Dead Or Alive Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Ninja Gaiden: Fiendish Imprisonment ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[A/N]: Standard disclaimer: I don't own Ninja Gaiden. Here's chapter 4.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Ryu and his band of comrades peered down into the deep canyon that housed the final of the serpent statues. Ryu and Benjamin stood at the head of the group alongside another man -Davis Jorgenson- who held the pieces of the final stone tablet. The chasm ran deep and a thick fog made actually seeing the bottom of the ravine nearly impossible.

 

“Three years, and it comes down to this moment,” Benjamin whispered. Ryu nodded silently. It had indeed been three years since he had become trapped in this snow-white hell, and those three years had been miserable; many lives had been lost.

 

“I just wanna get the hell outta' here,” Jorgenson muttered darkly as he absently traced over the engraved words on the tablet. The rest of the group could only grumble in agreement. Davis was a skinny man with almost mouse-like features. He was a stark contrast to the much larger Benjamin.

 

Then came the roars and inhuman cries. They rose out from the chasm; the cries of the damned. Of demons and monsters. Ryu's gaze bored into the abyss as he tried to make out the shapes, but the fog was too thick, the Fiends too well hidden. Something pricked at the back of the ninja's senses and he slowly turned his head to look behind him and his eyes narrowed.

 

The colossal Vigoorian Berserker strode forward, unencumbered by the blizzard. It was a terrifying sight to behold. It was huge, much taller and heavier than Ryu himself would ever be. Its hands and feet were equipped with talon-like claws and its horns adorned its head. The Berserker carried itself upright like a human and was almost knight-like in its appearance; from its skeletal armor to the massive two-handed sword it wielded with deadly efficiency. The massive Fiend led a troop of Gallas; red, dragon-like Fiends with powerful jaws and teeth, and large horns.

 

“Start repelling down to the statue,” Ryu ordered the others as he drew the Dragon Sword from its scabbard on his back. He quickly shed heavy layer of clothing he had worn to brave the blizzard and was left in his leather combat armor once again. Ryu knew he would need every measure of speed at his disposal.

 

“You heard the man,” Benjamin shouted out over the roaring winds. He and the other twenty remaining men began to drop over the lip of the ravine and descend into the thick fog. “Good luck,” Benjamin shouted to Ryu before he disappeared over the edge. Ryu muttered his thanks and readied himself.

 

Ryu surged forward, his feet dancing across the surface of the snow. He leapt high into the air and over the head of the Berserker. As he cleared the Fiend, his foot snapped back and cracked the monster across the back of its skull. The Berserker stumbled forward and Ryu made a mad dash towards the nearest of the Gallas. He avoided the beast's charge by stepping atop its head and spinning through the air; cutting through the Fiend's spinal column in the process. The beast dropped to the ground: unmoving. But Ryu stabbed it through the heart just for good measure. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryu saw a dark shape moving towards him at an incredible speed. Were it not for his training, he would have been cleaved in half by the Vigoorian Berserker's massive sword.

 

`Gotta keep moving,' Ryu thought to himself. `Don't let yourself get distracted by the little ones. Keep your attention on the big guy. Make him the center of battle and let the others trip all over each other trying to get to you.'

 

Ryu corkscrewed to the right as the Berserker's blade crashed to the point he had been an instant before. The Berserker then swept his blade towards Ryu, but he quickly corkscrewed back to the left and then exploded forward and landed a vicious corkscrew-dropkick to the Fiend's chest. The giant stumbled back before righting itself and swing its massive sword with reckless abandon. The Fiend was so caught up in taking Ryu down, that it didn't even notice when its blade began to systematically cut through the remaining five Gallas as Ryu nimbly danced around it. Ryu sprang forward as the weight of the Berserker's blade caused the Fiend to tip off-balance and Ryu slashed his sword across the Fiend's face, ripping through its eyes and blinding it. The Berserker roared in agony and dropped its sword to grasp its face in pain. Ryu wasted no more time. He quickly gathered the essence given off by the deaths of the Gallas and pooled it within his sword. Then he shot forward. His blade cut deep lines into the Berserker's flesh.

 

Ryu flipped back and watched as the Berserker roared its fury. Ryu was at a loss for a moment, but then he saw the Berserker's discarded great sword lying only a few meters away. He made a dash for it while at the same time hurling the Dragon Sword like a spear. It stabbed through the Berserker's skull, eliciting a roar of pain. Ryu's hand grasped the thick handle of the Berserker's sword and swung it hard. The deadly edge of the sword caught the Fiend just beneath its left arm and Ryu pushed the blade further, driving it completely through the Berserker. The Fiend finally dropped dead to the ground and Ryu wrenched the Dragon Sword from its corpse before the corpse boiled away.

 

Shouts of alarm and screams of pain arose from behind him and Ryu spun around. He ran forward and dove into the ravine. As he flew through the fog, Ryu began to make out the shapes at the bottom. He landed silently on the snowy and foggy ground and whipped out the Dragon Sword. He caught sight of his remaining comrades; only five were left: Benjamin, Jorgenson, and three others. The three massive Fiends that now slowly circled towards remaining five had ripped the others to shreds. They were huge white monstrosities reminiscent of the Fiend Yotunfrau. They were eyeless with a massive set of jaws. They had two long and muscular arms that ended in three thick claws. But the strangest aspect of these Fiends was their legless-ness. Their bodies simply ended in a stump.

 

Thin wooden spears were all that stood between these Fiends and their victims. Well that…and Ryu.

 

One of the beasts grabbed Benjamin in its massive claws and Ryu forced himself to move. He hurled himself forward with a roar ripping its way from his throat. The Dragon Sword bit deep into the Fiend, completely severing the arm that held Benjamin. The monster recoiled in pain before Ryu descended upon it once again. He was little more than instinct and blade; cutting the snowy Fiend to ribbons. A cry drew his attention back to the others. One of the remaining Fiends had attacked with its elemental abilities; drawing up massive shards of ice from the ground. Jorgenson's legs had been completely sheared off, and the other three were impaled on the great shards.

 

Ryu saw Benjamin bolt forward and grab the tablet from Jorgenson's outstretched hand. The large man jumped away just as one of the Fiends stabbed its claws downward; skewering Jorgenson through the chest. Benjamin placed the tablet on its designated indentation in the statue and the statue began to spin in place. Ryu leaped forward and slashed his blade through the remaining two Fiends. He was a hurricane of sword blades and daggers. He moved with a strength forged from three years in a hellish wasteland and with a determination fueled by desperation. The two Fiends were reduced to nothing more than shreds of flesh within moments. Ryu turned back to Benjamin, urging him forward. But he found that Benjamin wasn't paying attention to him any more. His gaze was turned skyward. His eyes widened and he flipped backwards as a large red form crashed into the ground.

 

The Gallas jumped forward. It latched its jaws around Benjamin and shook its head furiously, ripping flesh and skin from bones. Benjamin's screams echoed off the walls of the ravine, and then everything was quiet. The Fiend turned back towards Ryu. Now that he looked more carefully, Ryu noticed that it was one of the six that he had encountered at the lip of the ravine. It was one of the ones he thought had been killed; the deep gashes left by the Berserker's blade were evidence enough of that.

 

At this point all Ryu saw was red. The Gallas prepared itself and charged towards Ryu, but the fires had already begun to circle the Dragon Ninja. The red Fiend recoiled in pain and prepared for a second charge, but it was promptly incinerated by a massive fireball. Only its legs remained, and soon they too boiled away.

 

Ryu stood in silence as the events of the past few minutes caught up with his consciousness. Dread, sorrow, and nausea fell upon him and Ryu stared at his hands in disgust. With all the power he possessed, he had been unable to protect even these few people: men not unlike himself who only desired their freedom. Slowly Ryu turned around and walked towards the statue. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his incendiary shuriken knives. He lit it and stabbed it into the surface of the stone tablet. He would prevent anything from following him back to the mortal world. Slowly and purposefully, Ryu placed a single hand on the stone tablet. He was enveloped by a brilliant white light, and soon found himself hurtling through a shining expanse of energy and space. The light faded and Ryu once again found himself in the ruins of the Hayabusa village, standing within a circle of light. The light flared up and quickly died down; the incendiary weapon having done its job: the two worlds were disconnected now.

 

Ryu quietly stepped from the plot of land and made his way through the ruins of the Hayabusa village. Since its destruction, Ryu had refused to rebuild it; its condition was a constant reminder of what he had lost. In the three years he had been away the village had decayed even further. Walls had crumbled and vines snaked in and out of buildings. But Ryu's feelings of loss were profound. He stepped into one of the few stable structures and sat himself in a dark corner.

 

He was in no mood to revel in his escape and victory.

 

And so the darkness and comfort of sleep claimed Ryu, but his dreams were filled with screams and nightmarish beings. It was a terrifying premonition of things still to come…