Sero stood within his room at the haunted manor. Mist trailed along the ground like thick and thin tendrils. Each passing breeze like a cold whisper of the dead moving the mist along its path. Cracks filled with creeping and crawling things skittered away as the thick white substance invaded. As it traveled along the ground with the winds help it seemed to blanket the area. Whatever was below it seemed hidden as it moved. Dried spots of blood hidden like a dirty secret where blood had splattered along the stones here or the wall there. Even within the mansion the mist creeped. Its dark halls blanketed by the mist on the first floor as spiders crawled up the walls to evade its cold grasp. Night had fallen on the Osada manor. Still with its large walls covered in creeping vines and broken or dirtied windows on window near the top remained intact. A single candle light flickered within. Its dim light the only hint of life. Still something else besides the mist creeped within. Something that sent shivers down the spine and raised the hairs on the back of the neck. Sero was the only one here and he appeared as man, but felt like a monster.

His dull grey eyes stared at the window, the single clean, unbroken window in this place. His reflection in it seemed little more then a phantom. A spirit they say haunted this place. Truth was he was this places only haunt, though the building did creak and groan of its own will at times. His eyes took in the mist for a time before he let his grave touched gaze lower to his pale hands. Within his fingers was a single slip of paper. A scroll with a mission in it dictating what he was to do. Some Herbs in the nearby woods needed to be gathered, but it had become a dangerous place infested with criminal scum and animals. Not that there was any difference in his eyes. Each bled and died the same. Either way if they were sending him in there, they intended for blood to spill. Quietly he moved the paper in his right hand to the open flame. It took less then a second for it to be engulfed yet he didn't bother to let go until the last of the fire had burned the sheet. His slightly torched fingers blackened from the smoke. Yet he felt nothing of it.

Still he moved away from it and towards his wardrobe and opened the double doors. Reaching within he pulled out his grey and purple robes. The dark purple seemed to blend in to the mist as well as the grey. Slipping into it he tightened it with a belt with two loops to it on either side of his waist and a sash that went from his right hip to his shoulder. With that he closed the wardrobe and moved over to a large stand up weapons locker. Opening the double doors it revealed several weapons. Not the arsenal he used to have but the best from them. From the stand at the bottom he collected the Wakizashi and the Katana placing them both on his left hips loops and tightening them in place. From another stand he collected final goodbyes, a dual barreled kunai launcher preloaded with two quality Kunai and slipped it into one of the slots on his right hip. Along the back wall was eight more Kunai to which he placed in the sash. Under those was a folded windmill shuriken. Grabbing that he slipped it onto a hook on the small of his back from the belt securing it there. Lastly he grabbed a strange almost rope like metal coil. Placing the coil into his last hip slot with a metal hilt sticking up for easy drawing but secured there unless pulled. He was armed and ready to do as he was asked.

662/2500

Once more Sero proceeded down the dark hallways of the manor. Each step moving in near silence as the manor seemed to creak in his passing. Not due to his foot steps but almost as if it spoke as he moved. Each groan followed each turn he made progressing lower and lower into the darkness of the manor. His dull grey eyes taking in everything. The spiders that scurried up into the rafters as he passed, The tattered curtains that shifted with the breeze through the broken windows. He knew from the moisture on the walls and floors it was likely cold and humid. He knew this because he knew the science based on the evidence. The thing was he had to observe these things because he could not feel them. He never could feel anything. Pain was something his mind had never developed as useful. Perhaps he had felt pain at some point when he was a mere infant but he couldn't recall it. He needed to surpass it and so he had and now it was gone. He didn't see the point in re-obtaining it either. Still his gaze took in that the water wasn't frozen so it wasn't below thirty two degree's. He had no need to bundle up to protect himself more. Not that anything close to normal freezing temperature would hinder him much.

Still as he moved through the entry way he shifted through the mist there. The blanket hardly parting as he moved through it and his feet seemed to fade away in it. His movements like a specter shifting through its haunt. It was as if he simply flowed along as he swept into the mist. A pale hand reached out and pressed on part of the door to allow him to pass. Its whine breaking through the night silence like a high pitched scream. The mist had rusted the hinges considerably. Still his dull grey eyes barely took that in before he continued through the garden. Avoiding the hedge maze entirely he passed by the crumbling remains of statues depicting people from the history of Kirigakure. Even the statue of his father was in poor repair. Its right arm fallen off and laying in pieces in the growth at his feet. However Sero barely passed it a glance as he made his way for the bridge. He had work to do and no time for sentimentality. Even as he stepped to the bridge he began to fade into the mist.

As he traveled he did so only in the thickest part of the mists ever present in the night. His robes and pale skin, as well as his silver hair blending into the mist almost perfectly. He passed by most without so much as a shiver and a look around them from the citizens. They could feel his aura nearby. Like a monster in the night watching them. As if it was just outside of their reach. They quickly hurried on their way not wishing to discover what it was that stalked the night. Shinobi and other trained individuals he passed placed their hands on their weapons and peered into the mist. Most of them knew he was out there but didn't know where. The less trained ones let show a small amount of fear, the more experienced ones though, the local ones knew of Sero already. They knew it was him out there and that he didn't hunt law abiding individuals. Still even knowing of him they kept their hands on their weapons. Peering in his direction leaving him to wonder if they could see him. If they could detect even him within the mist.

622/1284

Regardless Sero was making good time towards the woods. These rare herbs located deep within were his only concern. Anyone scared of just his passing likely wouldn't be after him for a fight anyway. Fear was like a disease. It gripped the muscles and slowed the mind. Each decision was influenced like under the effects of a fever. Sweat broke out and the eyes saw things that were not even there. It was a powerful tool indeed. Still not being able to remove that tool from a situation had Proven difficult for Sero in the past. Simple purchases meant cornering someone in the market. Allies avoided him or desired to do battle with him. The latter of choices was only good if they could survive him. So far he hadn't murdered any of his country men who attacked him but he had made a couple of them bleed. The one female specimen he had worked with before had been cut by him once, then forced to kill a man under his direction during the second meeting. He doubted she was his biggest fan. Then again a lack of fans might indicate if she was a fan of his, being perhaps his only fan that did indeed make her his biggest fan.

Still his eyes took in his surroundings as light faded and only the feint glow of the moon light the woods around him. He was a distance in now and he was nearing his location. Still he kept himself blended within the mist over taking high ground to scout the area. This area was lawless. He wanted to slip about unseen if he could. Still he moved in silence as he progressed along. He wasn't scanning the area for the herbs he was after. Such a thing was trivial and pointless. Doing so he would likely run into nocturnal wildlife and he had no urge to tangle with such creatures at night when they had the advantage. He could see but it was limited due to the lack of light. A creature with the ability to move freely and keep track of him would prove difficult. No, what he was looking for was signs of a camp. Any criminal in this area likely had some herbs harvested and stockpiled already. Killing them and taking the stockpiles would save him time and effort. Not to mention it would clean up some scum off of Kiri's map.

Still he knew at least a little of the wild. Most animals avoided a camp fire. So anyone surviving out here would of built one to not only stay warm and perhaps cook but to ward off the creatures stalking the night. Their issue was that Sero was not like those animals. A fire attracted him, not kept him at bay. Still he lifted his face and sniffed the air. He could smell a couple of things. First was the obvious, the smell of burning wood. Beneath that was the burning meat, but almost hidden under all that was the smell of death. After deducing which way was upwind of him he moved quietly as could be through the mist. After a time he saw it. The light of a fire and the shadows that danced around it. On the ground was some loot likely stolen from some travelers as it was stained in blood and two dead wild dogs. A pig was roasting on the fire as well. But what drew his dead grey eyes was the men dressed in leathers gathered around the camp fire. They had been talking up until he arrived. Now they looked about them in silence. They could sense him nearby. They could feel him on the air like death creeping ever closer. Hands went for weapons and drew them as they edged around the fire. Pirates....scared of what was hidden in the forest. Four men that should never have remained within Kiri and would soon pay for that mistake.

667/1951

Sero watched as they inched around the fire. His head tilting as he quietly reached up to his chest and pulled out a single Kunai. It was only a matter of time, but the herd always sent out someone to investigate. They always sent a single sheep to the slaughter. Quietly as any predator he circled them. The mist clung to him and seemed to be a part of him as he blended into it like he was a part of it. Little more then a dark spirit within the mist. Still he remained close enough they could feel him. He could see the fear in their eyes and the reasoning skills dimming. The sweat on their brow as they searched in vain for him. They knew he was there for them, an unseen reaper was worse to them then an attack. They could handle what they knew, what they could face with a weapon. The unknown however stretched the imagination. Bad decisions would be made soon. He could taste it as if the salt of their sweet sweat was laced with fear. Like a cold tongue of the grave touched their neck. It was almost like a loving embrace. But none wished to embrace the grave here tonight.

Still as he had predicted one of the four shoved another and nodded towards the woods. The did this as if speaking would bring the thing in the darkness upon them. As if maybe it wasn't watching them. Those dead grey eyes of Sero's within the mist did not seem to be noticed by them. Perhaps the demons in their mind had no eyes? Still sero's pale lips did not part in a smile. Instead his body tensed as his prey moved forward. Inching with cutlass drawn as his comrades watched. Step by hesitant step his shaking form approached further into the mist away from the safety of a fire. He was close enough now Sero could see the mans lips moving. He did not know a pirate prayed. Perhaps in such moments anyone could find spirituality. Perhaps it was some buffer from the fear or some small comfort for him. However it was not something that feared their gods wrath out there. As he drew closer to the mist he squinted. He could see something there. Or was it his imagination? And then suddenly Sero moved out of the mist and grabbed him by the neck yanking him into the night. A scream echoed through the woods as the others all gasped and gathered pointing their weapons to the woods. They looked for a moment as the scream faded, but no more noise was made. Where their ally had been there was nothing. Silence and that feeling a monster was there somewhere.

They gathered around the fire now with their eyes scanning the forest. Weapons grasped in damp hands as they breathed quickly, on the verge of panic. Now they wouldn't be willing to leave the light of the fire. No longer did they suspect something was there. They had lost someone to it. Their fear was materialized and they dared not enter its territory. The fire was safety to them. A barrier from the unknown. It was all they could believe in. Suddenly out of the mist the body of their comrade with its entrails torn from it flew as if flung by a great beast at them. Diving out of the way they avoided it only to realize too late they were not its target. As it crashed down it crushed through the fire. Darkness plunged them into an abyss of the unknown. Their eyes too used to the light as they were blinded. Before they could move or regain their sight Sero moved in. His distance had allowed him to continue having some sight. Within a second he was next to the one furthest away from the group. With complete silence he slit his throat. Before he had the life removed from his eyes Sero picked him up bodily and spun him around before pinning him upside down to a tree through his gut. With that he was gone again. Slipped into the mist as if he was never there.

Slowly the other two regained sight and found each other. They shook in fear as the darkness was everywhere. For a moment they felt each of them was their only anchor to sanity. It was then when they relied on each other the most that they realized there was only two. Their eyes darted about before they heard it. A dripping noise echoed in the night. Two sets of eyes finally adjusted as they looked to the sound. It was then that they saw their other friend, who they had lost sight of for mere seconds pinned upside down and dead from a tree. It wasn't human what they faced. With screams they rose to their feet and turned towards a direction leading they knew not where. Away from there was their only goal. They began to do a mad dash through the woods. Racing away in the dark in a blind panic. With out a noise a kunai flew through the night and pegged one of them behind the knee. Dropping him. He screamed out to his friend "Yuka! Don't leave me! Please!" But his friend fled without even looking back. With those final words he felt the kunai ripped from behind his knee and then darkness gripped him as his neck was snapped. Never having the chance to fight back.

The final man ran. He wanted to survive no matter the cost. He had outrun and out lived the others. He had to survive, The monster couldn't possibly have kept up while killing his friend. He slowed finally and came to a stop as he panted. His hands on his knee's. He looked about before he grinned. He had made it, He had escaped. It was then in his moment of triumph he felt it. Like winters cold grasp he felt the monsters aura return. He gripped his weapon tight in both hands. The dull blade glinting in the moonlight. He turned too and fro as he looked about. Finally in a scream he roared out "Who are you?! Face me!" And then suddenly there was the sound of two nearly simultaneous twings. Sero fired his kunai launcher and slammed a kunai into each of the mans shoulders dropping him to the ground. Sheathing the kunai launcher Sero finally appeared from the mist. A young man no older then fifteen. Yet no life or pity showed on his face as the downed man stared at him. Finally Sero spoke. "You, you are without honor pirate, You left your friends behind instead of standing with them. For that you don't get to die having never seen my face. Know the face of your grave keeper and face your death pirate. You can not escape it." The man screamed in defiance but he had no use of his arms. Without uttering another word Sero dragged him by his throat back to the camp, It was there he sliced the mans legs and cut out his eyes. He quietly gathered the heads of the mans friends using the sack from the loot and collected the herbs he had been there for. With that he hopped up to the branches and waited. He watched as the predators of the night came and ate the helpless man alive. His screams slowly fading as eventually they fed on his vital organs. With that Sero left. His mission complete. Justice served.

Exit thread
1278/3229
2500/2500 mission complete
729 remaining
Strength
B to B-1 700/700

29 remaining