(Breeding Fields)
(Later that day)
Celona and Zeko were sitting and talking about whatever had immediately popped into their minds for almost ten minutes. “I have a living sword as a weapon.” Zeko said to Celona’s disbelief
“No way, a sword can’t be alive. It probably just feels like that since you use it a lot. I have a special bow that I thought was alive but it’s just wood.”
“Ok I’ll show you.” Zeko bit his thumb and slammed his hand onto the ground
“Why’d you do-“ Celona was cut off by Samehada appearing in a ring of black etchings. Zeko unwrapped it entirely allowing its form to be fully seen. “That’s your sword?! It looks weird but not ali-“ Samehada opened its mouth and licked Zeko playfully before shutting again
“Told you it’s alive.” Celona didn’t respond since her mind was nearly shut down trying to process what she’d seen. Zeko decided to bring her back to the world the way he liked, by opening the water portion of his gourd. “Water style: Mini shark bullet.” A shark barely the size of a finger came from the gourd and splashed onto Celona’s cheek bringing her from her confusion
“What was that? It kind of hurt.” Celona rubbed her cheek which was turning red from the impact. “I’ve seen the unicorns here use spells but they never hurt somemare.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t use mana like the unicorns do, I use chakra which is way more versatile. That’s how I can control my sand.” He accentuated his statement by shaping his sand into a sculpture of his face.
“So you can use that sand stuff to fight? That’s so cool!”
“It’s not just the sand.” Celona raised a brow at the statement while Zeko smirked and changed his eye to its ringed form.
“What’s that?”
“The Rinnegan, it’s what let’s me master different techniques like this.” During his sentence Zeko formed a rasengan in his left hand to Celona’s awe but when she tried to touch it her hand was slapped away. “This is wind spun into a ball, it’s not something you just touch with your bare hands.”
“So you can control elements and you have that sword?” Celona asked awestruck
“That’s pretty much it, yeah.”
“How did you get that sword anyway?” Zeko’s eye’s opened quickly at her question and he chuckled to himself before deciding to answer her
“That’s a funny story and it has a good ending in my opinion, it was two years ago...”
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(Hidden Mist Outskirts)
One of the Seven swordsmen has gone rogue and is killing whomever he comes across, please stop his rampage and retrieve the weapon. Be cautious, Samehada drains chakra through physical contact so don’t risk getting hit.
Zeko remembered his mission while approaching a figure with a large weapon on his back, who like him was standing on the water. “Hey!” Zeko said aloud to the figure who was now looking at him. “Are you the A-Rank rogue ninja that wields one of the seven swords, Hoshigaki Onoeske?” The figure walked closer allowing Zeko to make out his face which was an amalgam of a human and shark, mainly noticing his hollow fish like eyes and gill like marks on his cheeks
“Oh?” Onoeske spoke in a raspy voice and had a smirk that showed his sharpened teeth to Zeko. “I assume you’ve been sent to ‘handle’ me?” He took the blade off of his back revealing it to be Samehada, uncovered and snarling. “Unfortunately you aren’t as strong as the others so I don’t think you’ll be the meal I want.” Zeko held his fan tightly at the swordsman’s words but relaxed and activated his Rinnegan.
(Play Me)
“None of those others were me, none of them had the advantage that I got.” Zeko lunged to Onoeske and tried to land a hit but it was deflected by Samehada. “Damn! I can feel my chakra draining.” Zeko jumped back with Onoeske’s laughter angering him
“Did they tell you that I’m not just a predator but Samehada is too? First it’ll eat your chakra then I’ll eat you!” Onoeske sprang forward and tried a downward slash but was forced back by Zeko’s fan sending a strong gust of wind forward. Once the cannibalistic swordsman recovered Zeko was the one smirking
“Can’t eat that can you? Looks like my fan’s better than that stupid sword.” Zeko sent another gust to his enemy who braced but had no time to react to the foot that slammed into his jaw that sent him reeling. Once he got up he made hand seals that Zeko didn’t recognize and slammed his hand onto the water surface
“Ok he did tiger, ox-“ Zeko’s thoughts were interrupted by a shark made of water crashing into him and throwing him back almost eighty feet. “Ok... that hurt but I gotta- Where’s my fan!?” Zeko looked around but only saw his enemy approaching.
“Looks like your little eye can’t help you as much as a weapon.” Onoeske slashed down at Zeko but met resistance in the form of chakra rods stabbing Samehada and his leg. “Agh!” Zeko jumped back with both rods in his hands while Onoeske’s wound began to close
“So that sword heals him too? I need to separate them.” Onoeske decided to create another shark and use it to close the newly made distance but was met with a sand clone.
“Didn’t figure you for a coward kid! Where are you?! I’ll cut your arms off so you can’t hide weapons up your sleeves!” Onoeske’s eyes were bloodshot from anger at the resistance he faced but his anger only raised one Zeko revealed he was floating on sand just above the water but jumped down, leaving the cloud.
“These weren’t in my sleeve, my eye did that and this! Tiger, Ox, Dragon, Rabbit, Bird, Dragon, Ram...” Zeko repeated the signs he saw Onoeske perform and slammed his hand on the water making a water shark erupt from the surface, but he took it further and coated it in sand before sending it to his quarry
“What the?” Onoeske cut the projectile but ended up getting Samehada covered in sand and knocked away from him. “Ok kid I’m not playing around anymore!” Onoeske started another jutsu but Zeko copied his signs perfectly. “Water style: Super shark bomb!” Two colossal water sharks came from the water beneath them and rushed towards each other and collided forming a giant wave that swept their users underwater.
Onoeske was first to recover and swam to the surface and stood back up. “Looks like that brat bit off more than he could chew. So where the hell is my sword?” Onoeske walked forward looking around for his weapon but stopped when he saw bubbles hit the surface from below the water, as they grew in number he prepared himself and managed to dodge the air bullet that could’ve killed him there.
“I take back calling it stupid, it’s really nice once you get to know it, if only you got to know it.” Onoeske turned and saw Samehada playfully biting Zeko which pissed him off to no limit
“You- You backstabbing spiny-!” Onoeske sprinted towards the younger shinobi and reeled his hand back to punch him. “THAT’S MINE!”
Anyone watching would have only seen Onoeske suddenly stop in his tracks with Zeko suddenly behind him with Samehada in his hands. Slowly Onoeske’s torso separated from his legs and both sunk into the water. “Never thought I’d see a shark become fish food. But your anger is why you lost ‘mad shark’. Since you made me lose my fan, I’ll keep your sword. It needs someone to take care of it.” Zeko places Samehada on his back and walked into the approaching mist
==============================
When the story was finished Celona was wide eyed and Zeko was grinning to himself. “That’s amazing! He was a monster but you came and- then he tried to take- but you just-“ Celona started multiple sentences but was unable to keep any of them understandable
“I know it was pretty nice. And I got Samehada out of its terrible situation... but I may have left some details out of the story...” Zeko smiled sheepishly as Celona lost some of her excitement and squinted at him.
“Well it’s still impressive. I have a question, why were you naming those different animals in the story?” Celona questioned
“Different... Oh the hand signs! Those let me focus my chakra to use a specific jutsu.” Celona was blank faced at the explanation
“I’ve just seen Karmiah’s horn light up and then a spell just happens. But that Rinnegan thing, what can it do?”
“It really depends from user to user. I think I have the six paths which are just six different abilities but I gotta have something unique to me, it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t.” Zeko fell backwards in an overly dramatic way to show his displeasure making Celona snicker
“Well you just have to keep trying and you’ll figure it out eventually.” Zeko just groaned at her encouragement. “And guess what? I’m getting married in a few days.” Zeko’s breathing stopped for a second then he sprang up with a look of disbelief
“WHAT?! You’re getting married and didn’t tell me?!”
“Well our parents thought it was time for us to get together. She’s a hunter and I can care for a home so it’s just...” Celona trailed off
“Do you want to be together? I’m pretty sure marriage isn’t the same if you don’t love each other.” Celona looked at the ground in deep thought at Zeko’s words. “You’re not into her are you?” Zeko held a bored expression at his sudden question
“It’s not that... I just... I think I like stallions.” There was silence for an entire minute before Zeko voiced his opinion
“Ok.” Celona looked upset
“It’s not ok, I’m not supposed to like stallions. I have to get married to another mare and maybe one of us can bear a foal.” Celona said, red faced with anger
“You weren’t biologically made to like stallions. I’m willing to bet Mjoll or whoever was the first leader here hated stallions so much that she decided to make you all believe that males are evil.” Zeko stated in a calculated manner making Celona less angry visibly.
“Lady Mjoll’s a lot older than she looks. A spell from Karmiah’s mom made her age slowly.” She noticed Zeko’s confusion and decided to give her estimate on the age of her leader. “If my grandmothers are right then Lady Mjoll is at least one hundred and ten.”
To say that Zeko was shocked was an understatement as his jaw nearly dropped to his chest in a ridiculous fashion but he snapped out of it and began to think to himself. “This bitch has a grudge, and I’m finding out why.” Zeko put Samehada on his back and walked towards the main part of the village with Celona at his side. “So you’re sure that you like stallions? Because you need to be sure for my plan to work.”
“I tested it on a colt that was in the field last year. I kissed mares before and it was nothing, just our lips touching. But when I kissed him it was... different.”
“Remember what you said about the Unum tribe?.” Celona nodded as the two reached the village and received harsh glares by the assuming mares who Zeko ignored. “Where do you live?.” Celona lead Zeko to her hut and they went in only to be greeted by two mares and a filly
“What... is he doing here?!” The taller mare said in a threatening way
“I got bad news lady, I’m taking your daughter to the Unum tribe.” Zeko produced chakra piercings and put one into Celona’s arm before launching the other two into her now angry moms. “Celona, think about how you feel about the marriage.” Celona’s pupils were dilated but started to focus at Zeko’s words
“I don’t wanna be married to her, I want to marry a stallion I love!” Celona’s mom’s heard the message and felt the emotion behind it, giving them more insight until Zeko removed the piercings from the three
“If it makes you happy then you can go to the Unum tribe, but I want to know why this boy is with you.” She gestured to Zeko who rubbed the back of his head
“I was sent here to find missing pony people... I need to find a better name.”
“The newest males have been here for a few days, are they the ones you need?”
“Sounds right, I’ve got a plan but I need you to gather all the mares who don’t think males are evil by the gates in thirty minutes.” They nodded and ran off leaving Him Celona and her sister. “You meet them in thirty minutes and don’t worry, I’m good at this type of thing.” He pat her on the shoulder in an act of support. “Earth style: Subterranean voyage.” Zeko burrowed into the ground and went who knows where
“I hope this all works...” Celona said not noticing that Karmiah was outside listening in on the entire situation
“Perfect chance.” She said before running to Mjoll
==============================
(Tree Gateway)
(30 minutes later)
A crowd of around twenty was gathered and on their knees surrounded by warriors with swords, shields and spears. Mjoll was in the front with a vein nearly popping from her forehead. “So this is what happens, a male comes in and offers lies and you believe them? They all lie! They cheat and want to drag us down! Now you can get one more chance... pretend that you weren’t swayed by that child and you may come back to our tribe refuse and you die.” Her warriors lifted their swords to show the seriousness of the situation
“No!” Celona spoke up. “We don’t have to stay under your hoof! We can be better than this!” She gave her subjugated peers inspiration and made them start cheering her name but it stopped when Karmiah pulled her closer in her magic grip and held her close.
“That boy got to you, he’s corrupted your mind to the point of no return. I’ll do you the favor of ending it.” Karmiah pulled a knife out and prepared to kill her
“NO!” Celona’s taller mother yelled while the more timid one shut her eyes. Before Karmiah could do the deed she noticed a mark on Celona. “What is that? It looks like... rings?” There was a blur of red and suddenly
*CRUNCH*
Karmiah was knocked back into the wall of a hut but was missing her horn. “I’m glad that worked, it was touch and go for a bit.” Zeko held Karmiah’s horn which began to glow yellow. He aimed it at the space between the trees and shot a beam that opened the path leading out of the village. “Universal Pull!” Zeko forced Mjoll and her warriors away from the crowd who caught on and ran out of the village
“How did you get here like that?” Celona asked as she stood up, nauseous from being encased in mana
“My first ever attempt at a Flying Raijin. Before you ask, it basically let’s me warp to wherever I put a marker for it.” He explained to an even more confused Celona
“When did you put this on me?” Zeko pat her on the shoulder and removed the mark. “Wait... that wasn’t just-“ Zeko deflected an oncoming arrow from Mjoll
“You will not ruin what I’ve tried to save!” Celona followed her mothers’ examples and ran out of the village leaving Zeko alone. “You’ve ruined them but I won’t let you leave here alive!”
“Actually you will. But don’t worry I’ll be back later to clean up.” Zeko turned and sprinted out, shutting the passage behind him and regrouping with the others
“That was a good plan. I think you might be worthy of marrying our daughter!” Celona’s fighting mom slapped Zeko on the back and made Celona blush with the exclamation
“Sorry but I’m not sure I’m her type. Let’s just figure out where the Unum tribe is.” They walked for an hour to the discomfort of the few children present but they soon managed to encounter a river that had an unusual flow.
“This is the Unum tribe’s river. Once you cross it you enter their village but it will trick you into turning backwards every time.” A pegasus spoke up revealing herself to be Cloudburst
“I think I can see why... it doesn’t trick you into turning backwards, it reflects whatever goes past a certain part.” Zeko tossed a pebble over the river only to have it sent back to him with the same force. “What happens if I just...” Zeko let Samehada touch the water and was surprised when it absorbed a good deal of energy, making it grow larger than before
“It gets bigger when it eats?” Celona questioned
“Yes it does.” Zeko threw another pebble only to have it disappear entirely. “I think we can go now, stay behind me just in case.” Zeko made a bridge of sand and lead them across it. Once they reached the halfway point they went through a portal that was filled with spiraling colors and designs and it deposited them at the gateway of a village with stallions and mares both walking around and no breeding field in sight to Zeko’s pleasure.
“These are what stallions should look like? They seem so strong and don’t look like they’re evil.” Aeris said to Zeko’s shock
“You never got to see a healthy stallion?.” He received multiple head shakes. “I’m gonna find out what made Mjoll tick and I’m gonna-“
“Did you say Mjoll? As in Amazon leader Mjoll?” A familiar voice made Zeko turn around and see who knew about his target of anger but he couldn’t have been much more happy with the fur clad stallion that was there.
“Hunter? What are you doing here?”
“I got sent to find you and I stopped by here since I was born in the Unum tribe so why do you need to know about that crazy Mjoll?” Hunter questioned his underling who was only so in title
“Well.” Zeko looked at the mares behind him. “That’s a long story...”
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