Contract Search Cats? Cats. [Contract Search]

Four feet pounded against the sand in perfect sync, matching the pace and steady stride of two shinobi as they traveled South across the scorching landscape. The large male made long strides while his female companion made faster, shorter ones, but neither remained out of the other’s sight or presence for more than a second at most. At first glance, they appeared to be in some sort of competition, but truth be told this was just how shinobi traveled. Horses, carriage, hoppers, the mountable birds, or even the train; none of these things could be near as fast or steady as their own two legs. Being that they were born to this region, the duo naturally had a honed a technique of chakra coating that not only protected their feet - but gave them more purchase to run on. Not unlike running on water, moving across the desert sand took skill and technique that often had outside shinobi grasping at, well, sand. There was a firm reason why Sunagakure had remained mostly peaceful with regards to the other major military, and that was because none of them dared to waste their army against the sand shinobi’s greatest weapon - their home.

Red spiraled mounds of stone suddenly began to jut out in oddly uniformed intervals throughout the desert in their path. Most where about the size of large hills, positioned away from each other in a peculiar order. Their appearance was stark against the kilometers of sand the couple had already traveled in the short time upon the surface; especially since they looked like man had arranged them and not nature. Yet it was a known area to Suna and the first major landmark on the pair’s journey towards the southern sea. Known as to their village as the Red Gate and to the Nomads as the Crimson Claw, it was a small section of the desert that bordered the west mountain range that blocked their desert country from that side of the world.

The Gates meant it was time to slow down, and take in some sights. Not really because they wanted to, per say, but because if they didn’t Michino risked stepping on a smaller version of the spirals and impaling his foot; it was a commonly known risk when wandering around the Red Gate. As the most recent Kazekage found his legs backpedaling ever so slightly to move his body back into an actual walk, his purple eyes shifted from their natural color to red. Magatama spiraled out of his pupil as they gazed around with an enhanced vision towards the upper parts of the stone.

The fact that both Michino and Chiyoko possessed incredibly powerful eyes meant anything trying to ambush them would be impossible. The Toraono lord’s crimson gaze shot across the upper rocks and noted a strange lack of chakra signatures from the animal that roamed the red rocky landscape; the feles diabolicus , or “devil cat.” They were small desert tigers that had evolved horns sprouting from their foreheads in the same spiral formation as the red rocks they carved homes out of. Fed on a diet of primarily meat and nocturnal by nature, Michino wasn’t expecting to actually see any of the cats his clan had once been associated with…but he also wasn’t expecting to see nothing either. At the very least his special eyes should pick up on latent chakra signatures left by territorial claw marks that the tigers were known to make daily; but not a single mark lit up with the tell-tale chakra color.

“Weird…” he muttered low towards Chiyoko, “I wasn’t expecting a reception but, devil cats usually come and greet whoever enters their territory. Shame too, because I had my clan’s ritual dance to appease their leader all lined up in my head and everything…guess I won’t be embarrassing myself for passage now, but this is still weird. You notice how quiet it is too?”

As they passed the threshold of desert and rock, and a little ways in, the why to the mysterious non-existence became clear. The smell of cooking meat wafted into the air and a quick glance upwards revealed smoke coming out of the mouth of a large cave a top one of the spirals. Michino’s eyes narrowed at the blasphemy. Couldn’t be Nomads, they both knew better and revered the devil cats more than the Toraono; which left bandits. Ner’do’wells that were such worldly scum they had to etch out a life in the desert’s worst just to escape the justice they deserved. The man’s giant hand clenched into a fist and his jaw tightened with the need to dish out fury upon those that would poach sacred animals to a point of them being non-existent in their natural habitat…but he let it go.

As much as he wanted to dole out justice he knew that they only had so much time to achieve their current mission, and who knows how long it would take to reach the old Mist islands. Yet he couldn’t just make himself break away, and his stark figured stood there with a small tremble, seemingly waiting on Chiyo to give him permission to remind them of their current objective. He knew without a single word spoken she would pick up his vibe.

[Topic Entered]
[884 of 1500 WC]
[Using Contract of Choice Card: Cat][/glow]

Slowing her stride alongside Michino, Chiyo’s eyes flooded with black blood to leave only her faintly glowing golden irises scanning their surroundings. Her unique vision didn’t provide any further information however, the region truly seemed devoid of other life aside from the undesired presence looming above. The waves of rage radiating from her lover were much more telling. Reaching out, she slipped a hand into his and gave a reassuring squeeze before speaking in a hushed voice. “Not to worry, cats are smart. I’m certain most of them headed to safety once these bastards laid their claim here.”

Looking back up to catalogue the number and location of the poachers above them, a small grin curled her lips. There were eight men all sitting around a fire and relaxing as if there was nothing around to threaten them. A ninth man appeared to be sitting in the entrance as if he was "on guard" but the slow, calm, rhythm of his heart said he wasn't expecting any trouble. “Now, we’ve been running quite a while and that cave looks pretty comfortable. Why don’t we stake our own claim?” With another quick squeeze, the small woman let go of his hand and took a couple of steps forward before breaking back into a run. This time, however, she pushed extra chakra into her legs and feet to propel her up the side of the earthen pillar. Knowing Michino would be right behind her, she continued up until she reached the flat top. On silent feet, she strode over to stand just above the cave opening and looked down.

[267 of 1500 WC]
[MFT]

Ever his lodestone, the assassin’s daughter directed Michino into what he needed the most. No matter how hard he tried to let go, the flames of ire continued to build. To say his anger was at peak would be an understatement. Never in his life had the Toraono felt such fury towards mankind, or really anyone; including the despot he had just removed from Suna. To stomp on the very grounds his clan held sacred, slaughter their prized feline reps, and take home away from the cats that had survived…all of it, sent the 13th into a fervor he had never known was possible within.

The warrior had barely felt Chiyoko’s hand squeeze his own before taking position. Her words barely broke past the barrier of fury surrounding his mind, but he caught the acceptance to remove the men from this den; though staking the cavern as his own was out of the question. They would be no better than the hunters. No, they needed to be cleansed. Removed. A stain on this land that the earth will refuse; by the will of the Toraono.

There was a thrumming in his eyes as they shifted from purple irises to a deadly hue of crimson red. The blacks of his pupils mutated, splitting away to form the three magatama that made the famed eyes. Those symbols spiraled again, and transformed once more as a line connected around his pupil, thickened into a full circle, and three more magatama formed. He could feel the power within pulling at his chakra furiously, and for the first time, Michino allowed it to take as much as it wanted.

A pillar of purple flame exploded from the base of rock formation, sending the guard to stumble backwards in shock. His raised arm caught fire from the sheer heat alone, forcing him to rip off the sleeve and toss it down. As he turned his panicked eyes towards the group to warn them, it was already too late. A panther/human shaped creature made entirely of purple fire stood, towering over the entrance. Golden fangs curved over the lower jaw, bangles of golden chakra jingled as it raised a fist, and the ground rumbled as Michino took a martial artists' stance. The fist shot into the cavern hole so fast, it cracked the sound barrier to cause a thunderous applause from the gods themselves.

Screams of pain and being burned alive rent the air, and grew louder as the panther suusano removed its fist from the cave to carry out everything touched by man, including the bandits themselves, writhing within his ghostly fist of flame. The knuckles of the panther’s fist tightened, and the bandits within were taken by a black flame. Their screams cut off near instantly as fire with the sun’s strength consumed the Toraono’s enemy. With a simple flick of his wrist, Michino threw the ashes of the dead men into the wind.

In all of the rush of anger and fury, one would think that he might have forgotten his lover who was perched on top of the rocky pillar, but this was not so. In fact, she was the one thing that was keeping his sanity in check enough as to not pull an Uzu, and kill every single last hunter himself; slowly, as only a creeping flame could do. The large hand of the suusano extended a single finger to create something of a bridge from the pantherman, and inside of it Michino walked down towards the rock. As he stepped out of the finger’s tip, the giant beast of chakra erupted into nothing, and faded on the winds along with the human remains.

His knees buckled. The 13th dropped down onto the rock and gripped his face, palms pushing hard into his eyes. From beneath the palms, a steady trickle of blood flowed down his arms to drip from the elbows on the dry ground before him. Aside from the crimson stain, the ground ate the fluids with greed known only to the desert. His head was racked in pain, and his eyes double. The anger that had taken his whole form was fading as quickly as it raised, and in the moment he felt regret.

Without any hesitation the ex-Kazekage had become judge, jury, and executioner towards six human lives who were just trying to survive in a land hostile to all. Should he had punished them? Yes. Should he had killed any of them? Honor and justice demanded he at least take the head of their leader as a warning to the rest, a feat he could have easily done without such violence. It was there, on his knees, did he finally realize the curse the Ancient had placed on his soul as the Toraono severed the elemental’s life.

He had assumed it was just an access of energy. He had been hyper lately. Peppy. None of it had seemed negative in the least but as he peered back on the last few months since the fall of Wei…there was a constant. His temper, which had been mostly benign at best with only the most horrible of things triggering it, was now sitting at the surface of his conscious. The lord knew right then, that if he wanted to continue protecting what he loved, he would have to find a way to measure this newfound fury.

Lest he become Uzumoreru Toushin.

“I’m sorry, Chiyo,” Michino croaked. Actual tears where starting to well up, mingling with the blood to make a thin, terrible red colored viscous liquid. He pulled back the palms from the aching of his eyeballs to look back up at Chiyoko with his normal, purple, irises, “I….I lost control…” his voice trembled. The lord of the Toraono wasn’t upset or sad that he had executed six humans….

…he was terrified of himself.

[1864 of 1500 WC]
[We each need to reach 1500wc, by the way.]

As the pillar of purple flame erupted before her, Chiyo froze, her golden eyes locked onto the form of Michino within. Through her extraordinary vision, she watched his heart race with a fury the likes of which she had never seen from the man that was usually the rock that kept her grounded. The picture she’d formed in her head of the susanoo when the Toraono had described it to her was a poor caricature of the majestic beast towering over her. Truly, the power her lover employed was a sight to behold and Chiyo - being no stranger to dealing out death to those she felt deserved it - reveled in the chaos that swirled through the air around her. Even still, while the super-heated air pulled the hood from her head and sent her hair and clothing whipping around her, not a single lick of flame threatened the small woman standing atop the earthen column.

The screams of the dying men cut off as suddenly as they began, only for the sound of the raging inferno to fill the void as the panther’s attention turned to her. Awe-struck eyes watched as it extended a hand down to return her lover to her side and the fair woman focused her attention back on the man disembarking from the giant finger. As he fell to his knees, she rushed forward to clasp his face gently, already shaking her head to dissuade him from the panic she could tell was building. Her gentle giant was not the type to take life on a whim; even when the entire village was threatened he tried to save them all peacefully. As silly and naive as she felt he could be sometimes, it was that kind nature that she loved the most.

“Oh, my love, look at me,” speaking with a soft voice only reserved for her Michi, she stepped back and gestured down at her unscathed body briefly before she leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead. “You never lost control of yourself for a second, if you had I would have burned with them.” Topaz irises flashing with pride, a small grin curled her lips. “Those men lived their lives taking from others, you’ve done the world a favor by removing them from it.

“Not to mention, now the cats can take back their territory and when we return you can show me that ritual dance you spoke of before.”

[679 of 1500 wc]
[MFT]