guardian of the storm | ✓

Chapter Fourteen ~ Red Ringed Eyes

~Chapter Fourteen~

The guards roughly throw Winter into the Holding Cell, her katana's clattering to the ground and still covered in blood. She groans softly and gets to her feet, still covered in all of her wounds. Apparently publicly pointing a pointy object at the man who runs a dangerous place means that your wounds don't get healed.

She loosely grabs onto the handles of the blades and hobbles over to the space she claimed as hers, sitting down with a heavy sigh. "You look like shit." She snickers softly looking up at the white haired boy dubbed Zero who has approached her.

"I have a proposition." She raises an eyebrow, motioning for him to elaborate. "Seeing how your major wounds are still visible as well as the fact that the other guy hasn't returned, I can deduce that you've insulted Judar and killed the poor guy."

He crouches down, his eyes hardening. "No one in this place has dared to openly declare their hatred to Judar like you did." A slow smirk curls his lips upwards. "Except for me, of course. So I suggest we join forces, to exact our revenge on that sick bastard." She looks at him for a long moment and he continues. "However, not one person, out of the thousands that have been enslaved here, has managed to escape. The guards all know the basic jutsu's that are taught to ninjas and think we're all a joke."

"Ah, but they've never had me to worry about."

She leans back against the wall, the white haired boy sitting down next to her. "And one person is going to make that big of a difference?" She nods slowly and levels her gaze at him. "I may not seem like it... but I'm a living, breathing weapon."

"You have a plan then?"

"Hon, I've had a plan since I woke up here. But we can, skip, a few steps. Adjust it to our liking. Besides I've already completed three steps. However, how am I supposed to trust you?"

"A valid point, but haven't you ever heard the enemy of my enemy is my friend? In this case we can become allies and help the other destroy this place." He tells her, his voice laced with conviction. She slowly lets a nearly identical smirk grow on her face as she holds out her hand, the two clasping each other's forearms to seal the deal.

"So what's this plan of yours?"

She rolls back her shoulder blades. "Well it's a little something like this..."

***

Judal frown lightly, sitting on a plush chair within a modern yet well decorated room. He sipped a cup of red liquid, his own eyes glowing slightly in the faint light. "Bring her to me." He finally instructs the guard awaiting his orders. He taps his fingers on the wood grained desk laying in front of him, his eyes cold and calculating.

It took the guard no less than five minutes to return, his gloved hand gripping the upper arm of the girl he'd recently brought to the arena. Her clothes were bloodied and ripped, dark eyes void of light except for the tiny spark he longed to stamp out. He waves his hand in one long, gracefully sweep, motioning to the chair across the desk that was shorter than the one he was sitting on. "Please, take a seat." She walks over like a lioness, her shoulders hunched and her lips twitching with the urge to bare her teeth at the man, her stature one of a huntress longing to make a kill.

She sits down, Judal looking down at her with slight disgust. "Those clothes are simply revolting..." He waves his hand and a guard hurries over, his whispers something the guard who nods before practically sprinting out. "So tell me dear eighty-two, what possessed you to point your weapon at me?"

"A salute of sorts, a way of greeting." She tells him dryly. His eyes flicker dangerously and he leans forward, his voice growing darker. "Do you think I am an idiot? I knew who you were and what you were capable of the moment you stepped foot in that little town, Winter, so stop trying to fool me."

Silence. Thick dead silence washed over the two as she processed his words, her mind becoming a whirl of thoughts and panic threatening to ensnare her in its trap. So Winter did what she did best, improvise.

She let her slender eyebrows furrow together, allowing a faint flash of confusion to wash over her eyes and pursed her lips slightly. "I'm sorry but did you just call me a season? I don't like snow much less winter so I'm afraid you've confused me greatly."

He let a smirk curl his lips upwards and he leans back. "You're good, I'll give you that. If I was anyone else you'd have fooled me, but unfortunately for you I can see through everything." His eyes widened and the small red rings surrounding the pupil's of his eyes turned darker. "My ability is to know all and see all." Sharp teeth flash as he smirks haughtily at her. "My eyes were made to see through even the Mangekyou Sharingan, there's no way such a genjutsu placed over you would escape my notice!"

He takes pleasure in noticing the stiffness of her spine, the way her eyes dart around the room as nerves start to appear. "So let's shatter that genjutsu, shall we?!" He lunges forward and grabs her wrist tightly, his fingernails digging into her skin. Her pupils dilate slightly as he lets out a sound of hysterical laughter as her body goes limp, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she falls unconscious.

He can't help but feel the rush of excitement as he looks at the girl, ideas upon ideas building up. However instead of doing anything too dramatic at first, he scoops her up and lays her down on the small cot pushed off into the side. Then he gets to work, sitting lotus style next to the cot and putting his hands into the seal for boar, a faint golden light radiating from him.

It happened gradually; her soft brown hair fading to black, skin growing lighter, a scar appearing on her eyelid, black bandages wrapped tightly around her other eye. "I knew it." He whispered softly, "I knew I wasn't the last one."

He let his hands drop to his sides, his own image flickering to reveal turquoise eyes hidden behind red before going back to normal. He stood up knowing the girl laying before him wouldn't wake up for quite some time.

So he walked out of his room, locking the door behind him before turning to the guard standing at attention next to the door. "No one is to come in or out of here, understood?" He basically snarled at the guard who nods sharply.

He then walks down the twisting hallways, faint light flickering everywhere. He strode down several flights of stairs, past the holding cell and even past the where the animals were kept contained. He eventually ended up in the bottom of the arena, the entire place pitch black. His eyes pierced through the darkness as he carefully makes his way to the single door laying in wait. He slowly opens it and slips inside, the door shutting and locking as it closes.

There was a flicker of lightning behind the door before everything falls silent, the faint smell of rain drifting through the hall. 

What do you guys think of Judal so far? And if you haven't noticed I started separating this story into different arks :) just so you can see the shift of thought or mood, let me know what you think of that! And then just so you have an idea of how long I plan on making this story, I have six arks planned out! And this ark has a good three to five chapters left!

QofC: Have you ever shared a birthday and/or important date with a fictional or anime character?

It turns out I have the same birthday as Shintaro Midorima (from Kuroko no Baskue) and my birthday also the same day all the dragons disappeared in Fairy Tail.