thing Kaji found was danger surrounding him the shroud of the forest clearing. The horde of fiendish spiders came from all sides, firing webbing until the sun was almost blocked out by several layers of webbing. But this arachnid assault was so grand that it couldn’t go unnoticed, and the wave of denizens racing through the mountainside served as a warning to the yak-drawn carriage carrying Kaji’s allies.

As Kaji commenced his defense against the opposing waves of spindly beasts, the sound of reinforcements drew near, and Tatsuo emerged through the thick webbing, full of courage and force. Kaji was cleaving through a spider’s face with Eelspine the moment Tatsuo emerged. Kaji witnessed from the corner of his sight as Tatsuo bashed one of the creatures with what seemed like a foreign object. In the heat of battle, Kaji lacked the time to watch his student closely but appreciatively accepted his aide. However the daunting attack was still more than they could handle, and the grit of these creatures was greater than the ones they encountered before.

But the slicing edge of Eelspine did not care, and Kaji had carved through a score of the beasts using an enchantment of incredible magic, and the fury of the hunter, prepared to do his worst.

As the first of the many arachnids barreled down upon Tatsuo, a blanket of darkness swept over the boy, as Kaji used the deception of a shadow jutsu to disperse himself from the center of a three-pronged attack, and reemerged between Tatsuo and more venomous fangs amongst countless fluttering black birds. The storm of pitch black feathers dispersing gave Kaji a somewhat unreal, angelic grace as he mercilessly slashed another creature in two. He was akin to an angel of death, and purging green light flared from his blade, creating such a scorching heat that his victim was swallowed by the flames of its own sudden combustion. Each dispersed hellion made a deafening squeal which only rallied its allies more, but the two shinobi could not afford to slow no matter how their odds of survival worsened.​

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WC354

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo looked up from his makeshift guard, he let out a small sigh of relief as Kaji defended him. There was little time to celebrate, the next wave of arachnids weren't going to wait for them to catch their breath. Lifting both of his arms, his bent elbow lifted parallel from his body, using off hand to support the piercing of his kunai as he charged past Kaji. "I'm not letting you get all of them this time!" One of the larger spiders lifted himself up, his underbelly facing up and his many arms coming crashing down on Tatsuo followed by razor sharp fangs. This time Tatsuo didn't hesitate the adrenaline was pumping too fast for him to. His whole body felt like it was going on auto pilot, he wasn't thinking anymore, is this what true combat felt like? This was his first real taste of combat when he was in any real danger. It was an invigorating experience, one that made him proud to be a ninja.

Mid sprint, Tatsuo dropped to his knees. Using his momentum he slid low avoiding the spiders legs by just a hair. Lifting his kunai up, he tore the underbelly of the spider into two leaving a bloody mess as he slid from under the arachnid. Raising to his feet, a spider nearby jumped at him. Lifting his arm he focused his chakra and plethora of natural energies he felt in the forest around him. Soon a a dark earthy brown sprouted from his arm surrounding the spider. as the wood formation broke off from Tatsuo's body it fell hard onto the ground leaving the spider tied up in that mess. Tatsuo quickly looked to his hand which appeared normal now, despite the wood just growing from it. He assumed he had some affinity to wood after that day, but was this really the extent of what it could be used to when in a battle situation? Once again he lacked much time to truly analyze the situation as it seemed every time he killed one two more reared their ugly heads. One of the spiders lunged down on him, but quickly found himself biting on a broken log which Tatsuo had switched with.

From about five feet away, he made a quick series of hand series and fired off another projectile of solid wood. This time piercing the spider, the wood lodging itself between the spiders eyes. Leaving it to twitch for a few moments before the life leaving from the foul beast. Lowering himself to do another sweeping kick he knocked a spider off balance and then followed up with a few quick blows on the spiders legs and face. "How many are there?!" he shouted. The beasts hadn't seemed to thin at all, even if he had just killed a handful. Once he finished disabling the spider in his melee range, he jumped over to Kaji placing his back against his backside despite the height difference between the two. Glancing around it'd seem the two had been finally surrounded, there were so many of them, they were easily outnumbered one to ten if not more. "What now, Sensei?"

WC: 529
Total: 777
Post: 2/5

 

[Okada Kaji]

Legend has it that every life begins with its natural alignment within nature, the all-important thread each soul makes within the tapestry that is reality. Within the shinobi way, this natural alignment manifests through the magic of the chakra force that resonates within us all, resulting in a unique chakra nature. For Kaji, he was born with the innate qualities of fire; passion, fury, and the power of the catalyst, to create or destroy. When the five primordial gods first forged this realm, purging flames were used to clear the land, and promote the germination of new seeds so nature could grow anew. And the product of Kaji’s will of the flame produced Tatsuo, the sprout who would be the next generation of the leaf.

---

Once figuratively but now literally, nature grew anew from Tatsuo in the rush of battle, and the wake of Kaji’s purging fire. The pupil’s chakra flourished into growths of binding and impaling branches; raw nature in it’s truest form. The boy was fighting valiantly now, as much as Kaji could have hoped for. Rhetorically, he asked how many spiders they’d have to cut through, but as far as Kaji knew, they were up against an infinite opposition. Rather than dooming the boy’s hope in their battle, Kaji remained silent and focused on his actions.

To buy them a very brief moment of reprieve, Kaji began weaving several single handed-seals. With a snap of his fingers, he ignited a circle of torrential flames which formed a barrier so powerful that not even the biting cold of Momento’s chilling wind could reach them now. The stupid spiders were still trying to get at the master and apprentice, but each attempt resulted in a burning carcass stopping just short of crossing the flames. Instead, their bodies quickly turned to cinders, over and over. The scent of their black blood turning to steam was nauseating and would carry on for miles in the highland winds.

Kaji did not have a favorable answer when Tatsuo asked what they’d do next. Whenever he took a step he had a hobble to his pace, but this was not the worst injury Kaji had ever fought through. Still weary, Kaji bent down to the wet ground and placed that free hand against his pained ankle, and began one of the few healing spells he learned in his decade or so of experience. As he tended to those sprained muscles, tendons and ligaments, he tried to think of an encouraging answer for Tatsuo. “When I rode away from you, I discovered a fiend who took up residence here in the mountain… An undead witch rallied the spider horde to have her revenge as I drove Eelspine through her… I did not mean to drag you into this,” the last part was said with a hint of regret. “We are surrounded and will have to hold this spot until either they withdraw, or we fall.” Sometimes it seemed as if Kaji sought these circumstances for himself deliberately, like a moth to a flame. He was on a constant quest to find death, be it his own or just another foe.

WC524​

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo immediately felt the fury of the flames around him, it was comparable to walking outside on a hot day. It honestly was a nice change from the frigid cold he had just felt moments ago. Tatsuo looked to Kaji as he explained the story of the witch and her rally of spiders. He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean it doesn't matter too much why they're here now, does it? There's gotta be someway to get out of this." he bit the bottom of his lip. "Can you hold that for a while?" he said gesturing to the fire circle. "If so I am sure we've got a chance Sensei."

Tatsuo's eyebrows then rose a few inches as an idea appeared in his mind. "Sensei, I've got an idea. Your ring of fire is making steam from the ice and snow melting so quickly. Maybe we can use that to assist in our escape. Perhaps if I were a stronger ninja we could fight them off, but.." Tatsuo let out a little sigh, gripping his chest. "That was my first time using those Jutsu offensively, every muscle feels sore and exhausted. I'm sorry but I don't think I can carry on much longer and you're in little shape to fight with your leg being so injured." Tatsuo then looked back to Kaji awaiting his response. The steam around them was starting to make a thick mist around their makeshift encampment. Even the spiders began to shriek in pain of the hot steam blowing on their skin.

WC: 256
Total: 1033
Posts: 3/5

 

[Okada Kaji]

It wasn’t long before Kaji completed his healing jutsu, and was back to a standing position with his sprained ankle reduced to something a bit more tolerable. Still focused on the creatures attempting to wade through his flaming vortex, Kaji paced forward to test his healing and raised Eelspine to a forward stance. Meanwhile, Tatsuo was considering their options and had an interesting idea to create steam with the melting snow, though it seemed as though the tide was already about to turn. Below the roaring flames and death-cries, Kaji could hear the sound of calamity coming from afar.

“I don’t think the steam will be necessary,” Kaji realized has the sound of crashing drew near. “Prepare yourself Tatsuo” the veteran shinobi bade the boy as he raised Eelspine high over his shoulder. And then, with a downward swing, Kaji split upon the ring of fire and sent a burst of chakra running through the center. A menagerie of spider flesh and limbs were falling in front of the shinobi’s view, as the oncoming yak-drawn carriage was revealed. The two shinobi’s allies were coming to their aid and manned their impromptu war chariot with crossbows drawn. Again and again, the merchants were firing flaming bolts into the wicked beasts and running them down beneath their massive bovine steeds.

“I hope you have it in you for one more push,” Kaji said excitedly. “Make a break for the carriage and I will cover you! Go!” At the center of the creatures’ attack, Kaji drew their full ire with precise crescent blades of chakra as the path lay open for Tatsuo to intercept the carriage barreling through the mountainous woods.

WC278​

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[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo was baffled by the diversity of Kaji's arsenal, one moment he was healing his leg, the next he was sending a strike so strong that it tore through his own flames creating a large path. Is this what it meant to be a Jonin? It was almost intimidating even if Kaji meant him no harm. Would Tatsuo ever grow to this level of power he thought for just a brief moment before realizing he wouldn't grow to anything if he stuck around. Looking to the source of the crashing he saw their makeshift reinforcements arrived which filled him with renewed morale if the merchants could fight so valiantly with no chakra no way Tatsuo would be shown up!

When Kaji asked if he had any strength left. "Yeah I do!" he said placing his hands into a guard position, kunai raised to parry any would-be strikes from the swarm. Charging headfirst through the fires and flames, he could feel his lungs getting heavier as the lack of oxygen nearly asphyxiated him. His skin began to feel warm despite no actual flame on him but there was no chance he would stop now. He had to get to the cart, he wouldn't allow anyone to save him here he was going to save himself. One of the spiders had charged Tatsuo and he was unable to see the arachnid until it was too late. He emerged from a billow of pitch black smoke. Raising his kunai for defense he swiped at the spider, cutting off one of it's eight legs. This lead the creature into a frenzy as it brought itself down on Tatsuo, who responded with a shoulder into its underside pressing it back into the nearby flame. Letting out as powerful as a roar as he could he pushed the spider back into the flame. However one of the fangs had cut Tatsuo's face, leaving him with a nasty cut across his face. Tatsuo took no time to inspect his injury, but used his momentum to make his way to the cart. Nearly collapsing on it as he was pulled in by their allies.

WC: 356
Total WC: 1389
Post: 4/5

 

[Okada Kaji]

As Tatsuo ran for his life through the opening created by Kaji. He had to high-step over the remains of the fallen fiends, and narrowly the clutches of their avengers as he closed in upon an open hand extended from the female merchant with flowing blond locks waving behind her. Her thickly gloved hand clasped onto Tatsuo’s wrist and yanked at the boy with enough force to lift him off the ground. The spiders gave chase as much as they could, but their webbing wasn’t strong enough to challenge the sturdy yaks. The sound of snapping strings popped like whips cracking, and spiders willingly threw themselves under hooves and ragged wheels.

“Don’t slow down,” the sound of Kaji’s voice was raised to a scream as the carriage spun around a bend in the trail, and he appeared, sprinting the best he could on his tested ankle. The intensity of his mad dash was so great that he returned Eelspine to its sheath to improve his balance, and his arms hung back at his sides to reduce the drag of his stride. With each dire pace, he could feel the results of his healing jutsu unbinding in his ankle, rifling of with waves of pain each time his heel mashed into the snowy path. He was vaulting over beasts like a ball-player on the green, slung together a familiar combination of hand seals.

It seemed as if he would not make it, as he speed was lessening and the horde of spiders were hot on his heels. But then he split apart once more, transforming into a burst of blackness as another monstrous creature collided into the outline of his form. In a similar burst of black smog, Kaji suddenly appeared over the carriage and crash into the bed of it. The speed of the vehicle almost left Kaji rolling of the back-end, but he clawed with all his worth to grab a hold and remain on board.

“Don’t even look back… Let’s get out of here” he demanded with a courageous rally in his tone. They had made it, and though their enemies were not giving in yet, odds of being foiled were minimal. He looked to his apprentice and the carriage riders alike with a look of admiration… he underestimated them, yet they had come and saved him from certain doom. Tatsuo was worse for wear, but more importantly, Kaji did not see the mark of fear in his valiant student’s eyes. For what it was worth, Kaji saw this adventure as a complete success. “Fuck those spiders,” he said, revealing a rare vulgar side, and then spat on the running trail to their backs for good measure.

WC446
Total WC: 2,325
Survival Tutor Complete.
Topic Left Unless Stopped.​

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[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo was grateful to be pulled into the cart by their merchant friends, he barely had the strength to keep breathing much less pull himself up. His breath was labored and it felt like every muscle in his body was on fire. However he couldn't settle down until he saw Kaji in the cart. As his sensei finally appeared in the cart, safe, with them he could begin to relax. When Kaji cursed, his face got red and he giggled a bit. "C'mon don't say bad words." Still showing off his innocent side, he realized that Kaji was an adult and could do anything he wanted, but hey it was fun to be snarky sometimes.

WC: 115
Total: 1504
Posts: 5/5

[Topic Left]