A palace that sits at the end of a river in the Village of Sheep. The High Lords of this village, siblings Kotai and Ryutai Mizu, reside in this palace. A pool of water at the end of the river sits outside their abode for their usage, although both can simply create water and ice from the moisture in the air if they so need to.
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:02 pm
Mission - Find Yourself.
The palace was a mostly empty one. There were a few servants here and there, and then there were the Mizu siblings, and that was about it. Occasionally, a working-man in the village would come to their doorstep for a request. Kotai usually let Ryutai handle charity and the like. He wasn't good at being kind, and benevolence was something the village needed to see from their leaders if they were to stay happy. Currently, he was being reclusive, the door shut to his master bedroom while he sat on his bed, meditating. He needed to find out when he realized that he was different and what made him realize it. A scientist in his village wanted to know; the man was creepy. He studied Kotai like a test subject.
The bedroom was magnificent. Although most people in the village elected to sleep on mats, Kotai slept on a king-sized bed with the finest sheets and comforters and pillows and such. His bedpost had a permanent layer of frost on it, which he was currently sitting under. His legs were crisscrossed, his arms to his sides, as he was about to begin his meditation that he did everyday. Kotai, as he did whenever he wanted to sleep, made no movement as frost spiraled down from the roof of his bedposts, coating each open side of his bed with a curtain of smooth mirror-like ice. Anybody that walked in the chilled room would just see a block of reflective ice where his bed should be. Kotai was happy with the only people that were looking at him being his reflections. Nobody could bother him during his mediation.
While he meditated, Kotai would reflect on his experiences as a child and who he was now. He knew he was different than other people, the ones that called themselves humans. He knew that he was truly human while they were... lacking. In something. Both he and Ryutai were different, but never had he exactly put his finger on it. And that's what these meditations were for. And so now, eyes closed and in a protective curtain of ice, Kotai looked into his memories as he breathed rhythmically. First he started with the first time he killed somebody.
Nine years three months after my birth
I realize now what happened when that man laid a hand on my sister. I remember vividly how my rage seethed, and how I instantly slammed a fist full of ice into his face. He was no normal highwayman, though; he was a shinobi, and this meant that the two of us were in much more danger than I previously thought. The man got back up, nostrils breathing fire, and charged at me, kunai in hand. He plunged the knife into my flesh... or at least, he tried to. He did not succeed. The moment the kunai touched me, ice shot up its edge and latched onto his arm. The imbalance in his body caused him to trip and fall face first as I jumped backwards. Ice continued to creep along his skin at an alarming rate. Before he knew it, his arm was completely encased by a thick layer of ice. His chest, too, was being taken over by the time he managed to stand up, horrified. I believe it was in that moment that he knew and accepted he would die.
What did he ask me, now? I struggle to remember it. Oh, yes, now I remember. "What are you?" he asked. As if it wasn't obvious to him as ice encased his throat. I was human. I was very, very much human. What a silly man.
Anyways, once he was completely covered in ice, I decided to not leave him to suffocate and kill him right then and there. I used a technique I'd learned before, the Tundra Coffin, and crushed him inside my ice. I didn't foresee the consequence that blood would get all over me, and I'm sure some got on Ryutai, too. But it did. For some reason, I wasn't revolted by the sight of blood staining my clothes. It empowered me. It let me know that I was in control of my prey.
Kotai opened his eyes and stared at himself in the ice at the end of his bed. Was that the moment he found out he was different? When he first took a life, and first developed the technique for his ultimate Taijutsu defense? No, then he still didn't comprehend the mans question. He didn't know that the man viewed him as different. Was there some other time? Perhaps the first time Kotai had almost been killed after trying to mug a Chuunin??
Ten years seven months after my birth
Fire singed my hair and scalded my skin, an inferno passing by me straight from a Chuunin's mouth. It field, however, to burn the ice that was behind me. I sprinted towards the man and, just as he readied himself to spit more fire, jumped onto a slope of ice that I created under my feet as I landed. I slid right around the man as he futily spun around in circles to try and burn me. I slid up, creating a spiraling structure of ice as I went, until he was trapped in a spiraled cone with not enough space for him to slip out of. I filed in the cracks of the structure and left a pinhole at the top for light. Well, unfortunately, trapping myself in a conical structure with a Katon user was not the best idea I'd ever had. He pulled out all the stops in that moment and released a blaze like I'd yet to see before. It was an absolute staggering amount of fire, and I knew as it raced towards me that it would certainly burn past any ice that I conjured as a defense and it would certainly burn me to death.
And then, instead of looking down at the fire, I was looking sideways at it. I blinked, my eyesight becoming two dimensional. I looked down at the cone-like structure of ice that I created and realized with a shiver that I was in the walls of the ice. But not just physically; I was intangible. I was a reflection in the ice, just like in the Demon Ice Mirrors technique. In my near-death, I had somehow replicated the reflective properties of it and applied it to the ice I'd created for the cone. Sure enough, the mans fire shot out of the hole I'd made in the cone and melted the top of it, but that didn't matter. I shot across the cone, wall to wall, until I'd reached the bottom, standing in front of the man. In his shock, he failed to react, and that's when I pulled icy spikes out of the walls and forced them into his flesh, killing him.
It wasn't then, when he had faced death, that Kotai knew he was different. He simply knew he was a true predator. No, what could it have been that caused that fact to click, that everyone else besides him and Ryutai were less human than him? What was it? Maybe when he first fled from a fight.
Eleven years one month after my birth
I have killed Shinobi that were way more powerful than me before. Jonin have fallen to my ice. It wasn't uncommon for me to, now at the age of eleven, slaughter a Chuunin that stood in hmy way. Genin were a joke. But right now, in this moment, I regretted my decision to pick a fight with five Chuunin at once. Fire burned me, water drowned me, lightning shocked him, wind cut me, and rock crushed me as I sprinted and bounced here and there on the battlefield, leaving ice in my wake. Occasionally, I would become a reflection in the ice and attack that way, but even this did me little good as elements of all kinds slammed again my ice and shattered it.
No one dared lay a hand on me until the fire-fool, his hands covered in a layer of fire, grabbed me arm and chucked me away. The fire on his hand was SS ranked; enough to neutralize the Creeping Defense. It was the only technique of that kind that the Chuunin knew, though. I could feel chakra differences, and that was the most drastic spike in chakra any of them had observed since the start of the fight. That was the extent of that man's strength. This would play to my advantage.
Still, as a bolt of lightning shot by his ear, I knew I needed to bail. I couldn't keep fighting. It was a fight I wouldn't win. So I shot up into the air, propelled by a pillar of ice, and created a slope of ice that I slid on down over the heads of the five Chuunin. I turned around to bring forth a grand wall of ice and then turned away to keep sprinting from my enemies. Unfortunately, they were faster than me.
A hand of rock reached forth from the earth and latched onto my ankle, tripping me as five Chuunin ran towards me after scaling my wall. s**t s**t s**t. I could still fight them off like this, I had my hands. Just as I thought that, two more hands seized my wrists, and another seized my last ankle. I was tied down. And as the five chuunin converged on me in a circle, I panicked. I had no technique to prepare myself for this. What could I do? They all readied their respective elemental bursts to end my life and then, in a flash of improvisation, I acted. Ice from all around me, at the edges of their feet, shot up in a dome to cover me. It was dark, but I could see well enough that the ice I had conjured was similar stuff to demonic ice mirrors. I had tried to make it so that it would be truly reflective; so that it would reflect jutsu. And it did. Just as the dome went up, I heard the screams of a man being burned by his own fire, the gurgles of a woman drowning to her own water, the agony of a man succumbing to his shocks, the yelp of a woman's skin being cut by her wind, and the silence of a man instantly being crushed by his stone.
The hands fell away. The only one that might still be alive out there was the water woman... and she was, I discovered, as I brought the dome down. Now that she was alone, however, I killed her easily. I had fled, yes, but I still won the battle in the end. As I always would. I was a predator, and prey did not simply kill their predator. That was not the natural order of things.
Was it then? After he slaughtered multiple people of a rank above him, even after he'd attempted to run? Was it then that he knew that he was more human than them? That they were truly beneath him? Kotai sighed in frustration, still lacking an snswer. When was it? The time he'd made himself a small battalion that took out eight Jonin while he worked on two more... that had to have been it.
Fourteen years after my birth Somehow, on my climb up the hierarchy within the Village of Sheep, I managed to get myself stuck in this situation. This stupid ******** mission. Espionage, of course. I had been stupid to accept the mission, being a newly ranked Jounin. Espionage was dangerous, and I discovered that quickly on my way back to my village. I was ambushed by an entire squadron of ten Jounin; the village I spied on knew of me, the Demon of the Ice, and knew that I was strong. They sent enough forces to be sure of my death. When I was surrounded by them, I knew I was ********. I knew it. But I also knew that I had been in situations like this before. And, like before, I would prevail.
I had made ice clones before, but this time, I needed to make more. Enough to be a decent force. I planted my feet in the ground, conjured a layer of ice on the field and then I just - I did it. Ice piled upon itself to form seven exact replicas of me, their eyes being the only thing devoid of my soul, instead replaced by ice. They didn't just stand there and await orders, either. They were intelligent, and they were powerful. Each raised a segment of a massive cylindrical wall of ice around us, and then slammed their fist into it, causing hundreds of shards of ice to shoot forwards and lacerate any Jounin that were too slow to get by. That fist was no act of strength; they were manipulating ice! They couldn't use jutsu, probably, but they could still do that much. Sure enough, as the shards faded, one Jounin sat bloodied and dying in its carnage. The battle was on.
Elements of all kind flew around the field. Taijutsu users zeroed in on my clones, however every time they managed to land a hit on a clone that was powerful enough for their destruction, it simply knocked away ice that made up the body and, after not too long, the ice had been reconstructed. Jounin after Jounin were falling, and nobody knew anymore who was the real me. I myself had two Jounin that I needed to take out, and it wasn't long before their throat was slit and their blood made my ice slicker. It was a quick and clean process, really. Not before long, all of them were dead and three of my ice clones still stood. I was a predator. I was human.
No, there was no speculation then. That wasn't when he knew, Kotai had been through this process enough during this meditation session that he could recognize that that time was just like any other. It was a time that stroked his ego. It was a time that reminded him that he was a predator. It was a time that reminded him who his prey was. Then when was it? When did he know? Perhaps it was when he killed two sages, still as a Jounin. It was recent enough that he could still hear their screams.
I had insurgents that were giving me trouble. Although my sister and I did my best to make the village happy so to keep this kind of thing from happening, there was always a rebel. Always somebody that thought they were in the right just because they were fighting the power. But they weren't. They thought they were more powerful than me, too, simply because I hadn't bothered to become a Sannin while I rose up to become a High Lord. It just didn't occur to me, I didn't need a silly rank to verify my abilities. Apparently two sages that were at the lead of a revolution thought differently. They thought that because I was still formally a Jounin, I stood no chance against two of them. How wrong they were.
Now, they walked alongside one another outside the village, having been outside it for a while as they planned their measures. They were heading towards the village again, planning to finally try and assassinate me. They were confident. They were sure. They were precautionary. They were arrogant. I, of course, caught wind of their plan as its seed was planted, and decided to take matter into my own hands. Currently, I was perched in a tree, watching with disinterest as they connived. What idiots. They had no idea that their deaths were near.
I leapt to the ground. Before they could react, I activated my supreme technique; the Forest of the Frost. As far as you could see, trees of ice sprang up, thick like oaks. Their roots extended above the ground, shiningly brilliant displays of diffraction. You couldn't see that far, to be honest, with an ice tree in the way, so it was hard to tell exactly how huge this forest of the frost was. All the two sages could see in that moment was me. I was everywhere. In ever thick oak of ice, there was me, staring at them, a face of boredom. Instantly, both blew a blaze at the trees, but they underestimated the durability of the trees and the fire just whipped around it. Again, they tried, this time with their strongest columns of inferno, and they managed to take out one tree each. But they did not harm me. I was in neither of the trees they destroyed.
If they had of just looked close - close enough to really see the features of each reflection- they'd notice that one of them was me, and that my features were 3d while the others were simply 2d. My rounded edges could be seen since I was in the trunk of the tree, while the others were simply reflected on the surface. But they didn't see. They were arrogant. I killed them quickly. And as I stepped out of my tree, their bodies strewn on their ground and their silly little rank meaningless, I laughed loud and hard. I was above the ranking that these people used. I was above these people - I was different. I knew it then. I was fully human, while they were less than human. That was when I knew.
Kotai opened his eyes and breathed soothingly. That was when he discovered he was different than human. Now the scientist-man would have his answer and Kotai would have his money that he could have easily just gotten through a tax. Whatever. Kotai let the ice retract into a layer of frost over his bed and walked out of his room to collect his ryo.
(Improv mission. 3025 words =75, 625 ryo)
|| The Facet of Frost || Jounin || Speed: 5(+2/-1) / Strength: 6(+2/-1) || 0 / ∞ Chakra || Ninteen Years Old || Themesong: Pushin Little Daisies||
City in Slumber
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Valentine Valtieri
Blessed Hunter
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:12 pm
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Ryutai Mizu| Watashi wa Ningen| Sage| Energy: 0/∞| Speed/Strength: 6/5
She waited for him, although she might've had better things to do, but wait for him she did. Her eyes had been closed for a time, but upon hearing the smallest creaking of an opening door, she looked more alive than her previously stoic face had shown. Ice-blue eyes revealed a world in the sharpest clarity, namely, the face of her older brother. Her eyes shone with a light similar to the smile that painted her ivory skin, only marred by bandages she applied every now and again to cover the scars of her training. The about-face she made to face Kotai cause darker-blue hair tied in twin-tails to whip about just as quickly, and although she was no faster than Kotai, she made an effort to surprise him since, out of anything in the world, she desired to see her brother smiling when the bloodshed of the day had passed.
Ryutai Mizu, the younger sibling of Kotai Mizu, was the second behind her older brother. While she was not referred to as a second, she knew that if it weren't for Kotai, neither one of them would've survived as long as they did. Her hands rested in her pockets, even though her sleeves were longer than her arms already, as her jacket was oversized, blue and white displaying prominently, as well as black from both her skirt, leggings, and shoes. Her hands were tied in bandages as well...although she had long since mastered many abilities, she was more reckless than her brother when it came to testing said abilities. She pushed them to their limits, and ultimately ended up slicing herself in some way, normally against some sharp object she failed to notice. It helped her learn her limits, but it was a harsh way to learn.
"Good afternoon, Brother. Have you already finished your meditations, or are you simply taking a break from them?" Ryutai's voice flowed smoothly, a wind-chime sound like her following laughter. It was soft, and subtle, but ultimately beautiful in practice if one were to listen to her speak and focus on her voice rather than her words. Her words, however, were carefully chosen and practiced, as if she had spoken the same lines one million times. She generally knew what she was saying, but at moments like these where she could mitigate the stress of the day, she took exponentially less time in choosing both words and actions. "I found time in between my own to bring you this. In terms of practicality, it has virtually no value, however..." Her words slowly faded in to background space as her speech drifted off. She wasted too many words explaining.
"I got this for you regardless." Ryutai's speech showed anxiety as she pulled her hand away from her pocket. Her hand was balled in to a tight fist, so only her bandages were visible, but when she unfolded her hand the gift was a very simple one. It was an engraved arm-band...sized with care specifically for Kotai. The measurements were painstakingly done, and while it was not bad looking band, it was of hand-made quality, thus the few extra scraps on Ryutai's hand that were not from training. With the amount of time and dedication she spent on one simple band, she could've woven a scarf, but she would rather make the best use of the fewest materials. "I was given the materials while I was assisting those who lived nearby. I used most of it already, but I had leftovers..." She explained cautiously.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:46 pm
Kotai's eyes, a deeper and darker blue than his sister's, betrayed a brief moment of surprise as he flinched with Ryutai's entrance. Dark bangs served to contrast pale skin, which lifted up as Kotai let out a rare, small grin. It was only his sister that made him smile... ever. Killing didn't do that - he wasn't a psychopath, he didn't get pleasure from the blood. It just gave him a sort of feeling of... assurance. Like slaying his enemies and those beneath him verified his existence. Evidence of his somewhat-frequent executions did not exist on his being. His skin was free of blemishes, his clothes free of tears. The white button-up kotai wore looked to be anything but standard ninja wear. Ironically, the shirt along with his flexible black pants lent him efficient flexibility for his fights.
"I am done with my meditations. A scientist of the village was intrigued by my memories, so I tried to study myself in them; however I discovered that my revelations can not be so easily found or forced out. They come with all other things; time and passivity." Kotai's voice was deep and stable, never betraying a stutter or misspoken word. It was authoritative and coldchillingicy, in a way that seemed to match everything else about him, predatory. His barely-detectable smile did not fade as his sister spoke, and in fact, might have grown just a bit. He looked down at what she'd made for him and felt an odd sense of gratuity. Normally, meaningless heirlooms and manifestations of relationships meant little to him; but not in the case of Ryutai. Ryutai was always the exception.
He took it from her nervous hand gently, his skin cold to the touch, and immediately slipped it onto his left forearm. Kotai examined it carefully on his arm and, even as he did so, frost began to creep along the armband, but it was restrained. He wanted the armband to be the warmest thing on his being, as well as the clearest; it would not be covered in ice. "It's wonderful, Sister. Thank you. I will never take it off until either it has deteriorated or my arm has." One thing Kotai never, ever did was show physical displays of affection. To anybody. Ever. Except Ryutai. She was the exception, of course, and so he embraced her gently. "Thank you."
Separating from the rare hug, Kotai smile faded. He could only break character for so long, after all. "Would you like to spend time with me today?"
|| The Facet of Frost || Jounin || Speed: 5(+2/-1) / Strength: 6(+2/-1) || 0 / ∞ Chakra || Ninteen Years Old || Themesong: Pushin Little Daisies||
Valentine Valtieri
City in Slumber
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Valentine Valtieri
Blessed Hunter
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:53 pm
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Ryutai Mizu| Watashi wa Ningen| Sage| Energy: 0/∞| Speed/Strength: 6/5
Ryutai was, internally at least, satisfied that she was able to get Kotai to crack a smile. He spoke of how he was searching for lost memories, and her cheerful demeanor, although already soft, seemed to be shrouded in grey clouds. "I see...it's a search that may never end, or perhaps we will end before everything comes to light. If they come to you on your own, there's nothing to do but wait. It's uncomfortable, though..." Kotai understood that waiting was all he could do at that point in time, but Ryutai didn't like it. She wasn't a fortune-teller, but an ill wind was blowing their way, and she felt that it would be far worse than when they were only children. Even then, she could feel satisfied, having come from nothing, and been brought in to everything through the work they had done. It meant something, at least.
Ryutai found herself enveloped in an entirely comforting hug from her brother, despite his cool nature. As she cared for him, so did he in return. Ryutai returned her hand to her pocket, vanishing it within the warm and comfortable jacket, and restraining the broad grin gracing her face. "I'm glad..." When they separated, Ryutai crossed one foot behind the other as Kotai asked his question. She could do naught but nod, her grin much smaller in comparison to before. "Gladly, I've finished the work of the day, so I'm almost entirely free save for a few minor objectives I've yet to accomplish." Very miniscule things...things that she could leave undone, but she wouldn't be satisfied if she did it like that.
She closed her eyes and imagined it for a moment...a shining light, but ultimately difficult to grasp. If fate deigned it so, however, she was take the very heaven's themselves by storm for the sake of her brother. He had been supporting her all this time, but now that they were both older, it was her turn to support him. For that reason, she had been searching for her own memories of the past. Things she hadn't forgotten...like things she had learned upon recalling how she fought for her own life all those times. Mistakes she'd made...things like that. For a brief moment, a ball of water with a white glow in the center floated next to her, but quickly vanished. It was things like that she was reminded of. The smallest wave turning in to a massive tsunami and such...a powerful, and beautiful thing. Upon opening her eyes, she did not drop her smile. "What were you planning?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 11:58 pm
"Well," Kotai walked past his sister and into the lavish hallways of the palace. Statues and sculptures as well as foreign paintings adorned the walls, wealthy nightstands and tables and the like standing here or there to hold another decoration. They passed a servant, working diligently on who knows what, as the siblings descended a spiraling staircase lined with a red carpet. "I grow tired of things working out so...well." It was hard to comprehend. "I would like to take a hiatus from the village, and of course I want you to come with me." Through twisting corridor after corridor, the two finally ended up in the first room that you walk in to when you step into the palace; effectively a throne room. Massive wooden doors trimmed with silver stood to allow entrance. In the room itself sat two thrones, side by side. One was made of ice; Kotai's.
Kotai stood in front of the thrones and eyed the two of them speculatively. "If you are to do so, we would leave Shingetsu in our place. I trust him well enough to maintain the village while we're gone." It seemed as if the young man was picturing what it would be like for another to sit on one of their thrones, even if just for a short period of times. He crinkled his nose in distaste and turned away. "My reason for leaving is this; I believe we are different from our subordinates not only in class but also genetic structure. I would like to find someone that is similar to us, and I have heard rumors of such people here or there about the country. I do not know how long we'd be gone, but I will not return until I have answers."
He strode through the room and pushed open the large doors. Sunlight intruded the room, glittering off his throne of ice and the luxurious metals and gems that dotted and lined everything. Kotai walked outside of the palace, down the marble steps, across the gravel beach, and right onto the pool of water that was outside of their home. He stood on the surface of water and looked over at Ryutai. "If we are to go on such a pilgrimage, we must be prepared for fighting." He suddenly paused and then chuckled, looking down at his reflection in the smooth oasis that he was perched upon. "What I mean is I must be sure you're ready. There's no questioning your ability, Ryutai. But there is some questioning in your will to utilizing it. If we are to be on our own again, for the first time in six years, we must know we can hold our own."
His shirt slid off as two buttons were pulled away. Kotai tossed it onto the shore and held his arms open. "I want you to attack me with intent to kill. That is, if you choose to go away with me." Of course, actual sparring between the siblings was difficult, since they could manipulate one another's work; sparring was usually more them learning how to cooperate, and work as one. But Kotai was still adamant. "Like I'm an enemy."
|| The Facet of Frost || Jounin || Speed: 5(+2/-1) / Strength: 6(+2/-1) || 0 / ∞ Chakra || Ninteen Years Old || Themesong: Pushin Little Daisies||
