As was something that Ao was ought to do; Ao had decided to tag along with a group of merchants during his travel back from the Moon Country to Fire Country. Like most of the merchants Ao had traveled with, the merchants were initially skeptical of allowing a stranger to tag along with them. Ao was able to convince them that his protection was worth a considerably higher amount then the one he was asking. Ao then proved his worth by disabling the guards the merchants had originally hired simultaneously, but without causing any real harm to any of them.
The trip had been uneventful so far, which was something Ao did not mind. He had spent a majority of his time getting to know the men and women he was traveling with. Whether through a shared meal, or one of the many drinking games the merchants from the Moon Country knew. After a few days of traveling together Ao had taken quite the liking to two individuals in particular. A young mother and her son, Mahoko and Shodai. Two years ago Mahoko had lost her husband, and the father of her son, after he stole from the man. Luckily for his family he was able to successfully hide the money he stole and get his family out of the Earth Country before he was found. Mahoko took Shodai and the money her husband had stolen and moved to the Moon Country. There she started her own business unique herbs and tea leaves from Moon Country to the Fire Country, typically ending their trip in Konohagakure. There Mahoko would buy similar, Fire Country native, herbs and tea leaves, and then return back to Moon Country to repeat the process.
As time passed Ao found himself spending more and more time with the two until he was practically with them all day. Shodai was still very young, only three, but he was smart for his age and enjoyed playing with Ao. Mahoko was a beautiful woman, she had a sharp wit and exuded confidence and possessed a slightly abrasive exterior, and Ao was smitten with her. Her long red hair stretched almost all the way to her waist, her eyes a light green that occasionally shifted to blue in the dim light of the lanterns inside of the wagons.
One evening, just outside of the Fire Country border, as the caravan prepared to stop for the night. Ao, Mahoko, and Shodai decided to break away from the rest of the group to have their dinner alone. There was still another hour or so of light left in the day, and the three intended to make full use of it. They hadn’t gone far, roughly one hundred meters by Ao’s estimation, when they decided to sit down for their meal. Their spot was under a grouping of 4 trees, and had an unhindered line of sight to the camp they had come from. The three finished their meal, Ao and Mahoko finished a bottle of sake, and were about to pack everything back up when Ao noticed a strange noise come from the camp.
Ao stopped what he was doing and focused on the sound, before he could figure out the mystery sound another filled the air. This one was unmistakable, it was a scream. Ao turned to Mahoko and Shodai and told them to lay down and to not move, and then he ran towards the camp.
Ao stopped short of the circle of light radiating from the center of the camp. He sunk his body as low to the ground as he could go without touching his knees to the ground, and scanned the area. The fighting was in full-force now, and judging by the number of dead caravan guards Ao counted, it wasn’t going well for them. Ao moved to side of the wagon to his right, and moved his head towards the edge closest to the center of the camp. As he peaked out the side of the wagon Ao caught sight of a bald, caramel skinned man who stood almost two meters tall. He was holding one of the caravan guards by the throat, the guard’s feet dangling fifteen centimeters above the ground.
‘Where is the boy with the Sharingan?” The stranger croaked to the guard.
Judging by the look on the guard’s face, and the blue tinting his face, even if he knew he wouldn’t be able to answer. Ao saw an opportunity to attack and took hit. Channeling his chakra into the palm of his right hand, he charged at the stranger. It seemed Ao would be successful, until the last second, when another man suddenly appeared between Ao and his intended target. Ao halted his progress quickly, almost running into the second stranger, but stopped short of hitting either of the men. Ao did manage to release a few droplets of the metallic substance he used to craft his bombs with, which landed on the bald man, who did not seem to notice. The man that had appeared in front of Ao had similar colored skin to the bald one, but had long black hair, and a birdlike thin face that was riddled with scars. He was making a hand sign when he appeared, Ao through himself into a somersault to the right, and noticed midair that the shadows created by the large bonfire in the middle of the camp were speeding in his direction.
Ao knew that he would need to move as soon as he landed. As soon as his left foot hit the ground he launched himself back up into the air. Moving towards the outer edge of the circle made by all of the wagons. As he did so he released several fist sized globs of liquid metal in different directions. Aiming towards the outer perimeter of the camp. Before he landed a second time Ao had already decided where he was going to move next. Unfortunately, that became irrelevant as soon as he landed, as he fell right into the second stranger’s trap. Ao had landed in the shadow of the outer left-hand side wheels of a wagon, which had apparently enchanted by the long-haired man’s jutsu. Ao heard a sound from above and looked up. The bald-headed man was bearing down on him from above, the right first had become covered by a layer of jagged rocks which he brought down with all of his might on the top of Ao’s skull. A loud cracking and wet sound filled the air, but when the bald headed man brought his fist up what covered it wasn’t gore and brain matter, but a strange metallic liquid.
A look of confusion covered the faces of both the men, which was quickly replaced by fear as the liquid on the bald man’s hand began to boil and his. An explosion filled the night sky as Ao caused the volatile substance to react. Ao glanced in the direction of the bald man, and what he saw made Ao confident that he was no longer a threat. The shadow jutsu caster noticed Ao standing across the camp and must have realized that he had used a body switch jutsu on a clone he had created earlier to escape the crushing blow from the bald man. Another reason Ao was grateful that he needn’t use hand signs for most of his jutsu. The second stranger now had Ao’s full attention, and was in the midst of weaving hand signs when he suddenly stopped, cocked his head, and then quickly moved towards the direction that Mahoko and Shodai were at. Ao moved quickly to intercept him.
Then another scream cut through the silence of the night, this time coming from where Mahoko and Shodai were at. Ao looked and saw that there was a third figure standing over the area where he had told the mother and son to hide out. The screaming continued. Ao arrived at the scene before the second stranger, only to see Shodai on the ground before the third stranger, his body lifeless and his mother draped across him wailing. Ao’s vision began to tunnel, his mind raced. He could hear the whispers of Az manipulating him, but the words of the demon did not matter. Ao had already accepted his offer.
The third stranger apparently heard Ao, as he turned to face him. The man’s hands were covered in blood, his left hand cupped as if he were holding something. The man spoke to Ao, but again Ao recognized no words. The stranger pulled a large vial from his coat, and placed what appeared to be two eyeballs into it. Ao looked back at Shodai’s body, his eyes were missing. The taste of sour metal filled the air. The third stranger pulled removed his outer coat, revealing rugged shinobi gear similar to that worn by the former ninjas of Earth Country. Ao looked at the third stranger’s face and noticed a head band with a scratch through the center. It signified that not only were these man former shinobis of the hidden stone village, but they were rogue ninja as well. Ao felt himself get caught in the second stranger’s shadow jutsu, the third man approached Ao. Then Ao handed over the reins to Azathoth, and all hell broke loose. A sickening aura of grey chakra erupted from Ao, the metallic taste that usually accompanied Ao’s use of Azathoth’s chakra had grown to an almost unbearable level. The two strangers had to take a step back, Mahoko had stopped sobbing, her mouth a gasp as she looked upon Ao’s change. Ao no longer looked like a man, what stood before the two strangers and Mahoko appeared to be a massive feathered creature with the head of carrion bird wobbling on top of a wattled neck, it seemed almost frail, almost too weak to support what it does. Long wings spread from the creature’s back, two long lanky arms and two legs with taloned digits at their ends extended from the torso, similar to that of a human. It was covered in the same metallic substance that Ao’s arms appeared to be made out of.
The Azathoth and Ao combination instantly broke free of the shadow user’s justu and launched itself up 3 meters in the air, before adjusting its’ angle and diving down on the shadow justu user. The man tried to react, but the winged creature moved at a speed that defied all logic for the creature Ao had become. Before the man could finish his second hand sign the avatar of Azathoth was upon him. The right arm of the avatar turned into a blade, which was then used to split the stranger in two. Then the head at the end of the long vulture-like neck turned and looked at the final attacker. The man had move towards Mahoko, he had grabbed her and was currently holding a kunai knife to the woman’s neck. Her pretty face stained with tears, and filled with a dead expression. The avatar took one, slow step forwards and the stranger brought his knife closer to Mahoko’s neck, drawing a small droplet of blood.
“One more step and she’s dead! You hear me!? Not a single step you monster!”
The avatar looked at the stranger, then at Mahoko, then back. It’s head moving in such a strange manner, as if he did not understand why the stranger thought he would care about the woman.
Then, in an instance, Mahoko yelled a single phrase at Ao before she threw herself onto her captor’s knife.
“Make him suffer for what he did Ao! ”
Her body fell to the ground as her life’s blood spread in a puddle on the ground before the stranger. An occasional gurgle left her mouth as she lay face down on the ground. The stranger looked down at the dying woman, and quickly brought his eyes up to where the avatar had stood, but he was gone. The man panicked and spun around, but saw nothing. Then he heard a cracking coming from the tree limbs above. He looked up just in time to see one of the avatars taloned hands close in on the man’s face. The avatar gripped hard and pulled the man up with an unnatural strength. Then, the metal that made up the creature’s body began to trickle down from its’ hands. Each droplet landed with a hiss, and the stranger struggled even more ferociously to escape but to no avail. The liquid was coming down faster now, the man’s screams began to be interrupted by an intermittent cough and gurgle as some of the burning liquid made it into his throat. Slowly the man’s legs stopped kicking, and he ceased his struggle. Shortly after that the avatar of Azathoth dropped his victim to the ground, the man’s skin still sizzled underneath the liquid metal that covered his entire head down to his chest.
The metallic coat that covered Ao then dispersed, and Ao fell to the ground unconscious, next to the bodies of Mahoko and Shodai.
The next morning Ao left alone, the remaining survivors who had seen Ao’s transformation were no longer comfortable traveling with him. Ao understood where they were coming from, and agreed to go on alone. He buried Mahoko and Shodai under the trees where they had fallen. After he finished he looked back at the bodies of the two shinobi he had fought as the avatar of Azathoth. Ao did not remember much, but he did remember feeling the third man struggle and die, and that was all that mattered. Then something caught the corner of his eye, something had caught the morning son’s light on the third stranger’s body. Ao moved closer and noticed a glass vial filled with liquid, it was the vial that held Shodai’s eyes. Ao pulled the vial out of the dead man’s pockets and examined it. Shodai’s eyes looked normal with no sign of them being Sharingan, Ao noticed nothing different about them. Ao pocketed the vial and decided that the he would try and figure out just what the three rogue ninja wanted so badly.
MFT
The trip had been uneventful so far, which was something Ao did not mind. He had spent a majority of his time getting to know the men and women he was traveling with. Whether through a shared meal, or one of the many drinking games the merchants from the Moon Country knew. After a few days of traveling together Ao had taken quite the liking to two individuals in particular. A young mother and her son, Mahoko and Shodai. Two years ago Mahoko had lost her husband, and the father of her son, after he stole from the man. Luckily for his family he was able to successfully hide the money he stole and get his family out of the Earth Country before he was found. Mahoko took Shodai and the money her husband had stolen and moved to the Moon Country. There she started her own business unique herbs and tea leaves from Moon Country to the Fire Country, typically ending their trip in Konohagakure. There Mahoko would buy similar, Fire Country native, herbs and tea leaves, and then return back to Moon Country to repeat the process.
As time passed Ao found himself spending more and more time with the two until he was practically with them all day. Shodai was still very young, only three, but he was smart for his age and enjoyed playing with Ao. Mahoko was a beautiful woman, she had a sharp wit and exuded confidence and possessed a slightly abrasive exterior, and Ao was smitten with her. Her long red hair stretched almost all the way to her waist, her eyes a light green that occasionally shifted to blue in the dim light of the lanterns inside of the wagons.
One evening, just outside of the Fire Country border, as the caravan prepared to stop for the night. Ao, Mahoko, and Shodai decided to break away from the rest of the group to have their dinner alone. There was still another hour or so of light left in the day, and the three intended to make full use of it. They hadn’t gone far, roughly one hundred meters by Ao’s estimation, when they decided to sit down for their meal. Their spot was under a grouping of 4 trees, and had an unhindered line of sight to the camp they had come from. The three finished their meal, Ao and Mahoko finished a bottle of sake, and were about to pack everything back up when Ao noticed a strange noise come from the camp.
Ao stopped what he was doing and focused on the sound, before he could figure out the mystery sound another filled the air. This one was unmistakable, it was a scream. Ao turned to Mahoko and Shodai and told them to lay down and to not move, and then he ran towards the camp.
Ao stopped short of the circle of light radiating from the center of the camp. He sunk his body as low to the ground as he could go without touching his knees to the ground, and scanned the area. The fighting was in full-force now, and judging by the number of dead caravan guards Ao counted, it wasn’t going well for them. Ao moved to side of the wagon to his right, and moved his head towards the edge closest to the center of the camp. As he peaked out the side of the wagon Ao caught sight of a bald, caramel skinned man who stood almost two meters tall. He was holding one of the caravan guards by the throat, the guard’s feet dangling fifteen centimeters above the ground.
‘Where is the boy with the Sharingan?” The stranger croaked to the guard.
Judging by the look on the guard’s face, and the blue tinting his face, even if he knew he wouldn’t be able to answer. Ao saw an opportunity to attack and took hit. Channeling his chakra into the palm of his right hand, he charged at the stranger. It seemed Ao would be successful, until the last second, when another man suddenly appeared between Ao and his intended target. Ao halted his progress quickly, almost running into the second stranger, but stopped short of hitting either of the men. Ao did manage to release a few droplets of the metallic substance he used to craft his bombs with, which landed on the bald man, who did not seem to notice. The man that had appeared in front of Ao had similar colored skin to the bald one, but had long black hair, and a birdlike thin face that was riddled with scars. He was making a hand sign when he appeared, Ao through himself into a somersault to the right, and noticed midair that the shadows created by the large bonfire in the middle of the camp were speeding in his direction.
Ao knew that he would need to move as soon as he landed. As soon as his left foot hit the ground he launched himself back up into the air. Moving towards the outer edge of the circle made by all of the wagons. As he did so he released several fist sized globs of liquid metal in different directions. Aiming towards the outer perimeter of the camp. Before he landed a second time Ao had already decided where he was going to move next. Unfortunately, that became irrelevant as soon as he landed, as he fell right into the second stranger’s trap. Ao had landed in the shadow of the outer left-hand side wheels of a wagon, which had apparently enchanted by the long-haired man’s jutsu. Ao heard a sound from above and looked up. The bald-headed man was bearing down on him from above, the right first had become covered by a layer of jagged rocks which he brought down with all of his might on the top of Ao’s skull. A loud cracking and wet sound filled the air, but when the bald headed man brought his fist up what covered it wasn’t gore and brain matter, but a strange metallic liquid.
A look of confusion covered the faces of both the men, which was quickly replaced by fear as the liquid on the bald man’s hand began to boil and his. An explosion filled the night sky as Ao caused the volatile substance to react. Ao glanced in the direction of the bald man, and what he saw made Ao confident that he was no longer a threat. The shadow jutsu caster noticed Ao standing across the camp and must have realized that he had used a body switch jutsu on a clone he had created earlier to escape the crushing blow from the bald man. Another reason Ao was grateful that he needn’t use hand signs for most of his jutsu. The second stranger now had Ao’s full attention, and was in the midst of weaving hand signs when he suddenly stopped, cocked his head, and then quickly moved towards the direction that Mahoko and Shodai were at. Ao moved quickly to intercept him.
Then another scream cut through the silence of the night, this time coming from where Mahoko and Shodai were at. Ao looked and saw that there was a third figure standing over the area where he had told the mother and son to hide out. The screaming continued. Ao arrived at the scene before the second stranger, only to see Shodai on the ground before the third stranger, his body lifeless and his mother draped across him wailing. Ao’s vision began to tunnel, his mind raced. He could hear the whispers of Az manipulating him, but the words of the demon did not matter. Ao had already accepted his offer.
The third stranger apparently heard Ao, as he turned to face him. The man’s hands were covered in blood, his left hand cupped as if he were holding something. The man spoke to Ao, but again Ao recognized no words. The stranger pulled a large vial from his coat, and placed what appeared to be two eyeballs into it. Ao looked back at Shodai’s body, his eyes were missing. The taste of sour metal filled the air. The third stranger pulled removed his outer coat, revealing rugged shinobi gear similar to that worn by the former ninjas of Earth Country. Ao looked at the third stranger’s face and noticed a head band with a scratch through the center. It signified that not only were these man former shinobis of the hidden stone village, but they were rogue ninja as well. Ao felt himself get caught in the second stranger’s shadow jutsu, the third man approached Ao. Then Ao handed over the reins to Azathoth, and all hell broke loose. A sickening aura of grey chakra erupted from Ao, the metallic taste that usually accompanied Ao’s use of Azathoth’s chakra had grown to an almost unbearable level. The two strangers had to take a step back, Mahoko had stopped sobbing, her mouth a gasp as she looked upon Ao’s change. Ao no longer looked like a man, what stood before the two strangers and Mahoko appeared to be a massive feathered creature with the head of carrion bird wobbling on top of a wattled neck, it seemed almost frail, almost too weak to support what it does. Long wings spread from the creature’s back, two long lanky arms and two legs with taloned digits at their ends extended from the torso, similar to that of a human. It was covered in the same metallic substance that Ao’s arms appeared to be made out of.
The Azathoth and Ao combination instantly broke free of the shadow user’s justu and launched itself up 3 meters in the air, before adjusting its’ angle and diving down on the shadow justu user. The man tried to react, but the winged creature moved at a speed that defied all logic for the creature Ao had become. Before the man could finish his second hand sign the avatar of Azathoth was upon him. The right arm of the avatar turned into a blade, which was then used to split the stranger in two. Then the head at the end of the long vulture-like neck turned and looked at the final attacker. The man had move towards Mahoko, he had grabbed her and was currently holding a kunai knife to the woman’s neck. Her pretty face stained with tears, and filled with a dead expression. The avatar took one, slow step forwards and the stranger brought his knife closer to Mahoko’s neck, drawing a small droplet of blood.
“One more step and she’s dead! You hear me!? Not a single step you monster!”
The avatar looked at the stranger, then at Mahoko, then back. It’s head moving in such a strange manner, as if he did not understand why the stranger thought he would care about the woman.
Then, in an instance, Mahoko yelled a single phrase at Ao before she threw herself onto her captor’s knife.
“Make him suffer for what he did Ao! ”
Her body fell to the ground as her life’s blood spread in a puddle on the ground before the stranger. An occasional gurgle left her mouth as she lay face down on the ground. The stranger looked down at the dying woman, and quickly brought his eyes up to where the avatar had stood, but he was gone. The man panicked and spun around, but saw nothing. Then he heard a cracking coming from the tree limbs above. He looked up just in time to see one of the avatars taloned hands close in on the man’s face. The avatar gripped hard and pulled the man up with an unnatural strength. Then, the metal that made up the creature’s body began to trickle down from its’ hands. Each droplet landed with a hiss, and the stranger struggled even more ferociously to escape but to no avail. The liquid was coming down faster now, the man’s screams began to be interrupted by an intermittent cough and gurgle as some of the burning liquid made it into his throat. Slowly the man’s legs stopped kicking, and he ceased his struggle. Shortly after that the avatar of Azathoth dropped his victim to the ground, the man’s skin still sizzled underneath the liquid metal that covered his entire head down to his chest.
The metallic coat that covered Ao then dispersed, and Ao fell to the ground unconscious, next to the bodies of Mahoko and Shodai.
The next morning Ao left alone, the remaining survivors who had seen Ao’s transformation were no longer comfortable traveling with him. Ao understood where they were coming from, and agreed to go on alone. He buried Mahoko and Shodai under the trees where they had fallen. After he finished he looked back at the bodies of the two shinobi he had fought as the avatar of Azathoth. Ao did not remember much, but he did remember feeling the third man struggle and die, and that was all that mattered. Then something caught the corner of his eye, something had caught the morning son’s light on the third stranger’s body. Ao moved closer and noticed a glass vial filled with liquid, it was the vial that held Shodai’s eyes. Ao pulled the vial out of the dead man’s pockets and examined it. Shodai’s eyes looked normal with no sign of them being Sharingan, Ao noticed nothing different about them. Ao pocketed the vial and decided that the he would try and figure out just what the three rogue ninja wanted so badly.
MFT