by atlantiandragoness
Nothing can exist without first beginning. That is true for everything, even for that which is beyond our explanation. Every story, every myth, has it's own beginning, it's dawning, if you will.
This is ours.
Who are we, you ask?
We are the inhabitants of a strange world, where the sky is cast with an eternal gray tint, no matter the time of day. Red clouds rule the skies with a literal silver lining, light from the heavenly bodies above catching their edges, creating a white glow.
We are the fantastic creatures that live on in dreams and in minds of those who believe. The mythical creatures whose power is beyond explanation.
We are the Akatsuki.
And we're bored.
As fascinating as a world with black skies and red clouds may seem, if you've lived in it all your life, it doesn't quite strike you as much as it would an outsider.
And outsiders are something we never get.
Oh, how rude of me, you're probably wondering who I am.
What I am.
Well, the who's simple enough. I am Zetsu. As implied earlier, I'm indeed a member of this group, the Akatsuki as we've come to call ourselves.
What's a bit more complicated.
I guess I classify myself as a dragon. A hydra if you want to get into specifics. Half plant if you want to get even more detailed.
I'm confusing you, aren't I? Maybe a description would help.
You all know what a dragon looks like, right? Big, reptilian, claws, long neck and tail, to put it plainly. Now, add color. The right half should be white, the left, black.
Oh, and I have two heads.
Maybe I should've mentioned that first.
Well, I did say I was a hydra.
Anyway, back on topic. My wings aren't what you'd think of when dragon wings come to mind. In fact, they look more like the elongated jaws of a venus flytrap. That's where the plant issue comes into play.
Add some short green bangs over my eyes (which are yellow) that run down both necks like spines until they meet at the color split, and continue until the tip of the tail and that's basically what I look like.
Kinda weird, right?
Its okay, I don't really mind. I hear it enough from my other head. It has a personality and mind all it's own. And it enjoys contradicting most things that I say.
What was the word the others like to use...
Schizophrenic?
Speaking of the others, I'm sure you'd like to hear about them too.
Well, I guess I should start with a fellow dragon, the only other dragon of our group, Deidara. Deidara's an odd oriental dragon with scales that almost appear to be made outof gold. He wears his hair in a weird way, a long bang flipped over one of his blue eyes, the left eye one to be exact, and half of it tied up. The rest of his blond locks are allowed to flow freely down the length of his back like a mane.
As my darker half puts it, he has a slightly feminine look.
As it goes for most dragons of his species, Deidara has no wings, but unlike his species, he can't fly (of course, neither can I, but that's another story).
But does this get the blond down? No. He has other ways, ways involving the mouths in the pads of his paws.
Yes, I said it, mouths. That's what makes him truly unique. These extra mouths have the power to ingest clay and reform it as a variety of different creatures. He personal preferences are giant birds that the blond can ride on the backs of, bypassing his own lack of flight.
And once he done with said clay creations, he detonates them.
Pyromaniac much?
Well, nothing else is expected from a fire-breathing dragon.
The others are somewhat annoyed by this habit, particularly a manticore by the name of Sasori, who spends the most time around aforementioned blond.
Sasori has the most striking coloration on a manticore I've yet to see. Usually their fur is a plain, rusty shade of red. Sasori's is the red of a raging fire, complimented by his short crimson hair, which is layered and hangs around his human-like face, almost covering his pointed ears. His eyes themselves are grayish brown and have the slightest slit to the pupil, but you can only tell if you get close enough to his face to look, which is something I don't recommend doing.
Unless you enjoy having a poisonous stinger to your face.
That brings me to the topic of his tail. Like most manticores, Sasori has the body of a lion, but the tail of a scorpion. In the right light it gives off an almost metallic sheen. The very tip is covered in sharp spikes and shoots out, poisoning anyone they hit. In fact, close enough you can see the venom forming at the tips of each spike.
Again, not something I would suggest.
Sasori's known for his rather short temper and violent tendencies.
So how do I know?
Well, let's just say my vision is good enough that I can pick out small details and stay out of the danger zone at the same time.
That and Deidara told me. He's the only one who Sasori lets that close to him without harming.
They are partners after all.
Oh, I forgot to explain that too.
In the Akatsuki, we work in teams of two. sasori and Deidara are one such team.
Who's my partner?
I don't have one. I think having two personalities covers that nicely. Though I do have a subordinate. A rather strange hippogriff by the name of Tobi.
I say strange because he is never seen without his bright orange mask that bears only one eyehole, the right.
As stated by my black half, it looks like a pumpkin.
It also contrasts greatly with the ebony feathers of his eagle half. In fact his whole body is about that shade. The second half of his body, which is that of a horse, lightens out to a dark gray, but goes right back to black once you hit the tail. Even his hooves and talons were black.
Of course, when questioned on his choice of mask, all Tobi will do is shrug and trot off somewhere, usually to harass either me or Deidara.
It's noteworthy that the blond dragon isn't too found of Tobi in the least.
In fact, if he wasn't a hippogriff, and consequently didn't have wings capable of flight, I'm not sure he'd have survived the fire-breather's wrath as long as he has.
But anyways, moving on to a close relative to the hippogriff, our resident griffin, Itachi.
It's unsure if Tobi and Itachi are, in fact, related. Tobi's mask leaves room for many possibilities.
Their similarity in coloration is a huge factor in the theory as well.
Except Itachi is a little reversed compared to Tobi. Tobi has gray fur, Itachi has black. Tobi has black feathers, Itachi has gray. Where Tobi's horse tail was black, the tuft on Itachi's lion tail was dark gray. His beak and eyes are black too, but those can't be compared to the hippogriff because of the mask once again. The griffin also has the fore paws of a lion instead of an eagle's talons, creating one more difference between him and Tobi. Still, the similarities outweighed the differences.
Appearance wise anyway.
Personality wise, they are total opposites.
Take Tobi for example. He's loud, hyper, and seems to be on a constant sugar high. Itachi is as dark and brooding as his colors hint at.
He also doesn't enjoy being compared to Tobi.
Or anyone for that matter.
So don't tell him I said any of this.
Moving on again. Itachi is partnered with Kisame, a merman.
A merman with a shark's tail.
If you haven't guessed by now, there is something that sets the Akatsuki apart from the rest of our species. In Kisame's case, there are a lot of somethings. Aside from the shark tail, his skin is blue, turning a darker shade at his tail. His hair is blue also, and spiked straight up. Actually, Kisame is more shark than anything. He eyes are small and white, teeth fanged, noticeable gills on his cheeks and even a dorsal fin on his back.
He also carries around a huge sword covered in bandages. When said bandages are removed, the sword's true nature is revealed, covered in the plated scales of a shark. The sword seems to have a mind of it's own, much like my other half (which has been criticizing me this entire time), refusing to be held by anyone other than it's owner.
Kisame, like most creatures of aquatic origins, stays in the water, but he isn't limited to it. On a few rare instances he has been spotted on land, using his weapon to support himself.
Don't ask me how that works, I haven't the faintest idea either.
However, these are not the only members of our group. Among our ranks we even have the mighty, immortal phoenix.
Hidan does not share the golden plumage of a regular phoenix, No, this firebird's feathers are as white as a snowcapped mountain and contrast his maroon eyes.
We sometimes call him the albino phoenix.
He doesn't appreciate it.
And he probably holds the title for foulest beak among his kind. That bird can swear!
Hidan has a unique process of regeneration. At first, his body is surrounded by flames, but the fire looks more like blood. First, his feathers turn black and ashen, and a select few fall off, leaving white underneath. The pattern left behind makes him resemble a walking skeleton. After a while, the flames get more intense and swallow him completely. When the flames disperse, Hidan is left there, as good as new.
It's an interesting spectacle to watch, but it always leaves behind the faint smell of copper.
Working alongside Hidan is a chimera named Kakuzu.
Kakuzu isn't among the three-headed chimeras. His only head is the one of his lion front half, with it's brown fur and black mane. This color trend continues to his goat hind quarters and serpentine tail.
Kakuzu's body, despite being split among three creatures, is also covered in stitches, like the composite beast has to be held together. On his back, three faces appear to be sewn in. A lion's, a goat's, and a snake's.
Though, as odd looking as these threads may be, they do serve a purpose, as Kakuzu can unravel and control them.
Usually to snatch away any valuable left unattended.
Did I mention he's a bit of a scrooge?
I guess not.
Next on the list is our lone female, Konan, the siren.
Though she's better classified as an angel.
Konan is the most human of the Akatsuki. She has blue hair, albeit a different shade than Kisame's, which is pinned up by a white paper flower. She's a master of origami and can make anything you could possibly think of with only a few sheets of paper. But, the paper theme also means that she's not too found of getting wet.
She wears a piercing in her lower lip and dresses herself in a plain black dress with no back to it.
There's no back because it would interfere her huge white wings.
Why else would we call her God's angel?
God being the title our leader, Pein, also Konan's partner, has given to himself.
Leader, as we call him, himself is a sphinx, his lion body a dusty orange and his human face riddled with piercings of different sizes and shapes.
With the right lighting he could easily blind someone.
Guess which side of me that comment came from.
Anyway, I'm getting off subject again. Leader's hair is orange and spiked in all directions. He also has a strange shape-shifting ability. He doesn't change species or colors, only his hairstyle, piercings, and size. His ringed gray eyes remain the same for each transformation as well.
He only has six transformations, each differing in ability. The one he uses the most is the one I've described.
Now, Leader believes his right to call himself God comes from his species, being half lion, the king of beasts.
It has been mentioned to him that Sasori, Itachi, and Kakuzu are also part lion. His side of the argument is that he is also half human, which conquers all other beasts.
A certain manticore could be brought up again, but the conversation is usually dropped at this point.
And that's everyone in Akatsuki.
Our goal, or rather our leader's goal, total conquest.
Too bad we've already done that.
Hence the reason we're so bored.
This portion of the realm is completely under Leader's rule. What lies beyond is unknown and will probably remain that way.
So what do we do to pass the time nowadays? Not much really. That's why I'm writing this log, this record of who we are, as a way to amuse myself.
Hopefully you find this amusing as well.
Yes you, some stranger who just happened upon this message written by a bored hydra and sent away for someone to find one day.
Who knows, you may even choose to seek us out. We'd be welcome to the company.
Because seriously, we've got nothing better to do with ourselves.
But if you do, take my warnings to heart.
You'll need them.
And so on that note, dear reader, I bid you, we bid you, a fond farewell, for I must bring this to a conclusion.
But is it really the closing, or another beginning?
Because here, the dawn never ends.
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