Arthir continued to walk down the path until he saw what the captain described as 'Thunder Grounds'. He tugged at his red sweater as he saw the dark clouds hovering above it, occasional flashes of lightning acting like a 'keep away' sign for naughty kids. Arthir...took a deep breath, placing a hand to the side of his black jeans.

"Do it for the jutsus," he said to himself, shaking his head.

His mind went back to the dimly lit room with the ninja captain inside, pacing back and forth.

Inside a dimly lit room, Arthir sat.

"So why these three locations?" he asked the pacing captain.

The captain, a tall man wearing a rabbit mask, stopped to look at the red-haired man. "At these locations, you will learn how to draw out the inner Mokuton release," he said, now pointing at Arthir, "It comes in a time of needs. Once you've felt it for the third time, you should get the hang of it."

Arthir stared.

"Maybe," the captain added on. "Probably."

Arthir nodded. "Alrighty then."

"At each of those locations," the captain began to pace again, "you will meet one of my men. Talk to them for more info."

Arthir shrugged. "But why not just tell me now-?"

"The locations, again, are," the captain interrupted, "The Abandoned mines. Thunder Field. And sky- ..." He stopped to look over at a small male blond ninja, who Arthir named 'Tiny'. "Is it Thunder Field or Thunder Area?"

Tiny shook his head. "I think it's 'Thunder Grounds', sir," he said, his voice high as usual.

"Right, Thunder Grounds. You will go there, and then Sky Point!"

Arthir was then handed the list of locations by Tiny.

"I-... Uh-..." Tiny shuffled in place, arms behind his back. "I think you should f-follow the list from top to bottom. It's easier that way, I think."

Arthir looked at Tiny with a cocked eyebrow. "Easier? Why?"

"You'll have to climb Sky Point from the ground to the top. S-so... It's probably best if you do that last, to get a bit stronger."

Arthir stared, and then nodded. "Alrighty."

With the exchange being made, the captain finished with a quesiton.

"Do you have anything to ask me?"

Arthir looked at the location list, and then sighed. "Guess I'll see ya on the other side," he said, rolling his pink eyes as he got up from sitting. He made his way to the entry way of the dim room, opening the door for sunlight to pour in.

He was now on Thunder Grounds, a plain made of uneven ground with small rocky hills littered about the field. He was walking across the field next to lighting rods.

"I really don't think this is worth it," he repeated multiple times. He paused, waiting next to a lightning rod, and then jumping as lightning struck the rod. "Starting to reaaally think this isn't worth it!" Arthir shouted, walking again.

After some time of walking, he stopped in the middle of Thunder Grounds, looking around as he heard the background noise of constant crackling thunder cease.

"Huh?" The red-headed man turned, noticing this.

Then, he heard light jingling. It sounded like...chains? No, it was another type of material that made 'clinking' noise. He's actually never heard this sound before. As he checked around himself, he noticed...a floating bead necklace. Arthir stared at it curiously. A chill went down his spine as he noticed another detail. Skeletons. Multiple skeletons were hooked and attached in some way or another to either the bead necklace, or to other bones that belonged to other skeletons.

"W-what the hell is this?!" he said in response, backing away slowly.

A silhouette started to appear, darkening to reveal the shape of a large human, about ten meters tall. The sharp started to take shape of something else when a bolt of lightning struck it, the electrical sparks traveling over its body. Then, another bolt hit it. And another one. One more after that. Suddenly, the bolts began to strike from almost all directions, creating a more visible form for this skeletal creature.

As it finished forming, it lowered it's skull to Arthir, its dark sockets 'eyeing' him. It tossed its head from side to side, it's dual horns swiping around in the air above as it did.

There was silence between the two... And then, it spoke.

"You are alone?" it asked, its voice airy and sounding like a hiss. It would be easy for one to assume it as a he.

Arthir, too scared to lie, nodded.

It checked to it's left, and then slowly turned its head to the right, as if making sure Arthir was telling the truth. It then looked back down at the young man.

"H-hey, listen," Arthir started, "I'm just going to uh-... I'm going to go, alright?"

The skeleton-like creature stared.

"S-so, if you don't mind, I'll just uh-..." Arthir started backing away, pointing behind him with his thumb, "I'll just go, alright?"

"But why?" asked the creature, tilting it's skull to the side.

"W-why?" Arthir repeated, staring with wide eyes, freezing in place.

"Why should I do such a thing?"

Arthir looked in silence, eyes shifting to the side. They went back to looking at the creature when it spoke again.

"Convince me," it started, tilting its head to the other side, "and I will. My word, you have."

Arthir gulped, and then cleared his throat. If there was an ultimate test of lying out there in the world... this just might be it.

Hurahn, The Lightning (Uncontracted Summon):

952

Hotaka would be at the Thunder Grounds, wandering around as he watched the lightning strike the rods strewn out and about among the grounds, happily enjoying himself among the cracks and crackles of the lightning striking them, and the bits of quick-fire that came off of each strike, crackling for just a moment before fading out existence. It would be dangerous to be near these rods, of course, but viewing them from a short distance is great, and if the ringing in his ears stood testament to anything, it would be the simple fact that the sounds of the thunder booming like an angered god would be almost music to his ears. All in all he enjoyed himself in this environment. It was chaotic, of course, and dangerous as well, but the constant noises kept him from suffering his silence, and prevented him from getting stressed and running ragged from the lack of being able to hear anything else save for his own thoughts. Wandering around aimlessly, the red-haired Genin would take out his apron from his black pants, putting the white article of clothing on over his neck, covering the front of his torso, which would have already been covered by a black long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves this time having been rolled down for warmth.

Soon enough, he would reach the middle of the holy grounds, where his eyes would open wide with surprise and fear, as the constant crackling noises and the booming declarations of thunder seemingly began to cease, putting him in a temporary state of shock, before he heard something chime in, with a tone and pitch that would be so faint that only he could hear it within his head. 'Torturer..' Hotaka could hear the voice chime in, though the short comment left him wondering slightly as to who it was speaking about. Looking around, he would see around ten meters away a red-haired male that would be standing facing away from him and, to Hotaka's surprise, he would see a silhouette appear before his very eyes, the shape transforming into that of a person standing extremely tall, perhaps even ten meters. Then, as if it was getting struck by the gods themselves, sparks of electricity would travel all over the beasts' body thanks to the gift of a bolt of lightning. This would be repeated multiple times, with the bolts striking the monster from nearly all directions, creating a skeletal creature.

Hotaka would watch with amazement as the monster would be distracted with the other red-haired male, clearly wishing to communicate, or even harm, the seemingly scared stranger. He began slowly inching towards the two as he watched the stranger begin to back away, which seemingly caused the monster to tilt its head to the side, with the stranger himself now freezing in place. At this point Hotaka would be around five meters away from the two, clearly in seeing and hearing distance. "Torturer!" He would yell out as he waved his right hand wildly in the air, his yellow eyes focused on the beast. "Why do you not let the child of a Basan go away?" He would ask of the beast, blindly getting involved in affairs that clearly didn't involve him at all.

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Frantically, his mind worked. He had easily came up with an answer to give, but then he also thought of how easily that could be shut down. Then, another possible answer came to mind, but that was short lived when he thought of a response this creature might give.

"Uh-..." Arthir would start to speak, but kept freezing every time he did. "Uh-..." he started again.

His pink eyes watched as the skeletal creature tilted its head to the other side now. Despite its intimidating nature, it seemed kind of patient with him. Maybe that is a hint as to how confident it was in its own 'logic defusing' abilities. After all, why rush when you've already won? Arthir gulped down the building saliva, his legs starting to feel like wobbly wet noodles. A chill ran down his spine as sweat started to build, just as he had realized something. He didn't have anything. Usually, something, anything, would come to mind. And of course, something did! However, along with it, came the usual counter argument the person would possibly give. Yet, Arthir would also think of  a counter to that counter. It would go on like that until the other person submitted.

This...thing however... For some reason, it was different. Was it the height that threw him off? Or was it the fact that it wasn't human? Is it the confidence that its aura is giving off that frightened him? Or is it the words it said earlier? Something about letting him go? That would hint at Arthir being needed for something. Yet this feeling, this damned feeling engulfing him just by making eye contact with this...creature... It-... It was haunting, and was causing pins and needles. Why?

Arthir had long realized this, but once again, his brain reminded him of it. The mind works in mysterious ways. With this in mind, he realized something. If he doesn't do anything, the worst scenario he had strummed up in his head will become reality. So, rather than sitting idly by as events played out, Arthir gave it his best shot at the 'lying competition'. He cleared his throat.

"Well, I think-" Arthir was interrupted by someone.

Arthir looked over, but then glanced back at the skeletal creature, watching it too turn sluggishly to see. They both listened to what they had to say.

"Ba-...?" Arthir blinked rapidly. He scratched at his head, a bit confused. "Ba...san?" he repeated. "What is that, some sort of hot sauce?" Arthir said lowly, scratching at his head some more.

As he looked back at the lightning creature, he noticed that...its head was still turned to face them. For what reason, Arthir didn't know, but he got the feeling that it was intrigued with this person. Arthir debated if he should start sprinting now or just wait it out to see what happens.

Hurahn, The Lightning (Uncontracted Summon):

1438

"Yes, child, Basan! Bawk bawk and breathes fire!" Hotaka would exclaim as he looked at the skeletal creature, whom of which sluggishly turned to see him, clearly listening as well. "The torturer is staring.. The creature sees... death he brings." Hotaka would say as he looked back as the creature, gazing right into where its' eyes should be, pins and needles covering his very being as he would continue looking directly at it. He could honestly say he never encountered anything like this before, and that it didn't even match the description of anything he knew about. It was certainly connected to the undead in some sort of way, at least appearance-wise, as that thing looked rather skeletal, and it was definitely connected to electricity as well, but other than that, this monstrous humanoid was something of a living mystery, one that can't be solved, even when in front of Hotaka's face. "Why do you exist? Let the bawking child go." He would say once more as he froze in place. Even someone as unhinged as him knew better at that moment than to move from where he was supposed to be.

He watched ass the other human present was confused, scratching their head, clearly from his repetition of what Hotaka had originally said. He heard him ask if it's some kind of hot sauce. "You're some kind of hot sauce." He would say as he winked at the other male before looking back at the monster. He wondered what they could say that could get them both out of this precarious position, and about whether or not the other one can run away if he caught the monster's attention long enough. Everything had a fear, right? Surely there is something this thing is scared of, anything that possibly exists that makes it feel like how the now slightly trembling Hotaka felt just from staring at it. "Why not let the boring chicken child go? They're no two-faced god, and certainly not a legless jester. The other ginger muffin will stay, and keep your ugliness company." Hotaka offered, offering for the strange beast to let the other male go, as he didn't seem as interesting as Hotaka himself, nor as worthy of getting killed. The small taunt at the end furthered served to put some icing on this tuna casserole of an offer. It didn't take an idiot to see that the being was clearly strong enough to keep the both of them there if it wanted, but did it have the brains? It was a skeleton, after all.

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Just as he was debating on running, the ...odd...person started to speak again.

"B-bawk-...?" Arthir's eyebrows rose as he repeated. "Bawk and breathes...fire? What in the hell are you-...?" Arthir shook his head, looking back at the creature.

It seemed...more curious about this person than him, which pulled the thought of running away back into his mind. But every time he got ready to run, the slightest move of this monster's head made him freeze in fear. Finally, Arthir abandoned the thought of running, deciding to just stay and wait. Maybe, with the help of this...guy over here, he'd be able to talk his way out of this.

The person seemed to be talking to...themselves? Unless the words he was saying was for him. If that was the case, Arthir couldn't quite understand. Something about a 'torturer' or-...? Did he know what this thing was? He decided to ask, but heard something else leave his mouth. It was a question for the lightning construct, regarding why it's here. Wait... Wait, did this guy just say something about him being a hot sauce? Arthir pointed at himself.

"Hot...sauce?" he asked. Was he-...? Was he hitting on him? Arthir decided to roll with it. "You wanna-..." he shrugged, waiting for the guy to finish his sentence to the creature about letting the 'boring chicken child' go, "Y-you wanna be my hot wing-?"

Out the corner of Arthir's eyes, he saw the creature's arm raised, and suddenly forced down, pointing at the random boy now. The clouds above him started to darken, bright flashing appearing twice. Then, a random blue lightning bolt falling down towards him. Odd. For lightning, even Arthir had to agree that it was...pretty slow, moving about twenty meters per second. Of course, Arthir wasn't sure about the speed. He was just guessing. Though, with all the flashing, and the obvious telegraphing, the guy had enough time to run away from the spot, surely.

Cold, hollow laughter came from the creature as it readjusted itself. "My reasons for being are of no concern to you, human." The creature starts to walk forward towards the young man. "I go where I please. There is no longer one to command my being."

Arthir watched as the skeleton continued walking over to the young man. This was good. He'd be able to run away! Or maybe not, since this thing has control over the freakin' weather apparently. Damn...

"Uh-..." Arthir started to talk, not what was to come out of his mouth. "W-well then, who are you?" he asked so casually.

What little courage that formed inside of him to ask such a thing was instantly gone when the skeleton's head whipped around so quickly that the wind itself whistled. The way it turned its head suggested it had almost forgotten about Arthir, surprised that it hadn't sensed him before...or something. The darkness of its sockets... The darkness seemed to go on forever, almost like black holes sucking in his soul. In his home, Arthir at least was able to see something in the dark with all the lights off. But this? This wasn't your normal amount of darkness. This was...advanced darkness. The need to hold a flashlight fell onto Arthir for some reason. Weird.

Arthir gulped. "Y-your-...? Y-your...n-name?" he asked again, his heart clearly not into asking the question, evident in the lowering of his volume and cracking of his voice.

The creature didn't answer, but only stared for what felt like a millennium. It finally turned away to look back down at the young man most fond with chickens, its attention gained by him.

Hurahn, The Lightning (Uncontracted Summon):

2070

Hotaka would watch the other stranger as he pointed to himself, repeating what the Genin had called him before asking him is he wanted to be his hot wing. For a moment, Hotaka would be shocked. The child of a chicken would make Hotaka his hot wing? Is that a compliment or an insult, where perhaps he hated himself, or perhaps he just liked eating others of his own kind. With a cluck and a bawk bawk this stranger probably eats chickens on the downtime, with Hotaka could get behind. "Sure! Spicy or mild?" He would say as the shocked face would turn into one of a grin as he responded to this stranger, only for the monster to regain his attention.

He noticed this ugly abomination had raised its arm, only to suddenly swing it downwards, pointing at Hotaka in a pretty accusing manner. Instead of a proper response, the sky would darken, with bright flashing appearing twice. Hotaka got a creeping feeling as to what this meant, and immediately jumped backwards, landing around a meter and a half of where he was just at. As he regained his balance and composure, he saw through his yellow eyes a blue lightning bolt land right where he was just at, followed by the cold, hollow laughter of the monster, whom of which readjusted itself. It would tell him about how his reasons for existing are of no concern to Hotaka. As it began walking towards the Genin, it would tell him of how it goes where it pleases, and that there is no longer one to command its being.

Hotaka looked away from the monster for a moment and towards the red-headed stranger, half-hoping he would run away. The entire reason why he got involved in the first place was so he could run away, and the Genin could distract and escape from the creature next, but alas, the stranger decided instead to talk, asking the creature who they were, apparently having found a pair of lost balls and putting them to good use for the moment. That moment would be virtually gone, however, as the skeleton's head whipped around at an extremely fast pace, making the very wind whistle as it did, clearly glaring over at the chicken boy. The stranger would repeat himself, though from the cracking in his voice and the change of tone anyone could clearly see that he had lost that shred of bravery, now clearly intimidated by this hulking thing.

The monster would then look back towards Hotaka, clearly more intrigued by the deranged individual, but Hotaka himself at this point would be smiling madly, the thoughts in his brain having had come together already to scream to him what he should do, and without second thought, he would do it. Unknown to anyone but him, or at least it should be unknown, the Genin had activated a Genjutsu just then upon the beast, whom of which should see the surrounding grass surround it like a torrent, one of which would rise high into the air. This would be imaginary, however, as this is just the first phase of the Genjutsu. Hotaka himself would run from where he was and towards the stranger, attempting to stand next to him. "I may have angered this God." He would say, already knowing the creature is most likely above such a jutsu, though he still had to try it nonetheless. If it worked, that thing should no longer see Hotaka standing there, but instead its worst fear, whatever it was, being cast upon it.


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Spoiler:

Arthir never received a name from the creature, left standing there to watch what it was doing. He tried to pay no mind to the mad ramblings of the odd young man. He instead focused on the skeleton, a bit worried about what it would do next. The young man did...something with his hands. What was that, some sort of good luck hand sign? Hand sign... Wait, that's something that was taught in the ninja academy or whatever!There were twelve...or something. Right? Which one was that one he made? Was it...a dog? A cat? A giraffe? Or maybe it was the seal of the-... Wait... Wait, whatever this stranger did, it must have been effective.

Arthir's eyes went back to looking at the skeleton creature as it suddenly moved its head upwards. What was it looking at? The red-haired man looked up as well, seeing...well...nothing much but clouds, small bits of lightning traveling across the skies. He went back to looking at the skeleton creature, not sure what was going on as it started to look around itself. It honestly looked like nothing was going on that warranted such a reaction.

Unknown to Arthir however, the creature was seeing...something. At first, it was just grass flowing around, which didn't impress it at first. As the grass had fallen, it went back to looking at the weird human, like a statue. Well, the monster had to admit, it was an impressive way to escape. Though, it found it a bit interesting that such a technique was used, but not effectively. It then heard a voice, one all too familiar to it.

"Hurahn," he shouted, voice deep and commanding.

The creature, Hurahn, started looking for the source, the voice echoing around it. Behind an illusionary version of the bizarre young man, came a very bulky man with tanned skin. His clothes, which consisted of a white martial arts gi and dark green shorts, were worn and torn, along with gashes across his body. He had wooden sandals on, and an incredibly bushy mustache and eyebrows. His brown eyes were sharp as he glared at Hurahn.

"Look to me," the man commanded.

There was a cold sigh, and a bit of a groan, from Hurahn as leaned a bit forward to stare. "Betsumi Fasumodo," Hurahn spoke.

Arthir, outside of the illusion, looked to see what was going on. "Betsumi?" he questioned, seeing...no one. "What in the hell is he-...? Did he lose his mind?" Arthir shrugged, not sure what was going on, but decided to slowly back away.

Back in the genjutsu, Betsumi stood in a dominant stance, power practically pouring off of his body.  

"I've told you before," he started, forming multiple hand signs with great confidence, "Even in death, I will come to stop you!"

When the final hand seal was formed, Betsumi slammed his hands down onto the ground below, black summoning markings spreading outwards. To the left of Hurahn, a large mound of earth rose, like a bubble rising through thick liquid. Then, a massive stone arm rose into the air. The hand looked human, but the arm...was ridiculous round, yet just cylinder enough to keep its arm shape. Strange glowing lights flowed through the markings on the arms. On the other side of Hurahn, another similar arm rose, the same light flowing through the markings. Then, in front of Hurahn, behind Betsumi and the illusionary version of the odd young man, rose the top half of a massive statue. It resembled a human in terms of body shape, but its head was, like Hurahn's, animalistic. The statue's eyes glowed with the same color flowing through the arms, staring down at the tiny skeleton. Well, tiny in comparison. Then, as if flaunting the dominance its size brought, it roared down to Hurahn.

The stone statue's large fingers sluggishly made three hand signs. They were not of the traditional twelve, which had always confused Hurahn. With each seal that was formed, a new effect had befallen on the skeletal creature. The first was the seal of the earth mother, basically an upright triangle with the ring fingers forming a light near the bottom. When this seal was complete, Hurahn was frozen in place. No... Not frozen, but rather, stuck. Gravity had increased dramatically for the being, grunting coming from it.

The second seal started to take shape; The seal of the sky father. It was, again, a triangle, but the index fingers formed two small circles. Hurahn's body floated into the air, but the increased gravity still pressuring its body to remain still. Needless to say, the increased gravity along with the pulling upwards would result in a lot of pain, the body feeling like it was being pulled in two, had this been your average human.

Finally, the third seal, the seal of the star child. It was, once again, a triangle at first. But, the middle fingers bent downwards to form a diamond shape, with two smaller triangles on the side of it. The statue angled its hands so that Hurahn was in the center of the diamond. This had to be done at least three times, for when every time Hurahn was in its line of view, the view would magnify. It started out as a small spec, Hurahn. Then, the view magnified multiple times to the point where Hurahn's face was in the diamond shape. There was a sudden burst of air around the hand sign as it moved back, like a cannon being propelled back after a shot.

"Grand Art: Demon Earth Entrapment Technique!"shouted Betsumi.

On the forehead of the skeletal being, a black diamond formed, only to scatter across the being's body in the shape of tiny mites almost. Then, the skeletal being's body, once consisting of dark air and lightning, started to harden with stone. It started with the feet and hands first and then crept to the legs and arms. The midsection of the body started to harden as well. This-... This was how Hurahn was sealed for its trip back into the summoning realm eons ago. And it was off again. Or...was it? A low grumble came from Hurahn as it started to glow.

Back outside of the illusion, Arthir shook his head, watching the skeleton stand there.

"Alright then," he said, deciding to cautiously walk over to the odd young stranger. When close enough, about three meters away, he glanced at the groaning creature, and then back at the stranger. "Uh... Hiya." He rubbed his brow with his index and thumb fingers, looking off to the side. How would he go about asking the stranger what they had done to this...beast? He decided to just be forward, picking up where the conversation about chicken had left off. "What-...? What was that about a chicken that-?"

As he was talking, a soulless roar came from Hurahn.

"Ghosts hold no power over me," Hurahn said, its body starting to grow...wings made of lightning on its back. It moved its arms up to its chest, crossing them with great effort.

As it was moving, Arthir figured whatever the strange young man had done must not be strong enough to completely effect Hurahn, but convincing enough to humor it instead. Yet, he had to wonder. Just what the hell was going with this creature?

"I am the one! I am power unrestrained! The deceased remain parished,"Hurahn spoke as the ground began to shake, its wings of lightning spreading wider, "by my hands!"

Arthir wasn't sure if there was any flowing right now, but he noticed the wind had suddenly ceased its gentle nature. It was now gently rising as if shooting out of the ground. Then, a deafening screech came from Hurahn as the feathers of the lightning wings started to scatter into the air. Arthir saw this, watching as a few of the lightning feathers fell back down to the earth, whistling as it traveled. On contact, it made a large explosion that could be mistaken as a sunrise or sunset, had it not been for the superstar to be up already. Arthir saw another feather fall, whistling and demolishing what rocks were embedded in the ground at that location.

Arthir glanced at Hurahn, who seemed busy screeching towards the sky. He took this as his only chance to flee.

"T-time to go! Tiiiime to go!" He said, being a bit selfish and running, leaving the strange young man there with the skeleton. As he ran, he looked back, making sure to watch for any feathers that would decide to target him. Then, he noticed three feathers stopping and pointing in his direction. He also noticed three more feathers, stopped to hover above the odd stranger.

"Run!" he tried to scream back so the stranger could hear. However, the 'booms' and the whistling of the wind and flying feathers would probably deafen his voice. Not to mention that creature's screaming.

As he ran, Arthir prayed to whatever would hear his thoughts that he hoped these feathers acted just like portable television. That is to say, he hoped there was a range limit, and if he was far enough, would be out of the feathers' reach.

Hurahn, The Lightning (Uncontracted Summon):

3631

Hotaka would only laugh as the monster was clearly entrapped within the Genjutsu from its looking around after having seemingly seen the effects. "Boo!" He would exclaim as he would raise his left arm, beginning to bite at the skin on the underside of his forearm, chewing and nibbling on it, trying to break the skin as the temptation to harm himself began growing worse and worse. It was pain that kept him under check, and it was pain that he so desperately needed right now in order for him to figure out what to do next. He would chuckle and shudder as he broke the skin, trickles of blood coming out finally. He heard the monster exclaim "Betsumi", clearly implying there was another here, though it seemingly looked at nothing. It pleased him that even monsters had fears, and even monsters had minds developed enough to experience them first-hand. Whatever fear it had, he couldn't care less, whether it truly was a fire-breathing chicken or it was some great master of summoning, one which could keep it under check, Hotaka couldn't give less of a damn as long as it kept this thing busy.

Seeing the other male approach him, stopping about three meters away, he would glance at Hotaka, which would make the young adult stop chewing on his arm, instead rolling the black sleeve back down. He would watch as the other male looked over to the creature, and back at him. "I was making hot sauce." He would respond when the stranger finally said hello to him before seemingly entering some sort of deep thought. As he was about to ask him something, beginning with mentioning something about a chicken, both males would hear a loud, soulless roar, causing the Genin to look at the monster, seeing it begin to grow wings, which were made of lightning.

Hotaka figured that whatever the creature had seen had truly angered it, and that means this is his time to go away, poof, bye-bye. "Scurry away, chicky chicky!" He would exclaim as he began to run away, hoping to clear some distance between himself and the monster right then and there. He could still hear it speak, exclaiming how it was power unrestrained, speaking about how the deceased will remain parished by his hands. The ground would begin shaking, causing the male to stumble a bit, but it wouldn't stop him from running away. He would see the other male running away as well, along with the sounds of explosions, which would light up the sky in bright, brilliant flashes. The screeching of the monster was all the more astonishing. Truly, this would be a story to tell whatever child ended up being his, about how he angered a lightning bug and lived to tell the tale.

Soon enough, Hotaka's head start would be caught up and then surpassed by the other male, whom of which was quite clearly faster than him, also seemingly being one that had the sense to run away at that moment. He hoped that they both would cross that range line, as he could also see the feathers of lightning hover over the both of them when he looked to see what was happening, making the Genin try to run as fast as he can, hoping that they both can surpass whatever ranger this technique had before they both ended up being nothing more than fried eggs.

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Arthir continued to run. He heard, what he thought, were multiple chicken puns. He didn't care to ask about them, the constant 'booms' and whistling in the air acting as his cheerleading squad to urge him to keep running. He glanced to the left, seeing a feather land fairly close to him. The ground beneath the feather had glowing cracks that grew outward, the small bit of earth itself rising slowly like a pimple before another explosion took place. Luckily, Arthir saw all of this, having the sense to move away from that direction immediately.

He then noticed something. Near him, as he was running, was the chicken guy! Huh! Despite being a loon of some sort, they at least had enough sense to run from the face of death. A part of him wanted to stop to see if they had made it past the theoretical range limit, but the majority of him was too scared to. The part of him that wanted to stop to chat had diminished quickly when he heard a whistle. It wasn't like the other whistles, to which he knew it was feathers falling onto random pieces of land. This whistle felt personal, like it was for him. He knew at least one was headed right for his back. He couldn't explain it, but he knew. Maybe this is what the feeling of death feels like. You know it's coming, and you feel it also.

The volume of the whistling grew louder. The fact that it hadn't landed on anything yet lead him to believe that his suspicions were right. This feather may just be for him. If he didn't make it, at least he took one for the chicken guy, right? And in a way, he died a hero. That's always good.

The whistling was so loud now, to the point where it was almost unbearable. Then, a sudden rush of wind blew against his back as the whistling went quieter. Fortunately, luck was on his side. The doomed feeling he felt left him, and the surrounding whistles went silent. Arthir turned behind him to look. In the distant, the skeletal being was still screaming its head off. Rising into the air were small dots of light, that changed directions, and fell to random spots on the ground. Three explosions went off right as the lights fell, and three more did later on. So the whistling that was right behind him and the chicken guy... Those must have been the explosive feathers chasing them. Were they targeted? id they home in on them? The part of Arthir that wanted to chat was now questioning all of this, curious as to how that technique worked. Again, that part faded fast when he saw the skeleton whip its head to the side, the screaming ceased. It was looking for them.

Out in the open, Arthir looked around for a place to hide but failed. It didn't seem to matter though since the skeletal being just...vanished. There were multiple lightning flashes beforehand sure, but after that, it just... poofed, leaving behind a dark humanoid figure. But then, that too faded away.

Hold on... Arthir narrowed his eyes, looking harder. No, the creature didn't just 'poof'. Rather, it was still there, just invisible, indicative by the same floating necklace from before. Arthir, not wanting to have another run in with this thing, started walking off. He then stopped, turning to the chicken guy.

"Hey," he started, "thanks." Arthir scratched his head, not sure what else to say. The only thing he gathered was this guy had a strange fixation of chicken or...something. "Alrighty then," he nodded to him, continuing his walk.

Only walking about twelve feet, he saw someone else coming closer. A large round man, wearing a ninja flak jacket and basic uniform of Kumogakure. His hair looked like a brown bush, and his eyes looked like drawn lines. He was smiling away as he was eating a...sandwiche.

"And where the hell were you?!" Arthir shouted.

The man, who Arthir calls 'Biggles', simply rose his sandwich, still smiling. Before Arthir could speak, he spoke.

"Watch out," he started, "for a floating necklace."

Arthir scratched his head, looking at the ground with raised eyebrows and wide eyes.

"If you see it, come look for me." The man swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. "I uh-... I'm supposed to guide you through multiple interrogative actions-... Where're you going?" he asked, watching Arthir walk away as he was talking. "Hey!" he kept calling out to him, walking after the red-headed man.

Arthir stopped walking. He turned his head to look at the chicken guy. My goodness, the look on his face screamed 'kill me' or something along those lines. He held up a hand and waved it with a smile on his face, turning away to walk further back to what he hopefully thought was Kumogakure.


Back home, he flopped onto his bed, his dirty suit ruining his clean sheets. It was about the same time of day when he got home.

"Two down," he groaned, "one more to go."

He fished for something in his pants' pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He opened it to see three location names on there.

"The abandoned mine, check," he nodded, "Thunder Grounds, check," he nodded again, "and now-..." His pink eyes landed on the final location he needed to go to. They closed as he folded the paper back up, and then slipped it into his pocket.

As he lied there, his mind connected some things. At both of these locations were creatures with extraordinary abilities. The first was an armadillo of some sort. The second was that skeleton thing. Are these connected somehow? If that's the case, maybe he should get some help for whatever the third location had in store.

Actually-... Actually, Arthir started to wonder a bit more. Why is he being told to go to these locations just to learn what 'Mokuton' is? Can't the captain just tell him? Yeah! Why is he going to these locations in the first place? And he almost died! Twice actually!

"Damn it!" Arthir shouted, "I'll ask him-"

A sudden wave of exhaustion had hit the young man.

"...later on. I'll ask him later on," he finished, relaxing on his back.

Despite the sun still being up, Arthir...was incredibly tired. And with good reason too. After all, he may have almost died today again. Almost.


4727

[Exit]