Open I promise, I'm not a creep

[Chikara]

”That was the last of them.” I wave goodbye to another follower and turn to the earth golem that had been following me all day. I no longer need him and so I dismiss him and he disappears, as all creations do when you cease to fuel them with your chakra. For a moment I contemplate where they go when they’re sent away, but then I remember that they’re not really living beings and begin to walk away. I had just spent the day delivering goods to the members of the Tadashii who didn’t stay in the temple with the rest of the order. It wasn’t a requirement, though it did cut down on traveling through the ruins for those who weren’t strong enough to fend off the lawless people that now resided there. When I took over the Tadashii I thought I may create a new temple of worship on the surface with the rest of the new village, but there wasn’t much room above ground for all the living quarters our old temple had.

I toss the idea away and return my attention to my surroundings. It’s another average day, and as usual there are other citizens traveling through the residential zone. Some are probably on their way home, leaving to start a shift at work, or some of the children may be on their way to the academy. It’s still early in the morning, and the sun has just begun to rise over the apartments, giving light and warmth to the area. I watch the sun’s crowning for a moment and sigh before placing the hood of my robe over my head and closing up the front flaps to conceal the rest of my body. My robes were the standard white robes worn by many of the Tadashii, so it would be obvious I was apart of the order, but I’m also the only leader of said order. I generally tried not to draw too much attention to my identity if possible because I know that not everyone around the village has good thoughts about the Tadashii.

I begin to whistle to myself as I make my way through the streets, passing several people along the way. I said hello to a few of the passerby but a lot of them are too busy to even notice me. Then I find myself being called out some random, young shinobi who recognize my robe and heterochromia eyes. They don’t seem too pleased by my appearance in their part of town, knowing that the Faita family have their own mansion in the diamond district. I prefer to stay in the temple personally, as most of the Faita clan are of Sunaku lineage and I don’t share their gift of the sands since my blood was crossed with the Yamazaki. They earned their wealth by helping to build the village, and rebuild it when it was moved above ground, and they shared that wealth with me and the Tadashii. However, I had done nothing with my life so far except allow my mother to be killed and be unable to do anything about it.

It seems as if the young ones want to challenge me so instead I leap quickly to the roof of the homes and speed away to an empty roof over looking a large courtyard. I find a place to sit down on the edge with the bottom of my boots flush with the side of the building and looked down at the children playing some sort of sport-ball. I wasn’t allowed to have that kind of childhood; for me it was all ‘study, study, study’ and ‘train, train, train’ and so I enjoy watching the children play on occasion. I know that the life I lead won’t allow me to have children of my own, but on occasion I find myself imagining it anyway. The thought that I would ever find someone to have children with made me laugh to myself.

 

[Kazu]

Kazu was on his way to the Morning Market — his favorite shop that sold all the hard-to-find ingredients he was used to from growing up near Sora — to buy some groceries for dinner that evening, when he spied a group of young kids giving an older man a taste of their stink eye. The way they jeered at him, displaying their contempt openly in an almost flaunting manner, put a scowl on Kazu’s face. He had grown up under a very strict set of morals, and respecting one’s elders was near top of that list. It’s none of my business, he thought at first. I shouldn’t get involved. The man hardly seemed to notice their discontent, and left them quite alone; but the way the kids laughed as he walked away, celebrating their “victory” as if they had stood up to some mighty evil in the world, really rubbed Kazu the wrong way. Someone needs to teach these miscreants some manners.

Calmly, Kazu approached the group — there were about three of them, no more than a year or two older than himself — and fixed them a look with his crimson red eyes. One by one, they ceased their laughter and turned to face the young charcoal haired boy staring them down.

”You got a problem, kid?” He seemed to be the “leader” of the group. Kazu smiled at him.

”Oh, me? No, no problems.” He shifted his eyes between the members of the group, staring each one in the eye, as they considered him. He wore a simple white t-shirt and baggy, yet comfortable, black shorts along with a pair of beige sandals — simple clothes that didn’t really fit his scrappy attitude. They would have noted the thick black markings underneath his eyes, however; a birthmark, as far as Kazu could tell, that really made his eyes pop. ”Who was that guy you were staring down? The man in the white coat?”

”Just some guy sticking his nose in places it doesn’t belong.” The kid narrowed his eyes, looking down his nose at Kazu. It took every ounce of willpower Kazu had to not punch him in the face right then and there. ”You a friend of his? Did you come all the way down from that pretty little mansion up there to grace us with your presence, little lord?” The group snickered at that “sick burn” the kid had made. From the sly grin on his face, Kazu guessed he thought he was hot shit. ”Why don’t you just go run on back to the Diamond District, before you get hurt? Wouldn’t want you to trip on your delicate little toes, yeah?”

Oh man, if only they weren’t too coward to do something. If they would just punch first…

”Never met him. Never been to this ‘Diamond District,’ either. But I’ll tell you something…” Kazu’s grin was still there, and it had grown wider. The leader kid didn’t back down, but a couple of the other kids seemed to be getting a little nervous. Maybe they’re not all as dumb as they look? Tauntingly, Kazu gestured for the chief-moron to come a little closer — he had a secret he wanted to share. Snarling, the kid took one step towards Kazu before he felt the scruff of his shirt grabbed and was yanked forward; Kazu held the kid tightly with his left hand, while his right palm — held merely inches away from the fool’s face — produced a sharp pointed bone that threatened to pierce straight into the kid’s fleshy skin if it extended outwards any more. The look of horror on his face almost made Kazu giggle. ”…I’ll tell you…I know a sniveling punk when I see one.” Leaning closer, to whisper just in this kid’s ear, he simultaneously fixed a deathly stare at the other kids who stood there frozen in place. ”Careful, now. Wouldn’t want you to trip and hurt yourself, yeah?”

Kazu let go of the kid’s shirt and merely watched as he scurried backwards, colliding with his friends, before the lot of them turned tail to run away. Satisfied, Kazu turned the other way and began to search again for the tall man in white. He’d seen the man hop onto the tops of the buildings nearby, then scurried off in that same direction. While he couldn’t quite make the leap in one jump like the man had, it didn’t take Kazu long to climb up walls with a little assistance from some chakra-enabled footing. Scanning the rooftops, Kazu managed to spot a man sitting down all on his own — that white coat practically marked him.

Approaching the man from behind, Kazu called out before getting too close in order to announce his presence. ”Hey! Mind if I join you?” The white cloaked man might find it odd to see a kid half his age up here as well, but the gentle smile on his face looked genuine — mostly because it was. Should he permit it, Kazu would join the man in sitting by the roof’s edge. If not, Kazu would merely stand his ground and continue.

”Can I ask you something?” It was hardly a question, since Kazu kept on without waiting for the man’s permission. ”Those kids back there — why didn’t you do anything to them? They deserved it, but you just…ignored them. Why?”

 

[Ryu Hime]

Standing up to these troublesome students might not have been that bad of an idea, considering they really did need an attitude adjustment. However bringing one of these miscreants down a peg only leads to misery for others. Kazu actions served to make them angry, but he proved to be too strong. However kids like these tend to take out there frustration on others. They target those they find as easy prey and pick on them to make themselves feel better. Ren was just unfortunate enough to cross their path and the leader recognized her from the academy. The leader had a scar across this read cheek and he grabs Ren by the shoulder and pushes her to the ground with ease. “Kids that play with toys don’t belong in the academy.” The leader laughs and he’s pals laugh with him eager to get started. Ren was starting to tear up with a loss of words.

They started kicking her repeatedly again and again. Their kicks were full of rage, but the burning desire to do harm was not because of her. No, it was this random stranger that angered them and she was just a surrogate. One of them grabs the arm that she held her hand puppet with and the leader pulls out a dagger. The blade drew close to the rabbit and Ren cries out, “No! Stop please!” Her pleads were in vain as the boy cuts of one of the puppets eyes. “NOOOO!” She yells as loud as she could before being kicked in the face. She could taste blood as the hit caused her to bite her lip. She then just whimpers as they continue to strike her.

 

[Chikara]

As I watched the children play their game I heard the voices of those kids that had hassled me, only now they are hassling another poor soul. I lean back to see if I can hear the conversation but it seems to be too far away for the voices to carry. It’s irrelevant, I think, because as long as no one is in any real danger I have no reason to interfere. Life is a series of choices, and I made mine when I decided not to react to their childish comments. As the light commotion comes to a halt I begin to hear what sounds like a person making their way up the side of the building. Since they didn’t jump straight up I figure they must not be a shinobi and so I feel comfortable keeping my back to them as they approach. I don’t feel any malice coming from them anyway so I see no need to get defensive.

Then he speaks, and I turn my head to find myself in the company of a young boy wearing what appears to me as pretty plain looking clothes. I assume he must live around here and that he must have been the one confronting the kids, so when he asked to join me I pat my hand on the edge next to me and give him a warm smile. Of course, I expected what he said next and yet I’m still not sure if the answer I have to give is going to be good enough. I know I shouldn’t assume that a young man isn’t going to understand the complicated idea of ‘wrong and right’ as most children in a village like ours are raised in a world that forces them to learn these concepts early. So I ponder his question for a moment, instead trying to figure out how to word it so he might understand and not make it sound like I’m talking down to him.

I face him and I say, “children are heavily influenced by what they experience in the world around them. It’s not their fault they feel how they do about me, nor their parents if I’m being honest. There’s a religious order that I’m a part of, and long ago before my grandfather took over they were… A nasty bunch.” I scratch the side of my head awkwardly and then once again I hear the same children hassling someone else. I sigh and peer in the direction for a moment and then return to facing the person sitting next to me. “I think maybe I should hav—”

I’m cut off by what sounds like someone being knocked down, and laughter that could only indicate one thing was happening. I stand up sharply, but instead of standing straight up on the roof I stand up from where my feet are planted on the side of the building. I stand still, parallel with the ground using chakra to keep me there, and then I hear a young girl crying out for help and I know that now is the time. As a leader in the community, as well as a Jounin of the Shinobi ranks, I was obligated to help any who were in need of it. My face scrunches up and I grit my teeth as my anger overwhelms me and the red eye on the right side of my face begins to glow before bursting into a similarly red-colored flame.

“Hold that thought.” I run along the side of the building a few steps and then move sideways back on to the roof. As I sprint across the roof I think quickly of a way to help the kid without harming the others. Kids will be kids, but eventually they need to be taught a lesson. Before I leap from the opposite side of the building I summon a couple of ‘hands’ from my cloak which each have symbols printed on the palms. After a brief second of surveying the scene I cross my arms and link my actual hands with two of the Ofuda talismans to perform two specialized jutsu which were sure to scare the pants off the children. From behind the snots who were kicking the poor girl, hands would rise from the sand and three corpses would emerge. Two of them would grab at the ankles of the children, being careful not to actually exert any force on them, while the third grabs the puppet away from the other boy.

They all back away from girl and trip over themselves trying to get away. People in the streets have already noticed me falling from the sky and have backed up, leaving room for various bones to rise from the ground that surround the girl on the ground. They come together to create a large creature in the form of a wolf, towering over her and allowing only shreds of light to peak through it’s bony body. The behemoth lowers it’s head as I land on top of it and I kneel down as I’m brought close to the boys so they can get a good look at my face. I stare them each down individually and then calmly I say to them, “If you don’t leave I will tear the flesh from your bones and add your bones to my collection.” With the last few words I pet my wolf creature’s head and it snaps it’s teeth towards them. Them stumble over each other trying to stand up and then disappear while crying out for their mothers.

The bone wolf quickly raises it’s head and I’m shot through the air, still with the many ‘hand’ following me, and land on the other side. All the bones return to the sands below and once again I can see the poor young woman they had been kicking around. Only one of my zombies is left standing, and I grab the rabbit from him with one of my ofuda hands and walk it over to the girl. With each step I can feel the judgements from some of the villagers who saw my actions, and later I may feel the same way about my actions once I had calmed down. As I approached the girl my red eye continues to burn brightly from my rage and Itami’s darkness tried to overwhelm me. I bend over to attempt and help the girl to her feet before handing her the puppet.

“I am truly sorry,” I say without being able to make eye contact. “It’s my fault this happened to you.”

 

[Kazu]

“Children are heavily influenced by what they experience in the world around them. It’s not their fault they feel how they do about me, nor their parents if I’m being honest.”

Kazu glances sideways at the man without turning his head, and then looks forward again. His brow crinkles and his jaw rocks from side to side, kneading his tongue between his upper and lower teeth; chewing on that answer, for a moment, seems to be the boy’s way of thinking. His index finger taps lightly on the sandstone roof. He’s not wrong…but if it’s no one’s fault…then why…

Moments before Kazu can open his mouth, a little girl’s scream pierces the air from the direction that Kazu had just come from. His eyes widen slightly, a pit opens up in the bottom of his stomach, and he can feel that tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers that only happened when he was afraid. I’m not afraid, he thinks to himself, only he knows it’s not true. It’s not entirely false, either. This wasn’t the same feeling of fear that one feels for oneself — this was the terror of knowing that someone else had just been hurt.

“Hold that thought,” was all the man said before dashing off towards the screaming. Kazu didn’t react as fast as the man — he only took a few moments to stop muttering to himself and get over how cool it had been seeing the man running sideways along the wall — but he was not one to be left behind like that. Jumping to his feet, Kazu chased after the white robed man. From rooftop to rooftop he hopped, just a beat (or two) behind, until he paused on a nearby rooftop to survey the scene unfolding before him.

The man used some sort of odd technique; hands, from out of nowhere, grew out of the inner linings of the white robe, and then from out of the ground. Corpses? Kazu wasn’t sure, but it sure looked like it. Unfortunately, Kazu had seen enough dead bodies over these last few months to be able to recognize a corpse when he saw one — learning that this man used them like a weapon, or some sort of tool, was mildly disconcerting to the young boy. What was it he’d said about a nasty religious bunch? Is he really one to talk? Disgust was the primary emotion young Kazu felt, but from somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered the words of his Auntie Kasen: “We all have gifts; we just have to embrace them.” Maybe this is just his gift? Kazu tried to keep an open mind, but he didn't have to like it.

Kazu was glad to see the bullies get what they deserved, and even chuckled a little watching them run away like the scared little sniveling punks they were, but as soon as he laid eyes on the young girl — about his own age — he was filled with sadness, regret, and shame. The man’s words rang in Kazu’s head: “It’s not their fault.” Anger. Kazu didn’t realize it, but he’d slowly begun to clench his fists tighter and tighter. This isn’t right, he thought vehemently. None of this is fair! Leaving his perch atop the nearby roof, Kazu makes his way towards the two and just manages to hear the man place the blame on his own shoulders. This is the final straw for young Kazu.

”No! It’s not your fault!” ‘Confusing’ was the only way to describe Kazu’s face at that moment. His brows furrowed as if he was angry. His lips trembled as if he was sad. His eyes dampened as if he was about to cry. All of a sudden, Kazu bends forward so far that his nose nearly touches his knees. His fists, still curled into tight balls, shook. ”It’s my fault! Please….I didn’t mean to….I just thought that….it’s not fair for….I’m sorry! I caused this to happen to you!”

The people around them are beginning to stare at the scene unfolding, but the young boy pays them no mind. He continues to bow, unwilling to let up for even a second, waiting for a response. Something glistens in the sunlight, then falls to the ground before being absorbed instantly by the sand underfoot. A second glistening orb drops. Then another. ”Please….I didn’t intend for this….”

 

[Ryu Hime]

The boy with the dagger group held Ren’s arm steady so that he could deface the puppet. Some might say he was making things difficult for himself not removing the puppet from her hand altogether. He was testing the water just doing this much. He knew better to go any further as he has heard the stories of Ren’s first class. One teacher forcibly removes the puppet and she pounces him. In a complete fury she stabs the teacher repeatedly with a kunai until one brave student took the puppet and hands it back to her. The leader was aware that once this girl’s security blanket is gone, all hell breaks loose.

As Ren was being kick mercilessly something very creepy happens as the very dead rose from the sands. The corpse grabs at the kids ankles and one took the puppet. Ren could feel the felt cloth slipping from her hand. “Oh god, it removed the doll.” They all back away from girl before getting caught in the coming crossfire and trip over themselves attempting to do so. While the strange man was further scaring the boys Ren begins to stir. “Give. Her. Back.” She says slowly just beginning to lift herself off the ground. “GIVE HER BACK!”

Ren did not seem to even care it was a corpse as she lunges at it all the same and climbing onto its back. She punches at its head, bites at its neck and claws at its back like some sort of crazed animal. If she could manage to break off a bone she would begin stabbing the corpse in the eyes with it. “Give her back, give her back, give her back.” People that were concerned about the man and his undead minions were starting to fear the little girl as well. Once the zombie was down, she takes back the puppet and places it on her hand.

“My eye, they took my eye.” The puppet seems to cry placing its paws over the spot its right eye use to be. Tasogare walks up to Ren, which fortunately has returned to her normal passive state. He apologizes and claim responsibility for what has transpired. A boy then approaches and does the same. Ren shakes her head at them and looks back to her puppet. “No, it is my fault I could find the courage to protect you in time.” Tears swell up in her eyes once more and the puppet reaches up and touches Ren on the cheek. “I think they are apologizing what happen to you.” Ren points a finger to herself very confused of the statement, “Me?”

 

[Chikara]

In all the excitement and anger I fail to notice my corpse grabs the puppet off the girl’s hand and not one of the boys’. As the boys flee and I return the bones to the earth I see the aftermath of the girl tearing parts off of my corpse and leaving it a bloody mess in the sand. I wince slightly, but it’s no worse than anything I’ve seen in the past. I dismiss the resurrected form and approach the girl in order to give my apology, but to my surprise the boy arrives to state that it was his fault. I’m not sure what to think except that I’m now certain it was he who caused the commotion with the kids after I left them. I stand now, allowing my full form to cast a shadow over the children and I turn to face the civilians standing in fear. I take a deep breath and my green eye flashes quickly before the flame recedes from my red eye. I was calm again, and equilibrium began to return as the effects of the anger and corrupted energy subside.

“All of you return to what you were doing. There’s nothing to see here anymore.” I glare at any stragglers to assert my dominance as a high ranking shinobi. They don’t seem to care anymore and leave of their own free will. The girl begins to speak, not to either of us but to the puppet. Then she speaks through the puppet as if it were real, which only surprises me for a moment. For all I knew it was real, there was no telling in the crazy world we live in where a man like myself can summon lifeless corpses from the desert floor. It seems she may have thought we were apologizing for what happened to the puppet, which we should have been if it really is alive. I scratch my head, finding myself unsure of how to address this problem.

“They were children,” I begin, returning slightly to what I was speaking to the first kid about I lean over and attempt to place a hand on his shoulder to halt the bowing. “Young boys naive to the world who act out for attention. They may just well have taken out their frustrations on you regardless of our own actions, or inaction.” I mutter and clench my fist before slowing my breath again to stay relaxed. “Are you alright? And you?” I speak to the girl first, and then to the puppet, still unsure of it’s status as a living thing or not. Though I’m currently skeptical. “I apologize for my creation which took your friend from you. They have no mind of their own and were simply working from my orders to protect you. They must not have realized the puppet was a friend.”

“I would also like to apologize for my display. When I’m angered it creates a shift in the balance of yin and yang in my spirit, and I release a dark energy. I assure you the corpses are nothing more than, well, lifeless puppets I suppose. The corpses belonged to long dead members of my order, who have donated their bodies for my studies. We use ritual to confirm the souls have ascended to the afterlife before I add them to my collection, and the bones themselves are mostly those of dead animal caresses from the desert.” I’m unsure of whether it matters to either of them, but the Tadashii already has a bad image in the village and hopefully I can keep the work I’ve made on that image from being tainted among… some of the village’s youth at least. I seem to have furthered those boys’ beliefs by my actions, but there was no telling what kind of nonsense their parents had already convinced them of.

 

[Kazu]

Kazu’s behavior was a product of his upbringing, steeped deeply in a traditional, and very strict, set of moral principles: listen to your elders; apologize when you are wrong; hold the door open for other people; do not judge people at first appearances; and, most importantly, treat other people with the kindness that they deserve. This was not an exhaustive list — to go through that would have taken hours, if not days — but it was mostly representative of the general tone of his beliefs. Only…choices in life were not as easy as his morals made them out to be.

“They were children,” the white-robed man says, as he places a comforting hand on Kazu’s shoulder. “Young boys naive to the world who act out for attention. They may just well have taken out their frustrations on you regardless of our own actions, or inaction.” Hastily rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes while keeping his head down, as if he could hide the fact of the matter by simply not acknowledging it, Kazu mutters something that’s just barely audible to the white-robed man and the girl who seemed convinced of her hand-puppet’s own sentience. ”…doesn’t make sense.” As if suddenly realizing just how strange he sounded, the boy stood upright to his fullest and put on a face of quiet determination. There were only a couple of wet spots by the corners of his eyes, now.

”It doesn’t make sense! If they were just children, and it wasn’t their fault, and it wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t…” He stopped, clearly not willing to continue that sentence. Biting his lower lip to calm himself, his hands still curled into tight fists, Kazu continued on after a moment. ”If it could have happened to anyone, for any reason, then what’s to stop them from doing it again? If no one stands up to them, then they’ll just keep doing it! Someone needs to teach them, and yet…and yet in the end they’re ‘just children’ who don’t know any better! What does any of it matter, in that case?!” Kazu shook his head from side to side, his frustrations and anger clearly at war with each other, refusing to accept his own words. ”They’re not just children! They can’t be, otherwise they’ll never be responsible for their actions! But they also didn’t know any better…maybe they don’t deserve what they got, because of that, but neither does she! It doesn’t make sense!” Absent-mindedly, Kazu points angrily towards the girl and her puppet while still staring down the white-robed man. Then a brief bit of shock, his eyes widening ever so slightly, as the boy realizes how rudely he was acting. ‘Never point at someone’ was another moral principle instilled in him — Kazu lowers his hand down, but follows the path he’d just traced out with his finger using his eyes. Kazu realized he hasn’t taken a good look at the girl and her hand-puppet yet.

The pale skinned girl with blue eyes and blue hair seemed rather confused by the whole situation. There was the matter of the…commitment…to her hand-puppet’s personality. ’Does she really think it’s alive, or something?’ Kazu wasn’t sure, but he thought it best not to stir the pot too much all at once. If anything, he couldn’t see her mouth moving when the hand-puppet spoke; he would commend her skill in that, along with the ferocity with which she had fought to re-secure its safety. The hand-puppet said something about its missing eye — scanning the ground quickly, Kazu saw a small tuft of white cotton laying on the ground off to the side somewhere. ’They must have dropped it when they ran off. Can’t imagine they’d want to keep it, anyways.’ While the white-robed man apologizes to the girl, and explains the origins of his other-worldly powers, Kazu walks over to pick it up without a word, brushes off the little bits of sand that clung to it, and presents it to the girl and her puppet partner.

”Is this your eye? I’m sorry for what happened,” he still wasn’t sure who to address his apology to, so he decides not to specify, ”but the least I can do is make things right. I…uh…could reattach it for you?” Living out in the Desert Expanse, closer to Sora than any other civilized area, it was important for a member of the Ryuzaki Clan to be self-sufficient. Repairing clothing — or in other words, knowing how to sew simple tears and rips — was simply expected. However, unsure of how the girl would view the idea of using a sharp needle and some thread to repair the eye of her friend (especially if she really did think the puppet was a living creature), Kazu was trying to be delicate. He even glanced sideways at the white-robed man, giving him a pleading look, in an attempt to gather assistance in the matter. ”I’ll need a proper medical kit best suited for your…uh…particular physiology, though. And the right color, too! For the...uh...'special bandages' I'll need.” Blinking once, Kazu realized with a start that he had no idea what the girl’s, or the puppet’s, names were. ”Uhm…what do you two call yourselves? And you?” His eyes glanced to the white-robed man again. ”I’m Kazu.”

For the moment, Kazu decided not to speak further on the man's strange abilities. He hadn't made up his mind about he felt about it, quite yet, but he took to heart the willingness the man had to explain and make right the situation. 'If nothing else, that's commendable. Even if that skills is still creepy. Then again, I suppose I'm not one to talk.' Using one's own bones as weapons wasn't too far off from what the man did. Either way, this would be a subject of conversation for a different time.

 

[Ryu Hime]

“I, I…” The man had asked her directly if she was alright but she was not sure what to say. How do you explain to a person that this is normal, that she has been kicked to the point of passing out many times? She was a former slave, so the acceptance of being mistreated was quite literally beaten into her. Fortunately the rabbit puppet was quick to answer the question directed at it. “Look at me, I’ve been turned into a bloody Cyclops! How do you think I am?” Usagi would show the man the small hole that was left when his one eye was removed. It looks like the puppet had taken multiple stabs by in blade in removing her eye. Cotton poofed out of it; making it look like some sort of growth. Given that Usagi was no covering her injury, Ren begins her work in stuffing the cotton back inside.

Kazu was speaking allowed trying to piece everything together. He was quickly finding out that the world was far more complex than he could ever realize. Meanwhile Ren was untying the string around her collar the held the dress in place. Ren turn her back towards the two and allows her dress to fall down her back. It was at this time the boy was pointing towards her and her back was fully revealed to them. Numerous scars littered her back from collar to tailbone, which made it almost appeared like she had tiger stripes. Ren says nothing as if everything was normal, lifts her dress back into place and secures the dress with a safety pin. Ren held the string in her free hand and turns back around.

As the man apologizes for his creation she hangs her head low, “Overreacted.” She of course was talking about herself, but would she knew he would likely not scold her for her actions. The man would explain his powers which did catch her attention. She wonders if he was a puppeteer like her. “Master says that it is not enough to simply channel ones thoughts through the puppet. To truly be a great puppeteer one must channel their very soul.” When the puppet says master it does not speak of Ren. As Ren was speaking through the puppet sometimes the rabbit uses her terms. Master refers to her adoptive father, which purchased her from the slave market. Calling one who bought her master was another lesson beaten into her.

The boy would hand something to the girl and it was just as she feared. The bead that was the rabbit’s eye was broken. Putting back the eye was now out of the question and thus she continues the plan she had already started. She had thought the eye was stolen; taken away as a trophy. She looks at the boy up and down and then points at his lower area. “Want.” Ren was more specifically pointing at the button of his pants. However considering where that is, this might lead into some misunderstanding.

 

[Chikara]

The girl seems to be fine, all things considered. Her poor puppet didn’t sound too happy, and it’s response might have pulled a chuckle from me were I not so concerned for the girl’s safety. As she begins to return it’s innards to their proper place the boy begins to deliberate with himself. He is strong willed, I can give him that. He is still young and just as naive as the boys who attacked our young friend. He begins to reject my statement, tossing over the words and they’re meaning. As he rants I begin to smile and then laugh outright. It may present me as being rude but I couldn’t help myself. My connection to the spirit realm, and my upbringing as the Tadashii’s sage, has taught me lessons on just how ‘black and white’ the world isn’t.

Before I can respond he points at the girl who has loosened her dress to reveal many scars along her back. I drop my gleeful expression and my green eye begins to glow as I cross my vision into that of the spirit world. I could see the darkness inside her, not because she was evil but because she had been touched by it. I close my eyes and when they open my eye has turned back to normal. She has a past, just like all of us. It would appear, so far at least, that she hasn’t let this past affect her future. Unlike those boys she will choose her own path, and not let the evil of her past taint her. I smile again as I return to face the boy before me, but my smile isn’t that of glee but of a quiet understanding.

“We are all just fighting for what we believe in… And what we believe in can be chosen for us, or we can choose our own path.” I rub the back of my head and chuckle nervously. “In more relatable terms, those kids’ parents are probably dicks so they’re dicks. Maybe one day they’ll form a mind of their own, and it’ll be people like you that will make that happen. Just keep fighting for your own idles.” I shrug. Life is complicated, and even adults don’t have it all figured out.

After I apologize the girl answers with a one word response. I don’t find myself surprised, as it seems that she does more talking through her rabbit than through her own lips. Whatever happened to her really messed her up. She overreacted, she says. Then she speaks to me through her hands, seemingly talking about my kinjutsu. I nod at it’s words, as even though I don’t know much about actual puppets I do know quite a bit about souls.

“Your master sounds smart.” I say thoughtfully. “To be great at anything you need to channel your entire soul into it, and keep pushing forward.”

The boy has found the rabbit’s eye on the ground, and presents it to the girl. He offers to help reattach it but then we find that it’s broken. I sigh slightly but the girl seems to have already expected it. Instead of being upset she has already come up with a new idea, pointing at the boy’s crotch. I wince slightly and now I’m not quite sure where this situation is going. I prepare to exit if things begin to go… South.

“Uh, yes, Kazu. A good name,” I chuckle, “my name is Faita Tasogare, leader of the Faita clan and Sage of the Tadashii. My associates call me Tas.”

 

[Kazu]

The sideways glare that Kazu shot at the white-robed man for laughing at him, equal parts icy contempt and boiling fury, more than likely did nothing more than elicit more laughter from the more life-experienced man. For a young child — especially one who considered this a very important matter — the older man’s laughter at his attempts to riddle out the great mysteries of everything was rather insulting! ’All I’m trying to do is find answers…what’s so funny about that?’ The boy did not yet realize how far he had to go; he could not know that he was just as ignorant of the world as the other boys he had chased off, earlier.

“We are all just fighting for what we believe in… And what we believe in can be chosen for us, or we can choose our own path. In more relatable terms, those kids’ parents are probably dicks so they’re dicks. Maybe one day they’ll form a mind of their own, and it’ll be people like you that will make that happen. Just keep fighting for your own ideals.”

All good answers that spoke to the truth of things would come off as unintelligible to a kid with no real experience in worldly matters. It was the nature of things; truths spoken to one who has no real grasp of the edges of what was, and was not, within the scope of control merely come off as excuses. ’So what, I just let them be dicks? So…back to square one, then?! Agggh, I don’t get it at all!’ He was about to open his mouth, to say something that was perhaps mean-spirited and unwarranted, when another dose of reality came knocking — it was rather hard to feel slighted when a shift in perspective occurs.

Seeing the crisscrossing scars along the girl’s back stunned Kazu. While the boy may be ignorant in many aspects of life, he was aware of the status of the slave trade in Wind Country. During the weeks prior, he had actually engaged in a rescue mission to free a cohort of trafficked slaves from the imminent danger of roaming bands of Unbent (link). He had seen the way the traffickers had treated the people they deemed as mere property; it had sickened him to his very core. ’I’d recognize those markings anywhere.’ Before, the way the girl had deflected around the questions of her injuries, struck Kazu as odd — but this detail solidified his suspicions.

“Master says that it is not enough to simply channel ones thoughts through the puppet. To truly be a great puppeteer one must channel their very soul.” She speaks through her puppet, the meaning of ‘Master’ obscured in her word choice.

“Your master sounds smart. To be great at anything you need to channel your entire soul into it, and keep pushing forward.”

’Does he know?’ Kazu says nothing, merely glancing between the two of them to try and gauge their thoughts, but wonders whether he ought to speak up. ’It’s not really my business…but…’ What was the right thing to do, here? ’If she doesn’t want to talk about it, would it be worse for me to acknowledge it? Am I validating that this is okay by not saying anything? I…I don’t….’ Kazu was quickly learning just how gray the world was.

Having been silent this whole time, his eyes looking past the two at times as he’s lost in his own head, Kazu’s expression betrays a little of his inner turmoil. His discomfort is made even more apparent when the girl suddenly points at his…lower areas…and declares that she ‘wants’ it, very much to his sudden surprise and unease. Blinking for a moment, a nervous and uncomfortable smirk on his face, Kazu regards her and quickly discards the first notion that came to his mind. ’That’s impossible,’ he concludes. ’No way! We just met! Think! What does she mean?’ Kazu sees that she hasn’t so much as acknowledged the original eye he’d attempted to give her — could it be that she doesn’t want it? Blinking again, as if trying to buy time, Kazu directly follows the path of her finger with his eyes until it lands on…

”Want…the button? Is…is that it?” Kazu certainly hoped so. Looking to the girl, and waiting until he sees some form of confirmation, he chuckles slightly at the absurdity of this whole situation before scratching the right side of his nose with his index finger. A nervous habit. ”Sure, no problem! Let’s go grab those ‘special bandages’ I’ll need to fix up…uh…your friend’s eye.” Kazu motions towards a nearby convenience store — surely it had a simple sewing kit with the right colored thread? ”Your names, though? Surely I can’t just keep calling you ‘you’ and ‘your friend?’”

Speaking of names, the white-robed man gives his to the young boy. While Kazu may not like the answers the man gives, nor the way he responds to Kazu’s questions, he still respects the man for the good deeds he does and the respectful way in which he does them. Nodding to the man, Kazu flashes him a smile. ”Tas it is, then! Sorry, but Tacoga…Tasokar…Tagase…Tatamake…uh, your name is too long for me to remember! ‘Tas’ is way easier!”

 

[Ryu Hime]

When activated his spiritual vision to look at Ren’s soul he may have noticed that the rabbit hand puppet also had one similar to her own. This spirit energy that was contained within the little puppet was also leaking from the injury. It appears even with its unique physiology it can still bleed. Thankfully the wound was minor but the longer it goes without treatment the worse it is going to get.

Tas response to her master’s words was disappointing. This man uses some sort of power to re-animate the dead and he takes the words figuratively. Ren shakes her head, “literally!” She’s not sure if he would understand her and turns to her friend to translate as per normal, but he was oddly silent. True Ren was the one that gave her a voice, but it was Usagi herself that form the words. “Usagi?” The little puppet reach out a paw and weakly mutters, “Ren… need… medical…” The puppet then goes limp. “Usagi? USAGI!.” She looks at Kazu who had motioned towards a nearby convenience store. She shoves some yen into his chest. “Hurry!” Looking back to the rabbit, tears begin to form in her eye. “Just hang on.”

 

[Chikara]

My view of the spiritual world allows me to see many things. Sometimes it takes a second glance and so instead of turning it off immediately I leave the view open and when I look to the girl again after making my final comments on the boys I notice something strange. The part of the young girl that was inside the doll wasn’t what I was seeing, but rather the puppet itself seemed to have it’s own soul. I stare, possibly rudely, at the young girl and her hand puppet in a quiet disbelief. A look of curiosity covers me as I try to analyze the creature. After I respond to the rabbit’s statement about their master I get closer without getting in between the two who were speaking.

The boy’s plan to repair the rabbit’s eye seems to be better off than I originally anticipated as he points out a convenience store near by. I scratch my head in awe as I wonder how I hadn’t noticed that before. I figure I must have been too consumed by the situation and return to the present with the puppet continuing to talk. The young girl shoves money into the boy’s chest to get the supplies he needed, meanwhile I’m crouched down nearby to get eye to eye with the puppet trying to study it’s soul. If it has a soul, I imagine, then that means it must actually be the one speaking? Though, of course, that doesn’t have to be the case at all. I reach out to attempt and flick one of the rabbit’s ear to illicit a response.

“Girl,” I whisper after Kazu has gone to fetch the supplies. “Ren is it?” I had heard the rabbit refer to her as this and was now going to assume that was her name. “What is this ‘Usagi’ creature? It’s not just a puppet, yeah? I can see into it’s soul.” I point at my glowing green eye and and serious expression. I had never seen something that looks like it’s man made have a soul before though I’ve seen and read about quite a lot of strange things in my time.

 

[Kazu]

Suddenly, things were getting serious. The hand-puppet’s “health” seemed to be deteriorating, as indicated by its gradually weakening voice and the somewhat comical way it slumped over (or at least, comical to someone who still thought the rabbit was nothing more than a hand-puppet). The girl had named it Usagi, and Usagi had named her Ren. ’Or...wait, didn’t she name herself? I’m...kind of confused here.’ But, whether Kazu was confused or not didn’t really matter — the look and sound of panic on Ren’s face, and in her voice, was clear enough. She was deadly serious about caring for Usagi’s well being, and that was enough for Kazu. The boy did wonder about the way the man seemed to say nothing, merely inspecting the puppet and its master with more scrutiny, but the urgency of the girl’s request lit a fire under Kazu.

”Uh, yes, right!” The boy was a little hesitant about taking her money, and tried to deny it, but the girl seemed not to care at all. Her only concern was Usagi’s safety; that made Kazu’s only concern the rabbit’s safety, as well. ”Hold on, I’ll be right back!”

Darting off towards the store, Kazu immediately begins scanning the aisles for a sewing kit. The store clerk points him in the right direction, but there’s one thing Kazu hadn’t counted on. ’How are there so many things in here?!’ Having grown up away from the city, out in the countryside, commercialism is far from ingrained in Kazu’s skill set. Where many knew by instinct where certain things would be grouped together, and where they could go to find things quickly, Kazu stared in wide-eyed wonder at the plethora of items and trinkets and doo-dads available for purchase. ’Does anyone actually need all these things?!’ To say he was taken aback, and overwhelmed, was an understatement.

Ren and Usagi would have to hold on. They were counting on him, but Kazu was quickly becoming lost in even the simplest convenience store. Panic soon engulfed the boy. ’Hang in there, Usagi! Don’t die on me yet!’ He was doing his best, but it seemed that his best simply wasn’t as fast as one might expect. Suddenly Kazu realized he was getting afraid for the safety of what seemed to be an inanimate hand-puppet, which only served to aggravate him and make him wonder in disbelief how he’d gotten into this situation. ’It’s just a felt rabbit! Right?! I can’t believe this!’ Yet still he searched, as quickly as he could, knowing that this probably meant a whole lot to the girl. ’Just hang on...’

[ooc: Kazu needs another round (or two) to make it back properly. Thought this would be a good chance for you two to have your 'soul talk' since Tas was waiting for Kazu to scram. :3]

 

[Ryu Hime]

Ren is a very shy girl who is unable to articulate full sentences and express herself well, as she lets her puppet, Usagi, do the talking for her through ventriloquism. This man who calls himself Tasogare was interrogating Ren with some questions with a stare that demanded answers. However there was one small little problem and that is the fact the little hand puppet was in no shape to be talking in her stead right now. Ren was at a lost for she had no real means of explaining it to him and even if she did he would not believe it. She knows he would not be able to understand because she already told him once already. Ren places her hands of the injury of the puppet which the spirit energy was coming out of. “Watch.” Ren focus on placing back the spirit energy that was lost. This man says that he could see the soul within Usagi and thus she figures he should be able to see what it is that she is doing. Perhaps now he with understand the meaning to the words she said earlier: ‘Master says that it is not enough to simply channel ones thoughts through the puppet. To truly be a great puppeteer one must channel their very soul.' The man thought she was being figurative, but she was infact being litteral.

 

[Chikara]

Ren doesn’t speak, it’s clear to me I won’t be getting any solid answers from her. I anticipate the puppet to answer but it seems that whatever it is has sustained more injury than I would think a puppet, even one with a soul, could take. The girl almost seems lost for a moment, as if wanting to answer me but being unsure of how to articulate the situation properly. Instead she tells me to watch, and I focus on the area with Usagi rests on her hand. In the spirit realm I watch the girl’s own spirit flow into the creature. I watch intently, fascinated by the whole situation and at the same time very confused. The power to control souls is something I have learned in theory, though have yet to fully practice. My corpses rise with no souls, and it’s why they’re so weak, but being able to infuse an object with your soul and, seemingly at least, create another entity is something else.

“Is Usagi actually alive and using your spirit as it’s soul?” I decide to use yes or no questions to make it easier to have this conversation. “Was your master the one who taught you this?” I was not only confused and interested about Ren and her puppet, but if he taught her this ability then it sounds as if he is like me. It’s an interesting thought, but with so many techniques in the world it’s ludicrous of me to imagine that it has to be the power of a corrupted sage.

 

[Ryu Hime]

With a new infusion of soul in Usagi, Ren places the rabbit hand puppet on her hand and it begins to speak. “Yes I am a living being!” She shouts at the man a little angry that the man would have to ask such a thing. Despite the fact the many question her sentience, she does not find it any less offensive. Usagi crosses her arms and tilts her head upwards to the sky. Ren does her best to console the hand puppet and sure enough the rabbit takes a more relaxed pose. “As for the makeup of my soul.” She gives a small pause. “You see my spirit, you know the answer to that.” When the man asks about who taught her the puppet gives a sly smile. “Yes…” It was about time the man understood her words from a moment ago. “He was the one that taught Ren how to use HER soul.” Usagi stresses the fact that her adoptive father only taught her to use her own soul. However the way she phrases it suggests that other people might have taught her how to use other soul manipulation perhaps with other souls.

Ren seems ready for the next question she predicts that will occur. How she answers however is still up in the air. To be honest, no one else ‘taught her’ anything about manipulating souls. Her attainment of such knowledge was not given for her benefit. Ren is a visual learner and she had been unfortunate enough to witness the dark ritual called the impure world resurrection. As already mention Ren sold herself into slavery and most of the slavers were not a savory bunch. To them slaves were tools to be used and for others weapons to be forged. There was one that liked to scribe unusual seals onto slaves and it is from him she learn some forbidden knowledge. The man was arrogant to the point of calling himself a sage of sorts.

One day a slave kills one of the guards and escapes from her cell. It was quite obvious she did not exactly plan this out as she did not get very far before getting recaptured. Ren knew the woman would surely be killed for what she had done, however the truth was much scarier then she could imagine. The dark sage demanded all the slaves present to witness the woman’s punishment. He called it setting an example for those who would dare try escape. The woman was bound, gagged and chained to the floor. She was forced to sit in the middle of some huge seal.

The Sage places the bloodied instrument used to kill the guard before the seal and begins weaving hand seals. Ren watches his hands with unblinking eyes knowing he was about to do something grandiose. When the man finishes the seals and claps his hands, dust and ash being to rise and encase the body's body. Ren watched in horror as she saw the woman become a living sacrificed to bring the dead guard back to life. Ren manages to hold her lunch while others were not so lucky. Ren got a good look at the seals on the floor for the ritual as she was made to scrub them off after the ritual was concluded.

 

[Chikara]

I’m a tad shocked at the puppet’s reaction. Ren returns the puppet to her hand and it immediately berates me for asking a necessary question. The young lady is channeling her soul into the creature. In all honesty, it still appears to me that the rabbit it merely an extension of Ren’s psyche, manifesting as a unique living creature using some sort of soul channeling technique. In itself this doesn’t constitute a separate entity, but I’m not about to press the matter. Usagi is calm now and willing to speak to me whereas the girl will not. Her master was the one who taught her how to channel her soul, but emphasizes it in a way to suggest that she can only manipulate her own soul. Now I can relax, as it was less likely that he was similar to me.

“Well, that is an interesting technique…” My words trail off and my green eye fades away and so too does the spirit world. “Being able to control your soul in such a way, and at such a young age, is quite remarkable indeed.” I look at he girl as I speak about her, but then turn to the rabbit for the response, should it not seem as if the girl might give a one word reaction to my statements.

“I myself don’t control my soul, my creations are controlled by a sort of… corrupted chakra that comes from…” I move to point at my red eye, begging to explain about the power of Itami and Ai and their essence that lives inside all of the Faita, but I stopped myself and instead I say, “well that’s a long story.” I don’t mention that I’m able to snatch a person’s soul, nor did it seem like something pertinent to the conversations since I’ve never actually performed the technique. I sometimes feel as if I’m stalling, like taking that first soul will make what I have to do all too real. I zone out momentarily thinking about my mother’s body lying in the old temple’s entrance, her body’s decomposition halted by radiation of the gods’ power. I trust Kuragari as my master and as my friend, and I believe that once I have the souls he’s asked for he can bring her back to me.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Usagi did not know why she expected more from this man. He did not originally grasp the meaning of her master’s words, so why did she think he was capable of reading between the lines. In the end Usagi was not that surprised. “And how young do you thing Ren is?” Ren has the look of a young, cute girl with blue eyes and long curly blue hair. Currently she is wearing a short white dress under a large green raincoat that has a tail with a pink ribbon attached to it, with a pair of rabbit-ear hood and holds her rabbit puppet in her left hand. Some think her younger than she really is due to a lack of… endowment. Most people chalk this up to being a late bloomer. Ren immediately bops Usagi on the head as this was a somewhat sensitive matter. Ren was happy that Tasagare changes the subject to himself, though he refrain from giving details. Ren wanted to ask to hear this long story, but decides against it considering she too is withholding information. “Partial resurrection?” She remember the other dark sage doing such a thing, but vastly different.

The slavers gave her and the rest of the slaves a test to see which slaves were capable of killing a living thing. By passing this test she was sent to the stardust stadium and given the designation N37. The designation was put on a tag and was attached to her ear like an earring. One of the people at the stadium read the tag upside down and the name stuck. The Stardust Stadium is home to gladiatorial fights and sporting events. “Why corpses?” She asks Tasagare. She remembers the dark sage would often come to the stadium to collect his money and inspect the condition of his fighters. Slave fighters were valuable, but not enough for him to use living sacrifices to bring them back. N42, who was one of her slave friends that died in a fight, was one such fighter. He used a puppet as a substitute sacrificed and surprisingly it worked. It was a partial resurrection but it was enough to keep N42 fighting.

 

[Chikara]

It appears as if the rabbit is giving me lip, as if there were more it wanted to say. If there was it should have just said it as I’m just going to go off what I hear. It asks me how old I think Ren is, and I didn’t really give it much thought. There are always people who look younger than they actually are, even adults that look like children for some reason or another. The girl gives the puppet a whack and so I don’t answer the question, but judging by the way she wildly attacked my corpse with no style I would assume her to be a student. I can’t imagine she’s older than her preteens, early teens at most. Regardless, she seems interested enough in what I had said to inquire more about it.

“I…” My words stumble as I attempt to speak. My red eye flashes suddenly and a strange sensation rushes through my body. “I, um…” I don’t understand why it’s happening but I recognize the feeling. It’s the corruption.

“I can’t, um… I need to leave, I’m sorry. Give the young lad my apologizes when he returns please.” I stumble back a few steps and the ground below me opens up as detached hands form seals for me and summons a faux sandworm to swallow me so I can return to the temple.

[Topic Left]

((Probably don't need to be in so many topics right now.))