Brone hesitated for a moment when Lumikki had indicated about her being some form of 'demon'. The dwarf wasn't good at reading people during conversation, but he felt that statement his niece made might have something behind it. Whatever it was, he didn't have time to ask about it, for they were in the middle of a war and two skilled shinobi were targeting them.
As Lumikki claimed the female shinobi, Brone focused on the male,
"Have fun, lass" he told his niece before she screeched and took off towards her prey. As for the dwarf, he began running towards the male shinobi, his axes ready to bite down.
Sairensa formed several hand-signs as he gathered his mana. In the next moment, his body sent out an electrical pulse. For a split second, he was able to sense the feedback of that pulse as it bounded off three targets; the dwarf, who was closing in on him; Hanabira, who's movements he always recognized, and the winged yokai who was encircling the female ninja. Though he was concerned about his companion, he needed to deal with the dwarf quickly, otherwise he would be wasting time going after the flying demon.
The male shinobi barely dodged the axe as it nearly beheaded him. He then dashed back, gaining distance from the determined dwarf. He realized his agility and speed had dropped significantly; clearly it was because of the intense cold he was feeling in his body, he was doing everything he could to keep his mind off of it, letting the tension of the fight warm him up. He needed speed to overcome this slow; so long as he can keep himself faster than the dwarf, then he can avoid his attacks and deal a clean blow.
When Sairensa focused on the dwarf after his electrical pulse went off, he was able to lock onto him without the need of sight, but the downside to that was he wasn't able to know where Hanabira and the yokai are, at least not until he casts that jutsu again.
The shinobi formed more handsigns as he noticed the dwarf was running towards him again. He then spat out several electrical needles. Brone swiped several of them out of the air with Spellcleaver, but Sairensa knew of the axe, so his tactic was to hit him with a scatter shot. Sevearl needles he wasn't able to cut down had landed upon his legs, causing static to surge through his lower body, preventing him from moving any further, as if frozen in the snow.
The shinobi took this chance and formed another jutsu; his muscles expanded and tightened; his internal temperature increased as his blood flow quickened. His adrenaline heightened. With this, he was able to gain his speed back as he dashed towards the dwarf. Midway through his run, he let his mana surge through his sword. This technique was designed to pierce through the toughest armor; Sairensa had defeated many foes with this tactic, now he was aiming for the dwarf's heart to end this battle.
As he closed the distance, Brone swung his axe to counter, but he wasn't fast enough against the shinobi's new speed. Sairensa's blade sank into the dwarf's armor... but it didn't go all the way through. For a split second, the shinobi was lost in confusion; little did he know, behind Brone's frozen helmet, hanging from his nose, is an enchanted septum ring, imbued with the feather of an angel, designed to heighten the defense of the wearer's armor, to prevent such dangerous strikes.
The split second gave Brone enough time to raise his golden axe into the air, but as he was bringing it down to strike, the shinobi gathered himself in time to dodge the attack, gaining distance again. But as the golden axe hit the floor, an explosion of hail erupted from where the dwarf was. The blizzard increased in speed; the temperature dropped lower; and now hail was added to the mix.
"This is insane" Sairensa found himself speaking out loud, his teeth beginning to chatter. This dwarf was a walking statue. He couldn't waste anymore time on him, so he turned and rushed in the direction he last saw where Hanabira was. He let off another pulse, but he couldn't find her nor the yokai anywhere on the battlefield. Once again he was blind. "Hana!" The shinobi was beginning to get frantic as he was searching for his doe-eyed student. He didn't worry about the dwarf, for with the adrenaline rush, the shorter being wouldn't ever catch up to him, regardless of the blizzard.
Suddenly, something hit the floor just a few meters beside him. He let off another pulse and the moment he realized that it was a corpse, his heart sank. He was able to read the electrical pulse feedback, like sonar; it was the exact measurements of his student... but there was no heartbeat.
"I'll make this only exception" Sairensa was a young man, but a prodigy, already had several students under his belt. But this one that approached him continued to pester him. Hanabira, a kunoichi, not only a female, which was against his code to train, but also too young to join the academy. It wasn't until he had noticed her training in the dead of night that he realized her talent and dedication was the reason the teachers allowed her to enter.
"Thank you, Sairensa-sensei!" Hanabira, barely a teenager at this point, had bowed deeply on her hands and knees. To give her sensei to greatly respect, but also to hide her wide smile from him. This prodigy shinobi only accepted the elite with the most potential, so when the others heard of this, they began to pay more mind to the kunoichi, regardless of her gender, regardless of her age. After several years, her dedication wasn't only to prove herself, but to make her sensei proud, since he became more of an older brother to her. After a decade, they were inseparable.
Sairensa, against another code of his, grew emotionally attached and ended up swearing to himself that he would live long enough to see his little sister retire with a happy life, maybe even see her get married. He treasured his own life more so that he can see her life grow.
"HANA!!!" A surge of mana erupted from Sairensa as he began to form his next jutsu.
He was surprised; for the dwarf was already behind him, but before the axe could fully arc, the shinobi dashed away. His speed allowed him to reach the top of a nearby sentry tower. His mana formed a crossbow, with the bolt surging with powerful electricity, enough to replicate a lightning strike a dozen times over. Sairensa's trump card only had two shots, but it greatly drained him once they were done. It didn't matter. With Hana gone, his own promise to himself didn't need to be held.
The electrical pulse came back and he could see the outline of the winged yokai floating down. He aimed at her. The demon woman landed beside Hana's body. "Don't you dare touch her!" He yelled as he pulled the trigger.
A quick blur intercepted the bolt, cutting it, negating it. Spellcleaver finally struck and stopped the devastating bolt. But what the shinobi saw, wasn't the dwarf, but a tall eleven foot tall white werelion running at an insane speed through the blizzard, towards him. In a panic, Sairensa adjusted his aim, but it was too late, the werelion rushed up the side of the tower. When he closed the distance, the golden spear struck the shinobi; it's tip protruding from his back.
- To protect who I love, I shall be a monster:
"...Hana..." Is all the shinobi was able to say with his strength as the light in his eyes faded. The sound of battle was still ringing in the air outside of the blizzard in other sections, but the south went quiet as the controlled storm was dying down. Brone shrunk, returning to his true dwarven form, all the while looking into the shinobi's silent eyes.
"Ye both fought well" Brone whispered to the fallen shinobi before he pulled the spear from him.
By the time Brone got back to where Lumikki was, the blizzard had completely stopped, and the sound of battle was replaced by distant cheers. The dwarf had Sairensa's body on his shoulder. He then laid the male down beside the female and made sure to close their eyes. He gave one last look and slammed a closed fist onto his chest where his heart was, a salute of honor. Then he would look to his niece and gave her a slight nod before looking towards the north west. There were torches moving; platoons moving towards their direction.
Huginn and Muninn landed on both his shoulders, and indication that everyone who knew Brone and the ravens that the battle was over and all was safe. They would whisper into his ear, telling him that the enemy troops were defeated, but the dwarf didn't respond. He stood, though as short as he was, seemingly tall, for the sake of his troops. The war wasn't over, though the battle was won.
As the allied troops were getting closer to the Frozen North Dwarf and the Witch of Black Ice, Brone thought about the shinobis... and how they resembled him and his niece.
1,570 | 5,640
[Exit]