The Ancient was visibly distressed by the exhibition as the young woman ate her second child and the first refused to waken. He clasped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes tight.
"You monster!"<i></i> He cried. Ancients were not necessarily evil creatures but rather simply creatures that wanted to live and to love; they had dreams and ambitions and even fear much like humans did. And most of all they desired companionship and freedom, basic liberties so many take for granted and so many take from others without a second thought. He would calm...
eventually.
"If you think we humans can reproduce that fast, I am not the only one with things to learn. The world would be overpopulated with humans if that was the case but that was not my child. That was like a mirror image of me, a clone. One mind one set of thoughts, different bodies. A part of my energy that can't survive on it's own and needs to return at some point."
He was still traumatized. He shook his head in half disbelief. He believed she ate her young, having decided that she was a creature much like himself. She had the signs of a fellow Ancient, all less the aura. There was a hum, a song that she recognized. That was his aura, that melody that seemed to roll off him that presently sung a requiem. They bled their element, his sand that would drip from his wounds; hers blood much like her progeny.
"You gonna be alright Ancient-san? We don't work the same way so don't get too upset ne?"
He frowned,
"I'll be fine."<i></i> It was the truth, he was not disabled or crippled. He was a product of the first law and like so many others bound by it but he was also the sentimental sort comparatively but those are facets for an other day.
The Hashigaki would place the pair of scrolls into the grooves on the walls and she would hear an internalized click from deep within the wall or the frame. Her adventure would be for the most part non-incidental, at least comparatively. People needed to be malleable and this one was not, the exam was slanted as to encourage the labyrinth runner to devolve from whatever enlightened state they were at to the point of savagery. The callous loss of life for personal gains. The willingness to harm another for the sake of one's own promotion or indifference to their innocence. Humans and Ancients were at their core the same tired, petty and self-serving creatures, just in different packaging. Still there was blood and it was the blood sacrifice that Jashin desired and it was for that reason the threshold crumbled and the second scroll was afforded to the young Chuunin hopeful.
If she were to open the door she would note an open sky. The sun would be far from where it hung when she entered the maze but that would be far from the most curious fact. This stony patio with an altar in the center, etched into the face of the the stony surface was a circle with a triangle inside.
There was a paper left folded on the slab. It had commandments written on it simply:
- Suffering is pleasure, brings enlightenment and ensures paradise.
- Honor thy God in death, blood and sacrifice.
- Death is an eventuality.
There was a way to leave, it was simple enough. Scale the wall and depart this place. Still there was something of dire concern that the Chuunin hopeful was likely unfamiliar with the ritualistic bloodmagic of Jashinism. The purpose of this place was bizarre, what kind of examination has a basis in a forbidden religion to a dark god? A stone bowl on the floor,the implements here seem limited. This was not a place to rest but rather recruit and intuition was the only thing that would serve a visitor of this temple space. She was free in theory, free to leave with only the heavens to limit her.
If Kurokawa were to scale the building she would only see desert in every direction. She was in the badlands, somewhere far from the village. Even further than the Genin hopefuls who were hurled through space to the wilds only to find a sandworm. The sandworm had been felled by the group, a miraculous event and over the distant horizon Kurokawa would see the strange, curious felled beast perhaps two miles to the east over gently sloping hills. Sandworms were not small beasts, the size of buildings it was a mere earthen-hued speck in the distance. The Genins who surrounded this massive soon to be slain beast could not be seen from this distant vantage point. From here there would be no sound, no action or reaction. It was likely that Kurokawa expected something... well something
more at the end of this escapade. There was something, but not what she would have expected. Chuunins were different from the Genins who were basically being treated as fodder and the Jouinins who were being framed, the Medics who were being put out of the way and the ANBU who were supposed to play the role of 'Patient Zero.' The Chuunins were semi-trained but were not entirely indoctrinated yet,
malleable enough. Sadly, it would seem that the Daimyo's expectations were indeed lofty, he expected a larger turnout than just the pair.
Oh well... no loss and no gain except a recently released Earth Ancient. Pity the Rangers are long-dead.
Options:
- Something to potentially link you to Jashinism for the future if this is your cup of tea.
- You can 'see' (hear with sonar) the Genin Exam distantly -- the worm looks like a cylindrical stone in the distant horizon so obviously unnatural.