Chapter 5: The Cauldron Triplets

"And he not know who he gazes upon either." Blue tie said through clenched teeth, he took extra steps before the other two. Letting himself stick out. His royal blue tie clear as the sun shining through the grey clouds over this long, forgotten tomb of a village.

The inheritor recognized such steps as all too familiar. It was those of one who wanted recognition. Who wanted to be seen as power. Who wanted to be acknowledged as authority. Squared shoulders that were broad, positioning perfect - too perfect almost - as if such a stance had become the norm. He was quite handsome as well if Mitsuaki bothered to focus on his face hard enough.

But there was only one form of authority Mitsuaki had come to familiarize himself with. And he was quite close with them indeed.

Mitsuaki took similar steps, with only two handful of feet left between them. The two matched stinging sight, frigid gaze upon frigid gaze. Tension so thick a knife nor the most honed katana couldn't slice through it. Mitsuaki fingers twitched at his side, his vectors of arrows caressing his skin like loyal vipers wrapped around his biceps and shoulders. Hissing, waiting.

"I don't think its that big of a deal, look at this place after all." Red spoke and lazily kicked a piece of rotten wood off to the side.

The sound of the wood going racket against the cobble ground made blue tie head immediately snap towards it then his glare laser up at his own near, perfect reflection of a kin.

"What do you think you are doing, Ginjiro?! How could you desecrate this place!" Blue tie snapped, his voice cracked as he did.

'Was he on the verge of tears?' Mitsuaki fingers relaxed for a slight second.

"Relax. It isn't a shock he can't recognize us." Red tie, or Ginjiro, responded calmly.

Mitsuaki eyes flickered from both of the figures, he didn't expect the sudden contrast in personality. Seems red tie, or Ginjiro, as blue tie called him was the real one with a calm head on his shoulder.

"Though," Green tie added, tilting his head with his finger on his chin. "It isn't an excuse for going rummaging through things. But I don't blame him, it seems fun to go finding relics in an abandoned village!"

"Both or more is still absolutely unforgivable! We cannot let such a transgression past! What would He think?! Letting such," Blue tie head shot back once more to Mitsuaki and this time, he kind of wish he didn't, it felt like Mitsuaki was getting heat for something he really didn't intend for.

Regardless, this one was going to lay into him, his face growing redder with anger and his face scrunching up with pure hatred.

"A CREATURE foul up His most beloved place?!"

Without even thinking, a viper of a vector shot out from Mitsuaki's sleeve, sharp and pointed like a dagger. Blue tie narrowly dodged the attack as it pierced straight through his white hair, leaving a near hole in it. If he didn't move at all, a huge hole would be replacing his pretty little perfect face right now.

A gasp expelled from blue ties mouth, as if in shock. His red eyes wide at Mitsuaki.

"Sorry, my finger slipped." Mitsuaki shook his hand as he raised it, his sleeve falling down to reveal the vectors crawling up and down his right arm. "I get itchy when I'm called something degrading. Its the Inheritor thing. I can be quite problematic."

"Such insolence!" Blue tie seethed. "To attack one of the members of the Cauldron..!"

A mighty, translucent spear had manifested into the hands of blue tie. It was beautiful, deadly. Made for war and to spill blood. And he had his red eyes set on Mitsuaki.

"You think that was a show of power? Of might? I will let you witness true skill, not often do kin be granted the honor of engaging in combat with a member of the Cauldron."

"Now, if we could just hold on for just a secon--" Ginjiro attempted to step forward of blue tie, but he had already pushed him to the side, red tie calm face now took on one of a slightly stressed expression.

Green tie immediately rode up beside Ginjiro, a playful grin on his face. "Oooh, he's done it now. Toiya is M-A-D! We're in for some fireworks, hahaha!"

Mitsuaki was right from his earlier perception of that one in the green tie. He was annoying.

"That wasn't even a quarter of it. I've got a lot of pent up anger."

"I knew it was a mistake coming here." Ginjiro facepalmed.

Blue tie was upon Mitsuaki even before he could blink, it was almost as if he cut through time and teleported right before him. Mitsuaki eyes widened in surprise, muscle memory rolling into action causing him to immediately take a step back, his vectors hissing from beneath his robes and criss crossing the front of his body to prevent the stab of the spear going straight for his heart. It clanged off with a loud, high pitched ringing noise, hurting the inheritors ears, it sounded like glass hitting against metal.

Recognizing he gained ground, blue tie, Toiya, twirled his spear behind his back a tactic Mitsuaki recalled as a distraction method. He was about to strike even harder now and may have seen an opening, Mitsuaki wasn't a close combat fighter, so it would be easy to pick him apart up close but it doesn't seem like Toiya had come to learn that information yet.

That means Mitsuaki still had enough time to fake it.

Mitsuaki made his vectors push out against him, like a massive, criss cross wall with force and speed behind it. An attempt to force Toiya into giving him space and to try to rattle him, just long enough. But Toiya didn't budge, instead with extreme precision he managed to stab each weak point in his vectors, freezing them in a stasis. In a few blinks and in a few beats of Mitsuaki's adrenaline pumping heart, his vectors had been destroyed and turned into scattered maple leaves. Dancing in the far distance behind Toiya.

"Simple tactics have no use on the battlefield." Toiya said with viciousness in every word.

"Thank goodness I'm not simple minded then." Mitsuaki responded.

Toiya went in for a slice upon him just as he recalled the few scattered leaves in the wind into vectors, they hissed to life as they were re-given form by their master behind Toiya's back, as Mitsuaki pulled his finger like a trigger, the vectors shot out like porcupine spikes towards Toiya as he back stepped from the quick slice of Toiya. Managing to dodge it and catching only a dastardly slice from his bang, cheek, and neck to shoulder. The spot Mitsuaki left behind had be cleanly cleaved in two, almost as if the spear was a battle axe.

Just as quick reacting as before, Toiya had easily twirled and sliced the spikes in half before turning back to Mitsuaki and resuming his relentless attacks upon him. Engaging in a deadly dance of elegance and blood lust. Mitsuaki had faced some powerful foes, but the reaction time on this kin was unnatural. He just always - knew.

A few distance had been made but Toiya was fast. He was faster then fast. He was near distorting time before him.

"Like I said, I got a lot of pent up anger in me."

Mitsuaki coiled his wrist and arms together, palms open and hands raised high into the sky. As a mass of black vectors balled up into the air far above Mitsuaki and began to rain down black, needle hail. Tracking and deterring Toiya from pushing forward on him. With graceful footwork, Toiya dodged, smacked away, and sliced apart the thousand of raining needles upon him, before spinning his spear above his head rapidly acting as a propeller.

After clearing enough needles for that split second, like piercing lightning through a stormy sky that left scars across it, he shot his spear straight at Mitsuaki. The speed of it so mighty, it left only a marble white streak from Toiya's hand to its target.

"As I said before--!"

Before him, Ginjiro had appeared and easily caught Toiya's spear. The impact from him catching it and the power and speed of which it had been thrown, so mighty, that it left a cave in on the ground beneath them. It sounded like a sonic boom had went off as the blast blew everything within a 10 mile radius away.

"Now, if we could hold on for just. A. Second."

Toiya eyes narrowed at Ginjiro as he held his spear perfectly caught, right at the handle. Then, his red eyes flickered to Mitsuaki, where the end of it sat only mere inches away from his nose. A quick smirk appeared on Toiya's face, hadn't been for Ginjiro, Mitsuaki would be toast.

Though, Mitsuaki was a problem.

It was the greatest tactic he's ever had.

Ginjiro took the spear and lowered it, chucking it back to Toiya who de-manifested it with a graceful swish of his hands in mid-air. The weapon fading away into sparkling light. Sighing, Ginjiro turned to Mitsuaki, nervously running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry about all that." He apologized. "We're still getting used to things, I guess you can say."

"Don't worry about it." Mitsuaki waved his apology away. The body in front of Ginjiro boiling and bubbling into black, thick ink-like texture, splitting and melting into the earth beneath them then splitting apart into hissing vectors that faded away into maple dust.

"I'm used to such reactions by now." He continued, this time, his form manifesting from the sliced up maple leaves remains from the needle storm a few feet behind Toiya. "I can be quite problematic time to time."

Witnessing his amalgamation, Toiya also recognized that he had been pinned down and suckered down onto the earth by the vectors he had cut up. They hissed up at him as if he was a silly baby thrown into a pit of hungry snakes. He sucked his teeth at them.

"As our Master once taught us, many stars ago. Which, my brother here has forgotten," he made sure to say the end part with punctuation and narrowed eyes. "There comes a time for certain things to run their course. It isn't the first time someone has done such a thing and the village has been left for a very long time. If you find any relics, just be careful with them. They were loved and held very dear once before."

'Oh. This guy is.. Nice.'

Mitsuaki brushed himself off, feeling the sting of his wounds now. Ginjiro held his hand out to him, a sign of peace. Mitsuaki shook his hand, awkwardly.

"But we cannot allow such desecration! We must re-build it! We must make it perfect again! In His image! In the way He--"

"Oh will you shut up already about Master?!" Ginjiro snapped at his brother.

It seemed rare that he was ever upset as Toiya seemed slightly hurt and as well saddened by the backlash from Ginjiro.

"You have to let things run its course, Toiya! Its how its always been. Now, please, let us return to the temple. I'm tired and you causing a ruckus isn't the best way to relax."

"We've been relaxing for 490 years, I've seen it, Ginjiro. I know it is to come!"

"You are NEVER to force it."

"And you think after 490 years we shouldn't? Look at the village! Look at him! I bet he doesn't even know what we say if we speak in kin-tongue! We need Him again."

"Toiya, you know how I feel about this. You know what I'm going to say, you know what Master has said. He KNOWS what he's doing." Ginjiro sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Once again, we don't even know your name but - please - once again, I apologize."

"Name exchange isn't very important to me, though there is one thing I require to know. I'll take it over my name."

"Ginjiro!"

"Enough, Toiya!" Ginjiro shouted. "Enough."

With that final word, Toiya had finally given in. It was expressed with a solemn head tilt down, averted eyes and then a turn as he walked away.

Green tie raised an eyebrow as Toiya stalked past him, whistling once he got far enough and looked back at the duo.

"Who's that sad sack, am I right?"

"That includes you too, Shion."

"I'm not the one who started a fight."

"Did I ask?"

"You're no fun." Shion groaned, but he quickly jogged up to Mitsuaki, took the Inheritors hand into his and placed a trinket into it. A sneaky little hand shake between the two of them.

"Give me a call sometime, I think I'll have a lot of fun with you!" Shion grinned as he winked at Mitsuaki.

Mitsuaki felt himself cringe like a wrinkled paper at his flirtatious manner. But, feeling the trinket and making out its shape, he kept it in his palm, swiftly exchanging it for one of the relics in his pouch.

"I'd appreciate not witnessing one of your pick up mating exchanges, thank you very much." Ginjiro mumbled under his breath.

"How can I resist? He's cute! Its been a long time, I deserve some fun."

"Please. I beg of you."

"I am, fortunately, not interested. You can keep the compliment too, by the way." Mitsuaki plainly stated.

Ginjiro slung his arm around Shion, who was just a tad bit shorter than him.

"Whenever you need anything, you can call me on that trinket I handed you. Think of it as me always being with you, handsome." Shion spoke, pointing at the trinket in Mitsuaki's sack.

"I'd rather not."

"Enough. Lets hurry this up, what do you want to know?" Ginjiro let out a massive yawn, stretching slightly.

"A lot. But, can I get patched up first?" Mitsuaki gestured at his facial wounds and small cuts across his hands and arms.