1 The Siege of Inabayama – Bitterness Tue Jun 26, 2018 9:38 pm
Chigetsu Hōzuki
Dead
- Spoiler:
- A split off from the "The Siege of Inabayama."
He ran. He ran so fast. Faster than he had ever moved before. He hadn't been able to feel anything in that moment. His body was lost to him. There was only movement. The wind against his face. The sweat against his skin. Her hand in his. Perception and emotions evaporated and were left to blow about in the wind and be lost in the endless expanses of blowing sands. It was all fear. An emotion so powerful that it burst up out of his gut and grasped at his mind. It pumped his lungs and spun his legs before conscious thought returned to him. Pride, what little of it he had, was left to die. He didn't need it. An iron point pounding against a steel plate would grow dull, but that difference in material could barely be used to explain what he was in this moment. He could feel it. Metal fracturing like glass against a fortified wall of flesh. Futility. That was the only word to describe it. There were no analytic thoughts or rationalizations made.
Yet he rushed ahead, going into the fire for those few moments. His body hadn't been quick enough to react. He saw it all happen. The rumbling rage of the two Gods were kept contained within their makeshift arena. Glancing at the audacious challenge to Kirigakure's military might felt almost perverse, as if he were seeing something that he wasn't meant to. Any ability to observe was cut short as the second horseman arrived. As the first had come to conquer and had went out conquering, so too would the second arrive as a beast stained with blood. The death of ANBU, respected warriors who Chigetsu aspired to be, were made trivial and effortless. Death and destruction spilled out as the bowels of the dead were exposed to the air, and the fetid stench of death seeped into the minds of those who remained alive.
Among the remains was the target of his desire. A piece of fragility among the sea of discarded and ruined strength. They too had ran, seized in fear, and meeting them Chigetsu would seize her hand. Had she not moved in those moments it likely would have been her corpse that he drug away, but that would have been his duty just as surely as this was. The convergence of pounding hearts rang out together, and they would flee until the spears of earth that had nearly pierced her through were far, far away. He wouldn't look back. The entrance of another figure to combat the growing chaos wasn't something he could find any comfort in. The flock of others that similarly fled would similarly be cast aside in his vision. All of it was ignored until he was panting for breath and his legs screaming up at his body to stop lest they give out under him. Adrenaline could only drive him so far before it burnt up, and he would drop back down into conscious thought.
Only once he stopped would he look back. The girl he had called out for was still alive. Unharmed. That was the only thing that mattered now. Dragging back her corpse, which he surely would have dove in to risk his life for all the same, would have left him with a deep emptiness. Unable to pull his eyes away, he would just look at her as he caught his breath. The sureality of their near death was something he needed to digest. He kept his hand in hers. His grip was tight, even as the alarm that lit his body on fire passed into cold dread. It washed over him in those moments, flowing down with the beads of sweat that trailed down his forehead. Unlike Verdandi he didn't quite have the same tactical mind. Focusing on more than him and her in this sea of disaster wasn't something he was capable of. Panic still controlled him, and the endless number of possibilities that tugged at their future in this battle kept a storm raging in his mind rather than provide any reassurance to his fate.
The squeeze of her palm against his brought his attention back to the woman he was holding dearly, and as he met her gaze he would understand. Before she had even spoke he was able to guess what she would suggest, and the unfortunate truth hit him in an exceedingly uncomfortable way. "I can't run away for good... I swear I want to, but I couldn't sleep anymore if I did so now I guess. So yeah... will you join me smash some faces?" He would grimace. The suggestion very clearly didn't please him. While Chigetsu was far from a coward (at least, that was what he told himself), he very clearly knew his place in this conflict. It wouldn't be decided by the clashing of pawns. Their actions going forward would be a futile attempt at making themselves feel more important, as if they were actually contributing to this mess in some way. Blasphemously putting oneself on the same playing field as a deity was beyond the level of Chigetsu's pride. He was a lacking tool, useless and ineffective in this clash. Yet, he couldn't refuse.
He would nod, even though he didn't want to. Maybe there was still something he could do. Struggling for words, or anything that he could offer to express himself in these moments, Chigetsu would find himself lost. It came out wrong as he said it, frustrated and coursing with the emotions that ran through him. "Don't die here. I won't forgive you if you do." He would stagger on the words that came out of his mouth. "I won't leave without you." Her hand was released. The spark of combat would be lit. The mess of splintered forces that seemed to rise in unison would surely be her target, but Chigetsu let his eyes roam elsewhere. Turning back to where they had come from, he would take another glance at the raging battle of titans that they had left in the dust. He didn't know what exactly he was looking for in the conflict, but he wouldn't find it nonetheless. More questions instead invaded his mind.
The presence of a strange figure, donning Kirigakure gear, up on a high dune that overlooked the camps turned battlefield was revealed to him in his glance over the area he had retreated from. Even with the distance between them he could clearly see that it was a book they had held in their hands rather than any weapon. So far removed from the place of combat, he could only wonder what it was they were doing. There was little time for thinking in these moments though. Rather than ponder and speculate he would go to approach, climbing up the dunes. Gaining a high ground was appealing to him for its own reasons. Keeping a close eye on Dandi while sniping down from above with his water bullets seemed like an attractive idea, and one that would keep him especially far away from any direct combat. In his quick ascent to their location, Chigetsu would announce his presence, and vocalize some of his concerns.
"What are you doing? Are you just sitting here watching?" Perhaps he sounded a bit more frantic than he really was, but the heat of the moment was still bearing down on him. Over his shoulder he would glance down at his squadmate's location, and once he confirmed he could still see here from where he was strange figure would be turned back to. Only then did he recognize them. In his anxiety the familiar face hadn't been paid a second thought, but now as he came closer it was impossible to not see. Twice before he had seen this woman. The first time he had seen her in Kumogakure, watching her combat in the Chuunin Exams, he had been beyond impressed by her skill. Her talent was impossible to ignore then, and it had been again the second time he had seen her. In Kirigakure, she had been a part of the training that their little group had received from Miss Nozomi. The first-rate kunoichi, Izumi Karisuma, stood before him. His shoulders drooped as he realized.
"Izumi?" He had to think. Despite their simultaneous presence at the Death Camp there hadn't been a single word shared between the two. There was no familiarity built up, except perhaps in passing. Watching her at the exams made him much more familiar with her than she would be with him. Would she even recognize him? It was impossible to know and worrying about that right now would be a waste of precious time. The point was bared and he would shove it forward. "Please." Even if he was a futile piece of refuse in this combat surely, she wouldn't be. "You're strong. Come together with us, it'll be safer if we're all together." Turning back down to look at the beginning of the raging combat. "I'm going to go meet up with Verdandi and try to keep her from getting herself killed. If you come back we should be able to clean up all these damn towel heads that popped up..." He would let out a deep and steadied exhale, pressing his and back through his hair.
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