Souls of the Damned

Where was he going? Xen had no set destination in his mind. He had no important place to be or anyone special to meet. He was simply going in one direction instead of the others. The heavily tattooed male was silent for a moment. "No where special." He supposed he was simply going to keep walking in this direction until someone needed to use him. That was generally how it went. This was his life. He knew nothing else. He'd seen many places in his lifetime, but none were worth settling down in. Not for long anyways. He'd traveled the world, mainly leaving countries by boat or train whenever the one who commanded him left. After Kyla he'd ended up wandering until he came across Sita, who had taken him to Persia where he'd spent the remainder of Sita's days. Xen could not remember her face, nor her voice, but he remembered her authoritative personality and how she ruled relentlessly. She had used him well. It had been Navara who'd brought him back to this country, but there time had been short together. Xen didn't need company, he needed to be used. He needed to have purpose, but he craved nothing.

Kana tilted her head at his answer. He wasn't already so healed that he could just start walking to 'nowhere special'. Unless he got restless easily. "Do you want to come with us," she asked. "I'm not really going anywhere in particular either, though. Me and Az are just kind of roaming around." Azazeal had never liked it when she used his full name in front of others, even if he knew they were going to die shortly. That was why she'd adopted a nickname for him, and since he didn't seem to mind it, that was what she called him most of the time: Az. "You can ride the other horse," she said. "Az can either fly or ride with me. He doesn't really get tired, so either one is fine for him. Right Az?" she said, looking to the grey skinned male, who nodded. He was useful like that. If she needed to get far away from a place fast, and was hurt and couldn't fight, Azazeal could either kill whatever was chasing her, or turn himself into a horse that she could ride endlessly. At least until her legs felt like they were too numb for her to hold on any longer.

There is was again. Someone was asking him what he wanted. Xen didn't know how to tell her that he wasn't used to such things, well actually he did. "All I want is to be of use," he replied. "You don't seem to need my services, you are very capable of handling yourself." And if she could not, her Shadowshifter could do the job for her. While a normal person would have found the gesture as kind, Xen couldn't relate. "I would not make a very good traveling companion." To join up with Kana would be the same as walking around aimlessly with nothing to do. She was worth his time, but what would be the point if he was not worth hers. Xen reached out and touched the horse after she offered to let him ride one while they traveled. Beautiful creature. Not many things had any sentimental value in his eyes. He was almost empty until someone worthy came about. It was as if they would breath life into him. He supposed that was what he craved, if one were to demand such an answer. He did not crave life in the physical sense of existing, but in the sense of being given a reason to live. Purpose. He was not sure that Kana could give him that. How could a tool control a tool? And even if she did, what would she use him for?

Kana blinked when Xen said he only wanted to be of use. What did that mean? That...he was...looking to just...do something for someone? She frowned in embarrassment and looked off to the side. "Whether I can take care of myself or not doesn't matter. It gets...boring, traveling around with only Az here." "Thank you m'lady," Azazeal replied stiffly. It made Kana crack a smile, but she glanced back to Xen. "Since neither of us are traveling anywhere in specific, it wouldn't hurt for you to come with. Maybe you'll find something worth your time in one of the villages I pass through. After all, it's not like I destroy all of them." She was trying not to say that it got lonely being on the road with someone who would disappear for days or weeks at a time. She didn't like admitting to being lonely.

Xen didn't seem to make the connection that Kana was lonely because he didn't get lonely. Something worth his time. Xen wasn't sure she understood what he wanted. It was not something he was looking for, but someone. He could just travel with her until they found a village that she didn't fancy destroying and then they could part then. Maybe he could turn this around to benefit him if he worded this correctly. "Then you may use me as a companion for your travels until you tire of me. Is that what you want?" Yes, it was much more comfortable and normal to ask what the other want. The reversed roles was not normal for him. Kana may have been a tool for the creature who she called Az and the monstrous chakra known as the Blue Demon , but she was worthy.  Even without these factors, she was a powerful being.

"Use you as a..? Er..." Kana looked off to the side with a small embarrassed frown on her face. She didn't quite like saying that she was 'using' people. That had been Felix's thing, not hers. He'd told her at one point during their last mission that everyone should be at her disposal to complete the mission. And she still thought that was a load of bullshit. "Yeah, sure. Something like that," she told him with a small sigh. "Az," she said, looking over to the other, who nodded and slid off his horse, walking it over to Xen and then handing him the reigns. "I will fly," he told Kana when she gave him a curious look. If she was disappointed that he wouldn't ride with her, she didn't show it.

This was the problem. Kana wasn't sure what she what she wished of him. Her hesitantion meant that this could be a waste of their time. Xen decided to just go with it. Kana would eventually figure something out for him. He had done many forms of service in his lifetime. The list was endless. He'd been the front line offense, the soul protector for a priestess, a guardian for a family, which had been very unusual for him, but the child had found him unconscious in the middle of a snow storm. He'd also done other things, but the list was far too long. He had faith that Kana was somewhat creative. She used genjutsu, so surely it wouldn't be too complex. When Az came over and gave him the horse, he took a moment to run his hand against the top of the creature's head and down it's neck. The creature pushed it's nose against his hand and Xen looked it in it's eyes before he climbed aboard the creature and looked to Kana.

Kana watched Xen curiously as he pet the horse before climbing on, tilting her head a bit. "You like horses," she asked. She'd seen him pet it the day before but she'd been too occupied with trying not to pass out. The circumstances right now were only slightly different. She smiled lightly when the creature nuzzled Xen's hand. Infected with Madness or not, she could still find pleasure in simple things like that. It was cute. She never would have expected a tough looking guy like Xen to have a soft spot for horses. Kana took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh that seemed an awful lot like one of relief. She hadn't noticed it until now, but she felt...free. In fact, the Madness hadn't clouded her mind since Xen had removed Kyla's 'essence' from her. "Thanks again," she said quietly. "For getting rid of Kyla for me." Her question was obvious directed at Xen which might have explained the almost annoyed look on Azazeal's face before he turned into an eagle and took off into the air, startling the horses as he did.

Xen looked to Kana when she asked her question. Did he like horses? He supposed he did, seeing as though it was about the only creature that could break through the void of lost conscious feelings. "Yes." He didn't know what it was about the horse that could bring some life into him. He felt the need of want. He wondered if Kana would allow him to keep the horse when they parted ways. Probably not since Az would need something to ride. He couldn't say he felt anything negative about this though. She thanked him once more for removing Kyla's essence from her. "You are welcome." Xen placed his hand underneath his ribs. Three down. He knew one other wanted their freedom, but Xen had no intention of seeking him out. It was by chance he'd run across Kana and taking out Kyla's essence had done it's toll on him. He could not repeat the process again. Not any time soon at least. He rode in silence, but he didn't take long before he raised his hand to his mouth as the metallic taste of blood touched his tongue. Xen looked at the blood on his hand and then dropped it to his side. He'd taken in magic that she'd used to protect her essence. He wasn't able to rid it from his system thanks to the poison, but he didn't seem bothered by it. Kyla used powerful dark magic, but he'd escaped her and rid himself of her essence. He could handle this.

Kana started riding ahead of Xen by only a few paces, listening to the clicking and clopping of the horse's hooves on the still muddy ground. So it was more like a smooshing sound than clicking and clopping. All the while she listened, she was wondering...just where should they go? A hospital would probably be a good start. But...brown eyes glanced at Xen. Would they part ways at the first village they came across? The thought wasn't appealing. She didn't want a traveling companion for only a few hours, especially if this one had the time to spare. "Xen, you're-" she started, having wanted to ask him a question before she saw the blood seep from his mouth. She frowned before looking back ahead of her and glancing up towards Azazeal. "We're going to a town so we can get something done about this poison," she told Xen without looking back at him.

Azazeal's gaze was cast down when Kana looked up at him and flew higher into the sky, his white eyes scanning the horizon for any signs of nearby civilization. Kana wanted him to find a village for them to go to. She didn't have to say it for him to know it, even if he had heard her tell Xen.

Xen leaned over to the right and spat out the blood, not missing a beat. It didn't bother him because he honestly couldn't feel it. The poison yes, but he couldn't tell that he had internal bleeding. For the most part Xen had forgotten how injuries. He'd been stabbed twice and knocked around, oh and hit with an arrow but he didn't feel any of it. This was common and unless someone brought it up he didn't really notice it. When Kana said they would go to a town he didn't really acknowledge her, because it was probably for her. Her ribs had broken and she had a hole where he'd pulled out Kana's essence. Instead he asked, "You were going to ask me a question?" He glanced up at the creature that traveled with her on a daily basis. It was obviously searching for the nearest village. He'd have done it himself if he could stretch his senses more than a few feet. Clairvoyant or not, it didn't happen on command. Usually something big had to happen and to stretch his senses and pick up vibrations he needed his system to be clear of anomalies like this poison and the magic. His senses had never been so dull before. A shame if things didn't return to normal.

Kana glanced at Xen when he didn't answer her, just to see if he'd actually heard her. She couldn't tell if he had or not, so she just shrugged and continued riding forward. When he mentioned the question she was going to ask, she blinked and was quiet for a moment. What was the question she'd been going to ask him? "Oh right. You're immortal, right? How did that happen? Did Kyla make you immortal as well, or did you just serve her at one point?" she asked curiously, looking back at the dark haired male. His spitting out blood wasn't very comforting. She wondered what other injuries he'd sustained besides the ones she'd taken care of. He'd been pretty badly beaten up. She wondered if internal bleeding was a possibility. Kana glanced back up, and since she couldn't see Azazeal, she stopped looking for him and just waited for an answer.

"Yes," he replied to the question of being immortal. The next one puzzled him. He had been this way for so long that he was unsure of when he'd come across Kyla and where he'd separated from her. He didn't remember how he'd become an immortal, so he took a moment to search his memories. He had a brief recollection of his boyhood. His place of birth had been hot, and he had had many siblings, and he'd been sold for reasons he could not remember or care for. "I was a soldier before I was an immortal," he replied. He'd been prepped for immortality and when he was of proper physic he'd been shipped off. "I do not remember if I was originally hers, but I did serve her for a time."

Kana had kind of figured he was immortal even if Xen hadn't said anything about it. Poison and injuries like his would have had even a competent ninja at least limping, and having been out for a full day like him...well, the poison alone probably would have killed him by now. The brown haired girl blinked when Xen told her what he'd been before he'd been an immortal. "A...soldier? Really?" That seemed to have caught her interest. When was the last war..? Actually... "How long ago?" she asked curiously. "Were you a soldier, I mean."

Xen nodded lightly. "Yes." She kept asking him questions about time, and those questions were very hard to answer.  It had been a very long time ago. So long ago that he couldn't quite grasp all the memories and put them into sequence. Most things just blurred together, so he didn't bother with it. The only thing that he kept constant was his name. "I don't remember. It's been a very long time. A couple of centuries." It wasn't too long ago that he couldn't remember, but it had been a decent amount of time. He'd seen many things during his days as an official soldier. The fall of great villages and their leaders, the rise of an imminent threat and their downfall, people that today's generation of ninja considered to only be legends. Xen knew differently. He'd watched the world change from being peaceful and balanced to bathed in madness. The sands of time were infinite and he had witnessed so much of it.

Kana tilted her head. "Do you know if you were made immortal because you were a soldier or just...you know, picked at random?" Now she was curious about Xen. She wondered if he'd ever talked to anyone about this. Given the fact that he didn't quite remember everything, she was going to go with no, probably not. She glanced up and gave a light nod. "There's a village not too far. We could probably get there in about an hour," she told him lightly. "Try not to pass out before then, okay?" she said, looking over to the black haired male.

"I was made a soldier in order to prepare me for immortality." Made had been the key word. He hadn't caught it himself, but if someone had been paying attention they might. "I don't know why I was chosen to be a soldier. Or rather what features made me stand out in order to be considered." He didn't have the answer. The only theories he could come up with were his parents had sold him to make room for his other siblings, or they'd thought something had been wrong with him, but another person thought differently and decided to put him to good use. It was the past, so it didn't matter, but Kana seemed interested in his past. He met her gaze when she told him not to pass out before they arrived at the village. "Why would I?"

Kana blinked. "Made a soldier? How do you mean..? Like, they forced you to be one, or..?" She'd heard legends...well, more like fairy tales, of creatures created by human beings in order to appear human but be weapons. She'd heard of someone a long time ago who had been a hybrid. There'd been rumors that he'd been created by some scientist and had become Kage of the Death Valley. It had been ages ago, and now it it was a legend and the guy was dead, so who knew if it was actually true. When Xen finished his sentence though, Kana figured that he'd been chosen out of a bunch of others to become immortal. "And you don't remember how they made you immortal, huh..?" The brown haired girl frowned lightly and looked forward, only to look back at Xen when she realized he'd looked at her. "Well you're coughing up blood, obviously. And you have poison running through your veins just like I do. If it's bothering me, it's probably hell for you." Kana turned back forward on her horse, but stopped halfway and put her arm over her stomach, flinching as she did. It hurt. It hurt so bad, even though while talking to Xen it had slipped her mind for a moment. She was actually afraid that she would pass out before Xen did. The poison, coupled with the fact that she had a few broken ribs and a hole in her stomach, was going to make for one hell of a ride to the next village. Even if they were only riding their horses at an average pace. Kana was sure she'd fall off if they tried to run the horses to the village.

It was coming back bit by bit. The memories were just buried underneath other memories, quite a few of them actually. He had been made into a soldier, but when? "It wasn't forced, I had nowhere else to go." Now he remembered the missing pieces. "I was sold as a boy. I had many brothers and sisters, and there was no room for me." He didn't sound the least bothered by it.They had come in the night, knocking on the door. There was an exchange of money, and then his father guided him out of the house and towards a strange man dressed in a cloak. He was loaded onto a truck with several other boys around his age and that's as much as he remembered as far as the first people that took him in. He knew there had been a long line of being given from one person to another. "I was still a boy when I came to this country. I was brought here because they knew I was clairvoyant." That's why the process truly started, when they knew about his talent and they would use it to their advantage. Xen had been a foreign land, so he didn't have much choice but to go along with whatever was happening. He shook his head at Kana's question. "No. I remember very little. I don't often think of the past." Xen didn't think that the blood was an issue. "Why is it hell for me," he asked. "You have more in your system." He saw her flinch, but said nothing, for there was nothing he could do.

Kana blinked as Xen explained about his past. He didn't really seem all that bothered by it, but he'd said he'd been around for a while too. At least, long enough to not remember about his birth circumstances unless prodded about it for a couple minutes. Kana looked off to the side. He'd been sold? Because his parents had had too many children? "That's awful," she said with a small frown. She could imagine that, even if he wasn't concerned about it now, he must have been afraid when he'd been taken away from his parents. "Clairvoyant? Like...you can see into the future?" Now that was interesting. She wondered...if that was really what he could do if...if he could see her future. Would she really die because Azazeal takes too much of her soul one day? Or because someone hunts her down and manages to somehow reverse the immortality that Kyla had given her? Kana had no doubts that she would die. She couldn't live forever, that was for certain. There was so much wrong with her that the universe would allow her to live forever. There would be no humans left by the end of it all. No demons nor angels. She would probably end up getting bored and hunt them all down. Or worse, make a deal with a demon worse than Az and become a demon herself. Kana tilted her head. Now there was a curious thought. Kana frowned and looked a bit embarrassed when Xen mentioned that she had more poison in her system. "B-because I'm used to things like this, so it doesn't bother me that much," she said stubbornly.

Azazeal couldn't help but look down on them and think of how much of a child Kana really still was. Madness or no Madness.

Xen did not see what was awful about his boyhood. He could not change it, nor could he change the fact that he was last of many children and could not be afforded. The past was the past and there was no point dwelling on things that were unchangeable. "I can't see into the future like a seer, it is not that clear cut," he told her. "What I see tends to happen in the very near future, usually moments before it happens." A seer or psychic could tell someone if they would be married, what was In store for them three years into the future, but not Xen. Most of his skill was to alert others of incoming danger, like wars and raids, or espionage missions. He retort of being used to such things didn't make sense in his mind, but he never argued. It wasn't in his nature. However, he could have argued a thousand points, the main one being that he was older than her and more experienced. His silence was clarification that he had nothing to say on the matter.

So he could only see into the near future. Kana held back a sigh. Oh well. Maybe he'd be useful to keep around, though. She wasn't usually worried about getting ambushed because she knew she could destroy whatever it was attacking her, but it was always nice to have a heads up. Which Azazeal didn't always provide for her.

Like Azazeal had told her earlier, it took Kana and Xen roughly an hour to arrive at the nearest village, and by that time, Kana was feeling dizzy and could barely even hold herself up on her horse anymore. And she felt nauseous. The hole in her stomach wasn't helping her feel any less sick, either. Once they got to the village though, they were questioned about what had attacked them. Kana simply explained that there had been rogue ninja that had attacked them during their travels and that said ninja were using poison. She also insisted (none too kindly) that the two of them needed to be taken to a hospital immediately.

Xen was silent for the rest of the ride. Time drew on he felt fine, but his body knew better. By the time they made it to the village he had started to actually cough up blood. It was a weird sensation because he couldn't really feel it, but it was clear something was wrong. He could barely hear Kana talking. It was almost as if the sound had gone out on the world. Xen's brown eyes shifted from the left to the right and then to the ground so that the world would stop spinning. He could feel the poison and the lingering magic, but he made no complaints or noises to indicate an issue as Kana spoke with the people at the gate.

The guards of the village had been reluctant to let them in, but once they saw the foreign looking one cough up blood, they called for a couple ninja to help escort them to the hospital and take their horses somewhere. They had few stables in the village, so they had to be taken to the opposite side of the village after Kana and Xen had rode them to the hospital. Once there, Kana pretty much demanded that her and Xen be put in the same room. The ninja escorting them made sure to tell the doctors to do as she asked in this case. It would be easier to keep an eye on them if they were both in the same room.

Xen concluded that Kana had a very authoritative personality about her, whether it was from the way she walked to the way she talked. It was admirable in any case. Being placed in a room with her meant nothing to him and as the healers swarmed in, he sat motionless. They laid them each down and explained that the process would be painful and then had a few ninja come in to hold them down. Xen did not protest. His brown eyes closed and as they began. He didn't remember when the sounds finally died out or when he lost consciousness, only that he had once more felt the real sensation of pain. When he awoke he was laying on his side. He had been carefully bandaged and the poison that had been so potent and noticeable before, no longer existed. For the time being he had forgotten about Kana and as he sat up, he looked as if he had intentions to leave. There was no reason to stay here now that the poison had been removed.