Mist gone,feels on (part 1)

'geez,what a man'

"gaze up.",sekiro points his finger upwards the direction of a big tree branch. "I suppose that's the only way out from here"

He pulls the grapple rope out his prosthetic arm tinkering with metal gears and whooshed up fast as a lightning before he was already standing above you while you just stare him with mouth agape.

"whoa ho,what did you just-",before even finishing a word he flipped his rope down signaling to grab and climb up the tree.

You held the tip of the pointy rope which had a sharp blade particularly made for rough surfaces to be pulled up. Whatever the reason,he was sure a little strange man. Weird…how did he lost his left arm?reasonably,a trace of defeat? But who?...

Unsure of these lurking thoughts,you litrelly forgot for a second that you were clinging on a rope. With a Zip! Sekiro pulls you up and the force hits you very very hard and tough. You unfortunately taught you were paralaised for a second. That was quick.

"Ah!- old man! No need to show off those quick moves!!yah..my neck and back shit…",you safely landed on the tree but were groaning while grinding your teeth,holding those weak hips of yours which just got sprinted and destroyed because of the god like speed.

'how can he even bear that?hm…he is more experienced than me perhaps'

"what a drama queen…",he leaves you there leaving you with a 'damn you' face and walks off casually not even once waiting for you to get following him.

"Aish..what would you expect from a edgy shinobi after all…tsk",mockingly you followed him. He twitched a little hearing those words off your mouth but he knew he wasn't the only 'edgy shinobi' here. Just a thought he had, showing off your maturity is the best way to avoid people. From now ,these new rules will be slowly taking place of the iron code..unknowingly.

There was a smoke signals coming from the mists of the forests,maybe there was someone there for a help or someone who needed a help. God knows , but it attracted the attention in both of your eyes.

"halt",you paused for a moment while sekiro kept walking

"halt I said sekiro…",clearing your thoart you grabbed his attention again.facing to your side he tilted his head and made a questionable face. "why? We just started walking-"

"look! A bonfire!!",you spiked your eyes on the way the smoke. "oh.we should go and see who's there",sekiro leads the way to the high land where this branch leads and to from where these smokes were coming from.

You both jumped on the land and saw a monk. He looked very aged,tired and exhausted. 'maybe he's lost ' you thought for a second and with a blink of eye you saw sekiro standing aside the monk resting at folded legs position,hands on his stomach with constant coughing.he looked sick.

You can hear their conversation when you stood besides the taller man,sekiro and heard their chatter carefully…trying to grasp any available and usefull information the monk might give.

"hey…hey you two…",as the old man calls you both out,he painfully coughs out with pressure.

"why in all of the places you are here? Any explainations?",asking the old man awkwardly you turned around just to see sekiro and his reaction. He looked pale with serious brows furrowed not even taking a word out of his mouth to ask question to the old man.

You felt immature and embarresed. You always felt like this the time you both met at first in Usui forests.

The old monk started to speak up again,"if you know the path of Buddha….would you slay ones who opposes it?"

You were blanked out by the question which was asked by you. 'path of Buddha and slay ones who opposes it what could that mean?' your head was already full with questions and doubts to ask the monk but dare didn't because of one edgy man…sekiro. You don't wanted to be caught in awkwardness like before again. So you just listened the old man's words keeping the same look sekiro has and imitating his gestures.

"one who opposes the Buddha?",finally sekiro asks a doubtfull question to the monk which you had in your mind for long.

"correct…",the monk coughs again and painfully again trying to speak up. With some stamina left, he spoke again,"the one of whom I speak hides in the abondend temple up ahead. He's sealed away in a shadowy fog….so that he can fool the villagers"

"an abandend temple?",you spoke In between the words which made sekiro's one brow up. You knew you weren't wrong this time.

"yes…it's an old building. The door maybe closed but there should be a hole in second floor",the old man just couldn't stop coughing. Poor monk,he could not even remove the hand from his stomach because of aches.

You look towards the old man and sekiro up again. He just hums in serious tone there. Standing a little while trying to fgure out where the old building could be. You can sense sekiro dosen't want to bother this man anymore with tons and loads of questions. The monks seems to give up on his life anytime in the state you were seeing him.

Pathetic. How much pain could a man bear? Unlimited….sometimes infinitely. Both sounds same eventually. There is no escaping from this harsh life. two options…choose one and live honestly bearing the suffer.

"I think it is better to leave the monk here for a time being until we go see where is the temple sekiro",you held his left shoulder and continued walk infront of him. Jumping as there was another branch leading to the low lands.

"hm. Wise words y/n",he followed your traces again behind you. "you go,I'll catch you in time."

You smiled and lept towards the land. As you stepped your foot you saw two big black chickens standing there as some gaurds protecting the place from anyone entering. They were more likely waiting for their feast and to be honest you don't wanted to become their dining 'chicken' for tonight.

You went for it. Stabbing both the animals from their backs with your amayzing stealth talent.

"hmph. Impressive ",sekiro teasingly taunts you from behind as the blood of chickens coat your blade with their blood. "all days work. Easy peasy.",you wink him in return which made him cringe? Nonetheless,it's none of your buissness if his nature of personality is like that. Can't judge. But that will not stop from you being not annoying to him. Secretly,sekiro loves when you do those silly things. Those cringy and awkward things. He feels alive,he feels that he is after all a human.

The high reaching man having the height of a mountain when compared to you gently jumped on the low ground from above and stopped in his tracks. Above him you wondered why he stop-oh gods…not the headless now…

"what is it sekiro?",you jumped down with a loud thud which made sekiro turn around and make an angry annoying face. "can you please be quiet y/n? this is the 148th time telling you not to-" "alright alright I get it sekiro…forgive me for my actions",rolling your eyes back you pouted. ' man,being a kunoichi is so boring and unpleasing.heh,what did you expected then y/n? tasty food and royal bath. In your dreams stupid' carelessly you concluded yourself in small brain of yours.

You can clearly see white bodies of men lurking here and there. They were having no flesh. They resembled something…ghosts and souls. They were invisible with white gost like bodies. They seem to not notice you two. Illusions perhaps?

Not wasting any second you saw sekiro taking a step forward and you eventually followed him.

There was a big old building with a dried up willow tree besides it.

"look up. This willow tree's branches lead us to the top second floor. Remember what the old monk told y/n?",sekiro looks at you expecting an answer which had you by surprise as you saw sekiro a man who wants to be selfish and all by himself. Unexpected,but you replied him back with your brows still furrowed because of mist and shadowy fog,barely able to see the taller man's figure. "yeah. He said that the doors might be locked but there should be a way to the second floor"

"this might be it then. We just need to find out how to climb the tree's branches up ",he speaks out still looking upwards and deep in consideration.

"you have your tinkering prosthetic hm? You can just use the grapple hook out of it and climb up" you laughed out which made him look at you with a 'really?' face.

"I can but the rope have some limit too. The branches are too high y/n,try to understand things",leaving you there with shame again.

You just want to die now. Why does he takes things so seriously? It was joke after all. You knew you are not stupid for saying that but sometimes humour helps to digest hard things down. Guess this man hates people with sense of humour then.

"okay fine whatever but….now what? Where do we go?,asking him out,you both looked around examining the atomosphere and location. Because of misty wheather,you two were having hard time.

"alright then. Let me put this thing here.",you saw sekiro take out a big bottle with shiny five coloured rice inside it. You knew it the time it got opened with. This rice is used as a mark. When used, it leaves a small pile of luminescent rice on the ground. This can be used to leave landmarks for the travelers if lost.

You both were lost for quite a while (thanks to the rice which save you both) but couldn't really find a way back to the second floor of the building. The willow tree's branches are long as rivers as stated before was the only reason confusion was pale on two of you guys faces.

At last,sekiro grappled upto somewhere near the branch and pulled him up.

"found something?",you asked him expecting and hoping a yes.

"yes,I can see there's a way to the back of the willow tree from here and…some guests too",sekiro speaks as his voice got a little deeper when he told the last words. Sounds fun. It's been awhile since your katana has thirst some blood.

You can hear the sword of him getting unsheated . followed by the rope,he pulls you up again and boom! You accidently fall on him. Suddenly,everything turns like nothing. Just you both. The world just started to spin real slow and slow more. The flowers of sakura surrounded you both as he held you in his arms trying hard to get grip of yours,not letting you fall. Not even blinking once…you both were lost in each other's eyes. His eyes…dangerously handsome…how golden those orbs shine. You could just stare at them forever..forever..and ever. It looked as if you both were in your own world…your own tiny bubble. No one else..just you..him and that's it.

A realization hits you when he suddenly drops you off with a whack! Ouch your head hurts a lot but as soon as you turn you saw…monkeys!? Not only monkeys,but monkeys with….SWORDS!?

You stood up quick. Unsheating your katana as sekiro fights the monkeys back. They are concernly strong but looks like a piece of paper destroyed when both you two attacked them. 'why are they even attacking us and why are we even slaughtering the-' your mind was fully read alerted when you the answer to your question.

Jozou the Drankard.

He is the one controlling the piles of these pity monkeys.

"sekiro-yah! He is the one who is controlling these monkeys like toys! Commanding them to make a move on us! He is the root of all these hairs!!",you shouted as you grabbed the monkey's hair and pulled it back throwing ypur blade deep into the slit of his throat and pushing him off as the blood sprayed like water fountains.

You saw as sekiro jumps over Jozou and backstabs him taking away at least half a confidence from him.

"ah shi-!",you coughed as the drunkard throw over the poisen from his mouth,drinking very nasty sake.

"you dirty mouth! Haven't your mama teach you to brush your teeth!! Time for a brutal punishment then! HAVE IT!",you screamed in a insult and dashed your katana through his heart making him choke in return with sake still in his hands.

With a big thud he got defeated, flopped on the ground and vanishing away. Leaving no trace behind.

Your chest was pounding hard. The heart felt as if it might break free anytime from your chest. It was not like you haven't had executions before but this…this old fart was a lot to handle. The size of a sumo wrestler to be more honest could describe Jozou the drunkard very much.

You were whining under pressure.still trying to catch for some air.

"tired already?",sekiro looks at you sympathecally and taps your shoulders in a pround moment that happened just now.

"heh,anymore left?bring on!" ,you shrugged your shoulders and climbed the land above but as for him…you were as if he saw a clone of himself in you.

You smirked when you saw sekiro below you with a raised brow. That expression…it will haunt you in your dreams too. You will get used to that in time.

He climbs up and stops you as you continued walking.

"come here,show me your face",he pulls your arm but you resist.

"sekiro please! Let's just not waste time on the faces! Forgot the old building or what?",jerking the arm off he uncommonly pulls you back again forcing you to face him. You looked angry but for him cute.

He hummed as he slides his rough and scare-ish thumb aside your bottom lip. There was blood flowing from there like a thin line of deep dark red. He presses his thumb on the wound and you hiss in pain.

"a-ah! S-sekiro-yah,it hurts there",you push his thumb but he just stares you there standing which made your ears go red. 'why is he acting so strange? What a man..no really what a man' you just thought as he rips off his coat and tries to wipe away the blood.

"see,easy now. It's done. It is not okay to let a wound be open like that. The blood which is flowing freely might get you an infection y/n…",at last,he lets go off you tossing the cloth aside and starting to walk forward again.

You just stare at him there. Blank and red. Still don't know how to react from just what the hell happened right now. You felt really ticklish. You gulped and started following him again from back.

Awkward silence is really a thing.