The First Petals of Winter [Private]

[Midori Futotta]

Since they had the time, they could discuss what path they should go on since it was obviously going to be a which path should they take to get to where they were going. Sakaeru decided that he should simply say why the dark path would be better than the light path, besides it's not like a newborn plant could make a logical argument which could make the choice for them a lot easier. “Well since we are discussing let me explain why should we go to the dark path.” He brought his green vine up to begin to explain. “So we all know that getting to the overlord would be pretty hard for any old average joe, besides there had been a few criminals who tried to to take the overlord out so they could own this realm. So the Overlord design these paths to keep unworthy people out. If we go down the light path, it would be rather difficult to know what's a threat and what isn't. Ever seen a how pretty a poisonous frog looks, that's how the light path is. Everything there is a trap. One poor fellow ended up biting into a fruit and got their heart ripped out of their chest when the fruit turned into some weird vine monster. That's the kinda stuff you'll be dealing with… not to mention I'm weak in sunlight. “ Sakaeru explained, shrugging its vines.

“I know the dark path by heart and it pretty much is straight up with their threats. Worst you'll get is a giant tree zombie thing attacking you, might be just as bad but at least you see it coming. Or I would rather, since I'm strong in the dark. But both paths lead the same way.” Sakaeru finalized, turning its face to the Lilli giving it a sly look to her because he knew it wouldn't be able to argue with him. “You got anything to add smallfry?” It mocked.

The Lili gave the group a dopey tilt of the head, trying to get what is going on because she was lost at this point. It wasn't until Aya said something about over there being bright when the Lili began to speak. “...B..right gewd… dish wae maw powa stronk… coold mack friends ou ov ovter plants… may mind powa stronk in bright.” Adorable as she may have sounded..it was hard to know what exactly she was saying. But what they could gather is that she is stronger in light and she came to have some kind of knowledge of the mind. She has the ability to affect a person's will and their sense of touch, and could also move things with her mind but there's no guarantee that she could do this right away. She attempted to demonstrate her ability by focusing her mind on a small rock.. the Lili focused, imagining it moving but it just tipped over and she clapped thinking she was useful to the group now. “Mind Powa! See?”

Sakaeru wasn't in the least bit impressed with the Lili’s display of power, she was as dumb as dumb could get so clearly the path to go would be the dark path. But knowing the girl, she would trust her stupid Lili thing completely. “Well splitting up is a option! If you guys wanna go on that path be my guest but the fact is I don't know what's in the light path, I know what's in the dark path sooooo…” the flower was getting impatient, hopefully they would make up their minds already. It was either put their trust into the more intelligent plant that did wanted to eat them or put their trust into a plant that had just been born. Looks like they're screwed either way.

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"Dividing such a small force would be a health hazard." Yukiin said, dismissing the suggestion as soon as it had entered into his ear. There were only a handful of more dangerous ideas he could come up with than that and the others off the top of his head would require high elevation and a lead block, no that wasn't going to do. If Aya intended to escape him that was her prerogative, but he wouldn't allow it willingly and she would find it difficult to achieve that desired result if he intervened. He doubted that was her intention but he eyed her just the same, the kind of rambunctious spirit might cause issues of that sort and he wanted to minimize health concerns and paperwork.

"Its a fair enough assessment, you could be lying to make an attempt at escape or regroup with allies but you're also a poor liar o that would've likely be obvious by now. There are other risks but they should be within my ability to handle, if not I doubt I'll live long enough to be concerned with being wrong."

The puppeteer rolled his shoulder, stepping off into the darkened path as he beckoned for the girl and her own developing chatter box to follow.

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya looked at the Flower, he had a good point as well why to take the dark path. her attention was taken to Lili. She was stronger in the light, and the flower was stronger in the dark. Aya pondered about it for a moment. Yukiin dismissed it but Aya was thinking back to how these plants were supposed to guide them and protect them if that was true then... If they took the dark path Lili wouldn't be doing her part. "Hey but if we all go together I think it would make us a bigger target. Lili and uh Sakaeru are supposed to guide us, it'd put a strain on Sakaeru if he had to protect and watch all three of us. Vis versa if we take the other path. I know Lili is a newborn, but she isn't human, I assume plants mature faster than us, so I don't want to blow it off." Aya explained and nodded. If this was a test, then both paths would lead to the same place anyways.

"I think it'd better if we split up, we'll meet at the end. I'll be okay, I am a kunoichi, and I have Lili to help. So don't worry, I don't plan on dying today, or anytime soon." SHe stated, then she took Lili into the brighter path. She took notes of Sakaeru's warnings, nothing was as it seemed, but she trusted Lili had better senses, and or could at least sense danger. Aya was still in training at this point, so her skills were still far from perfect.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Although Yuiikin seemed to agree that the dark path like Sakaeru had suggested, the Kumo Shinobi was still a bit weary on trusting the fiendish flower. After all the little trickster did try to eat them so he might would be leading him into a trap, but although he might be more useful where there is little light then there was also the fact that he was within Yuiikin’s grasp unfortunately. One wrong move, and it's back to being dead again… “Well if she wants to trust a newborn with her life, that's her.” Sakaeru shrugged, then they began to go on they began to go on the darker path. The shade of the thick trees covered the Kumo Shinobi and the fiendish flower, the darkness making Sakaeru feel a bit more stronger than he was when he was walking around where there was too much light. If Yuiikin decided to keep going on this path, then he will soon find himself inside of another dark swamp forest similar to the one they had been in, only this swap had actual tombstones that were covered in a strange pulsating black fungus. Everything here seemed to be rotting and decaying, the stench of death lingering in the air with a grim mist that covered the air. Small creatures that slinked off into the shadows to watch and wait….

Sakaeru felt 10x as stronger than he was, looking around at the surroundings to feeling like home to the sinister flower, mostly because of the beautiful combination of life and death within this decaying woodland. Nature's most raw beauty is the circle of life and death.. Whatever dies would be planted then became something else greater. Perhaps nourishment for a fruit trees roots, maybe become the soil to spring new life, or possibly become a fungus to poison a plant eating animal to give a free meal for a predator. Here you don't exactly bury your dead here, you plant the dead to create a form of eternal life. His thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a tugging feeling in his pedals that told him that something was wrong, his instincts telling him that something was coming… something that might not be friendly. His feelings were confirmed when he was a skeletal, bush like, ghoul staggering among the moldy tombstones. The thing had no eyes, with almost about a 50/50 struggle on its humanoid appearance and its plant like appearance.

It wasn't just this creature because some mushroom insect hybrid sped past Yuiikin. It seemed as though there were a lot of these plantlike ghouls around but none of them paid any attention to the fresh living human who decided to take the path that had these plant/fungus creatures around. Sakaeru chuckled. “These creatures are pretty dumb. Thanks to you having my Chlorophyll on you and with me wrapped around your hand they think you're a plant too. Just keep going straight and don't let em get too close. They bite.” Sakaeru warned, the trail had plant ghouls traveling back and forth aimlessly waiting to see what Yuiikin would do in the face of these creatures.

….

Aya decided to follow her own plant as she seemingly took her Lili on the brighter path which lead into a beautiful garden! The Lili was pretty thankful that the girl didn't take her on the dark path, that side of the forest would've made her rotten to the core ‘literally.’ Since she was a newborn, she was able to learn things a bit faster hence how she was able to pick up on the human language so fast and if she was taken on the dark path then she would've ended up a very mean plant from being in a rather cruel environment with no light. That fate was avoided thanks to her friend, now she went up a head to get a look around beautiful gardens around her. Numerous amounts of fruits, vegetables, and the sweet smell of flowers made the place look magical. While Aya would probably step in closer, the flowers seemed to sing a song, the different tunes from the different flowers blended together in harmony seemingly welcoming this girl to their garden of eden. Animals frolicking around, deers drinking from the crystal clear lake, the place seemed like a paradise.

How could anything that seemed welcoming like this could possibly be bad? This seemed like a perfect place for Lili to learn and mature. Things seem to be happy right until she saw a seed in the middle of the garden, the seed was shimmering… calling out to the newborn… and she went to it. The plants that were singing suddenly began to slowly silence, the dears stopped to look at the Lili advancing to the seed as if that seed was bad.. Very bad. Lili didn't take notice of the awkward silence, just being born she was a bit hungry and would love a something to eat. Namely that seed.. That sat in the middle of the garden.. With all these fruits around… there was a feeling of dread as the Lili got closer to the seed, reaching its hands out. Then one of the plants finally whispered to Aya in the voice of a small child in one long breath….


Stoooooooooop…. Heeeeeeeeeeeer....

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

Yukiin nodded slightly in response to the information given about these creatures, though he found them to be a fascinating bunch he was uncertain where the corpses to acquire them came from and he wasn't as certain he'd be able to retrieve them in their current state. The level of risk was too high, especially considering their numbers, so he begrudgingly allowed them to pass by unharmed and untouched and in exchange they seemed to do the same, though if the flower was accurate and truthful it wasn't due to mutual agreement but mutual ignorance of each other. They didn't understand that he wasn't a parasite corpse and he didn't understand what exactly they were besides piloted corpses but they would both have to agree to leave themselves in a state of not knowing, any less would result in a very unpleasant clash of interests. He wasn't confident that it would go as smoothly with superior forces, he was adept at group combat (more so than even single combat) but that also meant he knew the risks of it and how easy it was to slip up and be caught, too many targets to track and react to.

He let the chill of his chakra exude from his body in a steady flow, dropping his external temperature such that it would more closely resemble a corpse's and continued onwards, taking care to avoid brushing against them and moving through or around them as much as possible. If they weren't at odds yet there was no reason to initiate aggression and he was admittedly curious if Sakaeru would take the opportunity to do something. This was his chance after all, out numbered and alone, better to offer the opportunity now and observe the results then to wait for when it came at a risk of a life beyond his own. He seemed complacent enough, or was behaving at least, but he couldn't be certain if the only thing tying him into service was earning the spoils of war.

"If you're going to try and escape, you won't find many better chances."

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Despite that this path looked good and peaceful, the words of the sunflower lingered in her head, nothing was as it seemed. She stayed on guard and walked with Lili through the path, she made sure not to touch anything, since she wasn't sure what was hostile here. Lili had other ideas and ran off into a field towards a seed, Aya had no idea why she decided to do that, then everything stopped, and Aya felt an uneasiness growing in the pit of her stomach. A whisper saying stop her, she blinked and like that, using her Seikon speed to appear in front of Lili before she reached the seed. "Nothing is as it seems, don't touch anything." Aya stated and then ushered Lili to safety. "Why were you going towards that suspiciously attractive seed?" Aya asked, she didn't feel like having her new partner eaten so soon.

Maybe shiny things were attracting to her? She was a newborn, so who knew. Aya just didn't trust this environment, but she couldn't help but admire the deadly beauty anyways. If Lili tried running off again, Aya would grab her, only if she tried wondering off towards suspicious objects. The fact that the seedling could be hungry didn't cross Aya's mind since most plants absorbed sunlight for 'food'.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The plant like zombies simply moved along thinking Yuiikin was one of them, the drop in his temperature really helped to fool the ones that got a little too close for comfort. There were low groans as these things simply passed by, some were on the ground with their rotting skeletal teeth grinding on some squishy nasty looking fungus tirelessly while some simply too decayed to move just succumbed and allowed themselves to simply become stringy mushrooms for the crawling plant ghouls to devour. Their brains had long since rotted away, most if not all didn't seem to have any eyes so it wasn't like they could see anything. Most shinobi, especially the strong ones would find this path the easiest because their only goal is to make it out alive and do whatever it takes to get out alive. Prove that they can survive in ghoul and monster infected area was all they would have to do. Sakaeru gave Yuiikin a suspicious look after he brought up that he had a chance to escaping, was the guy trying to test him?“I don't need YOU telling me that.” He responded, pointing one of its vines to keep the boy on the same path. “Just keep it moving.”

Sakaeru wasn't stupid enough to try anything right now, for one thing Yuiikin still had him in his grasp. These things are stupid so if they would simply think that he was apart of this human and chew on him along with the hand they would be crunching on. Also there was the fact that he would probably be easily stopped since the boy was probably above average shinobi so he might could easily handle a couple of stupid undead creatures. “Can't rely on these things anyway, these things ain't got no brain nor basic intelligence. They just eat, walk, groan, fall apart, and turn into mushrooms or something. Would need something with a bit more–” it cut itself off, narrowing its eyes at the boy then gestured its head to the path they were going. “Just keep moving, deeper into this path we are gonna come across some cave go in it and there should be a light at the end of it leading to where we'll probably come up to the entrance of where Kodama is.” He explained. “Kinda like a easy path for us lowlights to get to him.” Hopefully if all goes well it would be a swift and easy trip unless they run into something with a little more intelligence. Now that may complicate things.

….

Heading towards the seed, the Lili reached for it, her eyes practically sparkling at the pretty shimmering seed. However, before she got to it she was seemingly blocked before she could reach the seed, and she tilted her head as if wondering why she was stopped. When Aya asked why she wanted that particular seed the Lili answered honestly. “It waz shiny… shiny seed I want friend…” she gave a puppy dog look, however after Aya seemingly stopped the newborn from going towards the suspiciously attractive seed it seemed like the the other plants that were alive began act normal and friendly as if the whole event became clear. A lot of people who come along this path would fail because they would only be seeking to keep themselves alive, this path was seeing how well can you keep your companion alive hence why nothing seemed to be acting violent towards Aya…..

The seed was shimmering again… the Lili eyes sparkled, then began to go towards it again that was until she was grabbed again and stopped from getting the nice seed. It wasn't until a small squirrel instantly crawled out of the bushes to steal the seed where the threat of that shimmering seed was gone. When the woodland animal decided to pop it in its mouth, nothing happened for a couple moments.. Then it began to cough once…. When it tried to simply crawl away to go about its day it suddenly slowed down then came to a stop…. Then laid down motionless. It didn't take long for the woodland creature to look as though it was drained of all it's blood, then from its fur it began to sprout out a bush of singing roses that all sang together. Clearly if Lili would've eaten the seed then it would have sucked out all the water from its body then used then grow into a bush singing roses.

That was a close call, unfortunately the Lili didn't seem to understand. All she knew was that a squirrel took her seed… her eyes sparkled and almost began to cry but she stayed strong. While Aya was looking around hidden amongst the garden was a stone gateway that looked pretty inviting, if she decided to go through it she had a easy path to get to Kodama. Her only goal here is to bring Lili out alive… hope she doesn't wander off again.

[Ooc: Alright we are almost done!\o/]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"You'd need something like a shinobi." Yukiin added, finishing a sentence with a more accurate conclusion. The creature, if that was appropriate for it, believing that it could find allies in this place seemed misguided to him, There didn't seem to be any acknowledgment or love for him, even the tall one was content to let him die and then he'd have been worse off than the moss-things he was disparaging. This awareness seemed to him to be lacking and thus needed to be provided, a way to stifle any further efforts at escape not by lie or manipulation but by the truth of things, the strongest and most effective form of coercion. Whether Sakaeru saw it as a form of steering was irrelevant if it was true.

"Down here the only difference between you and them is someone weaker decided to throw them away, afraid of the cost of leaving them alive, perhaps that their enemies would fight back, attempt to escape, or worse. The decision to offer life is only for the strong. I offer life to the corpses you saw little value in as well, under the supervision of the village we can give their families confirmation, we can give their missions closure, and we can safeguard ourselves against enemy intelligence efforts...all things which save the lives of my comrades. Shinobi value these things, we have need of every scrap, every advantage, every tool, and every body that we can acquire within our bounds to pursue our ambitions. To anyone else without the gift of chakra..."

The boy gestured to the creatures stamping past, taking the plant's words as the handle of the knife...

"...you're only good to grow mushrooms."

And giving him the blade.

He muscled his way forward, throwing off the straggling branches and sprawling things that impeded him, confident strides past the beasts that had no more claim over his life than he did theirs. The balance of power, the cycle of life and death, bonds between slave or master, these things were all within the power of chakra to bend and break. Without it this place would have asserted its laws onto him, without it the laws of life and death would've claimed Sakearu...if he truly thought some other animal would be able to ply him into obedience with its demands for his life that was not a man and more than a man, a shinobi, then he had a lot to learn about humans.

He had even more to learn about Kumogakure and what made them strong.

He had the most to learn about what Byakko, Yukiin strong.

"As I told the girl, we must be amicable so while I do not offer you freedom freely given, as it is not yours to take, I give you opportunities to escape me so that you understand that your decision to remain in my company is not merely because of a debt of life, it is because of your free will. Even a slave has will, something counter-intuitive to men, common practice for shinobi."

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya kept held Lili's hand and sighed softly. She looked at the seed. "Not every seed is going to grow as you did. " She stated, and watched as a squirrel ran up to the seed and ate it, moments later it was dead, just as she suspected. "That seed was deadly, it was only shiny to lure creatures to their death. Nothing is as it seems." She stated, then she started walking again. she held Lili's hand, or whatever it was she used, the last thing she wanted was for her new comrade to be killed. She didn't know she'd have to practically babysit though. Oh well, she could handle it. She'd have to teach Lili a lot, but she figured that she was a fast learner.

With how, and where, Aya grew up, she learned quickly not to trust anything she saw. The world looked amazing but it was impossible to tell a friend from foe until it was too late. Aya still had that mindset, she knew Lili would come to understand one day. This world was not as dazzling as it seemed, and at first chance, any of these plants could turn on them,

Aya spotted a stone gateway and a path. She lead Lili over to it and saw the path. "Hey, once we're out of here, I'll treat you to some good food, whatever piques your interest outside of this place. For now, I need you to stay next to me and hold my hand. Don't touch anything, if you want to stay alive." Aya stated, staring directly into the plant's eyes. her tone of voice was stern yet had a soft undertone. SHe was concerned that Lili would run off again.

After Lili's answer, Aya would start walking on the path, she felt like this was the home stretch, the final goal was right there. She just needed to make sure Lili didn't run off and kill herself. Aya felt like she could fight off anything, but after the seed incident, she wasn't sure Lili could be on her own. Aya was sure she knew how to fight, but she was brand new to the world, she might have the abilities, but when it can to experience, Lili needed to train and become battle ready. Aya didn't mind that idea, though she was still only an academy student at this time, so Aya still had much to learn. they could learn together if they got out of here...

 

[Midori Futotta]

Sakaeru seemed puzzled by Yuiikins words, he judged the lad believing he was empty inside kind of like how he was in life. The sinister flower was born from the blood of a Jashinist after the cultists blood seeped below the soil into a seed that sprouted to create him. He's been around, consuming the weak to prolonged his existence so one could see why Sakaeru was the way he was. Considering his options for a bit he thought about if he should use this opportunity to escape or stick with the boy since they were so close to seeing the Overlord anyway. Now he could just ditch the guy, leave him to die as evil fungus ghouls crunch on his head but honestly what would he do then? Not a lot of people would bring him back from death like this guy did.

“Yeah I get that I could leave at any time.” the flower said. “But you said that you will take my life and repurpose it which seems pretty interesting than just hanging around in a swamp don't you think.” Sakaeru stated. If he wanted to leave Yuiikin he probably would've tried it by now, however the whole idea about seeing what this shinobi had to offer interested him. That and a possibility of seeing a new world was all too good to pass up. Deciding that he will stick with the lad, when they would journey inside of cave. The cave itself begun to glow a greenish blueish color upon Yuiikin’s entry. As if the cave itself was sentient, trying to keep itself from being pitch black since it was more than likely that the lad couldn't see in the dark. The roof of the cave had sharp jagged rocks that kind of looked like teeth, it almost seemed like the cave was a hill instead of it being like a straight the floor of the cave looked wet and kinda slippery. If lowlight and the Kumo Shinobi ascended up the hill within the cave they would come across may twist and turns but so far there weren't any threats.

It would almost seem like it was an eternity before they would get to where they wanted to get to, but eventually they would see a that they were reaching a end to this path. The light wasn't too bright, but it wasn't too dark. A dim light which was pretty tolerant to the lowlight plant, there was a huge rumbling as whatever was outside of this cave seemingly shifted… and if Yuiikin left the cave he would see–

…..

“Deadly… seed?” She didn't know what deadly even meant at her age, but from seeing what happened to the little woodland creature it stopped moving then sprouted a bush of friendly singing roses. But from what her new friends was telling her, death is something very, very, very, very… very bad. Holding Aya’s hand, the Lily trusted the Kumo Shinobi taking in her words like understanding some of what she was saying from the tone of her voice and her mood. She seeming was maturing quite fast, learning how to speak human rather quickly than a normal human newborn. Looking over at the gateway and the path she suddenly got a feeling that she knew where they were trying to go and would even help her partners get to where she needed to go.

Looking up at her partner who offered food as soon as they were out of this realm her eyes sparkled a bit in happiness, then she nodded. “Deal! I'll stick with you friend. “ she said, then began to head on the path to get to the plant overlord. To most gardener's a non sentient plant would be pretty easy to take care of since they don't require much. Water the flowers, keep them in the sunlight, feed them when it's needed, fend off the bugs that want to eat them. This final test to see if this person could protect and nurture the daylight plant in a hostel environment seeking to end the poor Lily. Along this path Aya would encounter traps that were meant to catch the Lily, a seemingly fresh lake of water that Lily wanted to drink from had was salt water that would dry the daylight from the inside out. Another time Aya and the Lily would encounter flowers with big huge mouths that spat fire out at the plant for the hell of it. There were even caterpillars as big as dogs that would try to make a snack out of the Lili.

There were times that Lily had to be protected, then there were times where she could defend herself. Upon seeing the powers and abilities of Aya, she began to protect her friend by releasing an invisible burst of chakra to counter the fireballs or projectile attacks from doing arm to her friend. There was also a time when there were three huge caterpillars slithering their way to her, she released a widespread pulse of kinetic chakra that pushes aside and tosses caterpillars like ragdolls. Those stupid bugs not being able to move gave the duo enough time to leave. After all the fighting, bonding, and keeping the Lili from dying eventually after making it to the end of this maze they came up to a temple…. A grand temple with trees that sat on top of stones leading up to a huge tower that seemed to have a magical tree that was said to grant wishes. A glowing white symbol of a tree seemed inviting, and Lili happily announced. “He's in there! He's in there.”

Practically dragging the Kumo Shinobi, they runshed to get to the tower entering through a large opening which was a dark tunnel at first that lead to more light on the other side. On the other end you could see two large bushy tree trunks or at least what they believed to be tree trunks. As they left the tunnel they both saw–

….

Kodama

Practically entering the place at the same time, Yuiikin, Sakaeru, Aya, and the Lily all stood in the domain of the plant overlord. There was one side of the throne room that was dark, firefly swirling around with glowing mushrooms and funguses that grew on both the ground and rooftop. The area seemed to match the look of a swamp forest with plants that almost looked almost perastoric. The other side was full of light, practically a Garden of Eden with the greenest grass and rainbow colored flowers that channeled a healing arua. Sitting in the middle of the room, was the Overlord or you could say the king if these plants. Kodama….

Kodama is known as an ancient being, he has lived here for far longer than anyone can remember. To the casual observer, he looks like little more than a huge, long dead tree. Places over his body are completely devoid of bark exposing the pale wood underneath and his branches have grown long and wiry devoid of foliage. Across the parts of his body where bark remains are deep almost runic like gauges fill with gathered tree sap and he appeared sleeping at first. But as soon as the four individuals stepped into his domai Kodama’s body glew with a spiritual light, it is given an amber hue from the tree sap from his damaged armour. The massive tree saw there were humans in his domain and the ground started to rumble as he began to pull himself from his large seat to stand. When he was standing, he is almost taller than every other tree in the forest towering over the two individuals that were foolish enough to disturb him.

The tall tree overlord looked down at the two, keeping a calm attitude.”So you two had passed the final trail.” the tall one said, the next question was for the two of his children who seemed to have guided their comrades here. ”I suppose a congratulations are in order. Tell me, are these two worthy of a pact? Have they shown that they can responsibility take care of a plant or shown that they cared enough for nature to gain a pact?’ The Lily was the first to come up to the overlord, looking up at the giant to say how she felt about her new friend. “My new friend cares a lot about me, she helped me a lot and kept me from getting hurt. I really like my new friend.“ it was expected that she didn't have much a negative word to say about her friend, she was actually pretty great to her and promised her food after this.

You would've thought that Sakaeru would have some negative words to say about both Aya and Yuiikin. If he told them that they cut down a forest in their fight and even burnt it it'll make Kodama go ballistic. But surprisingly Yuiikin was nice to him, even showed him mercy when he didn't deserve it and even chose him when he could've made his own plant. That wasn't something a lot of people would do so he believed he'd cut them some slack, a change of heart probably. “Well, this guy is actually pretty nice. I say he's worthy since he brought a dead flower to life, he gets a A+ in my book” Well that was all that needed to be said, if the duo if Kumo Shinobi wanted to say something to him, the floor was open. Otherwise, he would seemingly drop his defensive posture to sit back down.

With a wave of his hands… Once every few hundred years the tallest tree in the deepest forest will spread its seeds across the land, allowing those who witness it to be inspired by what they see. Before the four individuals that were in his domain, the Kodama made the roots from the tree above him extend downward with two seeds in each tentrail… Roots buried the seeds below the ground, then another root watered each seed. After it was planted and the seed let it grew and the contract will be sprung from the ground on the side of the large tree that grew before their eyes. On this bit of tree, they must carve their signature into it to sign the contract. Once signed, the pact was complete and they would be able to go home.

[\o/ Sign it and in the next post y'all consider this search done!!!!]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

AN impressive specimen surely, such a large creature allowed him to confirm previous suspicions but left him in a great deal of confusion considering the number and amount of plant life here. They didn't seem to be in competition as he could see, was this place really so different? It looked different, at the very least, but it certainly welcomed even organic animal life into its domain as the familiar glow of medicinal chakra suffused through the air. It wasn't unnatural, like what he had learned to produce, but it had a similar effect and the injuries he'd incurred along the way, minor as they were, consumed the air hungrily to mend themselves and leave the shinobi in his best condition. Yukiin would not approach in any less than his best shape after all, this towering thing...if it meant to crush him, he meant to fight back.

Thankfully this wasn't the case, even more thankfully the kunoichi had emerged successfully herself...that would save him a lot of headache and paperwork. He nodded to her as the elaborate ordeal of vouching for their character went through and the large aboral giant said his piece, a single claw flicking out from his fingertips, the slide of these weapons of his catching the flesh so that the ceremonial blood, as was typically used for these things, could flow out from the edge and be used as ink same as his claw was used for a pen. A few swift strokes left his mark on the surface and he retracted his talon, cracking his fingers like a pianist afterwards. It was uncomfortable to hold his claws in like that, they were feline after all, so he always tried to keep his hands relaxed in other ways, especially after sheathing and unsheathing which just reminded him of the constant low-level annoyance of having them held in.

Yukiin looked back at Aya.

"Admirable performance."

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Lily seemed to understand a bit better now, and the promise of food seemed to motivate her not to run off at least. Aya knew about plants, but only basic knowledge, so she'd have to study up after all this was done. Most of the traps were easy to get through, with Aya's warping/speed abilities, but to move another with her was a whole new ordeal. She put Lily's safety over her own, so she didn't come out of all of them unscathed.

Salt lakes, giant Caterpillars, simple traps, and fire-breathing plants, this was a whole new world to her. Well, Aya knew about salt lakes, but this place was insane, nothing she'd ever seen before. As a kunoichi, well a student at this point and time, she was training to survive these kinds of things. She could get past these and keep Lily safe, Lily seemed to be maturing fast luckily since she was able to defend herself some of the times. She had abilities that were amazing in Aya's eyes, the invisible chakra that could create barriers, and move objects.

Finally, they reached their destination, Aya had scrapes, small cuts, and bruises. Not to mention she used almost all of her chakra, she used more than half of it in the fight with the sunflower. Her hair was frazzled, and she had grass and mud stains all over her. Some were from the earlier fight, but most of it was fresh. Lily seemed to be fine since Aya did everything in her power to make sure she came out without a scratch. Aya felt like collapsing, but, she could do that after they were done. She looked at Yukiin and returned his nod.

This new area was not too different from where they were before, bright, and full of flora. It was elegant though, instead of wild like what Aya and Lily were in before. Healing chakra flowed through the area, bringing Aya's energy back, and made her small scrapes, and cuts disappear. It was refreshing, like a cold spring.

Aya's eyes went to the Giant tree, she assumed the king of this place. She was small as is but compared to this massive creature she was like a grain of sand. "I know it doesn't look like it, but I really enjoyed this trial. It was difficult, but I would do it again." Aya stated after the two plants spoke. "I would want to do it with my new partner, and next time we will both come out without a scratch." She stated with a grin.

The giant tree sat back down, seems to be pleased with the answers the plants gave him. Then the contracts were sommoned. Aya knew nothing about this... This was her first time seeing, or being around contract creatures. In the academy, they glossed over them, but she still knew next to nothing. She watched Yukiin so she could copy what he was doing since he was the one who knew what to do. He pricked his finger, and signed his name in blood on the contract, so she did the same, but she, of course, signed her own name.

Aya looked at Yukiin who told her she did admirable work. She did not expect that from him since she felt he was kinda stern, and cold. His comment made her grin. "You did amazing as well!" She stated with a nod.

After this, she was going to eat, and take a bath, things would be different with her new friend around.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The price has been paid and now power is now theirs, their names were now finally theirs, the names of the two shinobi would forever be marked on the great Ancient Oak trees among the other shinobi's and sages who made a pact with the Plants. They went through the many trails, fought their way to get to the overlord, and their new partners seemed to already bonded with them. Now that they impressed the plants and won over the approval of the overlord it was time to send the two shinobi's back to the human world. Kodama raised it's massive wooden hand, the ground began to rumble behind the duo to rise forth a massive stone gateway with barred gates that creaked open by themselves to lead to a place with many trees and lush grasslands. This however could be recognized as the place where this whole adventure had first began. Within the Heartlands Of Kaminari No Kuni! Home sweet home!

The Lily's eyes sparkled at the new place that had opened up before her eyes, then went on ahead of Aya to go through the gates. She had so much exploring to do, so many people to meet even if it was probably going to be for a short time. Aya could even teach her so she could fulfill her full potential, the fiendish lowlight Sakaeru found the human world too bright for it's taste. He hoped that there were more darker places around that Kumo, the sun better not be out 24/7 like it was in the daylight part of the the plant world. Kodama congratulated the duo on a job well done and this search concluded…

The End!​

Ooc: Congrats you two on a successful C-Search! Go to the contract mod thread to request your custom contract application for approval and finally get your new partner in crime!