Monarch Wings [Open]

Stoic, calm. The traits of a man with nothing to lose, and so, nothing to truly fear. Faust walked into the room, a basic dining room if you could call it as such, and had himself a short look around, getting his bearings. A refridgerator to the left with a pantry right next to it, both objects pushed back up along the wall. A chair and a sofa with a fireplace to the right, a fancry carpet underneath both pieces of furniture and the coffee table that sat bewteen them. Further up on the right was a table with aporximately six chairs, one at each end and two on either side with a counter top sitting beside it. The cabinents underneath held many trinkets of cooking and the like, not a skill Faust had ever dared to pick up. A holy man was not to get wrapped up in food. If he began eating in a fancy manner, he would never cease to waste time on such trivial matters, and he was to busy of a man, always on the move, to fall into such grotesque habits.

With this in light, it troubled Faust that he had buckled down and stayed at the bas over night, using it as a half way point between his previous location of the moon country and the land of tea which would eventually lead him to fire country. He hadnt wished to stop, but he needed rest after having gone through his previous odreal, a trial by the account of many men, one that would be documented later and possibly have his face revealed in that area, though there was by no means a threat of reaveling the organization. He didnt wear his akatsuki cloak. He wasnt the only one either.

This train of thought led him back over to the table with a turn of his head, actually noticing the cloak that lay upon the giant man with his back to him, a cup in hand. Now Faust wasnt sure if everyone would consider this man a giant, but to Faust, he was enormous. this was because the saint only stood at about four feet tall and was a rather slender person, relying much more on speed and agility then physical power. He knew it to be the most recent member of the team, Kunshu, and the drink was definitely coffee. Another road block of the mind in Faust's eye, but what did he care of it. Nothing. He only cared about the soul, the wicked and the divine. He had no clue which the recruit was, he had not gotten to know him well enough. He did know that if he was of wicked nature and heart, there would come a day when Faust would be forced to strike him down, but that would be long in coming. For now, regardless of wicked or divine, if a ninja bore the banner of akatsuki, he was protected under Riku, a man which Faust would never dream of crossing, merely due to respect, and he did not fully disagree with the method. If the wicked could be used and manipulated to certain ends, why exterminate them before they bore no usefulness. Use every asset to its fullest. That was about as business esk as you could make it.

Faust eyeballed the cloak as it burst into flame and Kunshu watched intently, focusing his attention on it. Faust really did not know why he had even bothered putting it on, especially over that ridiculous armor. Then again, he shouldnt call it ridiculous. Just because armor had no effect on his most useful of tools granted to him by the lord Takobune, did not make it useless as a whole. All the same, the notion of actually wearing the clock was absurd. At the moment, he wasnt even wearing his customized black travel cloak, only sporting a white, sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of black pants. He was weighed down by nothing.

Taking a few minute steps to the white fridge that held his most trustworthy of all snacks to replenish the body, he reached in and pulled out a bag of several small strips of dried out brown meat. Jerky. A food source of excellent kickstart energy with no crash later. It was pure and natural, and delicious. Also it was quick and eating it was easy, the preperation being simple. Reach in, grab a handful, enjoy. It was also compact, and it didnt take much to do the trick either. Finally, it wouldnt spoil or go bad for quite some time. It was the perfect tool for someone always moving from place to place.

Shutting the door, which if he hadnt been noticed by now, would alert Kunshu of his apperance with the noise. He paid no mind all the same and took a seat in the arm chair by the fire, bringing a piece of the jerky to his lips and savoring the first bite as the few and potent juices escaped to his tongue as his teeth applied pressure. After this his voice came, not deep, but not shrill. And it was toneless. It wasnt cold, but it held no emotion, yet somehow refrained from the monotone of similarity. It was rich with influence and intellect with a knowing way about it.

Dont worry about the cloak, its not something any of the members, Riku included, recommend using.

Arrogance. It ripped through every syllable. It was not the type that everyone noticed, that every came clear in seeing of "Im better then you." It was a different kind, one that very few recognized, and even fewer still were able to overcome. Faust held no will against this giant man of tin for his words and the arrogance of simply being human. Maybe it was because he was only made in the likeness of man that he did not share all of their preconceived notions. Then again, who was he to say. He could only speculate as to why, it was not his place to understand. The will of a god be done, the mind of a man befuddled. Faust did not often speak very much at any one time. The thought of going into long rants was not a notion that really pleased him, and he wouldnt indulge such a feature now, but he would speak more then he typically did, which was not uncommon to be nothing more then a few words at a time.

I am not the one who gave you the cloak, I do not have your answers Kunshu. However, knowing Riku, it was probably to see if you would be foolish enough to wear it out and about and display the images of red clouds for everyone to be on alert of our presence. We are not the first Akatsuki, that symbol is infamous. I would hope that you were not about to do such a foolish thing as to wear it outside these walls.

Next he held up the clear plastic bag in his hand, leaning forward, and looking up as it was elevated above his hairline. This was one of his treasures. He had not invented the trade of jerky, but he very much enjoyed it as a possession, even though it was temporary at best. It gave him life and strength. It also gave him a focus to discipline himself. The man had asked him two questions before allowing him to answer. This was not uncommon, but slightly odd in this circumstance as neither question was related. Policy and food. Interesting how this man worked in the sense of the mind.

Dropping the bag on the table by turning his wrist and allowing the flat plane of his palm to go from horizontal to a diagonal angle, slanted to the right. Typically this would just have it roll off and drop sidewards, causing it to spill everywhere but not this time. He had moved his hand in a quick and fluid fashion, as to allow it to just drop. It landed with a light crack noise on the hard, glass table top before him, neither the jerk nor the table damaged.

This is called jerky. It is simply meat strung out over a fire, and cooked as usual. However, after being throughly cooked, you remove it from the source, and place it at a new angle, merely warming it, not cooking it and in doing so, slowly boil out the moisture with in. Thus it will be preserved with out intense packaging or needed adatives. Perfect for a traveling man.

He threw a piece toward Kunshu, snapping his hand so fast it had not seemed to move. He sat back and looked away, into the fire and watched the flames dance upon the log. He was being much to social, making it much to easy on this man. He was typically not this open, about anything. His face few hard, though it was by no means an angry snarl of a face, but simply closed off. Indifferent. He needed to keep him mind in check. The morning was his weakest moment as far as being a regular person and not a killer of god. He had to remember to distance himself, lest he grow to attached and be unable to carry about his lords will at a later time when it was most needed of him.

The monk intently watched the other man get up from his chair as it crumbled to ash along with the cloak that had fallen earlier. Faust was already able to deduce on thing about this man, he wasnt very good at keeping his power in check. Types like these were typically brash, reckless and at times hot tempered. This was good. Faust knew the type of man Riku was, and a man of this kind was only a piece to him, a tool. There was nothing wrong here, he was using an asset. Certainly he had told Kunshu the same thing he had told everyone else that joined about being there own leader, but many were still destined to only follow. There was nothing wrong with Kunshu's mannerisms at the moment in Faust's eyes. Someone like that was most useful to a cause, they just had to be placed at the right location and maneuvered through the right path to the end point. You had to be careful with the powerhouse sort of people, because just as easily they could be a grand an valuable asset, they were easily exploited by the opponent to a certain degree. Riku had always loved to compare everything to the game of shogi, and Faust knew that Kunshu would be a very odd piece to play indeed, well, more interesting then odd.

His face continued to follow his movements for the following seconds before he opened his mouth again, apologizing about the furniture and making a comment about his own. He questioned the statement about a traveling man. For the life of him, Faust could not determine what was just so intriguing to him about what he had said, The answer was overly simple, and probably less then fulfilling.

I dont like to stay in once place for more then needed, what of it?

Shaking his head in silence for a second with closed eyes, he stood up, leaving the bag of jerky open on the table. It was no consequence, the air would do no harm to it. It wasnt that it needed to be refrigerator, he just preferred it cold. The meat did a fine job of preserving itself. He looked at the giant suit of armor for a few passings before turning and walking back to the doorway, which held no obstructive swinging piece of wood where most doors would be. It was bare and able to be gone through with no hold ups or inhibitions. He paused in the door way and looked back over his shoulder at the newest akatsuki member.

Are you coming or not?

His voice indicated that Kunshu was to follow him, though if he didnt, that was his own right and choice. Faust was interested to see what this destructive power could do, this man of encasement. He seemed interesting enough, but what was he really capable of. What caliber was he. He had no intentions of training him, whatever his rankings may be, he was simply curious. He simply made his way down the winding staircase, not taking notice of whether or not Kunshu was following him. When he reached the bottom landing he took the door to the right which led directly outisde. Here the grass was green, but quickly went into sand, and after several meters, the water. The base was right next to the borders of Jiro Island, which being an island of course, meant it was surrounded by water. To the left there were a few pine trees clustered together. Faust set his sites on these and made his way towards them.

He approached them with ease, and no jazz or pep in his step. He merely, waltzed as one could call it, almost like walking on the breeze itself. He was quite nimble and agile, his speed being one of his greatest assets. he was by no means the fastest man of them all, but he was quick by some standard at least.

Entering the clearing surrounded by pine trees, he took note at how arena like the natural surrounding of trees were. They formed a perfect rectangle. He knew full well that these had not been placed by man, nor had other trees been removed at this location. It was a clearing of about 50 meters by 25 meters. This was his favorite place to hone his own skill, and now he would be using it to hopefully gauge another's. Finally he turned to see if Kunshu has followed him or not, if he hadnt, he would just train on his own.

The crimson eyes of a bloody mess, if anyone was capable of looking into the soul of this man, they would see nothing but a conflicted man who was forced to split from his true nature to honor the gifts he had been given. The true Faust hated the need to kill, hated that he was one of the few selected by a divine path to carry out the command of righteous punishment. He was kind, he was gentle, and he loved deeper then most any human could process. At heart he was a man of peace, in nature he bore no ill will towards anyone. It was faulty though, and he had no choice but to adapt to the assassins block. The steadfast stone of a man who could not be read by action or thought nor emotion. Even the only man he would ever think to take orders from, Riku, the man who could see the very soul of a man and every emotion it could produce, could not see the inner workings of Faust, the Saint. He was capable of completely removing himself and keeping his body a cold shell that was capable of properly judging a man with no bias and only intellect and reason.

He had so completely adapted to this way that he had become the shell. He was still capable of feeling and it was true his heart was still pure, but to be on the safe side, his emotional guard almost never wavered. He could pull his front for years if he had too, and he would feel no regret. To revert and question himself, to defy Takobune, would be to spit in the face of the one who had bestowed upon him such gifts. He accepted and cherished his gifts of power, the soul flame and the book of prayers. It was something so man lacked, and even fewer reconciled as the gift it truly was. It could be taken away at any moment should the one individual knowingly forsake Takobune. He was a generous and understanding god, but he did not take disloyalty well.

Now he was to extract a new kind of judgment, and not one of the judicial sense. It was the kind of knowing, the judging of obtaining knowledge, to gauge someone for what they were worth, and more importantly, a chance to see into a mans truth. Into their heart, and there was no other place this could be done more throughly then the battlefield. Prediction and fluency, that was his specialty, and perhaps the only reason Riku had allowed him entrance to their group. He could fundamentally deduce human nature in an expert fashion, such was his duty in life as it was. It was the destiny that had been bestowed upon him, and he intended to use that now.

His subject was behind him, the focus of todays exercise and work to be done. He wondered what they were doing, but based on Fausts nature of acting and the looks of the place, he guessed the purpose and brought out a which which had some qualities about it. He had guessed correctly. There was no need to verify it directly, a different response would suffice.

There is no need to take this to seriously. Merely an acquaintance ritual. If you go all out, that means I must follow suit to keep from dying, to avoid disrespecting you, or both. In that case, one of us WILL die. I have no need for your life nor to give you mine.

Again his voice held no emotions yet managed to keep from a linear, monotone expression. There was no look upon his face, not even serene, nor was it stern. It just was. It was impossible to judge him based on his sight. He was a man you had to experience to understand, and so few ever got that privilege who lived. Kunshu, baring the fact that he didnt push it to far, would get that luxury of a fair few. Not even Riku, who had so far refused to test him battle wise for unknown reasons, had received the honor.

In a single fluid act he stepped forth and removed his shirt with a single hand, It looked as though he had removed a cloak, though the closedness of the shirt made such an act impossible. It was simply his speed that gave the slight illusion. His steps carried him to the center where he stopped, and closed his eyes. By now his "opponent" had seen all six tattoos, the seals of self recieving all in a diagonal line from shoulder to hip, centering in the small of his back, and the blessed curse of the Ignika seal on the other shoulder. The black ink all had many stories and each held a different kind of power to behold. Though some wer eultimately simmilar, there were varying levels of capabilities here and no two seals were capable of producing the same thing exactly. The tattoo of the serpintine dragon was also clearly visblee, as it had been before but probably unnoticed. Its black body wound all the way up his arm starting on the back of his hand with hits head and the tail ending on the middle of his shoulders side.

He was not one for orders, but he issued the command all the same.

Begin

Faust wondered just how him displaying the tattoos upon his body would go over in the mans head. He was clearly displaying that he used the art of fuuinjutsu, sealing, to aide him along. To some, this would seem like giving the opponent the advantage, by giving him preconceived information. Even more so with the exposing more of his bare skin to a man who seemed to be able to, uncontrollably to an extent, obliterate things by simply coming into contact with them. A shirt wasnt much but it was more then bear skin. The truth of it was, the shirt would only come in his way. The shirt could easily be destroyed. Faust had ways of protecting his own flesh. He relied on nothing but the gifts of Takobune to guide him. The shirt was a creation of man, and as such, to rely upon it was needless.

However there was one thing he never did fail to hold to his utmost leisure, a man made object he loved quite dearly. As Kunshu said his piece, Faust retrieved a single sealing scroll from inside the elastic waist band of his pants that had been held against his skin and unrolled it slightly, enough to reveal only one circle. He called forth a small bit of chakra, and a dark blur shot out of it straihgt up into the air. The sword with the double sided blade came back down, handle first, having not flipped over in its decent. The scroll already back in his waist line, to Kunshu, it would have appeared like the sword simply appeared, based on having his back turned and the speed he had moved. As he caught the blade, Kunshu finished speaking and he finally turned to face his opponent and held his own weapon straight out pointing at his target about 8 meters away.

Saint Faust, the Archangel

Being overly polite, he had extended not just his name but the full title that accompanied it. It would give his opponent some clue as to his nature and the type of person he was. How much he could figure out would remain unknown for the time. His prep work would still have to be flawless for issuing his talents took much needed time, but his speed would give him the edge on that. He tilted his sword down, angled at Kunshu's feet, using this reference point as a go to for his eyes. His view still kept up at the mans chest and head area, watching the bladed weapon and his upper movements. By using the sword as a reference point to the lower portion of his body he could better gauge with his peripheral vision. It was a tactic that to date he hadnt seen anyone use, the notch in the center of the sword serving as almost a different sort of compus that directed him.

Faust was not ready to engage in a jutsu battle just yet, nor was he willing to come into contact directly with this man. No, for now he would test the waters, and see how deep they really went. His expression remained in its expressionless pose, he looked solid and uptight, but he was as fluid as the moisture in the air around them. This was his secret. To potray an air of one type, while being entirely different on the inside. Often this would cause him to be misjudged prediction wise by his opponent. In truth, Faust himself was unsure what he was going to do. He had several ideas, but no select path had been chosen as of yet. In truth, there was no way for the opponent to predict his movements, because Faust did not know himself.

-------------------------

Sword

He kept watch for the first meter, judging the mans speed and rate of acceleration caused by the momentum of his large body going forward. Inertia stated that all things in motion have a tendency to stay in motion. It would take some form of friction or like force to stop his movement. All the same, just friction would not stop him, not right away, and not on the wet grass especially. He did have a good flight of foot, but it was far from anything impressive. Even the acceleration caused by his giant mass could not make up for it. The armor simply created to much gravitational force opposing his movements for his speed to be anything worth congratulating. That and his body had to have been of a very large size as it was to hold such armor and not collapse to the ground from the added weight. As soon as the metallic boots entered the second meter of eight he would need to cover, Faust acted.

In meter two he freed his right hand, letting go of the hilt of the sword, moving the palm underneath and pushing up. This motion created a level type device which caused the fulcrum (sword) to go straight up and down and lodge into the ground. He waited with his hands ready as the man continued to lumber forward. He could initiate now, but to do so would put his plan in a less effective state. He needed him to be as close as possible. His speed and craftsmanship would be able to avoid the weaponry ploy that he was sure was coming based on the mans stature and the way he held his halberd.

The second meter cleared, Faust took his time in forming his hand signs, doing them one at a time. He was a fuuinjutsu capable ninja which in some weird way manipulated his body in the skill needed to form handsigns faster then the average shinobi. He had them memorized by heart, and could name them quicker then most kage. That coupled with his all around high intelligence and brain which could process information at super human rates, allowed his hands the qualities needed to create them at super blinding speeds, that for some was untraceable. He did not use this trait here however, as he had already noted that he need the distance to be closed.

He continued his flowing of handsigns, completeing them just as Kunshu got within the one meter range, and began to swing his weapon. As he had already been prepped and geared to move, he dropped down by simply allowing his knees to buckle and gravity to do its work. In a usual move like this a human would use their lower back and thigh muscles to clench and pull the body down. Not Faust. He understood the natural world and that the earth would hold his body steadfast as long as it could, and as soon as resistance gave way, hug him closer and closer till his whole being was at its core if it was allowed. His hand gleamed with chakras aura that even he could not see. Only those with talented doujutsu would see the glowing around his hand, which neither of the current shinobi, Faust was guessing here, were. Kunshu simply did not seem the type as power appeared to guide his actions.

When his hand met the earth, a symbol appeared upon the ground, black as the night forming an odd cohesion of lines that were difficult to make out. Faust felt the bladed weapon fly over his head and knew that Kunshu would be quick to recover and another strike was likely to be coming for his head at the very moment. His hand snapped out and grabbed the sword as his muscles pulsed in his legs, launching his body to the right in a duck and roll. As he spun away his voice could be heard as he blessed the seal he had just created.

Never shall the blood of the innocent be shed, but the blood of the wicked shall flow like a rive

The prayer had been set, and focusing his chakra as he jumped up, now two meters to the right flank of Kunshu, staring at the back of his metal body from an angle, he activated the seal which Kunshu was directly on top of.

Extend Thy Hand, All Perish

A pillar of black flame shot out five meters into the air straight up. Kunshu had a split second to react before the flame would rush out at the bottom, leaving the top stationary and create a dome of 5 meters in radius that would burn the prayer into his soul and have it take effect. This fire was unique. First being that it was jet black and also that it was not going to be stopped by the armor unless the armor had the ability to stop a chakra of the A ranked potency from passing through. It was the soul flame, that did not hold contact with the physical realm. It did not burn skin or any kind flesh or earth or wood nor did it burn off oxygen. It was born from soul and crafted by and delivered from the hand of Takobune himself, the Zenjin god. This dome would spread quickly, and based on the speed he had displayed earlier, Kunshu could not simply evade this by running away. He was almost literally on top of the seal, and that was bad news for him.

If he did not avoid it, a blue flame would appear on his chest, underneath the armor, sliding down from shoulder to hip, but it would not burn either. The flame would dissipate as soon as it had connected the two ball joints, and then a semi-deep laceration would form, causing the blood to flow and the bones beneath to suffer minor cracks or to use the medical term, fracture. Faust would be able to tell if it had taken effect by a small flash of blue coming from with in. It wouldnt be much but he would be able to see it. All the while he continued to step backwards until he was out of range. Kunshu didnt even have time to make handseals at this point, so he had no clue how he would counter this new threat. He was very interested to see however.

--------------------------------------
Jutsu Used

Spoiler:

OOC: Appologies for the super long delay, I forgot to mention I was going out of state over the holidays and wouldnt be RPing during that time. Also appologies for making you wait for this shitty post and ditching out on you, cant be helped though. Ultimately no that tactic would not work as it does not have any of the same properties as Katon based charka jutsu aside from its look which is more for flair then anything, but it doesnt matter, I wasnt planning on letting this go past one move anyway and since its just a fluke of a battle, im not interested in debating over it or having it changed

IC: So easily cast aside the flame of Takobune. So easily defeated and ignored. This man in this suit, was more then caught the eye at first. More then just a large tank of stupidity with just blood lust and the love of battle on the mind. He not only had certain capabilities, he knew how to use them well enough. Against another opponent, he may not fair so well, who was to say, but against a Zenjin soldier so fully devoted to the path and way of his lord and creator, he had no means to combat him at the time, not with out implementing more fancy measures then were appropriate for this. He had very few jutsu that were not the prayer and soul fire combination. And how uneffective it had been so far.

Here cometh the ball of lightning, and it was clear this match had been already been decided. He hated doing it, but he was left with no choice with out setting his mind in the path of judgment, which was not something he was going to permit in this battle. Only he removed his position and replaced it with a larger stone which the lightning cascaded over leaving Faust off too the right of Kunshu, he already had his cloak back on, forsaking the shirt which he could replace easily enough. He turned on heel and began to walk away.

T'was enough to accomplish what was needed. A very clever display good sir, and now I shall be on my way. It was nice to have seen your actions in battle, if only for a short time. Be well for the sake of Riku.

That was that as he began to walk off. He hated the replacement technique, but he had already wasted enough time here as it was. He alloted more words in his spiel then he typically did, as repayment for the short encounter which no doubt Kunshu had been sure was going to take more time. Faust had intended one move. If kunshu could block it, then so be it. He was not going to allow him to dodge. He had responded well enough and showed a skill that was uncanny enough to make him dangerous as it was. He had reacted fairly fast and thought quick adapting to an over all unknown threat and prevented a hardened result. He had also not made the mistake of giving Faust any time after that, releasing his swift attack as a counter which would have put the saint on the deffensive, if only for a second. True for a typically opening move, Faust had spent an excessive worth, however, to gauge at least in a shallow manner his new comrade, it had been perfect. He had no interest in long drawn out occasions. The examination was over. And Faust was gone.

OOC: Again sorry for the delay and shitty post