The Search Continues

Darkamaru trudged through the icy winds and snow, cussing at himself for coming back to this deadly place. But he had found a few transmutation circles on a tree a while back. They were written in crimson paint- The same shade he had given Kayami for her birthday a month ago. He pulled out a strip of bacon, the snacks he fed to Malice, and ate it. "At least, I heat his food... Heh, he did a lot to deserve this bacon- That I just finished off! Like getting us STUCK IN THE ONE PLACE ON EARTH I HATE THE MOST!" He kicked at the snow in annoyance. Oh, how he hated ice and snow...

After a long search, he decided to give up. Noticing he was low on food, he walked through the snow towards a forest, giving himself bad chilling feelings. Only to further freak him out, he saw a full body imprint in the snow, matching his features down to the number of hairs on his head. He screamed from the horrible memories of dying here and ran into the forest screaming. Malice flew around in the sky, alarmed by the screaming. He flew far away from Darkamaru. Not because of the screaming, but from the fact that the shadows produced by things in the forest had converged into a compacted orb as Darkamaru screamed in a combination of fear and panic. Several seconds later, the orb exploded into a blast that covered everything for several miles in darkness. His screams faded and he lay, curled up against a tree, almost knowing he wouldn't be saved. P-P-Please, let SOMEONE help me...I don't want to die here...Not again... The pain...NO!

OOC: Tobi seems to be in alot of topics at the moment, and i don't want to hassle him by dragging him into another one against his will (as nice as it sounds ^^), so i'll just have Reita 'pop' by alone.

IC:Reita stood admist the freezing cold as snow came down upon his soft skin, and the wind blew his hair wildly. He was undaunted from the heavy gusts of wind and the angry screams of those who died here in this place of confusion and lost souls. He carried his sword bloodied rose on his back, and his guns were underneath his military jacket. He had a cold expression on his face as he advanced forward, when he heard a loud scream. He calmly walked over to where the scream came from, however, the closer he got, the darker it became. He sighed once he could smell that scent of his child, Pride, once more. He closed his eyes slowly, and opened them, revealing his left violet eye, and right blue eye. He adjusted his vision to the darkness, allowing him to see the figures that stood in this snowly wasteland. He looked around when he spotted the child trembling in the fetil position against a tree.

"Your a pathetic excuse of Pride, i thought you were made better than that."

Reita walked up to the child, and kneeled in front of him, and placed a hand on his head. He smiled warmly at the boy, and hugged him gently.

"Your my child nevertheless, so i'll just have to make you better, and i'll discard you once you become useless."

Darkamaru froze up and stopped screaming. "Reita...Malice, you moron! Why did you go out of your way to bring HIM here... You could've brought Death himself before him..." Darkamaru was glaring at Reita. All of this time, he had been rebelling against this guy! And his stupid chimera led Reita straight to him! But, knowing he had freaked out, he would need Reita's help to overcome his weakness to ice... Not to mention bringing him closer to Reita since you must first join the enemy's ranks in order to fight them.

OOC- Okay, cool.xD I'm sure Tobi doesn't mind. lol

" Hmm, I suppose you are right... Well, I can join you." He feigned a smile and took Reita's hand, standing up. He only needed to continue this charade for a while so he could learn Reita's weaknesses. Found me on the streets? HA! I know more than he thinks. I might be just a kid, but I know that when I died here, I was reborn and ran into a town, discovering my powers along the way. He only met me twice before...

OOC- xD I love plot twists. Now Reita has a new enemy... or is he an ally? Find out in the next episode of "Chicken" lol

OOC: It's definately an ally, or some very naughty and painful tortures will be put in place *sadistic laughter goes here* ^^

IC:Reita finally stepped back and gave Rose full control over their body, which meant that it would be a cycle of tests for Pride to complete. The psychologist, Rose, will see where his true alliances stand, The sadist, Rei, will test the boys mettle, and The Stratagist Reita will test Pride's resolve and tactical strength. It would be a long day for the two, however, it will be just fun and games for Reita. He started walking, and started to giggle, and walk became more feminine like as he spun around and looked at Pride.

"Tell me, Pride, why don't you like me? I'm the only one who can care for you in this world."

Darkamaru noticed the personality change immediately and, while it was quite peculiar, mentally wrote it down. "Well, it's not that I don't like you, it's just that I heard people telling a whole bunch of mean stories about you and I tried hard not to believe them but I couldn't keep from believing it... So are you mad at me?" He put on the most innocent look he knew how to make as he asked that final question. Hook, Line, and Sinker. Haha...

OOC-xD no tortures! *insert anti-torture suit here* lol

"Well, some people were saying that you were a liar and a jerk who was just playing chess and using me and the other homunculi as pawns... But that isn't true, is it?" He looked up to Reita questioningly. "You would never do something like that. I mean, you said it yourself once that you were our father and we were your children. That you would protect s when we were in need. So why would people say all of that mean stuff?"

"I understand all of that now. Thanks father." He smiled once more and patted Malice on the head and fed him a strip of bacon. Then he remembered the whole reason he had come here in the first place. "Father, could you help me look for food? Me and Malice are out and we have to have something in our stomachs to be of any use to you." He smiled. If he was stuck with Reita, he could at the very least, use him for his own needs. And right now, he had to get to the snow lakes for fish...

Darkamaru stared at the stone. He knew it was a trick so he smiled. "Sorry father, but I'm allergic to strawberries. But it looks really good, even if I can't eat it. I was really hoping we could go fishing anyways. I've been here for long enough that I know where the best snow lake is." He smiled his little innocent smile again, knowing that he could stay countless steps above his 'Father'.

Darkamaru giggled, keeping his child-like behavior to make him look weaker. "Okay then.Ahh." He opened his mouth up and when he placed the stone on his tongue, allowed the shadows beneath his tongue to surround the stone and gently shatter it, making it silently crumble. He then allowed it to fall out of his mouth. "That was as good as I thought it would be! Thanks Father!"

Darkamaru smiled again. "All right." He knew that this time he would need to use a bit more strength to do this. He put i in his mouth but now he closed his mouth. He had the shadow loudly pulverize it down to molecular size while he 'chewed' it. Now that it had been properly destroyed and weakened, he swallowed the harmless remains.

"Oh, I trust you a lot Father. Why would you ask something like that?" He smiled again, knowing his charade wasn't working. It really was a game of chess, as he had said. And right now, him and Reita were low on pawns and both were down to their other pieces. It was a simple matter of time...

Darkamaru realized that he was caught red-handed and ended his little act by doing a backflip and landing about 5 meters away from Reita. Malice growled and stared at Reita. Darkamaru reached down to his shadow and pulled a thin but long wooden handle from the ground. he also allowed a jaggedly sharpened blade slide out of his sleeve and he connected the two into a scythe. "Well, Reita, it seems to me that you knew my plan the entire time. But, just so you know, I won't join you. Even if your plan sounds perfect, you wouldn't care if I died or any of the others! I even found another of your future pawns and When I see him again, I ill ask him to join me in my quest to stop you. We are people too, even if we already died. And I will fight you if I have to, just so I can stop you from using us for your goals! Together, We could overthrow you and live our normal lives again!" As Darkamaru ended his short speech, he signaled Malice to extend his wings to their full length. Darkamaru then used the scythe as a sort of hook and as Malice began flying away, Darkamaru caught the hook on the creature's leg, allowing him to catch hold and be taken away from the area. As he left, He allowed his shadow to merge with the other shadows in the area, creating another bomb like the one that he created in fear. "So long, Reita. When we meet once more, Greed will be on my side! You'll see!"

Darkamaru saw Reita fire the gun but took no heed. Malice simply ducked down, allowing the bullet to simply pass by. "Hmph...The father of the Homunculi...yea right. He couldn't do anything to me, or the others. It's his talk that gives him control. He's a conman...Oh well, I have to forget him. I have more important things to think about. Like where Yuan could be, since I need him to join me. I just hope Reita hasn't gotten to him yet..." As Darkamaru contemplated his thoughts, a train of wagons rushed by across the snow and ice. "HEY! It's the caravan, Malice! C'mon, lets get back home!" And with that, The fox make a dive at the caravan while Darkamaru waved down to his friend, Kayami, at the back carriage.