Defenders of the Forest

[Nick]

[flash]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY7iGa4t9-I[/flash] And so there they were, at the mouth of the cave, staring into darkness, the sun shining overhead and slowly threatening to dip down the longer they stood. The Frog was even more quiet than he had been on the trip, which was oddly quiet for him in general, when he was known in his village at least for generally being very loud and vocal. He hadn't been this frightened of anything since he went to Fur Country and was shown first hand what truly advanced men and women could do, whose speed could cause sonic booms, or whose strength was unparalleled by even the mightiest and largest of animals. It wasn't to say he was shaking in his boots, but for one of the first times since he had begun to leave his village in search of work, he almost wanted to turn around and go home.

There was a certain degree of urgency to this job, unlike some of his bounty hunting works. Often times the bounties had performed a singular crime and were on the run from it, while few others continued their lives of crime beyond the initial action to get them a bounty on their head. Many times whether or not he succeeded wouldn't put families in danger, and the criminals would go about their lives, dodging bounty hunters such as Fuhen for as long as they could, until maybe one day someone forgot about them, and they could settle down once more. That wasn't the case, today, and it made Fuhen sad to think that he couldn't so easily abandon this one, despite it starting to sound like a very good idea to do so. No, he had to tackle it head on today, and he squared up his shoulders to do so, resettling his swords on his back.

"What's the plan be 'ere then eh?" He asked his companion without looking at him, eyes still darting around the cave entrance. "Prolly not a good idea t'fight it in there, I dunnae about ye, but I don't see so well in the dark." The Frog wasn't sure on how to lure the beast out, either, but he knew if there was some way that was easy, setting some kind of trap or ambush at the mouth of the cave would be easy enough, and any advantage they could have over an acid-spitting overgrown lizard would be a good advantage to have.

[TyDie]

The darkness of the cave was almost tangible, as if it was physically reaching out for the two men, trying to grab hold of them and pull them into the infinite abyss like a hungry maw. Indeed, within this cave was a maw that no doubt wanted nothing more then to choke them down like an early dinner, as it had the others before them. Naoki was stuck in an almost trance-like state as he stared into that darkness, waiting breathlessly for the faintest movement, the softest sound... anything to signify their quarry's presence. Why, he wasn't sure yet. There were a ton of red flags telling him to head for the hills, that this was far beyond his capabilities, that he was just going to die like the rest.

But what was even weirder was that one voice saying "you're not alone, together you can do this."

Indeed, it was his partner's words that broke his trance with an almost shocked gasp as he came back to the land of the living. "Right... plan of attack. Probably important to have. We could attempt to lure it out with some meat or something but I don't have any fresh rations on my person. I carry mostly dried meat for travel purposes. And it's far too late to go and catch some game now. Perhaps we should-" Suddenly a large tremor shook the ground underneath them. And then another. And another, in slow rhythm, and growing more potent with each thunderous 'THUD'. There was one thing that the two samurai hadn't entirely counted on.

They were fresh game.

"...Reptiles... Have really good senses of smell... Don't they?" It was rhetorical, but gods above he wished he was wrong. The darkness that he had prayed would stay stagnant began to shift as the creature lumbered forward, it's fearsome yellow eyes catching glints of sunlight, illuminating it's gaze as it skulked through the shadows. When sunlight finally caught it's first claw, the shear size of it was enough to shake Naoki to his core. A single claw on that appendage was nearly half his size, and each limb bore five each. Dark green scales ran all up it's limbs, the largest of which were two inches in diameter. Light green ichor dripped from it's fanged maw as it's head breached the abyss, dripping down it's chin and sizzling on the rocks beneath it. And the fangs; dozens upon dozens of razor sharp daggers, each one no doubt was capable of severing flesh from bone. It's head brushed against the ceiling of the cavern... which was 5 meters in height at least. It's spiky spines, each no less than a meter in length and lining it's entire spine, looked capable of puncturing flesh with ease.

And then it roared.
No, it raged with the fury of reckless abandon, it's predatory instincts kicking into overdrive as it sighted it's next meal and darted for the two swordsmen, one thunderous claw after another ripping apart the earth as it charged like a bull. It was all Naoki could manage to dive and roll to his right, just out of the way of the beast's rampage. How would Fuhen fair?

[Nick]

And so there it was. Some four legged monstrosity rampaging its way through the cavern, wailing its cry to introduce itself to its newest tasty meal. Fuhen refused to just be a meal. He had trained hard, he had worked for more than that, he had people who depended on him returning home safely, and so no, he wouldn't be eaten today. The Frog's own natural instinct overrode him as it barreled out of the cavern entrance that he had stared so deeply into, until the moment that it began staring back at him, caused him to perform a similar maneuver to his pacifistic pal, rolling off in the opposite direction. The beast would come colliding through the entrance, stamping over where the two had been just moments before in a rush that would have turned them both into a chunky soup for the reptile to enjoy through a straw.

Wasting no time, the Frog threw his bundle of swords up into the air, higher and higher it went, until it was higher than the beast itself, before turning over, and scattering its contents over the ground in a surprisingly uniform fashion. "Heads up!" He called out to his companion, warning of the swords dropping from the sky blade first. Several of the blades made initial impact into the creature itself, causing it to roar once more while droplets of blood rolled off of its back and onto the stone. It shook itself, several of the swords clattering free from its back and onto the ground, before turning its attention to the one who had injured it, roaring directly at him.

Fuhen cursed, his stance changing and his body beginning to blur, speeding up even more than what Naoki had seen originally, though the creature tracked him all the same, rampaging through where he was just moments before. The dodge didn't stop the creature, however, who reeled up on two legs, pulled its head back, and spat at him, bubbly acid flinging through the air. He hadn't expected projectile acid, though he knew the acid was there somewhere, and as such was unable to dodge completely. The liquid had caught him off guard, and as he rotated his body on an axis to try and avoid it, some of it splattered onto his clothing, eating away at it. He cursed again, before mimicking the creatures actions, reeling his head back, and aiming a huge glob of his spit to the creatures mouth, hoping to disable that function of it at least for the time being.

[TyDie]

As Naoki rose back to his feet to take a look at the beast again, it's attention was focused on Fuhen. He then saw... a rain of blades from the sky, and had to step to the side a bit to avoid being skewered. Just what the hell is this guy doing? he thought for a moment before watching as the lizard reared back to lob acid at Fuhen. There was little Naoki could do to avert it's attack, but as it stood up it's tail stretched across the earth in front of Naoki... the perfect opportunity to strike presented itself.

He tensed the muscles in his arms and chest, building up for the strike he would deliver against the creature's tail as he rushed forward at a much slower speed then before. The idea was that the technique would slow down his approach, but the force behind it would be great enough to hopefully break a bone, or at least cause some deep muscle damage to the lizard's tail. Once he was close enough, he let out a shout of power and twisted his body, delivering a solid right straight that impacted against the lizard's tail with a resounding 'THUD'

Of course, the creature had already flung it's acid at Fuhen, missing only just barely, and Fuhen's spit landed right along the face and nose of the creature, gumming up it's breathing. It was that distraction, as the lizard rubbed it's face on the ground to clean off the gunk, that allowed Naoki his chance to deliver his strike. Unfortunately, the strike had about half of the desired effect; It definitely hurt the creature, but Naoki felt no break. However, he did notice that he broke off scales where his fist connected, revealing the tender skin and flesh beneath... Perhaps that was the key.

Naoki wouldn't have any time to relay that information however, as he was immediately whipped away by the lizard's thrashing tail and sent flying a good 10 meters before impacting the earth and rolling another 3 or 4 meters. The pain was great, but luckily the spines on it's tail were softer and weaker than the large spears on it's back; they didn't puncture his skin, merely caused some minor cuts. He was pretty sure that was going to bruise up quite nicely though. "Try to break the scales!" Naoki yelled out finally, and either that yell or the strike against it's tail caused the lizard to shift it's focus to Naoki... Thus turning it's back on Fuhen.

With another roar the lizard opened it's mouth and aimed at Naoki, but this time it was not acid that shot out... it was it's tongue. At a rapid speed the pink organ rushed towards Naoki, who was still on the ground and could do little except roll as fast as he could to get out of it's range. The tongue hit grass and left a sizzling spot where it had impacted, proving that the tongue was also coated in acid... of course it was. Because nothing today was going to be easy. Naoki rolled until he could duck behind a tree and gather himself.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Strong Fist Style • Thunder Leaf Fist]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
An attack that is slow to wind up but powerful in execution. The adept tenses every muscle in their shoulders and arms while twisting their core for a powerful strike. For the 1/4 post they spend winding up they're treated as having a -6 speed. However, when the strike is released it comes nearly instantly and at a +6 strength.

[Nick]

The creature wasn't going to go down easily, that much was clear now. It was a shame, really, because the Frog was really hoping that this whole ordeal would be easier than it appeared at first. As he drew the creatures attention, and it let out another roar in pain due to Naoki's efforts, he raised a fist high in praise. "Nice job!" He commended his ally, performing a backflip to get out of the way of the beasts tail as it turned to face its most recent assailant. This back and forth motion the two were providing for the creature would likely work to their advantage, but only if the creature didn't get a solid hit in. One wrong move would lead to the beast dissolving one of them in acid, or stomping their chests in.

Several of his swords were pushed to the ground by the creature turning its massive body, but the frog ran forward, collecting three of them, and building up his momentum and speed. When Naoki was struck, Fuhen grimaced. He may not have known the man well, but they were fighting together, and nobody was allowed to hit his companion, it just wasn't fair. Getting the high ground now, he stood atop his swords, running in a small circle to build up the last bit of speed he needed, noticing out of the corner of his eye the beasts descaled portion of his tail, thanks to Naoki shouting out about breaking them. An idea formed.

With a mighty leap, the frog threw two of the swords at the creatures back, the first one skittering off thanks to a bad angle, the other embedding itself through the scales and into the flesh, though not very deeply. This had the desired effect of the beast rearing its head back in pain, as Fuhen maneuvered himself into a kick mid-air, striking the creature with his foot square on the back of its head, shattering several scales, and using the momentum to kick off. One last sword in hand still, he took it in a two-handed grip, spinning about in the air to build up even more momentum, before landing a sword blow where the creatures scales had been broken by Naoki. The sword wouldn't go all the way through, unfortunately, but the Frog would leave the sword embedded in the flesh, and the wound was deep enough that the section of the tail he cut would fall off on its own before too long.

JutsuShow

Hilt-Stride
D-Ranked Kenjutsu Discipline
As the user of Mugen Ittoryu litters the entire battlefield with weaponry at their disposal, they also come to learn to use these blades not only as weapons but also as travel paths, a means of crossing the battlefield in unexpected ways and granting them the capacity to attack from unusual angles. With this technique, the user can use both their hands and their feet to walk or travel on the pommels of any weapon hilt currently on the battlefield in a reasonably upright position. They can run along them like jumping from rock to rock in a stream, pole-vault off of them to evade attacks traveling lower along the ground, and can even kick a blade from the ground mid-jump to quickly arm themselves, assuming they are standing on another sword pommel at that time.

Sharp Mind
D-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite: 10 Instinct
After many intensive hours of focus training, the user has learned how to memorize a large amount of sensory information after being first exposed to it. Though the main application of this technique is to allow for the user to memorize both the initial positioning of their weapons around the battlefield and any changes in those locations, this technique also has more uses outside of combat, such as remembering certain people, characteristics, locations, etc.

Aerobatics
D-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite: 5 Taijutsu
Hefty bending exercises have lead the user to be able to contort, and otherwise control, their body while under abnormal situations. Namely being able to use momentum to better dodge mid-air, and allowing great feats of taijutsu that normally require ones feet planted firmly on the ground

Rain Drop
B-rank Taijutsu Discipline
An advanced throwing technique used to throw a sword at a target, moving or still, with greatly improved accuracy.

*[Strong Fist Style • Dynamic Entry]
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
In this technique, the user builds momentum and speed in order to bridge the gap between themselves and a distanced target. After covering an appropriate distance, the user then lets loose a form of distraction, like a thrown object, in order to misdirect the target's attention. The user then leaps with their momentum, delivering a strong kick to bridge the rest of the distance.

[TyDie]

... The shear acrobatic and aerial display of ability that Naoki witnessed was hardly believable. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have thought it possible. How did one get so good that they could walk on something as small as the pommel of a sword and reliably hold their balance? And how did he get so much air on his jumps? Naoki could get a couple meters off the ground on a good day, but he jumped off of his sword and kicked the beast in the head... And not before chucking swords like throwing knives, with supreme accuracy.

His thoughts repeated themselves: What the hell was this guy doing? And more importantly, how was he doing it?

The beast was clearly unhappy about what was happening right now; the initial punch by Naoki had injured it, but not too terribly. However, the combo dealt by Fuhen earned a cry of true pain from the beast, it's head reared up in agony as it's tail was practically severed from it's body. In fact, it was severed, as the thrashings of the beast caused what little skin held the tail in tact to fall off and rest on the ground, blood still oozing from it's severed end. The creature turned around on a dime and took a good look at Fuhen, staring him down with what could only be described as blinding rage. Another thunderous roar escaped from it's throat, throwing drops of acid all over the place, many of which would threaten Fuhen's location.

It then craned it's head towards a nearby tree, grabbing hold of the tree with it's mouth and ripping it from the ground like a human would tear out a blade of grass. With another whip of it's neck, the tree was hoisted towards Fuhen with surprising speed, and the beast charged after it in an attempt to bulldoze Fuhen. This was no longer about food, this was about survival, and if that meant there was nothing left behind to eat the lizard would make due. Once it passed Fuhen's position, it would turn it's attention back to the two swordsmen, making sure to keep both within it's sight so they couldn't catch it off guard as they had been so far. It seemed to exhibit basic intelligence, knowing well enough that it needed to put it's back to the wall to avoid being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

And speaking of rocks, that was now where Naoki was; standing in front of the cave, about 7 meters from where the tree rested. "Fuhen!" He called out to his comrade, hoping that he was okay. Whether or not the tree hit him, that rampaging lizard may have crushed him underfoot...

[Nick]

Fuhen had caught himself off guard. The rapid spinning motions in the air, along with the spray of blood that followed distracted him greatly, and his balance was off when he hit the ground, the leftover momentum throwing him to the ground as he tried to regain some semblance of control. If any of his previous teachers, or even his father had been there, they likely would have described it as a reckless move, because that was exactly what it was. He had made the conscious decision to deal as much damage as possible to the creature, a kind of meager revenge for assaulting Naoki. He owed the man nothing, and the two were far from friends, but the second Naoki stuck his neck into Fuhen's business, he had become Fuhen's charge.

So caught up in his own recovery, he didn't notice in time that the beast was so consumed with him. Picking himself up slowly, he felt a warm sensation, quickly followed by the sting of acid that had burned through his shirt and trousers. He let out a scream, flinging his body about, patting at the patches where the acid touched, trying to do anything to get rid of the pain. It hurt worse than his training in Frost Country, which had left him battered and bruised on a nearly daily basis, and that was quite possibly the worst pain he had ever felt. Once more consumed in himself, he didn't notice the beast charging at him with an entire tree trunk in its mouth.
[flash]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEtkIRlz7Vw[/flash] Time felt like it slowed as he turned only just in time to take the tree trunk to the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs and a mixture of spittle and blood from his mouth. Taken off his feet, and nearly wrapped around the trunk, he was sent flying, obscured by a cloud of dust kicked up by the large lizard beast, Fuhen was otherwise silent. Around the battlefield, all of his weaponry seemed to shiver and clatter, as though responding to their owners pain. The Frog was released from the grasp of the tree he was struck with, and sent flying off into the wooded area, moving through the air for several feet, before skidding along the ground for several more, and finally resting when he struck another tree.

His world went black. Struck by a major blow, and unable to breath properly would do such things to people. It would be easiest at this point to just give up, of course, and let the beast run rampant. With the distance he had received by that blow, and maybe a bit of luck, it would think he was dead, forget he was there, and go on to terrorize villages and travelers alike. The thought sounded very nice, actually, and this tree was mighty comfortable, maybe it would be alright if he simply sat back and took a nap, waiting for the whole thing to blow over. He could wake up later, cured of his wounds, go find a village nearby, have a drink, and continue on his way home! That sounded very nice, and sounded nicer as the moments passed, and the pain seemed to subside while he slowly slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

But no, that could not be right.
No, it would not stand.
The Frog had much more ahead.

His fist tightened on the ground next to him, and ten of the swords that had shaken earlier ejected themselves from the ground. They flew with a sense of urgency towards Fuhen, looking as though they were going to impale him against the tree, before stopping just before him, forming a circle and spinning around. Popping one eye open, the Frog reached his fist out, grasping at the hilt of one of the blades, that continued to spin in a vertical circle, slowly dragging him to his feet. Still a bit unsteady, his other hand braced him against the tree, and the sword he had grabbed left the levitating circle, and he pointed it towards the scaly beast that had sent him flying.

"Not today." The Frog said quietly, mumbling to himself. He had work to do. He had a family to support, and if he let this beast run rampant and destroy other families, what was to say that he wouldn't let something happen to his own family? It wasn't a precedent he was willing to set for himself. Swiping his sword through the air, and in the middle of the circle of swords, the blades all turned towards the beast, flying towards it at speed, as though thrown by Fuhen's own hand, before swirling around it, each blade taking swipes at the thing, some deflecting off its scales, others leaving cutting wounds. "Not today!" He repeated, louder this time, regaining his footing and consciousness, and limping towards the battle once more.

Fuhen, of course, had no idea what exactly was going on, but he felt a deep connection to his blades, suddenly. As though each one were a part of him, he felt as they felt, saw as they saw. He was the blades, and the blades were him. It felt natural, right, even, and he had no reason to question it when it was helping him.

[TyDie]

He had hoped to see his comrade rise from the remains of the tree, and was pleased that his hopes came true... but how they had come true confused him, and even frightened him a little. His blades... were floating. They had rushed back to him as if guided by some invisible force, and then thrown towards the lizard in the same manner, directed by Fuhen and his sword swing. What manner of sorcery was this? For the third time in the past few hours since meeting him he asked; what the hell was this man?

It seemed the lizard felt much the same, as it was not expecting the assault of blades that rushed towards it, and could do little to move out of the way. The blades cut and bounced off of it's skin, and one even flew high on top of it's head and slashed apart the spines that rested on it's head, leaving behind dull remnants where they once were as the sharpened spines hit the ground. It was upon seeing that that Naoki got an idea... If they were sharp enough to puncture human flesh, maybe that went for the lizard as well... It was worth a shot.

Naoki rushed in as fast as he could, scooping up two of the spines, one in each hand, as he dashed in front of the lizard. The creature was so concerned with the swords dancing around it that it hadn't the chance to attack Naoki, as it was busy swatting the swords from the sky like mosquitoes. Naoki would come to a stop by Fuhen, and while there was a hundred things he wanted to ask, the most pressing matter was finishing this lizard. "Chip off some of the scales on it's head and lead it to the cave's mouth. I'm gonna try and end this." Naoki would then dash over to the cave's entrance again, and begin climbing the rocks to get on top of the cave.

Meanwhile, the creature took a look at Fuhen after knocking away most of the blades and let our a roar, opening it's mouth before flinging it's tongue at Fuhen as it had at Naoki. It was cautious about making a direct approach, as it now saw what this froggy swordsmen was doing with his blades.

[Nick]

As much as Naoki had questions for him, Fuhen had just as many for himself. He came to a similar agreement with himself that his partner had, that this wasn't the time for questions, not while things were working in their favor. "Aye, ye got it." He responded to the request, not quite seeing the big picture of his partners plans, but willing to work with him while he grew accustomed to whatever strange power had awoken inside of him. Natural armor, such as scales, tended to be stronger around key components and vital organs, such as the head, neck, chest, or stomach. This wasn't wholly common knowledge, but any person who had tried to cut into a mans head would find that the skull was thicker and harder than most other bones, or that it was very difficult to behead someone properly because the spine was very well constructed. Fuhen was one of the people that learned the hard way.

When the creature turned to face him, The Frogs swords returned to him at his beck and call, no longer taking swipes at the creature from various angles. More swords shook in the ground and rose up to join him, swirling around him in a disorderly fashion, some flipping end over end, others spinning around on an axis inward. It was a symphony of blades, which sometimes rang against eachother, letting out the awful screech of metal against metal. Still mostly unsure of how to control what was going on, Fuhen struck the air with the blade in his hand, and the weapons around him stayed in place. Letting out a defiant cry of his own, he willed the blades to move, as though he were moving his own arms, and they began to peel away from the disorderly circle that surrounded him, moving in straight lines. He wished for a number of blades to move to the right side of the creature, and they went forward with his thoughts. Naoki was moving to enact his plans, so he needed to keep up his end of the bargain.

When the tongue lashed itself out at him, he did not move out of the way, instead, a dense amount of the swords formed around in front of him, causing the tongue and its acid to collide with the blades. Several of the swords would be damaged by the acid, but likewise the lizards tongue would be cut up. Back in the world of the living now, and fully aware of what was going on around him finally, he began to charge towards the beast, moving around opposite his blade swarm, and coming up to the left side of the creature. It turned to face him, screeching out in pain, anger, and frustration, his job was partially as a distraction now, and he rolled out of the way when the creature brought a clawed paw to bear, swiping at where he had been just moments before. His blades, meanwhile, moved up to blindside it, all moving in formation with one another, and swiping at the top of the creatures head in a horizontal cut. One by one they swept over the beasts head, taking off small amounts of scales where they could catch them, sheering them off to the side, and giving the lizard an effective bald spot.

The blades returned to Fuhen's circle, and as he dodged another swipe, which knocked several of his swords out and away, he called out. "Naoki, now!" The time was right, he had hopefully bought his new friend enough of it to do whatever it was he was going to do. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, given his already existing injuries from the previous hard hit he had taken.

[TyDie]

Fuhen couldn't have done his job better, this sudden control over his blades proved to be the ace in the hole the two samurai desperately needed to turn the tides in their favor. The enormous lizard was so preoccupied with dealing with the blades and Fuhen, it had no idea that is was being slowly corralled towards the mouth of the cave in preparation for what Naoki had planned. Under most circumstances, Naoki was a very traditional combatant, but against such a monumental foe traditional methods hardly worked. When the spines were cut off, he got his idea, and now it was time to execute it... no pun intended.

Once the beast's head was only a few meters below him, Naoki took a deep breath. I must have a death wish... he silently thought to himself before using what resolve he could muster and leaping from the side of the cave, both of his arms outstretched with the spines in hand like spears, tips aimed at the bald spot Fuhen had cleared off. He landed on the beast's head with a resounding 'THUD', and the sound of flesh being torn open could be heard only for a moment... the creature's cries of agony quickly overwhelmed any other sounds in the area. And yet it -still- wasn't dead; the spines had sunk in at least a foot deep, yet the creature still clung to life.

It whipped it's head up with pain, hoisting Naoki high into the air... a place he was by no means experienced in. Luck was on their side however, as he was thrown directly up. He had no doubt that the pain of his landing would shatter bones, there would be no getting around that, but looking down in the moment he realized what he was positioned to do. And so, as he came down on the beast's head once again, he raised both of his hands into fists and hammered the ends of the spines with his fists, sending them through the beast's skull as deep as he could while his legs simultaneously snapped against the beast's head.

The impact of Naoki hitting the creature's skull caused the head to immediately fall to the ground, causing Naoki to roll off of the creature's head with the force he had built during his fall. He clenched his entire face in agony, slamming his fist into the ground in some attempt to draw his mind away from the pain in his legs by injuring his hand. It wasn't pretty by any means... but the creature had been defeated.

[Nick]

Stuck in a position of defense thanks to his injuries and the beasts own blind rage, all Fuhen could do was watch as Naoki enacted his batshit crazy plan. He fell from the heavens like a meteor, spiking the beast in the head right where the bald spot had formed thanks to the Frogs own blades, and the man raised a fist in cheer at the beasts cry of pain, savoring the moment, before it was stolen from him when the beast continued fighting on as though it hadn't just been killed. Quite rude of the beast, really, it wouldn't lay down and die when it had been killed, which was sort of the point of them being here in the first place, and so it was preventing them from doing their job. It angered him, honestly, and just as he was about to take the offensive to end the thing once and for all, his companion was tossed into the air once more by the beasts wild thrashing, where he... Oh. That would end it, clearly, as the beast slumped to the ground in a cloud of smoke.

The Frog covered his eyes to protect himself from the dust, only to hear a secondary thudding of something else hitting the ground. As the air slowly cleared, he let out another cheer of success, noticing the beast lying on the floor, beaten, bloodied, and stuck through completely by its own spikes. The cheer quickly subsided when the dust cleared more, revealing Naoki in the dirt, battered, bruised, and clearly almost as broken as the beast itself. "Ye crazy bastard!" He called out, rushing over to his companion, sliding on his knees to be up next to him. "Ye did it!" He smiled down at him, before giving his body a solid look over, and visibly grimacing. One of the mans legs was bent in a rather unsavory position, and his hands were already starting to swell from a series of breaks.

Fuhen's face was considerably more serious all of a sudden, his smile turning to a frown as he thought about how to handle this. The two had fought together now, which in his opinion formed them into a bond, regardless of the fact that they hardly knew eachother. Brothers in arms meant a lot to him, and while Naoki was considerably older than the young Frog, he often found himself trying to look after others, the product of being the older brother of so many siblings. "Ye idiot. Shoulda jus' let me 'andle et..." He said, worming his fingers under the mans broken body, before lifting with a grunt, and throwing him over his shoulder. "Upsie daisy..." He said, standing up slowly so as to not jostle his package. "Yer gonna need someone t'look after ye, lucky for you, Oi tink there's a village that owe's ye."

[TyDie]

Naoki grit his teeth in pain as he writhed on the earth, only barely hearing his ally's cheers and praise for defeating the beast. He tried to lift himself up off the ground, but his leg was far too damaged to properly move to a standing position. A few curse words escaped his mouth as he continued to struggle, but when Fuhen said he should have let him handle it, he looked up at the frog with a sly smirk. "And let you be in this position? No... Better me then anyone else." He grunted with pain as Fuhen lifted him up over his shoulder, looking back at the titanic lizard still twitching ever so slightly behind them.

"Just another reason on the long list of why I hate reptiles..."

The two would move through the forest after Fuhen retrieved his weaponry, Naoki's pain eventually numbing out a bit as the trip went on. However, they had rushed to the beast's cave, and Fuhen had to slowly make his way back now, meaning it would be a while before they reached the village. "So... mind telling me what the hell you are? Leaping meters into the air like nothing, spitting gross sticky globs of goo, magically controlling your swords like some kind of sorcerer. You're not normal Fuhen."

[Nick]

"Quit yer wormin', ye 'aint walkin' back on yer own like that." Fuhen said, readjusting his grip on the man, and walking with a bit of a tilt thanks to the extra weight on his shoulder. He let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes at the complaints and selfless reasoning, countering back with "If I'ms wasnae lookin' after ye, neither of us would be broken! Yer own plan is what broke ye, sheesh." Which was partially true, but mostly the Frog complaining back, and not wanting to admit that Naoki was a big help in the fight, whether as a distraction, or an extra set of arms to beat the creature down with. "Don't you worry pal, we'll get ye a pet snake to help with your recovery!"

He was silent for awhile after that when he was asked about who he was. His weapons seemed to levitate and line up to slot themselves into proper positions in his sheath without so much as a request from the Frog, and just as soon as the feeling of being connected to his equipment was there, it was gone. He didn't know what that was, or what caused it, but he didn't feel as freaked out about it as he maybe should have been, the whole thing had felt... right. Like it was a part of who he was, but then again, who was he?

"Oim a crazy mutant freak!" he replied with, a big smile gracing his lips as he remembered the first time he was called as such. "Nobody seems t'know much about et, but am no the only one. Somethin' t'do with River Country, I guess." He raised the arm not holding Naoki up in a shrugging gesture. It was something he was born with, and his family and village alike accepted it as a natural thing, it was usually only foreigners who thought it was especially odd. "I ehh... Dunnae about the thing with the swords, though..." His hand came up to scratch at his chin, trying to find an answer when there wasn't one. "Never 'ad that happen before today, yanno? Besides, what about you? What kind of an arsehole is crazy enoof t'leap from that high up, eh?"

[TyDie]

Naoki hadn't rolled his eyes that many times in such a short span of time almost ever. All the little quips, the bit about the snake pet, and sarcastic response about him being a mutant... but it wasn't really sarcastic in reality. He was mutated, in a lot of ways apparently, some even he wasn't aware of until now. But... that didn't make him a bad person. He fought that beast even after seeing it's power, when he was no doubt afraid of it just as Naoki was. There was no way any amount of money that the small village was offering for the death of that beast was worth it, yet still he helped kill it. In fact, without him, Naoki would never have succeeded.

Maybe the two of them would figure out what that weird sword shit was at some point in the near future. After all, Naoki clearly wasn't going to be healing anytime soon. Fuhen retorted with his own question, causing Naoki to chuckle a bit before answering. "Someone with a lot to make up for. After all, I know you saw my sealed blade. There's only a few reasons for something like that, it doesn't take much imagination to figure it out." Indeed, Naoki still had much to do if he was ever to truly repent for his actions that day... the lives he took. The blood on his hands. Would it ever truly wash off?

[Nick]

The Frog often used humor to deflect off what he was actually thinking. His thoughts this time mostly fell along the lines of wishing he could have done more to end the fight faster, to prevent such injuries. He was no medic, but he had seen severe injuries like that before, especially those occurring from high falls, and sometimes it led to the person never being able to walk again, doctors had told him it had something to do with the spine and broken nerves, but he didn't quite understand it. Being able to naturally jump so high, he was also prone to hurting less from long falls, so long as he was able to control his fall, which he had gotten quite good at. Hell, maybe if he had been faster he could have caught Naoki, softened the blow.

He wouldn't let it weigh him down, though, that was the point of the humor. He had his whole life ahead of him, and if Fuhen had any say in it, Naoki would too, which put a bit of an urgent spring in his step to walk towards the village a bit faster. The sooner his companion could receive medical care, the better off he'd be in the long run. "Lemme be the first t'tell you, friendo. Tonight is the night that the world begins again." It was deep words to come out of his own mouth, but he'd met enough people with their own dark and mysterious pasts, and found that most peoples darkest critics were themselves. "No amount o' repentin' makes up fer the past. Ye just gotta live with it, and be better for the future, eh?"

[TyDie]

Naoki couldn't help a small stumble as Fuhen's pace quickened, a wince of pain as he struggled to keep up with the increased speed. He managed of course, knowing full well that the sooner they got back to the small village, the sooner he'd get to lay in a bed and heal up... hopefully. Fuhen's lighthearted nature and his words of moving on were warming at the least, but they simply weren't applicable to him. Not in his mind anyway. "Were it only so easy, Fuhen." The words escaped his mouth in a sigh, breathy and exhausted, and clearly in pain. He was more than ready for all of this to be done with, to hit a bed and pass out...

But then again, the nightmares would only come back again. They always did.

"The only thing I see in my future is more of this. More protecting, helping, and maybe one day I can feel good about myself again. Maybe i'll feel like I don't deserve this. But that day is not today Fuhen. I appreciate what you said however... It's something I can hope for. Something I can look forward to, to motivate me and keep me pursuing what might be a fool's errand." A small smile spread across his face as he looked at the frog man... What a weird place to make a friend.

[Nick]

The Frog would smirk at the mans words, he felt his new friend was foolish in his words and actions, but to a certain degree that endeared the man to him even more, reminding him of his siblings, making rash decisions, or running and scraping their knees, only to come crying. The man claimed words gave him hope, which was a concept Fuhen didn't quite yet understand, the power of words was lost on the young man, who had been raised in a world where actions spoke legions and words meant little. Maybe he would learn some day, and maybe he was even learning right this very moment in a slow capacity. "T'world is't'bein' easy, brother." He said, calling him by a noun that had been previously reserved for direct family, a slip of his long tongue that would slowly become a habit in future days.

He wasn't the best with directions, but the path back to the village they had accepted the job from was relatively short and straight, making the trip one without much incident. The Frog began to sing however, in a surprisingly in-tune voice that was in direct opposition to his loud accent, filling the forest around them with the heart of the two samurai who traipsed through them. Indeed, the two would become something of local celebrities, at the very least in the town they accepted the job from, but as word spread amongst the commonfolk like wildfire, the names Naoki and Fuhen would come in as great heroes who saved the little people.

"There once were two fools who traveled the forests!
Their adventures aimed true and were never a snore fest!
Against a great beast their blades were pointed!
And great defenders of the forest the two were anointed!"
Fin