BlueWater: I'm sorry, I hope it didn't ruin your day. I told you it was depressing. That's kind of why you're reading it, no? Well, whatever the reason, I hope it hits the spot. Thanks for reviewing.

Inuyasha92689: seems my idea got across. Do you think that was a good thing, or just mean? I mean, it's kind of s'posed to be sad, ya know? Thanks for the input.

IceKit: why thank you. I'm glad you like it. Here's the next chapie, and it wouldn't be here without you. How 'bout that?

Lady Assassin Moonbeam: Ummm… probably just some random guy. He could have been someone who tried to defend himself or something and called an "enemy." To be honest, I hadn't really thought about why he's there. It's doesn't really matter. The point is that he was, in fact, rather innocent (rather, meaning, there's still the possibility that he tried to defend himself, but that's still innocent, isn't it?). And thanks for your support. So far I don't think anyone has thought I was evil (or at least said it). It's all for the sake of the story, ne? I feel better now. Thanks. And, I haven't really decided what Kize's specialty is, but you know that sooner or later, we are going to have to face him, so you'll find out about as soon as I do. For now, let's just say he's a master of torture and being horribly and sickeningly evil.

Pan Jaganshi: Ah! Pan, me love! You have got to be my most consistent and reliable reviewer. You and purplehairedwonder deserve cookies or something. Anyway, I couldn't believe it when I wrote it. I was all like "whoh, I can believe my head came up with that!" Then I tried to think of some other way, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was good in it's own right. Just one more dead old guy, at least for now, but he kind of does deserve it. Party, good times. No more WrB for you. I'm working on about three or four right now. It depends on how you're counting it. You can change things. Change is good. Good luck with that. Here's the update, and my work is not evil, just… dark…. OK, so maybe it is a little evil, but the Lady Assassin said it's not, and I like her answer better. ("I reject your reality and substitute my own" –unknown) Neways, thanks, and see ya around.

OK, guys, I know this should have been out about three or four days ago, but I had band camp. I have a major sunburn and I had to do some cleaning. Plus, I honestly didn't feel like typing anything. I've been typing flag routines all week (seriously, like 'till 2 in the morning when I have to be back at the school at 8). My fingers and eyes were tired. But I'm here now, and I don't have anything serious coming up, so I'll update when I say I will. In the mean time, here is chapter four.

Love… your hate. You're… faithless. You… are now. One of us.

--AFI, (song title unknown because I screwed it up, but it's the first one on the album "Sing of the Sorrow")

4. Cory and the Ice Master

"That was excellent," Kize approached Touya, "Now, I have a special job for you." He pointed to the man with dark blue hair. "I want to see if you can kill him. Cory," he called, "this is your challenger."

The man now known as 'Cory' scoffed, "Him?" Touya couldn't tell if the man was surprised, insulted, or frightened. Probably a combination of all three. They all knew that a challenge was a fight to the death, the winner taking (or keeping, as the case may be) the position they were fighting for. He would have to kill this 'Cory' if he wanted to survive. What was it with Shinobi and killing things? Oh well, such is life.

Touya strode to the centre of the room, as did his opponent.

"So, you think you can take me, pipsqueak?" the elder challenged.

"I do as my master pleases." Touya responded, as was proper.

"It's pretty sad when a master wants his only pupil to die. He must see what a monster you are." He hopped a good ten feet back and made a wide sweeping motion with his arm. A wall of ice shards formed in the air in front of him ad hurled themselves at Touya.

Touya nimbly dodged them and flipped until he came to the edge of the dangerous wall and let the rest of the deadly daggers wiz past him. The instant he was out of harm's way, he found an opening. His opponent had retained the position he'd taken for the attack.

His right arm eagle spread, his left limp at his side, the fool was completely open!

Touya did not dismiss the opportunity. In an instant, he was on the other ice adept, landing a hard blow to the man's stomach; hard for Touya anyway. His physical strength was not his best attribute and the man, though not incredibly large, was, by all accounts, much bigger than his slim 5' 2" figure. It would take more than that. He also realized that, at times, quantity could replace quality. Ten Poor hits could do about as much damage as one good one.

He continued his physical assault. Cory was hard pressed to block the smaller, faster demon's lightning quick attacks, but managed to block most of them. Touya, however, was satisfied. He'd gotten in well over his ten poor hits and they had done their intended damage. It wasn't much but his opponent was slowing ever so slightly.

As he readied his fist for a more significant blow, the air was forced from his lungs and he was sent flying. He landed hard on the ground several feet away and found his body stunned and his mind racing. How had Cory managed to get a kick in? and more importantly, what was he going to do about it?

Cory raced to Touya forming an ice blade of his own. Just as he was about to lay the final blow, a wall of ice sprang up in front of him. /'The Fuck/ he thought as his blade crashed through the wall instead of Touya. When the top half of the wall disintegrated, Touya was gone and naught but two foot spikes of ice, the remains of the wall, lay in front of him.

He felt a hard thud on his back and fought to stay on his feet. His efforts were rendered useless by another blow that pushed him strait down. He realized his doom half a second before falling strait forward… onto the upturned shards of ice.

The spikes pierced strait through his chest, stomach and other important areas.

"Holy shit." he managed to spit.

Touya watched his opponent fall. He knew it was over. Cory was dead.

He inwardly smirked. He'd learned a valuable lesson that day: Just because his body was stunned didn't mean that his energy was.

His triumph was cut short by a harsh and (Touya thought) somewhat sickening laughter from the sidelines. He turned to see Kize laughing in great mirth and clapping Master Verai on the back.

"Do you know who that man was, Touya?" the sect leader asked.

"…Cory?" Touya answered stupidly.

More sickening laughter. "He's good." he told Verai who straitened proudly. "That was Master Cory, number two ice master in the sect. Do you know what that means?"

In fact, Touya did know what it meant. Would the sect leader use his name if he was still a novice? But he decided it was best to let the man have his fun.

"No, sir."

There was more of that laughter. Touya couldn't help but feel more sick every time he heard it, but he forced it away. "Ha! Cute, Boy. Very good. It means that you are now the number two ice master here."

In a flash, the elder icemaster's head seemed to sever itself form his body. Kize stood, sword in hand, as Verai's body crumpled to the ground. Suddenly, his demeanor had lost it's good nature and amusement.

"And now you're number one." he informed the stunned boy in front of him. Touya, however, was in no position to protest. An underling was subject to his master. If the master was killed, their killer took the master's place.

"You're mine now, boy. Understood?"

Touya fell to one knee. "Yes, Master."

Kize smirked. "Good." He turned, picked up the dagger from the former Ice Master's waist, and handed it to Touya. "You are to cut that hair. You're in a new league now. You're nothing. You must earn your hair again. Understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"Dismissed." Kize turned and left.

Touya waited until his master had left the room, as was proper, then got up and left himself.

He entered his quarters. He paused as the door shut. His quarters. They were not his master's anym… He chided himself. Verai was not his master. Kize was. He rephrased the thought. These were not Verai's quarters anymore, they were his. He wasn't sure what to think of that. He decided not to think about it. It was a fact. Nothing more.

He went to the mirror and water basin in the corner. As he pulled the dagger from it's sheath, he felt a slight pang of disgust. Was it really right? This was his master's dagger. He shouldn't have it…. NO! Verai was not his master. This was given to him by his master. It mattered not where it came from, or who'd wielded it. His master had given it to him and he was to use it.

He took a handful of his hair and sliced the blade across it. The strands gave way easily. He proceeded with the rest of the pleats. He didn't really care. Then he came to his bangs. For some reason he was attached to the odd green streak in front of his eyes. Why? It was just hair, like the rest of it. Right? As far as he could remember, he'd always had them, even when the rest of his hair was short, the bangs had remained; spiked and hanging precariously in front of his eyes. He'd never cut them, and it was the only piece of his hair Verai had always let him keep. He considered leaving them for a moment, but decided it was best to follow his Master's orders completely. He'd bring it up later. For now, the bangs came off.

When he was finished, he examined his reflection in the mirror. The face staring back was foreign and odd. The now inch-long hair did not lay flat like he was used to. It puffed up slightly giving him the appearance of having a blue pom-pom ball for a head. The bangs were slightly longer. They went down to his eyebrows and angled oddly to the side.

He got some water on his hands and ran it through the top half of his hair. It got slightly spiky. Liking the effect, he ran his hand backward against the hair causing it to stick up then fall aside in limp needles. He them got more water and smoothed out the bottom half of his hair so that it lay flat against his skull.

He examined his reflection again. No more pom-pom. Now he realized why he never cut his bangs. His slender, pale face was unsightly to him. Everything slid together in a smooth porcelain mask of apathy. It was unseemly. Had he always been this self-conscious? He must have been.

Then, he moved on to the pale blue pools that stared back at him from the mirror. When was the last time he'd seen them strait? When had he ever looked at them? He remembered that every time he had, he didn't like it, though why, he didn't know. This particular time, they scared him. They were blank, cold. Even in his fear he could see none of it reflected in those eyes. It was like they were someone else's; not connected to him at all. They were hard and heartless. Most definitely killer's eyes. He'd always been told to be proud of them, but that did not console him now. They were terrible. He hated them. But even his hatred didn't show in them. Everyone hated them. They frightened anyone who saw them. There was and inherent promise of death in those eyes. He hated them. That's why he'd always kept them hidden. He hated them. Did Verai hate them? Was he afraid of them? Is that why he'd always let Touya cover them with those bangs?

"Just look at those eyes."

Yeah, look at them.

"Is he worth his hair?"

No.

"Please, sir… spare me."

Why? Why not?

"What a perfect little monster."

What monster is perfect?

"He must see what a monster you are."

He must have.

"…what a monster…"

Toya felt sick.

You…

"…a monster you are."

…are now…

"You are a monster."

…One…

Where else do I belong?

…of…

He fought it back.

"Please sir..."

He lost.

…us.

Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand he sank to his knees. He knew the truth.

They all were monsters…

… and he was one of them.

.T.H.E. .I.C.E. .M.A.S.T.E.R.

Ummm… that's it. Really. That's it. Like I don't have anything more at the moment. That doesn't mean that the story is done, it just means that you will get a chapter when I get a chapter. The more reviews I get, the more pressed I'll be to get it out. Fear not. I kind of know what I want to do, I just have to word it. I have to organize my thoughts, but it will be there. Thanks guys. I'm sorry about being late. I'll update when I say I will this time. Two band camps ain't the best time to update, but that's all over.

You may or may not have noticed that some things like master or shinobi are capitalized sometimes and not others. That's not me being lazy. When it is not capitalized its more general. When it is capitalized it is more specific or respectful. Like shinobi as a trade versus Shinobi as a group. Master as a title or master as a rank. Get it? If not, its just me being stupid and you should ignore it.

Cory's name. It's actually easier than you might think. Japanese for ice is "kori" or "koori." I just made it into the English name 'Cory.' It doesn't matter if it's corny because he's dead, BWAAAHAHAHAAAAA!

Ok soo I am a bit evil, but at least this guy fought back, right? Please don't kill me. Anyway, until we meet again…

Liebe sie von,

Doomschneider

08-08-05

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