Just Another Day? [Open]

Artemis rolled her head on her shoulders, first to the left and then to the right until she felt her neck crack; a sigh of relief filling the otherwise silent air. She shifted slightly in the grass, her ass having long ago gone numb due to sitting in the same indian style position for the past three hours. She had been meditating; the quiet and peacefulness of the park making it an ideal location. Of course, the peace and quiet hadn't lasted. In the distance, on the other side of the bushes that hid her and her little clearing from view, she heard what sounded like the beginning case of bullying. An annoyed sigh now escaped Artemis as she listened.

”Give me back my dolly!”, she clearly heard a female child-like voice say.

”If you want your stupid doll so badly why don't you see if you can take it from me!”, a male voice, at least several years older then the female responded. She then heard laughing; at least two males. So, that meant that the little girl was likely out numbered. Joy. Just the type of bullies she hated the most.

”Give it back! Please!”

More laughing was the only response the little girl got. So, sighing to herself Artemis stood in one lithe motion; going from seated to standing gracefully. She crossed the few feet that separated her from where she had been sitting to the bushes. She moved one of the large shrubs aside and peaked out for a moment to get a better look: there was a little girl jumping up and down in place while trying to reach her doll, the doll in question was being held above her head by another boy who was at least a foot taller then her and well used to using his height as an advantage. There was another boy nearby, and both of the boys looked amused. The girl looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Rolling her eyes, a habit she had yet to break, Artemis stepped through the bushes and onto the other side. As she walked towards the bullying situation she spoke loud and clear so that she could be heard, ”Why don't you give that girl back her doll and get the hell out of here...”

The boys and the girl all looked in Artemis' direction upon hearing her voice. The boys looked at each other and both smirked; they were taller then her, and therefore they seemed to take Artemis as less threatening. ”What are you going to do about it if we don't, shorty?”

They did not just call her shorty....

Word Count: 444

Back to basics. Back to the beginning. Back to building everything from the ground up. It was a good idea to learn everything all over again, since on the second time around, techniques would be twice as powerful.

Kinzoku was once a feared shinobi who carried a gourd of iron sand. He wandered the wastes, killing bandits and scum. Before that, he was a thief, which landed him a stint in prison. After getting out and quenching his thirst for blood, Kinzoku decided to start over. He gave away all of his money he'd earned, stopped using his iron sand, gained the proper rank of Genin, and took to using just the basics. He decided that he would earn the power that he once wielded so freely through hard work.

Crushing his enemies with his prized iron sand was a long way off. Right now, he would start with the fundamentals: his Taijutsu. Kinzoku would take things slow and steady; he wasn't going to rush like he used to. Good skills needed to be cooked slowly, seasoned correctly. The ability to coat his arms and legs in bronze metal remained intact, and by weighing himself down while performing punches, kicks jogging around the village and doing push-ups, he began to build muscle at an advanced rate.

It was while jogging that Kinzoku picked up upon a situation going on. Normally Kinzoku would just mind his own business and keep on moving, but when someone was being bullied it made him... itch, for lack of a better word. Reflexes had him motioning to cause his iron sand to creep up upon the two bullies, restrain them and then begin to constrict, just before the point where bones would begin to snap and break, but, this wasn't to be since he no longer had it. This would take a more hands-on approach.

A male in a red top appeared on the scene. The collar of the red top hid his face except for a pair of piercing yellow eyes and black frizzy hair. His right hand was thrust forward so that the hand could grip the neck of one of the bullies. While continuing to move forward, the bully would be swept off of his feet while taken by surprise. Kinzoku was able to lift the bully quite easily with one arm, allowing his feet to dangle beneath him; a choking noise coming from his mouth as he was grabbed. Kinzoku then slammed the boy on his back with the force that caused the ground to tremble slightly. He yelped loudly, then looked up to see Kinzoku raising a foot to then send it speeding downward towards his face.

He brought his arms up over his head in an X formation, but the foot made of bronze would simply slam into the ground next to his head, creating a small hole. Dust and dirt were thrown into the air. The bully on the ground began to seem scared out of his mind. A puddle appeared beneath him, indicating that he'd urinated on himself. Kinzoku didn't say anything as he stepped over him and continued jogging. If it was one thing he couldn't stand, it was a bully...

WC: 535

Artemis was about to respond and tell the boys exactly what was going to happen to them when an individual whose face was mostly covered arrived on the scene. One of the two boys were dealt with flawlessly, something that had Artemis raising an eyebrow in curiosity as she watched. A puddle underneath of the downed male dictated to her that he had pissed himself, likely in fear from thinking he was about to have his head stomped in. Before Artemis could say anything though the individual he began to jogging again.

Artemis watched for a moment before her attention was caught by a ”You stupid bitches!”. Artemis turned in time to see three other individuals arrive on the scene; one of which was the largest of all; he was the one who had done the talking and apparently they thought that Artemis had something to do with their fallen friend due to their late arrival. Eyes the color of molten silver were rolled around before she reached down and plucked the girl's doll out of the dirt. She dusted it off and handed it to the girl while watching out of the corner of her eye the three other individuals approach.

”Run along, little girl. You don't need to be here to see how this goes...”, Artemis spoke to the young lady, who thankfully didn't need told twice. She took off at a run, leaving the park: she wasn't going to stop until she reached home more then likely, and that was probably for the best. Thankfully, none of the thug-like individuals gave chase, instead their attention remained on Artemis as they moved to surround her, including the the other boy who had been with his now fallen friend. ”You four should leave... before I embarrass you.” It was a fair warning, and the only one she was going to give.

Laughter was the response she got as the biggest of the four cracked his knuckles. ”What're you going to do about it pipsqueak? The four of us against little you?”

”I did warn you...” The male to the right of her rushed towards her and at the last possible second she side stepped, allowing him to go flying past her and into his buddy across the way. The pair toppled and went down, one landing on top of the other in a heap of cussing and swearing. The one in front of her lunged forward, attempting to punch Artemis. Artemis side stepped, using his own momentum against himself as she gave a shove to his back after he was past her. He went toppling into the largest, the 'leader' of this group, who simply pushed him aside like he was useless trash, but not before he got his shoes scuffed.

”You stupid bitch! These shoes were new!”, the leader shouted as his buddies got back to their feet...

Word Count Tai D – C: 493 + 444 = 937 / 2,000

Off jogging again, throwing a punch or two, Kinzoku figured that would be the end of it. A couple of houses over and he could hear that this wasn't the case. The plan was to make a run to the far end of the village and back a few times, but this incident here was looking more interesting. A few heads to beat on instead. Normally he would squash these idiots and then listen to the cries of their mothers. Kinzoku wasn't that person anymore, but he would still eagerly give them a beating.

"All of you for just one girl... cowards."

A deep voice said this as Kinzoku descended back upon the scene while the little girl was leaving, the tallest of the bunch was cracking his knuckles, and the girl gave them a warning. One of them surrounding the girl was suddenly kicked in the mid-section. It had to hurt, since he immediately began to scream, bowling over into a ball and clutching his gut.

Another began to throw punches towards, Kinzoku's face, all of which were dodged with relative ease. The guy started to look scared, especially with the calm, stoic look that was on Kinzoku's face; those creepy yellow eyes staring back at him half closed while he easily leaned around and ducked beneath every blow. "This ain't got nothing to do with you! Why're you stickin your nose in our business!?"

"Because bullies piss me off," was Kinzoku's answer.

"Whatever! You just want a piece of this girl!"

"As if. But better that than trying to beat on her, 4 on 1. You guys are the ones that should be trying to hit on her. You finished already? The talking parts are boring." With a growl, he continued swinging at Kinzoku, unable to land a blow. Eventually Kinzoku began to return fire, punching him in his arms and ribs whenever he missed. Frustration and pain could be seen clearly on his face as he began to sweat and breathe heavily. A quick kicking combination launched from Kinzoku connected upon random bodyparts of the guy before a final kick to the head sent him crashing to the ground in a heap of dust, dazed. "You done?"


It took him several moments to gather himself and raise back to his feet, frowning and bleeding. He started to throw hard punches in Kinzoku's direction, which were easy to dodge now that he was being fueled by rage. The calm, sleepy look on Kinzoku's face only made him more pissed off. After dodging so many blows, another hard kick was launched, impacting his chest and stomach area. His eyes bulged widely as the wind was knocked from his lungs, and Kinzoku previously turned his leg into bronze. There was the sound of what sounded like metal meeting flesh, and the slight popping sounds of bones being fractured and splintered. The guy was on his knees, next to the previous 2 downed thugs. "Not so fun when you're on the receiving end, is it?"

Tai Training D-C WC: 509 + 535 = 1,044 / 2,000

Artemis was by far not the type of person to stand back and let someone else fight her battles for her, especially when she felt she was more then capable of handling it herself. Therefore, while the male with the yellow eyes was busy handling a good portion of the would-be bullies she turned her attention onto the remaining two: they weren't about to get away freely. Their attention remained on her despite the ass beating their comrades were getting. They looked at each other and the one to the side of her charged again with his arms opened wide: apparently he was ready for her to try and dodge the same way she had done the previous two times and aimed to catch her when she did.

Of course, Artemis knew better then to use the same move over and over again. She was going to dodge, yes, but not quite the way they thought she was. As the individual closed the distance between herself and him she bent her knees, building up momentum. She then jumped into the air, her right hand going out and catching onto the individuals shoulder. This helped her to stabilize herself to then flip clean over him; going upside down right above him to then come back down feet first. She landed, facing the other opponent, while the individual who had just tried to rush her went running straight into a tree. His face hit first, blood gushing almost instantly from a badly broken nose.

Artemis lifted her hand, making a bring it on motion as she shifted into a fighting stance. She knew it was going to be a few minutes before his buddy got back to his feet now that he had a face full of blood to deal with, so that left the lone bully for her to handle. The guy rushed for her, attempting to hit her with a series of punches and kicks. Some were dodged skillfully while others were blocked and countered. This went on for several minutes, her inability to be injured or properly hit only frustrating the already angry opponent. This caused him to act more reckless, but still his attempts were dodged. Eventually, Artemis skillfully flipped him over her shoulder by using his own momentum against him and sent him sprawling onto the ground hard with the wind knocked out of him: making it hard for him to breath with how hard his adrenaline was already rushing.

By then his buddy with the broken nose was getting to his feet, but he was eyeing Artemis wearily at best. He backed up, his hands going up as he attempted to surrender. ”Perhaps you've learned your lesson, yeah?”, Artemis asked while eying the guy.

He started nodding quickly, nearly falling over himself as he continued to back up: apparently he didn't want his ass whooped worse then it already was. ”Ye—yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Won't happen again. Promise.”

Artemis just smirked: she hardly believed it...

Word Count Tai D – C: 504 + 937 = 1,441 / 2,000

"Screw you dude!"

"Yeah yeah. Be lucky I don't have my gourd anymore. You wouldn't have gotten much worse."

The girl was far from defensless. Yellow eyes turn to see her deal with the remaining thugs. She turned her attention onto the remaining two: they weren't about to get away freely. Their attention remained on her despite the ass beating their comrades had gotten. They looked at each other and the one to the side of her charged again with his arms opened wide: apparently he was ready for her to try and dodge the same way she had done the previous two times and aimed to catch her when she did.

These guys obviously were no shinobi, more street fighter than anything. The girl knew better then to use the same move over and over again. She was going to dodge, yes, but not quite the way they thought she was. As the individual closed the distance between herself and him she bent her knees, building up momentum. She then jumped into the air, her right hand going out and catching onto the individuals shoulder. This helped her to stabilize herself to then flip clean over him; going upside down right above him to then come back down feet first. She landed, facing the other opponent, while the individual who had just tried to rush her went running straight into a tree. His face hit first, blood gushing almost instantly from a badly broken nose.

Kinzoku started to jog in place. He wanted to see the rest of this. it wasn't as if what the thug said was true - that he had a thing for the girl - he honestly wanted to see how this fight was going to turn out. Besides, the girl didn't seem like the typical "girl" type; more concerned with her hair and nails, and fantasizing about some hero coming to save them on some white horse to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. it was pretty sickening. No, Kinzoku's main goal was to re-educate himself and get his gourd back.

The girl lifted her hand, making a bring it on motion as she shifted into a fighting stance. She knew it was going to be a few minutes before his buddy got back to his feet now that he had a face full of blood to deal with, so that left the lone bully for her to handle. The guy rushed for her, attempting to hit her with a series of punches and kicks. Some were dodged skillfully while others were blocked and countered. This went on for several minutes, her inability to be injured or properly hit only frustrating the already angry opponent. This caused him to act more reckless, but still his attempts were dodged. Eventually, the girl skillfully flipped him over her shoulder by using his own momentum against him and sent him sprawling onto the ground hard with the wind knocked out of him: making it hard for him to breath with how hard his adrenaline was already rushing.

At this point it was obvious that the fight was over. Bullies... there seemed to be some in every city. Kinzoku said nothing to the girl as he turned to leave; he simply raised a right hand and waved, then began to jog...

556 + 1,044 = 1,600 / 2,000

While something in the back of her mind told her that this bully who was backing up and looking piss himself terrified wasn't going to change, she let him go. To pursue this further, to chase after him and continue to beat him down after he was clearly giving up and signaling that he wanted no more, would only turn her into the bully. And she wasn't that type of person. ”Go on, then. Get. And don't let me catch any of you picking on that little girl again, or anyone for that matter or you'll get it even worse next time.”, Artemis warned them. Those who could move got up, moving away; they'd be nursing their wounds like a couple of whipped dogs for quite a while unless they knew someone with enough medical knowledge to treat them. Perhaps this would help them learn their lesson, but somehow she doubted it.

She then looked over towards the yellow eyed male, preparing to thank him and perhaps find out a bit more about him: it wasn't every day after all that someone was willing to jump into a situation such as this and help out. Only, she found him leaving, waving what was obviously a goodbye. Frowning to herself she then shrugged it off: perhaps he just wasn't the social type? Who knew. She was sure their paths would cross again at some point, on another day.

”Thanks for your help! Appreciate it!”, she called after him: she was thankful after all. He had saved her from having to deal with all four of them at once; and even though she could have done it, she preferred not to.

Artemis then looked around, scratching at her head. She had dealt with enough trouble for one day, and staying in the park was likely only going to end to more. Perhaps it was time to get back home: she was hungry anyway and she was sure lunch was going to be done soon. As her stomach grumble she patted it thoughtfully and then turned and began to walk away; heading to the nearest exit of the park while dodging the over populated playground which had a mountain of kids at the moment.

Word Count Tai D - C: 374 + 1,441 = 1,815 / 2,000

He heard the girl say thanks behind him, though it wasn't his reason for jumping in. He wasn't hoping for her to fall in love with him or anything of that sort. It was simply just the perfect opportunity for some extra training, the hands-on kind. He almost wished that it could have last a little longer; he'd barely broken a sweat.

It was while jogging around the village still, practicing breathing exercises, executing weighted punches and kicks, and performing push-ups in random intervals that it seemed his wish was about to come true. Some of the defeated went to get help, and were coming back for round 2. The female was nowhere to be seen, and that was fine, he wanted it that way. All of the attention would be on just him. There was one wounded and 4 fresh combatants, one of them bigger and more muscular than the rest. They spotted Kinzoku while jogging and began after him. Kinzou made like he was running away, but in reality he was looking for an out of the way place to thrash these 5 fools.

Behind some buildings was a small yard, enclosed by the surrounding buildings. There seemed to be just enough room for 6 people to scrap. Kinzoku stopped jogging to flex his arms and legs, moving his head from side to side. The 5 others soon joined him, laughing and chuckling with evil grins. "Nowhere else to run," said the big one. "I bet you feel stupid for trying to run and ending up back here, huh?"

"...No," was Kinzoku's response, turning to face them, rubbing his right fist with his left hand. "I came back here on purpose, so no one could see the beating i'm about to give all of you clowns. All of you for just me?... I feel honored honestly. But if i'm being honest, you should have brought more guys..."

The smiles and grins melted into frowns and scowls. "This guy's retarded! You think you can beat all of us? Get him!"

#1 ran in and took a swing at Kinzoku's jaw. The swing was pushed aside. He swung twice more and touched nothing but air, due to Kinzoku's dodges. A bronze fist punched the shoulder of the attacker, dislocating his arm with a nasty pop sound. He started to scream, but a kick followed the punch, knocking the assailant backwards at high velocity. His buddies moved out of the way, allowing him to slam into the rear wall and fall motionless. 1 down.

Another ran in, drawing a kunai. Kinzoku formed a bronze staff in the meantime. he attempted to stab Kinzoku numerous times, but the attempts were all deflected by the staff. The kunai was knocked from his hands, and the staff was moved to impact several dozen points along his body quickly. After being slammed upside his head twice, sending him to lie next to the first attacker, Kinzoku let go of the staff, causing it to melt instantly into rust. 2 down.

2 more ran in and tried attacking Kinzoku at the same time. He blocked multiple attacks from 2 directions. He began returning fire at them both at the same time; fists for the one on the right, feet for the one on the left. The impacts of his counter attacks were solid enough to cause bone fractures, and breaks for smaller ones. In the end, the two of them were knocked through the air to join the other two in a forced slumber.

The last one - a guy from the previous fight who had bruises and teeth missing - looked somewhere between being pissed off and scared for his life. Kinzoku just looked upon him with no expression. It didn't appear that he was going to attack, and end up like his 4 buddies. "You seem to be the smartest of the bunch," Kinzoku said, walking right past him. "Some of them will need medical attention. Feel free to bring more tough guys to fight again sometime, yeah?"

Kinzoku jogged out of the alley...

/Exit/

683 + 1,600 = 2,283 / 2,000