Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

The next morning I awoke to the fact that Uzumi wasn't beside me. I slowly got up and stretched as I looked around. I could feel the soft breeze as it blowed pass me.

"You must be wondering where Marku is, hm?" Tensu said angrily, "He went that way." He pointed to a small grove a few yards away.

"Arigato." I yawned. I could tell that Tensu was still miffed from last night so I said nothing more as I stepped off into the grove.

I was getting closer until I saw a small lake ahead. As I approached I could hear Uzumi's voice. I instinctively hide behind a tree. I noticed that he was talking to himself.

"Damnit." he murmured, "Why is my heart so fluttery? Everytime I'm around her....."

He paused unexpectedly and looked up. I could her a long howl in the distance as Uzumi stood up.

"Oka-san..." he whispered as he jumped up and dashed off.

'I couldnt bring myself to ask him later what it meant' I thought, so I just walked back to the camp. I saw Tensu stare at me when I arrived.

"You look troubled. What wrongs you so?" He asked gently.

"Oh.....nothing." I lied. I didnt want to tell him what happened at the grove, but I had a feeling he knew. He also must have heared the howl as well.

"That howl...." Tensu went on, "It came from an Alpha Sub-wolf. She sounded like she was calling out to someone."

"Who?" I asked.

"I can't tell. That howl was mean't for one of her kin. Not me." he said.

"Oh. I see." I said. I was dissapointed that he didnt know what it meant. It would give me a clue as to why Uzumi left like that.

"Don't worry." Tensu laughed.

"Nani(what)?" I asked, but Tensu remained silent as he trotted off to a berry bush.

I sat down where I had slept at that night and contemplated. I then began to daydream about my parents and my big brother. I missed them so much. Tears were falling from my eyes as the memories of the bloody past flooded back to me. In the midst of my daydreaming I remebered something I promised to someone. I remember saying 'I promise I'll return after I retreive Mochidizuki'. When I remembered who,....I began to cry.

"Kitsune-sama!" I cried out, "Please forgive me.....I promised I'd return to you. By the gods please be alive!" I ran over to Tensu and cried against him as I said, "Please take me to the Sub-Wolf Village! My Oba-chan.....she needs me!"

"There is urgency in your voice. Then we must hurry." He agreed.

I quickly jumped up apon his back and used my blue fox jutsu to assume my disquise. He raced towards the village and as soon as I saw Kitsune-sama's shack, I jumped off. I quickly slid open her door and ran inside. Tensu shrunk down to a size fitting to the size of the shack so he could enter. As I ran to her bedside I shouted out, "Oba-chan!" My heart sunk when I walked up to her bedroll. She was gone. I was then confronted by a shaman.

"Are you Shu-Kiba's pupil?" he asked grimmly.

"Yes." I told him as I stared apon his saddened face.

"Im so sorry.......but she died four days ago. Her heart couldn't last.....and she passed quietly in her sleep." he said with a heavy heart.

"Rie(no)....please......tell me your lying.....tell me shes OK....she cant be....I promised.....I told her I'd return......why?" I stuttered sadly, "She cant be dead.....she just cant. She was my only family.....my Oba-chan....."

I cried at her bedroll and never moved from that spot. I felt ashamed of myself. 'How could I let myself be side-tracked?' I thought, 'I was supposed to come back. I'm such an idiot. Baka(stupid)!'

I was so saddened by her death that I almost forgot that my disquise was not going to last very long. As I got up, the shaman handed me a note.

"She left it for you. She said not to read it here." he whispered, "She also said that she hoped that you'd take her training to heart and to not go a-stray."

"Oba-chan." I whispered as I walked away. "Arigato." I said back to him. I quickly ran out the door as Tensu followed. He returned to his orginal size and tookus away from the village and back to the camp. When we returned, Uzumi was by the camp.

"Where were you two?" He snapped, "I found the next location of the first icon." He then stopped his words. He walked closer to me and saw my tears. "What happened?"

I couldn't speak. My emotions were to great for words. I walked up to him and cried on his shoulder. He held me tight and curessed my head. He did not know of my pain, but he seemed to know why tears were falling.....why my heart ached. I wanted him to know what I had experienced there at the village,.....but I didn't want him to know of my past.....how I had came to be.......I clenched the note in my hand tightly. Hopeing that it would have a meaning and that Uzumi would never see........



Two days later.......



Me, Uzumi, and Tensu had tracked down the first icon. It was the orb of Black Turtle. It was located at the very place I hoped I'd never return. It was at Saurian Castle to the North. We approached silently along the roofs of the houses. Both me and Uzumi were dressed in black ninja garbs. Using hand signals he sent me towards the castle's center while he dealt with the many guards.

I moved foward into the castle's royal quarters. As I approached, I could see a large saurian sitting apon a golden mat and wearing magnificent onyx and gold samarai armor. He was counting his gold laid on a small table.

"Lets how my dear servants faired today....." he began to count, "Ichi(one), nii(two), san(three)..."

"Shi(four), yon(five)." I finished as I placed my kunai to his neck.

"Heheh.....I remember you." he chuckled, "I was expecting ya t' have died along with yer brother."

"My brother?!" I gasped, "Where is my brother?"

"Heh....he died, or at least what me boys told me so many years ago." The lizard laughed.

"Your quite jolly for a saurian at the end of his coin." I sneered.

"Because....I know when ya should be a backin' off." he snicked, "Unless you don't plan on havin' yer head."

I gazed out the corner of my eye and noticed that his samarai sword was behind my neck. "Clever b*****d..." I said angrily. I had to back up quickly so I pulled under the blade and flipped out towards his door.

"Very smart move neko. Ya mighta been dicapitated." he said, "Oh, by the way what comes after yon(five)?"

"Tsh." I replied, "Don't know your numbers, lizard?"

"Hehehehe. Jus' askin'. I thought you'd like to count all meh guards."

I quickly dodged six swords as they pierced through the sliding door and his guards burst in.They all surrounded me as I made for the middle of the room.

"Hahahaha! I bet yer after this." The saurian lord lifted upthe black orb and showed it to me. "If ya want this, yer gonna haf' ta cut it outta me."

The lizard reached the orb to his maw and swallowed it whole. I could only watch as he rubbed his belly and drank a shot of sake. "Damnit." I whispered to myself.

"I don't mind ripping it from your entralls!" A voice shouted out.

A large black shadow bested the six guards and joined me at the center of the room. It was Uzumi-sama! Though I didn't tell him, I was glad he arrived.

"You can't do anything on your own, can you?" Uzumi chuckled.

"Feh..." I replied slyly, "Damned show off."

"Hehehe, so you two think ya'll can best me? I'm the Dragon of the North. The greatest samarai in this province!" he boasted, "No one has defeated me!"

We both drew our weapons and prepared for this battle............