Starring:
Maikeru, Kane
Date: April 5, 2012
Summary:
Maikeru and Kane continue their quest through the Land of Demons, gathering information to lead them to the end of their journey.
"The Burden of Truth: Bar Running"
Unknown location
A day after the initial meeting of the rivals, Maikeru and Kane arrive in a small village in the Land of Demons. Despite the fact these two have fought each other in war after war, so far no brawls have broken out between them. As they step into the quaint town, Maikeru glances around, picking out different buildings that may draw interest. When his eyes finally fall on a pub, a mischievous smirk crosses his face. "There we go," he says, starting to step toward the wooden building. "I'm sure you could use a refill while we get some information out of the town drunks." Who better to make spill their guts than a few guys that are already hammered. Of course, considering he used to run Black Ops missions for this country, he probably has a few interesting ways to interrogate people of the need arises.
As Kane walked along side Maikeru down the street, he would recieve a few looks from the villagers and a few doing double takes. He has almost forgotten that he himself probably caused much grief among the Land of Demons as he lead numerous raids against various villages. Those thoughts disappeared however once Maikeru pointed out a nearby pub. "Great. I'm pretty thirsty." He says leading the duo into the building before Maikeru could even finish his sentence.
As Kane appeared and walked straight up to the counter, everyone had stopped their conversations to look at the person they've grown to hate. The young man didn't seem to care too much as his prime objective was to get some liquor in his system.
Maikeru chuckles a bit at Kane's hurry to get his hands on some alcohol. He enters a few seconds after the Kemonoken, allowing people's distraction of staring at the guy to allow him to pick out his first target. As his eyes fall on an old man who appears to have already taken in way too much liquor to be this early, he makes his way over to the counter and sits a couple stools down from him. Luckily, with his arm covered and appearance changes, he gets a few 'that guys looks vaguely familiar looks', and that's all so far.
"Making a short day of it, eh?" he asks as he glances over to the man. Casting his eyes to the bartender, he waves for a round of drinks. The old man gives a nod, accepting the drink happily as he starts some barely understandable babble about his family and the good old days. Allowing the old man to break the ice himself, the Rogue simply listens and gives a nod every so often, giving a generic reply as if genuinely interested once in a while.
While Maikeru played mister P.I. dectective, Kane wasn't going to miss out on a good time. It wasn't his campaign after all. Once he had a bottle of sake in his hand, he lead himself over to a table where there were a few guys already eyeing him. They noticed him approach and began giggling at each other. "May i join you ladies?" He asks. Without even waiting for permission, he sat himself next to a blonde girl close to his age. "I'm Kane by the way."
"Yea, we know." The brunette across the table giggles.
"Oh?" The Kemonoken asks as the bottle of sake touches his lips. An eyebrow raises towards the girl as if asking for her to emphasize.
"Yea, word travels fast in this village." The blonde cuts in.
"So how does anyone know who /I/ am?"
"Oh, the description fits you well." The blonde swoons as she scoots closer to the boy. "It was you killed my exboyfriend."
"Oh…sorry about that." He says taking another swig of sake.
"Don't be. He was weak and deserved to die by the hands of someone like you." The blonde and the brunette both giggled.
Kane nearly choked on the swallow of sake he had in his mouth. He clears his throat and turns towards the bar. "Uh! Barkeep! I'm going to need another round soon." He jests and causes the girls to erupt into another giggle fit.
After a couple rounds of meaningless talk and drinks, Maikeru finally reaches into his coat and withdraws the medallion, which he cleaned up to get rid of the dead smell. He slides it over toward the man, asking, "Have you seen this family crest before? I found this in the woods, and I'd like to return it to its owner if I could." His voice is so smooth, one would never expect what is actually going on, especially an old drunk.
"Hrm-hic," the old man says, peering down at the medallion. "That's the old Daeshiro crest. They're one of the two big families in a village about twenty miles from here." The man picks up his glass and takes a big swig then lets out a belch. "The others are the Himuras. Most people don't know this, but Jigoku's real name was Himura Akira."
The last sentence draws some strange looks, even a slightly wide-eyes look from Maikeru himself. "… Jigoku, huh? I'll be spritzed." Reaching into his coat, the Rogue withdraws his map scroll and lays it out. "Mind telling me which one of these villages it is, friend?"
Kane now has managed to get the brunette to come across the table and sit under his arm along with the blonde doing the same the other side of him. They had managed to get his vest unzipped and they were admiring his scars of battle. Their fingers were also busy tracing along the boy's physique and giggling as they do.
"Miryu, let's go." An older boy says as he walks up to the table. "I don't want you anywhere near this animal after what he did." This causes the girls to pout and whine up at the older boy.
"Calm down girls, you dont have to go anywhere." Kane says already slurring his words. It wasn't too bad, but it was noticeable. "Tell me pal, how many of your friends did I kill?" He asks the older boy in a cocky tone.
"Three." The older boy says angrily.
A brow quirks on Kane's face. "Only three? I must've had an off day that day." The Kemonoken laughs which causes the two girls to laugh along with him. This does not go over well with the older boy and with a great leap, he dives over the table at Kane and manages to get a solid punch in before they crash to the floor. The table was flipped and sake and food fly across the floor. The Kemonoken manages to gather his senses quicker than his attacker and meets him with a punch of his own before he could even get back to his feet. However, now a few patrons loyal to the Land of Demons charge at the boy. Kane counters one man's punch by meeting his fist with the man's; practically shattering the man's hand. Another patron leaps on the Kemonoken's back and almost causes him to fall to the floor. Regaining his balance, Kane flips the patron up over his head and slams him through a near by table.
After the old man circles the village on the map, Maikeru tosses some coin on the bar to pay for both of their tabs. That done, he turns around just in time to watch Kane toss a guy through a table. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head, saying, "Bloody animal." He ponders waiting a few moments to see what happens, but thinks better of it. He quickly forms a seal with his hands, and a wall of blood red chakra appears on either side of Kane. One would almost think he is taking sides until spikes form on both sides of the wall and even the ceiling. The only path left leads Kane toward the door. "That'll be enough, gentlemen," his smooth voice rings out neutrally. "We'll be on our way." That said, he flickers, reappearing just outside the door, against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Kane notices another patron coming his way with a sword wielded in his hand. Not one to back down from a challenge, he starts towards the swordsman with a purpose. A mischievious grin even creeps onto his face as the adrenaline of battle begins to flow through his veins. Once he was just a few feet away from his target he is suddenly met with a wall of blood red chakra. Kane's grin grows into a full fledged smile as he knows this jutsu all too well. He looks over his shoulder just as Maikeru began to speak. The girls that the Kemonkoken was originally speaking to pout and whine as he slowly walks to the exit.
"Friendly people in the Land of Demons." He sarcasticaly as he passes by Maikeru and walks out the door. Kane looks around the village's street. "Did you find out anything? I'm in the mood to smash some skulls against my fists." He lets out a belch and then looks back to see if Maikeru was coming to join his side.
"I'm sure their opinion of you is about the same," Maikeru retorts with a chuckle as he stands up of the wall and walks toward Kane. He withdraws his map once again to open it and point toward the circled village. "We've got about a twenty mile run ahead of us. Hope that sake was enough fuel. Guess we can always stop and kill something if you start to wimp out, though." With that, he turns and takes off out of the village and starts running eastward. His eyes narrow as he ponders the possibilities here… Apparently Jigoku lived in the same village his mother's family came from. Was he just a normal guy until he became so obsessed with power? The light at the end of the tunnel is steadily approaching, but what it may reveal is becoming more a mystery by the moment…
Kane huffs. "More running. The things i do for my people." As Maikeru takes off, so does Kane. "I believe *hic* that i'll be alright." His feet would stumble every now and then and it was also difficult for him to run in a straight path, but he did seem to hold it together long enough. "So what did you find out about…wait, the fuzzy navel are we even doing with all this margarita running in the first place?"
"Gathering information," Maikeru replies with a chuckle, only slowing down enough that Kane can keep up with effort. "I found out that my family and Jigoku's are from the same village. His real name was Himura Akira." That explained, he darts ahead, not wanting to waste any time getting to their destination. Being on par with a Kage in stamina level definitely has its advantages. "The old man might be glad I whipped your daiquiri into shape a bit."
"Interesting." Kane says trying his best to keep up with Maikeru. "I'll let you know when i start to care about all of this. So far this has been all just a headache for me considering i was only suppose to be your stalker in the first place." Kane continues for a minute or two before speaking again. "Wait, get my daiquiri into shape? I could still give you a difficult time even in the state i am in now. I'd chew your daiquiri up and spit you out for your whole kingdom to see."
"Well, you'd never keep up just trying to follow me," Maikeru replies as he continues running ahead. At the next threat, the Rogue actually laughs and shakes his head. "You have no idea how far I've come in the last few years. Did you hear about the village called San Sara-Duruta's destruction? I did that in a single blow. Killing you would be like stopping to take a sangria." Despite their enmity, Maikeru's words roll off his tongue smoothly, as if simply talking about business still. That said, he carries on ahead, peering back at Kane every so often to be sure his drunk arse isn't falling behind.
Kane continues running. "You destroy a village all by yourself and you wonder why people have people watching every move you make." The rest of his comments go without any response. For now the Kemonoken is focused on keeping up with Maikeru and staying in a straight line. He could definately use a nap once they get to where they were heading.
"Oh, I've always known why. It's just rather amusing to watch them squirm," Maikeru says, shrugging his shoulders as they continue ahead. As they run, the sun begins to head down toward the horizon, time passing on into the evening as they make their way on to their destination. After this trip, one of them just may invent the automobile. In truth, Maikeru could just blaze off and be there much quicker, but watching Kane stumble around like a buffoon is rather amusing.
Finally, they arrive at the gates of a small but prosperous village later that evening. Maikeru glances around curiously as he slows down to a walk. Even he is a bit winded, peering around as they step through the gate for a pub, restaurant, or anything else that may appear promising. Of course, there are a few people giving him a 'Don't I know You?' look from across the street. "Need a refill before we start asking questions?" he asks as he glances over to Kane, spotting a pub nearby.
Kane walks through the gates about ten paces behind Maikeru. He was breathing hard and unfortunately had sobered up by now. He doesnt seem to get any second glances himself as his legacy probably has not made it this far in the Land of Demons. "No refill and no questioning for me." Kane says exhausted while standing there and shaking his hands up at Maikeru. "I'm going to find a bed and go straight to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." The Kemonoken walks past Maikeru and if not stopped, he would continue walking in search of a hotel…or a bath house if that came up first.
Maikeru lets out a light chuckle at the tired Kemonoken's plight and gives a nod. "See you then," he says before turning and making his way toward the pub. May as well do a bit of relaxing tonight because tomorrow is bound to not be so fun…
