Goodbye (To Yesterday) [FINISHED]

[Amaziah Brown]

[This takes place after Amaziah's multi-part narrative, "Amaziah's Big Score!"]

She couldn't believe it.

It wasn't even three hours after Amaziah came back from Kenya when she came back to find that the entire village of the Tenmeigakure went up in smoke. From what she could tell, most of the other villagers were able to get out alive. It was the bodies of women, children, and men that seemed to be rebelling against something -- or someone -- that seemed to have stayed and died in the fires. Amaziah could tell that there was some form of rebellion, since the men who seemed to have died before the fire got to them had weapons drawn or in their possession around the time they were charred extra crispy.

Then she looked behind her, and saw Tsurugi's big-ass blade in the middle of the earth. This sight got Amaziah wondering. Where was this fool? He's big enough to prove he's a man whenever she made fun of him, but now that his village has burned down he's the spineless pussy she always joked about him being?

That's when Amaziah walked around the other side of the blade, and noticed the freshly dug soil.

Amaziah knew what that meant. Not even wishing she didn't wouldn't help her. One of the only fools she liked about the Tenmeigakure and now he's dead. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Damn, Tsurugi," she said, trying to muster up a smile to keep her feelings from showing. "You really did die for this motherfucker, didn't you?"

That's when the bitch's sound magic came into play. She heard a ruffle from one of the bushes surrounding the village. Quick, fast and in a hurry, Amaziah pulled out one of her Sound-shooting pistols and aimed it where she heard someone step. Her sound magic was easily able to allow her to tell the difference between an animal step and a human step. This was definitely a human step. And because this was a human step, Amaziah that this could be the culprit hiding in the bushes, coming back to the scene of the crime. And from what Amaziah learned about niggas like this growing up in Harlem, that person would have to be the stupidest motherfucker on the face of this planet.

"Don't move, sucka!" she yelled. "Come out with your hands so I can see them, or I swear to God I'll blow them off!"

[Seishuku Kensei]

Kensei's mind was elsewhere at the moment of his discovery by the woman who wielded pistols, his thoughts focused on revenge for the crimes against his village. He stopped upon hearing here demand that he stopped, the sound of life most foreign to him here of all places. Turning he saw a woman whose face was partially familiar and she pointed two guns to his face, threatening him with her weapons if he continued to walk forward. Kensei assessed the situation, she wielded weapons that were not responsible for the wounds of the dead, and could not have possibly caused the fire damage judging from their make, smelling no extra incendiaries in the air from the smoke. Finally he deduced that she was not here during the slaughter and had happened upon the village long after the fact, he path and direction coming from where Tsurugi's home was formerly located.

Kensei made no moves to hid himself among the bushes and stepped directly into her line of sight, his skill more than sufficient enough to dodge bullets, he was comfortable with the space between them. "Were you present during this massacre?" Kensei asked, making no attempt to hid that he was reaching into his pouch. The tears from before long since dry and Kensei contemplated whether or not to proceed with questioning the young man Johnathon he captured before heading back to the Skylight industries building to deal with Markus Bleache. "Were you sent by Markus Bleache to do this?" Kensei said, his hand on three circular objects, each in between his fingers.

[Amaziah Brown]

Amaziah rose an eyebrow as she stared at a man come out of the bushes. Wearing blue and red with his mouth covered by a scarf, she could only assume that this guy was not only a member of the Tenmeigakure, but was a different class as she was. Whereas she was a Berserker, the way he presented himself and his way of his dress made Amaziah come up with the conclusion that he was at least an assassin class if anything else.

No, this bitch ain't dumb.

Hearing the way he talked, she was sure that he was an assassin. Only someone who could talk such jive game would have the ability of thinking about what his next move could be. She only stared at him as he started to interrogate her, even though she was the one holding the gun.

And who the hell was Markus Bleache?!

Amaziah put away her guns and stood there with a hand on her hips. It was obvious that he just saw what happened to her home as well and he was probably upset seeing what happened.

"I'm Tenmeigakure too," she said. "Amaziah Brown. I'm one of the nine Berserkers-"

She looked at Tsurugi's grave and sighed.

"Well, eight now," she said.

She stared back at the assassin.

"I was away on a mission assigned to me by Tsurugi. I had to... settle some differences in Africa. I just got back not only three hours ago and I see this."

She smirked. "I'm on your side, hun," she said. "And if this Markus Bleache motherfucker is responsible for this shit, then I guess we got us some work to do..."

[Seishuku Kensei]

Kensei knew he faced no harm from this woman, but he was still distrustful of her, especially after implying her status as one of the 8 berserkers of the former Tenmeigakure, expressing genuine regret as she looked back at the makeshift grave Kensei erected in Tsurugi's honor. Kensei still latched onto the small quarter shaped objects, cloaking them with his magic. Removing his seemingly empty hand from his bag, Kensei removed his face mask, exposing his soot covered face in order to ease tension between the two, and took several steps closer to the woman.

"Before we embark on any endeavor, you were assigned to a mission, by Tsurugi, I can only deduce he had assumed leadership of the village in my absence. Are you aware of anyone like yourself having been away from this massacre, are their any others left alive, and if so do their loyalties lie with the man who orchestrated this?" Kensei asked the Berserker, his rank of assassin still in standing above hers, the fact that he was no longer of Tenmeigakure something that only he knew, using it here to his advantage to gain more information.

[Amaziah Brown]

She folded her arms when she saw the assassin pull off the scarf from around his face. When he did, she got a good look at him by peering over her shades a bit. Not bad on the eye; the soot on his face was actually making him more attractive than he already was. When he walked closer to her, she chuckled lightly enough so that only she would hear it.

He started asking her questions in a tone that took authority, thanks to Amaziah's sound magic. He was definitely an assassin for him to use the class rank bullshit to his advantage. But, this place had been home to her for a long-ass time; it would only be selfish of her to just look the other way.

"Yeah, Tsurugi was in charge here," Amaziah answered his question, right then and there questioning how come he didn't know this if he really was an assassin class here. She gave him a suspecting eye through her shades and leaned to one side of her body. "The only person I know first-hand that left the village a while ago was this classless fool named Sutemi. I think his first name was Ichigo.

"He was in the class I was in charge over to promote classless ninja into a rank. He failed the selection exam twice; the second time he tried he nearly made me deaf with some high frequency pulse bullshit."

The bitch started to calm down. She was getting to riled up over some meaningless nigga. But, she could understand why the assassin wondered about his whereabouts; Amaziah, himself, and possibly this Ichigo motherfucker were all that were left of the old Tenmeigakure order. And even though she used the village as refuge to train herself for her score she had to settle with that bitch of a bitch Aika, this was the only home she knew.

She sighed, trying to calm down. "Anyways, he decided to go out and train outside the village," she said. "I ain't seen him since then."

She took off her shades and cut a look at the assassin. "I don't know who this Markus Bleache' cat is," she told him. "All I know is that all the head guards are charred like hella-burnt ribs on a July afternoon -- including their families, and every other civilian I only hope ran away. But if that's not the case -- which I think it ain't, then my only guess is that this Markus Bleache' motherfucker you talking about probably has them under his custody; the elders, the assassins, the elementals, all of them."

She walked closer to the ninja as well, this time keeping that same look in her eye.

"And like I said before," she said. "I'm on your side. I could hear those three little balls you pulled out of your utility belt a mile away. I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, but we both walked in to the same shit. Were both pissed as fuck over the same situational aftermath, and we both want answers. But I don't think were gonna get those answers if we can't trust one another, do you?"

If there was one thing this bitch couldn't stand was for someone not taking her trust seriously. But when she had the ability to try and right a wrong like this, it was nothing but sweet satisfaction.

She smiled and placed her shades back on as she let up on the closeness of the ninja's personal space, once again transferring her weight to one side of her body and resting her hands on her hips.

"Now why don't we solidify this little pact of trust," she started, "and tell me your name, Mr. Assassin?"

[Seishuku Kensei]

She spoke with a air about her the demanded respect, an possessed a flair for the profane, attributes that would have annoyed Kensei any other time but now, the situation at hand forcing him to swallow his pride and ignore whatever reservations he may have had. The names she referenced were indeed familiar, Tsurugi and his young student Ichigo were clear to him, and Kensei had settled upon the idea that she must have been brought to the village and trained at times where he was not present, this coinciding with the fact that he had been dissociated with Tenmeigakure for months.

"I have an employee of of Markus's in my possession, a man named Johnathon who was present when I was taken in by Markus himself. In exchange for the care I received from injuries that caused me to nearly perish, Markus asked for information on Tenmeigakure. He was a prideful idiot, and he assumed that the village could be so easily taken, so I informed him as to it's location, hoping he would perish as a result of his arrogance. I did not think this would be possible for him to do this, all of the damage seemed self inflicted, the bodies were killed with weapons and magic native to this village, signifying a coup." Kensei said, looking at the woman as she walked closer to him.

She determined what Kensei was preparing to make some sort of attack if necessary, and she informed him in her own vulgar manner that she knew he was armed as well, and ensured him that they shared a common enemy. She indicated dependence on trust, a concept Kensei was not partial to, his latest experiences making him close up inside, his reluctance to deal with other people withering away at an accelerated rate. There was one simple request he could fulfill, she asked him for his name, and this could do, if only to gain her help in bringing down Markus.

"I do not have the luxury that I can afford to trust others, but for the sake of exacting revenge on Markus, I am Seishuku Kensei, former assassin of Tenmeigakure. I have Johnathon located somewhere near he, a place that is hidden from detection, we should be safe to plan our attack there, let us depart if we are done here." Kensei said, putting his orbs away from now, his sword dangling from his waist if need be.

[Amaziah Brown]

Ah; former assassin. The shit made sense now. Whereas she was already having a bad enough time trying to find out how something like this could happen to a place that made it their hobby to stay completely undetected, now knowing that a former assassin gave this Markus motherfucker directions and a detailed description here just made her all the more frustrated. What kind of an obligation do you have to a place you basically helped sabotage its downfall?

But before the bitch could question this cracka's motives, she started to gain a sense of them. According to the man named Kensei, this Markus cat saved his skin. From what she learned living here, the person who saves you gains a life debt. That's the only way she could see this intellectual fool giving anything about the village away to a man he hardly even knew. And now he wanted redemption.

Typical nigga...

Amaziah once again folded her arms at Kensei's suggestion of heading to his secret base. She really wasn't surprised that someone like him had a dig like what she was expecting. But the idea of taking her there only told the bitch that Kensei wanted her help in this little quest for payback. She smirked.

Shit, it was better than doing nothing at all...

"Guess that means were partners now, huh?" she joked a bit, stretching her arms and cracking her neck without her hands; you know, the way that doesn't make you look like you wanna commit suicide but you can't afford the damn rope. She looked at Kensei with a raised eyebrow, still keeping that smirk on her face.

"Lead the way, Mr. Kensei..."

[Seishuku Kensei]

From her body language Kensei gathered that she would be willing to work with him, despite that fact the the village in ruins due to his passive intervention. Placing his face mask back to its proper position below his nose, Kensei adjusted his gear for fast travel, tightening his belts and latches, and ensuring his sword wouldn't waver. Her speech was as brash as her crude mannerism, but Kensei would be her partner, for the time being.

"We shall work together, as long as you comply with my rules in conducting this endeavor. We shall make our ways back to my personal sietch, where we shall extract the information needed to infiltrate the building where Markus Bleache, conducts business. Help yourself whatever equipment you need." Kensei said, reaching into his satchel, he tossed Amaziah a small tracer, as well as a hand held scanning device.

"Use this to follow my movements, I assume you traveled here on your own volition so you should be more than capable of following. Do not destroy the tracer, if you do the scanner will cease its function and leaving you blind to my location, and yours to mine as well. " Kensei said, cloaking himself, and channeling his Light magic into his speed, darting of into the distance, not disturbing a single leaf until well after he had passed them, their movement caught in the small gust he'd created. He was gone as if he had not been there at all, leaving Amaziah to follow only the movement on her new device.

[Amaziah Brown]

The Kensei cracka started talking out of his ass again, talking about heading back to his secret base to find out where this future dead man was. When he threw her the tracking device and the scanner, Amaziah could only comprehend so much at a time; he was explaining everything too quickly and she couldn't keep up. It wasn't until after the former assassin disappeared randomly when she could only say one word in her new partner's attitude of the situation.

"Motherfucker!"

The bitch cooled down her heels a bit, letting her sound magic pick up the vibrations of what Kensei said to her before going invisible and darting off like a crackhead on steroids. Apparently her tracer let Kensei know of her whereabouts, and the scanner let her know of his. But if her tracer were destroyed, her scanner would stop picking up Kensei's signal. She snickered.

"What kind of bullshit is that?!" she said to herself.

But, she was gonna have to work with him to make sense of why this Markus cat wanted the civilians of the Tenmeigakure. And maybe if she played her cards right, Kensei could help her track down Aika once she was done helping him. She looked at the scanner when she placed the tracking device around her right ear like that piece-of-shit bluetooth thing she couldn't stand. A red dot blinked on and off that probably represented Kensei. She smirked as she made her way toward his location.

Crazy cracka...