The moon was full, filling the majority of the night sky in a picture-esque fashion. The skies were painted in multiple hues of blues and violets with the stars dotting the darkened skies to form a road, a highway in the heavens, for dreamers and gods to traverse. The night had the fragrance of cherry blossoms and running water, a sweet smell of ambrosia for the weary travelers. However, tonight, there were no travelers traversing the road of stars. On this night, the only person out was a beautiful black-haired woman wearing a pink dress and a white veil. Sparkles parted from the woman as she walked upon the surface of a crystal lake, reflecting the road of stars perfectly upon the surface, making it appear she was walking on the road of stars. Each footstep left ripples, disrupting the mirrored image of the way of light. Her veil flowed mystically behind her as she continued to walk along the surface of the lake, staring up at the majestic mirror hanging in the sky. She continued stepping across the lake until she reached a cave and within the cave were carvings and tapestries; a cave hidden from the rest of the world. There were torches lining the cavern and ancient stone reliefs and frescos lined the walls. The woman continued to walk until she found herself in front of a large rock with a seal placed upon it. The seal written said:</COLOR>
For those that enter,
Please heed this warning.
This is the domain of the dissenter,
The deceiver, the mourning.
By opening this door,
You will hear the dirge.
Behold the mighty roar,
You will release the scourge.
<COLOR color="gray">Please heed this warning.
This is the domain of the dissenter,
The deceiver, the mourning.
By opening this door,
You will hear the dirge.
Behold the mighty roar,
You will release the scourge.
The woman read the seal and slowly ran her fingers across the paper. She closed her eyes to feel the ancient texture of the document, moving her fingers between the paper talisman and the rock, noticing the stark difference between the two. Opening her eyes, she grabbed the sheet of paper and ripped it away from the stone. With a rumble, the stone shook and rolled to the side, allowing the outside air to rush in. A small smile came across the woman's face before she placed a small, soft hand upon the creatures face.
"It has been aeons, but now I have finally found you," she said to the creature.
Kaori's eyes opened, finding herself in a cold sweat. She was sitting in a tree several miles away from the village. She was out on another hunt, finding herself stuck in a tree in the middle of the night. The night was crisp and clean with a gentle breeze to sway the trees. The scent of water coming and the crack of thunder off in the distance foretold of a coming storm on-the-way. Kaori rushed her way down the trees as the storm came in quicker than she'd expect, pouring rain upon her. The rain came down so hard, it penetrated the canopy. Flashes of lightning was near blinding as Kaori tried to run to find a place for cover away from the rain. A bolt of lighting struck the ground near her, causing her hairs to stand up on end.
Instantly, a crack of thunder expanded the air around her acting like a concussive blast. The blast disoriented Kaori for a moment before she was able to shake it off and find herself at a clearing. Upon reaching the clearing, her heart started to race, beating like war-drums. Dread started to fill her body as the clearing was the same lake-clearing she saw on her dreams. However, unlike in her dream, it wasn't a majestically beautiful night but it was a bitter storm. Kaori stepped towards the edge of the lake and attempted to take a step into it only for a streak of lightning to strike the body of water. Instinct dictated she pull back her leg and run away. However, this storm isn't the kind of storm she might be able to live through and the only legitimate form of shelter was that cave she saw in her dream.
Taking a deep breath, she used what she recently learned about controlling her chakra and quickly skipped over the water. When she believed there would be a bolt of lightning striking the water, she'd jump up for the moment that the electricity struck before landing on her feet to continue her way towards the cave. After a few dodges of lightning, she jumped into the cave, landing on her face. She slid in and took a few moments to recover. There was heavy breathing from the spastic running she had to do, but she made it to the safety of the cave. Pulling herself up, she turned her head upwards to notice a large rock with a seal upon it.
"Just like the dream," she said to herself, reaching over towards it. As she reached over towards it, the image of the Dragon Statue from the Shrine appeared in her head, causing an intense amount of pain to her brain. She recoiled from the pain, placing a hand upon her head, crying out from it. After she recovered from the pain, she reached out once again only for the pain to be intensified, causing her nose to bleed. As much as she'd like to stop this pain from happening, it felt like something was calling to her to break open the seal. The fact that she had this dream only for her to find this place was far too convenient to be a coincidence. Something or someone had led her to this place.
The pain continued to grow and intensify until she reached out, grabbed the seal and tore it off. After the seal was torn off, the pain melted away and the door began to open. Air began to rush into the vacuum sealed chamber to reveal..
WC: 969
