Sorry, I Left My Face In My Other Jacket. [Sousuke/Riyota]

[Kazumi]

The trip across the sands had been exhausting. This was not due to a lack of stamina, per say; since the ordeal she had barely even felt tired. No, instead if was that blasted sun that glared hard at her from overhead. Drenched from head to toe in sweat, she had finally made it to the city, with sand covering most of her exposed arms and legs. If she was not careful she would be chaffing for days after all was said and done. It was finally over though, she had finally made it home and she could rest and relax for a good long while... or at least, that was what she had thought.

As it turns out, a stranger appearing inside of the village with no identifying marks or concrete identification, claiming to be someone she did not resemble in the slightest was not the quickest route to relaxation that she had hoped. The smartest plan of action would have been to avoid detection in the village proper until she could locate someone from her clan to corroborate her story, but instead she found herself escorted to the outside of the Kage's tower as she awaited the return of an exasperated guardsman who had gone inside to find out what to do with her. She had not broken any village codes yet, but with no form of identification she was, to say the least, a very suspicious character.

"Come oooon," she whined, softly bumping her head against the base of the building, just a few feet from the tower's main entrance. Her legs and arms were still covered in a layer of sand, with their owner unable to muster the motivation to bother scraping the layer gritty sand from her skin. "Just take me to the Toraono Clan, I am the future Storm Lady!" She shinobi who had been assigned by his now absent superior didn't even give her complains a passing notice as he stood at attention, awaiting his return. "Ugh... this is so stupid." Suzume grumbled, slinking down against the wall, her face pressing faintly against it as she did so. She looked rather pathetic, somehow slumped forward onto the wall as her nose tried to burrow into it, her legs bent behind her as if she were somehow melting down into the hot ground.

Outside of the most superficial of resemblances such as age and height, the girl claiming to be Oushi-Ouja Suzume had almost no resemblence to the heiress. Her hair, albeit full of sand, was only shoulder length and was a dark brown rather than a lighter greyish hue. The traditional garb that Suzume often outfitted herself was also no where to be seen, replaced with an inexpensive outfit of Tea Country design. Overall, it would be a hard sell for her to convince anyone that she wasn't a foreign spy or some other ne'er-do-well. Nothing was going according to plan, and while she couldn't be bothered to think that far ahead, there was a distinct possibility she might simply find herself ejected from the village before she even had a chance to plead her case to anyone that had half of a brain cell.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke sat cross legged on the tower grounds as he was trying this thing. Meditation. This was the second time he was trying it now, because the first time he was interrupted by a child who had turkey pets. The Steward sat with his eyes closed. Katuso had told him a few times to try meditation. It allowed him to heal minor injuries a bit faster, which was something he had a hard time believing. The idea was to try and purge the mind of heavy thoughts that weighed him down? Sousuke exhaled, he began to hover slightly. It had seemed for a moment he was able to achieve something.

Unfortunately the meditation would come to a end, as he was approached. Sousuke's eyes would open up as he would look to his left and find two individuals. The first being a guardsperson, and the other being one of the administrative individuals of the Kazekage tower who seemed to be enjoying the sight of a shirtless man who had a mechanical arm, and mechanical legs. Sousuke's form would land on the ground and he would get himself up. Of the two individuals, the later of the two would make herself scarce. Sousuke would acquire a shirt, put it on and await the guardsman to report to him.

***

Sousuke held his hands behind his back. He was wearing a sort of mesh clothing of sorts. He looked at the individual who claimed to be Suzume but this was not the girl who he had met a few weeks ago. The individual in question was of a different height, hair colour, and different facial features. He was trying to come to a reason as to how or why the person before him was Suzume of the Oshi-Ouja. The hard part was perhaps the lack of formal attire one befitting her, and the fact she wore ... clothing that those habited Tea? "Well. This is a very ... ... odd. I don't think I've ever had a person be this late for a lesson let alone ... not being the same person who I was intending to educate personally."<i></i> Sousuke spoke. Now was the fun part. Watching for person quirks, body language, voice, use of spoken language. He exhaled. To Suzume, Sousuke looked like he was healing, but healing slowly considering their prior engagement. There was still the eye patch, which he had put on. The side of his face seemed to be healing nicely, but just slowly.

 

[Kazumi]

By the time that the esteemed Steward had made his exit from the building, Suzume had already zoned out into a deeper meditative state that even he had achieved, that or she was practically unconscious as she reverse slumped in what had to be the most uncomfortable position so sleep in. As he stared at her, she didn't even budge, but as soon as she heard his voice, her head finally detached itself from the wall, slowly turning to see the mechanical man. Her expression of lazy boredom vanished as she slid completely to the ground, seeming to struggle at the notion of picking herself up. After a few long moments of silence between them, she finally stood full and upright, her chest now also covered with sand, quite the sight to see.

"Uggh, thank goodness!" She exclaimed, sounded exasperated, as if she had been forced to wait here for hours. "I thought I was going to like... have to wait here forever before they tried to cart me out of the village." A smirk crossed her face as she stepped forward, "I'm not late though, I said like... sometime after I got back from Tea, right?" She paused a moment, trying to recall if that was actually what she had, as it was certainly what she remembered. A few long seconds of silence, as she slowly pondered that thought, among others before she finally snapped to attention and looked up to him once again, "oh yeah! It is a," she glanced back behind her for a moment, and then towards him once again as she reached up and brushed a few patches of loose sand from the back of her head off, "long story."

Her mannerisms were not identical to the girl Sousuke knew, but they are not dissimilar either. There certainly was something different, but perhaps that could be attributed to whatever was causing her to look this way? Suzume continued to stare up at him, blankly at first before another thought slowly struck her. "Oh right, umm..." she paused, reaching into one of the pockets on her outfit as she searched for something. She went through around half of the dozen scattered pockets before lighting up as she pulled out the ring he had given her. The surface was blackened, as if it had sat inside of a fireplace for hours, scouring the surface with char and soot, but the soot, if that was what it was, wouldn't wipe away even with the most abrasive of scrubbing. It was as if some of the char had somehow seeped into the base of the metal itself. "See? It is a little... worse for wear, but I still have it!" Suzume beamed a smile up to him, either oblivious or unconcerned of the damage that had somehow been caused to the heirloom.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's brows somewhat furrowed. He heard what Suzume had said. He didn't necessarily agree with it. The way how she came to, was somewhat odd. It struck him as odd that she seemed to have woken up from a deepened state of unconsciousness. "One suspects that when one arrives from tea, that the rest would follow."<i></i> Either way that was evidently not the case. The odd thing in all of this was the amount of sand this person who claimed to Suzume was covered it. It was just endless seeming. The Steward watched and watched carefully, there were some elements in Suzume's quirks present, but there was something else different about it too. He listened to her speak, and he rubbed the bottom of his chin as he awaited for her to come the simple fact that all of this was a long story. "I was trying to meditate ... apparently it's a method of healing, so I do indeed have the time to listen to this long story of yours."<i></i> Curiously the child produced something that indeed made Sousuke very curious, very curious indeed. Suzume produced the ring he had given her for safe keeping. Suzume would notice Sousuke's eyes widen slightly. "Impossible. That ring cannot be stained or tarred through traditional means."<i></i> He muttered more to himself than to her. The ring was dirty. Soot and char was engrained on the ring, it was as if it had become part of the ring now. "Impossible..."<i></i> Again he muttered.

Sousuke would dismiss the guard. He would motion for Suzume to come with him to the field. He would motion for her to keep hold of the ring. "You keep that."<i></i> He would motion for her to come with him onto the tower grounds. It seemed that for the most part Sousuke seemed to be having issue with the ring, and the fact that now it was dirtied, or at least that is how he perceived it. The item was not in her inventory for that long, two weeks. What exactly happened

 

[Kazumi]

"Mediate?" She asked idly, her interest seemingly piqued over the concept. "Didn't know ya had it in you." Suzume found herself using shorthand slang more and more since she had left tea. From what she understood, that was something Erika did quite frequently, a habit that was, apparently, rubbing off onto her as well. Suzume's head lolled from side to side, as if swaying to a slow unheard tune, while he inspected the darkened jewelry. "Guess not," she absently commented after his first declaration if its impossibility. After a few moments her eyes gained a little more luster to them as they refocused themselves on the Steward standing before her, "I-I mean... It wasn't intentional, sorry." Her eyes averted from him as he turned and began to lead them onto the tower's grounds.

She had been warned by Junka to keep her mouth shut, not as a threat but as friendly advice. Prejudice ran thick on the subject of Lord Jashin, all thanks to the fanatical cultists that claimed they followed the Way of Jashin. The thought of it made her blood boil, her teeth gritting almost loudly enough to be heard by the man that lead her. Pressing the momentary rage downwards, she began to fervently brush off the clumps of sand that had caked onto her outfit, swatting it away with an excessive fervor. "I didn't do it on purpose. It just sort of happened," she commented with notable irritation as they walked, now ruffling her hands through her hair to scatter all the sand from her still dirty locks. After dislodging the vast majority of it, she once again fetched the ring from her pocket, pressing it between her thumb and index finger as she followed, apparently trying to squish it between them, if the redness on those fingers was any indication.

The Steward was different though, he would understand. He was a man of logic and reason, of sound mind and perfect character. Certainly a man such as that would understand what she stood for. She continued to press the ring between her fingers, but after a moment she relaxed them and let off a small sigh, allowing it to fall back into her palm. Then again, perhaps he would not. He was human, and therefore tainted and corrupted. He may latch onto his hatred for those blasphemers and might even group her up with their vile lot. With the ring in her palm, she squeezed it as hard as she could, her knuckled whitening as she idly followed, wordless and lost in her own thoughts.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would return to his original spot for meditation. He removed his mesh shirt and again adopted the cross legged sitting position he had taken. When Suzume had questioned him about meditating, and then thinking that he didn't have it in him, he gave her a rather blank stare. "A new initiative."<i></i> He stated. Suzume could see that the mechanical arm joined to the flesh. There were several old scars and the like which healed overtime. Sousuke would close his eyes for a moment, but then the sound of grinding teeth caused him to open up one of his eyes. It was his mechanical eye in fact. His eye stared unblinking at her trying to figure out why she was grinding her teeth. "Grinding your teeth is really not the best thing for your dental health."<i></i> He would address her, hoping that she would stop doing so. Once the grinding would stop he would close his eye.

Meditating was perhaps a thousand times more difficult considering that his mind was running at untold speeds as he was trying to figure out why or how the ring he gave her was now stained. "You might not want to squeeze the ring so hard. Your knuckles are whitening, and it is somewhat concerning. The first time we met you were not so ... tense?"<i></i> Suzume during their first meeting was a very nervous and scared individual. This Suzume was very different. "You have a story to tell me. I'm certain the story upon completion will in fact reveal what happened to the ring. That ring is Takahashi Fire-Forged Steel. Something fantastical and mystical happened to you ... and mysticism is something that is not my specialty."<i></i> The truth was that Sousuke did not understand 'magick' or 'sorcery', the two had their own rule set and it was a very frustrating thing. He fully expected the story to be told would be something he would question, and hopefully Suzume would be able to bridge the necessary gaps and explain how the ring was damaged. "I believe you when you say that it was not intentional, but ... you truly do have my curiosity in this moment."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

As soon as he pointed it out, her jaw relaxed and the grinding ceased. It frustrated her that he was acting like her mother, as if her teeth were any of his business. She clenched her eyes shut a moment and took in a deep long breath to try and soothe herself, she knew she was frustrated, but she didn't know why it was as bad as it was. She should be happy with her idol sitting there, half naked. It was not a fantasy of hers, per-say, but it certainly was not an unwelcome sight. "The first time we met," she started, opening her eyes to stare over at him, now that his eyes were both shut, "was under very different circumstances." Another long deep breath helped to soothe her nerves, the desire to break something in half not fading fully, but subsiding enough to keep it under control.

"A story?" she asked, somewhat incredulously as she began to fiddle with the ring once again. "Yeah, I guess so. It is just a ring though isn't it? Thought it was silver or something." She idly examined the ring as she walked over towards the meditative man, watching him with a mixture of curiosity and frustration. She reached into her pocket, rubbing her thumb across the symbol of the Chains that rested in there, silently asking for some guidance on how to proceed. She received nothing of the sort however, but it still calmed her fluctuating emotions all the same. "So... where exactly to begin?" She posed it as if it were a question to him rather than to herself, but before he answered she continued. "Well, um... Okay, but on two conditions."

Suzume took her hand out of her pocket and held up two fingers in a somewhat exaggerated fashion. "One," she kept only the pointer finger up as she took a moment to pause, "it is a secret. No telling anyone." Suzume was quite brash, telling someone so far above her station as if she had any real leverage over him, but she knew she was not truly alone in this. She then brought up the middle finger, "Second, I wanna know why you seem so confused about why it is all burnt or something. I don't... exactly know what happened to it, but you never told me why you wanted me to hold on to it for you in the first place." She lowered her hand, reaching back into her pocket to rub the symbol once again.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke knew that look Suzume had when he told her about grinding his teeth. He had dealt with it many times before ... be it Okibi, Aki, or Teke. His mechanical eye remained opened as he continued to stare at her. She spoke of how they had met the first time was under very different circumstances. This much was true, but last time he did not know her as he does now. Yet this was the odd part, the Suzume present before him was a changed one. People change over time, but not over the time period of two weeks. "Yes. I met a girl who was very nervous, and to restore her self-confidence I left with her a Takahashi Fire-Forged ring."<i></i> The girl who he had met was not confident, nor did she seem so ... angry? Most people grinded their teeth when they were angry. There were over a million things to be angry at in this world. Some for good reasons, some for poor reasons. Figuring it out was something Sousuke could do if it had time to do so, but really it was pointless considering he would perhaps learn what it was within a few moments, an hour, or perhaps never.

Suzume had thought about the ring on simplistic terms and the common terms. She did not broaden her horizons, but it was not expected for her to do so. "Sometimes, I have learned, things are not so very simple. Sometimes a dog is in fact a dog, but sometimes not ... sometimes a dog is a companion for a tortured individual who cannot attach themselves to the world at large, and instead needs something smaller and far more limited. Sometimes a pretty lady is a pretty lady, and other times she is in fact a world-breaker bent on trying to set things back to the way things were. Sometimes a seemingly simple and martial man is the grand heir to the Sunahoshi clan and is the Kazekage proper."<i></i> Sosusuke spoke. In truth he was speaking about himself in long form and how people and animals around him had far more meaning and in that true depth defining figures in the meta-narrative. Sousuke had this type of thinking himself, but it was a philosophy he was becoming far more familiar with.

Curiously she was giving him an ultimatum in this. Sousuke closed his eye. He would go silent for a moment considering it. It seemed for a moment he wasn't going to even consider it, "We'll trade secrets."<i></i> He answered to the first ultimatum. Sousuke was very respectful of secrets and the need for them. The thing in question was how does Sousuke reinforce the secret he was to be entrusted with? Simple offer them something in return. The second thing was something far more simpler to answer. "A test of responsibility. The ring is not some simple trinket, it is an higher-matter anchor for a summoning contract, which allows it to manifest itself in our world. Summoning contracts require an object to allow for them to be called to when they are needed, or when they wish to make an appearance in our world."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

It was still strange, speaking with the legend directly. There was something so straight forward and simple with his words, but there always seemed to be some sort of deeper meaning that she couldn't seem to grasp. A part of her was frustrated that, while he was giving her straight answers, he somehow seemed to dangle their true meaning just out of reach for her inexperienced mind. She held up the ring once more, peering through it as if it were a monocle towards him, "Secrets? Sounds like fun!" She beamed him a smile, her earlier annoyances and frustration seemingly forgotten.

Plopping herself onto the ground in front of him, she crossed her legs in a similar manner as he, though it was a poor imitation, with her legs lacking the necessary flexibility to mimic it perfectly. She listened to his explanation of the ring, looking between it and him with a newfound appreciation, albeit still with quite a heavy dose of confusion. "Higher-matter anchor?" She looked at it more closely, the blackness evenly coating every surface of the trinket evenly. "I know a little bitty bit about that," she paused before hastily interjecting, "the summoning thing, I mean. No idea what higher-matter anchors. Oh! Does that mean I can do that with this too? Like summon a giant bear or a gigantic snake?" The possibilities lit up her eyes as she imagined riding atop a giant snake that slithered itself through the endless dunes of Wind Country.

After Sousuke had enough time to either crush or nourish, or both, her dreams, Suzume leaned forward on her legs and pondered where to begin. "Mmm, well, it is not exactly a secret, but everyone has apparently forgotten it so it kinda counts." She sat up straighter, tilting her head from side to side as she rolled the thought around. Suddenly she stopped, looked over towards him once again and leaned forward a few more inches with each word, "Did. You. Know...?" Suzume gave another moment to dramatically pause before she finally continued, "the Way of Jashin is super evil?" There was more to it, of course, but the entire ordeal was her only object of trade in this exchange of secrets, and she wanted to know as many of his as she could get. The thought of them was somehow tantalizing. He had to know so many things about the village and about... well... everything!

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would nod his head, "The science of getting a creature from one world to another is a lost to most people. Like I said they need an anchor in order to manifest properly. They're called High Matter because of the complexity of the life form you're calling be it indeed a bear or giant snake. It's a multi-faceted and very difficult. Most people cannot create the items necessary, but others like myself can given our dedication and higher learning. A singular item is bound to a singular being. For instance that ring can summon my companion Ken who is taller than the Kazekage tower."<i></i> He explained. The Steward's eyes remained closed. He inhaled deeply, held it, then exhaled. He was trying to go back into meditating. "I'm concerned because if the ring is damaged, Ken might ... I don't know exactly ... manifest into this world with a weakened carapace, or a cracked horn. That is why these objects, these High Matter Anchors, must remain in pristine condition. That is why the ring is made out of Takahashi Fire-Forged Steel, which is very difficult to damage."<i></i> Again how she blackened the ring was right now at this particular moment beyond him. It was perplexing and frustrating to say the least.

The story would begin with a question. The answer was something that Sousuke had lived through. That was the simple answer, but really he did not expect it to be that way now. Both of Sousuke's eyes would open at he would look at Suzume. He didn't answer at first, because he really considered that this in truth was now a trick question. He looked at her to go on, this was a rhetorical question, or at least he expected as such. "...But?"<i></i> He would ask. This was the important part, the but. Jashin is a terrible evil ... but? Children provided an unfiltered version of the truth. In that they were perhaps the most reliable source of information because they did not overly concern themselves with things that adults normally would. His mind began to at random play at the notion of what the but was. Jashin is a terrible evil but he keeps worse things at bay? Jashin is in fact an Ancient who was cursed by his siblings? What was it exactly? This thing he was going to learn was not a secret, but it was something people forgot. That in itself had a vast unlimited potential of things.

(MFT 300+)

 

[Kazumi]

Suzume listened to the explanation with a blank expression. It was all very interesting to hear, and while she was eager to hear more, most of it went clear over her head. "You should make me one. Since you make it sound all easy to. You know, with all your dedication and higher learnings. And if like... you don't like how this one looks now, you can just make another to replace it, or melt it down and make a new one or something." She had no idea as to how it worked, but it was still metal after it was melted down, and so what did it matter if it was reforged?

Shifting back to Sousuke's prodding for her to continue, she simply offered him an innocent smile. This persisted for a few seconds, until he made it clear that he was waiting on her to actually give something new or of actual value. "Fiiiine..." she relented with an exaggerated gesture, "The Way is just a bunch of crazy cultists that invoke Jashin's name to justify their desire to hurt and kill people. Unfortunately, that sort of power is very appealing to those evil sorts who just want to abuse Lord Jashin's power, instead of actually trying to help with it." The way she said the deity's name was somewhat peculiar. This certainly wasn't something that she had done when she had last spoken with him, but there seemed to be some level of reverence for the Dark Lord's name in her words, be it intentional or otherwise.

"Because of all that, people think Lord Jashin is all evil and stuff, you know?" She looked to him, as if expecting him to understand how unjust such a thing was. "It would be like... like with all the bad stuff that goes on in parts of the village, if people thought you were evil, just because you're associated with them. It isn't like you really want to be associated with it, you just didn't like... remember how to not, you know?" Her explanation went slightly off track, but still she looked towards the meditative man as if she fully expected him to empathize with what she was saying.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's real eye opened up as he gave Suzume a blank stare when she spoke to him about making one for her. She didn't seem to grasp something, perhaps he needed to put it to her in more ... black and white terms. "When you're ready, or when I think you're ready, you will get one and not before or after. Once you graduate the school of politics."<i></i> He spoke. Sousuke had expectations. Suzume would do one of three things, impress him, pass his expectations, or disappoint him. He had high expectations for the individual who would become the Storm Lady. He merely hoped with his guidance she would become something more and exceed the present Storm Lord in any and all things. His eyes would close once more. He would continue his meditation. He was trying to multitask here, and it was something he was at most times capable of doing. Meditation, however, was not advanced calculus as he could do the numbers in his mind and at will. Sousuke had tried explaining to Katuso once the concept of mass calculation and needed calculus. He tried really hard to teach it to him, and he didn't grasp it. Equally Katuso seemed to be a natural at meditation, whereas Sousuke was not.

When Sousuke heard the foreign spoken name of Jashin, and the notion of the way. Sousuke's eyes opened widely. His mechanical eye did a full spin about and stopped moving. The eye seemed to glow white for a moment. Sousuke's fragile little world was further damaged and or ruined. He twitched mechanically. "The Way? As in like, The Way is the ... direction? Or no... that makes zero sense."<i></i> He considered it. Suzume could see Sousuke's eyes do a very odd rolling manner in which he seemed to be stuck in a moment of time. His mechanical eye flickered as it would look to Suzume. "Religion has a habit of ... fracturing into factions because of belief structures. Is ... the Way a Faction?"<i></i> He went silent and continued to listen. The more and more he listened, the more it seemed like this was indeed a faction. Her word choice was a little odd, but Sousuke did his utmost to keep up with her. "I understand people's actions in the name of a higher being ... trends to disassociate itself with the original meanings or purpose of the being in question..."<i></i> Sousuke knew this a little too well, considering the situation with Mother Suna. Suffice to say somewhere beneath all of his steel and hardened features, there was a very upset Sousuke with the revelation of what Mother Suna's true intentions were. "So. The Way is the most popularized concept...? That means there are other factions. How does one help with ... it? Am I to believe there is a civil war in the faith of Jashin...? It seems ... possible ... but I have literally beheld him making a divine intervention... or at least I thought I did?"

 

[Kazumi]

Suzume seemed hesitant to acknowledge that the Way was the more populous of the denominations. "I mean, if you call people pretending to pay lip service to a poor and tortured deity as an excuse to be terrible people then... I guess?" Before all of this, she had never been familiar with the Way of Jashin, and while she had never had a discussion with a member of the Way of Jashin she could extrapolate how poorly it would go. "Jashin was always content to not have followers. As-" she suddenly stopped, seeming to look inwards fora moment before he caught sight of a smirk on her lips. "Now now, I gave you some. It is your turn!" She lolled back and forth on her hips, smiling over at him as he continued to attempt to meditate, showing no interest in partaking. If he seemed to be confused as to what she was referring to, she would remind him by saying, "The trade? Remember? I gave you like... more than one! A really big one if your eyes going all woobly was anything to go by, so now it is your turn!"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"I'm going to be honest. When people go on and on about how great their higher being is and how all others are inferior? Things are lost in the ... zealous propaganda of it all."<i></i> Sousuke would rise up. His mind was far too busy to be meditating, and trying to get back into it was going to be difficult. He would roll his mechanical shoulder about. "I do not really associate Jashin with being a poor and tortured deity."<i></i> What exactly is a poor deity? Most of them had profound powers and were far more exceptional than most other beings in this ... physical world? Sousuke never quite got the idea right from Mikaboshi, but there were layers of this world. A spiritual one that souls lived in, and the physical. Sometimes the two were combined.

What did Sousuke do now with the knowledge of Jashin? Well. Not much. He considered the new knowledge he had, but he wasn't exactly sure how to ... make use of it. Was he supposed to pity Jashin? Was he supposed to try and right the wrong misbelieving of others? Did Sousuke really want to ... contend with this? Not really. All of this was a bit much to take it, but more over Sousuke had to shift through this intake of knowledge and work with what he previously knew as well. The Steward was interrupted as Suzume then claimed it was his turn to produce a secret. "Technically it was not meant to be a long term trade, but I'll proceed along anyways."<i></i> Sousuke would hold out his hands and summon his twin swords. Perdition's Arrival and Thunder Talon. The twin blades looked ordinary at first as they were simply floating there. The twin blades then proceeded to ignite. The first of the two had the blade burning and burning steadily giving off a very steady amount of heat, the latter of the two blades crackles with lightning. "A curious thing is most weaponry I use, are ... actually not ones I've forged. These two blades came from the lands of Inferno. I had faced a Jashinist there and a Demon as well. I found them. I believe them to be sentient, and what do they truly house? I am not certain. I think they house ... spirits of something that had been dead for a long time. Could be demonic. Could be an Ancient. Could be something far outside of anything I have faced. I have heard whispers come from the weaponry."<i></i> His face made a grimace of sorts. Talking weapons were not an oddity in history. The problem was who they contained. "It's listening to an apex predator ... demand you hunt and destroy the thing before you... because either it has faith in you to do so, or because it's knows of the skill set you have."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

"Well..." Suzume began, sounding hesitant as he commented about what he associated with her Lord. "I mean like, he just aien't himself is all." Her accent momentarily shifted to a rural Tea Country drawl, though she seemed to be ignorant of that fact as she continued. "S'like... well, I'll be lettin' you get to your bit first, keeping it all even keel and such." Suzume hid away her embarrassment over her poor choice of words, quieting as he summoned the blades to offer his own payment. Her eyes lit up with curiosity as the blades suddenly came into existence, and she nearly jumped out of her dirt and sand covered infused outfit as the pair ignited to life. As the sudden fear faded, it was replaced by an even greater curiosity as she leaned back into examining the weapons as he talked.

Sousuke could see the dancing light of the blades reflecting off her eyes as she continued to lean in. "Wow," was the only word she managed as she restrained her urge to reach out and touch one of the death dealing implements. She nodded, seeming to only half pay his words attention until he finally finished. Still staring at them, she broke her silence just a few moments after his conclusion, her words just above a whisper, "or maybe because it doesn't care." The accent she had suddenly manifested had vanished as quickly as it had returned as she again began to speak in the normal Sunan dialect. Suzume continued to stare at them a moment before she eventually looked up to him and continued in the same ominous whisper, "either you win or it now has a new... stronger... owner." She cracked him a slow smile, one that very well might have been somewhat unsettling to most, especially accompanied with her words and tone.

Suddenly she sat back up straight and began to rock back and forth in a casual manner, bringing her feet together in front of her as her knees bopped up and down with each movement. "Not that such could ever happen!" She suddenly exclaimed, not loudly, but with an uplifting enthusiasm that starkly contracted with the mood just a few moments prior. "Yup yup! So, as I was saying..." She continued to rock back and forth, her head lolling backwards as she stared at the ceiling. This would last a short while, though as soon as he would speak up to interrupt the sudden prolonged silence, she would immediately begin in a louder tone than his. "Lord Jashin, as he is known, was humanity's savior, you could say." Her head lowered back down to look at him, her enthusiastic and chipper smile working away at any frustration he might have gotten from being rudely interrupted.

"Don't know exactly how long ago, there aren't exactly a lot of texts on all this, you know. Anyway! Long ago when humans first started popping up, they were pretty close to animals. Simple and all that. They got along, helped each other just like a dune rabbit does might, if it were a bit smarter. Though as time passed, people started to do bad stuff. Stealing from one another. Bickering and fighting. Even raping pillaging and killing!" She seemed to be getting into the story quite a bit, her voice accentuating, strengthening and softening to the tales's rhythm. "Was not much at first, but little by little it happened. Back then Lord Jashin was humanity's caretaker. He didn't like... involve himself in their affairs, but when their souls passed into the afterlife, he helped guide them to a new reincarnated life." She paused a moment and added, "otherwise they'd just get lost in the afterlife all on their own, people like living and so he helped keep directing them back to the living world as newborns." Once again, Suzume paused, nodding and making sure that Sousuke was following along.

"Now, you might not know, but every bad thing you do leaves a little taint on your soul. You ever feel that tinge of regret when you do something you know is wrong? That's that feeling. It builds up little by little, but usually isn't that big of a deal in a person's lifetime. However!" She suddenly shot her arm into the air, demanding silence and attention before she paused and continued once again in her normal storytelling tone, "you take a soul and recycle it a few hundred times and that thing starts to turn as black and corrupted as the desert is dry. By then, people were everywhere, but they were also destroying themselves. Everyone was fighting and warring with one another, and only selfish survival kept anyone from hurting anyone else. Lord Jashin, pained to see that humanity was dooming itself, finally stepped in to stop the vicious cycle."

Suzume took a long breath, allowing a dramatic pause to fall as she hoped the tension left her audience curious and wanting more. "He could not intervene directly, and so Lord Jashin took upon himself that same corruption that we humans naturally tainted ourselves with. With every soul that passed through his arms, he drank as much corruption as he could from each, without damaging what made it human. After a generation, humanity was finally free of the taint that had nearly caused it to destroy itself. Now, even for a divine being, that is a lot of bad stuff, and his sacrifice would eventually take a great toll on Lord Jashin." Her tone sobered as her words slowed, "the corruption that plagued humanity began to seep into the Lord, darkening his one pure essence. He did not abandon his post however, and he continued to cleanse much of humanity's vile nature as their souls came and went."

The student took a low deep breath, giving a depressed sigh, "now, Lord Jashin suffers to this day as he bears the weight of all of humanity's sins and vices. His mind is twisted and darkened with our darkness, and he languishes in torment as he continues to perform his duty as the caretaker of humanity." She looked up from the ground between them, where her vision had slowly drifted down to. The corners of her eyes were moist and either she was an excellent performer, or she was on the verge of tears from the tale. "That... that was what I meant by poor and tortured." She took a long sniff, trying to keep herself from adding phlegm to the mixture of sand that ingrained itself in her outfit.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Suzume had this odd thing with the accent that turned itself on and off. It was a very confusing thing because at times it seemed like Sousuke was talking to two very different people. The more offsetting thing was the way Suzume spoke of his tale. Not to Sousuke's particular surprise, Suzume had cracked an unsettling smile. It caused him to think of the Miroku clan. Everyone in that blasted clan had a habit of smiling widely and had curves present in said smile that really was not human. People who smiled that way was always gave Sousuke concern. What was it that the smile was hiding? What thought or memory or concept lingered on the outside of the mind?

Sousuke watched as Suzume with a strange enthusiasm explain to him the supposed origin of Jashin. The first part she spoke of how humans were akin to animals stuck with him, but in turn it made him think of a very pessimistic view of humans. Mankind is the cruelest animal. It was a true statement, and Sousuke could easily name a number of individuals both past and present who demonstrated the statement perfectly. The Daimyo came to mind, and in that his religion came to mind. The Daimyo was a Jashin, as was his son. The story continued and with it so did the philosphy that mankind is the cruelest animal. The story that was being presented to him encourage the concept of eternal return, and the notion that time was circle. Everything ever done, it would in fact happen again and again. The narrative unfolded him, and thus it seemed that Jashin himself was trying to break the notion of eternal return, and as such Jashin poisoned himself by taking in the cruelty of humans. Sousuke quietly considered this for a time. It occurred to him that the Suzume who had met with him two weeks ago did not have this knowledge. He told her of how he had encountered Jashinists and how they were subjects to the concept of eternal return. Sousuke said nothing still. He was trying to make sense of all of this, and he was trying to ascertain if any of this was propaganda in this civil war of the Jashin religion.

The Steward's eyes narrowed. Suzume was brought to tears in all of this. Sousuke on the other hand? This was a large scale information download. He looked skyward for a moment. "There's no true reset then. We're just subjects to the notion of eternal return. Time is a flat circle."<i></i> His expression seemed to sour at the notion of this then. The afterlife was a grand mystery. The Jashin belief was that ... evidently there was no afterlife and that reincarnation was a thing. It was a funny thing. It made Sousuke consider the notion of the narrative told was not the truest story in terms how Jashin saw it. Sungakure had built itself upon the story that Mother Suna had given power to the Sunahoshi. That was certainly not the case. She wanted to destroy the Sunahoshi, but supposedly Katuso had brokered a peace by returning to her the gifts she had given the clan a long time ago. The narrative provided. Was this the ultimate truth, or was this merely a large misunderstanding? "Understood ... at least I think I do. So... what is Jashin's stance on Ancients who ... consume human souls then? What does he make of demons for that matter then?"<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Suzume shook her head, holding no answers for the inquisitive Steward. Compared to he, she was a learned scholar in this purported history of Lord Jashin, but in truth she was only a novice. "Dunno." She replied with a bit of whimsy, tilting her head from side to side as the thought rolled about, picking up no useful bits of knowledge as it did so. "I wouldn't imagine very good. I mean, we people are his children, and I would guess that the thought would sadden or anger him, even in his current state." Who was to know the mind of the corrupted god. What does madness or corruption to do a divine being?

Her head rolled back and around, her neck giving slight pops as she did. "It is not all sad though. One day we will help Lord Jashin cleanse himself from this self-imposed darkening and we can come up with a new solution. One that can help cleanse humanity and him as well." She smiled, not a too-wide smile, but a naive and hopeful one. "That is why I pledged myself to him. I mean, it is the least I can do, right? What is one person to the tribulations and sacrifices that such a being has given for us?"

Her hand had drifted into her pocket and slowly pulled out a metal symbol. It was obviously quite old, but was still polished to a smooth sheen that had worn away the metal over who knew how many years. At a glance, it appeared similar to the symbol of the Way of Jashin, an inverted triangle inside of a circle. Upon closer inspection the object that she held was seen to be quite different, if still similar. It was of a triangle and a circle both of the same size, interwoven into each other. Suzume rubbed her thumb across the outside of the metal icon with reverence before she held it out, offering it to him for inspection. "This is the symbol of the Chains, though I doubt you had seen it before. Being all secretive and stuff."

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward inspected the symbol of the Chains of Jashin. Suzume was indeed correct, he had not seen it before. He would nod his head in agreement. "Curious thing that."<i></i> It didn't evoke a literal meaning in terms of the chains. Sousuke would not touch the symbol, merely look at it. Was the Steward won over by this? Not overly. It was a civil war in the relgion. It wasn't a new concept per say, it was just a civil war in a different field. "I'm certain some people would arguing that one person in the face of a god still has meaning."<i></i> Sousuke knew Katuso would agree with that sentiment. For Sousuke, it depended on the person in question, but that being said most people were worth saving. There were few that were not.

Sousuke's eyes shifted over from the symbol to the hopeful new convert. Ancients not being in the good books, so to speak, of Jashin was not surprising. Who knew if Jashin had whispered the idea into the mind of another who told the Daimyo to take a very violent and almost ironic approach to dealing with Ancients. Human souls fed Ancients in the past, and now the reverse was happening. It genuinely made Sousuke curious. Mankind had destroyed the essence of Ancients in the past through the use of Shoki, which was lost to the ages. There was Sanban, a tome which bonded to an individual and gave them knowledge at a terrible price. Was Jashin capable of smiting an Ancient and removing them from existence? "Your intentions are noble, as is the concept of the Chain. I would be on the mum of speaking of your ... blessed abilities?"<i></i> He spoke cautiously. "I would not go ... trying to convert the Kazekage to the Chains. Both of us have had terrible experiences, and while the Kazekage is a man who will listen, this may be one of the subjects he may not."<i></i> Kuro too was perhaps of an alignment too that Jashin was an entity that was truly evil and not worth redeeming, even if this sect existed to truly and purify Jashin. Sousuke on the other hand, he was willing to listen for the most part.

Sousuke pressed his hands together. He held them under his chin. It was his turn now to give information. "My pact with the Toads from the summoned world, as there are other worlds than this."<i></i> He motioned to all of this surrounding him. "They are not overly fond of Jashin. Their follower, Shouki the bastard son of the Daimyo, he was a holder of a contract that was forced. In time I came to acquire that contract, and ever since ... when I have summoned them, they have remained bitter and absolute in the destruction of dealing with Jashin's followers."<i></i> He continued, "My present contact with the Toads is an Elder Crone. She claims there is worse things out there than Jashin, but she does not have the mind to speak of it less we all go mad."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Suzume was not sure if she had expected the man to take the symbol from her, nor was she sure she would have easily relinquished it if he actually had. Seeing as he had not, however, she rescinded her offering and held it in her hands as she inspected it more closely herself. She remained quite for a minute as he spoke, seeming somewhat distant before she snapped back to attention as he spoke of divine blessings. "It is really interesting, you know? Like," she offered the symbol for him to view more easily in her hand, "lot of meanings and stuff in it. The three points representing Body, Mind and Spirit. The circle representing the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The intertwining of the two that represents how they are intertwined with one another." She used her finger to trace around the small symbol as she went continued to discuss its symbolism.

Suzume then paused for a few moments, seeming to ponder something before she finally spoke with a more measured tone which contrasted with her more enthusiastic one from before. "The Chains have been around for quite a long time. Apparently, the name used to symbolize the members serving as the restraints that bound Jashin from entering the mortal world. Giving him sacrifices to placate him and to keep him placid and lacking the will to reclaim all of humanity's souls by himself." She pulled the symbol back, palming it in her hand as she looked up to him. "Kinda scary when you think about it. I don't know like... how far back, but at some point that changed slightly. I guess it became apparent that it would not work or something, and that purifying Lord Jashin, bringing him to his senses would be a much better way."

Her head lolled one one side as she rolled her thoughts around, seeing what stuck. "I can't tell you a lot. A lot of people wouldn't like... understand most of it, and while I am sure you would." Her head lifted and lolled to the other side lazily, "maybe one day." She added as if it were an afterthought. In truth, she did not know all of the secrets of the Chains. She was an official black card carrying member, but Junko had said that they would speak more on it later. That they did not carry any written gospel or guides and that trying to tell her everything at once would just jumble it all up. Junko also had said to not tell anyone about it but... he was the Kage, she surely could tell him some stuff, right?

Silence retook the room as her head rolled back, leaving her staring at the ceiling in thought as Sousuke transitioned into his discourse on the Toads. "One day, when Lord Jashin has regained more of himself, he will take back the dark blessings he gave those vile Ways." Her head snapped back up to attention, looking perturbed at the mere mention of someone associated with those vile people. "Not only are they making it impossible to spread the word of the Chains, but they are actively trying to further corrupt our Lord Jashin. Don't they even like... realize what could happen?" Frustration and anger lit in her eyes as she squeezed the symbol tightly in her right hand. "I mean, imagine if Lord Jashin came here in all his might, glory and power? He would wipe the world clean, claim all of humanity and then like... then what? Ugh!" She threw her arms to the side in anger, not sure what to do with herself at the though of how stupid, selfish and shortsighted some people were.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The concept of a 'corrupt' Jashin being present in the world was a concerning one. Sousuke had done battle with demons, Ancients, mortals, sandworms, Barnyx, and the likes. The words of Jashin played in his mind as he recalled that particular moment of a rotting head in Katuso's hands that was dissolving rapidly. Sousuke wasn't even sure, nor could he even guess. It made Sousuke think about Shoki, the blade that could destroy an entity entirely. Could Katuso make use of such a weapon to erase Jashin? Could he even move fast enough to avoid point blank annihilation? What kind of armour would need to survive point blank annihilation? Was there even something worldly that could survive such a thing even? The more and more Sousuke thought about the more and more matters came up that he needed to truly consider in all of this. It was multi faceted and extensive. Sousuke's mind decided to put the notion of such things to bed for the moment.

"Ancients would be out of a food source. So would demons. Two species of two distict types would fade into nothingness."<i></i> He answered quietly as Suzume exclaimed what would happen if a corrupted Jashin did infact appear and took humanity under his wing. The Steward did not like Ancients really. Mikaboshi and Kazuki were the only two he was fine with. Mikaboshi had been cheated by humanity who thought what they were doing at that time was justice. Justice was a curious thing as a whole, justice for one meant vengeance for another. Justice for humanity meant injustice for Ancients, and vice versa. The notion of such had a small nagging feeling at the back of his head. The destruction of Ancients as a whole was just for humanity, wasn't it? It was this sort of long form thought process that did not consider ancient past or true future that he had problems with. The notion of when Jashin had regained his faculties and took back the dark powers being an eventual thing was something too that Sousuke considered. He looked down at his metallic arm and considered it. It wasn't going to be tomorrow, or the day after. "Maybe when Jashin takes back all of the dark powers, I won't be myself as I am presently. Perhaps I will be a machine entirely."<i></i> Would he even be human at the point?

Sousuke would look from his metallic arm back to Suzume. "Who else in Sungakure knows about this? Or am I the first person you have told?"<i></i> He questioned.

MFT 300+