Zudo: Legend of the Waterfall

[AbareMax]

This is a story I've been working on for a long time. It's quite lengthy and no where near completion. It's called Zudo: Legend of the Waterfall. The story is based on a band of ninjas who are destined to fight a long side Zudos--monsters from another dimension. I'll post two pics of two zudos for now, so you all can see what they look like. Then I'll post the story. I'll be posting chapter by chapter

http://www.angelfire.com/games5/zudowtf/grassite_b.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/games5/zudowtf/azububble_b.jpg

[AbareMax]

Prologue

The ‘Scroll of the Zudo’ reads: ‘In the middle of the fifteenth century, two great powers will descend into the land from the sun and the moon. These two powers will collide and open an even greater power. Many beasts will arise from a rock. Inside of the rock will be blades of power. Only a person of great courage and power can obtain a blade. These beasts are the Zudo and he who can tame a Zudo will be named a Zudi. With powers from circles, some Zudis will take control, but one band of Zudi will have the courage to put to rest every Skull Zudi and restore the world to its order.

Many Zudo will grow stronger and advance to a greater power. Many wait the day for this time. Only time will tell of a greater power...’




Chapter 1: Zudi of the Land

“Hurry up, Aki. We’re almost to the top!” A young girl yelled out to the boy below her. She had long black hair in pigtails. Judging by her looks...she probably was 14 or 15 years old with long legs. She looked to be about 5’7” and had bright blue eyes. The girl was dragging a boy up a mountain. This girl was famous for carrying around a small bag filled with ancient scrolls and text. They both were in black Ninja suits armed with weapons along side their waists. The girl had two sais along both sides of her waist. Normally women could not go to a Ninjitsu Academy, but this girl was different, very different indeed. She showed extraordinary abilities, and her father, Master Isichi was the owner of the Ninjitsu Academy of Destiny Town.

“Sheesh! I’m comin’, Mikao. Are you sure we should be cutting Ninjitsu class? I mean I’ve almost got the Fire Arrow attack down pat,” cried the boy behind her. He was average height: probably 5’5”. Aki had long black hair that was in large thick spikes all over his head.

“No, this is way too important. Did you see that meteor hit down on this mountain?” Mikao shrieked. “This could be the legendary prophecy of the Zudo. Remember? They are supposed to come down in the year 1458. And guess what year it is?”

“Ugh 1458,” Aki replied tiredly. Aki didn’t like to miss Ninjitsu class, but he wouldn’t pay attention and more often then not: he’d goof around. He would draw Zudos and study about them in scrolls. Zudos are a supernatural force from another dimension that is supposed to arrive in Japan in the year 1458. They are mythical creatures. If a human could tame a Zudo, then they are considered a Zudi.

If Aki could get the sword, he’d be the best fighter. But, if he could get a Zudo, he’d be awesome and the best fighter. Mikao didn’t want a sword because she already knew she was the best fighter. With her ego, Mikao thought she could defeat anyone.

The two teens continued to walk for two more miles, until they made it to the top of the Mt. Hyaku Jyu, which means ‘Mountain of a Thousand Beasts’. The legendary giant mountain had two waterfalls; one on either side. When they got to a big tree that was in the way, Mikao withdrew the two sais on her side. She closed her eyes and whipped the sais around in the air drawing a green katakana character for ‘grass cutter’ appeared in the air. Mikao pushed the character and it flew around the tree for a second, then cut the tree into five pieces.

Aki sighed and said, “Why are you the one that pays attention in class all of the time?”

“Hey, somebody has got to!” Mikao yelled at Aki. Aki laughed at her.

Soon enough they arrived at a long rickety old bridge. It led to where the meteor had crashed into the side of the mountain. Mikao stopped. She looked around for a second. When she looked up closer, her eyes lit up. The meteor was still smoking on the mountain peak.

“Whoa! Look! It’s the legendary Z Blade!” Aki screamed in excitement. “I wonder if it has my Zudo in it!

“There are five swords there you doof!” Mikao shouted. They both ran across the bridge to see the smoking meteor resting on the tip of the green mountain. Luckily, the creaky old bridge didn’t break on them, like in most stories... Aki ran faster up to the sword in the middle.

“Whoa, it’s so awesome!” Aki squealed. He went to reach for the sword, when Mikao slapped his hands. “Ahh! What the heck was that for?”

She pointed to the meteor. Five shards of crystal shot out and began to float in the air. They were all red, blue, yellow, green, or black. They all broke and split up in to several smaller pieces. Then, those pieces broke into several more pieces. All of the pieces flew around the meteor and then flew off in all directions. The meteor cracked and the top half broke revealing five swords stuck in the stone.

“Wow!” Aki whispered as he went to go reach for the sword in the middle. It had a green circle in the middle of the handle. “I gotta have that Z Blade!”

Mikao slapped his hand and said, “ I don’t think so. Do you honestly think, that getting that sword will make you a better fighter?” She had no clue what she was getting herself into. Not this time, probably not ever.

He nodded. “Along with the Zudo hidden inside of it!” Aki reached out again for it. The middle sword began to glow a green light and the other swords grew pale in color. He grabbed the sword and very quickly he pulled it out. The green on the middle on the handle circle lit up and shined itself toward the ground. Slowly a three-foot creature appeared.

The creature looked like a green dinosaur. Its head was normal, except it was shaped like a ‘W’ at the top, but normal at the bottom. He had a dinosaur-type snout, and dinosaur-type eyes. It’s tail was pretty long, with sharp barbs all the way down. He stood on two legs and let out a screech.

“Whoa! I’m the Zudi of Land!” Aki screamed. “Holy rice balls! Is that a Zudo?” Aki could hardly contain his excitement. He held up his sword with pride and kept staring at the green dinosaur.

“I am Grassite,” the little dino said with a squeaky voice. It walked over to Aki and Mikao. They slowly backed away. “Do you know how I got here?”

Aki shook his head left and right; Mikao’s mouth was still agape. It’s unethical! Of coarse people being able to alter the elements to their will, is normal. But a little green dragon?

“Me neither. I was just in a heated duel in the Zudiarca Plains, and now, I’m here!”

“You’re gonna be my Zudo!” Aki shouted. Aki had a big smile on his face. Nothing could bring him down at this moment. He had fulfilled the prophecy. The legendary Zudos have arrived to their humble planet.

“Huh? Wait, I’m no one’s slave, ok bub?” Grassite said forcefully and then let out a squeaky little laugh. He jumped up in air and spun around creating a small green tornado of grass. “Grass Tornado!”

Aki and Mikao both reached behind their backs and covered their eyes with the veils on the back of their suits. Aki’s suit was green and Mikao’s was yellow. “What the heck?” Aki shouted.

“Akira! Fight back!” Mikao screamed into the wind.

“What? No, way!” Aki screamed back. He wasn’t ready to hurt his Zudo.

“Hehehe! How do ya like this Zudo now?” Grassite taunted. Aki ran up to Grassite in a rage. Grassite simply turned around and whipped his tail out forcing Aki to fall right on his face. His face practically melted in with the soft soil. Aki’s face was covered completely in grass and dirt.

“Ahhh!” Aki roared in pain. The little barbs on Grassite’s tail scratched Aki’s arm and leg really bad. Both his arm and leg were red and raw. Little trickles of blood started to run down his arm and dripped off his elbow. He looked down and growled at what the cute little dino did to him.

“Fight back! Aki there’s no other way,” Mikao repeated. “Some scrolls say that the only way to tame a Zudo is to defeat it in battle!”

“Fine!” Aki shouted at her from the ground. Grassite was still laughing at Aki’s ‘fall’. Aki picked up the Z Sword and whipped it around in the air. Then, he put it in his right hand, and made a few technical movements with his left hand. A katakana character for ‘fire arrow’ appeared in front of him. He closed all of he fingers except his index and middle finger. Then, he took both of his hands and pushed the character at the Grassite. “Fire Arrow!”

A large arrow appeared and immediately exploded into flames. Aki moved his left hand—still in the same finger position—at Grassite. A gigantic fireball engulfed Grassite. Fire burst from all directions.

“Ayi ayi ayi!” Grassite yelled running around in circles—while on fire. He rolled into a ball and started to roll around in circles and then leapt up into the air. His body became covered in a white light.

“Now what?” Aki asked Mikao worriedly. Aki had probably just killed the only Zudo he’ll ever see. What would he do if he’d have killed it?

“Um...” Mikao was shuffling through the bag and found a scroll. She unraveled it and read it to herself and then aloud to Aki. “You have to strike the Zudo with the sword while it’s covered in a white light.”

“Are you serious?” Aki replied to Mikao’s order. She nodded. He drew his sword and with a starting run, Aki jumped and struck the Grassite with his sword on its left leg. “Yaaahhhh!”

The Grassite landed hard on the ground, and the white light disappeared. Once it was totally cleared, a little black ‘Z’ shaped scar appeared on its left leg. Slowly the Grassite got up on its two legs and he brushed off the dust on his belly with his tail.

“Does this mean, we can be friends?” Aki asked the fallen Zudo. Grassite had a very mean and dirty look on its face and then gave Aki a thumbs-up.

“You’re a great fighter. I’d be honored to be your friend!” Grassite said with its squeaky voice.

“Hai!” Aki shouted into the air. A little circular object fell from the sky. It appeared to be a coin and it had an arrow with fire around it engraved into it. Aki studied it for a few seconds. “Wow. It’s...it’s...Well, whatever it is, it’s cool!”

“Huh? What is it?” Mikao asked. She searched through her bag and found another scroll. “It’s a Medallion. When you use a super powerful attack, and it’s successful in destroying your foe, it’ll turn into a Medallion. The scroll also says that you can put the Medallion into that circular slot on your sword.”

“What’s the purpose of this Medallion, though?” Aki asked Grassite.

“Well, um... it can make me use that power. Or it could make you use that power.” Grassite replied to Aki’s question. “Hey, the Medallion’s got that fire arrow on it!”

“Wow it does!” Aki said excitedly.

Aki and Mikao asked Grassite a lot of questions. And Grassite had some of the answers, but not all of them. What will everyone say when Aki and Mikao get back to their Ninjitsu Academy?

“What the heck was up with those shards?” Mikao politely asked the green dinosaur.

Grassite started to scratch his chin with his left claw. Then he jumped up, and stood on the meteor. “We Zudo come from a world called Zudiarca. There are many Zudo in our world, but no humans. It is our destiny to come and save your world. Many centuries ago, alchemists and astronomers from Earth tried to find a way to Zudiarca, but we unleashed several plagues upon your planet. Those shards are the other Zudo from Zudiarca.”

“That doesn’t explain my sword,” Aki said disappointingly. He looked toward the ground, not like it would help.

“Your sword is a one-of-a-kind treasure,” Grassite started. “You can make me stronger with it, or make you stronger. No other person can have another sword like it, but they can put their sword in the meteor and will be given the Medallion Slot. If someone were to take your sword and use it in battle they would die.”

“Whoa! Die?”

“Yes, they would. Your sword will only work for you.”

Mikao gasped. Aki motioned for Mikao to stick her Sais through the meteor. She gave Aki a dirty look and said, “No! I don’t want to!”

“But, then we can work together and find out the other mysteries of the Zudo!” Aki exclaimed jumping up and down.

“Just do it Miki!” Grassite suggested. Aki let out a little chuckle.

“It’s Mikao! Fine...” Mikao corrected in disgust. She cautiously went over to the meteor, the pulled out both of the Sais on her waist. Mikao lifted her Sais above her head and struck them hard into the rock. A few cracks were made around it and yellow light flowed out of the cracks. “Whoa!”

When Mikao pulled them out, they both had the ‘Z’ symbol on them, and there was a Medallion Slot on the sai in her left hand. A green circle appeared in her hand. The light from the circle faded, and a Medallion was left in her hand. A big leaf shaped like a sword was carved into the golden Medallion. “Another Medallion!” Grassite excitedly said.

[Tha Legend]

This is a nice fic. I liked the length and the fresh take on the enslaved monsters story. I'd love to see where this goes.

~Legend~

[AbareMax]

Thanks man. I'm gonna post two more chapters for today, then off to bed...

Chapter 2: Out from the ocean, arise Azububble!


“It must be from the Grass Cutter attack you did earlier!” Aki suggested. “I thought you only get a Medallion if you destroy your enemy with a good attack?”

“Well, I destroyed a tree!” Mikao said confidently. “Close enough...”

Out in the trees before the bridge lurked a young boy with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were black and he had a black star-shaped gem etched into his right arm. His mouth was open as soon as he saw Mikao pull her Sais out from the meteor. This boy was about 14 of 15 years old. He was ninja known for his attacks with water. He was a pretty good friend with Aki. Suddenly a big thud came from the bushes. Aki and Mikao quickly looked over. The boy revealed himself.

“Ryarou Kintamos! What are you doing here?” Mikao shouted in a rage. She wasn’t too friendly with Ryarou. He never listened in class, but excelled in every possible water-type attack.

“ Holy Zudos! It’s a Zudo! Master Isichi will love to hear about this!” Ryarou said in excitement. “But not until I get my Zudo!”

“You wouldn’t be worthy of a Zudo!” Aki shouted without knowing what the heck he was saying. Something inside him told him that he would be the one to try to rule with the Zudo.

“He won’t, the scroll says, anyone who isn’t worthy of drawing the sword, will be absorbed into the dust!” Mikao said informatively.

Grassite got into a fighting stance with his left claw on the ground ready to whip up a Grass Tornado. Ryarou ran across the bridge and put his hands together. He jumped up and did a somersault in the air. Moving at an incredible speed, he turned into a ball of water and rolled right into Mikao, Aki and Grassite; all still in the air! He then landed right in front of the meteor. He pulled the blue sword, which was the last one on the right side. The sword was easily lifted from the hard smoking rock. A burst of blue light exploded from the hole where the sword was.

A small blue figure appeared on top of the meteor. All of the blue faded away and there was a blue fish-like creature. It stood on two feet and it’s feet and hands were webbed. Its head was almost a horizontal oval, and three fins were sticking out of his head. The middle one was webbed. He let out a low growl.

Ryarou unveiled the scroll in his pocket to reveal an exact picture of the Zudo on the rock. “Azububble! The Zudo of the Ocean and that makes me the Zudi of the Ocean!” Instantly a little ‘Z’ appeared on its forehead. That Zudo had instantly became Ryarou’s Zudo. Aki and Mikao were so stunned.

“Holy rice balls!” Aki and Mikao both said in shock. Grassite’s jaw dropped nearly to the ground. No one can get a Zudo unless they fight it and tame it! How is this possible? Is Ryarou a traitor? Could he be the one that will lead the darkness? No, he’s Aki’s friend there’s no way.

“Wow, I’m finally up and out!” cried the little blue fish Zudo. “You must be my Zudi! I’m Azububble.”

Once again Aki was shocked. “There is no way that can happen!” He went closer to Ryarou. A heavy wind began to blow in face, pushing his black hair back.

“Well, it has happened and you can’t stop it. Azububble, let us take down these two pathetic fools!” Ryarou ordered Azububble. Ryarou made the traditional ninja hand-movements with his fingers. He closed all of his fingers, except his middle and pointer finger. He put his left hand up to his heart and closed his eyes. Then, a katakana symbol for ‘death water’ appeared in front of him. A huge ocean wave of light appeared behind him and began to rush closer and closer toward the three. The light slowly melted into water and rushed faster and faster still.

Aki made the same motion with his fingers and left out his middle and pointer finger. He created a yellow katakana character in the air. It read ‘Lightening Wall’. “I hope I can do this...” he muttered under his breath. Instantaneously, a transparent wall of yellow light appeared in front of the two kids and Grassite. Once, the wave hit the wall, lightening bursted from all directions on the wall. Aki let out a sigh of relief. But, it was too soon for that. Somehow the water managed to break through and the wall of light collapsed. There was only one thing he could think of to do, and apparently he thought it out loud. “RUN!”

The three of them ran very fast until they reached the edge of the mountain peak. The wave got closer and closer. “I’ll just tell your father, that you both died trying to get a sword from the meteor. The powers rejected you and you both fell of into the falls!” Ryarou shouted above the roar of the waterfall. He began to laugh maniacally.

“Don’t worry, Kintamos!” Mikao screamed. “We will be back!” Grassite, Aki, and Mikao both plummeted into the roaring waters from the waterfall with the help of Ryarou’s Azububble. Both Aki and Mikao fell unconscious from the power of the falls. Grassite spread out his arms and legs, and summoned trees, and sticks and twine from all over the place. He shot down his right hand and waved it around. Magically, the trees and sticks began to spin around in a circle. Then, they laid out parallel to each other. The twine came in like a rattlesnake and wrapped itself around the trees and sticks. It weaved itself in and out of the trees and sticks. Once it was finished, a primitive raft was left and Aki and Mikao both landed on it. Grassite jumped up, did a somersault, and gracefully landed on the raft that he had built.

One Week Later


“WHOOOOYYY,” Aki yawned as he woke up from his long slumber. He looked around and they were the edge of a riverbank. They were in some forest. When he looked to his right he saw Mikao and Grassite by a fire pit. They both swiftly ran over to him.

“Are you ok?” Mikao asked the tired Aki. He rubbed his eyes and nodded. Grassite ran up to him and jumped on him.

“AAAHH!” Aki shouted as the green dino jumped on him. “I’m fine, but I’m very, very hungry.”

“I bet you are. You’ve been asleep for seven days!” Mikao said. She looked around. “Grassite saved us from the waterfall. He built us a raft in mid air!”

“Yup! I did. We were washed down 10 miles from the falls,” Grassite informed. “Oh, I receive this scroll from a polite little Shurika.” Grassite pulled out scroll from a tree and he unraveled it.

The scroll read:
Dear Akira,

‘Congratulations, Akira Hirokazu on becoming the Legendary Zudi of Land. It is with great pleasure, that I and the rest of the Zudo residing in Mt. Hyaku Jyu that you have been chosen as a Zudi. At such a grave time on Earth we will need all of the Zudi we can get. The Skull Zudi have begun to form their alliance in the foothills of Mirai Jiku. Within two days of you and Mikao Isichi opening the meteor, Zudo have appeared all over the world. Many people have flocked to the meteor to put their weapons in there. Remember keep practicing Ninjitsu and keep making more Medallions. The future depends on the Zudo and the Zudi.

Ando Hayashibara and Flamespit

Aki read the scroll twice. “Supposedly those two guys are good?” Aki folded it up and looked around. “What’s a Shurika and what’s a Flamespit?”

“Shurika is a Land-type Zudo that is skilled with ninja techniques. Flamespit is a Volcan-type Zudo and it’s one of the Legendary Zudo that can be pulled from the Swords.” Grassite spoke.

“Now, what are the different types of Zudo?” Mikao asked Grassite.

“There are five types: Land, Ocean, Sky, Volcan, and Shadow,”

“Oh.”

“Now, let’s get something to eat!” Aki exclaimed. He began to venture into the forest, but without his sword.

“Hey, your sword!” Mikao said as she threw him his sword. He caught, but by the blade. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!”

“I’m not hurt?” Aki said surprisingly. He caught his own sword by the blade.

“The blade on your sword won’t hurt you. It can’t hurt you,” said Grassite happily. Aki smiled and the three of them went into the forest in search for something to eat.

[AbareMax]

apter 3: Guardians of Atsui Forest

The group went further and further into the forest. Aki and Mikao both used their ninja abilities to make themselves invisible. They were trying to catch a few rabbits for lunch. Grassite sat out waiting for a rabbit or a deer to come by. He was hiding underneath a bunch of brush. Then, a rabbit scurried over Grassite. Immediately Grassite jumped up and made a fist with his left hand and he struck the rabbit with one talon on his left hand in the neck. The rabbit let out a squeal and then collapsed. Mikao and Aki reappeared to congratulate Grassite on the capture of the rabbit.

“Now, what do you call this little guy?” Grassite questioned.

“It’s called a rabbit. They taste really--” Mikao was interrupted by the fact that Grassite was about to eat the rabbit. “No! You gotta cook it first! It doesn’t taste as good raw.”

“Oh,” Grassite sighed disappointingly. “But, I’m hungry!”

Both Aki and Mikao laughed. In 30 minutes, all of them had caught two rabbits and they brought it back to their campsite. Grassite went to grab six sticks from the forest, when a loud roar forced him to turn back. He came running back to the campsite yelling. “Ahhhhh! There’s something in there!”

“Where?” Aki asked. He looked into the forest and saw two red eyes glaring at both of them. “Uh.... There’s something in there!”

Mikao looked into the forest. “I don’t see anything. Besides if something’s in there, it won’t hurt us!”

Aki started the fire back up and he skinned the rabbits. Mikao set them on several big rocks, and Grassite stood watching the rabbit meat cook and sizzle on the rocks. Within ten minutes they had finished cooking and in another five minutes they’d finished eating them, too. “Ahh that was good!” Grassite said with both hands on his stomach.

“Of coarse it was. Where do we go now?” Mikao asked Grassite.

“How should I know? I just got here!” he said innocently.

“I think that the forest leads to Silco Village. Oh, I forgot to tell you about this scroll...” Mikao stated. She pulled out a red scroll from her bag. It read, ‘In seven days, the entire world will change. Everyone will have knowledge of Zudos. Many new towns and villages will be based on Zudo. Many warriors will have become Zudi.’ Time passed and the three decided it was time for bed. Aki slept on one side of the fire, and Mikao slept near a big oak tree. Grassite was sleeping in the tree above her.

ROWWWWLLL! A noise from the forest woke up the sleeping kids. Grassite woke up from the tree he was sleeping in. “LEAVE THE FOREST! NOW!” Aki reached down for his sword and Mikao went for her Sais.

“It looks like someone is looking for a fight!” Aki confirmed. He motioned for Grassite to come over. Grassite jumped down from the tree and landed next to Aki. “Let’s take down this coward!”

A creature crawled out from the forest. It was some kind of cat, but it was made entirely of fire. The creature looked like a lion, but was built like an ox. “LEAVE ATSUI FOREST! BEFORE I DESTROY YOU ALL!”

Mikao shuffled through her bag to find a very large book filled with tons of blank pages. The green cover read ‘Zudo Index’. The first two pages were filled with the colored drawings she made of Grassite and Azububble. She quickly sketched a picture of the beast and wrote down some captions under the picture.

“Who are you? And why do we have to leave the forest?” Aki asked the lion Zudo.

“I am Spark and if you don’t leave right now, you’ll die. I’ve protected this forest for centuries! Well, my spirit has, but I’m here in the flesh to protect it!” the lion called out. “LEO’S CURSE!” A bright yellow and orange fireball flew from Spark’s mouth. Aki quickly jumped into the tree. Instantly the ground disappeared into ashes and burnt grass.

“Rats! He’s a Volcan-type! And he’s resistant to Land-types.” Mikao yelled from the book. “I don’t know any Ocean-type attacks. We’re in trouble!”

“Really?” Aki screamed back dodging another fireball. Grassite went in to charge at Spark. He did a forward roll and then jumped into the air. Grassite extended his claws out so far, that they became thick vines. He whipped them around and stood on them instead of the ground.

“Land Quake!” Grassite yelled from the air. He took his vine-type claws and shot them into the ground. Then, he quickly ripped them up and the ground crumbled right beneath Spark. Spark fell into a deep hole. “Ha!”

Aki charged forward and lifted his sword over his head. He dropped it down on the Spark. White light shot in all directions from the wound. “Icky! What’s that?”

“Zudos don’t have blood like humans, they have light. And the light is white!” cried Grassite.

“It’s still gross!” Mikao said. She grabbed her Sais, and entered the battle. Mikao threw both of her three-pronged weapons at Spark, but in the left Sai, was a Medallion. Both Sais turned into huge sharp blades of grass. The two leaves circled around Spark and then cut into him on either side. “That was a cinch!”

Spark was very unhappy about this. He struggled to get out of the hole, and he did. He let out a thunderous roar and two black wings shot from its neck and his mane lit up in flames. Spark began to flap his wings and then flew off of the ground. Mikao knew just how to counter this. She motioned for Aki to jump over and join her. He jumped from tree to tree and finally he landed on the ground near her. Aki ran over to congratulate her.

“That was awesome! You’ll get a Zudo for sure!” Aki praised. She smiled.

“No time for that. We have to combine our abilities! Do you remember how to make the ‘Lightning Shards’ attack?” Mikao asked.

“Somewhat, yeah,”

“Well it needs two people for it to be successful.” Mikao said holding out her hand. “Um, you’ll have to hold my hand.”

Aki reached out to hold her hand. They were both side by side and their eyes were closed. Mikao took her left hand and Aki took his right and they made the traditional ninja sign (all fingers closed except middle and pointer) to the ground. Then, they took those hands and twirled their wrists around in the air and finally put their hands to their chest. Spark looked like he would laugh at the site that he saw. Two kids holding hands right when he would kill them. Instantly, they both threw up their hands and a dark black cloud hovered above Spark. A shower of yellow crystals hit him and he fell hard into the ground as more crystals stabbed his fiery back. Spark started to glow white and Aki held his sword up in the air, in a victory stance of coarse. Mikao simply smiled and Grassite jumped up in the air.

"Hai!"

"Please, Aki. Go and slash it before it runs away!" Mikao said annoyingly.

"No, I've got a Zudo. It's your turn!"


Mikao looked as if she would cry. She nodded and withdrew her sais and jumped up in the air. With a quick and decisive slash, Mikao had tamed Spark. For some reason Spark didn't turn back to it's normal self. Spark started to grow smaller and smaller until the light cleared. All that was left was a yellow bird-like creature. The creature had a black 'Z' shaped scare on its right wing. It stood about 2 feet tall and had blue feathers on the tips its wings. There were 3 long feathers on its head that went down to its bright green tail feathers. It looked up at Mikao and tweeted.

"Thank you. Although I cannot guard this forest anymore, I am bound to help you," she said. "I am Birdyou (pronounced Burd-ee-ooh) and very grateful that you rescued me."

"It turns out you aren't a male Zudo?" Aki exclaimed.

"No, when I ADVanced in this forest I turned into a Spark. You may think that it's weird for me to turn into a lion, but that's how I ADVanced. We Zudo advance by our types, not species." the bird said. Mikao laughed and she ran over to her Zudo. Her very own Zudo.

[Tha Legend]

Excellent. These were very good chapters. The pacing seemd to move a little fast outside of the battle sequences, but I enjoyed it. I just pray that the plot isn't "defeat the elite zudi" or, "Gotta catch 'em all." That would be a tragic waste of original characters.

One more thing, how will the whole world change...

I guess I'll find out.

~Legend~

[mistysakura]

Interesting. I think tha the concept of the Zudos was cool. Although in a sense the Zudos are captured, like Pokemon, the whole thing with the ninjas and the attacks make it a lot more sophisticated and serious. Mikao seems like an original character -- annoying egoism at times can go a long way... Ryarou seems very selfish, but being Akira's friend, I don't think he's the main "evil guy"... but I think that getting a Zudo probably changed his personality somewhat.

I hopw that the plot doesn't revolve around defeating Zudos, as Tha Legend said. Anyway, keep it up -- pretty cool description.

[AbareMax]

Thanks for your support guys! Don't worry there will be plenty of surprises...

[AbareMax]

Chapter 4: Of Money and Life

Mikao hugged her newly gained Zudo. Birdyou let out a happy chirp. “Welcome! I’m Mikao.” Mikao pulled out her green book and took out a feather. She quickly sketched a picture of Birdyou and wrote down some stats. Then she drew another picture of Spark and some of its stats. The young warriors went back to sleep and awoke within six hours. They quickly ate breakfast, which consisted of mushrooms and fish. Grassite was so full of food he could barely move. Birdyou threw dirt on the fire and they departed.

“Now, tell us some more stuff about ADVancing?” Aki asked. As soon as he said that, Birdyou pulled out a little stick, a teacher’s hat and a sheet of paper.

“ADVancing is a common event that happens to a Zudo. Once they have enough energy and power, they can go to another Stage. Zudos ADVance by the element that they are. For instance, Grassite could ADVance to any Land-type Zudo if he had the energy and strength.” Birdyou said.

“What are the Stages?” Aki said.

“Good question.” Mikao interrupted. “We can talk about that on our walk through the rest of the forest.”

“What?” Aki said. “ Fine! Well, I hope you’ve got enough money for food, when we get to Silco Village!”

“Maybe...” Mikao said running ahead of them with Birdyou along her side. Aki ran to catch up with her and Grassite was stomping through the forest. She kept running until they got to an open field. As she ran, she noticed a little green ball sitting on a tree limb. It resembled a cactus with punching gloves. Aki kept running to catch up with her and Grassite zoomed right past him. His tail was whipping back and forth. Grassite collapsed on the field when he caught ups to Mikao and fell asleep. Aki ran further and further trying to catch up. Apparently he didn’t have enough stamina to keep up. Of coarse, with his luck Mikao had incredible speed and agility.

Aki finally caught up with the group. He too was tired and Mikao added to his anger by laughing at him. Aki started to pout and yell at her, but Birdyou couldn’t hear a thing. Birdyou began to fly up in the air and looked over the huge forest that they just ran through. She looked very closely and she saw the Waterfall. When she turned around she saw a little green ball on top of one of the trees. She flew closer. The ball took its right hand and put it on the top of its head and it pulled off a ninja star. It jumped in the air and threw the star at Birdyou. Quickly she flew up, but the star grazed her tail feathers. “Look out!” Birdyou screamed in the air flapping her wings really hard.

Trying to be heroic, Aki withdrew his Z Blade and jumped in front of Mikao. “EYAAAHH!” He batted away the throwing star and it flew about 20 feet, then it hit the ground. Aki tumbled and landed on his back. He knocked the wind out of himself and his sword lay there beside him. If he had been a second too early or too late, Mikao would have been struck in the heart. The little green ball hopped from tree to tree until it was out of sight. A swift black shadow ran over with extreme speed to Mikao. It circled around her very fast and she hit the ground hard. Birdyou flew down next to Mikao and started to flap her wings, trying to wake her up.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER....

“Wa...p!” Grassite screamed. Aki was just starting to wake up and Mikao was still sleeping. “Wayt app!”

“Mommy?” Aki said drowsily. Grassite gave Aki a funny look and spun around. When he came back around, he swiftly whipped his tail at Aki’s face. Aki fell to the ground. “I’m up! Hey what were you saying to me earlier? It sounded like Wayt app...”

“I said ‘wake up!’ But you were out of it. You were dreaming about clouds and bunnies.” Grassite laughed.

“Hey how do you know?” Aki screamed jumping up and down. Grassite smiled and Birdyou was laughing. “Well?”

“You kept talking in your sleep. It sounded like you wanted a tea party with some bunny,” he replied. Birdyou was still laughing.

“Hahaha...” Aki said sarcastically. “What happened to us?” After he shot the throwing star out of Mikao’s way, he couldn’t remember anything.

Grassite scratched his chin and started to pace back and forth. “Well, if I recall a giant black thing shot out from nowhere and circled around Mikao. She fainted... I think.” Mikao got up and rubbed her eyes. Birdyou strutted over to her. She looked around and screamed. Birdyou was thrown into a tree, by the power of her scream. She shook the leaves off her wings.

“HEY, MY MONEY’S GONE!” Mikao screamed. She screamed so loud that the birds in the forest flew away. Mikao frantically searched her bag and her pockets. She looked under rocks and sticks and logs. Nope, nothing. Nothing, but maybe a mushroom or a few bugs.

“Mikao’s awake...” Grassite said sarcastically.

“How much did you...have?” Aki asked his panicked friend.

“I had 650 X-Chips!” Aki’s jaw nearly hit the ground. That’s a ton of money for a kid to carry. Grassite and Birdyou had no idea what they were talking about. He had never known someone to carry around that much! Not even his dad made that much money farming.

“What are you guys talking about?” Birdyou asked them both. “What the ____ are you talking about?”

“Uhh...” Mikao sighed. “The X-Chip is our currency and they are backed up by rare metals. Yellow would be 20.5 Cs, Green is 10 Cs, Red is 100 Cs, and Black is 1 C.”

“Wow those must be pretty colors!” Birdyou shouted flapping her wings.

“Well, they aren’t pretty anymore because we don’t have them!” Mikao cried. “That’s a lot of money I had... Wait whoever attacked me, must have taken my money!”

Aki got up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Maybe we can find him!” Aki had a lot of confidence in himself.

“You could be right!” Mikao said. “Lets continue through the field and try to find our way to Silco Village.”

The crew walked for quite a bit of time. It took them 2 hours to get through half of the field. Once they reached the mid-way point, Aki noticed a purple door right in the middle of the field. It was standing up and everything. “What the heck is it?” Mikao jumped ahead of him and opened the door. They entered a very busy village. People were everywhere and there were little roadside stands at every roadside.

“Silco Village.” Grassite humbly stated. “Whew, that took too long to get here!”

“This is a very popular village among ninjas. They come here to train in the Sugano Tower.” Mikao said informatively.

As the group went further into the city, they overheard a man talking to his wife. The man was wearing a black robe, and he had little goatee. “I have the money for Jonyuu’s operation. All 650 X-Chips right here.” Mikao gasped.

------------------
Thanks to Kojiro of this forum for helping with the latest installment of Zudo: Legend of the Waterfall

[mistysakura]

That was an okay chapter. The group being attacked by a cactus creature came as a surprise, and so did Mikao losing her money. I wonder why they were attacked... The description was okay in this chapter.

Just a hint, don't post your chapters too quickly, because it makes it hard to catch up if people miss a day or two.

[AbareMax]

Thanks for the support. I'll start posting less frequently. What could I start adding to spice the story up?

[Kojiro]

Well AbareMax, first off adding me would spice it up alot!

JK

Actually in my opinion you should have a chapter telling about the charcters past.

[mistysakura]

I think that this fic isn''t bad right now. If you wanted to "spice it up", perhaps you could give us some idea of the storyline in the next chapter, so we know what the major challenge is in the plot and stuff. Actually, just make some big hints. People almost never pick up small hints, and straight-out telling can be a bit borng sometimes.

[AbareMax]

Well, the next chapter will involve big battle taken place at a sacred tower. The battle will be over an ill young boy...

[Kojiro]

Also if your intersted, we may even get this published!

My teacher can get it published for us, that means we can make you hafta buy to read!

MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Actually it will probably just get put in a Magazine or somethin. But still that is pretty good!

BTw the tower in the next chapter is called the Sakoda tower, anybody know what that means? I think its Japanese, but I am not sure.

[AbareMax]

Sorry for the wait. I've had writers block. lol Well, here ya go. I hope you all love it.

Chapter 5: Samurai Face-off


“What did he say?” Mikao whispered. She looked shocked and mad at the same time. “That sounds like how I got my money stolen!”

“How did you get the money?” The wife asked her husband, who was very relieved in fact. He looked up nervously.

“I’d rather not say...” the husband told his wife. He looked at the ground. Grassite let out a squeal and Aki knocked down the door with a powerful kick. The couple jumped in fright of their door being broken down. Grassite, Mikao, Birdyou, and Aki charged into the little house. “Hey what the heck is the meaning of this? I don’t have any money!”

“We have reason to believe that you have my friend’s money!” Aki shouted pointing his finger at the man. Something inside Aki told him that this guy didn’t have the money. But something also told him that the guy did have the money and was lying.

“What are you talking about?” the man said. Mikao stood there angry. She withdrew her sais and growled. Birdyou stood behind her ready to take down the man.

“What’s going on here?” a little green ball screamed. It looked like a cactus with little red boxing gloves and there was a shuriken at the top of its head. When it looked at Aki and Birdyou it shrieked. “Ha..ha..hoo...who are...t-th-they?” it said nervously.

Birdyou glared at the green creature. It was obviously a Zudo, but there was no ‘Z’ shaped scar on it anywhere. “Hey! Don’t you run away!” Birdyou shouted chasing it around in circles.

“What’s going on?” the wife asked. Her husband looked down at the ground.

“If you must know...” He said quietly and he snapped his finger at the green ball. Then, a puff of white smoke appeared, and no one could see. It was like a fog and everyone was coughing. Grassite ran into the smoke and started to chase after the guy. Aki followed and so did Birdyou and Mikao.

“Don’t hurt him!” The wife yelled worriedly. “Please!”

The group ran further and further through the streets of Silco. They could see a glimpse of turquoise hair in the distance, but he ran very fast. That little green ball was hopping from stand to stand moving very swiftly. Birdyou spread her wings and started to fly with great agility trying to catch up with the rounded Zudo. Aki was panting. Mikao ran up to a wall and started to run on the wall as if she were walking on the road. Her eyes were focused on her target. She looked determined to get the thief. Grassite bumped into a few people and stands. Mikao ran faster and faster, while Birdyou flew in the air to try and catch up. Aki came up with another plan. He started to disappear and reappear. He would appear on top of a stand and then by a building. Aki was traveling just as fast as Mikao, Birdyou and Grassite combined. When he got on top of a tent, he whipped out his sword. The group had chased the two criminals outside of the city. They got to a clearing and the group stopped. No one was there.

“Be careful. He could be using an assassin’s trick!” Aki said quietly. Sure enough he was right! The two popped out of the ground. Dust and pieces of rock and the ground flew up everywhere. Aki and Mikao covered their eyes and were coughing. The man had a large and long sword in his hand. Its blade was red with little stars. He rose it above his head and swung it down really hard at the ground. A large dent was left in the ground. Aki jumped narrowly to escape a most deadly cut. Grassite roared and whipped the ground with his vine-like claws. The dessert-type ground crackled and split into pieces. The little green ball curled itself up and began to roll very fast at Mikao. She skidded out of the way. It rolled faster and faster and crashed into Birdyou. The yellow bird flew face-first into the dry ground. She quickly got up and chirped loudly.

“No!” Mikao yelled. She whipped out the sais from her waist and spun them around, like propellers on a windmill. Mikao began to spin around in circles and her sais were spinning at the same time, creating a hurricane. Mikao sucked the green cactus into the hurricane, and in 5 seconds it was shot back out battle scarred.

“Come on, Grassite! Let’s take him down!” Aki yelled pointing his sword at the blue-haired man. He laughed.

“I doubt it. I’m a Class 5 Samurai, and with the help of Shurika, I’ll slaughter you and your pathetic Zudo!”

“Ha!” Aki screamed jumping in the air to try and slash the man. He simply dodged it. “Un! Ah!” Aki kept swinging his sword and missed every time. The man just jumped up 6 inches and dodged it. Grassite shot out six vines from both of his hands. The vines swerved and Grassite struggled to get to the thief, but he was too quick and dodged it. “What is the purpose of your stealing my friends’ money?”

The man stopped immediately and so did the panting Aki. They both planted the blades of their swords in the ground. “I had to...” the tired man said. The guy looked very tired and worn out seeing as he dodged every single one of Aki’s attacks. “But, I shall make you a deal. If you could defeat me and Shurika in a battle, I will give every cent back to your friend. If, you were to lose... Mmm, what could you give me?”

“Our Medallions!” Mikao said quickly. “And me and Birdyou will take you on!”

“Do you know what you are getting into?” Aki screamed at the foolish girl.

“Yup!”

“Ok...”

The little Shurika jumped up, and stood next to the warrior. There was no ‘Z’ mark, so the man couldn’t have tamed it. Grassite and Aki stepped out from the battlefield, and stood on the side to watch. Mikao did a somersault in the air and landed on her feet ready to fight the thief. Birdyou flew over to aid her friend and fight when necessary. They both bowed and the fight began. Mikao did a swift back flip and landed safely with both of her sais pointing at the thief. He slowly backed up and leapt up in the air with his sword trying to slash Mikao. She jumped to the left and rolled. Then, she hit the wall with her left foot and ricocheted off it. She spun around and kicked the Shurika with a tornado kick. It scrunched up into a ball and hit the opposite wall. Birdyou flew over to the already injured Shurika and shot yellow darts from her wings.

“Sky Darts!”

The Shurika was pinned up against the blue stone wall by the effect of Birdyou’s darts. Shurika jumped up and bounced up and down, until it bounced higher. It hit Birdyou and she fell into the thief. With a quick side step he dodged the flying bird. Birdyou hit the wall pretty hard. She looked up at Mikao as if she had failed her. The Shurika stopped bouncing and fell to the ground exhausted and was knocked out.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this,” Mikao said reassuringly. She jumped up and spun around creating a tornado. Both of her sais were out pointing straight. She spun faster and faster. The thief was standing solid, and the tornado had no effect on him.

“What the heck?” the thief screamed into the wind. “A little girl trying to hurt me? Ooh I’m scared!” Mikao spun more quickly. His feet began to move a little bit. They started moving more and more. Then, he was sucked into the raging wind tunnel. Mikao let out a loud battle cry and the thief went flying out from the funnel of wind. He hit the wall. There was not a single scratch on the man.

“Egads!” Grassite squealed. “Not a single cut!”

Mikao was shocked herself. That was one of her signature moves and it didn’t even phase him! He slowly got up, and his blue ponytail fell off his head and to the ground. Very slowly his shirt began to rip in different places and small wounds began to appear. Mikao smiled with pleasure and giggled. “Hehehe. You thought I was a chump because I was a girl huh? Well, everyone knows Samurais are weak against the wind.”

The man dropped to one knee and began to weep. “Jonyuu, how I have failed you.” He cried harder and harder. “I stole the money. So my son could have an operation. He was climbing Mt. Hyaku Jyu and he fell down the Waterfall.” Mikao looked very saddened by his story. Aki was surprised just as well, that a man would go so far as to steal for his son. “He desperately needs this operation. If he doesn’t... he could die.”

“Oh, I am so sorry, sir.” Mikao said through her tears. Birdyou looked up and so did Shurika. Why did I fight him? I was fighting against his son’s life! she thought to herself. “Here, you take the money. And the next time we come back to Silco. You can pay us back.”

The man looked up from the ground. His eyes were very big and he was truly happy now. “No, I could never take the money fro--”

“Yes.” Mikao interrupted. “Take it!” When Mikao said that, a little ‘Z’ shaped scar appeared on Shurika’s right punching glove. Shurika had been bound to the thief. They were all in awe. The man tamed Shurika.

“My name is Hyate and I promise that me and Shurika will pay you back,” the man said. He nodded and Shurika smiled. “We will work together.”

“I understand.” Mikao said happily. “Well, sorry for us to leave so soon, but we have to get to Sugano Tower.” She, Aki, Grassite, and Birdyou began to walk off toward the gigantic white tower.

“Wait! I never got your names.” Hyate yelled as the group walked off.

“Mikao!”

“Aki.”

The group went back into the city and headed for the Sugano Tower in hopes to understand their new fate. Mikao briefly stopped to take out her green book. She quickly drew a picture of Shurika and wrote down its most noticeable stats. “That was a nice thing you did back there, Mikao.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I hope that the boy is ok.”

“Vrrrrrrreeeeppp!” Birdyou chirped. “Of coarse he is. And thanks to you he can live a lot longer!”

They continued to walk until they reached the gigantic white tower. There were beautiful designs on it, such as flowers and lions heads. Grassite pointed his left arm to the sky and everyone looked up. Two kids were dangling inside of a large bubble. They were screaming very loudly. Many of the townspeople were looking around to see what all the commotion was. Then, a man in a black cape was at the top of the tower laughing maniacally.

“What the heck is wrong with those idiots!” one man shouted.

“They could get hurt!” another lady exclaimed. Aki and Mikao looked at each other. They both reach out for a Medallion.

A young man stepped forward. He looked to be about 17 or 18. He had short white hair and was built like an ox. “It looks like Orion is at it again! No worries, Spring let’s go!” He and a tall silver shadow ran into the tower at a high speed.

“You know what we have to do, right?” Grassite asked. They all nodded.

“Sugano Tower, here I come!” Aki shouted running into the entrance of the tower. “I’ll save you kids!”

[Kojiro]

It Roxorz!

The ending leaves me on the edge of my seat, perfection I say!

[AbareMax]

Thanks, Kojiro. So what does everyone else think? I'd like to get some ideas and other suggestions. Let me know...

AbareMax