Chapter Three - Team

The shinobi meet each other for the last time...and the result is anything but ideal.

The graduation ceremony was far less extraordinary than the bonding of the wasuka. As was done generations before, and centuries before that, the graduates were assembled into the ceremony hall, where the audience was placed among pews surrounding the small arena where the graduates and the Marajin stood.

With a voice that echoed across the grand hall, the Marajin spoke of a future that became all the brighter with each hajin that graduated from the Academy. He spoke of how each and ever citizen of Disbakao was filled with the spirit of accomplishment whenever the graduation ceremony came every year. He reminded all of the citizens of the Flame how important their country was to the Land of the Rising Sun.

“The Flame”, his voice projected throughout the hall, “represents among man’s many qualities. Just as the light of a lantern keeps the way lit when night dawns on this very city, we have protected the world for thousands of years! Wherever it was by shield and spear, or kunai and jutsu, we have protected and guided people ever since our dawn!

“But the lantern’s light is a delicate thing: its influence is great, but even a slight breeze can distinguish it. We have that same weakness: if we allow the sins of man to overcome us, we shall be lost, and our guidance along with it.”

He went on to say how it is important for all members of the Flame to support each other: it is easy to put out one lantern’s light. “It is not easy for a single wind to blow out thousands of torches,” he reasoned.

They were mighty words indeed: they filled the souls of the onlookers with pride for themselves, their countrymen, and their ancestors. For an hour, they forgot that they were just an individual, a mere sheep amongst a much large flock. Rather, they were all one, large herd, ready to push onward, whatever the task that befell them.

There were no Hebi or regular man. They were just Flame.

Alas, that unification lasted for only a few hours. Once all of the graduates were given their headband, which identified them as a shinobi of the Flame, and once everyone left the Halls, the old walls of division would rise back up. Man would hate Hebi for merely being Hebi, and Hebi would take a calm and cautious step forward, moving through the prejudice, doing their best to ignore the black flames of hate.

It would be several hours later when the tajin Nanaki Jukuto would once again be finding herself in another bar, smoking lightly on smoke-weed, her eyes red with exhaustion, and her shadowed eyes betraying just how much she needed sleep. Nanaki was a woman nearing on thirty, with her birthday being just a few months away. Her long, dark hair swooped down her back, her face pointed and sharp. Even her nose had a sense of masculinity to it, with the bridge going in at an angle, rather than curving in. Her lips were small, not delicate nor hard.

Her fingers wrapped around another ochoko cup, her hands swinging lightly cup, the alcoholic contents swaying slightly. Her eyes studied with great interest the way the sake flowed. One would think she was drunk: she and her fiancé Kai knew otherwise. She feigned drunkenness, just for the fun of it.

“You know”, her fiancé began as he leaned back on the chair, “you probably should stop drinking that stuff so much, what with you and I to be newlyweds and all that.”

“No kids,” she said, knowing where the conversation would eventually lead.

“One could hope.”

“One can also hope for a death wish.”

Kai sighed. “If we don’t plan on having them, then what was the point of me persuading —“

“Forcing”, she corrected.

“Persuading”, the man insisted, “on you signing up to be a team sensei, if not so you know what you’re in for?”

“It was so I could prove once and for all that I’m the last woman that should be a mother.”

Kai sighed again. “How we ever got beyond the first night is beyond me.”

“If I remember right, we were as drunk as a bunch of old, wasted farmers. You were rambling on about the enormous a*s of your mother, if I recall.”

Kai bit on his thumb. He needed to change the topic now. “You’ve heard about what’s going on in the Country of Tears?”

“Yeah. From what I’ve heard, some rebel group took control of the country.”

“That all?”

“No. I hear that a criminal shinobi was leading it.”

“A lost-jin you mean? It’s not that rare.”

“It is when the f**k is supposed to be one from the Beast Brigade.”

At that, Kai’s eyes widened. The Beast Brigade was a legendary legion of shinobis from the Country of the Wolf. Just as legendary as they were ruthless, the legion was disbanded when the Feudal Lord decided it was time for the country to be accepted more openly. “Now, that is interesting. Does the Marajin have anything planned?”

“It’s none of our business.”

“Except for profit. It could be a very profitable mission.”

“True, but they have to come to us first, love. And my bet is none of them Tearies are going to be crossing their border anytime soon.”

“True.” He paused, thinking of another subject to turn to. “So, what do you have planned for the test?” The man was referring to the final test each and every hajin was forced to take: after the graduation, the sensei gave their students a test of their own. The ‘graduation’ surely made the hajin over confident: they had succeeded, they were now Shinobis; nothing could beat them now.

Never were the juveniles more wrong. The sensei’s tests were designed to get rid of the weakest of the remaining strong, so that only the truly elite remained.

“Answer the damn question.”

Nanaki sighed. She rubbed her chin. “Remember Old Man Aku?”

Kai raised his eyebrow suspiciously. “What of him?”

“Well, if I recall right, there was a certain test of his that was his favorite.” She licked her lips mischievously. Kai bit his lips, and leaned in closer. “It had something to do with having his students look for him in the forest­—“

“Which forest?”

“Oh, if I recall, it was Ookii Forest.”

“This isn’t the Ookii Forest that’s twice the size of Disbakao, and is full of tales of even choujin ranked shinobis getting lost in, now is it?”

“Yes”, the woman said, almost a little bit too cheerfully. “That is precisely it.”

“Oh gods…”

“Well, I should be off. I need to let those hajin know what they’re up against.” She drank the last of her sake, and walked out of the bar.

“Please oh please oh please oh please let the kids pass.”

*

The four hajins received their letters the same way as their peers: the scroll was slipped somewhere in their room or household, in obviously plain sight. The contents were simple enough – meet on the edge of the Ookii Forest, at the Third Gate, before the afternoon sun rose. The scroll was very brief when referred to how much supplies to bring: “Enough for a hike through the woods” was all that was said.

By the time the afternoon sun had found its place in the sky, all of the shinobis had arrived at the gate. Shinji, being one with too much time and little chores to spend on it, was the first to arrive, a few hours after the shops first opened their doors. He dropped Shinkasai, and laid at the side of a tree, waiting as patiently and as motionless as possible. The only exception was the inevitable yawn.

Orochi arrived soon afterwards. He never was one to start conversations with those outside of his Clan. Thus, the two’s first meeting was one of silence. Orochi just went to the grass to lie down.

Izumi and Kaname arrived a great deal later. It was several hours after Orochi decided to take his nap when Izumi arrived, his long, overgrown sleeves trailing behind him as the wind blew behind him.

As was expected, the moment Shinji and Orochi set eyes on him, there was uncontrollable fear. The already pale individuals’ skin tones began to lighten. Their hands began to shake silently.

Izumi, the maniac, the psychopath, the monster in boy’s flesh, was their team mate? They never suspected that Izumi, of all people, would be on their team! They didn’t even see him at the wasuka ceremony! What the hell was the Marajin thinking, graduating a maniac like him?

Did the Marajin think that Izumi would actually change just because he graduated? Just because he was now a shinobi doesn’t mean his insane persona is going to evolve! He was insane the moment he was sold to Disbakao, and he will be insane whenever Death caught up with him!

Why was Izumi even alive now? Why wasn’t he dead? Why wasn’t he locked up in some prison thousands of feet below the earth, the gate sealed for all of eternity?

Why was this walking time bomb here?

The whole time, Shinji and Orochi didn’t even look at Izumi. They didn’t even look in the general direction. They just showed him their backs instead.

The two boys were in such paranoia of Izumi, they didn’t realize that Kaname arrived hours later. She had arrived, in the same way she arrived at all things, with her head up high, her legs taking small, precise steps. The daughter of Tae didn’t even flinch when she had set her eyes on Izumi. She simply just sat on a stump.

The moment she sat down a cloud of smoke filled the area. Everyone, not exactly expecting someone to pull a prank like that, was coughing horribly. Eventually, the cloud subdued, and they found a poorly made spear forced into the ground, with a scroll strapped to it.

“He leaves a letter”, Kaname said irritated. “He couldn’t have come himself?”

“It is better than nothing at all”, Orochi noted.

“Whatever. Somebody just pick it up and read it.”

Of course, Kaname had already analyzed all of her team mates to determine which one would be the easiest to control, and she found it in Shinji. When she gave the order, she was staring obviously at the orange head.

Nervously, out of the psychopath lying nearby and the frightening woman standing across from him, he walked to the scroll. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the girl; it was just that it was their first day as a team. He didn’t want to create a bad reputation that he was hard to work with; the rumors circulating around the city were bad enough.

Forcefully, he untied the ropes binding the scroll. Wiping some saliva from his lip, he read it. “About time you idiots got here.” Already the others looked to becoming agitated. “I knew that when I said to get here before the afternoon sun rose over the sky that you wouldn’t make it. Mostly because of that idiot Kaname, I’m sure” Shinji covered his mouth the moment he muttered the words.

If Kaname was infuriated before, now she was ready to tear Shinji into several pieces, mostly small and in a bloody fashion. “What did that f****t say? Give me that damn thing!”

“But I haven’t finished reading it! Hey! Stop hitting me!”

Orochi rubbed his neck furiously. It had been aggravating him for some time now.

“Give it to me, or the Gods help me…!”

Orochi examined his fingernails, a bored expression on his face. They were dirty as of late. He should probably clip them.

“That hurts! Stop it! I’ll give it to you!”

The Hebi flexed his fingers before he rose up.

”Damn right you should!”

Orochi snapped the scroll right out of Shinji’s hand. “Now, lets where you left off.” As expected, Kaname charged right for him. That’s why he leaped onto the branch of a semi large tree, using the hot blooded woman as a platform for added insult. He cleared his throat with a light cough. “As you can see plainly before you, you are in front of Ookii Forest. I won’t bore you with details, since you think you have better things to be doing. I’ll just say this: it is almost twice the size of our lovable city.

“For your test, you have to find me.”

Ever slowly, as if he had just read his death wish, Orochi raised his head. His emerald eyes glanced downwards at his other teammates. Kaname was so infuriated that Orochi was fairly certain that blood would be gushing out of her veins any minute now. Shinji actually looked paler than Orochi thought possible. Orochi didn’t look at Izumi.

“What the hell! What does that idiot think he’s doing? It takes a week just to go from one side of the forest to the next! And she expects us to find her without any coordinates or anything?”

Shinji rubbed neck nervously. There was no way in hell he was going to speak up, with him fearing that Kaname would be roaring at his face for butting in. He was worried about the test, though. He didn’t know how big the Ookii Forest was, but he did know that it was big enough for the group to get lost in, especially since he doubted any of them have been in there before. Shinji knew he sure hasn’t been.

And did their sensei really expect them to just magically waltz in there, act like they knew what they were doing, and just find him?

“There’s more, if you’ll stop yapping long enough to let the Hebi finish.”

The atmosphere instantly became colder. Everyone instantly felt a chill crawl up their spine. Nervously, as if they were to stare at a demon, they looked at Izumi. His eyes, half opened, stared forward, not at anyone or anything in particular. His words were cold, void of any sort of emotion.

They expected him to say something again, something heartless and demanding. But Izumi remained silent, his arms still crossed across his chest, his eyes now closed, acting oblivious to the people around him.

Orochi continued reading the letter. “I’m not a total jackass, so I’ll give you guys some help. You’ll find red scrolls across the forest. They’ll lead you to one another, and eventually to me. But, if you follow that, you’ll run out of time. So, you’re going to have to take some risks! Skip a few; risk your future on a scroll.

“You’ve got a week and a day. Get to it, idiots. Signed, Nanaki Jukuto.”

Kaname looked shocked at the revelation that a woman would be so harsh. “The jackass is a b***h?”

Izumi sighed, got up, and headed for the forest. “We go. Now.”

No one said anything. “If you want to fail, do so.”

“But we don’t have any supplies…” Shinji insisted. He was immediately shocked he actually said anything.

“We don’t have time for supplies. We only have time to move. We’ll eat wild fruits, and drink rivers for water. Now let’s go.”

No one else was brave enough to argue. Shinji lifted Shinkasai the best he could, and was the first to follow. Kaname looked at the Hebi nervously, and silently insisted that he followed. Not wanting to make a scene, Orochi dropped from the tree, slipping the scroll in his pocket as he descended. He slipped on Kusanagi and followed the orange head. Kaname followed closely behind.

*

Shinji didn’t know how it happened, or why it happened, but he had managed to find himself between a rock and a flaming volcano, with Kaname parading in front of him like the proud woman she was, and Izumi walking silently behind him. Shinji was petrified of both individuals, for one reason and another.

Kaname was complaining how the ‘b***h’ was too vague on where the first scroll was. Izumi remain quiet to the racket. Shinji tried to say that she wouldn’t lie to them. After all, why would a sensei give them a test that was impossible?

“I don’t know! Maybe because she doesn’t want to be a sensei?”

“But that’s just stupid!”

“Shut up!” She roared. Shinji was quick to obey. He heard a sigh emitting from Orochi.

“The hint said the scroll was on a cliff overlooking a lake. There’s only one such place within such close proximity to the beginning. And that cliff is fifteen minutes away.”

Kaname just sighed. She was obviously too hard headed to listen to any sort of explanation that didn’t say she was right. Shinji was just fearful of the inevitable clash between Orochi and Kaname. Orochi was the obvious leader of the group, but Kaname just demanded power. There would be a clash, and only one will come out as the commander.

Or at least until they found sensei. She would restore order, give a sense of command. She would make sure Orochi and Kaname wouldn’t fight with each other over who leads.

Then a thought popped into Shinji’s mind. What if Kaname was right, that sensei didn’t care? That she was being their sensei because she was forced to be. Was this test a ticket out of having to be their sensei?

Shinji shook the thought of his head. That was just Kaname being an egotistical woman with a mightier than thou attitude.

He took a quick glance at Orochi. The pale one had a sense of absolute calmness and serenity, as if the threat from Kaname meant nothing to him. Or, perhaps he was just oblivious to it.

No matter the reason, just looking at Orochi made Shinji feel like snakes were wrapping around his throat. Orochi, like all Hebi, had the appearance befitting of a snake, with his deathly pale skin and raven colored hair. Shinji didn’t know why Disbakao would keep a race of man that looked more like demons.

Shinji secretly swore that he would keep away from Orochi as much as possible. If it hurt the team, so be it. Something about Orochi just gave Shinji unmistakable fear.

Behind him, Izumi chucked under cold breath. While the others were busy analyzing their other teammates, seeing who to manipulate best, who to cling to, who to isolate, Izumi was reading them like an open book.

Kaname was an egotistical woman who had big words and an even bigger bite, but when cornered, she would whimper like a puppy. People like her weren’t too rare; there were plenty of children from noble families, and Izumi had encountered more than enough of them to know how to deal with them. Izumi would put Kaname in her place soon enough.

Orochi was a different subject, however. He seemed to be the most mature one of the group, using the fear of his lineage as a way to gain command. He viewed everything with a sense of calm. But the calm ones were easily beaten as well: they all had a weakness. And once that weakness was exploited, they would fall just like all the others.

As for Shinji, well, Izumi didn’t even need to waste a moment considering the orange head. It was obvious he was a weak willed individual, who would listen to anybody just as long they didn’t harm his fragile psyche. Putting Shinji in his place would be easier than Izumi would wish.

It didn’t matter when or how. Izumi would be in command of the small group.

He didn’t suspect that Kaname was crafting her own coup de tat, however. The girl knew she already had Shinji within her tight grip. The little shrimp was as flimsy as a pile of sticks. She’d bet that if anyone was to so much as flick him, he would flinch. How in the Four Lands did he ever pass the Academy?

It was Orochi and Izumi that was really causing her problems. Orochi just didn’t seem to know that she was the only one worthy of being the leader. After all, she was raised by Tae Uzuki, one of Disbakao’s better shinobis. It only made sense that she would be the natural leader! Orochi spent a year away from Disbakao, and Izumi was too crazy to do much leading of anything. And Shinji was a weakling! Kaname was the only one fit to take command of this operation.

But Orochi had to be difficult. He had to embarrass her in front of the whole group. Now, they followed him, because she looked like a fool because of his arrogance! She would make that damned snake-man pay for that, no doubt about it.

But Izumi, what could she do about him? That kid, he was a maniac. He was crazy. He’d probably kill them all in a heartbeat. Probably after the next turn, he’ll bring out some blood stained knife, and chop them all to pieces.

No, that’s probably not his style. Izumi is different from others; but then again, that was obvious. But there was something about him that told Kaname he wouldn’t do something like that. He would kill them; Kaname had a good hunch about that. But he didn’t seem to want to kill them alone. He’s a glory seeker.

But a killer is a killer. Kaname would find a way to deal with him. Nobody was going to kill her in her pride, right when she was in the spotlight! That Izumi would accept her as leader in his own time, just like everyone else.

They hiked through the frosted forest at a moderately good pace, concerning the terrain. They arrived at the Cliff sooner than they expected, despite the fact that they had no real time table for each marker. Even Kaname left a compliment for the ragtag group.

“We managed to get here at least. You idiots may survive yet.”

“Perhaps we could have a truce then, oh mighty Kaname?” Orochi was smiling, as always.

“Don’t flatter yourself Hebi.”

Shinji decided upon himself to read the scroll. Compared to the first, it was ridiculously short. “‘Through a frosted cave and slippery tunnels, the scroll is waiting for your lazy a*s’.”

“Did that rhyme?” Orochi mused.

“It doesn’t matter,” Izumi said in his cold voice. “We need to find the cave.”

“That doesn’t help, Mister High and Mighty. There are probably hundreds of caves around!” Throughout the taunt, Kaname didn’t even give the slightest hint of fear for Izumi in either her voice or her expression. Izumi took note of it.

A cough interrupted the still atmosphere. The three turned to Shinji. “Well, it might not be so narrow…”

“What do you mean?” Orochi arched his eyebrows.

“Well, the hint said frosted cave, right?”

“Yes, on with it!”

“Well,” he stuttered, “maybe the cave is blocked by ice? Maybe?” Shinji didn’t seem too sure to himself, or that’s how Orochi saw it. Kaname didn’t give much for the proposal, but Izumi saw some value from the weakling’s theory, even if Shinji didn’t see any value in his own suggestion.

“We’ll split up, each looking in different directions. We’ll light a signal when we find one matching the orange hair’s proposal.”

His cold tone was all that was needed for nods of approval.

It was quickly decided amongst the four of them where they would begin their search. Shinji would walk up the river that ran below the cliff. Orochi would search the forests surrounding the cliff in a two mile radius. When asked by Kaname how he would know when he reached the mile, Orochi simply said he ‘had a knack for these things’. Kaname volunteered for the mountains on the west side of the river.

After all, she was an Uzuki, and thus, she was best suited for the task. None agreed with that statement, but if she wanted to trek through the mountains, she more than welcomed to.

Izumi announced in plain terms that he would search the forest region eastward. It was more plains than forest, and he would move through it faster than the rest, he reasoned. No one argued with the notion.

“But why these places?” Orochi mused. “Forests, mountains, river, and plain. Why do we narrow them down to these?”

“Because”, Kaname said in an unkind tone, “these would be the best places for something to happen! An avalanche, packs of wolves, cold winds that would throw us into the river, and getting lost on the plains. Anything can happen there, so just getting to that scroll would be a test in itself.”

The revelation made a lot of sense, but the group was most surprised at how Kaname thought of this on her own. They never thought of her as someone who could analyze situations like this with so detail. Of course, Orochi noted that it wasn’t nearly as well done as how he would have studied it. For example, there was the fact that tests weren’t meant to kill. Tests were meant to be just that: a test. So there was the question why their sensei – Nanaki, he remembered – would go to such great lengths to endanger them so much?

But still, there was the fact that there was more to the over arrogant female than first perceived.

“Enough small talk,” Izumi interrupted the conversation. “Just as long as we find that cave, everything else is pointless. We’ll meet back within two hours.”

They nodded; Orochi was beginning to fear that Izumi was slowly getting control of the group. He feared the results of the madman achieving that motion. He would have to make up for his mistakes when they find the frosted cave.

Orochi began to move, but he froze his movement in mid step when he thought that he heard something. It sounded like a twig being snapped, but Orochi wasn’t sure. It was probably just his anxiousness over the whole situation. After all, if he failed his test, it would be an embarrassment on his whole carrier as a shinobi…if he would even be allowed into the Academy after such a blunder.

He finished that step, his boot sinking into the snow. The frozen water flew up around the boot, a few snowflakes landing on it.

That was when Orochi, realizing he had indeed heard something, and knew that something would be here very soon, drew a kunai from one of his pockets.

As if that was there cue, a small pack of wolves, no more than five, leaped from the forest, their large numbers pinning the hajin to the edge of the cliff.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kaname’s hands were in a tight fist. She was obviously ready to break the bones of the wolves, and if her history proved true, that wouldn’t be as hard as task as one would think.

“What do we do?” Shinji shivered.

“Well, it’s very obvious”, Orochi stated simply. “We fight.”

There was only one problem with Orochi’s proposal: Shinji couldn’t move. He was paralyzed by fear. This was his first fight, his first battle, his first chance to prove himself. And yet, he could not move.

But why? Shinji was by no means a prodigy, but he did fair enough on his tests to pass, and he would train for hours and hours. He was one of the few students who specialized in Fyuujin-Ru! He knew how to psychologically battle fear. He had been many mock fights before, so why is it that know, when all he is facing is mere animals, he is frozen by fear? Why is it that he is failing at such a critical moment?

“We have to fight,” Orochi repeated again, but Shinji didn’t acknowledge him. Orochi knew at once what was going on: he had heard of this many times before; the first sign of battle and the newly graduated hajin freezes in their boots. It usually fades away after that first battle, but that is only in the condition if the hajin will be breathing after that fateful battle.

Shinji was fortunate in that it was only wolves, but then again, it was wolves that may very well be starving. Starvation can drive men lower than even the most brutal of beasts: it doesn’t take much imagination to wonder what it will do beasts themselves.

It was then that the beats, their stomachs controlling every thought, leaped at the hajins. Without a second thought, Orochi pushed Shinji out of the way, the velocity and Shinkasai’s weight sending Shinji to the ground. In that same motion, Orochi drew a kunai, and sidestepped a lunge from a wolf.

Kaname stepped backwards, avoiding a series of swipes from another wolf. The wolf leaped for her, but she jumped backwards, nearly avoiding being bitten by the sharp fanged jaw. Now, the wolf’s fate had been decided: a moderate amount of chi had been flowing into Kaname’s fist for a few moments now. Taking the opportunity, she slammed it right into the wolf, sending it into the ground, earth erupting from the point of impact.

Breathing hard, she looked up from her handiwork to stare at Orochi, who’s kunai was keeping a wolf’s jaw open, whereas his free arm, wrapped around it, kept it from advancing towards him. “If the idiot isn’t going to help, don’t bother with him!” Orochi could have very well have let go of the monster, and used Shinji has bait for a fatal blow. But he didn’t.

Orochi just smirked. He pushed the wolf back with all his strength, his fingers leaving their grip on the kunai. In the next moment, another kunai drawn, he sprinted for the beast, slashing it across the face. It fell, dead, to the ground. Relaxed, as if this was all natural to him (but in truth, this was the firs time he had ever killed anything), he leaned down to the slain beast, and wiggled the kunai from the corpse’s jaw.

A wolf sprang for him, seeing the opportunity for a quick kill. This almost became truth, for Orochi didn’t sense the beast. But he heard it in the nick of time, and turned on the beast, and slashed it. The beast fell dead. This all happened within ten seconds.

Some would call Orochi’s actions horrifying: but others would call Izumi’s the very incarnation of terror. Two wolves circled around him, their jaws so filled with lustful drool that it dripped from their black lips. Their yellow eyes were dead centered on Izumi. And all the while, the pale boy had his arms crossed, eyes closed, as if he was inviting death.

And all too ready to give Izumi the invitation, the wolves leaped. At that very moment, Izumi’s eyes opened wide, and pillars of earth erupted beneath the wolves, catching them in mid air. An incomplete sphere of mud, dirt and snow, held in midair by support of earth, enslaved them. Parts of the wolves were hanging from them. They whimpered in fear.

Izumi only blinked. And the spheres crushed the wolves, blood flowing from them like a clogged river. The corpses fell to the ground, hard and missing of care. One of the wolves’ lower jaw fell off, blood flowing from the wound.

Izumi didn’t even give any of them a moment to examine his work. “Let’s stick to the plan.” With that, he left, passing them by without saying a word.

Orochi helped Shinji up. “I best think that it is time to go now. Don’t you?” He said this was a sly smile, and a cheerful look on his face, his attitude acting absolutely oblivious to the dead wolves on the landscape. He left for the forest, taking a small glance at Kaname.

Kaname, however, was not to be kind to Shinji. “Idiot. If you’re going to be useless, get out of here, will you? We don’t need you slowing us down! You could have gotten us killed!” Shinji didn’t say anything. He only starred. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter, all right? Just be that way, Mister Superior.” With that, she to left, heading for the mountains off in the distance.

When everyone was nowhere in earshot, Shinji silently cursed to himself. He turned northwards, towards the river, and walked.