The morning winds blew, the local trees of Konoha rustling. Shoes pressed against the dirt of a forest, a man walking down a path, on his way to some destination. He turned his head as he saw the morning sun just above the horizon of the sea.

    "It's sights like these," he turned his whole body towards the view, "that I live for now." He shook his head before continuing his monologue to himself. "No longer do I search for who I am. I know now of everything."

    The man took an deep breath, feeling the ocean's mist grace his skin. The feeling was ...refreshing to say the least. This moment of contentment was broken when he heard something zipping behind him. From the sound, he was quickly able to deduce that it was something on a string being shot towards him. He turned, seeing some sort of claw rushing towards him, the man skipping out of the way. He sighed before speaking.

    "Once again, I find myself in conflict..." he groaned, watching the claw collide into one of the forest's trees. He watched as the tree was snatched along with the claw, it being retracted as it's cord was being pulled. Followed the source, the man saw a large bulky fellow, wearing an eye patch. He placed his hands on his sides, smiling to the man.

    "To whom do I owe the pleasure of disturbing me?" asked the casually dressed man.

    "Zorata," the man began, "Captain Zorata, and you be my new booty."

    The man tilted his head, still smiling. "Your new booty?"
   
    "Aye, my new booty. State ye' name!"

    "You..." the man scratched his head, shaking his head. "You are a little centuries late on the pirate thing. However, I'll comply." He nodded before stating his name. "Aethir," he said, lowering his hands to his sides, "Aethir Lamdem." The man, Aethir, shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't be your booty. I've got things to do you see."

The ronin narrowed his eyes as the other man, Zorata, pointed his claw contraption towards him. He jumped out the way, landing a bit closer to Zorata. "Sir," spoke the ronin, "I'm getting tired of this quickly." Zorata didn't listen, retracting his arm. Aethir glanced over to see this, dodging the retracted claw, now landing to the man's other side. As the man fired the claw once more, Aethir dodged and countered, slamming his fist into the man's side of his face. He didn't use all of his strength, just wanting the guy to back off.

    "Go away." the once friendly sounding ronin said in an irritated tone. "I won't hold back next time." He stared at Zorata, still on the ground, slowly looking at him come to a stand.

    "Oi, no can do, lad." he chuckled, staring at the man. "Once I've set my sights on booty, I take it."

    "I'm...not even going to comment on the level of inappropriateness of that sentence, but okay." the ronin commented, staring at the laughing man. He heard movement from behind him, causing him to turn. Once he did, however, a swung blunt weapon had made contact with his skull. The ronin didn't get a good look as to who or what knocked him out.


    Slowly coming to from within a near pitch black room, Aethir shook his head. He saw a figure hanging by chains ties around their wrists, tied to a steel pipe which hung above. He narrowed his eyes to see an exhausted person, battered and bruised. "Who the heck is...?" He then gasped as the person began to rise, the pipe they were clung to being pulled upwards by a crane. "I don't think I want to know where I am... Maybe I can-" The ronin was cut off by something being swung at his side roughly.

    "Quiet!" shouted a man with a welding mask, walking past him as he fondled a steel rod.

    The ronin groaned, looking down to the probed spot. He can't believe how bruised a simply swat from that steel rod made him.

    This went on for hours, the welding man walking to others clung like the ronin, having the rod swatted at a random part of their bodies. The man with the ask laughed, walking on by. However, appearance of light caused the ronin to shut his eyes, the sting of the light making hims temporarily blind.

    "Aye, mate." the familiar voice spoke, the sound of heavy boots clacking against the ground being heard. "You broken yet, lad?" Zorata looked at the ronin, his blue eyes glaring. "Nah, ye got some fight in ya. Tough booty, I've got..." Zorata felt somewhat irritated when the ronin began to laugh. "Oi, what's funny?!"

    "You would have a tough booty, huh?" responded the ronin. "Having a little one on one sessions with that welder over there?" Aethir grinned, lazily flicking his head over to the man's direction. "Into big, strong men are you-" The man was cut off, being smacked by the captain's metal hand. He licked the side of his mouth, tasting blood as it oozed out past his lips.

    "Not another word out of that mouth, or I'll cut ye tongue out." Zorata glared at Aethir as the ronin simply stared back weakly. "Ah," the captain began to chuckle before continuing, "just a strong slap, and you know yer place now." He chuckled once more before speaking again. "You ninjas need those hands to do that fancy stuff, huh?" Aethir looked up at his tied hands, which clung to the steel pipe just above. "I know very well how chakra is used among you sneaky bastards."

    "You know that, huh?" Aethir began to speak with a smile.

    "Yes, I do know that." retorted the man, rushing close to Aethir's face. He stared for a moment before making intrigued sounds, taking his hand to forcefully turn the man's face. "My booty has such a nice face, looks to be appreciated." The man continue to examine the ronin's face. "That mouth of yours is gonna change that, however." Zorata soon backed away, receiving a swift kick to the gut from the ronin. "Oi," the man coughed before speaking, "say goodbye to that leg of yours- ...What are you doing?!"

    Aethir began to swing back and forth, his wrists aching from he chains. He continued until he had a decent enough momentum to do what it is he planned. As his body began to swing forward, the ronin grabbed the source chair which wrapped around the steel pipe. With all of his strength, he yanked the chain with the momentum and his weight, causing part of the pipe which had the chain tied break. The ronin, hand still tied to the piece of steel pipe that now followed him, rolled forward. He quickly tried to pull the chains apart with his strength, however they failed to break. He turned to see the welder coming, glancing at the steel pipe he was chained to, now using it as a weapon. The pipe crashed against the welder's skull, causing him to groan in pain. Like a wild animal, the ronin wasn't sure where to go, scrambling towards the light source. He was shocked as to what he saw. Water... An ocean surrounding wherever he was. With the sound of a loud whistle being blown, an uproar was heard.

    "Uh oh..." Aethir looked to his left, watching random people with weapons in hand run down a metal walkway. Aethir ran the opposite way, more people coming. Preparing for combat, Aethir took note of the steel pipe he had for a weapon. The first man swung his sword vertically, Aethir swinging the pipe to knock said sword horizontally away. He then drop kicked the man, others tripping over his fallen body. He turned behind him to see the group from earlier coming closer. The ronin looked all around him, eventually smiling as he saw a metal wall right next to him. "I'm such an idiot..." Aethir sighed, placing his foot on the wall, walking up, thanks to the focused chakra in his soles.

    The 'wall' began to curve inwards, as if it was now a ball of metal. "Hold on... What the...?" At the flattest point of the spherical wall, he looked around once more. The sea surrounded him, some sort of steel boat navigating the seas. It appeared to be half a ball floating in the middle of a river.

    "Oi!" shouted Zorata above. He was clinging onto a hook crane lifting him up. "Enough of this act, mate! Look around!" The wannabe pirate outstretched his arm to the sea. "Nothing but water." He smiled down to the ronin, who looked around as the angry mob of people with weapons climbed the spherical 'wall'. "Unless you think you can leg it on water, fat chance, lad."

    Aethir took another look around, then gasped as he saw in the distance...Konoha! 'I can get back there no problem.' He grinned, bursting into a speed run. He then leaped off the spherical 'wall',  landing into the water below it. Now sprinting on the water, staying afloat due to chakra, he began his run towards the town.

    "What the- ... On the main cannons! Deploy the decoys!" shouted Zorata, waving his arm.

    Aethir smiled, turning back to the makeshift ship. He then gasped, seeing the water below bubble. 'What is that?' he questioned, eyeing it suspiciously. He then found his answer, a torpedo like missile rising to the surface. Jumping, the ronin narrowly had dodged the explosion. However, a shining in the distance caught his attention.

    "Fire!" shouted Zorata, so loud that Aethir could hear.

    The ronin couldn't do anything jutsu wise, his hands still tied. His eyes widened as the shining soon turned into a large blue beam rushing towards him. With a strained cry a pain, the man plummeted towards the ocean, feeling the water engulf him. It was here that he had passed out for a second time.


    Water was thrown onto the man, Aethir's eyes slowly opening. He looked around the room, which was totally different than the one he was in earlier, to see someone with a bucket in hand slowly walk towards some sort of water supply.

    "You're lucky." the person spoke, the voice sounding male. "Shot by the main cannon, and still alive? Man, you're one tough cookie."

Aethir stared, his eyes half shut from exhaustion. "Shot by the main-... Ah, right..." the man nodded, remembering what had happened before passing out.

    "Don't talk." advised the male, coming over with a bucket full of water.

    "Why should I?" asked the ronin.

    "Because brain activity is the key here." He tossed the water onto Aethir, the man closing his eyes.

    "What's your prob- ...?" he stopped speaking, looking at someone in the distance. Their skin was severely burned, being chained to a steel pipe above them. Aethir tried to get a better look by moving and wiggling, but every time he did, the burned figure would as well. "W-wait...that's...?"

    "Low brain activity makes it hurt less, trust me." spoke the man. "I've tried running before, getting about as far as you did. Then, they got me with the same trick." He began to walk back towards the water, lowering the empty bucket into it.

    "Trick?" questioned the man. "What trick?" Aethir listened to the man explain, clenching his teeth and shutting his eyes each time water was thrown on him. It was later explain that this water contained medical solution, which promoted healthy skin regeneration. "So the torpedo is just a pressurized air bomb of sorts... Damn..."

    The dark room was silent, the man finally breaking the silence with advice. "From here on," he began, "you're Zorata's. That means you do what he says, when he says."

    "Why should I do that?" Aethir quickly questioned.

    The man was silent before speaking. "Are you familiar with dust release?" He took Aethir's confused look as a 'no'. "It's a type of element which effects molecules. That laser is power by someone who knows dust release." The man threw one more bucket on the man's body. "If you run away this time," he began, staring at Aethir's blue eyes, "you'd be disposed of. I've seen it happen, people simply vanishing from their molecules deconstructing. It's almost as if the deconstruction is driven by one's will, that or it depends on how far you are from it."

Aethir slowly lowered his head, thinking. "So even if I do get away, I'll just..." The image of him simply fading entered his mind, the man shaking his head.

    "Welcome." the man spoke before dropping the bucket and walking towards the door.

    "Huh...?"

    "As of today," he turned to the man with a dull expression, "this is your new home. You're trapped like the rest of us." As the man slowly opened the door, Aethir was able to see the evening dark blue sky. "Maybe...you'll start to like it here. Who knows..." What little light was available shined into his eyes, the moon present in the sky.

    "Trapped...?" he stared at the slowly closing door, the light leaving his body. Darkness returned to the room he was in, Aethir left to hang where he was for an undetermined amount of time...


[WC: 2269]

    He wasn't sure how much time has passed since then, the ronin sitting in the darkness of the room he first woke up in. He felt weak from the lack of food over the days, and thus caused a lack of chakra for him. The cold metal floors weren't helping with the fact that he was freezing, and also because his clothes were now missing. He had on tattered pants and shirt, providing little warmth. His usual brown jacket was taken along with his clothes and shoes, the man left barefoot. He shut his eyes as he heard the door open, light beaming inside. Opening them, he looked over to the welder, now tying chains onto someone. A person he didn't recognize was passed out. 'Probably Zorata's newer booty' he eyed the person, who was being dragged by the chains. He watched as they were tied to one of the many metal poles, protruding from part of the wall. Then, the image of someone else rising while being tied to the pole came to mind. "Now where do they go, I wonder?"

    "Oi."

    Aethir turned, hearing someone's voice, Zorata walking over to him. He watched as he placed a meal tray on the ground next to him, the food looking delicious. However, he simply looked back at Zorata with a glare.

    "It's food." he said, eyeing the man. He chuckled as the ronin remained silent, glaring. "No problem," he shrugged, backing away, "if you don't eat, he'll just have it. You can just starve." He turned his back on the ronin after gesturing to the welder, about to walk out towards the open door. "Know this, you'll come to like your situation in time, lad." he said before leaving the room.

    The ronin placed a hand on his stomach, feeling pain. He slowly reached for the food, only to see quickly retract his hand, a large bright glowing metal rod being swatted at it. He turned to look at the welder breathing heavily while staring at him, a deep menacing chuckle coming from him. "

    You won't have a single bite." he mocked, picking up the tray. He laughed, but then grunted a sound that hinted confusion, looking around for the man. "Must have scared him off." He turned, placing the tray on top of a crate, digging a large hand dirtied with charcoal into the food. He began shoveling some of it down into his mask's opening for a mouth. The welder then began to choke, feeling something slam against his back. Turning, the welder saw...nothing. He turned back towards the tray of food, only to see it missing. "What...?!" The welder received a quick blow to the head, it being forced downward from the momentum of it. Looking up, he saw the ronin, eyeing him angrily. He gripped the steel rod in his hand, still staring at the man.

     With quick thrusts, the welder began to attack, Aethir dodging each attempt at harming him. Breaking the attacking patter though, the ronin leaped forward. His side was scratched by the hot rod as he did. Grabbing the man's muscular arm, he began to bend and twist it in ways that it was not meant to go. The welder began to groan in pain, so screaming as a loud 'pop' was heard. He began to breath heavier than he already was, swinging his metal rod in the ronin's direction. He leaped back a few meters, staring the welder down.

    'Damn...' the ronin winced at his side, oozing blood. It must of been his exhaustion which caused him to perform under his usual abilities. 'I can't use jutsus either, or else I'd-' The ronin focused, hearing the shouting welder run to him with his limp arm. Dodging each swing of the hot rod, he thought that he had this fight in the bag. However, a feeling of lightheaded overtook him, causing him to become paralyzed for a brief moment. 'Damn, my heart...!' he grit his teeth at the numbing pain his heart defect was causing him, then grunted as the hot rod slapped against the side of his head.

    "Break my arm, will you?!" laughed the man, now beating the ronin to a near pulp. He collapsed before him as the welder drove the hot rod into his back, the an's bones cracking. "That'll teach ya." he mocked, backing away from the body. However, in a burst of smoke, the welder eyed scrap metal lying on the ground. "What the hell-" He was cut off as a heavy object crashed into the back of his skull not once, not twice, but three times. The welder fell to his knees, his good hand slowly reaching to the back of his head, only to have his hand grabbed. He groaned as his arm was forcefully pulled by someone, screaming as his other arm gave the same 'pop' as the other. The welder then felt two hands touch his shoulder, the ronin flipping in front of him, only to kick his head with great force. A strained crack was heard from the head being turned from the force of the kick, the sound of the neck breaking.

    Aethir watched as the welder slowly collapsed on the ground, the ronin staring before collapsing as well. He was breathing heavily, his arms trembling a bit.'A simple substitution...is enough to get me winded.' As he regained his breath, his eye locked onto something. The man from before, who was throwing water on him! "You...?" Aethir stared at him curiously.

"Your burns have healed just fine, I see."

The ronin stared before looking over to the slowly dissolving welder. His skin began to peel off his body, and just fade into the air, same for his flesh. "What's happened to-...?"

"Dust release. He too was cursed with being hit by the beam."

The ronin watched the flesh dissolve off his bones, the skeletal remains soon following. "So this is what's going to happen to me, then? Since I killed him."

"No," the man began, "only if you run or cause a halt in our plans." The man began to slowly pace around the resting ronin, picking up the welder's mask. "You see, when a job opening is available, we place some there." Aethir eyed the man, as he continued. "You," he pointed, chucking the mask towards the man's, "are Zorata's new welder." He nodded to the ronin, walking off towards the still open door. He stopped, looking at the food that appeared to be picked over. "I'll get you another." he nodded, walking out the room.

The ronin stared, his eyes ready to close from the lack of energy available. "The new welder, huh...?" he sighed, slowly reaching for the mask. The metal felt warm to the touch as he examined it. He then looked around the room. "Is this where I'll be spending most of my time then...?" he questioned, only being left with his thoughts.

    "Defeated, is he?" the ronin heard Zorata speakaing from the doorway. "Well then, show the new welder the ropes." The ronin stared at the opening of the room, looking back towards the mask. "I will." spoke the man from earlier,, the sound of footsteps getting lighter hinting at distance being put between him and them.


    Night has fallen as the ronin now sat in the same room, the temperature dropping even more now that the sun was absent. His clothes had changed once more, now in similar clothes to that of the welder. A freshly pressed white shirt under orange overalls. He had heavy duty boots with large leather gloves, his welding mask resting just above his face. He was shown what a welder does, and how to tend to the ships. The man who had thrown water on him promised to go further in depth tomorrow, asking the man to just get some red for now. "...How long has it been?" questioned the ronin, his eyes slowly shutting. His head lowered as he soon drifted off to sleep, the spherical boat mechanism continuing to drift in the ocean of unknown parts of the land.

[WC: 1380]
[TWC: 3649]

    The winds blew, the mist from the ocean gracing his skin once more. Clinging to the side with safety rope holding him up was a masked man, Aethir in his welder's outfit. He lifted the mask, taking a deep breath of the fresh air around him. 'That's that one' ...he stared, looking at the newly fixed patch in the exterior of the watercraft. "More to go..." he sighed, looking at the many holes present in the metal wall. He turned, hearing voices on the metal boardwalks below him, staring at the bucket man pointing and speaking to some of the crew members. He watched as they began to run off in a direction, and then looked up to the new welder of the ship.

    "How are you finding the new position?" the man asked.

    "I'd like it better if I was off this ship for good." the ronin responded in a mocking tone. He watched as the man smiled to him, walking off. 'You smile, but I'm being serious... I'll find a way off-' A sudden rumble snapped the ronin out of his thought, water rising from the bottom of the spherical ship. "What the-"

    "Under attack," shouted a man, running above Aethir on a walkway, "the Zorata is under attack!"

    The ronin looked up, hearing this, then back down as he heard multiple stomping feet approaching. "There, one of Zorata's men!" shouted one of the purple cloaked intruders. "Destroy him, and everyone on this ship! They will pay for such acts committed to the land of birds!" The ronin gasped, trying to undo the rope, but ended up running up the side of the wall. Compared to a few days ago, he had a significant amount of chakra this time around. However, compared to when he was in Konoha, his abilities only measure up to that of a genin. He would question this, why his power has been reduced significantly. He came to the conclusion that it was obviously something Zorata was doing to him he wasn't aware of.

    The ronin turned his head, seeing projectiles fly towards him, large fuuma shurikens. He dodged each one with ease as he continued up the wall. He then fell as one of the shurikens slashed the support rope he was clinging to, the ronin falling. To the attacker's disappointment, Aethir focused his chakra to his soles to cling to the metal wall. "Forget this..." he mumbled, undoing the safety belt. He tossed it to the side and then leaped towards the group of attackers, more smaller shurikens being thrown. It seems the ronin's strength was returning slowly, now able to grab the thrown shurikens midair to throw back at each of them, saving one. The man who had ordered the other men to attack was left.

    Landing near the wounded bodies, the welder stared at the cloaked man who had given orders. "Who are you?" he asked, receiving worried whimpers as he began to back away. The cloaked man turned, only to be greeted by the men of the ship, plus Zorata himself.

    "Ye heard the lad's question. Ain't gonna ask again." Zorata spoke, pointing his metal claw towards the man. He heard more whimpers, watching as he looked around quickly.

    "N-now!" cried the man as he fell to the ground, covering his head.

A loud 'boom' was heard in the distance, the men turning to see a large net flying towards them. "What the-?!" Aethir quickly leaped out the way, his speed having had come back. He was much faster than when he had fought the old welder, but nothing compared to when he was in Konoha's jungle, surviving for the night in the wilderness. Though he may not be fast enough to dodge Konoha's panther or snake this time around, he surely was fast enough to dodge the net. However, the men were not, everyone and Zorata being captured. "Damn..." he narrowed his eyes, looking over to the source of the net.

    In the water was a large tanker with a cannon, cloaked people loading a large shell inside of it. "They plan to sink us...!" Aethir nodded, about to run off to the tanker. However, he stopped to look at his hands. "...I can give that a try, yeah..." he nodded once more. Forming handseals, he began to perform a jutsu. However, he soon grew lightheaded and fell where he stood. 'D-damn...Four it too much? How about just two then?' He tried the jutsu again, electricity forming around him into two separate being. The beings were raiton shadow clones, looking to the main Aethir for instructions. "Make more and take out that thing!" The clones nodded, performing the shadow clone technique, four more clones exactly like Aethir forming, a total of eight being present. They began to rush off the boat, their speed faster than the main host. 'They must be unaffected by whatever's doing this to me...' the boy sighed, watching as the clones began to reek havoc.

    "That Lamdem guy is pulling out new tricks everyday, I swear..." one of the men in the nets commented with a smile. "Aye, a tricky booty he is. I'm thinking of putting him on... Boyo!" shouted Zorata, Aethir turning to him. "Care to get us out of here?" The ronin nodded, slowly standing and running over to help.

    "Don't let them through!" shouted a man, who soon received a swift punch to the face. Standing by the punched man was one of the clones made from the ronin. The tanker soon was covered by purple cloaked men, all defeated by the clones. On average, about twenty to twenty-five men were disposed of per clone.

    "Just how many people are on this ship?" asked one of the clones. "Don't focus on that. Keep up the pressure!" responded a clone next to it. Landing by was another clone. "Right. There's surely to be an end, so-" The speaking clone gasped and ducked, another clone walking over. "So we shut up and put up!" he roared, rushing towards the oncoming men with the clones.

Back on the Zorata ship, Aethir had just finished cutting open the net, the men scurrying out. Zorata smiled, patting the young welder man. "Good on ya, mate, but how did you-" An explosion caused the captain to turn at the sinking tanker.

    "Ah, almost forgot!" the ronin gasped, focusing on the clones. He inhaled, then exhaled, dispersing the raiton clones, feeling the chakra supply return. However, the clones didn't disperse their clones, thus, he felt a bit weaker than what he did before cloning. "Good job..." he spoke, smiling to his hands. He then felt a strong pat on his back, turning to look at Zorata.

    "Lamdem," he spoke with a grin, "come to my quarters when you've patched the rest of the ship up. I'm offering you to take you off weldin' duty."

The ronin stared as Zorata continued down the metal walkway, soon feeling a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see one of the common crew members walk by, and then felt another hand, which belonged to another man. This continued as people walked by, Aethir wondering what his meant until,

    "Looks like you've gained some positive renown." spoke the bucket man, Aethir turning to see. "This is good. Friends are a good thing to have." He continued walking, the ronin staring at him. "According to Zorata, the world outside doesn't exist. Forget about your friends, and family." He turned to Aethir with a smile. "The people on the Zorata is all that matters-"

    "I refuse to believe that." Aethir said, looking to his left to spot the leather safety belt he threw. "Now if you excuse me, I've got work to do." he walked by the bucket man, still seeing his smile in the corner of his eye.

    "As you wish." he spoke. "You know," he began, causing Aethir to stop, "you're probably the hardest to break so far..." He continued to smile, Aethir hesitating before continuing his walk, going further away down the metal walkway. The man nodded to himself, turning to walk away in the opposite direction of Aethir.


"Lamdem," began Zorata, watching Aethir walk into his room, "ye has battle experience, I gather?" He watched as Aethir nodded to him. "I have a favor to ask." The ronin stared, slowly tilting his head to the side. "We've had trouble with the people within the land of the birds. I'd like you to take out the main headquarter base of the enemy for us." Aethir was silent, staring at Zorata. "Do this," he began, reaching into his drawer for something, "and I give you your freedom."

    "Why are they attacking you?" Aethir asked, ignoring the request for now. He watched the man laugh as he placed some sort of metallic device on the desk. "What is that?"

    "They are attacking because they're pirates-"

    "Yeah right. You're the pirate here. Look at you!" Aethir pointed to the man. "Eye patch, amputated metal arm, and a boat ball thing with a crew on it? Plus you even talk like one!"

    The man laughed once more. "Well, this," the man patted the metallic device, "be a bomb. Plant it in the middle of the rig, far underground. The small explosion will catch fire to the oil. Kaboom!" He laughed, soon staring at Aethir. "Do this, and you have your freedom. Sailor's honor."

    "You know for someone who isn't a pirate," Aethir walked over to reach for the device, the man quickly grabbing hold off it, "you claim to have honor."

    "Aye, even the finest pirate requires honor."

    "And yet you just called yourself a pirate."

    Silence fell in the cabin, the man soon laughing loudly. "Spend the next few days readying yourself, lad." he placed the device in he drawer. "You'll be given this the day you're ready and in tip top shape. Until then, you'll be joining us."

    "For?" questioned Aethir.

    The man simply laughed, eyeing Aethir, the ronin staring with a cautious look.


    "Blowing up some sort of thing, property of the land of birds?" the man sighed, leaning back on the metal walls of the welder's quarters. "Boy, wouldn't Gramps love to hear this." He closed his eyes, thinking about the people who took him in. His new family consisted of a woman, a man up in age, and a small young girl. "First thing I'll do when getting off this ship is visit them, I swear." he sighed, leaning his head forward as he sighed.

    'Do this, and you have your freedom, Lad. I swear it.'

    Aethir shook his head. "That's cool, but what about ...?" The thought of the men on the ship came to mind. "What about them?" He was silent, slowly looking at his hands. "I have about a fourth of my usual chakra supply so far. Just a little more time, and I'll be at full strength." he nodded, closing his eyes as he began to fall asleep for the night. He had a long day ahead of him, needing to weld the outside of the ship again, damage caused from today's invasion. 'Maybe I should focus on myself and come back with reinforcements...' he thought before hearing something move within his quarters.

    "Are you enjoying your stay here yet?" Aethir turned to look at the bucket man. "In time, you will, I assure you."

    "No, I'm getting out of here." the ronin shook his head.

    "Oh? Did Zorata promise you freedom if you do a task for him as well?" A smile crept on the bucket man's face as Aethir's facial expression changed. "I'm afraid that's just a way for him to break you. It starts with the kind renown, but then he goes in for the attack..." The man began to walk out of the room, Aethir turning as he moved.

    "Wait," he spoke, "why are you even here? Did you just sneak in to tell e that?"

    The man turned to Aethir we a frown. "I'm here because Zorata wishes to keep track of you." With that, the man left the room, leaving Aethir to stare silently. He turned back, looking at his feet, thinking. 'Just a way to break me... I may not be a full power yet, but I'll get there... And when I do, if I'm not free by then...' he narrowed his eyes, thinking ill thoughts of him facing Zorata. He soon closed his eyes, once again drifting into a deep sleep.

[WC: 2135]
[TWC: 5784]

    "You want to do it now? So soon?" asked Zorata, his eye wide. He saw the welder nod, which made him scratch his head. "You're a full power then, lad?" His head jerked back, seeing the ronin shake is head. "Argh, then why you wish to go do it now, lad?! They aren't a force to be reckoned with!"

    "Maybe," the man nodded, "but I'd very much like my freedom. Even at half strength, I'm sure I can do it." The man looked at the palm of his hands. "Even at half strength..."

    With a sight, the man reached down to the drawer to pull out the metallic mechanism once more. "Go for it then." he said, gesturing to the bomb. He watched as the ronin walked over, taking it with his gloved hands. "Attach it with a strong push, then get out of there." The ronin nodded once more, leaving the captain's quarters.


    On the horizon was an oil rig, which slowly grew in size as the Zorata came closer to it. "Remember," Zorata poked the man's back, "deep underground, at the very center cylinder." He watched the ronin nod, and then jump off the side of the ship.

    The ronin began to run on the water with the use of his chakra, closing in on the oil rig. He then began rising up one of the support beams of the rig, hopping over the support railings afterwards. He quickly darted behind large crates, men of the oil rig patrolling towards him.

    "Isn't that the Zorata?" one of them pointed out, the sound of someone running and gripping metal railings being heart. Aethir took this as a chance to navigate towards towards the entrance of the rig. With one last look around, Aethir hopped over another pair of railings, falling below sea level.


    Slowly climbing down the side of a cylinder that supported the oil rig, Aethir checked the area. Inside, he was slightly surprised that such an ordinary looking oil rig would actually be a hidden base for sea crafts! Stacked and docked in rows vertically and horizontally were some of the same tankers his clones had taken down.

    'Unbelievable... How big is this place...?' questioned Aethir. His eyes widened as some sort of light began to scroll towards him.

    "See anything out there?" spoke a man. "No, not yet." spoke another, turning the light towards where Aethir was. "Like there's anything underground..." The two laughed, soon walking away. The man walking away turned back to the man with the light, hearing some sort of yelp. "Hey...?" He wandered over, looking round cautiously before turning and receiving a punch to the face. The man was knocked out...

    With the body being picked up and moved behind the light, Aethir decided it'd be wise to turn the light off. "Alright, one down..." he said, slowly turning towards the center cylinder. There were four lesser cylinders, all with searchlights pointed on the center cylinder at different spots. 'At the very bottom he said...' Aethir looked down, seeing the most of the spot lights on the guards near the bottom of the rig. "I can't place the bomb comfortably unless I take out all of them...Then, I'll focus on the guards left in the dark, then we set it and run, I guess." The ronin inhaled, and then looked to two connecting paths, each going to another one of the spot lights. "Best get to work then..."

    Time has passed, the four lights being taken out now. The people on the metal platform surrounding the center cylinder appeared to have noticed the drop in lighting. "Alright, now they're on the look out..." Aethir nodded, slowly turning away from the cylinder light he was near. He then dropped to the ground, seeing a sword being swiped horizontally towards him, then rolled to the right, the sword now being swung vertically. As he stood, the ronin received glanced and leaned just at the last second, nearly dodging the sword. His side was grazed by the sword, an annoying pain now present. He staggered back from the attack. 'Damn... My body is still a bit sluggish...' he glared at the random guard, but then gasped as his he began to feel somewhat dizzy. "W-what...?" Aethir fell onto one knee, breathing hard.

    "Damn," the sword wielder spoke, "if you hadn't had moved, that'd be enough poison to kill you on the spot." The swordsman began to walk over to the man, raising the sword. "Ah well. I hate slow and painful deaths for my enemies, even for Zorata's men. So I'll do you a favor." He watched as the ronin tried to form hand seals, only to fall onto his rump, panting. "Don't bother," he began, "this poison spreads by chakra. The smallest hint if it and you're done. I reckon you have about twenty minutes before your whole chakra supply is infected."

    The ronin panted. 'Twenty minutes for my whole chakra... And I didn't come in at full strength, so that's...ten minutes...' He began to sweat, looking over to his trembling hand.

    "Goodbye." the man spoke, raising the sword higher. He brought it down with great force, but was shocked that it didn't hit the ronin. "What's this?!"

    Aethir, once having his eyes closed, opened them to see the weapon...slowly fading away. 'Is that...? Dust release...' The man looked at the confused swordsman, crashing into him. The force caused the man to flip behind the railing, grabbing the platform's bottom.

    "How...?" the man spoke, Aethir slowly walking over. "How can you serve such a....cruel...bastard?! He destroyed our villages...!"

    "It's not like I have a choice. Don't want him to have me end up like your sword, you know?" Aethir responded.

    "Him...? The Sword...? Ah, I understand now..." the man began to laugh. "Zorata... Tell me, do you know what he looks like?"

    "Well yeah, he's ...a large...bearded man, with-"

    The man interrupted Aethir, laughing loudly. "I see... So you think that Zorata is a person, huh?" He laughed more, eyeing Aethir's confused look. "Zorata," he began, "is just a-"

    Aethir gasped, seeing the man slowly fade. 'Dust release...? But how?' he watched the man's body slowly fade one particle at a time. 'He wasn't hit by the beam like I was, like any of Zorata's crew members... Was he...?' He went silent, seeing the bones of the man slowly fall from the platform. "Zorata," he looked off to the side, "is just a...what?" He soon went lightheaded, falling to the ground on one knee again. "Damn... I have to hurry this up... No time for covert, like it or not."

    Jumping from where he was, Aethir landed onto the center platform of the cylinder. It was buried into the ground, which told Aethir that this was the very bottom of the rig. He reached into his pocket, placing the metallic bomb onto the side of the cylinder. A three and two zeros were seen, colored in red. It began to countdown, Aethir nodding to the bomb.

    "Oi, who's that?!" shouted someone, causing the ronin to run.

    About halfway out of the rig, near the four lights he took care of earlier, he heard the bomb explode. "Already?!" he looked over to the side, seeing the center cylinder slowly crumble from under it's own weight. Water began to rush from above, drenching and drowning the swarming men. "No way I'll get out from up there again." he stared at the once open hole he came through. Turning, he spotted one of the many tankers. "Perhaps..." he smiled, running over to them.

    Getting inside a random tanker, the ronin began to press buttons randomly, eventually getting the machine to start. Some sort of crane pulled him forward toward some exit port, the man now sailing out from underneath the rig. "Uh..." he pushed more random buttons and turned what looked like a steering wheel. "How the hell do I turn?" he smiled, and then decided to just leave the cockpit. As he got out into the open deck, he turned to the exploding oil rigs, tankers attempting to flee being crushed by debris. He then gasped, noticing two tankers had gotten away safely, loading two large tanker shells to fire at him. Once again, he tried to use a jutsu, this time of a lower rank, but even academy jutsus were useless. "D-damn... How long has it been...?" he said, collapsing on both knees. The man stared at the tanker cannons, slowly turning to his own. "Well, you don't need chakra for that I guess." he smiled, jogging weakly over to the cannon, only to fall. "Are you- ...I-I'm too weak to walk...?" he turned back to the tank, panting.

    With wide eyes, the ronin stared as the canons fired, two large shells flying towards him. Both shots were direct hits, Aethir's tanker now slowly sinking. To the ronin's surprise, a large beam fired towards the two tankers, causing them to explode. "That's...!" He turned to see the Zorata slowly moving towards his sinking tanker, the ronin smiling. "That's..." he repeated, attempting to finis his sentence, but ended up passing out.


    Opening his eyes slowly, Aethir found himself in his usual room, the welding quarters. "Reckless fool." he heard, turning to see the bucket man.

    "Half strength, and you come out with nearly none at all." he sighed, putting the tip of a cup to his mouth and tilting it upwards. "At least you're cooperative..." he sighed, watching as the ronin drunk the water. "Chakra poison. Feeds off the target's chakra until the very last drop. The more of it they have, the quicker it spreads, however it takes a while for pain to set in." He then went back over to the water supply, filling up the cup. "The less of it they have, the more potent it is. This is your case. Even if the user survives the poisoning, there are long term effects of a permanent reduction of the chakra pool."

    Aethir simply stared at the man. 'Permanent reduction of...?' His eyes widened, thinking back to the past months he's been on the Zorata, how his chakra had always felt low. 'So then... I was poisoned by Zorata...?' He sighed, looking away. However, he then turned to the water with wide eyes. 'Hold on, isn't this the water that cured my skin...?' he blinked. "So then... my chakra should be-"

    "Hmm?" the man turned to Aethir, cup in hand.

    He stared, slowly shaking his head. "I was just asking where the poison came from. You know, the origin?" he lied. 'I don't know if this guy is Zorata's parrot...I'll keep it to myself... Then when I'm at full strength-...'

    The man began to explain the origin of the poison, Aethir nodding to the medical terminology involved.

    "For now," the man left the room, "just get some rest..."

    Aethir watched as the man left the room, slowly leaning back on the table with his eyes closed.


    With a bit of an hour of two passing, Aethir had gone to confront Zorata about his freedom. He kept his expectations low, remembering what the bucket man had said.

    "Yer freedom?" Zorata smiled, "I don't recall promisin' you that!" He laughed at Aethir's shocked expression.

    "But you-"

    "Oi, don't tell me ye's surprised! I be a pirate after all!" The laughter grew louder, Aethir slowly turning away from the captain and leaving his quarters.


    The man continued his welding work late at night, Zorata telling him that he had work to catch up on. He sighed, the night air and moonlight being his company during the dead of night.

    'Zorata is just a-...'

    'Chakra poisoning...'

    'I be a pirate after all!'

    Something didn't sit right with Aethir, these words causing such an odd suspicion rising inside him. "Zorata is just a what...?" he continued welding, fusing metal scraps to the exterior of the ship. "What...?" he wondered, the sparks from the flame tools lighting up his confused face. The night clouds slowly hovered in the sky, soon blocking out the moon's light. Needless to say, Aethir now had a hard time doing his job in total darkness...


[WC: 2094]
[TWC: 7878]

    His welding clothes were now dirtied from the days of occupying the role. The sparks flew as he used the tools, welding scraps onto the interior of the Zorata. "How long has it been since I had a...?" he sighed, sweat running down his face. The sparks ceased, the sound of wiping being heard in the dark, Aethir's face lighting up from the reignited flamethrower tool. Sparks flew past his face as he kept up the work. "The closest thing to bathing is swimming. I guess I still get baths everyday..." Looking off to the side, he nodded as darkness fell fro the lack of light again. "Speaking of which... It's time to move to the sick bay."

    The water was freezing cold as something orange and white swam around. Upon further inspection, this colorful thing was the young welder, swimming to a different part of the spherical ship that was Zorata. His cheeks bulged out as he now gripped the side of the ship, trying to gain some of the ship's momentum as his chakra focused to his hands as he climbed up the side like a spider. Or was it a shrimp he was acting like, noticing the small creatures crawling and clinging to the bottom of said ship. Their whiskers and legs would sometime tickle his face, the ronin struggling not to laugh as he valued his oxygen supply. Letting go of the ship now, he began to swim up to the surface again, finally rising. He gasped, clinging to the moving ship, slowly climbing to one of the many metal cat walks, and making his way down several steel hallways.


    His hair was rising to the sky as he began to weld once more with his mask on this time...or perhaps, it was hanging to the ground, since he was clinging with chakra on the ceiling. Below, some of the ship's crew members spoke to others about their aches and pains. "Probably a blockage in your blood vessels in the thigh area." spoke a familiar voice, Aethir turning to see. It was the man with the bucket, giving pills to someone else. "Take some of these about twice a day, time doesn't matter. If it worsens, come back." The bucket man turned to the seated men, gesturing to them. "Next." he said, going through a doorway, another entering right behind him.

    'So he's a doctor of some kind?' he stared at the doorway curiously.

    "Oi, fire, Lamdem!" shouted one of the members, Aethir turning and gasping. His constant welding of the same spot caused a huge hole to be produced, burning embers gathering with the old wood below the steel. "W-who's idea was it to put metal over a wooden ship?!" shouted Aethir, patting the fire rapidly with his thick gloves to put it out. The fire refused to go out, now spreading underneath the metal. "Damn, this whole ship is going to go down if I don't do something..." He then had an idea, forming hand seals and producing water from the mouth. 'Water trumpet never fails.' he smiled, watching smoke rise from the hole.

    "You!" shouted one of the men below to the spider like man. "You're trying to sink us all, aren't you?! Burn the whole ship down!"

    "Well-"

    "Just wait until the captain hears this."

    Aethir sighed, shaking his head. As expected, on the intercom was Zorata, summoning him. He slowly peeled off the ceiling, landing safely, now wandering over to the doorway and over to the metal catwalk. 'Ever since I took care of those guys' oil rig thing, this guy has been on my back ever since.' He narrowed his eyes, then smiled and waved as people greeted him as he passed. 'What's his deal? He tried to find every little thing wrong with me. I swear, he wants me to lose my temper, he really does! Well I wont... I won't lose it, no way.'


    "Oi! I heard ye be trying to burn me ship-"

    "You know what?" Aethir sighed, rubbing his forehead as he had interrupted the captain. "Yeah, I guess I did. We've been through this multiple times, I know the damn question, and this very same guy always trying to find a flaw in me. So you know what? I did. I did try to burn the ship down. What of it, Zorata?" the ronin shrugged, his arms flopping to the side. "What of it?" The ronin stared for a moment before realizing what he had done. 'Aw...damn it...I lost my temper...' he sighed, lowering his head.

    "Argh! No one interrupts Zorata!" shouted the man. "You! Discipline him!" The man who had always tried to get the ronin in trouble smiled, cracking his knuckles. "My pleasure."

    With a punch being thrown, Aethir shielded himself, used to being unable to dodge or block attacks due to his usual low energy levels. However, he was shocked as he felt the impact of the fist, his body being forced back a bit. 'H-hey...I...' Aethir looked back up, seeing another fist coming his way. It slammed into his face, knocking him down onto the carpet of the captain's quarters. He then felt a strong blow land on his chest area, the ronin being forced onto the metal catwalk outside. 'No way...I...' Aethir slowly began to rise, only to have a heavy blow land on his back, forcing him to the ground. He was then kicked again, the man falling to the lower level catwalk. With a loud thud, he rested for a moment, his eyes wide open. "...I'm...I'm alright?" he questioned, slowly rising, sounds of awe being heard around him. He looked as his hands, his eyes filled with surprise. "My strength...it's..." He closed his eyes, trying to feel his chakra. He was shocked, not having had paid attention to his growing levels. "Almost..." he clenched his fist, slowly coming to a stand. "I'm almost at full power. But it's enough to say that my-"

    The ronin heard a loud roar, looking up as he saw the man jumping off the catwalk, falling right towards him. "My strength..." Aethir clenched his fist tightly, throwing a strong punch upwards. "It's back!" When the punch made contact with the man's boot, he smiled as he saw blood fly from a bone poking out the skin of his calf. 'Sudden shock wave from the force of my punch,' the man watched as the other man fell to the ground, 'Check. Taijutsu combo? Aethir raised his eyebrows, a smile forming on his face.' Aethir gave two quick punches to the man's face, one for each side, before kick the man's chest to force him on his back. 'Check. Speed, strength, and dura-' Aethir's eyes alerted him of sudden movement next to him, the man dodging out the way of a punch. He then ducked as another swing came in, Aethir responding with a quick uppercut, and a light jab to his nasal area. 'Durability and reaction. All check.'

    Gathering around him were more of the ship's crew, all having swords and other weapons drawn. 'Only if I run or make a problem will Zorata...' He then began to piece jutsu logic together. 'Dust release...Hand seals...Dust release... Hands...' Aethir was hit with a question. 'How can he perform jutsus...with hands like those?'

    'Zorata is just a-...'

    The ronin snapped out of his thoughts, being hit with a fist. However, his skin had recovered it's natural durability, Aethir quickly countering with a much stronger punch. 'What is he...?' he turned behind him, twirling to dodge a man's sword, only to bend his arm with ease to break it. 'Zorata is just a what...?'

    "Oi, oi, oi!" shouted Zorata from above, watching the ronin take care of one man at a time. "Don't just dance around him, get him!" He then watched, his eye widening as he saw water and lightning being thrown around the place. Large explosions of aqua rise into the air and around the area, pushing and shoving the men around. "O-oi!" Zorata looked around for the welder, who was now kicking and punching his way towards him.

    With a grunt, Aethir smashed his fist into the man standing closest to Zorata, the ronin panting. "Blast ye...!!" the pirate shouted, his large claw being shot forward towards him. The man...didn't dodge it like he did before, taking on the attack! He then began to focus raiton chakra into the gripped hand, electricity traveling from the metal hand into the chain, and intro the man. Naturally, the man cried in pain, his voice sounding like that of a crying parrot. "So you're the parrot, huh?" Aethir mocked, stomping his foot behind him as he began to pull roughly on the man's hand. The man, connected to the chain, followed it's momentum. He was being swung into the metal catwalk near the ronin, the ronin now swinging Zorata in another direction. The captain crashed into the metal floor once more. "N-no!!" he cried, the ronin repeating the slamming motion, a large grin present on his face. The blood from Zorata had made two splotched, the places where he kept landing, and was being splattered in the surrounding areas.

    However, something unexpected happened as the ronin began to spin him around in the air like a tethered ball. Zorata cried in agony as a large stream of light passed through him. "H-hey, that's...!" Aethir stared, the laser from before shooting Zorata. He watched as the man's burned skin slowly dissolved, like how he's seen the other times when dust release was used.

    "B-but ... How...?" Aethir slowly turned to where the source of the laser came from, seeing...the bucket man, his fingers in a hand seal he's never seen before. He was clinging to the side of the Zorata's spherical wall, leading the ronin to believe he had some sort of chakra control ability. "You...?!" the ronin stared in disbelief, the man shrugging.

    "After you've done that to him, I knew he'd be useless afterwards." He shook his head as he was still being stared at. "Circumference of the skull suffered physical trauma from foreign metal object. Brain functionality lowered significantly. Status of Zorata's IQ is now that of a dumb potato." A smile appeared on the man's face. "Or should I say, Kenchi. Kenchi Umarai, the man you just somewhat destroyed." He stared at the confused ronin.

    "Then you're...Zorata?" the ronin asked, the men of the ship slowly gathering.

    "No, I'm afraid not." he responded, making quick hand seals, the unconscious or incapacitated beings Aethir fought...vanishing. "Now, sir Lamdem, I believe you have a job to do as Zorata's welder." The man sounded extremely smug, smiling even wider as the ronin began to run towards him, chakra in his feet allowing him to run up the walls..  The bucket man waited patiently for the ronin to get to where he was, seeing his arm reeled back for a punch. However, with a simple poke on the forehead, the ronin collapsed to his knees. Gravity soon began to work on the man, the ronin sliding against the steel wall, towards the catwalks below. With a loud thud, the men on the ground turned to see the ronin with his eyes wide open. "Chakra supply disable to the nervous system in the brain. No brain activity is present." Silence fell as the men slowly looked up to him. "All of you, get back to work." ordered the bucket man. "That...is an order."

    The bucket man heard the men whisper to each other. "That ronin guy was kicking some major tail, right? And Rinzo just pokes him and he's out? ...No way..."

    "Yeah, I know... If we can't take that guy, what makes you think we can take Rinzo...?"

    The bucket man, now known as Rinzo, couldn't help but smile as at how easily it was to strike fear into the men. However, one refused to give in, climbing up the side of the wall to get him. "You damned...!!" he repeated. "How troublesome..." Rinzo sighed, simply pointing at the man before his skin began to fade. Loud screams, and soon strained gurgles, could be heard as he began to vanish. His bones slid off the side of the wall and into the ocean below. "...Hm?" Rinzo turned his head. "Ah yes, I will spare him. Though, I don't know why you want e to... Yes, right away." he spoke to...no one, walking down the side of the wall. He then leaped onto the catwalk, picking up the frozen ronin, and traveled down to medical bay with him over his shoulder. "I have no clue why you wish for me to spare him, but I will." he spoke to nothing again. "I will, for you..."

[WC: 2195]
[TWC:10073]

    "Where...?" the ronin attempted to move his body, feeling it tied up by something, his eyes covered. "My eyes... They hurt..." The smell of something burning filled the man's nose as he tried to open his eyes. "Why won't they...?" He tried to move once more, this time, it felt like his body made progress in movement. Whatever was keeping him tied up was slowly loosening. "Just a bit..." he struggled more, "Just a little bit more moving...and...!" Eventually, the ronin was freed of his confined, the man's hands rising to take off whatever was covering his eyes. However, as he did, he saw his hands clear as day. "Huh...? But how can-"

    'Rinzo...' Aethir turned behind him, seeing nothing but more black in the distance. The voice he heard...was his own.

    "You again...?"

    'That is the name of the man who defeated you.'

    Aethir chuckled, shaking his head. "No one's defeated me. Not to my knowledge-" The sentence of the ronin was cut off as images flashed before his eyes. He remembered running up the Zorata's walls, trying to do battle with the bucket man, Rinzo. He then remembered suddenly blacking out. "...What happened afterwards?" Aethir awaited an answer fro the dark. Receiving none, he slowly began to lower his head.

    'Toss all of it out.' the man rose his head as the voice said this. 'Grace, honor, and style. Discard them, and embrace brutality, and your instincts.' The ronin simply took a deep breath. 'You are aware as much as I that you are much stronger when you do. You are much...fearsome.'

    "Never in my twenty years of leaving had I thought I'd find out...that a conversation with myself can be so irritating." The ronin began walking in a direction, only to come to a stop. "However," began the ronin, rubbing his nose with his index finger, "you may be right. I may have to sink low to survive. To fight like a disgusting brute, hmph." As he said these words, the sound of sighing could be heard all around him, the feeling of a room spinning filling the man.


    The feeling of the room spinning followed him into as he exited his unconscious state. His eyes snapped open, the once large blue eyes changing to a sharp, keen look. "No more fooling around then." the man spoke, standing up. The smell of burning became stronger now that he was awake. Aethir checked where he was, noticing he was inside the welding quarters. Exiting, he saw a thick fog of mist...or rather, that's what he thought. He turned slowly towards the direction the fog was rolling, and then turned to the other direction, noticing flames whipping and fanning on the land in the distance.

    "It's marvelous, is it not?" spoke the bucket man, Rinzo, from the catwalk above Aethir. "The death of a small village within the land of the birds. Zorata says it will bring peace." He turned to see Aethir climbing up the side of the catwalk. "He told me not to kill you. I'm not sure why."

    "He...?" Aethir stared with a confused look, even more so when the man extended an arm towards...nothing.

    "Zorata," he answered, a smile on his face, "he stands before you, and yet you don't acknowledge him?" Rinzo watched the ronin look around with a perplexed look, the wind blowing as if to break the awkward silence that had fallen. "He is the great hero we need for this world. This world plagued with death and hate."

    Aethir shrugged, shaking his head. "I have no clue what you're on about, but if you're talking about world peace," the man smiled, crossing his arms, "it's just a dream. Just a foolish naive dream, no such thing as world peace." He lowered his head, his eyes closing. "Especially as long as I live." Aethir then staggered back, the ground shaking violently. The Zorata...had began to sail onto land. With the sound of old rusted metal moving, the spherical ship began to rotate, just as a ball should. "T-this thing can traverse land?!" Aethir stared at the now rotating walls in shock.

    "Pitiful mortal," Rinzo spoke, chuckling before speaking once more, "world peace is obtainable. It always has been... However, please tell me what you mean by...'as long as you live' ..."

    The ronin hesitated before speaking. "It's none of your business." he responded finally. "So take your impossible goal and your made up friend, and toss them over the side of the ship. Or...land ship....um-"

    A strong gust of wind blew past Aethir, the ronin covering his eyes. "No matter. Tell me or not, I've heard enough." The man looked over to his right, and then nodded. "Yes, of course it was a mistake. I don't know why you told me to spare him. He's obviously just a nuisance." Rinzo turned back to the confused looking Aethir. "Zorata's had enough of you. He wishes for you to be gone, thus, I must..."

    The ronin's heart thumped strongly as he saw Rinzo's hand rose. 'Dust release...! I don't know how it works, but I can't let him activate the jutsu.' Images of the disappearing Zorata and crew filled his mind, the ronin rushing forward towards the man. As Rinzo began to form hand seals, he was interrupted by a fist crashing into his hands.

    "D-damn nuisance..." he muttered, backing away. "Tch, you only prolong the inevitable. I must wait to be able to deliver you a peaceful death now. However," Rinzo began to form other hand seals, "I can still erase you from existence one limb at a time, instead of all together... You've brought this on yourself..."

    "I bring a lot of misfortune upon myself, but what can I say," Aethir retorted, a smile on his face, "I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment." Aethir narrowed his eyes, watching the man's hands begin to form hand seals quickly. Appearing was a small cube that levitated in the middle of Rinzo's hands, it soon traveling quickly towards Aethir's direction. The ronin hopped over  the cub, watching as it collided with a piece of the catwalk, some of the metallic materials dissolving before him. 'Better make sure not to be hit by that...' The ronin looked forward, seeing more cubes rush towards him. With ease, he dodged, rushing to the man after dodging the last. He attempted to punch to man, only to feel Rinzo's hands touch his stomach. Or what was his stomach. Where his belly button had been, and the surrounding area itself, had now been replaced with a bloody hole.  

    "It's over." Rinzo stated, the Zorata rattling roughly as it crawled along trees. Mowing down tree after tree, the Zorata pose to be a fearsome object to try and stop. With this in mind, Rinzo decided to chuck the ronin's body in the path of the Zorata, hearing loud crunching sounds. "Pathetic mortal, Zorata guides me in battle." His eyes glared at the trees being crunched about, soon walking down the catwalk. He then moved to the captain's quarter, eyeing a steering wheel. "Now then," he smiled, taking hold of the wheel, "onwards, to the new world peace era...and then-" Rinzo gasped, seeing someone's reflection appear in the window, turning to receive a strong kick to his side.

    "Ha, for someone who's pathetic like me, you- ...Uh oh..." Aethir stared at the now spinning steering wheel, the Zorata turning to the spun direction. The two men in the captain's quarters braced themselves for the sharp turn.

    "You idiot...!" the ronin turned to look at the slowly rising Rinzo. "I've had enough of this!" Aethir's eyes widened, a large cube forming around him.

    "What's...?" Aethir's heart thumped as the cube flashed suddenly, the man forming another hand seal and shouting a jutsu's name.

    A large area of Zorata began to dissolve, the same light from the cube being seen flashing among the sand like texture. Rinzo stood in what was once the captain's quarters, slowly looking up to the red sky. Red from the setting sun attempting to shine through the smoke in the air.  "Yet," Rinzo glared at something just above him, "you still live to pester me and Zorata's plans..."

    Panting, Aethir sat on the still intact piece of Zorata. "Sheesh," Aethir sighed, slowly coming to a stand, "I'm running out of things to substitute myself with! Keep this up, and the whole Zorata'll be gone."

    "Substitution..." Rinzo narrowed his eyes to the man. "So that's your trick... But you know, even I am aware that you can't keep that up. I would be willing to be that you have about one or two more substitution tricks within you." He smiled, lowering his head a bit while maintaining eye contact on Aethir. "Am I right?"

    "Well, you're not wrong." the ronin grinned. "Truth be told, I'm out of 'em. Never was good with substitution." Then, the man laughed. "Look at me, revealing my weakness' to the man who's trying to kill me." Aethir sighed, shaking his head as the smoke from the village continued to pollute the air. "I think it's fair if we reveal a weakness about you, Rinzo. Let's start with that full body dust release...thing. How's it work?"

    Rinzo chuckled before speaking. "I shoot the victim with my laser...and then form a quick few hand signs, and it activates. It's a form of fuuinjutsu, placing a seal on target's blind spots." Rinzo's smile turned into a frown. "If interrupted, I'd have to wait a full day, twenty-four hours."

    "Fuuinjutsu, huh? You know, I'm somewhat skilled in it..." the ronin snickered, stretching before continuing. "You say Zorata's next to you, guiding you in battle? Well," Aethir folded his arms, "I have something like that too, and he's growing very impatient."

    "As does he... Come." Rinzo nodded, watching at Aethir assumed  a combat position. He then moved back a bit as the ronin leaped from the top of the ship into the captain's quarters, or what was the captain's quarter's. Nearly failing, Rinzo was still successful in blocking the ronin's head on punch. He then jumped high into the air, dodging the ronin's kick. The kick had his the steering wheel, causing the Zorata to change course once again, the sound of metals screaming in agony being heard. The man formed multiple hand seals before launching multiple white spherical jutsus to Aethir's direction. As he began to fall, he had landed where Aethir was standing, watching the spherical projectiles fall into the captain's quarters. However, an equal amount of sparks were flying from the ronin's finger tips, the man having to use shock bullets for each orb. Rinzo glared, watching the ronin dart towards him after having had canceled out his projectile jutsus. He delivered a straight kick the man, Aethir crashing into the steering wheel. This caused the ship to turn in a direction once more.

    'Wasn't expecting him to fight back physically...' Aethir groaned before darting towards him once more, making sure to keep an eye out for the kick this time. When it came, he grabbed the leg and twirled it towards the steering wheel's direction, the impact from Rinzo's body changing the ship's direction once more. As Rinzo stood up, he saw the ronin land inside the room once more. However, instead of a repeat of how the battle started, the two began to initiate in a full on taijutsu battle. Certain kicks, punches, and complex block stances Rinzo revealed made it tougher for Aethir to get a clean hit on the guy. When Rinzo expected another attack, he blocked his upper body. However, Aethir dropped kicked the man, making him fall to the ground. As he got up quickly, he was greeted by heavy projectiles, crashing against his body with great force. Aethir had used the water gun technique.

    'That'll keep him down for a bit.' the ronin smiled, hopping high into the air, weaving quick hand symbols. Three large bolts of raiton chakra formed around him, the ronin revealing another hand seal to merge them into one large javelin. 'Now for the final blow!' he took hold of the lightning javelin, chucking it down to the still downed man. Suddenly rising, the man had his mouth open, a large sphere rushing out the opening. 'W-what's ...?!' The sphere crashed into the raiton chakra with ease, soon smashing into the now guarding ronin. Being hit, he took a fall towards the ground the Zorata was traveling on.

    The once downed man stood, panting and bleeding from his side and head. "Victor..." he spoke, slowly turning to the steering wheel. "That was...enough to damage...his vital organs..." He smiled, slowly turning to the side now. "Yes, Zorata, he's down..." he laughed, reaching for the steering wheel. "Now, we move on...to spread your greatness to the rest of the shinobi wor-" The man was cut off, seeing a bloody hand with nails an inch long pierce through his chest. 'W-what... Who...?'

    "Nice...trick..." Rinzo turned sluggishly as the hand was removed, seeing another man in welding clothes stand before him. "W-who are you...?" This new man, he was bleeding from the chest and arm areas, his white shirt and overalls being a ripped mess. "Acting like you're...hurt and all..." the man breathed, smiling as a sudden whirlwind of black surrounded him. 'My heart is acting up...and my chakra is...'

    Rinzo raised his arms to form several hand seals, orbs forming...but soon vanishing. 'My chakra is near depleted... And this wound...' He slowly looked up to the once new man, seeing the ronin now, breathing much harder now that he lacked blood. "Well, looks like someone's out of chakra!" Aethir spoke, a large smile appearing. "You..." Rinzo breathed, staring over to Aethir's bloodied hand, his nails short like an average human's. "Who...or what are you?" Aethir shook his head. "Just some guy who wants to go home is all." the ronin smiled. 'I had to resort to my true form, or else I'd have been in the same shape as my overalls.'

    The ronin moved closer to Rinzo as he fell to the ground, smiling. "Now, want to tell me how to cancel your jutsu? Do I have to kill you to do it?" Aethir crouched to the man. "Or should I disrupt the seal on my body? If you don't tell me, I'll opt for option two." Rinzo slowly looked up to the man, glaring before passing out. "...Damn it..." Aethir sighed, making his way to the steering wheel. 'I could let this guy bleed out, but...' the ronin sighed, taking hold of the steering wheel as the sun set completely.


    As the sun rose on the walking ronin, blood dripping to the ground with Rinzo on his back, Aethir's tired eyes opened wide. "There it is..." he smiled. On the horizon was a small farm, a little girl outside playing with a small puppy. The puppy stopped to look in Aethir's direction, barking to him only to pant afterwards. "Hey there, Speck..." Aethir nodded, soon looking over to the little girl. She ran over to hug him, only to back off as the man groaned. "Ow ow ow...Kinda stings.... Ugh..." Aethir smiled to the girl before speaking. "Get gramps and ma for me, will ya'? I...I need a nap."

    "Who's-"
   
    "It's a long story... A very...very long story..." Aethir smiled, hiking up the man on his back as he inched closer towards the farm house. "We'll fix him up, and get him on his way." he nodded to her with a smile.

    "Okay, but...what's...?" the girl pointed behind the man, towards an extremely damaged spherical vessel, the Zorata.

    "Oh that?" Aethir smiled, laughing nervously. "That's my story... Y-you know, for when gramps throws a fit as usual." the ronin nodded, walking with the girl towards the home. "It all started when I went looking for some supplies for the house in the woods, right? And then this guy named Zorata comes and..." the ronin began to tell the story to the girl as they continued down the dirt path. All the while, he wondered...just how many days total has he been away from home? It didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact that he was home. However, he did wonder in the back of his mind... What if Rinzo comes to, and the first thing he does is try to activate the seal on him? ...Aethir decided he'd have this 'ma' take a look at his body.


[WC: 2816]
[TWC: 12945]
Strength: B-1 -> B-3 1700/1700
Endurance: B-1 -> B-3 1700/1700
Perception: B-1 -> B-3 1700/1700
Reaction: B-1 -> B-3 1700/1700
Speed: B-2 -> B-3 900/900

Katon: C -> B 4000/4000

[11700 words spent]