The Sun, Mother Suna. [private]

[Hanone]

The bright sun beat down like a creature of fire; a unearthly being rather than a star burning millions of miles away. It oppressively clawed at the cave dwellers' skin and tried to burn it. It wouldn't take long to dehydrate in the desert, but luckily Saemon was a master of water ninjutsu and could conjure it up from almost anywhere.

The mountain and the boy would travel into the sands. Rolling dunes overlapped one another. The pair traveled for long enough that the entrance to the village was long since out of sight. It was possible to get lost now and not be able to find yourself to safety before you starved. The desert was a harsh place. But Saemon was not lost. He knew this place. He also knew where he was taking the boy, Mouko, and exactly why, though that remained to be seen.

Their feet would be hot from the sand through their shoes and no doubt both would be sweating. Saemon stalled at the top of a tall dune and looked around. From there it looked as though there was nothing but sand. The air waved and wiggled in the heat. "Do you know why I brought you here, Mouko?" he asked the boy, not looking at him. The huge man raised a hand and shielded his eyes and peered toward the northwest. There was where they would be going soon enough. "Do you even know where you are?"


[topic entered]
[waiting on mouko]

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko moved out of the village at the pace that Saemon set. It was one that Mouko could leisurely keep up with, and he could tell that the man had a clear idea of which way they were going. The young boy had only been out of the village a handful of times though, and this trek was not taking him into the same direction. The sand whipped at the hems of his clothes, sending them into wild spirals with the sand that was being blown along with them. His eyes certainly took a moment to adjust the extreme sunlight. His lips almost immediately went dry with the heat, and he could tell that it would not be long before things could take a turn for the worst. If Saemon were to leave him here in the desert, he would undoubtedly be doomed.

As the sands shifted, and the village disappeared with the thousands of tons of sand all stacked on top of itself, Mouko took quite a few glances around the area. He surveyed the sun the most, trying to figure which direction of the village, and thus trying to determine which direction they had traveled, in the hopes of knowing whether or not any landmarks were visible. He shook his head, and motioned to the desert in general as his eyes looked towards the larger man "My best guess, Senpai, would be that we are in the middle of nowhere. They don't let the students leave the village very often without escorts, and most of the escorts seem to think it would be too much trouble to show us the world outside." He quickly closed his eye as a grain of sand hit the tips of his lashes, causing a reaction to make sure that he did not get any sand into his eyes. Eyes to any shinobi were very precious. Mouko flexed his hands, feeling the burning sensation along his exposed skin as the sand whipped at it. He knew he would survive the ordeal easily enough, unless one of the Wind Countries deadly sandstorms were to whip up. That was when a thought hit Mouko, one that seemed to actually worry him, even if only for a moment "Um, Saemon-Senpai, aren't you worried about one of those giant wyrms finding us?"


[Topic Entered]
[Saemon's waiting has been stopped.]

 

[Hanone]

The sun was a beautiful thing. Heat rose in waves around him, kissing his exposed skin. It was not an evil thing to Saemon, not a fate one suffered, but a gift. He longed to be in the sun again, like they used to be, long ago.

HIs own dull blues closed against a gush of dry wind, avoiding the particles that would try to blind him. Mouko followed him, dutifully. He was right that if Saemon left him here, he would probably die. The desert was unforgiving to those who were foreigners to her. Mouko and the other villagers might all live in a desert, but the save protected them from the truth. Mouko didn't know what it was like to be out here, how long he would have before he would become dehydrated, or how to probably even make it back to the entrance of the village. That would change, he would make sure of it.

The boy answered him, sounding much quieter out in the bright, hot world. In the cave your voice was loud and easy to hear.. out here you were muted. It made you feel small.

Nowhere, huh? Smiling a little, the monster of a man opened his eyes once more and turned his head to the left slightly. He knew where he was. "We're almost where I want to take you."

But it was the boy's second concern that made him look back at him, peer at his face. He contemplated answering it, telling him there was nothing to worry about, but then Saemon would be lying. There was always a chance. He wasn't worried, but then that was because he didn't fear dying if it did happen. Instead he turned back away from the boy and started down the dune they stood upon. "Put your goggles back on, it helps." he said, his deep voice melting with the wind.

Mouko would have no choice but to follow him, down a dune, up another. When he had said they would be there soon, it was true if you compared it to the length of the desert, but nothing in the sands was close. Saemon would remain silent for another several miles of walking. Then finally, when the heat of the day was peaked, he paused at what seemed to be a small valley between two huge sand mounds.

There he raised his hands, performing a set of seals then from his hands poured water, in a small trickle. It was cold and crystal clear. "Come have a drink before we go in." he commanded the boy. Saemon was a master of the water element and could manifest water in small amounts, even here in the desert. It made him invaluable in the sands.

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Mouko's clothes billowed in the strong winds, and his skin became an even deeper red as the two ninja continued to traverse the dunes of giant sands. The sun was quite bright, too much so to allow his eyes to adjust properly. If he had to guess, it had something to do with the light reflecting off of the grains of sand to make the heat even more unbearable then it would normally be. Then again, Mouko was not the smartest ninja in the bunch.

He looked directly at Saemon when his goggles were mentioned, and the boy's face tried even harder to redden beyond its already buffeted state. "Right, my goggles. That should work out just fine." He felt around his head for a few seconds, trying to find what he had done with his goggles before they had left the village. It was already really difficult to see in the raging sands, and his hands were so numb that they would not have been much use if the goggles had not been as large as they were. It took a few rounds before he realized that the eye protection in question was sitting around his neck. He proceeded to move them from their resting position to a place that he could actually give them a purpose. The moment they strapped around his eyes, and the sands stopped having contact with his eyes, he felt many times better.

The two men continued to walk through the sand, towards whatever promised land that Saemon had in mind. Mouko began to find it getting harder just to walk after awhile, and the sands were wearing on his clothes much quicker then they normally would. He began to wonder if he would make it back out of the sands when Saemon told him to stop for a drink of water. Mouko looked at the man's outstretched hands, and made the same cupping form with his own, letting his senpai pour some of the water into his palms so that he could partake in something to keep himself from dying. He looked out onto the sands, wondering just how far that had wandered from the village already. They had to be only a few miles away from the pace that they were setting, but that still left Mouko wondering just how he would survive in this desert should this larger man leave him for some reason. Maybe he should have listened a little closer in his survival classes, but he had been off in his own world at those times. Although, Mouko would not die to a few sand storms. He had a reason to survive, even if it was not the most important reason. Whatever the Jounin threw at him, he would survive it and move onwards once more.

"Hey, Senpai, have you ever heard of anyone actually living out here in the sands?"

[MFT: 488]

 

[Hanone]

Saemon took a turn drinking from the small waterfall. The crisp water was cool and soothing to his throat and dried palate. The jutsu was ended by a small shake of his hands. What little hit the sands was swallowed up by the hungry, dry and greedy particles. A little wet spot remained but that too would be gone within minutes. Such was the heat of this place.

The younger male stood nearby, the long shadow of the valley shading them both. Saemon's nerves began to tingle as he turned his face toward the end of the tunnel. He hadn't been here in years. It was a dangerous place to go to and potentially deadly, that was.. if you came on a the wrong day.

He stalled only to answer the boy (and maybe it was an excuse to pause longer) "There are a few people who still do live out here." His eyes lingered forward, "Usually underground. I can probably live out here indefinitely to be honest. I've even thought about it before." Saemon's face split into a grin, then his feet stepped ahead, ignoring his own concerns. What will be; will be.

The area opened up like a wide bowl. The path Saemon followed sloped downward pretty steeply, leaving a clear view of the area before them. It was like a giant hoof print 100 meters across and easily 20 meters deep from the surface sands. But it wasn't the area you'd notice, it was the visage of piles of huge bones, the rotting flesh and tattered leathery pieces hanging from the ivory columns like old banners. And the smell of rot was foul and oppresive. Saemon had to cover his overly sensitive nose with a hand.

"Welcome to the Graveyard." He said, his gravelly voice muffled slightly by his large paw. "This is where some of the sandworms come to die. It's only about 30 years old, so there's not as many dead here as in other places, but this is the one they've been using for the last three decades." At first glance it seemed as though the place was safe today and there were only the remains of those no longer living. But this was not true, not entirely.

Toward the far left side of the graveyard was a full sandworm body. It was medium sized and laying still, but once and a while the body would jerk slightly. Most likely it was dying, but it wasn't dead. Saemon stopped and crouched. He waved Mouko to come beside him then pointed out with his hand. "There. Probably female. She's almost dead, so I wouldn't go any closer. First time you've seen one in person I bet." He remembered the first time he'd come out here. A mission; claiming remains for some med-nin scientist. This was only the 3rd living one Saemon had ever seen.

 

[Motomori Mouko]

Motomori Mouko continued moving through the sands, heading into the mysterious direction that his instructor had decided to take him. It was strange that someone would go through so much trouble as to brave the raging sands just to teach a young academy student a lessen. His skin was not worsening by the constant onslaught of the sands, but at the same time, it was not becoming any better. He knew that it would take sometime for his body to get used to the bombardment of the sand, but maybe if he were allowed to leave the village more often, things would become a lot easier for him. Mouko tried his best to listen intently to Saemon talk about the people that lived out in the crazy wasteland, but he could not take his eyes off of the wonder that was standing in front of him. It was a giant hole, full of the carcasses of dead worms. Not just any worms, but the very bane of the desert themselves, the wyrm. They were the creatures that made living in the desert the hardest endeavor to achieve. Beasts taught to the students from an early age, along with the techniques of avoiding them drilled so hard into their skulls that it was almost impossible to be intercepted by one. Mouko stopped at the peak of the hole, forgetting all about his burning skin, or his sore feet from the odd amount of walking that the two ninja had done throughout the day. He could not keep his eyes off of the many caverns of bones strewn about the sands.

After a few moments of him looking towards the former creatures, Saemon finally spoke up. He was talking about what the place was, but it was more than that. His tone seemed to carry with it something akin to nostalgia. Could he have some kind of message among these great bones? He was also mentioning the possibility of there being other fields of the dead, just like this one, but apparently they were even bigger. Mouko just could not believe his eyes as the two stood before the graveyard. "The place they go to die." Even though his throat was already dry, his voice was as clear as day. At least it was inside of his own head. Mouko stepped forward lightly, walking straight into the field of death. He did not realize that he was following his sensei until many moments later, but it did not deter him from his movements even in the slightest. He could even feel the energy from the field as he stepped forward, lightly tinging against his frayed skin. It was the same feeling he received whenever he would meditate, a deep sense of calm and peace. Mouko removed the simple sandals worn by most of the academy students in the sand, stringing them together and placing them over his shoulder. He wanted to feel the sand beneath his toes, no matter how much it burned the bottoms of his feet. He never understood why people were so afraid to use their bare feet when walking, always acting like they could not be mended. The feet were almost as good as the hands when it came to feeling ones way through the world. Mouko closed his eyes momentarily, feeling the ground shivering slightly beneath him. The quakes continued, each time evenly spaced and perfectly in tune with Mouko's own breathing. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at one of the giant beasts down in the valley, taking its final breaths.

"Yeah, other than the books from the academy, I've never seen one of the beasts. Do they always die alone?"

[MFT: 623]

 

[Hanone]

The boy seemed mesmerized and Saemon was thrown back into his own memories, seeing him in such a state of awe.

------Years ago....--------

The team was small, only 2 genin and a single chuunin leading them, though their leader was probably only a year older than either of the two. Saemon was tall, but not nearly the beast he would become. He was slender then, clean faced and all around a brighter, more hopeful person. He had not yet lost his family, his father to death and his mother to drink and drugs. He was standing in the same spot as Mouko stood now, his eyes wide and staring about himself. Bones, carcasses, leather tatters. The sun was hot on his scalp and he was sweating, but to say it was just from the heat would be a lie.

Here he stood, and what was he? He was a speck compared to these monsters, nothing more than a pest. Humans in the desert were like mice in a human's house. They lived there, built homes and scurried gathering food to eat and mated, making more mice. They even fought over territory like they had any real claim. But when the masters of the house came home, if those mice bothered them, they would kill them easily; destroy them. The shinobi of Wind country were mice and the sandworms, well.. they were the true masters.

It was humbling to stand where they now lay dead. The force now gone with them, but the barest hint of power lingered. Saemon long thought they were just beasts, but standing before the heaping dead; they were much more than that. They were smart creatures who came to a single place to die, who had power... perhaps even chakra like humans did. He'd seen the entrance to their home a few dozen times and the maw never ceased to amaze him, but it was nothing compared to the vision laid before him. He wanted to be buried here, he decided, when someday he died too.

--------present---------

Saemon stalled before the boy did, allowing him to walk several feet passed himself before stopping. His eyes moved from the boy, so much like himself, to the place around him. Several bones he recognized like an old friend. "I'm not sure. But the way some of them are laid one, one next to another, I think some of them come and die next to their dead family. It's.. just a guess though. We don't know much about them." He then crouched, brushing his long fingers against the sand. "Here is the first place I really understood power and the loss of it. Standing where you are... I don't know. It was life altering just to be here the first time. So many of us are disconnected with the reality of our world. We are okay with accepting less than what we should be and thinking we are greater than we are. These creatures are gods, boy. These are the real children of Mother Suna, we're nothing but parasites by comparison."

Saemon's eyes shifted to watch the dying female some more. Her body was almost still. It was probable she even knew they were there. It was dangerous to be where they were, but there was a serenity to Sae knowing at her whim, she could rise up and kill him before laying back down for her own demise. A part of him wished it. "What do you feel here, Mouko?" The older man's voice was harsh and low.

 

[Motomori Mouko]

The young boy dared not get any closer to the great giant as he continued to look towards it, surveying the creature with great intent. The boneyard was probably the most impressive sight the boy had ever seen, even more so than the small oasis that he had been taken to as a child. The great maw of the beast could fit another dozen plus of the warrior in training. Here he was, standing only a handful of yards from a being of unknown age or strength. So few of them had ever been studied by the village, and even the books on the subject merely told the young ninja how to escape the creatures, more than combat them. Mouko continued to feel the heavy vibrations, even through the thick sands, which should have absorbed more then it was. Or possibly, it was absorbing as much as it possible could.

Mouko looked towards the giant man, surveying his face as a calm peace washed over the field. It was a feeling that was so thick and heavy, even the least sensitive person could have felt the waves washing over the graveyard. "I feel the final moments of one of most impressive beings I've had the chance to see. Even the winds have quieted for this moment, as if the sand is losing someone precious to it. Most of all, Saemon-senpai, I feel small."