Private The Eleventh Hour

[Yong]

You didn't need the sunlight or heat for a mirage to form in the desert, no, given the right conditions Moonlight and cold could achieve the same results. As the Armoured Shinobi flew through the air (Gravity Ninjutsu) beside the colossal creature known as Urufuebi, his hawk like gaze lingered on the horizon, a shimmering city-scape floated above the edge of the world, a mirage of a world long past or one yet to come.

And then, far off in the distance a light broke the illusion. Not a physical light but a light Yong had come to realise was a physical manifestation of the person's importance in the web of the gods game and this one shon brightly... The Armoured Shinobi came to a stop suspended in the air, knowing full well that the silhouette of Urufuebi as well as his much smaller human sized silhouette would be clear against the large desert moon hanging in the clear star riddled sky behind them.

"Is this why you led me out here old friend?"

A deep rumble came from the throat of the massive creature flying gracefully despite is colossal size, the rumble followed by a strange bubbling as organs not meant for human speech vibrated and hummed together to mimic it, though it's monstrous mouth seemed to move slightly out of sync with the way the brain would imagine they should.

"...I... ...was... ...hunting... ...for... ...whales..."

Yong chuckled slightly at the behemoth's response as he looked at the sea of sand spanning seemingly infinitely around them despite their great height.

"Not very likely to find many of them here in the middle of the desert."

"...My... ...chances... ...are... ...not... ...zero..."

Yong looked contemplative for a moment as he considered the ancient creatures words.

"True. Well your whale hunt can wait, the Goddess calls on us...."

The pair descended through the sky rapidly, the Armoured Shinobi's boots coming to a sudden stop only inches from the surface of the sand before he gently lowered himself down into a kneeling position, though close observation would reveal his body seemed to be floating just above the ground.

Urufuebi's landing was not so graceful, the colossal creature slamming into the sand with enough force to cause a wave of wind displaced sand to puff cartoonishly into the air with his impact. Coming to a sliding halt behind the kneeling Shinobi like a living wall.

A small fire burst into life in front of the kneeling man as a spiderweb of seals momentarily crisscrossed the sand beneath him. A finely woven prayer mat appeared under him, it's identical positioned opposite him beside the unnaturally flickering flames of the fire. A small table had also appeared beside him, an already steaming teapot and three cups placed perfectly on its well polished hardwood surface.

Yong let a smile cross his face as he looked into the distance towards the bright soul now approaching the strange pair, he knew his fire would shine out to the bright soul through the dark desert night and guide the bright soul to him. Would would happen then... Yong would leave it in the hands of the gods...

 

[Kaen]

A calling, a longing of sorts, some invisible force was pulling at his soul to venture out here this night. He couldn't put his finger on it, but somehow he knew he needed to come this way. For what purpose? He knew not, but he would discover it in time. There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be, there are no wrong turns. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. And that's exactly what Kaen was doing out here, seeking his destiny, achieving what those weaker than himself could not..

Soon he would see a light in the distance, two entities of great power would be unmistakably felt. One far stronger than the other, even on Kaen's level of power. But he felt no malice or malcontent, instead it felt inviting, as if this was where he was meant to me. As he drew closer he saw an incredible beast of great stature and size. A creature he had not seen before, but it too felt powerful, and sentient. Not like the wild sandworms that were huge and powerful, but lacked any sense of intelligence.

Finally he was upon the scene, walking slowly towards the pair of beings so as not to make them think he was going to attack them in some way. Opposite the flame was a masked man kneeling on a prayer mat of sorts, a twin of sed mat was opposite from the man, on the other side of the fire. It was left open, as if to say welcome, and sit. So that's exactly what Kaen did. Without a word he would walk up to the mat and kneel down respectfully. "Good evening, friend. I've been called out here, but for what I do not know. Perhaps you could enlighten me?" And so the meeting of the minds had begun, what would become of this scenario, who was this dark figure and what did they want with the Flame Court Hybrid known as Kaen?

 

[Yong]

As the bright soul approached Yong remained still. He hoped the warrior before him would choose the path of least resistance and take his place on the offered prayer mat. The Shinobi did exactly that, his power emenating like a beacon now he was this close. The welcome guest took a kneeling position rather than sitting, it offered a level of respect and trust that told Yong much. The man spoke simply and directly, the sentence conveying so many words unsaid. He had called Yong friend, the words not said ironically or with deception. He had also told Yong that something had called him into the desert in a similar manner to his own gods subtle pull...

Yong lifted his unarmoured hand to the side of his head, his fingers touching an unseen mechanism that released his ANBU mask from his face. Lowering the mask to the prayermat in front of him with both hands Yong bowed his head for a moment in a show of respect.

"A moment ago I would not have had an answer for you but now that I see you plain, taking your place at my fire, perhaps I could enlighten you... But first please take some tea."

The small steaming teapot lifted itself via magic (Tsukomogami) and poured it's warm contents into the awaiting teacups. Yong quietly said thankyou almost inaudibley as the teapot gently set itself down once more. He lifted the first teacup with both hands before his palms flattened and the teacup gently floated through the air around the fire and come to a slow stop gently hovering in front of his guest here in the wilds (gravity Ninjutsu).

"To my daughter's endless disappointment it isn't poison... It's my father's blend... Quite good!"

Green tea, a little Soju and a lot of MSG... It really would taste extra good...

The Sage reached for the second cup with only one hand before raising it above his head, his arm almost straight up. A strange tendril coiled out from the collosal creature behind him as Urufuebi took the offered comicly small cup of tea. The creature offered a low rumble in thanks before lowering its head slowly until it was flat against the sand, the tiny teacup moved to it's monstrous lips as it somehow only took a small amount of tea into its huge mouth with a huge sipping noise! Yong took note that the creature had chosen not to speak even though he was more than capable. Yong could feel that the strangers power was closer to his own level than that of the deep sea creature, was he feeling intimidated by their guest?

Yong lifted the third cup to his lips with both hands, letting the warm china teacup rest gently against his lip for a moment before tilting the cup and draining its contents in one go. He lowered his cup to the table, returning it to the place it had been lifted from, speaking as he did so.

"In these dangerous times you walked into the desert to meet a stranger, now a friend, and the reason is simple, our meeting here, now, its fate!"

Yong gave the man a large grin, completely void of meliciousness though with a hint of cheeky.

"Do you believe in fate my friend? Let me tell you a story... It was in this very desert that the weaver of fates, World Leviathan, first revealed herself to me...
She showed me things then, things that one should never see. She told me things one should never know. She took me from this world to another where the souls of the restless dead awaited judgement, where the gods laughed as evil children laugh and played a malicious game with the fates of the living as children would play violently with their toys...

The World Leviathan wept as she showed me these places... begged me to not let these gods of Man blindly tear the world asunder at the end of this age, to become her champion and weave a new fate for the world at this turning if the age. Given what I had seen, what I had heard... I could not refuse her..."

Yong exhaled deeply, his eyes looked into the fire as if there was much more of the story, and there was. If Kaen had the capability to detect lies it may have been a suprise that none of Yong's words were a lie, either he had lived them or he was a mad man.

"And now my Goddess has returned me to this world at its eleventh hour, telling me of other harbingers meant to shape the world and break the stranglehold of the gods of men... and then she has led me here... just as you were led here by another... I do not know what or who guided you here but I think I do know why... They wanted us to meet so we can kill the world!"

Yong gave the man a cheeky grin.

"What do you think? Seems like fate to me..."

 

[Kaen]

"A moment ago I would not have had an answer for you but now that I see you plain, taking your place at my fire, perhaps I could enlighten you... But first please take some tea." As he spoke a steaming teapot floated seemingly on its own volition, pouring the tea into three teacups. One for the creature, one for himself and then one for Kaen. Using a jutsu Kaen had never seen before the stranger ushered the cup around the fire until it came to a gentle stop in front of him. Kaen would raise a single brow before taking the cup. He gave the stranger a perplexed look, as if to say are you trying to poison me? But the thought was already thinked as the stranger spoke again; "To my daughter's endless disappointment it isn't poison... It's my father's blend... Quite good!"

Despite being told it wasn't poison he would still wait and see if the stranger would partake in his own concoction. As the stranger brought the cup to his own lips, Kaen would mimic the motions and would take a small sip from his tea. His eyes would grow wide with surprise, it was actually good. Whispering to himself Kaen would comment on the flavor; "Oh wow, that's actually amazing..." Setting his cup down on the table the stranger would continue to speak."In these dangerous times you walked into the desert to meet a stranger, now a friend, and the reason is simple, our meeting here, now, its fate!"

Yong gave Kaen a large grin, completely void of maliciousness though with a hint of cheeky.

"Do you believe in fate my friend? Let me tell you a story... It was in this very desert that the weaver of fates, World Leviathan, first revealed herself to me...
She showed me things then, things that one should never see. She told me things one should never know. She took me from this world to another where the souls of the restless dead awaited judgement, where the gods laughed as evil children laugh and played a malicious game with the fates of the living as children would play violently with their toys...

The World Leviathan wept as she showed me these places... begged me to not let these gods of Man blindly tear the world asunder at the end of this age, to become her champion and weave a new fate for the world at this turning if the age. Given what I had seen, what I had heard... I could not refuse her..."

Yong exhaled deeply, his eyes looked into the fire as if there was much more of the story. Kaen's training in the Anbu helped him detect faint cues in people's voices. Either this guy was an expert in deceit, or all of this was true. That or he was crazy. But he didn't seem so.

"And now my Goddess has returned me to this world at its eleventh hour, telling me of other harbingers meant to shape the world and break the stranglehold of the gods of men... and then she has led me here... just as you were led here by another... I do not know what or who guided you here but I think I do know why... They wanted us to meet so we can kill the world!"

Yong gave the man a cheeky grin.

"What do you think? Seems like fate to me..."

Kaen would contemplate all the man had said, finishing his tea as he did so, setting the cup down gently on the ground. Meeting the stranger's gaze, his eyes would attempt to stare into the man's soul. "You sound a lot like a demon I know, perhaps you know of him? Mirroku Akkuma. My apologies, I did not mean to digress. To answer your question plainly, yes. I do believe in fatte. But we, as free minded beings, have a will of our own that attempts to quarrel with fate, muddling it up as time goes on. I believe you have found one of these... Harbingers. This world has become corrupted by the humans that call themselves shinobi. Weak minded, selfish and unpredictable this race is. But you speak of the world, please enlighten me as to your plans and I will tell you whether our goals align."

 

[Yong]

Yong considered the man's words, that he sounded like Akkuma... That he did believe in fate but he also spoke of the individuals freedom to fight against the influence of the gods and of the corruption of humanity and it's bastardisation of the way of the Shinobi.

The smile left his face as the man spoke his response, his face seeming to change from the joker to the sage, an inhuman change coming over Yong's face. Kaen would be able to feel the change in the man's aura if he was able to sense such things, his aura changing to a pure bright light. (Sage Mode)

Yong knew he was playing with fate now. He knew he would have to choose his words wisely for he spoke now as one with the weight of the new world on his shoulders.

"I bear no animosity towards man, their time is short in the sun but for this they strive to power and greed... It is their nature and I cannot begrudge them that desire to influence the weave before their time in the sun turns to twilight...

Their gods have given them life but my goddess has gifted me the power to take it away...

At the end of this age I mean to make them turn from their gods of man... the gods of industry... the gods of greed and decadence... foolish gods... small gods once more..."

The Sage let his words fade as he stared into the unnatural fire for a moment before looking back to his guest.

"The Leviathan... The Conquering Worm... She will guide my path through the twilight of the age, like you tonight, my Goddess will show me the way.

Four have come before you, beings of the twilight... All with ambitions towards the crumbling of this corrupt world in their own way. The First, Myakashi Migoya, kage of the village hidden in shadow... He means to save the souls of men but his form of salvation will make them fear death, missing the protection that life had once offered them...

The Second, the Faceless Demon, Kiko Myakashi, granddaughter of the first... she casts doubt on all they trust, not knowing friend from foe, brother or stranger... she is their doubt...

The Third, the Sennin of Cloud... Miro... hellbent on the protection of her own people with no price too high for this cause.

And the Fourth... The Devil of Suna... Miroku Akkuma means to take man's strongest power and turn it against them... he is anethema to the Gods of Industry, rust in the Warmachine of the Shinobi world...

I mean to help them all achieve these knoble ambitions. When the world of man cries out against their gods for having abandoned them in their hour of need I will be there... The Leviathan with me... And together we will usher in the new age..."

Yong gave Kaen a small smile as he offered him some more tea, pouring himself another cup with the aid of the Tsukomogami Teapot.

"And now you my friend... Tell me of your place in the twilight... How will you change the world?"