A Rat in a Cage

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Spoiler

Sadako didn't know how much time had passed since she had been captured, the woman bound, gagged, and blinded since she had been stuffed into the large vase like container. Her prison was made out of a chakra neutralizing material, and her arms and legs were tied together, not necessarily the most comfortable position to be in. Of course her captors, these 'ANBU', didn't care about that. Despite the losses they had received in the attempt they finally managed to subdue the 'Boogeyman' of Naiyo, the terror that had sent the small fishing village into a panic. They were bringing her back now, to justice they said, and from the muffled words she strained to overhear it sounded like they were a getting closer to their destination. The trial would be a joke, who would defend her after all? Hanging was perhaps the fate for her, or perhaps silently dispatched by an assassin. Despite that she felt no fear, calm ever since they had put her there, so silent that sometimes the men stopped to make sure that she hadn't somehow found a way to kill herself. Why should she be afraid? There were only two ways this would end: with either her managing to free herself and kill everyone, or they would take her life to make her pay for her deeds. Free herself? Of course, she had never counted out the possibility, her addled mind going over dozens of plans over and over, fingers continuing to dig at her restraints.

 

[Honma Kotone]

Word had caught wind that her sibling, another child of the Seven Kings, had been captured by some Anbu of an undisclosed village. She, and the captured girl, were but the remaining vessels of which the Makeoshimi hope lay within. You see, Koho and Sadako were the 3rd and 4th children to their respective kings, and thus the final of the original Seven children. The other five had, unfortunately, been captured and killed during their murderous exploits in whatever, undisclosed, location that they found themselves in. And in a big way, each death caused the siblings pain and heartache, which would only further their murderous intent. So when word caught up to the 3rd daughter, she made haste to the coordinates past onto her via an undisclosed operative of the Makoshimi empire.

The day was boiling and unpleasant, especially if one just happened to be wearing a red Victorian dress, just like the one Koho was wearing. The seamless effort that she put in to walking around with it latched onto her body would make envious women wiggle their lips. The tail of her dress disturbed the yellow grains as her pale face reached over the sand dune, setting sights on a moving carriage which, presumably, held her sister. The woman respected family, she sort of 'loved' her family, if ever the monster could feel such a thing. But when they were all young, all of the Seven princes and princesses, they were raised together as a family and trained together; it was inevitable that they would all form some kind of special bond.

She approached the carriage, masking her relatively horrible cold exterior, with that of a falsely portrayed expression of dehydration and exhaustion. "Golly gosh..." Koho would exclaim as she loosened her footing, and purposefully, fell from the top of the sand dune till she reached the bottom: till she reached the carriage. Sadako would hear the commotion but would she able to realize that the fated person here to help her escape was none other than her sister from long ago?

"I'm so parched... Do you have any water to spare?" She would inquire, lifting her perfectly sculpted face from the ground and offering up the men a pleaful smile.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Spoiler

Sadako began to nod off, weariness starting to gnaw at her mind once more. There was little else she could do in her predicament outside of sleeping and thinking, her eyes fluttering behind the cover over them. Her head snapped up as the carriage suddenly stopped, muffled whispers floating all around her container. There was a voice, distinctly feminine, which caused her to put her ear as hard as she could on the wall of the vessel, her body shaking as excitement gripped it. She had no idea what was happening but...well...SOMETHING was happening, and that's more than what she could say about the last couple of days. She strained to hear them, the walls frustratingly thick, twisting her body to place as much of her ear on that surface.

-----

The leader of the group would signal for the carriage to stop, narrowing his eyes as he spotted a figure tumbling down the sand dune. A woman, clad in incredibly impractical clothes for the dessert, asking for water. Was she lost? What would she be doing out here? While her appearance was unassuming he knew that he couldn't be too careful. Their squad, once ten men strong was now down to just four, and he didn't want to risk any more casualties. He motioned towards one of his men, giving him a nod to approach the woman and offer his canteen, a glance given to the others to be ready to fight in case this was a trap.

 

[Honma Kotone]

"Thank you..." Koho would say politely, something rare for her to do even if she was faking it, as she clutched at the canteen. The flask lip would cork open and the pale-faced woman would gurgle down the water, convincingly. After emptying the contents, she would notion the flask back to the man who had handed it to she. What the man did after that was up to him, it didn't matter, because at any way you looked at this situation Koho was going to be leaving with her trophy in tact. These men were weakened, perhaps exhausted and fatigued by the gloomy prospect that they had funerals to arrange and more of a distance to travel before they could let go of their personalized nightmare. Almost immediately, the 3rd would draw out her blackened blade from beneath the grains of sand.

The iconic handle, which incorporated a snake comfortably wrapping around the owners hand, revealed that this blade was her own: Kosodoro. Koho, at that moment, wondered whether Sadako had kept her sword, since most, if not all, of the children were gifted with the ancestry of Nanjirou. Their blades were guardians to them, and more so: friends. The leader of the group would notice the sudden appearance of such a dark object, when compared to the background and foreground of golden sands, and would call out to his comrade. But it was too late and the man was slashed with Kosodoro, for even if he lived, the poison would have taken effect and corrupted his body and, without treatment, would have surely died a more painful death. "I am parched but just not for water." She would smile gleefully, although her smile was fully contested with malice and obvious darkness.

The gowned woman would turn to the remaining three men, one of whom was a group leader, possibly of captain rank. In that moment, Koho focused her energy into her feet and allowed for body, for a moment, to turn lighter than air; her gown mattered not to this illogical change in properties. She raised the sword to her face, before launching her attack, and pressed the blade just a few inches away from her face almost like a fencer would do before entering into battle. "Reap, Kosodoro." Using her momentum, Koho would push forward and almost like a body flicker technique, would dart ominously towards one man, piercing his flesh in a matter of milliseconds. Of course, this was a killer, and such a death wouldn't be given lighter, no, in fact what Koho had just done was she had purposefully stabbed his loyal blade into the Anbu's chest, cutting into the values of the heart, which would slowly choke the man to death on the inside.

The second remaining man was dispatched out of pity, a simple configuration that resulted in a crisscross slash across his chest was enough to end his existence. And all that remained was the captain, or group leader, but Koho wasn't going to deal with him, oh no, that privilege belonged to Sadako; her caged up sister. However, so shocked was the man at the dispatch of his men, he dared not move. The 3rd raised her blade and shook its body at the man, as if to say 'don't move' but with an sinister smile taking pleasure from his fear.

She would gingerly move away from the man and over to the carriage, taking the relevant keys from the relevant corpse, until she had the right one. Or whatever. Regardless, Koho undid the seal on the door and released a beast more unstable than her. "Sadako... You allowed yourself to get captured? How embarrassing..."

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Sadako's heart began to beat harder in her chest as she heard combat, death cries and the rending of flesh, her ear turning red as she squished it against the side so she could hear everything. Soon the sounds would die down save for footsteps, the jingling of keys, and the sound that she thought she would never hear again: the lid of her prison opening. Then came that voice, as sweet as the heavens, the girl writhing in glee. It was her. It was Koho.

Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho.
Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho.
Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho.
Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho. Koho.

Hands would help her to her feet and awkwardly remove her from her prison, the girl tumbling to the ground. Sand, beautiful sand, she didn't think she would miss something so unpleasant. And air! Fresh air! She almost hyperventilated as she tried to fill her lungs with as much of it as she could. She could feel Koho getting to work, undoing the bindings on her feet and hands, her mouth ungagged and that blindfold being ripped off her face. With her help Sadako would shakily get to her feet, the world a blur, her head feeling so heavy as it swung around to try and focus on her savior. "Koho..." She would gasp as she finally met caught sight of her, cracked lips turning up into a smile. Hands would move to gently caress the woman's cheeks, moving forward to press herself against her. "Water..." She would whisper, and once the woman brought her some she would drink her feel, the water spilling out the corners of her mouth before raising the canteen, letting the cool liquid splash on her face.

"Ooooh....yesss.... She would cackle as she shook her head, feeling so refreshed as she looked towards Koho. Now, at long last, the 3rd and the 4th were reunited, the last of the Makeoshimi children. Sadako would be a mess, sweaty and clad in just a white tanktop and her underwear, her clothes confiscated by the men. Her fair skin was bruised and cut, not just from the fight with the ANBU but from the beatings they gave her afterwards until they got all their aggression out. Despite her injuries and weariness she had a bright, happy smile on her face as she looked at her sibling, slowly licking the inside of her right cheek in thought. "You came for me. I thought you would've...but then you did it..." She would sigh happily as she approached her once more, stopping in her tracks as the figure behind her charged at them.

"You murderer!" The ANBU captain would scream as he swung his sword at Sadako, seeking to get retribution for the men who lost their lives because of her. Despite her ordeal she managed to dodge the attack, grabbing his arm and hurtling him down on his back. A barefoot would slam down on his ribs as she held his arm out, in one move she would break his wrist, another would break his elbow, and a sharp pull would dislocate his shoulder. Kicking him away the man would writhe on the floor, screaming in pain as he held his useless limb. Sadako would watch him for a moment, smiling before her eyes lit up. "Oh! Now where...where is it?" The woman would ask the air as she moved to the carriage, humming to herself as she rummaged through it. An excited squeal could be heard as she pulled out a wooden box, smashing it open against the side of the carriage before retrieving it's contents. A black handle of a blade, holding it up as if it were an artifact. A flick of the wrist and the blade would flip out and lock in place, the steel stained with dried blood. 'Kuchisake', her beloved weapon, the girl pressing her forehead against the flat of the blade, closing her eyes as in prayer.

"Koho...I'll be just a few minutes...." She would say as she turned and began to advance on the ANBU captain, flicking that blade in and out of it's sheathe. "Hey...hey, no need to get up. I wanna show you something. I wanna show you how I used this 'murder weapon'...no, I insist...just...just relax...." As the captain struggled to his feet the woman would tackle him to the ground, her eyes blazing with life as her mouth split into a cruel, ecstatic smile. That blade would be raised and brought down on the man. Again and again, the sounds of carnage mixing with her giggling, satiating a lust that had been brewing within her for days, not stopping in her assault until Koho would decide to call her off.

 

[Honma Kotone]

Truly Sadako was not bound by the extraordinary depths of her insanity, for she had long since past the line and was now something entirely blood-thirsty. Although, there really was no difference between the two women - both were nurtured by evil, and now, were all but physical manifestations of that feeling and a notion. A notion of sheer Ecstasy when engaged in combat, when taking someone's life, and cutting down foe after foe all for the grand scheme of things: to unite the world under the Makeoshimi banner. "Drink up, sister." After undoing her shackles, rubbing her wrists and ankles gently, the stone-faced woman would give her companion a moment to quench her thirst. But there was something else between the two at that moment, something churned up by Koho internally.

As previously stated, all of the children grew up together, indeed they were a family like no other having only each other during the grueling sessions, as they received no contact with their mothers or fathers. Koho was furious, livid to see her sister in such a state, although the punishment that the group leader was going to be given would satisfy her thirst for revenge. "Of course I came for you but I am still disappointed that you got caught..." She would admit casually, holding back on her rage as she only allowed for her composure to be broken in the worst of times.

And then it revealed itself, Kuchisake, the bloodied weapon that had bonded with Sadako just like Kosodoro had done with Koho. It was a blade on par with that of her own, a cruel thing that really loved to take lives and carve through molds of flesh and muscle. Her sister, to delighted at the prospect of murder, rushed in for the kill; pummeling her blade against the captain's chest numerous times. "Oh, this does bring back some very fond memories of our childhood." She would wipe a tear, yes a mother-fucking tear, from her eye as she watched the marvel of her sister stab, stab, stab and stab another few times into the man's chest.

Just when you thought the madness was over, the ring of Kosodoro's blade could be heard, as it sliced once to cleanly remove the head from the body of a member of the Anbu squad. She would do this with the two remaining bodies, hiking the heads into a grasp, using their locks to hold firm a strong hold. Koho would lazily drop the heads onto the sands, kick them into place like some king of cobbled gravestone, and shake her head with displeasure. "Remove the head of that one, Sadako, and add it to the pile."

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

The bastards had never gave her a chance to clean her blade, that dried blood dulling the edge and making it much harder to stab the captain with. Her hand would force his head down as he struggled, straddling his waist and she slammed that blade into his chest again and again, and after 2 dozen or so the fight would begin to leave his body. Even when he was dead she wouldn't let up, the woman like a demon as she tore into him, only stopping when she heard Koho call out to her. "H-huh?" She would ask as she pulled her blade out, looking back at the woman, her face and chest soaked with the man's blood. As she saw the gathered heads she would nod, smiling as she turned to work on her newest kill. It wasn't easy, Kuchisake made to stab and slash rather than butchering, but she had more than enough practice that soon she would be standing with the man's head in her hands, moving over to her sibling and dropping it into a pile. She would become silent as she looked down at them, the moment feeling so surreal to her. A moment hadn't passed since she had been captured that she didn't think about killing them, and now the deed was done and her freedom ensured once more. Slowly she would look over at Koho, those eyes of hers filled with adoration for the woman, a sincere smile spreading on her lips. Slowly she would move to press herself against her side, resting her head on her shoulder as she looked down at their work. "There were ten of them. That guy...that guy wanted to take me in alive. Wanted me to stand trial...can you believe that?" She would begin to laugh, pointing at the head of the Captain. "I told him I was going to kill him, you know? And he laughed it off...told me I was going to rot! And now...and now he...YOU'RE THE ONE ROTTING!" She would yell as she fell to her hands and knees, her face inches from the decapitated head as she began to hurl expletives at it. Her explosive tirade would go on for a few minutes, ending when she ran out of breath, gasping hard for air as she slowly sat back on her heels covering her face with her hands and staining it with the blood of the man she had killed.

"...oh! I need some clothes, I can't just walk around like this!" She would laugh as she looked up at Koho, any sign of her aggression now gone. Getting back on her feet she would go among the headless corpses, taking another canteen to wash her hands, face, and her weapon as best as she could. "I didn't mean to get caught! I really didn't! They found me where I was staying at and ambushed me. They stabbed me with something...p-poison? It made my head feel cloudy and my legs wobbly. C-can you believe that? I thought shinobi were honorable! They weren't playing fair at all!" She would complain much like a child would about another child cheating at a game, moving now to see which of the ANBU were closest to her size before disrobing them. "After I stabbed four of them I could barely hold Kuchisake, so I had to strangle the fifth with my hands, and the sixth I had to use my teeth. It was so exhausting!" She would sigh as she pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt over her tank top, the black clothing common enough that they wouldn't give away they fact that they once belonged to ANBU. "B-but it all worked out, right? Because now you're here...and...and...c-can I stay with you?" She would ask as she snapped the blade of her weapon back into the hilt and hid it in one of the boots she had taken for herself, moving to approach Koho once more, biting her lower lip nervously as if the woman would actually deny her.

 

[Honma Kotone]

Koho watched in admiration at her sibling as she hacked and chewed her blade, Kuchisake, against the limp sack of flesh. Once the blonde had finished the deed, finalizing the captain's death, she moved the head over to the pile and rested her head against Koho's shoulder. The 3rd would smile, gingerly turning her head to see a small portion of Sadako's head, mainly her hair, before her sharp blues focused back on the monument of death. She would listen to her sister as the words poured out from her mouth, which was now moist and succulent, and kept on with her story of how the captain had teased her about rotting and so forth.

For all intensive purposes, it felt like Koho - as unstable and unpredictable as she was - had more of a control over her rage and blood thirst. The other siblings, unfortunately, couldn't possibly contain their lust for violence and this impeccable, eternally-driven goal, to cause death and destruction: to instigate war for the masses and to produce profits for the Makeoshimi empire. Koho, although she didn't effectively display it, was actually quite relieved to have obtained her sister's safety. As before mentioned, the children were raised together, and thus bonded with each other to such a pedigree. They were promised to be all reunited, one day, if their goal was fulfilled. A lie that could never even be kept... especially now that most of the siblings were killed in action.

"It is okay, Sadako." Koho would add politely, stroking her hand against her sister's with an unnaturally gentle touch.

Koho was now asked a question, a defining moment for the two women, if Sadako could stay with Koho? The 3rd was by law the elder and now responsible siblings for those under her rank, the 3rd. "You can accompany me on my journey, and in return we shall look after each other." She would say, stepping away from the girl and moving towards the carriage, "In a few days, I'll be leaving for Kirigakure and I want you to accompany me." Koho, would disappear into the carriage for a good few minutes, only to return with a crate of relatively normal looking clothes. Sadako could customize to her discretion, go wild so to speak.

"Get suited and well leave for the Village. You'll have to be on your best behavior for the next few days until we are able to rendezvous with my suitors."

Koho... had part of her family back, a piece of normality; a small piece of eden. She would await for the girl's change in appearance before setting off to the Maw.

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[Kiriyama Sadako]

Sadako's smile would grow even more, looking very unnatural thanks to the scars that lined her cheeks, giving her an appearance similar to a Cheshire cat. Outside of violence and chaos there wasn't much for the woman to live for, and even with someone as damaged a psyche like her can feel lonely sometimes. The other children had been the closest thing to family that she ever had, and now that Koho was the only one left it made her an even more important figure in her life. The woman made no attempt to hide her affection for her, giddy at the thought of traveling with her sibling. "Kirigakure?" she would ask as she knelt down next to the box and began to rummage through it. The clothes she took from the corpses, though a little baggy, would be more than enough for her. There was a few missing pieces however, and she would find it at the bottom. In a plastic bag would be the clothes she wore when she got captured, and tearing the bag open she would retrieve her violet long coat and a matching pair of gloves. Putting them on she would stand back up, feeling a little more complete. "Don't worry, Koho! I'll be good, I'll be better than good! You won't have to...s-suitor? Suitors?" She would ask in bewilderment as she followed the woman.

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