Enlighten Me? [Private/Kagai]

[Hanone]

One could almost pretend there was no world outside of this cavern if you stayed here long enough. For the civilians living here, it was probably a nice idea. He'd heard a few of them more than once mention it.

"Ah, this little world of ours, if only it was the whole world!"

"The surface isn't safe. If only there was nothing else!"

Eiji wasn't from Suna, although he had lived here for over a decade, he wasn't used to the ceiling. In fact more often than not he found the place suffocating and if he wasn't careful, a little like a prison.

He missed the sun but probably more so, he missed the rain. He was born in a wet, foresty land. He had been raised in the trees from childhood to just before his pre-teen years. He had memories of climbing the Sakura trees with his sisters and trying to out-maneuver the pouring water drops. This dry cavern was stale and unnatural. He was certain within time everyone would be sensitive to the sun and end up bleached of all color.

In order to rid himself of these paranoid thoughts, Eiji often undertook missions that brought him up to the surface or out of the country. The latter happened much more infrequently but the opportunity to leave up to where the sun beat down on his skin was far more available. The more people stayed down here, the less they wanted to go up there. So be it.

However, as of the late, the missions where one could venture upward were scarce. Eiji hadn't been to the surface in almost two months and he was beginning to feel the affects. With a cloak wrapped tightly around his person, the lithe, short male had set out to find something of interest, something to pass the time and keep his mind occupied. He wasn't actually due to pick up another mission for a week.

[waiting for kagai]

 

[Kagai]

"Repent now, for the end times are swiftly approaching us, people of Sunagakure!" A loud, booming voice would say as he stood in the middle of a busy intersection of people...."Lord Kojin has seen the wickedness that lies in us...Which is why he created the whirling maelstrom outside that forced our forefathers down into the depths, closer to the pits of Hell. We must rise up, accept him into our lives and repent for the sins of our Fathers so that he may allow us to rise back up again into his good graces and cease living like vermin and worms, cowering underground!" He would continue. His body language and tone of voice showed actual belief in what he was saying, as if he was pleading the people as they walked past him to listen to his words.

"Our people strayed away from the true path...We must take it upon ourselves to correct our course, or it shall be our doom....The clock is ticking, my people. We will not last much longer down in the depths, away from the light of Kojin..." He breathed a heavy sigh. Most days he felt like he was getting to some people, others he felt like nothing he said or did made a difference. They seemed content in their ignorance of what was around them, content to live in the shadows like rats...."If I can change one....I can change many....Many can change a village, a village can change a nation, a nation can change the world..." He often had to repeat to himself in moments when he doubted his ability to save his people and this world from the wrath of Kojin.

He stood upon his pedestal, wearing his normal attire of a crimson-red and black stripped vest over a crimson red shirt and black slacks and shoes. His red hair was cascading over his orange/yellow hued eyes as he brushed it out of the way, pulling out a canteen of water to drink from as all of his yelling was causing his throat to become sore.

 

[Hanone]

Not very long into his venture, somewhere near the poorer parts of town, the small man's attention was pulled to a ranting man.. or maniac. He stood above the others passing by on a dais of some sort spewing out some dribble he was quite obviously passionate about. Not really intrigued, but in desperate need of some kind of attention grabber, Eiji stalled his walk and took up a space near the back of the other observers. The middle-aged woman before him wearing a dull green dress was chortling loudly and speaking in loud whispers to the even more unsightly woman beside her. They muttered about the heresy of people today and how no one seemed to remember Mother Suna.

Their talking was loud enough to interrupt his ability to hear the current string of words coming from the preacher. Annoyed with them, he pushed his arm between the two females then slide passed them, effectively pushing them to either side just a little. Both women looked as though he'd just slapped their mothers. He didn't care, what could they do about it? Nothing. With little more than an indignant huff, both women departed. It allowed Eiji to hear the man speaking loudly and passionately much better.

He stood there for quite some time, resting his weight on his right leg. Finally a pause came where the man sighed deeply. Some people left, shaking their heads, others lingered. Eiji stepped closer, his arms crossed over his chest. He was curious, if only slightly. As the man withdrew a container for a drink, Eiji interjected, "Don't we all deserve the doom that comes to us? How is your Kojin better than Mother Suna, the deity of this village, or Dinara, the sand god? What could your Kojin offer me that I should bow to him?"

There were so many gods. All of them were fabrications of the minds of fools, weaklings or children. This was Eiji's belief. He believed in no god.

 

[Kagai]

In most cases, Kagai got only a few people whom seemed relatively interested in what he had to say. He had no miracles to show them, only his words and his convictions. The common folk did bring up Mother Suna quite a bit. She was the typical higher power the people of Sunagakure prayed to, but she seems to have left them in their time of need. Kagai even prayed to her before he saw the light. She was the first he prayed to when he had gotten lost in the maelstrom, but the only one that answered him was lord Kojin, directing him home with a giant pillar of golden fire.

"Our forefathers may have deserved it, those of us born down here were and are ignorant to their transgressions, but that doesn't fully excuse us from their sins. While we still must face their punishment, we have the ability to be cleansed of their sins and rise back up into the glory and grace of Lord Kojin, the true light of redemption." Kagai would say...."Mother Suna, she and Dinara have done very little for those of this village. In fact, she and Dinara are the main reasons we were forced to flee from the sands above. Lord Kojin is the light of inspiration, he is the bringer of dreams and ideas. He brought us the fire within our souls, that drive that makes us want to become more than we are. He is a guiding light that will guide you on your true path! That is...if you choose to accept him anyways." Kagai would say. It seemed his audience was dwindling, and he was considering packing up for day and going home...."Oh well, perhaps I'll have better luck tomorrow."

He would step down from the pedestal and fold it up, giving a slight bow of his head towards the one who had asked him the questions. He, or she?, seemed to be the typical skeptic...."Can you actually look around and see this as an acceptable way to live?" Kagai would ask before walking away...."Even if there was the -slightest- hope of being able to live on top the surface once more...Wouldn't it be worth the risk?"

 

[Hanone]

What came form his mouth was the usual dribble of fanatics. Oh my god is better! He did this for us! Bullshit. Eiji couldn't help but scoff and sneer. He had heard these rants before. His own family had been religious, though their own deity wasn't known here in Suna. It was the goddess Soryana. Her 'physical form' was shown as a fat, bald woman with a single horn protruding out of the top of her skull and four spires extending from her two shoulder blades. The idea was she was responsible for all fertility and the protection of women and children. It was also in their religion that men were merely tools for a woman's pleasure, which explained why his family was matriarchal.

Regardless, deities were the foolish creation of men and a way for their creators to control their believers.

Yet as the man was walking away, seemingly giving up on his sermons for the day, his questions resonated true inside of him. This... way of life here wasn't suitable. Even though he hadn't been born here, in the 12 years as a Sunan citizen, he had found the underground living suited for the scared and dull witted. Had he known how terrible life was here, he might not have come. Now he was stuck here, sworn to this village with his blood. "You're right, you know." He said, letting a little pause pass between them before address the subject more thoroughly. "This place is stale, stagnant. The people here are cowards; afraid of the sun and air. I find nothing but paranoia everywhere we turn. This village needs to feel the heat again. It isn't an acceptable way to live."

Yet he cared so little for the others here. His own single connection here had died years ago and since then he hadn't found a reason to care beyond himself. He killed for duty and for pleasure. He ate because he needed to. He was a wandering, lost soul in a way. Not like this nutcase. No matter how crazy the idea of a god was to Eiji, at least the man probably had conviction and purpose.

Sighing darkly and crossing his arms, Eiji said, "The risk, however, isn't worth it. I wouldn't risk die for anyone else here."

 

[Kagai]

"I wouldn't ask anyone to die for anyone. That is not how my faith works." Kagai said as he halted his movements once more..."We are all responsible for ourselves, but the only way we are going to return to the good graces of Kojin is by working together and ascending the village back into the light. If that means that some people have to die....Well...You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. If 100, 1000, or even 10,000 people need to die in order for us and the rest of the village to reclaim that which is ours...So be it."

Kagai then smiled a bit..."At least you agree that the village's future must be on the surface. That is a start. In any case, hello, my name is Jenosaido Kagai. Whom might you be?" Kagai would ask, making sure to not be gender specific as he was still on the fence on if this person was female or male. Hopefully when this person introduced themselves, if they introduced themselves, the name would be some indicator of gender.[/size]

 

[Hanone]

This man was a lunatic, Eiji decided. Lord Kojin, another god. Another fake deity to bow and scrape to. He was done with deities. But getting the village to the surface, this was a good goal no matter what. The sun is where these people needed to be. This place was rotting.

"It's a pleasure, Jenosaido Kagai. I'm Motomori Eiji." Adn sadly for him, Eiji was a unisex name. It was almost more often than not used for females than males. However, a keen ear would take note of the beautiful man's voice. It was deeper than a woman's and had a slight gruffness to it that sounded off for the region. Eiji hadn't been born in Suna. In fact he'd spent the first half of his life in another region altogether and had gained a faint accent that sounded off to Sunans, though few could place what it was about his speaking voice that was different.

As was becoming customary to him, he withdrew a small bottle of sake from his pouch with two small cups. He poured himself one and one for the other. He offered it out to Kagai teetering on the ends of his long, lean yet masculine fingers. "I've been here for many years and never seen you. Is this preaching a new thing?"

 

[Kagai]

"About three years ago I had lost my way within the Maelstrom." Kagai said, as this Eiji asked him if this preaching thing was new. The memories came flooding back to him as it felt as if it were only yesterday...."I've been up there many times and I hadn't strayed far from my path, but far enough to lose my way for a couple days. I was on the brink of starvation and dehydration, so what I seen could arguably be called a delusion, but it felt real enough..A giant, brilliant pillar of golden flame appeared before him, clearing the maelstrom away before my very eyes and making the path clear to me. It spoke to me.." Kagai said, as his left hand fell upon his chest..."The voice of my Lord..I could hear him, and he told me that he has grown weary of man's ignorance and their blasphemous and heathenish beliefs. He said he had spared me a cruel death so that I may spread his word, bring light to the darkness, just as he had done for me."

Kagai made the story short or sweet. He didn't think Eiji would be interested in the whole ordeal. Most skeptics didn't think like he did, but that was alright, he knew what he felt...."Before I wasn't religious at all, if you can believe that. Just...something clicked." Kagai shrugged a bit, not entirely sure what else to say about it all..."I preach to those that will hear it, most choose not to hear it, but they'll all see someday. Kojin is forgiving, but not when he is blinded by rage."

 

[Hanone]

Well he could tell him what else needed to 'click', his brain.

Sighing, the lithe man brought up his hands to shrug nonchalantly. He didn't feel the need to offend the man by calling him nuts. So he settled with saying "Well, it's been a pleasure." he opened this mouth afterwards as if he was going to say something else, then thought differently and turned his back. He had better things to do. His mind was somewhat busy now with different thoughts that the cavern wasn't so daunting. His task was complete.

[topic left... xD this was a little awkward. I wasn't sure what to say so... we'll try again with another setting later.]