Hyrule Adventures 2

Walking out of the Rauru, a sudden grip of fear grasps around the Deku's heart. However, Yukie refuses to allow it to affect his steady walk. Leaning close to Flit, he says calmly, "Whatever you do, don't react to what I'm about to say in any noticeable way. We're being watched yet again - not sure by who, but I don't like it." He keeps his voice ironically cheery, so that if the onlooker is attempting to listen in on the conversation, he'll hear happy noise rather than the caution that the elderly Deku feels.

~Flit managed to keep up the bluff, but he was filled with dread. It seemed like his heart stopped beating, and the sounds of the forest amplified ominously. He felt his hand sneaking down towards his dagger hilt, but stopped himself, bringing his hand around him to scratch his back. His expression is cheerful, and so is his voice, but his eyes show his fear and anxiety. "Even so, we should continue to the Deku Tree. The more assasins spread throughout the forest, the less that are gaurding the Thicket."~

~The assasin looked down at the two conversing deku, the smile still splashed across his features. He was relaxed, and even off gaurd. He saw their weapons, but didn't think of them as much of a threat. The new of the defeated group of sheikah hadn't reached him yet, because he had been out on his own patrolling Rauru. Another shadow landed silently next to him, and started to speak in sheikan hand code. "Be cautious. Feris was defeated, and killed by these two, and the mage was no weak fool. It seems they are stronger, or more resourceful than we thought." The assasin nodded, and the sheikan messenger dissapeared back into the trees. The sheikah drew out a single needle, and flicked his wrist, sending the needle flying towards Flit. He aimed to kill, and wasn't taking any chances, drawing three more needles from the many folds of his cloak.~

Yukie abruptly reaches forward and grasps Flit's hand. "Ya gotta pay more attention where yer walkin, young un!" he says flippantly - but his eyes, firmly fixed on those of his companion's, show a seriousness that does not match his tone. The Deku gives the younger one a sharp pull to the right, literally attempting to drag him off the path he'd been walking. "You'll trip over that there root fer sure if ya don't!" he says as he gives another sharp pull, hoping to get Flit out of the path of the oncoming needle.

~Flit went with the other deku's pull, going to the right of the road. He looked back into it, after flashing a short glance at Yukie, and saw a needle bury itself in the dust. His eyes widened a small amount, but his hand did not dart for the hilt of his dagger, instead he followed Yukie, moving into the cover of the trees. He asked quietly. "Shall we fight, or run?"~

~In the tree, the smile on the assasins face grew wider. So the deku knew I was here. This is going to be more fun than I thought. He jumped, forward, landing on a nearby tree branch, and then leapt again, getting the deku firmly in his sights. He then drew back his arm, preparing to let three needles rain down upon the two.~

Yukie grimaces. "Much as I'd like ta say run, I purty sure he's intent on fightin'," he replies. "He just leapt inta th' air, and I'm guessin it ain't cause he's tryin to fly!" The Deku hops back out onto the pathway they'd been traveling upon and draws both of his Deku Swords. His Nature sense, active the entire time, can detect the Sheikah even when he's in midair, so it takes no time at all for him to spot the man amongst the leaves and tree branches.

"Git out here right now, assassin!" he calls out, pointing one blade straight at the man's current position. "You wanna fight, let's try avoidin' th whole hidin and sneak attack stuff!" He frowns. 'At least fightin in th open gives him a chance a survivin.'

~The assasin examined the deku as Yukie spoke. He disregarded the deku's command, and threw a needle towards him in responce. He was still trying to sum up the two deku. It seemed one was a seasoned fighter, but mabye a little old. The other seemed to be more of a novice. A smile crossed his face. It was nice to have a novice as a target, but a little challenge was good too. He decided that he would take out Yukie first.~

~Flit drew his daggers, and looked up at the canopy. He saw the shadowy assasin attack Yukie, and as soon as the needle left his hand, Flit was climbing a nearby tree, as quietly as he could. He wanted to try to launch a sneak attack while the assasin was busy attacking the other deku.~

Yukie watches silently as the assassin completely disregards his commands. He feels like reflexively slapping himself in the forehead at the man's stupidity - after all, all the Deku had been trying to do was give him a fighting chance - but stops himself, primarily because that would allow the needle to hit him. There's no telling whether or not the projectile was poisonous like the one that stabbed Flit, but the elder Deku has no intention of finding out the hard way. He's done that before, and it isn't very fun . . .

So instead, he allows his arms to move in response to the known threat that approaches at a frightening speed. His left hand had already been stretched out in the direction that the needle was coming from, but now his right moves to join it, crossing the blades that each holds into the shape of an 'X'. He can see the dart flying straight towards him . . . one hundred feet . . . fifty feet . . . thirty feet . . . ten -

'Now!' With a mighty warcry - something quite odd for a Deku's high-pitched vocal patterns, but for him it actually sounds vicious - Yukie's blades flash downward in twin slashes that last little more than a half a second. But the effect lasts much longer. A gust of wind immediately forms from the force behind the elder's attack, slamming into the needle right before it hits him and sending it to the ground - all without having ever made contact with its target.

Yukie's proud grin is delayed from forming as his Nature sense picks up his young companion. 'So, he's plannin' a sneak attack, eh?' The grin comes on full force as he mentally approves of Flit's strategy, and decides to help it along. Stretching out with his senses again, he looks straight at the Sheikah once again and once more points a blade at him. His voice emerges once again, but this time is ice cold, showing a side of the Deku that could certainly be called predatory. "Ya wanna be the hunter, right? Then git out here, before I make you my own prey."

~A smile to match Yukie's look formed on the Sheikah's face. He was obviously a little overconfident. Overconfidence is often an assasin's down fall, but the sheikah disregarded it. He knew that he could beat the two deku. He drew a long curved dagger out of a concealed sheath on his back. He waved in front of him for a moment, and metioned for the deku to try to hit him with his puny swords.With his other hand, he drew out more needles.~

~The assasin watched his target carefully. Though he was a bit arrogant, he wasn't stupid. He had seen how the deku had defended himself, and knew that even if he threw ten needles, the same stradegy would work. This thought took the edge off his smile, but it did not fade completely. I will simply have to overcome it... He threw three needles. For now, it would be best to bring out the deku's defences. The more the assasin could learn about how the deku fought, the better.~

~Flit had reached the canopy, and sat quietly, watching the sheikah throw needles at his comerad. He had to move slowly to go stealthily enough towards his opponent. He crawled forward to another branch, and found that he had a very good view of the assasin. No all he had to do was wait silently till he could find a good opening... and hope the assasin didn't find him.~

Yukie allows a sly grin to come across his own face simultaneously as the one on the Sheikah's. The assassin appears to retain his focus on the elder Deku, allowing the younger one to sneak around to a good position to strike from. With his Nature sense, Yukie can see everything happening in the forest, even if his eyes cannot find the target of his tracking. His nods in pleasure as he finds Flit ready to strike but holding his ground - a good idea, as the Sheikah could simply be trying to draw the younger member of the duo out so he can get rid of him.

Three new needles are suddenly airborne, flying straight towards the Deku, affording him another reason to smile. By trying the same tactic over and over again, he was showing a decided weakness. Was this man only good with sneak attacks? Or could it be that he was underestimating his elders? Perhaps he just wanted to see how Yukie would respond to repetition, whether he would utilize a more advantageous defense or repeat his previous sword swiping.

Though he cannot decide which of the three is the assassin's main goal - his Nature sense does not allow him to tell what people are thinking, after all - the possibility of the third being correct moves him to decide to try his own hand at trickery. Yukie brings his blades up to their previous X-positioning, but allows his left arm to lag behind the right for a second - any trained warrior would be able to see this, and the natural assumption would be that his left side is more worn out that the right. Many reasons could be behind this: he could have been injured; his left side could be weaker - and more easily tiring - than the right; heck, he might even be experiencing a heart attack and fighting through it! Regardless, Yukie hopes that faking an injury leads the man to assuming his left side is the weaker.

With a slam resounding through the air, though, he reminds the Sheikah that he is still no weakling as he brings his blades down with terrifying speed, resulting in another gust of wind that sends the needles away from him. A lone word escapes from his mouth, not in a yell but rather an angry mutter that may or may not be heard by a Sheikah's superior hearing:

"Coward."

~The sheikahs smile did not falter. He heard the dekus utterance, but did not let it faze him. He instead used it to bolster his own confindence. The deku obviously wanted him to proceed down, and out of the trees. The assasin decided he would rather remain in the canopy, and take advantage of the apparant weakness the warrior had shown. But first, a bit of trickery would be in order. He melded into the shadows, becoming completely invisible, and slipped noiselessly through the trees, flanking the deku.~

~Flit watched as the assailant dissapeared. His eyes widened, but he didn't make a noise. He assumed that the assasin would be trying to flank his comerad, and this made it possible that the sheikah might see him. He sunk down lower in the canopy hoping that the branches would conceal him. He had a feeling that the other deku could still sense the deku, and hoped that he would attack soon. Not only because the sheikah was moving instead of attacking, but also so Flit could get in a sneak attack of his own.~

Yukie frowns as he sees his target vanish into the shadows. 'He heard me . . . I kin tell that fer sure. Wonder if he noticed my 'weakness' . . .' He then does something surprising. Rather than taking a defensive posture, rather than fleeing to a less shadowy area of the forest - or even back into town, - rather than making any active effort to locate the Sheikah, he lets his hands fall to his side. And he listens.

Shadowmeld is an interesting ability that all Sheikah possess . . . it shields one from sight, allowing the already dangerous people to move through their element with even greater efficiency than is normally possible for them. But its only strength comes from destroying their prey's ability to see them. For a battle-hardened warrior, who has fought and succeeded in so many death matches in his day, eyesight is one of the least of senses utilized. The Deku's eyes shut.

Hearing is one of the greatest. The Deku's ears twitch with every detail from all around him that they take in, allowing him to almost create a mental picture of the area. Almost.

But his Nature sense completes this picture with a clarity that eyesight cannot hope to match. Every sound finds a match with a creature in the forest; each movement comes to him through the air; whenever impact is made with the ground or tree branch, he knows it. So it is without difficulty that he discerns where the assassin is. He waits only for his prey to come out so he can destroy the man.

He should have come out when he'd been given the chance . . .

~The assasin saw Yukies arms fall to his side, and a sudden wild grin crossed his face. He knew that the deku wasn't giving up, simply trying to locate him. He felt adrenaline pumping through his body, and sprung from the tree, flying through the air, dagger over his head. He was trying to surprise the deku, and end the fight then and there.~

~Unfortunately for the sheikah, Flit saw him appear in midair. He knew he would only have one chance, and took swift aim, and pumped his arm. The dagger flew through the air at a spot right below the falling assasin, and as he fell, he entered the daggers path. It cut into his side, and he screamed in pain, cursing himself immediately for forgetting the other deku. He continued his attack though, his attack now powered by sheer rage. He thrust the dagger towards Yukie, his anger making the attack truly fearsome.~

Eyes closed, hearing acute and senses stretched out, Yukie's grin becomes genuine as he feels Flit's strike hit home. The Deku had definitely done his species proud with that sneak attack - even a Sheikah had been unable to see it coming. That was certainly a feat to be proud of. And yet even after having taken the dagger in his side, the assassin charged forward. The grip on Yukie's swords tightened - it was time to end this little scuffle.

With a ferocious turn, the Deku brought forth his blades with a speed that could not even be seen. He had been faking more than his injuries - he faked even the nonchalant attitude that comes with age. Deep within his heart is a howling wolf, ready to strike. And strike it does, meeting the assassin in midair with slashes like those of a beast's claws.

Three seconds and forty slashes later, Yukie lands again.

~The assasin's eyes widened in insurpassable suprise. His blade intercepted the first blow, and then the fine tempered steel snapped in to. Before he could blink again, pain coursed through his body. He couldn't think, the pure agony was all that mattered. The sheikah was dead by the time he hit the ground, and not a sound escaped his lips the entire time.~

~Flit looked on from the tree tops. He found that his blood was pulsing fast. He was afraid. Very afraid. It would be a bad thing if Yukie ever turned on me, he decided. It seemed that the other deku was a master. An artist, painting in red. His movements were graceful, and his strokes rarely missed. That was more than enough to make Flit afraid. The deku shook off his fear, and jumped out of the tree, next to the dead assasin. He nodded at Yukie. "Shall we proceed to the Great Deku Tree?"~

Yukie slowly rises again. Not turning back to where Flit stands, he walks forward to where the path meets the grass. Taking both of his now bloodstained blades, he slowly wipes them off in the plant life until they shine once more. With cool, militaristic-like precision, he wipes off any dew the swords may have gathered from their clean off on their sheathes before sliding them back into their resting place, where they shall remain until the next time their lethal efficiency is required.

Now he turns around again, giving Flit the same elderly grin that he has worn for nearly the entirety of their time together. "Sounds like a plan ta me!" he replies cheerily, acting as though the release of his warrior-side just moments ago had never occurred. He could tell the Deku was frightened by the power he had displayed, but that could not be helped. Besides, it had felt good to finally lower the mask and go at a foe with even that fraction of his full strength. Yukie just hopes that he won't have to use a greater fraction any time soon . . .