Snakes in our Midsts

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t37559p350-job-sign-up-thread#369947

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t11039-stop-the-traitor

The depths of the jungle were indeed dark, mysterious and deadly for those who didn’t respect the authority of the wild. A guild of outcasts, darkened souls with no place to go in this monopolized , self-rigeous country of Fiore. The magic council’s rules, laws and order had polluted the natural majesty of nature itself. Retribution was needed. That was Rakshasa.

The dark guild worked completely against the creeds of the Magic Council, and were souls that society wouldn’t hold down. Rebels and anarchists through and through. The only true law that mattered was the law of the jungle,

The guild hall, located in the dusty ruins of the jungle palace was as routy as ever. Members came and went. Those who were not on assignment or doing jobs, where partying, drinking and enjoying their newfound freedom. However, whispers had been going around about descent in the ranks. Such things worried Indra.

From his throne, one of a few that were placed at the head of the guild hall where he was one of the rulers of the guild, Indra sat there in a ‘bored’ state, lounging with his elbow propped on the amr of the chair, his leg dangling off the edge as he observed the others drinking and having a party. He would join them, but he had other concerns on his mind.

Word from the Rakshasa, the demon who helped found this guild for him, was there was a traitor among them. He was not surprised that others would want to stop their guild. Those who wanted to make sure their dark guild never got the steam needed to keep going. But he was not someone to try and back stab.

He began to overhear the whispers, the seeds of deceit that would of been spread into the guild. It was one of those rare moments when dragon hearing actually came in handy. There was little in the guild he didn’t hear. So far he would keep his ear to the ground to hear what was going on.

One would of called the dragon slayer paranoid dictator-- except, Kage, his Exceed ninja companion was able to confirm the rumors of members disappearing and the whispers of doubt to be a part of this radical guild-- and not in the better sense of the word. So now determine to keep their guild in tact, it was time to root out the seeds of deceit and treason that threaten their new way of life.

Unfortunately, Indra had to do this alone-- not counting his feline companion. If he brought in his allies, he would risk too big a group to catch on.

WC: 467

As he watched the the members drink and relax, he heard Kage paw his way over behind his chair. “Any word, tiger? “ he asked, without turning around.

“Seems the culpret is one person from what I can imagine. Not many of our members are a part of this, but some seem not themselves.” Kage asked. “The ones that seem suspicious are the ones who seem kind of out it. As if…”

“As if they are hypnotised?” Indra beated the Exceed to the punch.

A soft meow escaped him as he looked over from behind the throne. “Yeah. -- Wait a minute,” Kage growled. “You don’t think it's HIM, do you? “

“THat bastard… I wouldn’t be surprised if it was,” INdra growled, a grip on the end of the throne tightened almost to crack the stone it was made of. “Damn jerk is probably aware of my sensory abilities so was able to take on a new guise, and even worse probably masked his scent so I couldn’t smell him among us. When it came to infiltration, that guy is a damn trickster. “

“Yeah. I been calling him Loki,” Kage said as he looked up to him. Indra gave his cat friend a strained glance, as if to say ‘are you serious?’. “You know, because he is like the trickster god? Hehe….” he laughed nervously.

“I’m the old godly one around here if I have anything to say about it…” Indra growled and rose up from his seat. “Whatever… lets get to work rooting out this bastard. Keep an eye out of the exits to the guild. If this guy is trying to disturb us he probably has some way of getting out and informing others outside of the ruins.”

“Yes, sensei-master, sir.” Kage said eagerly with a salute and scampered off into the shadows.

Last thing Indra wanted to think was that his new home was now plagued by rats. But this was the jungle after all. It wouldn’t be any fun if he didn’t have a few things to iron out.

WC: 350

The dragon slayer began to move around the halls. While many of the members knew about them, he had taken the time to study every pathway in and out of Rakshasa and its associated ruins. One of the paths were meant to go by the guild’s allied tribe. The Amazons whom had once been opposed to strangers, now welcomed Rakshasa as fellow children of nature.

While they accepted Rakshasa’s ideology, they also extended helping hands to the tribes that dotted the jungle there. If the traitor was slipping in and out from them, it would stand to reason they would use one of the tunnels that intersected with the villages.

With glowing, yellow eyes, Indra’s Lightning Dragon eyes gave him the ability to see through solid objects. In one of the chambers, he spied on each of the tunnels that led up to the surface and to the villages. For a good number of hours, there was no movement. Kage was keeping an eye on the upper castle, and flying overhead to see if any unusual movement happened above. They had their bases covered.

Indra resided among one of the old chambers, a dungeon more or less judging from the old bones discarded. Pitch black, no one would dare be in there unless you could see in the dark like he did.

Just when he thought he would fall asleep or die of boredom, he saw movement among the tunnels. To the middle western tunnel was a few members moving around, making their way out towards the exit. They were going out through the waterfall exit, that was a prime fishing spot for the amazons as well as a known little secret for the lechers who wanted to catch a glimpse of the amazons bathing.

Indra was no exception from that little passtime, depending how well you could hide.

With a toothed grin, he slowly made his way out of the dungeon to follow the gang of his suspects.


He made sure to follow the trail that was closest to the exit to where his targets where. He didn’t like the idea to spy on his own members, but this was an acception. If they were spies meant to ruin Rakshasa, nothing short of hunting them down was would pass for their betrayal. If he felt generous, he might leave their bodies for some jungle beasty to get their meals in.

Depends how he felt when he confronted them. He soon spotted the group of them exit-- sadly he couldn’t hear much due to the roar of the water fall drowning out the sound. He waited cautiously as he made sure they were all outside and proceeded to follow them.

The waterfall entrance was located directly behind the falls, normally unseeable unless you bore the guild mark. If a traitor or rather, a spy did sneak in, he must of followed another member in the first place. As Indra emerged from the cave entrance, he saw the roaring curtain of water. Only with his eyes did he see the others convened right along the edges of the trees.

With a glance, he realized he could get a better view from above. Finding the more dryer form of the rocks, he began to climb up along the inside of the waterfall, and off to where the trees met the cliffs-- so he could proceed without being noticed. It took a few minutes for him to climb up the area to the trees, at times glancing over to make sure they were still there. Once he got to the top, he swung himself over and laid down low to the ground. He now could see them, and had a better point to hear them.

LIke a tiger stalking its prey in the jungle, he listened and waited.

“I thought this guild would be fun, but its days are numbered if he’s right.” one of the renegade members said. “We are hired hands. We might be better off going our own separate ways.”

“For all the boast about freedom, why make us be a guild at all. That guy is right.” the other one said.

Indra tried hard not to let out lightning from his body-- a small symptom he had whenever he would get angry and beyond his will to fully control.

“Anyway, we at least can get what we can and get out,” a third man said. “‘Loki’, said if we got as much intel on the guild as we can, he would ensure our escape and see we got paid. I don’t know about you that sounds pretty decent.”

Trading out the guild for money. That was already pissing him off

WC: 789

Having enough, Indra slowly rose up from his hiding place. Whether they were members who had been pretending all this time, or those who decided to turn tale and leave… no one left Rakshasa.

“We should be hearing from him soon and…”

*KRACK!!* BOOM!

The loud snap of thunder boomed as a bolt of lightning arched through the air. Before they could see what or who it was, the bolt struck all three of them, causing a painful scream among them. Indra’s Chain-Lightning spell, which struck one-- then zapped the next adjacent person next to them and continued. The resulting blast left them feeling stunned by the fast attack, and looked to see him.

Indra now stood up on the edge of the waterfall, his arms folded and an angry scowl. He savored the look of terror on his ‘ex-members’ faces as they realized they had been found out. His arms remain folded over his naked chest, the Rakshasa logo proudly shown on over his heart.

“So… you guys want out, hm?” Indra growled, lightning crackling over his body.

The first one who had talked about making money trembled, but it might of been the lightning blast. “M-Master Raijin…!”
“Tell me where the traitor is… now,” He growled.

“I-- It’s not what it looks like! Please, just wait.”

“Where IS HE?!” He asked, another crack of lightning shooting out behind him, more for intimidation.

“I-- I don’t know…” he gasped, “He said he we were to rendezvous with him near the village. Please show mercy!”

Indra raised a brow. “Mercy? Is that another word for coffin?” he said with a wicked grin.

Before they could say more, sparks of electricity formed around him, suspended in the air. With a mere flex of his eyes, he commanded the spheres to form. Each spark became a ball of lightning and flew right into the mass of traitors.

Their screams were drown out by the screech and blasts of lightning that rakked the ground. Not only did the spheres of his Ball Lightning did great damage, the previous spell, Chain-Lightning added a charge that increased their potency significantly, making the damage even stronger than the spheres would do on their own.

Indra watched as the lightning charred the majority of them in an instant, leaving a black welt in the middle of the jungle. His only regret that his power left such a nasty scar in the jungle. That, and hardly any real corpses for the forest critters to feed on.

Oh well…


As the calm in the sizzling earth settled, Indra jumped down from the waterfall and entered a crouch on the floor. His lightning attack had scared away the minor birds and critters around him, but that was not what his attention was on.

Despite the stench of charred flesh and his own lightning, he tried to smell any other trace of others who had visited this spring-- particularly the leader of the spy who had infiltrated. He tried to bury his desire to strangle him. Still, after he took a moment to clear his mind and focus, he smelled the scent. THough he couldn’t tell if it was indeed HIM, or some other sneaky spy with illusion magic, he could clearly detect his trail. He had not been here for hours, perhaps even days, but the trail was clearly down the small path that led to the amazon village.

While he knew his members might be ripe with seeds of deceit, he had more faith in the amazons that lived their. Their will was resolute for the path of nature over the society that Fiore and other nations would try to force on them. Or so he thought, at least. There was too much he didn’t know.

“Maaaasterrr!” a voice chirped from above.

Indra looked up from the dirt road and rose up to his full height to look up. FLuttering about the canopy of the trees he spotted his grey-winged, ninja cat friend. The exceed fluttered down to the ground and his wings vanished with a pop, allowing the cat to land in a ninja-like fashon.

“Sorry I’m late,” Kage said as he rubbed the back of his head with his paw. “I was looking at the east entrance but nothing was there. I even looked under the trees-- an almost got eaten by a giant venus fly trap. Thank you very much. Seriously, can’t those plants like water like any other---”

“Kage…” Indra growled in impatience, the cat going off on one of his rants.

“Right-- sorry, Sensei,” Kage replied with a silly grin. “Anyway I saw the lightning and came a-flying. Anything on your end?” Kage didn’t notice yet-- but the little cat was standing on the char spot where one of the mages had been. Indra choose to say nothing regarding that. Some things were better off not scaring the fur off the cat-- at least for now.

“The spy has brought in outside help and corrupted our own members to rebel against us, or sell us out for money,” Indra said with a grunt of detest. “I fell the traitors swiftly, but there are no doubt to be more. Besides, our goal is to kill the one who started all this. We need to end this by going after the root.”

“Yes, Sensei,” Kage meowed and wagged his tail. “So is there a trail?”

Indra looked in the direction of the village. “If i heard right, the traitors had been collaborating near the amazon village. I don’t think the amazons are involved, but we need to check the place out. If nothing else, they may of heard about our problem and can help.”

Kage grinned with a cat-like smirk. “You sure your not going there to see the chief amazon again for another… “

Indra glared at Kage, telling the cat he was not in the mood to hear about his little romps with the amazon leader.

“Er… nevermind,” Kage said. “Want me to scout ahead from above? “

“No,” Kage said as he relaxed and placed his hands in his pocket. “Odds are the enemy knows I have a flying spy. Best you stay on ground level for now anyway…” With that, he led the way through the jungle towards the village.

WC: 1064

THe trek through the jungle was not long. No more than a half-hour to get safely past the trees, bridge and thicket of vines that seperated the ruins from the amazon village. The amazons were in the process of building a new home, thanks to Rakshasa. A tree-house like area, built into the canopies more in the interior of the jungle. FOr now, the home of the amazons was to the north of the jungle, wedned near the outer rim. Still, they had been supportive and hospitable once the guild had formed.

That and Indra couldn’t help but be sweet on some of the ladies who welcomed them more -- but still many were bad-asses who would take no prisoners. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be in the amazon’s nature to welcome in strangers from outside of Rakshasa. If anyone knew of any strangers or risk of traitors, it would be them.

As Indra spotted the village, he noticed it was unusually quiet. Not ghost-town quiet, but less rambunctious as normal. The entire village was always active as it was their means of life. There were always guards, villagers working, building or hunting. BUt something seemed amiss in the village. At least to his ears, well before they entered it.

His body tensed up, lightning crackling lightly off his limbs.

“Kage… we may have some trouble in the village,” he warned.

“Okay, Sensei,” Kage growled, excited.

They soon entered the village. Indra noticed something odd-- he soon entered to find the two amazon spearwoman at the gates of the village. However, they did not even make eye contact with him. They didn’t even glance forward. That and they were oddly quiet. Normally any sight of a man made them jump… and not in the good way.

Indra walked by them without any trouble-- and Kage glanced at them both, hoping they would notice his adorable Exceed form.

The inside of the village was even stranger. Once again, oddly quiet as villagers were walking about on their business. Women with baskets on their heads carried water or clothing about, others sharpened their weapons or other activities that were normal for residents of a jungle home. However, what was odd was that there was no chatter. Not even a murmur. There was absolutely no verbal conversation going on with anyone, even within his sharp sense of hearing.

The shocks that went along his body was met with a chill as well. Something was very wrong here.

Kage, however, was a bit slower to it as the little Exceed walked up to one of the ladies. One he knew, that he loved because in either of his forms, they enjoyed to pet him like a pet cat. Part of him hated it, but he loved how he could snuzzle up to them and they would treat him as much of a lover as Indra liked to be. “Hello there, ladies. What lovely flowers bloom here today. “ he said chipperly.

However, they promptly ignored him. Not even a glance or a pat on his head. He stood there, expecting it for a bit, but got no where. The little cat slowly melted from happy to confused, to dejected at the cold shoulder treatment.

As the ladies moved away, focused on something else, Kage let out a soft mew of disappointment. “That was cold, even by amazon standards…” Kage said.

Indra walked over and patted his friend on the head. “Let’s keep moving. Something doesn’t sit right with this place…”

****

As Indra tugged Kage away from the ladies, it was odd how he noticed them, but they didn’t notice him or Kage. His sense of smell told him clearly this was indeed them. They were not illusions or something else. Before he could get too caught up in the smell of the ladies… a voice spoke to him.

“About time you showed up,” a voice spoke. A condensending , superior and chill tone of voice. The very sound of it made Indra’s blood boil with hate. Kage also had his fur stand on end to finally be addressed.

They soon turned around to find a distance in the street was a stranger with a black and red coat-- a Midian style garment with black hair.

Indra’s eyes narrowed, the pupils no longer black but yellow with a lightning bolt iris in its place. “You….” he growled, furious to see his old monastery peer back from when he lived in Midian as a kid. “The hell … I knew you were behind this shit.” he growled.

The last time they clashed, it was a big fight in the middle of the Sabertooth Guildhall. However, it was when he awakened to his true powers as a Lightning Dragon Slayer-- the eyes of the Lightning Dragon . Naturally, the very sight of him made Indra used the eyes to protect himself from his trickery.

Kage growled at the sight of him-- but despite the arguments and palpable tension now rising between them, not a single amazon turned their heads.

“So your the one they are calling Loki… Itachi,” Indra said, the electricity starting to come off his shoulders as he trembled in rage. “Any particular reason you come to cause me grief.”

Itachi rose his head up from the collar of his coat, revealing his face and his hypnotising red eyes. “ As if you didn’t know I wouldn’t find you again… but you can imagine my surprise you are starting your own group. Your depravity knows no bounds it seems.” Itachi said, “I knew you would betray Sabertooth as you betrayed us.”

Kage however, this time had a shorter fuse than Indra would of as the Exceed jumped forward and was consumed in a burst of smoke. From the smoke, Kage emerged-- now a furious, humanoid tiger clad in black and ash-dark ninja clothing. Claws were extended as he roared and lunged right for Itachi…

“Kage wait--!!”

But was too late as Kage made contact, but his claws slipped right through Itachi. The man didn’t even flinch or move as Kage passed right through him-- and landed flat on his face, getting a mouthful of dirt.

Kage growled as he grunted and pushed himself up, his face covered in the dry dirt over his black fur. “You cop-cat…. “ he growled, irritated how Itachi used Kage’s own unique trick against him.

However, Indra could see it with his eyes. The transparent vision of Itachi made it clear. “You and your dumb illusions. You want to threaten me yet you can’t bare to show yourself to me in person. “ Indra said flatly.

WC: 1118

Itachi seemed like a ghost from the transparent illusion to his complete lack of emotion. Despite the lack he was watching an illusion of his old peer, Indra sorely wanted to punch it in the face. Still, it was a waste of energy.

“So this is your grand plan?” Indra growled, but still kept place. “Bribe and coerce my guild members into betraying me? You got some balls, for a stupid illusionist.”

Itachi just let out a sigh as he listened to Indra. “Unlike you, I choose to play my cards smart,” he replied in a creepy calm, “What better way to topple your group by weakening its infrastructure. Unless of course, you wish to turn yourself over.”

“Screw you….” INdra said as he tigthened his hand into a fist-- and lightning began to crackle around it.

Itachi just closed his eyes and shook his head. “Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” he said, “After all, my genjutsu isn’t merely this illusion but should you let out a certain sound--”

“SHUT UP!!” Having enough, Indra struck. With a lightning empowered fist, he sprinted forward and struck the illusion. Even though he knew his attack would just pass through, the lightning released spreaded outward, disrupting the mirage and causing it to dissolve.

The clap of thunder from his Thunder Fist echoed through the forest, but Indra was satisfied for the moment to be rid of the stupid illusionist.

But it was only the start of his troubles in the amazon village.

The sound of the thunder had reached their ears-- and all the villagers stopped what they were doing. They became like statues for a few seconds, that specific sound causing something in their minds to change like turning on a switch. They paused , the entire village as quiet as the dead.

Noticing the change, Indra looked around with a new sense of dread. Kage now rose up to his feet and his ears perked up at the odd change in sound. It soon became worse as the amazons started to move again.

The quiet was soon ended as they began to get up and stop what they were doing. One by one, they rose up-- and some of those who had nothing, reached down and picked up a tool. A weapon near the amazons’ person or some form of farm tool or objects.

One by one, they began to move slowly towards Indra and Kage, drawn by the sound he made or the sight of him. However, while it was normal for them to be hostile, their looks were blank and expressionless-- as if they were half-asleep.

Kage looked around, his fur on end. “Um…. please tell me we didn’t just get sucked into a horror zombie story…” he meowed despite his larger, more intimidating form.

Indra glanced around, seeing more and more of the amazons now move towards them, their intent most nefarious.

“Oh crap…”

***

One by one, the amazons rose up and began to make their way towards Indra and Kage. They were not groaning or moaning like the undead, but they were slowly intent to march and take on the two alone in the village.

They were slowly closing in on them, and surrounding them. Kage began to worry as he backed up , their backs matching to cover one another in formation. “Um, Sensei… what the hell is going on.”

Indra growled, his eyes still aglow. “That bastard has put the entire village under hypnosis. A genjutsu,” INdra replied as he kept his eyes focused on each one that closed in on them.

“Hypnosis? “ Kage yelped in surprise. “So not zombies.”

“No. They are not dead, or undead. “ INdra explained, taking what time they had to explain. “Itachi made a spell that allowed him to hypnotise his targets. Considering him, he must of hypnotised everyone in the village here. However, knowing him, he couldn’t give specific commands like this. So he made a trigger, something that allows him to start the suggested actions while he doesn’t have to be around.”

“What? Like what? How could he anticipate what sound would trigger this?” Kage asked, drawing his Kunais in his paws.

Indra grumbled. “I can think of one. The thunderclap my spells produce the moment I use them.” He had triggered it when he attacked, and the thunder caused all the hypnotised amazons into a state of attack upon the source. Now he had to fight brain washed amazons intend to take a piece of him.

He would of liked it if it wasn’t under his enemy’s control.

“What do we do?” Kage called, the first of the amazons carrying a hand axe coming close to him.

Indra grumbled. As much as he usually preferred to go all out and leave no survivors-- they were different. They were their allies, enthralled by a stupid illusion. Even a simple shock would free them, but he hated the idea of fighting women. Somewhere, he thought, Itachi was probably aware he wouldn’t want to fight as women was his well known weakness.

“We need to subdue them and make our way out of here,” he explained to Kage, aware they were no more than a couple meters away. “Try to simply knock them out or maneuver around them. Do not use excessive force. If you can’t do that, just try to disarm them.” Indra said, “They are still our allies, so lets not be too rough.” he said.

Unable to hide a snicker at the hint, Kage let out a soft growl. “Okay, sensei. I got it.” he replied.

With that, the closest of the Amazons moved and lunged for the pair of them .

WC: 957

The first of the amazons lunged at Indra, attempting to grab him. With a mischievous grin, he merely slipped out of her grasp with a crackle of lightning. Not even using his magic, or rather his active magic, he was able to move faster thanks to the lightning within him. He easily wove through each of the amazons in front of him. Those who tried to grab him could only catch air-- that and their hypnotised states made them unrealistically fast. Whatever sense of reflexes they had were severely diminished by the mind control they were under.

Kage too moved swiftly through, though not as fast as his master. The cat easily pounced over them, kicking some lightly out of the way and avoided the women with sticks or weapons.

Indra tried not to get too distracted, partly because the allure of him having some fun roughing up these women in a way he would of enjoyed… but he had no time to think about perverted thoughts. The longer he dealt with them, the longer that Itachi made his little attempts and could escape.

Three of the amazons had moved just in time enough to corner him briefly-- however, Indra did the only thing he could do. Taking an open-handed stance, he struck the first of them in the chest and kicked the second lightly, to knock her over and made an opening. He flipped right out of the grasp of the third just in time, but still more were coming. They were converging on them both like a swarm of ants and would no doubt keep going.

“Master…!” Kage warned as he realized he was cornered-- but in that instance, he phased through them, becoming like a ghost and simply ran through the bunch of them. Still, he could only become intangible for so long and they were after him as much as they were Indra. “There is no end to them.”

Indra was dodging the ones with their weapons-- but the ones without soon grabbed hold of him around his legs-- then his arms. With too many aimed at him, they soon tried to grab on him.

“Ladies, I know you all want a piece of me, but this isn’t what I had in ---” Indra grumbled, but soon was smothered by another woman grabbing his neck.

That was the last straw for him.

“I’m sorry, but now it looks like I will have to be rougher with you after all…” he growled.

A crackle of electricity coarsed over his body. “Lightning Dragon Cloak-- RAIJUU!” He roared.

From out of nowhere in the sky, a bolt of lightning struck in the ‘dogpile’ of amazons, causing a massive shock. The electric shock repelled many, sending them fast to the ground. Lightning now crackled wildly all off Indra’s body from head to toe like armor. He stood proudly among the brainwashed villagers, now cloaked in his ideal fighting state. He was well known for Raijuu as his favorite spell, amplifying his hand-to-hand fighting specialties.

“Let’s go…” Indra spoke softly and went off like a shot.

His movements became flickers of lightning as he moved at high speed-- using small strikes physically to attack each Amazon in his path. However, his actions were not brutal nor over hte top. Each strike he layed down into each one was an open palmed strike, the shock of his lightning aura adding a mild jolt in addition to the blow. While not lethal, it would give anyone a good shock, but enough to just knock them out.

That, and cause them to crumble to the ground without so much injury. They would awake, the influence of the hypnosis over. He heard as they would have a flutter of realization, then fall from the impact.

“Master, I thought you wanted to be gentle with them,” Kage asked, having hopped away from some, jumping onto a nearby roof of a shack to get to safety from the hypnotised amazons.

“Well, as some say I am a bastard,” Indra replied… “Besides, these girls are tougher than a little tap.” His reply was answered as he sprinted right by the ones after Kage, and tapped them on the ends of the back-- causing them to crumble to the ground.

Running up and down the road of the small village, Indra struck lightly to each amazon he could find in the haze, and shocked them with a mild jolt. Before long, each one fell to the ground, knocked out.

WC: 757

With one final plant of his palm to the back of the chieftain’s back, he stopped. The last crumbled at his feet, leaving them incapacitated for the time being.

“That should calm them down for now,” Indra replied, punching into his palm with his lightning cloak still in effect. By now, storm clouds brewed overhead, which made Indra feel more excited and eager to hunt down Itachi.

Kage soon hopped down from the roof and landed beside his master. “Where do we find him now?”

Indra glanced around. “That coward wouldn’t be too far. He probably somewhere close to the end of the jungle. Somewhere where he can observe things while still being out of reach. He also probably wants to be ready to signal any allies he made… so…” he surmized aloud, looking around at the terrain up at the edges of the basin.

From where he looked, he soon found it-- a cliffside located dead north which overlooked a great deal of the jungle, the village and was one of the few roads that led into the jungle itself. His eyes soon focused-- his Rairyu Tengan focused and zooming in. He focused on the single signal-- a hint of bio electricity that could be human…

And then he found it. Located just near the edge of the canopies that hung right under the cliffs. “He’s mine…” Indra growled and took off with lightning fast speed. Kage was left in the dust at the moment, blinking at the flash that went off from Indra’s speed.

“Hey! Not cool-- cough cough--!” The tiger coughed and waved the dust cloud away. With him alone, he went to attend to the now knocked out amazons, and would catch up to his master when he can.

Indra was now in full speed, soon catching the scent of his target and not just tracking his bioelectricity. He sped through the trees and brush in a fury, tearing through the loose foliage and leaving char marks from his lightning in his wake.

Itachi could come after all he wanted, and he would fight him however he liked-- but he targeted something that Indra truly had grown to care about. He wouldn’t lose it. Over his dead body. He soon saw it, coming closer and closer till…

… he burst through the last of the brush into a clearing, seeing the black cloaked figure.

“Got you, you son of a bitch!!” He roared, his fists now crackling iwth claws of lightning and he lunged forward to deliver a powerful blow of lightning into the enemy.

A sickening char sound radiated as he tore through the cloak of his enemy, soon now face to face with Itachi. Indra could actually feel the flesh and bone around his arms, even as his lightning claws cleaved right through Itachi. THough not a vital spot, the wound was deep and felt his prey waver before him.

“Hello… Indra….” Itachi coughed, the blow clearly shown to take a tole on him.

“I outta rip your head off.” he snarled in his face, “You can pick fights with me all you want, but don’t you dare **** with my guild, got it?!”

Itachi stared blankly at Indra, his red patterned eyes looking at him almost pitifully. “Indra… you misunderstand…” he said and raised a hand, as if to touch him…

… only to point his fingers to his left.

Indra blinked, and turned to the direction.

A few feet to the left was Itachi, standing there unscratched and unhindered with the same smug appearance as the wind wafted his hair and cloak.

Irritated, Indra growled as he looked back to the other one he impaled. His eyes were now black and like a popped balloon, the image of him scattered in a series of black birds-- crows-- that just flew off in different directions around him. Indra felt the ‘weight’ of his body also evaporate as if it was nothing but mist, leaving no wound or any trace of blood. He felt, smellled everything-- yet it was all one big illusion.

“You and your illusions are starting to piss me off,” Indra said, shaking his arm as the Raijuu surged around him.

“They say if you cannot cut off your enemy’s head, go after his heart. If you cannot kill him, weaken him,” he stated flatly, not even blinking at Indra. “Targeting your guild and weakening it seemed like a simple solution to take the wind from your sails, sort of speak.”

Indra faced him, his eyes glowing now to try and see through his illusion. He was sure he saw through it the first time, but somehow he got fooled. “Why did my eyes not see through your Genjutsu?” he asked.

“An master of illusion magics is only as good as the visions he creates,” he said matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter if you can see through them, if you cannot tell the difference. “

Indra’s eyes glowed, now applying his magic towards them to be more aware. “Well, you can bet my next fist will meet your face. Like I said, you don’t screw tih my guild and live.”

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes. “I had hoped you would see the errors of your ways. That you would choose a path away from chaos and strive, but it seems you decided to embrace it. I have no choice now but to consider you my enemy.”

“Heh,” Indra replied, a grin now on his face. “For someone so smart, you’re awfully slow to catch on.”

THe moment Itachi’s eyes narrowed with anger, the fight began.

WC: 944

Indra’s eyes glared at Itachi as the storm above began to thunder. Indra’s wandering storm had begun to eclipse most of the sky, a sign of Indra’s domain that Itachi threatened. With a blink of his eyes, his eyes once more transformed, into symbols of a storm god. The Raikouryugan.

The blacked illusionist drew out from his sleeve several shuriken, and swung them right for Indra. Despite the use of illusions, they often masked the shinobi’s deadly attacks. Luckily for Indra, his high natural speed and Raijuu made him fast enough to dodge as he left the shuriken inches behind in the ground.

Flashes of lightning followed him as he darted about the clearing, causing the angry skies to flash and thunder more with each passing minute. Despite his speed, Itachi was clever, anticipating movements, but just as Indra was, he also made sure his moves were random enough to keep them away.

Finally, with his eyes aglow, he conjured another mass of sparks around him. His Lightning Dragon Ball Lightning flashed and fired at Itachi like a barrage of bullets. Itachi quickly stopped and ran-- but the spheres would chase him , just like the traitors from before.

Itachi fled, but soon was surrounded by the raging spheres. They would collide, and eclipse him in their flashes. As Indra jumped back and saw the explosions go off, he took a moment, but kept his guard up. He wasn’t going to assume anything. While his spell was a powerful guided attack, it wasn’t perfect.

A roar of smoke filled his nostrils and he soon heard the roar of fire. To his right he soon saw it-- a large fireball flying right after him.

In an instant, his body turned into lightning and zapped away-- the fireball exploding where he once stood.

In that split second, Indra reappeared from the lightning jump, and saw Itachi standing 20 meters away, the eruption from the fire casting its light upon him.

“Substitution Jutsu, hm? You’re always living in the past, punk.” Indra boasted.

“And you don’t learn from yours….” he replied back.

The glow of fire soon felt hotter as Indra observed as the fires ignited the grasslands around him. Slowly the very forest and jungle began to burn, the skies becoming a crimson color as Itachi was the only clear image he could see around him. The heat began to feel unbearable as Indra was sweating bullets and the fire getting closer to him. His breath became labored as he now was aware of the danger.

“Your crimes deserve nothing less. Now, burn…” Itachi declared cooly, as fire eclipsed him as well.

Indra felt his muscles clench in fear and distress. He had to think of something-- but it was then he realized how this was. The heat, the sudden speed the fire grew…

… his eyes snapped open, bolts of lightning crackling from his iris as he snapped out of it.

The flames vanished in an instant and just in time as he caught a knife coming right for his face. His eyes widened as he moved--

A gush of blood and a sharp pain radiated from his arm as he caught it, the blade in his hand too as he now held Itachi’s knife away from his face, inches away. All the while, his own red eyes glared back at him, the two now poised to kill one another.

“You will not defile our teachings or the dragon’s majesty further…” Itachi said as he tried to push forward.

Indra still held his ground, and grinned. “You seem to forget a small detail, buddy…” he said and inhaled sharply. “I AM a Dragon now....”

WIth a loud roar from his mouth, his maw lit up with lightning magic. Itachi’s eyes widened as he saw the incoming roar-- and was unable to evade it being so close.

The Lightning Dragon Roar erupted and blasted right into Itachi point-blank. The lightning strike scorched and torn Itachi’s cloak apart, revealing his more lithe but toned body. He skidded back, still alive, but now with a scorch along his shoulder, having taken on damage.

Lightning struck wildly in the clouds above as Indra rose back to his full composure. “I am beyond what i was when I was a student of your little order. If I have to incinerate you to prove it, so be it.”

Itachi felt the surge of lightning above as Indra raised his arm up into the air, lightning now crackling out from his outstretched limb. “Dragon Slayer Secret Arts…” he growled, his eyes glowing to a full yellow, eclipsing any intelligence in his irises, like a beast. “Raikou!” he roared.

With a shot of lightning from above-- the lightning in the storm clouds went wild, and shot down as a massive tiger pouncing towards the ninja illusionist. He looked in shock as the lightning tiger landed with a blinding blast.

The impact went off like an explosion, causing a massive pillar of lightning to be seen as far as the amazon village. Kage watched from where he was, the villagers slowly coming to.

As the blast ended, the storm clouds began to lessen in intensity. Indra let out a soft breath of exhaustion as he felt the energy leave him. The blast of Raikou, while even with the aid of his eyes, was taxing to channel that much destructive power.

However, his relief turned to dismay as he saw a strange red aura around where Itachi had been.

“Impressive…” a voice said, garbled but weakened as the red aura rose up, in almost a humanoid shape. “If i had not had this, i would of been dead…”

Itachi soon stood, surrounded by a large mass of a creature. Indra hesitated at the sight of this creature, almost looking like a demon… but moments later it vanished. Itachi soon revealed he was worn and battered, the blast had indeed left damage on him.

“I will give you this win for now. It seems you are not the same man I grew up with,” he said, “Whether you are indeed a dragon… or a monster… I just will have to wait and see. Till next time, Raijin…”

It was then like a gust of wind, Itachi vanished, fleeing from the fight as he no longer had the strength to go on. But Indra knew he would return… Now he had to pick up the pieces his deception left his guild in.

The End

WC: 1092

TWC: 7424