______________A r e a ... D e s c r i p t i o n || ____There's a dense, unsettling feeling that washes over those who enter the outskirts of Tsukihara Hana. The sheer amount of sprites and demons alike is overwhelming to say the least. It's easy to see the royal temple in the distance looking over all in its domain, the skies visibly shining down a hazy blue light. A storm cloud-like, dragon shaped entity rules the skies along with a similar creature seemingly made entirely out of a smoky substance, eternally swallowing each other like the ouroboros after a brief patrol of each outer region. It's not uncommon for fades to move indoors when the one of smoke finds its way back over the outskirts, as a wave of itself and ash will wash over the small village, leaving it scarred with a particular "burnt" scent. The snowfall looks more like gray plies of ash that decorate the tall grasses sprawling off of every beaten path, and each building appears to be barely surviving the harsh environment.
Sprites are both born and captured here, many elemental beings of cold spawning from the frozen lakes and ash-covered shrines. They're evaluated and prepped by the fades who catch them, then sent to Tsukihara Hana for a hidden use. The central city itself is settled atop an elevated platform with its own natural defenses, putting it in a position where both the air and ground are well defended, not to mention the vast amount of less than friendly forces within the area. The frozen lakes are largely populated and would otherwise present a clear path to the city, and one could say the same for the upwards mountain path near the outskirts. With oppressed sprites, savage fades, and other yokai of questionable morality, the area is a melting pot of both possibilities and demise.
______________P o i n t s ... O f ... I n t e r e s t || ____ • → ??? ____ • → ???
______________N e a r b y ... L o c a t i o n s || ____ • ??? ____ • ??? ____ • ???
______________K n o w nD e f e n s e s // D a n g e r s || ____ • ??? ____ • ??? ____ • ???
______________U n k n o w n D e f e n s e s // D a n g e r s || ____ • ??? ____ • ??? ____ • ???
______________R u l e s || ____ • Must enter through the hallowed path. .
Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2017 8:19 pm
_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||
→→ The beating of drums echoed rhythmically where once had been silence, and with it the atmosphere came alive with lust. Lust for blood, for power, for violence. Sprites, stressed beyond the point of consciousness, screeched before they fell before the hammering blows of the Fades, their cries of glee mixing with the screams of pain in a symphony of agony and mayhem. And it was to this that the three crystals, situated within a raised platform meant for art with the three tips holding each other up, began to crack. Lines spidered out from an unclear source, and worse there seemed to be none around to notice it. The area currently was bare, save the incessant noise of the spiritual factory that laid close by, but it did not mean there was no danger. No. Danger appeared in the shape of some art nearby, a dog with the head of a human emaciated beyond belief, who stayed pressed against the wall waiting for what it knew was coming. →→ Elsewhere in the land of Iron something had awoken: man. Something that had been absent for so long that the Fades, once known as Yokai, had almost forgotten its scent. The scent that drew them force, the scent that paused the torment of the enslaved and beleaguered Sprites. It was this scent that fed the beast's hunger, that kept it silent in horrendous, malicious gluttony. As the crystals cracked a long tongue slithered out of its human face, exposing that the mouth, somehow, seemed to be formed out of the forehead, with the eyes vertically spaced where the chin would be. Slathering, the beast pressed against the walls, and waited. →→ Waited as first one, then a second, crystal splintered and shattered, releasing two bodies unto the new world. →→ The call had rang out at last: dinner was served.
Hiraite-sama. Musunde-san. Musubi. My Liege. Soraru-kun. Raikage-dono. Several names comprised of countless voices, all who ever spoke those words to address him, all at once. A cacophony that both warmed and frightened him. Him? So many...who am I? Why do they need me right now? I'm just...trying to sleep. Faint whispers tugged at his heart, visions of a woman with eyes so blue, hair the envy of crows. But it was like a painting that was swirling in front of his eyes, the colors mixing together and forming something incomprehensible. Why...? she was so warm. No...come back. I'm sorry I left. It's selfish, but...please. Please don't slip away, Kaasan. She did, her form swirling on until it was nothing but assorted colors on a canvas. There was no way he could put it all back again. His hands couldn't even reach out for her, covered from head to toe in the crystal that took him from his old life. Memories flooded his mind, mixing in with his feeling of daze and that ever-fading voice that had recently guided him through the darkness. What kind of life did I lead...Did I never have any friends? No, that...what I had was... More shattered, unclear memories flowed through his mind. A family. Not one born of the Iron Country, but instead one that lived with him in Kumogakure. A child. His child. A wife? Possibly. Peace. Profound but hardly recognizable peace.
Warped, red flesh overcame such a vision, Fades tearing the innocent limb from limb, terrorizing the weak, challenging the strong. Musunde recognized every ghastly sight. Traditions trampled. Lives ended. Peace destroyed. Rage reared its ugly head, its glare breaking through the mountain of calm that he took pride in. An...urge overcame him. The need for vengeance. Musunde's wrath only blazed hotter when he thought of the man behind it all. Visions of his father's flag in his village. Not just that. Everything. Himself, what he longed for, anything he touched, despised, enjoyed. The thought of being a useless trophy mounted onto the fact that he couldn't currently move an inch of his body successfully turned the building blaze into an inferno. He came at just the right time. Played his cards right. Just like always, I was forced to follow his orders. Even as...even as the ******** Raikage, I... It was always his way. Words from an unfamiliar voice spoke to him, Musunde only barely able to make sense of what he heard in his fury. Something cracked; feeling in his arms returned.
Everything has changed, with reality becoming but a story, a place mixed with fantasy and future, a place where man has been absent far too long.
This world is now what you make of it.
I'm sorry.
He remembered the blade against his neck, digging into his flesh. Cutting deeper as more was stripped from him. The man's dark, focused brown eyes observing him like he were merely a test. From Takahiro's perspective, that was probably all too accurate. What frustrated him the most was that he wasn't able to even focus his resentment. Every thought was consumed by the rampaging, filthy demons that tarnished over all his people held dear. He was in hell. It wasn't that the demons and even his father had such a huge effect on him, No. It was the fact that he had no solace. His happier memories were all erased. There was nothing but lessons, pain, hardship...Why do I have to go through this...? I want to be nothing again... He pleaded at nobody, mind consumed even further by his lust for demon blood. Vengeance. The sorrow of loss, the pain of being unable to remember what was gone in the first place.
The complete shattering of crystal masked his dread-filled scream, his body suddenly jerking after in response to the touch of air on his skin. "I...what? Am I alive?" He was surprised at multiple things. His voice sounded higher...it was unfamiliar in comparison to what he was using to speak in his thoughts. "I'm kneeling. He realized, unsteadily going through the process of getting back up to his feet. He felt incredibly weak compared to his last moments as Raikage, but not so helpless that he couldn't move. This yukata is thick. I have a red scarf, and...this is karuta (card plate)? It has a nice, warm base and kusari aplenty. I'm even wearing a haori over it, and I still feel a chill. The design of this interior and the temperature narrows down where I've ended up...but I still wonder if I've seen this place in particular before. The shock of his apparent rebirth had rid him of some wrath, allowing his pensive tendencies to take over once more.
He wasn't able to take in much more information than that though. Not because there were no sights of interest, instead the problem was that the shock of everything was making his knees wobbly. Closing his eyes, he stopped and knelt over with hands on his knees, taking a moment to breathe. I can feel the weight of weapons at my hips. I don't even need to check that. There's so much more, but...I need a second. I'm still here...alive.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】
◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ Hold me close,and take me in. I'm losing it, lost again.⦊
【R O G U E⦁B U K I J U T S U - B L O O D L I N E⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ So maybe I fall, maybe I fail, maybe my heart's not made of stone. Maybe you'll see secrets I never want to show. ❞
[x] A sleep that wasn't sleep, I felt enclosed, trapped. Darkness as far as the eye could see, if I was in fact seeing at all. As much as I hated the dark, and the things that watched me from within it, where I was, I was safe for the moment. Wherever 'here' was. It wasn't the darkness I'd experienced when... when... what happened again? Resistant memories. A glimpse of fiery locks and then it was gone. That was a long time ago. Before Burust Stragaria, before Kumogakure. Thinking back on it, I couldn't remember much about my home.
A sound split the deafening silence, and light flooded through cracks in the nothingness around me, making me flinch. Then the darkness shattered, and I was released from asylum. My eyes snapped open as I dropped to my knees.
The cold registered first, both under my legs and in the air itself, while my vision attempted to adjust to the sudden light. The chill made the lungs that were used to warm air--or had I even been breathing a moment ago?--sting, a sharpness that traveled up my sinuses and behind my eyes, making them water. I gasped unintentionally from it, although it was gone an instant later, but it shook me awake enough that my thoughts were clearing up, the thick fog giving way to both memory and awareness.
I'd been with the Stragari. The cold shouldn't be anything unusual. They thrived in it, and I'd stayed with them long enough to become accustomed to it. Wait, no. Kumogakure. The plans for the generators. Leaving to negotiate with Kirigakure for the crystal that lay under the village. And then...? Then... a spectral being with clocks for eyes? I was half convinced that part was a dream, but not a lot fazed me anymore. Not after watching a country become engulfed in flames and the world throw itself into war. The ghost was just as likely to have been real. Regardless, then I was here. But where was here? I vaguely recalled hearing a voice to my side. That voice was just as vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place-- "Soraru?" My gaze settled on the younger male, and if the confusion of waking wasn't enough, his appearance added to it. The last time I'd seen him was during his time as Raikage. Before he disappeared. He was only about a year younger than myself, if that. But now he looked like he was in his teens again, maybe even younger than he had been when we first met during my own 'reign', if one could call it that.
Time... clocks. There was a rumor of a creature that could reverse someone's age, but no one had lived to tell the tale. Clocks for eyes.
"s**t."
Although only two words had come out of my mouth, I'd noticed the first time I'd spoken. Gruff from lack of use maybe, but not from age. I looked down at my hands, but they were covered, so that didn't help. Still, I was wearing my old attire, from when I still lived in Kumogakure. At least it provided some protection against the cold. Uchigatana at the right hip, and two wakizashi at the left. A bag by my side with a bow resting atop it. Weapons accounted for, I finally pushed myself up to my feet.
A sharp pain shot through my left leg and shoulder, and I dug my fingers into the flesh at my shoulder in an effort to relax the muscles. I could feel the scar there and briefly I doubted again the age reversal. But the lack of bulk from years of training, and my attire told a different story. It seemed that, despite being reduced to--what, mid-teens?--some of the more severe injuries I'd attained through the years remained. Apparently something things ascended time. Or some greater being wanted to spite me. The question was, though, just how far had I been sent back? From what little we knew of the curse, the age limit was around sixteen. Or, at least, that was the oldest that had been found before physical contact shattered the chrysalises. My guess was that I'd been reduced to around, if not, sixteen, given my build. Still lanky but filling out.
Someone was watching us. Or something. My gaze snapped up to find... I'm not entirely sure what. A dog, thin as a rail, with a human head, but the features of its face weren't where they were supposed to be. If it weren't for the shadow it cast from the light filtering in, I would have thought it was a painting on the wall. It didn't even twitch as I stared at it, but I could feel it watching me. I swept around the rest of the room, hand falling from my shoulder to one of the hilts at my side. The only other notable feature of the building we evidently inhabited, aside from a third chrysalis was a large hole that looked to be blown into the far wall, pale light flooding in from what looked like... snow? Beyond it, I could hear the pounding of what sounded like drums. It had been there since we emerged from the crystal but I hadn't really been aware of it until that moment. If whatever was striking those drums had anything to do with the dog-thing watching us, we weren't safe there. I glanced at Soraru again. He didn't look to be faring quite as well as I was, or at the very least, he was still in shock. Unfortunately, I didn't believe we had the pleasantries of standing around there until he could recover. "Oi, pull yourself together. We're not alone."
❝ But I can’t help it. I’m not superhuman. I’m breaking. Don’t let me fall apart. ❞
Counter | 01 / 200
Techniques Used: ☁ ☁ ☁
Current Objectives: ☁ Survive
Items of Note: ☁
Tenshuyami
┏ ┃☁ e x p | 0000 ┃☁ r y o | 0000 ┃☁ c h a k r a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ s t a m i n a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ t r a n c e | 5 / 5 ┃☁ m o o d | confused ┃☁ h e a l t h | fine ┃☁ i n j u r i e s | left shoulder & hip acting up [ 01 / 20 ] ┗
The crystal was perched atop a pedastal as though something precious - be it in wealth or worship was unknown to it. When the crystal cracked, the sound was light - the tingling of chimes as small fractures made a gentle rain on to the floor. Another crack - like metal snapping this time - and the wooden floor below fractures as well. At the third instance, a few chunks of the translucent prism are rejected from their home in a spray you could describe as 'violent,' before the entire thing splits like a log under the force of an axe - the membrane barely holds its prisoner for fraction of a moment before fabric and flesh follow the sharp, jagged shards down, down to the floor...
A silent gasp as the sharp bite of tiny cuts and the broken equilibrium of falling pierces the mind - the long lost prisoner is awake and free.
Green eyes snap open in shock, thin limbs scrambling to haul the body upright and inward, away from the panic-inducing sensations. The long, heavy material of their clothes catch and drag the crystals, pliant and soft from the warm blood and heated skin - an anomoly when considering the incredulity of the situation, not to mention the location of where this was all taking place. Pale hands reach up and brush the hair out of delicate features - and reveal the soft look of panic and confusion they held.
Honō Hokori froze on the spot as he recognised his surroundings as - as being completely unrecognisable. His lithe frame is hunched in tight, unwittingly perched atop the shattered base of his crystal prison. The matching grey and blue set of haori and hakama were sprawled out around him in their excess of material, but did little in preventing the cold from creeping through the folds and layers, and was already beginning to counter his body's warmth to turn the soft cotton stiff.
This wasn't a familiar location, and Honō had no idea how he had gotten here in the first place. His head barely moves as moss-coloured eyes dart about, panic getting in the way of properly assessing this situation. He tried to think - tried to find a reason in his memories as to why he had ended up here. Was it... was it a mission? The silver-haired male cringed in pain and his hands moved to hide his face, cover the downward pull of his mouth, the small wrinkle on the bridge of his nose. He tried to think - tried to remember, but all it brought was a sharp pain in the back of his skull and flashes of -
Large, muscled - brick and morter at their feet but no fear - only comfort. Warmth...
A lean body, tanned, wild eyes and calm words and respect... and
Eyes as blue and as distant as the sky but so much... support? An anchor but...
A small shiver racks his frame but he makes no noise - has not made any apart from his anguished breathing. He hasn't turned, can feel eyes upon him - and oh does he know what the weight of a gaze feels like on his shoulders - but he has not looked behind him. Fears too much movement will trigger an attack, a cruelty, a reprimand, everything and anything. The beating of the drums outside were taken as the hammering of his own heart - their energetic beat doing very little in terms of calming the young male down.
A large frame - not hovering over, but close - not overshadowing but bolstering. A deep voice, low, rough and a recollection of how there was a lacking of ennunciation but the description of gentleman was still appropriate. And the voice said: "Be calm. Think ahead. You're stronger than you know."
"We're not alone." Honō's head jerks back, wide eyes locking on to the source of the familiar voice - but the sight was... different? Honō leans forwards onto his knees, finally spotting the two other occupants of the room -
"You're - ah" A soft gasp and a hand flys to Honō's mouth. That wasn't... that wasn't his voice - was it?! He looks down to himself - to his hands to himself. This wasn't right - this is not right! He was young - too young...!
A rattling breath, and his body is trembling - he knows he needs to just calm down if he's going to get out of this but his heart is racing and his mind has stopped. Without even realising it, Honō's chakra has flared around him - black limps ending in clawed fingers flicker to life as his own hands clamp down on the damp skin of the back of his neck. The incorperal limbs shudder and crowd around him, flimsy in their apparitions due to the lack of focus in their intent. A half dozen anorexically-thin arms spawn from around his entire body, holding themselves aloft in a shivering coccoon.
"Calm," Honō mouths the word but does not speak it. "Calm. Calm. Calm." He repeats the mantra, focusing on his mantra while forcing his mind to go through what sensations he could physically feel, from toes to cranium, to better anchor his mind to the here. To the now. "Calm, three, two, one." He mouthed. "Breathe, three, two, one."
Honō was free of the crystal prison, but now also freely available to danger...
_____Soraru || →→ The cold that wafted from the entrance is warm to your face, a cold memory that caresses your flesh as one would a transient lover long overdue for their visit. A kiss upon your flesh, no more, but enough to show you that this was, indeed, the home of your past. The cold stone beneath his palms was rough, in some places clearly broken, but rounded from age and a great amount of wind. The wind howling within the confines of the building reach your ears, and given the strange, hollow quality, it would well be possible to assume that you are in a large building. The noise, and how it echoes, strikes a chord within your memory, but only as a strand that has fell out of place more than a revelation. A shiver down your spine as senses that were barely a fraction of what they used to be tell you that something is near, but then, that could have been the drums. The drums that, in your history, you know to be beating the Bloody Harvest, a ritual of sorts that involves selecting, and catching, prey for food. →→ Whether that meant anything at the moment, and whether or not this alarms you, remains to be seen. _____Kaileer || →→ The clattering of crystals nearby, the tinkling of the finer pieces spraying upon the stone floor reaches your ears as you stand ready, eyes scanning for enemies. A familiar face with eyes more white than should be humanly natural stares at you, the reek of panic clear without hyper-sensitive senses. Panic, and alarm, as could be inferred from the rapid inhalations and their cousins revealed. The wind outside howls with a rising fury, whistling from the many holes and curves within the architecture, yet even still the screams and uproarious merriment from the distance could be heard. It seemed a party was in order, and a rather boisterous one at that. →→ The clicking of stone on stone came from a portion of the room where it seemed the wall was slowly, over eons, crumbling, and at its base lay a human sized skeleton wrapped in dark, black armor of Samurai make. Other than the statue, Hono, and Soraru, nothing else stood out about this barren, desolate place to you. _____Hono || →→ Fear, panic, emotions that reach to the very basis of humanity rush through you with heat that scours you from the inside. Yet with each breath new sensations come to you, from the cool wind that might well remind you of the very highest of mountains in Kumogakure to the taste of brimstone upon your tongue. Ash, burning, heat, the taste and scents of your old fire pits come back to you as you experience it, though it is recognizably stronger than a single workshop would ever allow. _____Everyone || →→ The sounds from outside begin to dim, though the "why" of it is for the moment obscured. Yet, too, the light begins to dim, and with it the howling of the wind rises, lowers, and then vanishes.
"Oi, pull yourself together. We're not alone." That voice couldn't have been more familiar to the now young samurai. "Right. Sorry." With that simple response, he lifted his body to stand up tall. Kaileer wasn't wrong for telling him to recover faster, the drums became more prominent in his memory while the haze in his mind began to clear. While he still couldn't put a finger on where exactly the building was in the Iron Country or if they were in the capital, he knew that the architecture and temperature were staples of Tetsu no Kuni, but interiors were difficult to place. Those drums...I don't think it'll take longer to find out. We'll have to leave this place soon. Wait...wait... Soraru took a moment to try and listen to the pattern of the drums, trying to place exactly what that rhythm was in his memory. Before he could grasp it, the familiar sound of crystal cracking and shattering reached his ears. Allowing his eyes to partake in his curiosity, he looked over to see a face that he could consider familiar, but not overwhelmingly so. I feel like that'll be a common occurrence for a while. Still, I should watch out for crystals like these. Who knows how many others are waking up out there?
Things were slowly beginning to click in his still-groggy mind. The pedestal, the drums, the prominent ache in his head whenever he tried to recall things further, though he knew that he had to. Cold winds continued to lick at his skin, namely whatever wasn't being covered by his clothing. In the fading moments that led to that wind dying down along with the ever-familiar sound of pounding drums, things finally pieced themselves together. He didn't panic. Musunde never panicked unless the situation was much more urgent, which was saying something given the circumstances. His eyes began to scan out the room, abruptly stopping among "contact" with a strange visage. Pressed up against the wall, looking as if it was going to slump over at any moment from deprivation. It didn't move an inch. While thinking it was a statue would've been a fine assumption for most, it wasn't for him. That was for a simple reason. When it came to spirits or fades alike, the people of Tetsu no Kuni did not immortalize the yokai. Majestic paintings of spirits or sprites that aided people in dire times of need existed, but never a statue of such a monstrosity. A strange look overcame his features then while his eyes closed. Regret? Dread? It was solemn but lasted for just a moment before it was distorted by his words, like ripples on the surface of a lake. "Both of you. If you see something of interest in here, handle it fast. We don't have time to take it easy. If those drums were meant to greet us, then it's...bad. I don't know what we'll walk outside to see, but it's not the Tetsu no Kuni I remember."
Yes. Mad. The world outside as you knew it is gone. How long.....is new. Everything has....becoming but a story, a place...where man has been absent far too long. You will face...without laws, rules, or care for your safety and well-being. The voice faded in his memories as the moments passed, the very tone sounding as if it was coming from someone speaking into a vacuum. Still, he was able to piece together enough to believe that anything outside wasn't going to be their friend.The cities were not savage lands. They would never sound for the bloody harvest within populated walls, that was saved for the hunting parties off in the wilds. Both solidifying his resolve and preparing for the worst, Musunde drew his blade from its place on his hip, the weight of a katana in his hand more familiar to him than anything else he'd encountered so far...still. Almost hesitantly, he looked down to see something that filled him with despair, though he tried to keep himself together at least for the moment. Suwari...you're no longer with me. Have you moved on? Are you out there, waiting for me? That's all fine, just please...please exist still, in this world. Even if you do so in a million pieces, I'll put you together. I swear it. It would've been foolish for most people to care for a weapon to that extent. After all, weapons were all about practicality. Using what was optimal in the moment, getting rid of the old in favor of the new. That particular blade, on the other hand, held a piece of his soul, both figuratively and literally.
The light dimmed further in the room, and cold dread ate at him, sending shivers up his spine. "When you both are ready, let me know and I'll try to make an exit. For now, I'm going to investigate this...thing over here, I'll be quick." Finishing his words, he stepped forwards and off of the pedestal. The weight of his body and taking steps after so long both attributed to a strange sensation, though he still walked towards his objective. His blade was lowered in a back grip so that the blunt end ran parallel up his arm, entering a casual stance that could be considered both passive and aggressive depending on the position of the body. Still, his form was relaxed as he approached the strange presence in the room, the one that had been staring at them for so long. This thing really is an abomination. I...can't say that I want it to exist, but I should check out what it is first.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ Hold me close,and take me in. I'm losing it, lost again.⦊ 【R O G U E⦁B U K I J U T S U - B L O O D L I N E⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ So maybe I fall, maybe I fail, maybe my heart's not made of stone. Maybe you'll see secrets I never want to show. ❞
[x] Soraru responded immediately to my warning, but no sooner had he done so that the sound of glass shattering, not unlike what I heard upon emerging from the crystal, resounded behind us. My grip tightened on the hilt of my blade as I whirled to face the source, only to find... another familiar face. Recognition showed in his own eyes, but when he spoke he immediately clamped his hadn't over his mouth. His expression shifted from confusion to panic as black chakra manifested around him in the form of clawed hands as he withdrew into himself in an effort to calm down.
Soraru behind me, while not disinterested in our third companion, had his attention elsewhere, as told by asking us to look around. He confirmed that we were in Tetsu no Kuni, though how I'd gotten there was beyond me, and his tone told how little he wanted to be there. While I knew next to nothing about his past or where he came from, I could only imagine if he was captured and dragged back to the Iron Country even as a kage that he would have preferred to wake up anywhere else. What made it worse is that things had clearly changed. I knew very little about the curse before I was taken by it, but I could only assume some time had passed if the greatest city of the Iron Country was reduced to something Soraru feared.
He was right though. We needed to get away from there.
I turned my attention back to the huddled form and moved around in front of him, squatting down so that I was level with him. My leg protested by I ignored it in favor of making sure the boy was alright. "Honō," I said softly to draw his attention. Although his hair had changed, long pale hair falling about him rather than the short cropped I recalled, the face was similar to when he'd first into what was, at the time, my office. How could I forget, after we'd gone through so much on our journey to Burust Stragaria. The battle that ensued there, and losing a dear friend despite it. I didn't see the Hari boy again until I returned to Kumogakure years later to help with the plans to take to the skies. Around the same time I reconvened with Soraru, actually. Which was coincidentally close to when the former Raikage went missing.
Wincing slightly, I shifted my weight, resting one knee on the cold ground. Damn. I assumed it was acting up because of lack of movement, but it was still as inconvenient as even.
"Honō, focus on me," I tried again, placing my hands carefully on his shoulders, hoping to anchor the boy to where we were. "I know this is confusing, but we need to get away from here." Releasing him again in case it worsened his panic, I pushed myself backwards into a crouch before standing fully and held out a hand to help him up, if he wanted it. Regardless, I glanced around for Soraru and found him examining the weird dog statue I'd felt watching us. It still hadn't moved but the feeling couldn't be shaken.
The drums and howling wind from beyond the 'entrance' dimmed along with the light all of a sudden, drawing my attention to the hole in the wall. It could have been cloud coverage, but that didn't explain the fading sounds. A prickle of paranoia shot up the back of my neck. Experience told me something blocked the sound from reaching us, and given the size of the hole, I was afraid it might be something big. This wasn't going to help calm Honō down in the least. I held a hand out towards him in hopes of keeping him calm, and drew my blade with the other. It wasn't the sword I was used to, heavier and basic, but as long as it had an edge it would work fine. Even if I did feel weak. "Stick with Soraru," I told Honō, and looked toward Soraru again. "If you're gonna give us another exit, try not to draw too much attention. I'll scout out the main entrance and meet up with you two in a minute."
Without waiting for them, I dropped into a crouch once more and hurried toward the hole, swinging around to the side of it to avoid being seen by anything that might be standing beyond. Thankfully, I was more or less accustomed to the side effects of my old injuries, so I could move well enough for the moment, even if it hurt. Reaching the wall to the left of the entrance, I carefully peeked out to the world beyond.
❝ But I can’t help it. I’m not superhuman. I’m breaking. Don’t let me fall apart. ❞
Counter | 02 / 200
Techniques Used: ☁ ☁ ☁
Current Objectives: ☁ Survive
Items of Note: ☁
Tenshuyami
BlackFruity
┏ ┃☁ e x p | 0000 ┃☁ r y o | 0000 ┃☁ c h a k r a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ s t a m i n a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ t r a n c e | 5 / 5 ┃☁ m o o d | confused ┃☁ h e a l t h | fine ┃☁ i n j u r i e s | left shoulder & hip acting up [ 02 / 20 ] ┗
Ħonō breathed - three-two-one-in - quickly at first - three-two-one-out but it also served to bring in the cold three-two-one-in bite of the mountain air - home - and the thick three-two-one-out throat-coating layer of smoke and soot - three, two, one, in - so familiar to the Worker. Home. Honō's body relaxed; shoulders slumping down - three, two, one, out - slightly from their hard edge and elbows no-longer tucked in so tight. Wood smoke. But tinted - three, two, one, in - with a charcoal old and overused. Not cleaned out. Or too burned in. Like the forge he had spent so many - Three. Two. One. Out. - many years of his life in. Hadn't he? A genjutsu, his mind suddenly supplied. A panicked throw of trying to rationalise this completely irrational - Three. Two. One. In. - situation.
Three. Honō mouthed the words, pale, thin lips dryly forming the numbers that he had become so intimate with in appeasing the anxiety always so tightly coiled in his chest and mind. Two. Honō wasn't aware of the black chakra materialising around him, and they were fluttering, failing when a soft voice spoke to him ;
"Honō," it said, and the chakra flared - thicker and darker in its revival, a contradiction to the normal 'bright' association of this mystical energy source. Moss-green eyes snapped open, startled, and the count down was never finished as instead the shock snapped up his spine and the kind, selfless words offered to Honō was lost in shame and embarrasment as he realised what he was doing - what he was revealing - in front of other people. With an ashen complexion, Honō hastily disperses the clawed hands that were reaching out towards Kaileer with a wave of his own arm, the hanging material of his haori's sleeve battering and dispelling the accumulation of energy like it was smoke.
But even in seeing such an offensive sight, Kaileer appeared disinterested in the ugly, clawed, limbs, and more focused on him. And Honō felt so much gratitude for that simple act. After a second of hesitation - and the flash of fear anxiety brought him at the thought that Kaileer's kind hand of comraderie was actually a means to knock Honō back down, like his tainted person deserved, and he'd be left in this strange land on his own. To die. - Honō reached up and placed his hand into Kaileer's care, and the Hari caln member was pulled up to his feet for the first ti- Raikage Kaileer sama is taller than me.
Honō swayed on his feet, the crystals at their feet still tinkling their gentle chime from being dragged around and disturbed by the Hari's clothes being moved over them and some shards even falling free from the folds of the fabric as well.
Raikage Kaileer sama is taller than me.
Honō blinked, looking up at Raikage Kaileer sama is taller than me.
"Y-yes," Honō whispers, shaken and shaking, though it could only be really seen in his hands, as the many layers of his haori and hakama hide his trembling joints. "Raikage Kaileer." That was really his voice? And he hasn't been this short since he was fourteen...
'You're better than you know.' He heard the voice, and Honō breathed out, heavy, long, and silent. Green eyes swept down, taking in the floor and the littering of gemstone. One hand, pale and criss-crossed with paper-thin scars, plucks a small fragment from the tie of his hakama and quietly steps over its broken siblings on his way to the samurai. Honō looks up - and feels himself shrink back at the sight of the... statue.
He can do this. He has done this. Why was it so different now? Perhaps because everything was just... different. None of this was familiar. No stable ground for him to plant his feet on. They didn't even look the same! - Focus! Honō tried to settle himself, and he pockets the shard as he reaches behind himself, to his lower back, for the handle of the hunting - green eyes wide, Honō's head tucks down as he unsheathes the blade strapped to his waist to find a simple Kodachi there instead of the treasured, and very much loved, N'rillian - Wanryoku's hunting knife. In the soft rustle of the Hari clan member's clothing, Honō turns on the spot and hurridly returns to the broken crystal, kodachi in hand. Without a word, Honō walks around the pedastal, eyes frantically searching around the spot he woke up in. Oh no, he thought. I'm so sorry, Wan... Honō whispers without realising.
→→ Soraru's approach did not go unnoticed, nor unrewarded, though perhaps in a rather unappreciated manner. At his cautious approach the scent of death wafted up from the direction of the "statue", the fetid reek of rotting flesh a thick miasma that left a cloying layer within the lungs of those who inhaled it. It was only as he was within thirty feet of the frozen figure that it's the tongue retracted into the orifice upon its face and the center of the human-like structure split, revealing a much larger, animal-like mouth filled with fangs and withered flesh. It was from this that it spoke, the upper mouth spreading into an open mouthed grin."Stay thy hand and approach, prince of rust," rasped the creature, its voice unused for so many years that speaking seemed difficult at best, painful at worst."If death be my inclination thou would be bereft of life already." Its head swung to the side, towards Kaileer, where a shadow separate from the former Raikage's was sliding towards him from behind and to the left. "Best to worry about that which hungers in the shadows, though." →→ A screech erupted from behind Kaileer as the shadow rose up into the hideous visage of what could have once been a man now flayed and with its head attached in the strangest of places: in a concave where the thing's ribs had been pried apart, embedded in the direct center where the heart must have beat once. The arms were enormously thick, ropy with vein and sinew that writhed as it clenched its arms, a disturbing sight given its lack of flesh. Where the head should have rested was a long, black tentacle with a strange network of eyes and smaller worm-like appendages along its length which whipped back and forth in agitation. The head in the ribcage, its eyes stitched shut with barbed wire, opened its mouth inhumanly wide and bellowed forth another screech before lunging forward, aiming to engulf the smaller target within its waiting grasp.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ Hold me close,and take me in. I'm losing it, lost again.⦊ 【R O G U E⦁B U K I J U T S U - B L O O D L I N E⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ So maybe I fall, maybe I fail, maybe my heart's not made of stone. Maybe you'll see secrets I never want to show. ❞
[x] Nothing but falling snow and bitter wind revealed itself to me beyond the entrance, anything else that might have been in the area having followed the drums maybe. Even if there had been something else, the screech that split the air behind me and sent a chill up my spine was a more immediate threat. I spun to face the source, settling the katana in my grip into both hands. Yet again I was met with a sight I wasn't sure what to make of. The body of a man was stretched open with his head implanted in his chest. A black tentacle covered in eyes and smaller tendrils made its perch where the head should have been. Overall, a grotesque sight that I didn't have much time to think about as it lunged at me, trying to grab with the massive arms it bore.
I jerked backward in an effort to let the thing stumble, but that just put me out in the open of the hole to the world beyond the building we'd woken in. If I could lead it away, that would give the other two more time to escape. Ideally. But this thing had appeared out of nowhere; there was no guarantee more wouldn't show up. Not to mention depending on how deep the snow was, movement would be difficult. I wasn't exactly as well equipped for the situation as I might have been back with the Stragari.
"Tch..." I didn't really have a choice but to lead it away. Regardless of how hard I tried, almost non of the countless maneuvers or techniques I'd learned over the years came back to me. I could still wield the weapon in my hands, but not with any sort of finesse. And the one technique I could recall would leave me disoriented for too long to risk using. It would be best to leave that until I needed to get away from this... thing. Maybe I could at the very least get a hit on it to slow it down.
As close to the wall as I was, dodge outside, into the snow, and around to the outer side of the same wall was easy enough, assuming the thing followed me instead of just breaking through the wall or something. I had no way to judge its intelligence, or if it even had intelligence. Its actions seemed more instinctual than thought out. Still, assuming it followed me through the entrance, the second it came into view I would lash at its legs, intent on cutting deep, if not hamstringing it. Whether or not it worked, I took off the opposite direction as quickly as the snow and my aching limbs would allow me. This wasn't what I had planned for, but I could always find the other two later. Assuming I made it that long. [1/3 Katana]
❝ But I can’t help it. I’m not superhuman. I’m breaking. Don’t let me fall apart. ❞
Counter | 03 / 200
Techniques Used: ☁ E-rank unnamed cut to the legs ☁ ☁
Current Objectives: ☁ Survive
Items of Note: ☁
┏ ┃☁ e x p | 0000 ┃☁ r y o | 0000 ┃☁ c h a k r a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ s t a m i n a | 095 / 100 [-5] ┃☁ t r a n c e | 5 / 5 ┃☁ m o o d | confused ┃☁ h e a l t h | fine ┃☁ i n j u r i e s | left shoulder & hip acting up [ 03 / 20 ] ┗
→→ The cracking of ice as the beast bore down on Kaileer would alert him to its approach an instant before it came into view. The blade lashed out, biting into the tendons that kept the leg mobile and maneuverable. With a roar it stumbled, falling to the snow and scattering the frozen moisture in a spray. It didn't move at first, instead tensing, the muscles and flesh coiling as if in pain. And the wounds began to knit themselves together, the wounds seeming to stitch themselves with new flesh, new sinew, before completely healing over. A crunch, a crack, and the limbs were whole and hale once more. Growling, a low rumble that bellowed from the head in its chest, it threw its head back and bent its spine, roaring its defiance to the heavens, before it devolved into an inhuman screech as the body liquefied into darkness, dropping into itself and into a shadowy stain upon the snow. →→ And then that, too, moved. →→ After Kaileer it shot, this time the ghostly, inhuman wailing echoing from behind him as if from a great distance, but the threat was very much close; personal. Ahead of Kaileer another building loomed, for it was clear he was in some sort of town, or city, for he was running down a path marked with archaic benches and street lights. Beyond a cross in the path could be seen, allowing him to continue forward, or move to the left or right, with a large apartment-like structure to the left and forward, and a multi-tiered vehicle port catty corner to it.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ Hold me close,and take me in. I'm losing it, lost again.⦊ 【R O G U E⦁B U K I J U T S U - B L O O D L I N E⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ So maybe I fall, maybe I fail, maybe my heart's not made of stone. Maybe you'll see secrets I never want to show. ❞
[x] I don't know what made me look back as I ran when the thing shrieked, but I nearly tripped as I watched the monster melt into darkness, a dark stain on the white snow. I thought maybe the white cold had done something to it, but that wasn't my luck. The black puddle shot after me instead. "s**t...!" I hissed for the second time since I'd woken up a few minutes before, and turned on my heels once more, sprinting as I tried to at least maintain the distance between us. I couldn't exactly tell how fast it was moving.
Other buildings loomed ahead, offering what could have been either a haven or hell given my experience. The city was clearly devoid of humans, and had been for decades by the looks of the remains. In the meanwhile, monsters occupied the streets, taking over the ruins in whatever way they viewed their own society. Evidently it wasn't dedicated to rebuilding the place.
The building closest to myself looked like some sort of office building or apartment. Plenty of places to hide, but no guarantee it wasn't inhabited. Still it was the best option I had of losing my tail. In its normal form, it was too large to fit comfortably through the doorways. And with the less than adequate structural integrity... well I may be able to use that to my advantage, assuming it didn't turn against me. There was also the option of a car port. Vehicles weren't too common before I was taken, but it was possible other places had more of them. Especially larger cities.
I didn't have much time to make a decision and settled for the apartment building. The front doors, made of glass, were long shattered, jagged edges threatening to catch the unwary. I hated the thought of having to slow down, but didn't have a choice as I reached the set of doors. Turning sideways, I slipped through the opening, ducking beneath a piece that hung particularly low, and I was inside. The lobby was dark, the only light provided by a gray sky and white snow outside of a series of windows along one wall. No power whatsoever ran to the building; any emergency lights burnt out long ago, which didn't help the situation. But if I stopped moving, the thing would catch up. I headed down the hall to the left and kept going until I found a door with the faded symbol for stairs. With a bit of a shove, the door opened and I headed up.
I grabbed the door to the second floor as I passed it in case it tracked by scent, and took a good jump to avoid the bottom few stairs leading up in hopes of throwing it off. Up on the third floor, I was forced to try each door to see if any were unlocked before I finally found one about halfway down the hall that was slightly ajar, and it was this room that I slipped into, shutting the door a gently as possible and flipping the lock. Not that it would provide much resistance but... maybe. Maybe I'd get lucky and it would get bored. Leaning against the wall, I fought to catch my breath as quickly as I could. Most of the muscles on the left side of my body screamed, making the normally steady grip on my blade tremble more than I liked.
Calming my breathing after several deep breaths, I pressed myself fully against the wall beside the entrance, listened, and waited.
❝ But I can’t help it. I’m not superhuman. I’m breaking. Don’t let me fall apart. ❞
Counter | 04 / 200
Techniques Used: ☁ ☁ ☁
Current Objectives: ☁ Survive
Items of Note: ☁
Tenshuyami
BlackFruity
┏ ┃☁ e x p | 0000 ┃☁ r y o | 0000 ┃☁ c h a k r a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ s t a m i n a | 100 / 100 [+5] ┃☁ t r a n c e | 5 / 5 ┃☁ m o o d | confused ┃☁ h e a l t h | fine ┃☁ i n j u r i e s | left shoulder & hip acting up [ 04 / 20 ] ┗
tab Howling from the wind served as the only sound for minutes as you stand against the wall, waiting. The world around you is dead, leaving only the snow and the elements as company in this sad, desecrated place. As you wait in silence, spine rigid and body coiled for danger, a shuffling comes from behind you. Rapid, with a followup of noise resembling inhalation of breath. The scent of the room reaches his nostrils, bringing with it a miasma of stale air, dust, and potentially soil, though why rich soil would be anywhere within this room wasn't obvious.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ Hold me close,and take me in. I'm losing it, lost again.⦊ 【R O G U E⦁B U K I J U T S U - B L O O D L I N E⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ So maybe I fall, maybe I fail, maybe my heart's not made of stone. Maybe you'll see secrets I never want to show. ❞
[x] Nothing but silence greeted me, except for the howling wind from outside as it blew through an open window somewhere and down the corridor. As I stood there, I became acutely aware of the cold of the air, the stinging of my cheeks and my unprotected fingers, the ache that was setting into my whole body as it cooled down from my rapid escape. I needed to find a way to warm up soon or I'd face freezing. I was out of the worst of the cold of the blistering storm outside, but I had no way of judging if it was going to get worse or better, and this shell of a building hadn't seen power in a very long time, providing little in the way of warmth.
Because of the quiet, only able to rely on my ears to pick up the first sign of danger, the shuffling that came from behind me didn't go unnoticed. The creature had already proven to rise up from an otherwise empty room, so it appearing behind me wouldn't have surprised me; that didn't change my alarm, however. And I spun around to face behind me, settling both hands on the hilt of my katana once more.
The blade met only air, nothing standing behind me threatening to swallow me with its chest-mouth. All that the room bore was a decrepit pile of wood and cloth, from which I was certain the shifting had come from. It was followed by a sharp inhalation of air. I scarcely breathed myself waiting for either whatever was there with me to move or the door behind me to burst open. But the few breaths I did take brought the smell of rot and earth to my nose. Listening again briefly to the hallway beyond the room, I hissed barely above a whisper at the presence in the pile, "Show yourself."
❝ But I can’t help it. I’m not superhuman. I’m breaking. Don’t let me fall apart. ❞
Counter | 05 / 200
Techniques Used: ☁ ☁ ☁
Current Objectives: ☁ Survive
Items of Note: ☁
Lanfaer
┏ ┃☁ e x p | 0000 ┃☁ r y o | 0000 ┃☁ c h a k r a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ s t a m i n a | 100 / 100 ┃☁ t r a n c e | 5 / 5 ┃☁ m o o d | focused ┃☁ h e a l t h | fine ┃☁ i n j u r i e s | left shoulder & hip acting up [ 05 / 20 ] ┗
