Ninpocho Chronicles
Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.
Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.
Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.
The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.
This is Ninpocho Chronicles.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time:
The Wanderer [Requesting Shiori/Private]
- Thread starter Raizo
- Start date
She looked more like a mirage than a predator, this was for a plethora of reasons but the most honest being that she was not a natural stalker but also such was not required of her. People rarely fled a blonde woman dressed in white even as she crested the hill and approached the spent adventurers. Most would think she was a hallucination made by their desperate and weakened mind while others would see her as a welcome relief, potentially a guide to water or sanctuary, few actually considered her a threat. Those that understood her true intentions before she lashed out rarely lasted long, already dehydrated and near delusional they put up a meager fight at best. She was not interested in the challenge. She had her pride surely but she did not need to demonstrate her prowess, unlike her brothers she was much more pragmatic as of late. She did not need the thrill of the chase, she did not answer the call of the hunt because she did not need to. She did not want to.
She could hear him before she could see him, the gale would batter his weary form and call out to the woman and her keen sense of sound. The winds would sing and herald his approach and they would crest the hill at the same time. She would not speak, not at first least as she passed him by. The scent of desert rose would linger in her wake, she seemed to belong here despite being the most foreign concept the desert could provide as she halted her progress several steps beyond Roku and waited in silence. She would not necessarily wait for a statement from the mummified man as she called out to him. "Stranger," a lyrical voice would call out. Roku would recognize the voice, he had heard it before. "You are going the wrong way." The statement was of course a lie, Sunagakure was indeed in the direction he was traveling, Sora in the direction she was traveling and Soons was to his back much like Sunagakure was to hers.
"Wrong... way..."
A dry, rusted voice repeated. "Yes," her voice rang, the sound pleasant as she ceased her travels. Her heels did not seem to pierce the sands as if in some sort of odd defiance of physics as she turned around.
"Who are you... why are you out here..."
A weak voice demanded an answer rather than inquired it would seem. She would smile back with pale painted lips, "no one important I am afraid... but I have grown attached to the name Shiori." If he knew the name or not it would soon be irrelevant, 'Shiori' was 'dead' years ago and she was far from the woman... or rather Ancient she once was but he would not live long enough for either to be a consideration. Oddly enough she took no pleasure in her meals although there was a desire and anticipation that served as a preamble to a brief satiety that never lasted long. Her kills were swift for the most part, with rare exception. The stranger's knees buckled and she glided next to him. "Let me help you," she offered with a saccharine tone as she knelt down beside him. She was in her element and did not suffer from the same fatigue and dehydration the Sennin did, nor was she aware of his rank or she would have thought twice as she did so. She would reach around him as if she was about to help him stand and take a deep breath into his neck but as she drew in the desert air and his scent she noticed that something was... off but not before she pressed her palm against his chest.
The thrumming of a soul felt like a hummingbird's wing in the tactile sense when present in living flesh or condensed into a marble-sized sphere. Life for most was intangible, but for her the world existed in a literal, steadfast sense where there were some immutable facts about Ancients and man but it would seem that the once clear line had become blurred. The anima within this allegedly weakened vessel was aberrant and reckless, she could feel it bound at intervals only to steady briefly and then throb and thrash once again. She did not recognize the mercurial sensation housed within the seemingly mortal vessel but her eyes opened when she realized this, just as she started to draw his vitality into her planted hand. She wanted none of it. She became rigid for a moment, her meal and Roku's essence in limbo as she ceased collection, a painless ordeal that was often an overture of death that felt more like a strange tingle that was out of place -- a chill down ones spine or a fluttering in one's breast that ceased as abruptly as it started. She expelled back into the Sennin without warning and without hesitation what she had taken along with some of her own corrupted essence for good measure. She did not know what that was but she knew it was not food. The energy she relinquished was the same energy she had fed the young man who reminded her of her lost son, similar to the energy she injected as a curiosity into those street urchins and the same as the gift she shared with Mikaboshi or the assault she performed on the Cabalist Chikara.
</B>
Cursed Seal #1 of Choice (( Dark Sage))
<i></i>It was both a gift and a defense for the Earth Court Queen, known primarily as 'Mother' even after all these years. While she existed as a neutral entity, her essence was corrupted and was considered poison for most. Painful and invasive, it would latch onto and grip the very fibers of their host, killing most but not those who were durable enough to endure. She was not trying to hurt him, in fact she was simply vomiting what she had consumed and in the process expelled a bit of herself in haste. She relinquished any hold or proximity she had on him and staggered back, tripping in the sand doing so. <B>"What are you?" An exasperated Ancient would ask with an accusing tone. Yes, it was his fault he was not what she expected. He did not feel or for that matter taste human. Was he an Ancient? A demon? She had no idea but she felt nauseated as she backed away, as if her gut had been filled with boulders. She started retching.
Roku, however would not be in the same excruciating pain that the others were in after she imbued them with thread of her essence. Much like Mikaboshi after she inserted a bit of herself in him, he simply felt more vigorous. Was it simply a testament of the Sennin's endurance? A hint to the Sennin's biological heritage? A hint regarding what Nao had done?
IC:
She tasted him but she did not recognize the flavor. She had consumed many men over these past few months, she could taste their bitter intentions and their wretched souls but she also savored the aperitive taste of subsistence. Biology was the true villain, not her. Animals be them beasts, demons, ancients or men craved what would satisfy their needs in excess. It was a life-concerning imperative to gain strength and prepare for those long winters even when needs changed and winter was no more. She craved human souls much like a woman would crave chocolate or a child sweets, those precious empty calories were always put to good use far from her waistline and for that reason her body craved more and even if the body had its fill there was always a sense of dire trepidation in the back of her mind that she would be unseated by a younger... more fulfilled Ancient of her own court or perhaps another. It made her desire near glutinous, but for a time the hunger sated. There was no need to climb the ranks and be called 'queen' as a human, that was until she died. The hunger returned as did the sense of urgency because she would not know clemency. So she hunted like a coward who had forgotten its pride, preying on the unsuspecting, the tired and the lonesome until she had regained her power. Did she fear the Steward, yes. She considered him a terrible man and a worse friend, but she found comfort in knowing that she would kill him soon.
That bitter bucolic taste clung to her, leaving in its wake the taste of gall and a burning sense as if someone has sprinkled lemon juice on a wound found in the pit of her being. She wretched in the sand she fell into, only expelling mouthfulls of moist earth-like detritus. She was not looking at him, but she could see him as clear as day. The uneven, rough texture of his flesh and the writhing, roiling flesh. There was the audible snap and crack of bones reformed, stretched and broken. His bandages would ignite revealing the twisted and contorted form of a man... no... a demon... no... an ancient? ...perhaps. She knew to not eat what was taboo, but he lacked the aura that an Ancient possessed. That was what gave the silver-tongued Senju away -- the bitter chill and the lively shadows that seemed to dance and lurk in his presence. He was just a man... How could he be anything more! Yet there was a doubt that lingered, a doubt that knew he was something unexpected and it terrified her. Ancients do not fear death, it is merely a concept borrowed from humanity. Pain was something they did indeed try to avoid, it is a compulsion of all living things to avoid harm but between the two of them he was the only one who appeared to be harmed. His flesh infested with an alien rash, his body undergoing a monstrous and misshapen transformation. In a creature as old as she it was indeed strange to say: 'this is new.'
Yes, this is new! The mere thought struck panic into her mind. She had seen the rise and fall of generations, kingdoms, species and they passed her in what felt like a blink of the eye and they were always an invasive, presumptuous infiltration from a far away land with a genesis unknown. HE looked like a man. HE felt like a man. HE smelled like a man. But he was no man. He was a deceptive, lovely trap. She believed him when she heard his heart bound when she drew close as if his sixth sense was screaming that something was wrong. How he tensed as she drew close and they touched. Then he relaxed as she drained him, nature's benevolence being the sense of peace that immediately preludes death. And she again believed him as his baneful essence was nearly absorbed before she forcefully expelled it back into him. Never before has she seen such a convincing ploy to turn the hunter into the hunted but she recognized those fiery eyes as that of a predator.
She recognized the word or rather the name he called her, it was a term that could be traced back to the first men: شيخ عجوز. A guttural growl escaped from her as she braced herself from the exodus of sand about the denaturing humanoid and lifted a hand to command the sands to part before they reached her. She pulled herself to her feet, lifting her gaze to watch this monstrosity, whatever it might be as the quavering flesh stilled and the melanin seemed to return to his tresses. She did not know either men - this or the previous; in fact she had not known several of the forms the remarkable Sennin although she was likely familiar with his first in Sunagakure because of his friendship with the Steward but not the transformations that followed as he took a new form after new form each time he suffered a 'near-death' experience. Similar in a way to what she did to hide among the humans.
Thank you.
He announced, but there was something about his expression that was unsettling despite the placid sense he tried to exude. Perhaps it was because there was no such thing as a "pleasant smirk" because a smirk was an irritatingly smug, conceited expression and it would be met with a glower. "What are you!" Shiori repeated, she was prepared to fight him, whatever he was. She had no metric gauge for how powerful he indeed was but she was not one to fight a battle unprepared. Her hands started to methodically run through an array of hand seals and the earth started to groan with intent as a wall of earth attempted to separate her from this unknown. ((Earthslide wall)) Hint: A falcon punch from you buffed would exceed the HP of that wall. Her elemental nature seemed to escape from her pores as sand cascaded from her fingertips and she prepared to lash out at Roku once he broke through the barrier. ((Cursed Seal #2 on attempted melee contact))
IC:
A barrier of solid earth separated her from the strange, unidentifiable creature. She stared at the grainy wall before her as she racked her mind and tried to identify her would be assailant in a strange inversion of roles where the hunter has become the hunted. She was breathing heavily, not from exertion but from this strange heavy feeling in her chest. She had no heart but she did have a reasonable facsimile of one and it pounded beneath her breast, It was a strange sensation that she had felt before, this dire trepidation that made the world so loud and so bright and made everything else seem to move so slow. Humans call it adrenaline, she had no name for whatever it was that innervated her in such a way but it made those hours under Shouki's care seem like weeks of suffering and fear.
Her heels dug into the hand as the same dark, corrupted energies that ran through her core mingled with the sands that trickled from her fingertips. The wall exploded with the force of the Sennin's punch and hunks of earth sprayed the well-dressed woman and Shiori's heel entrenched themselves in the sand before she lashed out with a tendril of earth laced with tainted energies intended to rot away his life-force that preluded her intended attack. Her hand pushed through the errant sand and into her intended meal, She could feel her fingerpads touch his flesh but she got a sickly feeling as she did so, not from what she felt but rather what she realized -- he was making no attempt to avoid her touch. Her eyes widened at this revelation, there was a moment where she forgot she felt fear or concern when he barged through that wall because she thought it would all be over once she reached him again because his survival the first time only meant that he was incredibly strong but a second contact would be enough to take out any man or so she thought. Her first question was the right question -- what was he?
He was not only unfazed by her curse but he actively sought it. It was as if it was being pulled from her, this spiritual essence and energy. She had hundreds of souls in excess at her disposal, more than any mortal vessel could endure. If he wanted it, he could have it she determined. Much like in the matter of Primus' kin, if her hand refused to pull away because it was being drawn to this monster then so be it. She furrowed her brow and leaned forward, planting her palm against his chest. It burned through whatever coverings separated them if any remained and his body greedily took everything she had to offer without hesitation and without delay. "If you like it, then have your fill," she declared. It was as if he was an empty reservoir waiting to be filled but it had no bottom. She gritted her teeth as she released more. He was still standing. She felt short of breath, her body cold despite the heat of the enduring sun and her vision started to swim as she defiantly stared at this unknown. She was reaching the depths of her stores and she did not know if she could pull away if she wanted to as the energy seemed to pour from her as freely as water from an overturned glass.
When their union broke, he careened back and transformed. She could not see it, the rash or the armor but she could see the thrashing about and the maddened sounds. Her knees quivered as she fell to the ground, her hand planted in the sand being all that kept her upright. The sand looked like water around her, rippling water displaced because a stone had broken the mirror-like placid surface. The sand was in fact still, pockmarked by their footsteps and marred with the remnants and rubble from her wall. She let out a hacking cough that wrenched her form. She had felt like this only once before, only once and that was the first time she died. It had been centuries past that day and much like today she thought she was stronger than she actually was. She thought that she could bring them back with a single spark if it was great enough so she poured into their remains the sum of what she was but there were some things even she at the height of her power could not do. She exceeded what she had and she broke down, an act that history would never know or remember as she was reduced to dust. She was resurrection and life, but in the absence of a spark she was nothing despite want or belief or even endurance. Everything was not given or consumed, but much of her gains were taken from her.
What was she? That was what he wanted to know. "I am... the first.. and the last... of the Earth Court..." She panted as she attempted to force herself to rise, she refused to die on her knees. "And I am very-very old... meaning that you. are. something. new." She swayed as she regained her footing, her hands clumsily started to run through another array of seals. "I always thought... that Saisho... waited... until the previous generation... had passed before making a new one," she scoffed. "I should be *cough* insulted that the... time of man... would be so brief." After all they killed her brethren, her children and her friends. They ripped down her temples and her kingdom until not a stony ruin remained. They hunted her and she hated them for it. She hated every last one and she wanted to see them burn but not by the next generation but by her own hand and her intervention.
She let out a laugh as her hands clumsily started to run through an array of seals. "Did you know... that there was a time before... Ancients. There were other *cough* creatures. Some great and some... small, but each had their time... and when it passed as a cycle always does... a new race would emerge." The earth started to groan as she blankly stared ahead. "This country works in cycles of power. There are three things that ensured the continuation of this process: *cough* *cough* Saisho, the first. Shoki, the second and Sanban, the third." Her words came out as a harsh wheeze, each word barely barely audible over the whistle. Her voice sounded like dry leaves scraping over pavement as she spoke. "These were not simply sentient weapon, forces or god-slaying entities but rather aspects of an all-powerful presence that was responsible for the end of each generational cycle." A large portion of the desert floor collapsed, missing Roku even if he was an unmoving target. She could not see him, she did not know if he was caught in the hole but her hands persisted to run through the same array once again. It was natural to fear death, but she did not need to make her end easy. Another large parcel of earth would start to groan and then collapse into the depths below that seemed endless but truly the bottom was so far below in the worm-carved caverns touchdown would take some time. This would also miss the Sennin, the disoriented Ancient was not deterred perhaps because she knew that this would prove to be her last stand and that she like the generations before her would fade into obscurity over the years.
Episode 6: 'Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.'|Nameless Arc said:[col]It seemed that he either took too much from her or she gave to much to him, he wasn't entirely sure how the process worked or if he even had real control over such a thing. Either way, the figure of the woman would collapse and her face would show the common signs of fatigue, stress and fear that any living being would exhibit entering into their fight or flight response. She would, in exasperation, begin to explain what she was and then proceed to discuss details that were not ones he got at first but the context and the understanding of what she was helped give him some clue and form his own idea, even if it might have been completely off base.
"Ah, an Ancient, right?"
He would chuckle a bit as he continued to move his body as if a newborn trying to grasp control of what they could do. His white hair had been stained a darker tint, and would continue from the roots to travel upwards and sully his white hair with color once more. His body would continue to convulse and twitch every so often as his muscles would begin to settle. Whatever unnatural force was traveling through his body must have had some effect on him similar to opening the gate of death as his hair was now grown out once more like his battle with Fuu. His red eyes would return to the woman as she began to fire off a series of hand seals.
"I think, and I think you might be getting this impression too, that I am destined to kill you."
The ground off to his left would crumble and suddenly collapse.
"Maybe not you specifically, but beings like you? Or maybe I am destined to be on your kinds side?"
Another tremor would set off as more ground around him would begin to quickly sink into the earth.
"Maybe I am kind of what you were saying, I am something new. Maybe I am here to be the First of the new ones?"
The ground would continue to rumble as the thought continued to process through his mind. His focus would shift to Nao and the possibility that he allowed to escape his mind until now. If he was something new, he was probably nothing more than a creation of that man, which would make him a sibling to the Sovereign. So then, was he a savior of them? The ground would collapse as he was still caught in his thought.
"Hmmm... I suppose whatever my true destiny is, there will be a whole lot of dead things in my wake."
He would stroll up to the woman, dashing away if the ground below him would start to rumble. The flower upon his back began to bloom and grown into other flowers as the energy within him started to well up once more, if he needed it to escape the wild attacks of the Ancient.
"It seems there is no reason to hate you Ancients, especially since it seems you all have something that I need... want..."
Deep down he wanted to take hold of her once more, and his mind still was unsure if it was for humanly reasons or the hunger within his DNA that seemed to feel euphoria from the energy she possessed.
"Oh... there are a couple more of your kind I need to visit before I can begin doing what needs to be done."
His mind now seemed to be more prepared for what next step he wanted to take. This was a step up from where he was, this woman truly was helpful but here he was scaring his new muse. Without hesitation his fingers on his right hand would sharpen into claws and he would run them across his face, sending a newly minted wound upon his damage worn body.
"To remember you by, ma'lady."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: MFT/Marked for Kin App - 804 Words (2,396 words total in 2 posts) - Accepting Curse Seal: Gaia Seal
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend]
Her touch
It did not hurt him, despite the caustic energies she gave him. -- He was not human.
<i></i>She had given him enough to kill him, the more durable of the Sunan tribesmen could endure her touch but it left them at the gates of death. A stiff breeze would have pushed them down the river styx. She gave him enough to cause her to fall to her knees. Yet he was not slowed, he seemed empowered by it. It was something she saw in fellow Ancients; she sometimes saw it in her half-breed brothers. It did not harm them but rather empowered them, it was a natural energy they all shared even if their portfolios differed but they did not hunger for it. They did not yearn or seek it. She could hear his heart, even from this far. She could see the want in his eyes. She had not seen this hunger since the Wild Hunt where the predatory sense of the denizens of the court pervaded even reason. He was not from the Wild Hunt, that much she was certain of because the risk and danger Orochi posed compelled her to be aware of what remained in those depths below the Obsidian. The court was reduced to one during the earliest times of mankind by the Lord of the Wild Hunt himself, but whoever this was he shared his... hunger? Was that what she saw in him? It was hard to be certain, but she knew when something was wrong and there was something very wrong with this ...thing.
"Ah, an Ancient, right?"
The only remnant of the Wild Hunt that remained was the beast in the pit, the heart she had saved and the man she had poisoned with the court's vile intent. It was too soon, the newest halfbreed was too young to be a father and even if he had the strength he would not know how. The ground was pockmarked with pits as she commanded the earth about them to recede. Sand cascaded from the uneven edges of these pits into depths unknown. She could hear the rough sands pour into these canyons, the sound ceased at the point of freefall. She told him the truth about Saban and Shoki, something that was so incredibly rare. Still, there was much that she did not know and there was much that she would be wrong or at the very least misinformed about. He was something new, that was true but he was also something quite old. He was an amalgamation of old in new in a manner she had not encountered, she had seen her share of halflings and he was no half-breed.
"I think, and I think you might be getting this impression too, that I am destined to kill you."
The ground collapsed on side of him, a wordless affirmation. "You're far from the first," she replied. "Human Rangers have hunted us to the brink of extinction. When I die there will only be one that remains." She was of course referring to Mikaboshi, the half-breeds were by far more human than Ancient although she had every intent of destroying their humanity if she ever lived long enough to do so.
"Maybe not you specifically, but beings like you? Or maybe I am destined to be on your kinds side?"
"You're here to kill something," she replied. He was something new and it would be his biological imperative to survive. That was what they were all trying to do after all. Fighting for the right to live. "But I doubt you will have a choice in the matter. Humans do not share. Whatever you are, you are not one of them and once they learn this they will never accept you." The ground at his side exploded with within, a geyser of earth and stone that shot into the air. Hunks of earth rained down. Through the veil of falling earth, he moved fast. It was a blur of motion, the earth reverberating the impact upon the displaced earth and the scraping footsteps of the newly transformed monster only a few steps away. They will see you as the monster they saw I was," she let out an ironic laugh. She was explaining the fate of those who murdered her brethren to the thing that would likely destroy them all. "Succeed and be what comes next or to fail and for whatever you are will fall into obscurity."
"Maybe I am kind of what you were saying, I am something new. Maybe I am here to be the First of the new ones?"
She planted her hand down on the ground and a rumble could be felt beneath his feet. The earth fell away like water but not before he traversed the unruly sands and came upon stable ground. Her hands quivered as they plunged into the earth in front of her. A depressed ring would form around the site Number Six stood and the sand would rush away into these same depths unknown but he would dart off before the trap was sprung. "You're not human. You're not Ancient. I am the oldest thing in this desert and I have never seen you before!" The core of the ring collapsed away but he was already long gone.
"It seems there is no reason to hate you Ancients, especially since it seems you all have something that I need... want..."
He was coming closer. She pulled her hands from the earth. She was tired and slow and he seemed to thrive off of her loses. Her hands shook as she continued through yet another array of seals, her long fingers clumsily completing each of the skills in the well-practiced array. The jutsu would fail, nothing would happen when her fingers met for the final sign in her desperate fight for survival. "There is no hate in feeding, but I am afraid you will quickly go hungry once I am gone," she replied as she tried to get to her feet. She was too proud, even after all of her disgraces to die on her knees.
Death hurts, she would know because she had died before. "There is hate in murder," she announced. She did not hate him strangely enough, she understood the way of the desert. Hunger is costly to sate and it often costs life, a small cost for those whose lives are not lost. "I would rather be devoured than killed again by Sousuke," she admitted but she was not one for giving up even if a fate seemed inescapable.
"Oh... there are a couple more of your kind I need to visit before I can begin doing what needs to be done."
"No," she declared. "I cannot allow you passage to devour the last of my kind," all she had left was the deceivers Mikaboshi and Kazuki, the neophyte Kouin of the Wild Hunt and the few who survived her touch -- Riyota and Homura. Those miniscule threads of Ancient heritage in some was all that was left of her kind, her people and their legacy.
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
The ground beneath her feet started to ripple, like waves of water from her feet. The horizon shuddered violently, the rolling dunes from afar convulsed before they dropped away.
"To remember you by, ma'lady."
In a grotesque display he ran talon-like claws across the profile of his own face. The visceral rending of his own, new flesh left ragged wounds on his visage. He lacked a self-preserving instinct, at least in her eyes. The earth continued to fall away on all sides. She had no intention of stopping, she was not giving him an out. "Shame that will not be for long," she announced weakly. She would not likely survive the fall, she was not sure how deep the sheer edged canyon was that she created here in the wilds but it was far enough to perhaps delay his trek to Sunagakure, the home of the only other living Ancients that remained. "Never thought I would do anything to favor the Deep Court," her last words before the floor below her crumbled if she was able to complete her demand of the dunes. She did not move. She did not run. She had no place to go, she had broken down the desert around her. She would not even feel the distant impact that would likely end her life once again and this time without intervention, she would not rise until a new world has forged if at all.
Would Roku survive? -- of course he is the hero... maybe villain of this story.
Would Shiori survive? -- hard to say at this juncture, Roku is a scary creepy guy. A sandworm might have been a more favorable meeting.
Would Roku get more seals? -- have at it, loading you up before you get your kinjutsu so grab another one if you want.
OC: I am fine either way. I know you are double booked with me because you wanted me in the Obsidian as well. I can go there and give them to you there as well or do it here. I need to take care of the commander after all =) But if you do want to finish them off in the other thread, we should probably separate IC here at least, you have a very consistent storyline so I am willing to do whatever.
Episode 7: 'Together Forever'|Nameless Arc said:[col]His eyes would turn back to the female as she seemed to still be taking his awakening, his birth, poorly. Whatever presence he gave off seemed to be terrifying, or at least she was just wise enough to see where his road would eventually lead.
Hmm, should that be troubling? No. I won't allow anyone or anything dictate where this is going. I am something different. She confirmed it, this ancient among ancients. I will not allow her paranoia shake my resolve.
Turning fully to her he would begin to make a movement towards her until she enacted her trump card; dropping the bottom out. His eyes would widened as he ground sunk from under his feet.
"You damned fool!!!"
The impact of gravity and the new lack of ground under him would cause a momentary delay in his fall until both were sent plummeting downwards into the darkness of the earth. Frantically, the newly brought to life man would look around for something to save his newly acquired second... third life. Unfortunately, the only things he could see would be the raining sand that he seemed to be beating on the descent downwards and the female. The woman seemed content, either expressing she did not care to die or did not fear such a fall would kill her.
Shit, I have been lucky to keep living after shit moments like this, but I haven't ever had two this close together. I don't think I will be as lucky this time... shit, if I could fuckin' fly or something...
That was when it donned on him, something he had forgotten about since he first discovered it. Awhile ago, he was given an item as a reward of sorts but was never explained what it did or its actual significance. It was through sheer luck he uncovered what he was in possession of, and then it was merely testing and talking to a little bird companion that would appear from time to time to determine what all could be done with said item. Looking down at his right ring finger, he would twist the small metal binding he wore upon it. From the underside of the ring a needle would be released that would not only prick the flesh of the man but also take in a sampling of his blood. The introduction of the blood would cause a series of ruins to appear upon the exterior of the ring.
"Awaken within the Realm of Animals, I beckon thee, Ho-Pu"
Above him a large cloud of smoke would erupt as a large, black bird would appear.
"Ho-Pu!!! Could you help me land?"
The large and majestic bird would let out an animal caw before diving downwards and grasping the summoner by its talons. Letting out a sigh, the man would feel his stress levels decline rapidly as he was now saved from the worst of the fall. The fallout with the birds and their kind for using them in such a situation would probably be more severe. Then he would remember;
The woman!
His eyes would frantically search the area until locking onto the feminine form.
"Ho-Pu, I beg you, save that woman as well... or at least get me close enough I can grab her."
The surprisingly silent black eagle would comply with the request, or at least appear to comply, as she would dive once more. Their intentional descent would allow them to catch up quickly to the free falling Shiori. The free talon of the bird would snatch up the woman just like the man and the three would continue downward, now at a decelerated pace until finally reaching the bottom. Flapping its wings to hover slightly above the surface, Ho-Pu would abruptly release the man sending him crashing into the ground.
"Raise up and catch this woman..."
The bird would finally speak and in typical fashion would seem to show little to no interest in the man who had summoned her. Heeding her words, he would rise and holds his arms out and catch the falling woman, unless she had already managed to break free or even get taken in the first place. She was rather formidable, causing the ground around them for a great distance to cave inward, he could only imagine if she did not want to be caught by either she would have avoided it.
But if she did take the free bird elevator and then allowed him to catch her he would smirk.
"Hello again, ma'lady."
If he caught her, the instance their bodies touched an attraction would once more form as he would draw forth a tiny chunk of her energy. His body would barely react as a new tattoo would form around his right eye. The bird flapping above them would disperse in a cloud of smoke.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: 805 words and accepting Solar Seal (no ASP cost!!!! Finally!!!)
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song[/url]Mood Music
"You damned fool!!!" Roku accused.
"You're too dangerous to be allowed to live!" Shiori shouted in reply, those likely being her last words for some time. One death, her own, a pittance in comparison to the tragedy that would be with the lost of the last of her race. They had been reduced to only few and her children were still alive, Sennin Toraono revealed that to her. She was not going to sacrifice the lives of her children for her safety. Some could call it maternal instinct, but she was more pragmatic than that -- she could have more children, a legion of them if necessary if given enough time however there will be no time if he is allowed to endure.
So she fell.
But she was not going to die easily, she would not be able to stop the moment of impact because she could not fly. However, she could bring herself back from the dead if she was prepared to die. Her fingers burned with a dark intent as her nails dug into her own flesh and tore away at her arm, leaving a rough mark in her finger's wake that burned as she let the bloody wound char as she sealed herself with a ward. She would still die, but she would come back once again without a wait but she might not have time to do it twice if he somehow survived, but if he lived despite the impact then she had no chance.
Meanwhile Roku had summoned a great avian. She did not expect this creature to be able to fly. She tried to kill it. That was her default response as her hands ran through a rapid array, but she would not have time to make her attack during her descent. A pair of claws dug into her, certainly summoning Ho-Pu was faster than even the most proficient caster attempting to release two A Rank attacks. A pair of talons dug into her shoulder and the wind rumbled in protest as the wings buffered the fall and slowed her freefall to a gradual slide. She let out a yell, as her focus was directed at the bird. A blast of earth and sand would shoot up from the not so distant floor, but as it did the bird would relinquish its hold on her and the torrent of earth propelled by her will and intent shot past Ho-Pu and impacted the wall, causing more of the earth to break away but the damages irrelevant.
She would find herself falling a meager distance, he fall not the problem or the concern but rather her intended destination. Arms outstretched she would make impact and immediately feel the pull in her essence. Her lungs burned and her chest felt heavy, as if the weight of a dozen men was upon her. Breathless. She saw the dark mark left by the transition of her essence, something that should have been painful and near fatal. Her carapace had started to crack. Fine lines, like the ones one would see in aged china, somehow held together by an invisible glaze. She reached up to her ear, she was reaching for an earbud. She maintained the communication device to create the illusion that she was dutiful and perhaps near. Now it was being used to send them a warning.
"If... not... what... then who... Who are you?"
If he answered her, she would then announce in a low voice but it was the best she could muster in continued contact with him. "Run brothers," would be all she would say, never sharing a name as she ended the transmission there. It was not a pitiful attempt to save her own life, nobody would make it out here in time and even if they did he was feeding off of them. Sending a lion an additional lamb does nothing but further fuel the ravenous killer. But he was something new, or rather something old and something wrong.
--Take all the seals man--
[/quote]Episode 8: 'Together Forever pt 2'|Nameless Arc said:[col]She would apparently give off some warning to someone through a communication device. She did not give a name, a very clear message or any idea who she was specifically talking to through it, but it was such a vague message. Would anyone fully understand what it was she was trying to say? Was she even speaking to anyone? At this point she had already been showing, what he would consider, erratic behavior.
"Just calm down, lady..."
It seemed aspects of his white knighting were starting to quickly fade. The change in his emotion seemed to spark a change in his body to react once more, as another portion of the Ancient energy would be drawn from Shiori and into his body. Another lotus flower would blossom upon his back.
"Goddammit!"
The frustration of not knowing how to 'turn off' or really control his new little ability was starting to frustrate him, and with the crazy woman going all ape shit about the situation... well, this was definitely a stressful moment. He still hadn't even begun to account for being trapped in a hole with this woman. Releasing her, he would allow her to either be free of him or fall flat on her ass. Either way, he wanted to stop with the bad touches. It wouldn't be good to just kill this woman because he was too inexperienced to know what the hell his body was doing. He had more pride than that. Or was that the reason? Maybe, whether he could admit it or not, he liked having her around and alive for a more sinister or primal reason.
"So now what? You got us locked down here.... wanna start populating a new world?"
He would chuckle, but he doubted she would.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Accepting Lunar Seal
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song
OC: Just noticed the song. ROFL. Fine~ Also, weird post =/ Sorry!
IC:
She sent the transmission, however futile the ominous message might have been. She recognized the threat for what it was -- a predator that sought the apex. There was no answer from either the headset or the devourer. She could feel her essence pulled from her and a bitter gall burn at the back of her throat. She thrashed, her arm swung in a wide arc and attempted to strike him across the face. success exceedingly irrelevant, there were more damaging pillows.
"Just calm down, lady..."
"Calm down, like hell!"</B><i></i> She defied. Another morsel of her existence was pulled from her and she let out a gasp. He let go of her and she fell onto the dusty earth. She did not linger and complain about a sore ass, rather she scrambled to her feet and moved away from him. The distance between them would be limited, there were shear walls of earth, sand and stone deep enough to allow them to freefall for at least ten seconds. The light was dim because of this, shadowed by these looming walls. She could feel the wall hug her back as her mind raced. She could not touch him, whatever he was he ate like she did but on a completely different level. It took her time and purposeful effort, with him it seemed like a passive effort like breathing. How could she stop him? How could she kill him if she could not touch him?
"So now what? You got us locked down here.... wanna start populating a new world?"
Ewww... human-ish sex. How gross. The exchange of body fluids and prolonged periods of closeness combined with acrobatics; perhaps intimate to humans but to an observer such as herself the concept seemed like a lot of work for no tangible reward. Of course there were things about humans she did not understand, that the aspects she had little interest in were only partially relevant in acts of human procreation. There was companionship and obviously pleasure as well as a need to continue one's species associated with this act. It is not something that was solely a human thing, rather it was something humans generally thought of whereas Ancient culture held companionship to a much lower regard. And yet she, rather they surrounded themselves with humans, satisfying an itch in the only ways they knew how.
She still needed to kill him but the wily monster seemed to have a knack for getting out of the way.
Her hands started to run through an array of hand seals that were slow and purposeful. <B>"How did you ever guess." The charade was over a long time ago, perhaps he did not know exactly what she was or that she was anything put human but he would have been aware that she was not right. She would not beat him in a display of strength, her fortitude was drained. She would not be able to escape his hole without being caught. Touching him meant certain pain and a drain of her essence further debilitating her. However inhuman he was, he like everything else, had to have a weakness be it being stabbed or burned or driven mad. The question was -- what would bring a glutton to his knees? Poison the well. "So... so lovely, even in the dark," she announced as she corrupted her own systems (Dark Sage ability used on self - Gangrene). "And so... terrifying," she called out to him. "Your touch burns, however you have not touched the right places." Her handseals persisted as she prepared something else.
Yes -- she was about to do a new form of combat, a first for her. Doubtful Roku will like human contact much longer, but who knows... he is a strange and troubled man.
IC:
"Just calm down, lady..."
"Calm down, like hell!"</B><i></i> She defied. Another morsel of her existence was pulled from her and she let out a gasp. He let go of her and she fell onto the dusty earth. She did not linger and complain about a sore ass, rather she scrambled to her feet and moved away from him. The distance between them would be limited, there were shear walls of earth, sand and stone deep enough to allow them to freefall for at least ten seconds. The light was dim because of this, shadowed by these looming walls. She could feel the wall hug her back as her mind raced. She could not touch him, whatever he was he ate like she did but on a completely different level. It took her time and purposeful effort, with him it seemed like a passive effort like breathing. How could she stop him? How could she kill him if she could not touch him?
"So now what? You got us locked down here.... wanna start populating a new world?"
Ewww... human-ish sex. How gross. The exchange of body fluids and prolonged periods of closeness combined with acrobatics; perhaps intimate to humans but to an observer such as herself the concept seemed like a lot of work for no tangible reward. Of course there were things about humans she did not understand, that the aspects she had little interest in were only partially relevant in acts of human procreation. There was companionship and obviously pleasure as well as a need to continue one's species associated with this act. It is not something that was solely a human thing, rather it was something humans generally thought of whereas Ancient culture held companionship to a much lower regard. And yet she, rather they surrounded themselves with humans, satisfying an itch in the only ways they knew how.
She still needed to kill him but the wily monster seemed to have a knack for getting out of the way.
Her hands started to run through an array of hand seals that were slow and purposeful. <B>"How did you ever guess." The charade was over a long time ago, perhaps he did not know exactly what she was or that she was anything put human but he would have been aware that she was not right. She would not beat him in a display of strength, her fortitude was drained. She would not be able to escape his hole without being caught. Touching him meant certain pain and a drain of her essence further debilitating her. However inhuman he was, he like everything else, had to have a weakness be it being stabbed or burned or driven mad. The question was -- what would bring a glutton to his knees? Poison the well. "So... so lovely, even in the dark," she announced as she corrupted her own systems (Dark Sage ability used on self - Gangrene). "And so... terrifying," she called out to him. "Your touch burns, however you have not touched the right places." Her handseals persisted as she prepared something else.
Yes -- she was about to do a new form of combat, a first for her. Doubtful Roku will like human contact much longer, but who knows... he is a strange and troubled man.
Episode 8: 'Together Forever pt 3'|Nameless Arc said:[col]After saying his comment he had already chuckled to himself and dismissed it. It was a throw away joke meant to offer a bit of levity to their current stranded predicament. The female, attempting to kill him and all, made it very clear her impressions of him. Then he heard something he was not expecting;
"How did you ever guess."
Slowly he would turn around with his right brow cocked as high as it could arch.
"Wait... huh..."
She was performing hand seals and her demeanor had changed once more. Something was odd about this, and yet, the dumb man within his brain would merely give a thumbs up at the invitation.
"So... so lovely, even in the dark,"
Seriously, something is up... what the shit is she angling for right now...
"And so... terrifying,"
That is progressively less sexy... has she ever done this whole seduction thing before...
"Your touch burns, however you have not touched the right places."
There it is... there ya go... kudos. Welp, turn of the lights. Ball game. I don't care if she is about to stab me, that sounds like an invitation if I've ever heard one.
As his hormones took over, along with the lusting for the feeling he got from touching her anyways, he would begin to take a step towards the female.
Wait, why is she now all of a sudden...
He would take another step.
Well, I mean we are sorta stuck down here... and I am attractive, fuck ya I am... come on, guy, get your shit together. Let's do this!
Another step.
But still...
Stop.
The voice would cause him to stop in his tracks, his eyes opening as if waking up from a trance.
Wait, no, no this is trap.
He would back up once more to place distance between himself and the female.
"Sorry, it's kinda weird when you are all of a sudden gungho about this. What happened to the whole 'had to kill me and keep me away from them' bullshit before?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC:
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song
OC: Lawl.
IC:
Despite being quite lovely herself, she was not even remotely a seductress. That was the problem with lacking a human mind or ambitions, the desire to procreate did not exist although she did understand the need and want for companionship that is really where her appreciation ended. It was not as if Ancients lacked the capacity to love, they simply lacked the carnal wants biologically instilled into humans. Ancients were very much like humans in most things, they wanted to not only exist but coexist and to maintain a legacy; the main difference was in how such things happened for them. She had tried to understand the differences between man and Ancient, in a way becoming an avatar of what she perceived men to want. Suna did not do this for the betterment of both but rather for her own selfish ambitions, she not only wanted to be the Queen again but she wanted to destroy those who offended her. She of course only touched the surface but she was not looking to become a human but rather hide among them with whatever advantages her heritage could afford, but her time was quickly coming to an end because who she was would not be a secret for much longer considering the fact that every Sennin less this one knew her name.
She peeled herself away from the earthen corner she had backed herself into. She could feel the corruption seeded within her seemingly swell within the unseen current that made up the core of her being. Roku seemed... undecided. There was hesitation prior to his wordless approach and then a cessation. She, on the other hand, did not halt or dally as she made her advance. The bane would leave her fingertips in a near invisible dark mist but before she reached him it would appear that the strange inhuman would not take her advances for their stated intent.
"Sorry, it's kinda weird when you are all of a sudden gungho about this. What happened to the whole 'had to kill me and keep me away from them' bullshit before?"
Oh Roku, you romantic you...
She did not desist and took another step forward, her form shadowed by the darkness and she reached out for him. Her long unpainted nails tried to graze him, be it his cheek or his chest. "Who said I stopped trying?"
She did not feel pain nor did she feel as drained this time regardless of how she came into contact with the Sennin be it a consensual or a forced touch on her part, but he barely suffered a minor ache. "This is impossible," she muttered in a low voice that was a mixture of fear and desperation. Why wouldn't he die! She racked her brain to determine how or rather why but she would find no answer because he was something she had never seen before and if she was fortunate she would never see another like him again.
IC:
She peeled herself away from the earthen corner she had backed herself into. She could feel the corruption seeded within her seemingly swell within the unseen current that made up the core of her being. Roku seemed... undecided. There was hesitation prior to his wordless approach and then a cessation. She, on the other hand, did not halt or dally as she made her advance. The bane would leave her fingertips in a near invisible dark mist but before she reached him it would appear that the strange inhuman would not take her advances for their stated intent.
"Sorry, it's kinda weird when you are all of a sudden gungho about this. What happened to the whole 'had to kill me and keep me away from them' bullshit before?"
Oh Roku, you romantic you...
She did not desist and took another step forward, her form shadowed by the darkness and she reached out for him. Her long unpainted nails tried to graze him, be it his cheek or his chest. "Who said I stopped trying?"
- Bad Touch:
- If her fingers did indeed graze his flesh something unintended would happen. He would feel the influx of her spirit, only this time it burned. The acerbic insertion of her essence was far from overwhelming, but it should have been. It should have been like an overwhelming wave that attempted to knock him down and then pull him out to sea. It should have hurt but it merely ached and it would only sting for a moment. Considering the bevy of beauties always at the Sennin's side (I have counted a total of 0) the ANBU had likely been slapped across the face harder by his attempted conquests. If such was the case, she would realize it immediately and her eyes would widen as she exhaled a brief statement "...the hell?"
It would have been obvious to even an utter buffoon that she was trying to poison him, but in her defense he was eating her first, although that was after she tried to eat him. Dammit, how did it get back to her fault!
Forced Bad Touch:- If he did avoid her touch, a thing most would crave due to carnal passions or the voracious appetite of a glutton, she would try to grab hold of him. The sands beneath his feet would churn and seem to roil underfoot, tendrils would reach out and try to grab onto him and once they finally did the interaction would go very much the same. She would touch his skin, whatever might be bare, be it an arm or a cheek with her naked hand. The dark energies she exuded would be consumed with her essence, poisoning the interloper so that she might rot him from the inside. Her touch would give him a strange sense, one he was getting slowly more familiar with as he seemed to passively take in whatever she offered and reach in for what she did not intend to share. Humans did not do this, at least they were not supposed to. Her corruption was still like a cancer that would putrefy him from the inside given enough time or so she thought. When (or if in which case she continues to chase you around in this hole I suppose) she touched him however, he would not feel pain, perhaps a sting. It would not fester inside but rather be assimilated into his being.
Even a fool would know what she did after a taste but she did not care because once he partook he would be too busy writhing, or so she thought. He was FINE. Better than fine in fact. He was getting stronger. "...the hell?" Her eyes widened with the revelation that he was still standing, absolutely fine and perhaps even empowered still by her glancing touch.
- If her fingers did indeed graze his flesh something unintended would happen. He would feel the influx of her spirit, only this time it burned. The acerbic insertion of her essence was far from overwhelming, but it should have been. It should have been like an overwhelming wave that attempted to knock him down and then pull him out to sea. It should have hurt but it merely ached and it would only sting for a moment. Considering the bevy of beauties always at the Sennin's side (I have counted a total of 0) the ANBU had likely been slapped across the face harder by his attempted conquests. If such was the case, she would realize it immediately and her eyes would widen as she exhaled a brief statement "...the hell?"
Cursed Seal of Roku;s Choice
She did not feel pain nor did she feel as drained this time regardless of how she came into contact with the Sennin be it a consensual or a forced touch on her part, but he barely suffered a minor ache. "This is impossible," she muttered in a low voice that was a mixture of fear and desperation. Why wouldn't he die! She racked her brain to determine how or rather why but she would find no answer because he was something she had never seen before and if she was fortunate she would never see another like him again.
Not an Ancient.
Not a Human.
Not a Human.
OC: Mind if I give you something to work with. Ignore if unwanted.
IC:
Remember Number Six~
It was dark in there but it was always dark in this deep, black pit. Was it even a pit? Perhaps it was a windowless room atop a great tower or a basement dungeon. Regardless of what it was, it was always the same. It was dark in here and there was an utter absence of light but the limit of one sense would make all of the other senses more profound. The air was cold, enough so to make one's hair stand on end and there was a constant current in the room despite there being no known source. It was never silent in here either, there was a constant discordant hum among other muffled sounds. There was the sense that one was never alone in here but there were only three voices ever heard in this space during the weeks... perhaps months spent in here.
It was always the same, if it happened daily or if it happened weekly or more, one could not say but it happened at least a dozen times and each time it was just like the last.
"Wake up."
A calm voice commanded, this the start of a memory soon to be forgotten but now muddied. You would not be able to move and you were seated or were you laid out on a table? It mattered little but there would be a part of you that seemed to recall both with a sense of de'ja vu, it was eerie really how you felt you had been here before but it never being quite the same. This time you were standing or at least you think you were, it was hard to say but this would not be the time time ponder. A door would creak open but no light would seem to spill in. Footsteps would scrape across the floor, it sounded like there was more than one.
"The sane, standard and rational, nominally normal state is an illusion. What is normal for the spider Number Six is chaos for the fly."
A voice would break the silence. The voice was soft, almost kind sounding but the words did not share the same sentiment and they belonged to a man. Beyond that little could be discerned. The sound of distant footsteps could be heard as well as the tumblers of a lock.
"A lesson well-learned for the spider that skitters and skulks, not only does it stalk its prey but it also lays elaborate traps for its intended victim. The spider is patient but far from a fool, there are some the spider hunts in the open and others it snatches after a long period of wait."
The air was cold and the flesh was unprotected from the elements. Was it always this cold? Yes, but it was slowly becoming unbearable. This cold was familiar in a strange way, the chill was almost a part of life much like the darkness that most have come to fear. There would be the sounds of shifting, a distant dull clatter, a grunt.
"You are to wait until you are called for little spider."
The voice commanded. A clatter could be heard, as if chains were being dragged across the floor. There was a faint raspy sound also, like breath and a dull hum that seemed to resonate unnaturally in the darkness. It grew louder with each approaching step.
"But you're not ready yet."
There was a distant struggle and a gasp as a new voice made an assertion.
Or it made a claim. It was the voice of a man, he sounded young but it was hard to tell relative age, shape or even youth in this inky black.
"But I will ready you. Refine you. Define you are something more. Something better."
The other captive seemed to be in defiance of its captor but it seemed hardly distressing. Perhaps this too has happened before. In fact the voice seemed familiar, not the same. Never the same, but the inflection was rather odd. Just like hers. Had he heard her voice before. If this actually happened, then no he did not but he heard one much like hers. In fact he would have heard a similar voice as hers several times before this. The voices and the sound of rattling chains was almost upon you at this point, mere feet away. There would be the sounds of a struggle, albeit a brief one.
"NO! You won't get away with this!"
Something happened. The sounds of struggling ceased.
"Mealtime~"
A voice seemed to sing in the darkness. You would feel something press up against you, it was gritty and it seemed to pulsate but it did not stir. It had shape but not form or at least that was the best you could do to define that was pressed up against you. Then you would feel the heat, a thermodynamic reaction that for a brief moment would illuminate the space before you. You would see a great many things in this moment of near-blinding light. The prisoner was made of sand and was crumbling away. Fingers would break off at the joints and in a puff of dust be forever gone. Cracks would form on its body, a dark abyss creating a maze work of gaps about its grainy facade before its head and torso would cave in, distorting its features which were reminiscently humanoid but far from human.
You would feel PAIN, the unrelenting sort as whatever this creature was invaded your body. Invaded everything the defined you. But this was not the first time this had happened. Sometimes there was shadows, golden light, flames, even water. A wave of anguish would fill every fiber of your being, twisting your flesh. It would bubble and fester and the boils would burst. There might have been screaming but it was hard to tell, the anguish consumed all reason and logic. The manacles that held you in place barely noticed, they groaned but held.
You would see a pair of faces as well, a large man covered in bandages. A few stray tufts of messy brown hair would peek between the bandages as did a pair of cold yellow eyes. He was smiling, the expression was enough to make some people sick but you would not need to look on that condescending mug for long. Hell, in a few moments you would not even remember that you ever saw it.
"Forget. Take a nap kiddo."
...it was naptime
Before you returned to a sleeping haze, you would spy two other things. A cage with eyes peering back in the distant darkness. So many eyes. Second, a man with a partially shaven head that appeared to be a pallid teen only a few years older than you at the time and by today's standard several years younger. Slight in frame and rather pallid, he was wearing a pair of tight leather pants, a colorful loose fitting tank and a number of bracelets and necklaces none of which looked particularly valuable. His flesh was pallad, if it was not for the fact that he was moving one would have thought him dead. He was covered in tattoos, all of which runic markings you would not know or recognize in particular but there was a sense of familiarity once again but it was a bit more remote than some of your other memories.
"Actually. Forget it all. Every last thing Six. It is time you make some new friends..."
OC: Offer not a requirement. I am just assuming you are heading in this direction.
IC:
Remember Number Six~
It was dark in there but it was always dark in this deep, black pit. Was it even a pit? Perhaps it was a windowless room atop a great tower or a basement dungeon. Regardless of what it was, it was always the same. It was dark in here and there was an utter absence of light but the limit of one sense would make all of the other senses more profound. The air was cold, enough so to make one's hair stand on end and there was a constant current in the room despite there being no known source. It was never silent in here either, there was a constant discordant hum among other muffled sounds. There was the sense that one was never alone in here but there were only three voices ever heard in this space during the weeks... perhaps months spent in here.
It was always the same, if it happened daily or if it happened weekly or more, one could not say but it happened at least a dozen times and each time it was just like the last.
"Wake up."
A calm voice commanded, this the start of a memory soon to be forgotten but now muddied. You would not be able to move and you were seated or were you laid out on a table? It mattered little but there would be a part of you that seemed to recall both with a sense of de'ja vu, it was eerie really how you felt you had been here before but it never being quite the same. This time you were standing or at least you think you were, it was hard to say but this would not be the time time ponder. A door would creak open but no light would seem to spill in. Footsteps would scrape across the floor, it sounded like there was more than one.
"The sane, standard and rational, nominally normal state is an illusion. What is normal for the spider Number Six is chaos for the fly."
A voice would break the silence. The voice was soft, almost kind sounding but the words did not share the same sentiment and they belonged to a man. Beyond that little could be discerned. The sound of distant footsteps could be heard as well as the tumblers of a lock.
"Hush my darling."
"A lesson well-learned for the spider that skitters and skulks, not only does it stalk its prey but it also lays elaborate traps for its intended victim. The spider is patient but far from a fool, there are some the spider hunts in the open and others it snatches after a long period of wait."
"Do not say a word."
The air was cold and the flesh was unprotected from the elements. Was it always this cold? Yes, but it was slowly becoming unbearable. This cold was familiar in a strange way, the chill was almost a part of life much like the darkness that most have come to fear. There would be the sounds of shifting, a distant dull clatter, a grunt.
"Come. Come now."
"You are to wait until you are called for little spider."
"Fear. Dearie, it does not suit you."
The voice commanded. A clatter could be heard, as if chains were being dragged across the floor. There was a faint raspy sound also, like breath and a dull hum that seemed to resonate unnaturally in the darkness. It grew louder with each approaching step.
"Come. Come now and save yourself a shred of dignity, Uta."
"But you're not ready yet."
There was a distant struggle and a gasp as a new voice made an assertion.
"I am not afraid,"
Or it made a claim. It was the voice of a man, he sounded young but it was hard to tell relative age, shape or even youth in this inky black.
"I never needed you to be."[/b]
"But I will ready you. Refine you. Define you are something more. Something better."
The other captive seemed to be in defiance of its captor but it seemed hardly distressing. Perhaps this too has happened before. In fact the voice seemed familiar, not the same. Never the same, but the inflection was rather odd. Just like hers. Had he heard her voice before. If this actually happened, then no he did not but he heard one much like hers. In fact he would have heard a similar voice as hers several times before this. The voices and the sound of rattling chains was almost upon you at this point, mere feet away. There would be the sounds of a struggle, albeit a brief one.
"NO! You won't get away with this!"
Something happened. The sounds of struggling ceased.
"Mealtime~"
A voice seemed to sing in the darkness. You would feel something press up against you, it was gritty and it seemed to pulsate but it did not stir. It had shape but not form or at least that was the best you could do to define that was pressed up against you. Then you would feel the heat, a thermodynamic reaction that for a brief moment would illuminate the space before you. You would see a great many things in this moment of near-blinding light. The prisoner was made of sand and was crumbling away. Fingers would break off at the joints and in a puff of dust be forever gone. Cracks would form on its body, a dark abyss creating a maze work of gaps about its grainy facade before its head and torso would cave in, distorting its features which were reminiscently humanoid but far from human.
You would feel PAIN, the unrelenting sort as whatever this creature was invaded your body. Invaded everything the defined you. But this was not the first time this had happened. Sometimes there was shadows, golden light, flames, even water. A wave of anguish would fill every fiber of your being, twisting your flesh. It would bubble and fester and the boils would burst. There might have been screaming but it was hard to tell, the anguish consumed all reason and logic. The manacles that held you in place barely noticed, they groaned but held.
You would see a pair of faces as well, a large man covered in bandages. A few stray tufts of messy brown hair would peek between the bandages as did a pair of cold yellow eyes. He was smiling, the expression was enough to make some people sick but you would not need to look on that condescending mug for long. Hell, in a few moments you would not even remember that you ever saw it.
"Forget. Take a nap kiddo."
...it was naptime
Before you returned to a sleeping haze, you would spy two other things. A cage with eyes peering back in the distant darkness. So many eyes. Second, a man with a partially shaven head that appeared to be a pallid teen only a few years older than you at the time and by today's standard several years younger. Slight in frame and rather pallid, he was wearing a pair of tight leather pants, a colorful loose fitting tank and a number of bracelets and necklaces none of which looked particularly valuable. His flesh was pallad, if it was not for the fact that he was moving one would have thought him dead. He was covered in tattoos, all of which runic markings you would not know or recognize in particular but there was a sense of familiarity once again but it was a bit more remote than some of your other memories.
"Actually. Forget it all. Every last thing Six. It is time you make some new friends..."
OC: Offer not a requirement. I am just assuming you are heading in this direction.
Episode 9: 'Together Forever pt 4'|Nameless Arc said:[col]Clearly there was something different about her demeanor, and the change was one that did not instill confidence in him. She would lounge at him and he would attempt to withdraw from her touch. As he made a movement backwards, the sand below him would begin to morph and move, locking him in place as her hand came into contact with his exposed chest. The sensation that would be set off from this touch would initially start out as pain, maybe she had in done something to her body in an attempt to poison him.
Within that brief moment of pain, his eyes would seemingly go white as his consciousness would quickly sink into the depths of darkness. As it descended, voices would begin to emerge from the void he found himself within. Images would flicker but never really come fully into focus. Feelings, orientation of location, all of it seemed familiar. Was this a memory? The voices, the voices he was hearing grew in intensity and were the clearest of all the things he was currently experience, so clear he could discern the difference between the voices, knowing that more than one person was talking. Were they talking about him? Did this moment happen? If so who were they... then one voice would become very clear;
Nao...
The other two voices, one hand a familiar tone while the other had some vagueness to it that gave a tertiary familiarity. The latter of the two seemed to be standing in defiance of Nao and the other.
Uta?
It wasn't a name that had appeared in his investigations thus far, so his association with Nao would be something he would need to look further into. The non-named third individual would eventually be offered as a meal, and within that context it would be a bit clearer as to who or what it was that was speaking;
An Ancient? They are that cognizant while being fed to the Sovereign candidates... very morbid. I figured they cut them up and fed them, you know, made it more like food. But to have something living, speaking and thinking in the room... did I eat him?
His eyes would snap open, the sensation of pain was phasing out of his body as the split second of time that he had drifted off into the memory came to an end. A feeling of ecstasy would wash over his body but his mind would find itself caught in a less pleasurable situation. His right hand would reach up as he would take the hand of the female that had touched him as she began her internal process of trying to figure out why her touch was not getting the outcome she had intended for it.
"I have a question... do you, your kind... you can die right? Is it the same as a human's death?"
If she would try to side step understanding, or at least admitting to knowing what human death looked like, his face would grow stern as his red eyes would begin to glow mildly.
"Do not lie, you planned on feeding on me. You've seen humans die."
Whether or not that moment would occur, he would follow up with;
"I guess, what I am asking, is your death a permanent one?"
Ancients have survived this long and from what he has gleaned about Mikaboshi, the ability to take a host body and the ability to gain new individuals by corrupting them with his power, what was their mortality like.
Fuu...
"Your kind, is it typical for you to convert humans to be like you?"
His time in the desert, his time in Sora, his time searching for the answers of himself, all of that spanned months that followed the tower meeting with Mikaboshi and Michi. He had almost forgotten about them, about the feelings they stirred. The energy he had just taken from Shiori would begin to manifest as another tattoo, and reflecting upon his current mood, which was influenced by his thoughts of Fuu, over his heart.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Accepting Astral Seal from Shiori; MFT - 675
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song
The heat of the burning sun - doesn't it feel glorious!
Still she would know nothing of this, only the sick sense she felt when she tasted him. The panic she appreciated when he drew near. The sands wrapped around his legs and joined him with the ground. Their tight grasp would reach and coil about his lower limbs. When she touched him, her essence like cancer was freed. He would feel the pain, she could see his eyes go blank and his sight white. The dark imprint of her hand seemed to seed throughout his body, turning his blood black. She could see his darkened veins and his sinewy muscle strain, it would only last a moment. A few moments of pain and then death. Or so she thought. What seemed liked a protracted period for Roku perhaps was in fact less than three seconds. That was all it took for him to recover. For the darkness to recede. For the earth to crumble and break. His movements were far from slow but certainly deliberate as his hand encircled her wrist. She did not even see him move but she instinctively tried to pull away.
Impossible.
There is no way that he could survive all of this!
That was the thing, Roku was not one in a hundred. Closer perhaps to one in a thousand. Not only was he among the few who possessed the fortitude to survive the influence of an Ancient's essence, making him an exceptional specimen by this virtue alone but he had already survived such many... many times before. He was still a man, that was certain but less of a man than even he knew. In truth he was a monster. He was not a chimera of disparate parts but rather something 'new' forged from these fires of perdition.
"I have a question... do you, your kind... you can die right? Is it the same as a human's death?"
She was breathing heavily, her hand still full of death was doing nothing to him. He seemed indifferent now to the process, her touch nothing more than proximity for him to reach her. She would try to pull away a second time, her free hand would perhaps try to claw at him but even if she would succeed it would likely be a futile effort. "Perhaps," she continued to seek freedom from his grip but she was exhausted.
As if an ominous shadow came over his face, less his eyes that seemed to break the darkness he demanded his answer.
"Do not lie, you planned on feeding on me. You've seen humans die."
He was of course correct. He seemed like an easy meal, far enough from the village that his death would go unnoticed. There were a great many people who wandered off into the desert to never be seen again. In fact, lately the desert seemed particularly dangerous. Scores have simply wandered off into these badlands to never be seen again. She looked back at him, there was no use denying it. "You're no better," she attested. She did not apologize, she was not sorry. "I would think you would know that better than anyone else -- eat or be eaten," a truth she only knew too well. "Always thought it was going to be a human that finished me off." More specifically: Sousuke.
"I guess, what I am asking, is your death a permanent one?"
"Yes," she both told the truth and lied. She... they could die, but it was not the same as a human death. Her eyes scanned his form. What the hell was he? "Life costs life. It was the one true constant but one that all things, even man and whatever you are... are forced to abide." She understood that this death would be the permanent kind, she had done what she could by this point to break away. She fought. She lied. "Just... get it over with," she relented. She never experienced true death before but It is the lot of all that lives but once to die. However she had died many times before, she knew the pains of death but the concept of finality was a source of apprehension. She stopped pulling, trying to break away. She did not invite death, but death would invite itself and say when it was time to stay.
He had one more question.
"Your kind, is it typical for you to convert humans to be like you?"
She shook her head to say 'no.' "Yes," her words betrayed her gesture. "But in the end, those that lived..." she tried to find the human term but could only remember their words for it: "Mul Fah Nii Dii Fron." It literally translated to 'strong for it my kin' which meant that they were better off because they were a part of her now and that she was better off because a part of her was with them. She did not know of Mikaboshi's growing Court, only her efforts to resurrect a lost race. "I have made one," she offered no explanation or gave any name. "But he is not one of mine," she added likely layering the confusion. She was referring to the foreign Sennin that she fed the heart to. "Hopefully the Wild Hunt has the sense the Earth lacked." She would not give him a name if he asked. She did not have one. She would not describe him, he was family now.
She hoped that she would be the last Roku would find. She hoped that he would starve. That whatever she was made of would give Roku terrible indigestion.
OC: By all means if you want to BS another seal, RP getting it whenever in your post. We are in a hole and the melee expert has a grip on a genjutsuist. *Cough* I mean NINJUTSUIST. Regardless, makes no sense that she is going anywhere.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time: