Grid: B-16Robin Hood wrote:That said, Cloak shifted again. This time, he was still in human form, but not his own. He was in Kae-Os' form. Aiden looked at his elf friend's body just to make sure he was there.
Apparently Cloak had gotten Kae-Os' abilities along with his shape. With unnatural speed, Cloak ran at Aiden. Aiden knew that even without a weapon, Kae-Os could defeat him easily. He suspected the same went for the elf Cloak.
Location: Forest near village near Daimyo Kash-Lid's fortress, Ninjarin side of Boranis Dracis Island.
Aiden didn't have to worry though. At least not too much. For as Cloak ran at him, Kae-Os got up from where he had been laying and grabbed the shapeshifter from behind.
Cloak tried to struggle, but though he was in an elf's body, he didn't have an elf's knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. Kae-Os had Cloak in a hold that would be broken only if the other was stronger.
After struggling uselessly for a couple minutes, Cloak relaxed. For a brief second Kae-Os thought that it might mean he was surrendering, but that had hardly been thought when the true meaning became apparent. Cloak was shifting again.
It might have gone badly for the elf, had Aiden not foreseen such a thing. As soon as the man began to shimmer, he threw his remaining rapier right at Cloak's head. He caught him in mid shift.
Cloak screamed. A scream made from a thousand different voices all said with the same pair of lungs. Aiden fell back ward from the shear force of the sound. Kae-Os stepped back, away from the writhing form that was part elf and part ape-creature.
The sword fell from the side of Cloak's face as his body began to shimmer and change. He changed from an elf, to a bird, to a woman, to a soldier and still more. Every change Cloak had ever done was now replaying. And all through it he shimmered. Finally, as the last one, a young man, faded, Cloak himself lay there. The shimmering increased, until nothing could be seen of Cloak other than a swirling mass of black. Slowly, as though it was being washed away, the black faded away. In its place was a small boy; with skin so pale it was translucent. He had no visible hair and his eyes were pale yellow. One side of his face was awash with blood pouring out the hole Aiden's rapier had made.
Aiden and Kae-Os barely had time to register this before there was a loud flash and bang. The body disappeared and from where it had been came a shock wave that pushed Aiden onto his back.
Dazed, he shook his head. Looking up, Aiden saw blue sky through patches in the forest canopy. A squirrel chattered in the distance. A bird crossed his vision as it flew towards its nest. "I wish our adventures were always this peaceful," muttered Aiden to no one.
"Fat chance of that," replied Kae-Os from somewhere behind him, breaking his enjoyment of nature. "Get off your lazy butt and help me with Shika."
Aiden got to his feet, groaning slightly. "Easy for you to say. I had a boulder land on me. All you got was a bash on the head."
He went over and saw what state Shika was in. Apart from a respectable bump on her head, she was more or less fine, and came round in a minute.
"Did I miss something?" She inquired while Aiden retrieved his swords.
"Not much." Replied Kae-Os, helping her to her feet. He then gave her a brief run down on what had happened. "You were pretty skilled to get that fan of yours in his arm. Aiden here only managed to hit because either his back was turned or I was holding him.
Aiden glared at the elf.
Shika acknowledged the compliment with a nod. "Do you have an idea why he turned into a boy at the end?"
"Can't say as I really do. All I have is a guess." Aiden and Shika looked at him expectantly. "My thought is that that boy was how Cloak looked liked before he started shifting. Maybe, once he started shifting, he couldn't return to original form, and that’s why he was always completely black."
"So you’re saying we fought a kid?" exclaimed Aiden.
"No," replied Kae-Os slowly. "This is still guess work, but I think that he was a kid when he first started shifting. And he got stuck with no form when he was a kid, so he never had an adult form. When all the shifting back-tracked, it went to his last true form."
"Hmm," pondered Aiden.
The three walked back the way they came. They passed the spot where they had fought the ninjas, but no bodies were to be seen. Shika looked slightly perturbed by this, but said nothing. Upon reaching the forest's edge, they picked up their packs and cloaks.
They then went back to the road they had come by and headed back to Shika's village.