Here I come... The Start of a Journey

[Retane]

Night was falling; The party consisting of the three ninja, the Guardian, the Horsemen and the two Lythian's, had moved in near silence. Asuma had taken the lead. Airyonna had protested as she wanted to, but the sensei wouldn't have it. This 'spot', seemed a bit more serious then they had let on, or maybe it was the Gollum or where he may have been hiding out. Retane didn't mind, he welcomed more chances to test his strength. More oppurtunities to find his limits; To push past them. He had once been strong, they said, now he wasn't even a shadow to his former self. He hardly even knew who he had been before. Deep down, though, his thoughts tried to recall.

Why could he remember some things? Like his heritage, but not who he was? All he was left with was 'get stronger'. Retane ran his fingers across his temples. He didn't like thinking. Searching for answers only added more questions. Not having any real answers only made him frustrated. The Horsemen wondered what was even driving his insticts that he had began to rely on. Perhaps it was his past, or even something else. Maybe he was a puppet with strings attached. No. He couldn't be that gullible.

A hand reached out and touched his shoulder and the namek looked behind him at his owner. It was Frost with his staff in tow. The white haired human wasn't smiling this time; Instead he wore a puzzling visage, as if he was concerned with the Namekian's actions. Retane hadn't noticed it, but the others had been staring at him. He seemed to be muttering to himself in a low unaudiable tone as he had his eyes closed and rubbing at his temples. As the namek realized what he was doing, he dropped his hands and his eyes darted two and fro, glancing at each visage that stared at him.

"Are you feeling alright man? You've been doing that for some minutes and were getting louder." The Guardian seemed concerned but it was Asuma that stepped forward and looked at the Emerald Fiend up and down then looked deep with his eyes wending with a 'hmph'.

"What", Retane asked, not quite the thoughts running through the skull of the ninja.

"Nothing. You're fine, not losing it." Asuma lit a cigarette. "Well, I don't know if you are losing it, but you aren't affected by the Blight and becoming a DarkSpawn."

Arith took the oppurtunity to butt in, "How do you know?". The Champion of Lythia leaned forward looking the green comrade up and down, then put his masked helm close to the nija pearing through the eyes awaiting an answer.

"It's hard to explain. Their actions change and their pupils slowly continue to dialate. They are almost mindless, driven by evil intent. There really is no cure. People hope, but there isn't one. People want to beleive there is one. There was rumor of one, but nothing came from it. Eradicate those infected and eradicate the source. Thats pretty much the way of it." Asuma finished his cigarette and sighed.

The Lythian looked back at the namek and stared him in the eyes and with a loud whisper asked, "Has it taken over yet?"

The namekian knew Arith was actually smiling underneath the dragon style helm. The golden warrior wasn't talking about the Blight that caused the Dark Spawn, but instead was using their ignorance to mock them, and was talking about the orgosynth from Project: Malefactor that now rested on his upper back. Instead of playing the Champion's games, he waved a hand and started walking ahead.

"We should actually stop here. We are just a bit out of the usual patrolof the orc tribe we are seeking." Asuma lit another cigarette and took a puff and nod to Alaina who knelt down and opened a scroll. "Alaina has a few special jutsu. Lets call her our base of communications. As long as you accept it, she can be a link of telepathic communication. She can only see what you allow her to see, even if you have some dark secrets, or embarassing ones."

Alaina actually chuckled and Airyonna snickered. Asuma actually blushed. Alaina, the obvious support konouchi, focused soon after and placed her hands on the parchment she laid out. The namekian felt the slight vibration in his mind. He paused and wondered what would happen if he let this happen? The Emerald Warrior looked to Jack who nodded, showing he had accepted it. The Emerald Fiend let out a breath and accepted it.

"Can you hear me now?" Arith took a step. "And now? He too another step, "And now?

This went on for a few more steps till the Champion's telepathic connection was cut. "Oh yeah, dont use it to annoy her. You can be dead silent through it all. She understands the mental thoughts as communication and if you let her can see through your eyes." Asuma seemed to have a small sublte inner pupil that was blue. It was obvious to the namekian that this represented the visual option. Another twinge can at him in his cranium, slightly stronger. He accepted it, and though he looked at Asuma, a part of his brain also let him look through Asuma's eyes and look at himself.

The feed canceled and the Emerald Warrior couldn't say a thing. He was impressed, but he wasn't going to show it. "So whats next?"

Asuma lit another cigarette, "We were just showing. It's dark now, and it's risky, but these are orcs, and are most active at night. They wont expect us. We need to split up in groups. Any opinions?"

"Keeping Arith silent is stupid, annoying as it is. I'll keep Jack with me. How many do we leave with here with her?" Retane notioned at Alaina.

"One should be fine I think?" Asuma finished his cigarette and slipped it in a pocket. Retane hadn't paid attention, but the ninja seemed to always pocket them. "How about Inirtias with Alaina, and Airyonna with Arith, and I'll go alone?"

Airyonna started to protest and Retane almost smirked, almost. He wondered who would kill who first., or who would get the other killed first, rather. The Horsemen knew both were interesting, but wasn't sure about it, but still, if things went awry, he did have a back up plan. The namekian side of him, told him he'd be fine, but there was still something unsettling about this place. Plus there was a creature that could be near by, just lurking and watching. "Fine." The Emerald Warrior nodded to Jack who started to follow.

"The objective is to find and capture Gollum alive. Anything else is a failure here. " Asuma added.

Retane looked back towards the ninja for a moment, then to Jack, "I'll try, but I wont make any promises." The Emerald Warrior and Jack walked on, passing trees and trying to move though the shadows. There weren't many leaves, so avoiding making sounds here weren't too hard. But the Emerald Fiend heard noise up ahead. He used his thoughts to ask Alaina to check his view and moments later accepted it. The Guardian also showed the light blue dot in his eyes.

Retane was about to use hand signs, but instead, tossed his head with a thought, telling him to circle wide careully. The Guadian and namekian shared sight and thought, so they could communicate easily enough. The Namekian looked to his own direction as Jack vanished out of his vision.