by 
Clair rolled her eyes, something she had done almost continuously since they had left Mountain. “They’re the symbol of wisdom.”
“It’s quite spectacular, really. To think, that an animal could have a better memory than a human! They’re trunks are fantastic, too!” Zergio waved his arm in front of his face in imitation of the creature’s long nose. “They use them to drink and take baths! Could you imagine using your nose to do that? Just suck up water through your nose. It’d be like having a straw permanently attached to your nose that you’d have to drink through. They can use them as snorkels when they swim, too.”
“They don’t actually drink through their nose.”
“Did you know that elephants lose their teeth like humans do? Except they lose their teeth four times over their lifetime! It’s fascinating,” he continued.
“They usually lose five teeth.”
“Can you imagine losing the same teeth over and over? I wonder if they ever lose all their teeth at once.”
“The new teeth are in back and push the older teeth forward. They lose their front teeth.”
“Their skin is amazing, too; it’s all rough and tough. I wonder if they sweat. This elephant is just weird. I mean look at it; it’s on fire! I’m surprised it’s not sweating constantly like I am.”
Clair stopped suddenly, causing Zergio to bump into her. She spun around and pointed at him, her fingertip nearly touching the tip of his nose. “That elephant has been my friend for nearly as long as I can remember. I know more about elephants, this one in particular, than you could ever know, so shut up about elephants. This elephant is on fire, yes. It is because it is an Inferno elephant. They tend to be on fire; that is how they are born and that is how they die. Now, if you would kindly shut up and stop pretending that you know what is going on, I would be most pleased.”
Clair turned her back on the surprised Mountain warrior and continued on, leading her precious elephant forward. She had summoned an elephant named Zo shortly after leaving the mountain; they had strapped their packs to its back once they had reached level ground. It was a small elephant, only about as tall as Clair; it had gray skin, though it seemed to have a tint of red in it. The tip of its tail and its tusks were on fire; these fires and the creature’s skin all gave off heat.
“I still wish it would turn off the heat,” Zergio complained to SSS who had walked along in silence. “It’s like I’m walking in an oven with no sign of an exit.”
SSS smiled as she watched Clair’s shoulders rise and head lower as she marched ahead of them. She was perfectly content to watch Clair beat Zergio to a pulp, but figured that it would serve them no purpose. “Later we will be thankful for the heat. Glacier is in cold country; we could freeze in an instant without that fire.”
Zergio heaved an exaggerated sigh of defeat. “Fine,” he muttered, slumping slightly as he walked on. “But couldn’t we have summoned this thing later? It’s still stinking hot.”
Clair spun on him and punched him square in the face.
* * * *
Most of the Hidden Villages were founded years ago by a group of people who found a location appealing to them. Those who enjoyed heat went into the desert; the cold, the frozen tundra. Some came later than others did as the first villages grew large and immigrants found new homes in new lands. There was only one exception to this.The Migrant Sun Village was a small group of people who were never able to find a home that pleased them. They traveled the world, visiting other Villages, other climates, other cultures. They lived peacefully and happily, enjoying their travels and the interaction they had with other villages. They were the best-traveled group of people in the world.
However, the expenses and hardships of traveling constantly finally caught up with these people. After a long and hard debate, the people of the Sun Village decided to settle down on the shores of a large lake in the east of the land. The lake was so large that it seemed almost like an ocean. Beaches of white sand covered the shore; the people built homes and, later, businesses here. A nearby volcano erupted often, leaving hot volcanic rock behind. This rock was the building stones for most of the buildings within the new Village; the volcano and warm weather lead to the new name: Inferno.
While exploring their new home, the warriors of the Inferno Village traveled into the heart of the volcano. They were surprised to find a strange group of animal living there: fire elephants. They seemed to be constantly on fire while within the volcano; they could apparently control the amount of flames for they journeyed outside on occasion, limiting the flames or putting them out entirely. The warriors eventually became somewhat trusted by these creatures and they began to work together. The flame elephants fought and worked beside the Inferno warriors; the warriors ensured that the area they hunted for food in was safe from discovery by other warriors or other unsuspecting people. The warriors in charge of working with the elephants became known as the Village’s clan; their symbol became the elephant laid over a flame.
* * * *
“I wish it would stop raining,” Thicup muttered quietly to herself, wrapping her blanket tighter around her. “It’s so cold because of it and I’m used to the warmth of Inferno. The trees are endless; I want to see the sun.”Darkflame patted her on the back and continued moving through the brush and rain. “It won’t stop raining until we get out of Storm’s area. It’s a perpetual rain they have here. It’s always been that way. As far as the trees are concerned, we’re in the middle of the largest forest in the world; they won’t be going away any time soon.” He did, however, call for one of his dragon companions, a blue named Urei, to use his powers over water to keep the rain from falling on the two. His yellow, Kiiro, remained on his shoulder.
Thicup nodded and made a mental note to not think out loud any more. Darkflame had proven to have odd goals for their trip; he wanted to arrive two days after they left Mountain, but the pace he set was so slow they would need a miracle to reach Storm within a week. Of the four groups that had left Mountain, they had the shortest trip; Thicup hoped it would be short enough to keep her from killing her partner.
Darkflame had treated her like a child, she felt. He would not let her do anything other than walk along side him; he would not even let her carry her own backpack or gather firewood at night. She suspected the reason why so she shrugged it off as she had learned to do. Nearly everyone treated her like Darkflame was treating her. She was incredibly quiet, rarely choosing to speak unless the situation required her to. This led some people to assume she was weak and could not do much on her own. Worse yet were those who thought her to be useless for another, more common reason.
“Woah, watch where you’re going!” He grabbed Thicup’s shoulder and stopped her from moving forward. “There’s a tree branch there; don’t walk into simple stuff like that. Didn’t you see it? Oh, sorry,” he muttered as his dragons issued short, low squeaks.
Thicup shook Darkflame’s hand off her shoulder and shook her head. “No, I didn’t see it, but there’s something else more concerning right now,” she said, bitterness creeping into her voice as she unfastened a thin pouch fastened to her forearm. Darkflame looked into the trees surrounding them. A soft rumbling from the throats of his dragons scolded him for letting his guard down as a dark figure stepped out on a branch of a tree beside them.
The new arrival was a young man who seemed to have spent far too much time in the forest. His hair was long and sticking out in strange directions, decorated with leaves and twigs. His clothes looked like the clothing members of the Storm Village wore, purple and loose, but had not been washed or mended in years. His gray eyes focused solely on Darkflame and Thicup.
“You’re not from Storm,” he said, tilting his head to the side.
“No, we’re not,” Darkflame said, stepping in front of Thicup. He placed one hand on the short sword at his hip. “We’re here to speak with the Raikage; she should be expecting us.”
The man clicked his tongue in a depreciating manner. “That won’t do. No one is expecting a couple of ragtag soldiers from another Village, here. I’ll just have to remove you,” he said, pulling a spear out of another branch of his tree.
The man leapt from the branch and landed in front of Darkflame. He made a fast, but clumsy lunge with his spear. Darkflame easily deflected the attack using his short sword. Darkflame then sent out a kick that connected solidly with the side of the man’s head, sending him to the ground. The man laid on his back staring dazedly at the treetops a moment before crawling shakily to his feet.
“You got lucky, Mountain,” the unsteady man raged, spinning his spear fast enough to create a high pitched whistling sound. “You will not get that lucky again. I will not allow you near my Village. I will not allow you to harm my people. I am the Raikage and you are my enemy; I will defeat you!”
The man took a step forward, then stopped, his body becoming rigid and a strange look crossing his face. His eyes unfocused and he collapsed in a pile on the ground, his fingers and one leg twitching sporadically. Kiiro crawled out from behind the man’s unconscious body and flew over to Darkflame.
“Kiiro doesn’t like high-pitched sounds,” he explained, rubbing the dragon’s back. “She used her lightning powers to knock him unconscious.”
Thicup ignored the explanation. “He called himself the Raikage.” Though she had meant it to be a statement, Darkflame took it to be a question.
“We all know Sabaku is the Raikage. This man is the former Raikage, Silver. He sort of,” he paused and chuckled. “Lost his senses. That is how we lost several of our old Kages.”
Thicup rubbed her eyes in an attempt to avoid rolling them, though her hair covered them and would hide the action. “We should move on,” she said.
An arrow landed in the ground before them, halting their progress before it began. A voice followed the arrow’s dull twang. “Where do you think you are going, trespassers?”
Darkflame and Thicup slowly turned toward the voice, not wanting to make any sudden movements that would result in an arrow in their chest. “We’re here to speak with the Raikage; we sent a message earlier informing her of our visit,” Darkflame explained calmly.
“We received no such message,” the speaker said. She did step out of the trees, however, so the two had a clear view of their newest visitor. She was dressed in the same type of clothing Silver had worn, but was clearly better about keeping clean when not traipsing through the mud. Her short blonde hair was held out of her face by a clip. Oddly, a small group of fireflies flew around her as she stood there. A longbow with an arrow notched was aimed right at Darkflame.
“There’s no way you didn’t receive my message. I sent one of my dragons and they informed me they delivered it to Saba. They even brought back a message confirming a meeting with her,” Darkflame insisted. The honor of his dragons was being attacked in his mind and he was not about to let this new arrival to do that.
“My name is Pein and I am in charge of the border patrol,” the Storm warrior stated, drawing her bowstring back further. “I would know if you were to be allowed into the Village.”
“I am Darkflame, greatest warrior of Mountain second only to the Yamakage,” the Mountain warrior stated, drawing his short sword. “I know I am allowed into the Village.”
“I’m Thicup, warrior of Inferno,” the Inferno warrior stated, yawning. “I know you’re both being stupid.”
Darkflame and Pein both turned to regard Thicup and lowered their weapons. “I suppose I can ask the Raikage herself,” Pein said, eyeing Thicup a moment longer. “But if you so much as take on step the wrong way, I’m putting an arrow through your faces.”
“Understood,” Thicup said, moving to cover Darkflame’s mouth with her hand. She missed and hit him in the nose. Thicup was tired and wanted out of the rain; watching these two stubborn warriors fighting would only prolong her suffering.
“This way, then,” Pein said, pointing them in the direction toward the Storm Village. The three companions began moving and disappeared into the rain and the trees.
* * * *
Bano shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. He walked at a steady pace through the hilly country through which his group was currently traveling. They were slowly making their way through the mountain range that Mountain country contained. They would be to the pass that would take them to Shadow within three days if they kept up their pace. They were still in Mountain, so nothing had happened aside from what Dark Raptor and Yoyo had caused.“Get that thing away from me!” Dark Raptor screeched as he raced down a hill he had previously just run around. Yoyo easily followed close behind, using her skill and calm to keep pace without tiring; Dark Raptor was panting and slowing quickly.
“What’s wrong, Doctor? Scared are you?” Yoyo laughed as she ran. Bano’s dragons flew through the air around her, also laughing with glee.
“Yes! Now stop it!” Dark Raptor shouted for what seemed the hundredth time. Yoyo had decided to take advantage of his fear of dragons and had been chasing him around with their dragon companions for the last hour.
Yoyo smirked and pointed into the air as she raced on. The dragons followed the cue and flew into the air, moving so quickly they soon vanished. Yoyo sped up and promptly caught up with Dark Raptor. She tapped him on one shoulder and slipped to the other. As Dark Raptor looked over his shoulder, Yoyo whispered “Boo!” from the other side. He screeched and, falling down, slid to a stop on his rear end. The dragons then descended, landing on his knees. The frightened Inferno shrieked and tried to back away, but Yoyo stood behind him, stopping any progress.
“You should probably stop messing with him, Yoyo,” Bano said as he came closer to the group of humans and dragons. “If we were to run into trouble, he wouldn’t be of any use because he’d be so tired.”
Yoyo watched Bano out of the corner of her eye, a smirk on her face before turning away from Dark Raptor with a wave of her hand. The dragons leapt into the air and landed on her shoulders and head. She reached Bano and they waited for their companion to pull himself together and join them.
“It also probably isn’t a good thing to make him frightened of these guys,” Bano added quietly. “We’re going to be traveling together for a long time. If he’s frightened of them, he could prove to be quite useless.”
Yoyo shrugged and stretched her arms high above her head as they walked. “Even the most cowardly can overcome their fears if the situation calls. He knows his duty and he’ll do it.”
“If he doesn’t, I’m blaming you,” Bano said, elbowing Yoyo with a smile.
She smiled back and set her hand on his shoulder. Akai crawled down her arm and onto his shoulder. “Alright, I’ll take that blame if it means I get to keep messing with his head.” She spun around in front of Bano and walked backwards a moment, smirking, then turned and leaped into one of the few trees in the area.
“Scouting,” Bano muttered as he shook his head. He glanced behind him at Dark Raptor. He was keeping his distance to avoid Akai. “How did I get stuck with this group?”
* * * *
The end of the first day of travel was nearly over for the warriors who had left Mountain that morning. Q and Toshii had spent most of their day walking and enjoying each other’s company. As the moon raised high into the dark sky that night, the two settled down to get some sleep. A small fire crackled between the two as they ate.“Do you enjoy being in Mountain?” Q asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
“’Enjoy being in Mountain’?” Toshii repeated, somewhat confused. “Of course I do.”
Q shook his head and set down his now-empty bowl. “Do you like Mountain because that’s where you were born and raised or do you like it because it’s a good place to live? All people have inherent pride in their Village. They can swear up and down that they hate their Village, but the instant someone attacks it, whether physically or verbally, they defend it. Do you like it because you have to or because you want to?”
Toshii stared hard at Q. “I like it because it is my Village, yes. However, I also like it because I have chosen to like it. Bano is a great Kage, the people are great people, and the lifestyle we live is a great lifestyle. I’m not just a blind follower; I do think for myself.”
Q nodded, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Is that so? Is that why you and your fellow Mountain warriors delivered messages to the other Kages without knowing what they meant? Bano didn’t bother to tell you what was going on until the meeting.”
Toshii frowned. “He didn’t want to cause panic. There is an element of trust involved, after all. If I can’t trust Bano to be working in the best interests of his people, then who should I trust?”
“Trust yourself. You are second in command in Mountain. You could easily take Bano’s place if he were to,” Q paused, leaning against a tree. “Disappear.”
A knife flashed through the air and embedded itself in the tree beside Q’s head. He smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, she wants to be the Kazekage, not the Yamakage.”
“Shut up,” Toshii hissed, her hands clenched tight around two more throwing knives. She trembled slightly as she glared at the man sitting calmly before her. “How dare you even suggest such a thing?”
Q stretched and locked his hands behind his head. “That’s how things go in politics. Someone decides that they can do a better job than the one in charge. The only way to take their position is through assassination, murder, espionage, trickery, deception. Everyone knows that a Kage is in danger of being killed by the warriors of another Village. The Kages know that they are in more danger of being killed by one of their own.”
“You think that I would kill Bano?” Toshii seethed, her teeth clenched tight.
“Anyone could kill anyone for anything.” Q grabbed the knife out of the tree trunk and examined it momentarily before looking back at Toshii. “You could kill Bano for his position. In fact, I not only believe you could do it, I believe you would do it given the right circumstances.”
Toshii’s eyes opened wide at that. She had had just about enough of Q’s comments. She threw both of her knives at him; he blocked them easily with he large sword.
“Given the correct circumstances you would attempt to kill me, who is stronger than Bano.”
“Shut up!” she screamed and pulled several more out of a pouch on her side, holding them between her fingers. She flung them at Q, so angry she knew not a single one would hit. She was correct, for Q simply held his sword, undrawn, before him and allowed the flying blades to bounce off harmlessly. She backed away, keeping her distance, as was her custom. She flung a few more knives at him, trying to clear her head enough to fight decently.
Q rose slowly to his feet and yawned. “I don’t suppose you have any better skills than just throwing butter knives at me. You could throw those things all day and you’d never so much as touch me.”
It occurred to Toshii then that Q had provoked her into attacking him, but she was fully committed now and would not hold back. She threw another barrage of knives, which Q blocked the same way he had used before. When Q brought his sword back down, Toshii was gone. A slight whistling sound caused him to spin around, barely avoiding another small group of knives flying at him from behind. He spun again, blocking more coming from behind him and to the left. Yet another barrage came soon after from his right.
“You’re going to run out of knives at this rate, Toshii,” Q said, though his tone said that he cared little about this.
He continued to turn in place, blocking easily with his sword. Toshii was running in circles around him just out of his line of sight. She would occasionally change directions, but she was constantly moving and throwing knives. This continued for several minutes before the knives finally stopped coming.
“Finally out of knives, huh? Well, that’s too bad.” Q took a step forward, stepping on one of Toshii’s knives that had been embedded in the ground before him. He ignored it, but stopped when Toshii appeared in front of him. She held her hands clenched in front of her, her forearms crossed in front of her face.
“What do you expect to do?” Q asked, stabbing his long blade into the ground and lazily leaning on the hilt. “You’re out of knives and you think you can block an attack with your bare arms?”
Toshii shook her head, but did not respond. She clenched her fists tighter and straightened her arms quickly, bringing them to her sides so her fists were just behind her. As she did this, Q felt strings tighten around him. His arms became pinned to his sides and his legs tied together at the knees. His sword was now out of reach. A closer look at his surroundings told Q what she had done. There were thin strings weaving through the trees surrounding them. The ends were connected to the knives that were on the ground, all of which were standing straight up in the ground around him. The other ends were in Toshii’s hands, so when she pulled on the string, it tightened around him.
Q nodded in approval; the knives that had not stuck in the ground when he had blocked them, she had pulled back to her via the strings. She had never run the risk of running out of knives and had trapped him. “I suppose you do have another skill,” he said, his expression still one of boredom. “But it’s not enough to hold me.”
Toshii was unable to tell what happened next because it occurred so quickly. The next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground beneath a tree. Her head throbbed and her vision was blurry; her body did not respond. Q knelt beside her, his silhouette in the firelight the only thing she could see with her fading vision.
“Don’t feel bad,” he said, a vicious glee evident in his voice. “No one can beat me, especially not an angry person with a few knives and some string. Sleep well, Mountain.”
Toshiro~ ^_^ x3
What a really good man way to die. 
