Bleeding Hawk Down | Open

[Takahashi]

It was late, but the full moon shone brightly whenever the clouds would permit. Deep in the heart of Soon's Haven, somewhere on that teardrop shaped land mass, Makeinu was alone. Surrounded by a number of small farms, he was afforded ample shelter by the terrain while he licked his wounds by a stream's edge.

He was knelt down, with his right hand floating through the rushing water. His gloved palm and exposed fingers were stained with blood. The boy's left shoulder was soaked in the same red liquid, and as the shroud and damaged clothing was pulled down a bullet wound dripped red.

The grayed skin that stretched over his bones allowed for the wound and leakage to appear more vibrant. Meanwhile the breathing mask hung around his neck loosely. He'd hunch over and reach into his wound with the same bloodied fingers from before, apparently not the first attempt. Biting his lip and growling quietly to himself hr finally exhaled and dropped the small round onto the grass. Who knew how long he'd been trying, but he seemed exhausted and near overwhelmed.

Falling back onto his bottom the boy went into his belt pouch, pulling out a signal flare. Cracking it open against a nearby rock, he allowed the dark powder onto the ground. Taking a small stone and striking it against the rock he'd set the powder aflame. It wouldn't last long as sparks danced about, but he managed to light some paper he'd been carrying enough to rub the ashes into his wound to stop the bleeding.

As the ash stung his nerves bitterly, he sat there looking into space. The boy's eyes seemed tired, the left crimson and the right ebony. His full lips no longer chapped and cracking like back at the hospital, but now sporting dried blood. His pale hair clung to his face, not attractive or handsome nor hideous. Simply different, another phenotype altogether. His dull eyes seemed to grow hollow, recalling the day's events and failures. Wondering how to recover and push forward, but there he sat barely able to move his left arm. He had enough tools and fire in his gut to put up a fight if he had to, but whether that fight lasted more than a second or two was another thing. Passing out seemed to become a characteristic of his, but not now...Not anymore.

[This takes place after the Beyond Our League mission with Riyota. I'll fill in the blanks as things progress in both settings. Sorry for the quality, posting from a phone at the moment.]

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Kumomi had spent the day traveling the desert's expanse and the heat was treacherous. She needed sometime to herself, and so she decided on heading to The Tear-Drop Oasis. She needed to spend time resting in the freshwater to restore her energy. Much of her chakra was spent in the desert to keep her vitals stable. The young kunoichi was ever vigilant when it came to her physical condition, especially since she decided to become a support-type medicinal puppet master. A rare class indeed but she knew that her abilities of healing and fine chakra control would give her the highest advantage as an aid and not the primary attacking ninja.

As she approached the oasis she looked around to make sure no one was visible and took her chador off along with her dress. The young kunoichi was wearing a tank top and shorts underneath, though technically her undergarments it would appear that she was dressed as many of the kunoichi from her village. She let out a sigh and laid her clothing over a branch on a near by tree. She stepped into the water, it was cool to the touch and slightly shocking. She smiled as she took another step forward. Kumomi was about to close her eyes and lay down in the water when something sparked her interest. The water coming from upstream had a slight red coloration to it.

Kumomi leaned forward and dipped her finger in the colored water. She brought it back up and placed it in her mouth while closing her eyes. A second passed before her eyes shot back open and her body turned to face what was upstream. Blood. The girl darted up and on top of the water until she could find the source of the contamination. A young boy was sitting by the water's edge, injured.

"Child, are you injured? I'm a medicinal kunoichi from the Village Hidden in the Sand. Do you need aid?"

She saw the wound. "Tori" The girl summoned forth about twenty small wooden and metallic mosquitos from what seemed to be no where. The mosquitos soon surrounded the two.

"May I?"

[MFT:358]

 

[Takahashi]

​

So many things remained uncertain, and threatened to stay so for all eternity if left alone. Even his origins, a thing many took so much pride and strength from was left blank. As if it had never occurred. His inability to recall anything left the situation an unsolved mystery, for in the midst of anarchy and impending doom, discovering the roots of a small weed seemed so insignificant. The initial suggestion for him to attend the academy had been an attempt to send a sickly and useless boy to his death. It would have spared Sunagakure the supplies they'd waste in keeping a foreign brat with no special qualities alive. It was only through the intervention of Takahashi Shiori did things change, but all that was a story that seemed to grow old and hazy in the face of present circumstances.

His right palm remain pressed into his left shoulder, gently grinding more ash into the wound and keeping the oxygen out. Truth be told, he wasn't a medic and hadn't much idea what he was doing. All of his actions were instinctive when it came to self care. Reading a few things in the hospital hadn't helped, as no magazine covered such devastating injuries. Tired eyes began to close, their lids getting heavier as the head and body swayed to the gentle breeze. It was only the sound of approaching footsteps, but too fatigued to turn around and look. There was merely a sigh, and a decrease in the height of his shoulders as he took a defeated posture. Looking to his side, he would notice a young woman approaching him atop the water's surface, as any truly skilled Shinobi would have.

It wasn't hard to tell that she was older than him, for even in his increased health he was still smaller than he should have been for thirteen. Barely being a couple inches over four feet, as well as hardly reaching seventy pounds, made him seem like more of a child than he was. The golden tan that she had was evident even without the sun's ray's, moonlight was enough. An addiction to subtle detail found him recording mental images of her verdant eyes, darkened lips, and the modest undergarments she had stripped down to. Even in his defeated state, overflowing with a surge of pain to his nerves in spasm-like waves, he acknowledged her form. The shorts and tank top made it all the easier for his juvenile eyes to wander, but they didn't for more than a second or two, returning to the water's edge. "I'm-" He began to mumble, but by the time he started his eyes caught sight of what appeared to be insects coming from behind the teen.

As she went on to ask for permission he fell silent, staring at the creatures and noticing their inorganic nature...The way they glistened in the moonlight. Letting his right hand fall, he revealed the ash-covered wound and the exposed shoulder as his shroud and other clothing were previously pulled down around it. The bluish gray veins that once littered his skin like rampant spiderwebs now were limited to the area of his wound, and the right side of his face. Even with all the visible damage, he seemed tired more than someone who was truly suffering. As if he cared not in the least for what happened to his body. "Sure." His little voice finally croaked out, wondering if those mosquitoes were going to steal his DNA or something weird like that.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

The boy looked ill, more ill than she may be equipped to deal with, but she had to do her best. Completely ignoring her rather exposed and immodest appearance the sixteen year old girl quickly dropped to her knees behind the boy. His skin looked rather odd, as if it was void of coloration and the skin around the wound was exceptionally odd. There were blueish-grey veins coming from the wound, which the little boy had apparently rubbed ashes into the wound. The girl let out a sigh and laid her right hand beside the wound. She raised her left hand and closed her first leaving two fingers pointing straight up.

"Ninja Art: Mystical Hand."<i></i>

As she said the name of the jutsu her right hand began to glow green. Her chakra was now beginning to enfuze with the boy's body. She focused more chakra as she shifted her left hand into an assortment of other hand seals.

"Art of the Micro-Puppet: Vital Wave"<i></i>

The twenty-some Nano-Mosquitos arranged themselves around the boy and the girl. Chakra lines connected the puppets and a chakra laced aura began to glow around them. To a bystander this would look to be a rather delicate operation, but in all actuality it was just a basic field medic technique. Chakra began to surge around the two and by now any physical wound of the boy's should be healed, and he should have more energy as well.

The girl let out another sigh and stood up, the chakra emissions slowly faded away; the Nano-Mosquitos ran out of their preloaded chakra and fell to the ground. She patted her patient on the head and smiled. She looked at the boy's shoulder and pressed a little bit around where it was.

"There we go. I'm Kumomi by the way. Does it still hurt? What exactly happened?"<i></i>

 

[Takahashi]

Healing operations never went well with him, not until Kuro had performed some sort of blood ritual back at the Toraono Dojo in order to save his life some time ago. It was after this that he found himself experiencing a few changed that none could have predicted, not even Kuro himself. Over time the blood transfusion had caused him to look slightly less emaciated, although still quite slender and no less frail. His pale and almost transparent flesh had darkened to a more opaque shade of mild gray, thickened it seemed. The nails on both his fingers and toes had gone completely black, without the need for cosmetics. His fingerless gloves did nothing to hide the strange aesthetics.

Watching as her hand glowed and a gentle warmth filled his wound and sucked away the pain, he showed no major reactions. Before the ceremony, his cells would have voraciously gorged themselves to the point of near explosion and begun to turn cancerous with attempts of external chakra healing. Now, it seemed things worked quickly and worked well. By the time her mosquitoes would create a neat formation around them, their glowing energies could be seen very slightly being pulled in the boy's direction. He himself emanated no real discernible chakra pattern, but rather an identifiable void that thirsted for more to those sensitive in reading such subtitles. There was a mark on him, but it went unseen. Each false insect fell, and Makeinu's body not only remained intact but seemed more fit than ever.

He sat there, looking at his hand in slight awe as even the bruises on his knuckles had faded away. Choosing not to risk saying another word and further expose his malformations, such as the missing front tooth that went unnoticed due to cautious withholding of speech. It was a feature that would remain hidden as he fastened the bloodied breathing mask to his face, and tied it firmly to the back of his head while she introduced herself. It was when she patted him on the head that he reflexively went to swat her hand, but missed as she simply smiled at him. As she pressed his shoulder and checked his conditioned, he felt like an animal at the vet or a teddy bear in the hands of a child. He knew he was younger than her but- "Oi-" Was the start of it before he backed up, against a rock to be exactly.

The decreasing speed of his heartbeat didn't quite reach comforting levels even without bleeding out, there were other problems. A hand waved her off gently yet again, but this time in a more "Shooing" fashion. "Thanks, but I ain't no baby." Was the sharp but low-volume reply. Standing up without the use of his hands, he would tug down his shroud and clothing a bit more to expose a larger portion of his now healed shoulder. "You're good." Was another mumbling sound that was uttered from behind masked lips. Realizing that he was no longer tired, he noted that there was something of importance to deal with. "You wouldn't of seen a guy barely taller than me, brown hair, carries an' axe wit' him?" Questions about a companion he was now inexplicably separated from as far as the narrative was concerned. Pulling his still bloodied clothing back over his shoulder to hide his skin, he looked at her for another moment before visibly shaking his head. "Calls himself Riyota?" Then with a pause, as if remembering just how long he'd been dancing around the topic he finally admitted. "I'm- Makeinu." Grudgingly at that.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

She was glad to see the wound close. She was still after all training her medicinal skills to the level needed for her to become a Medicinal Kunoichi. She took a step back as the boy's wounds were completely healed and he swatted his hand at her. She grinned at his reaction, it was kinda sweet to see a kid fight as if he was an adult. She brought a hand to her hip and another to her mouth. She giggled slightly at the boy.

"I can see that, not a baby indeed."

She crossed her arms after that and tapped her nose while thinking. A man with brown hair and an axe. She raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Afraid not, ya little dark horse."<i></i>

She made a single hand seal and with a slight surge of chakra, clothing appeared on her. A turquoise dress with a white hijab appeared on her. A basic transformation jutsu allowed her to wear clothing which made her feel more comfortable around the child.

"Who's Riyota anyway Inu-kun?"<i></i>

 

[Takahashi]

As the young woman curiously placed a hand on her hip, his mismatched irises followed with their abysmal pupils. He wasn't sure whether or not she was laughing at him, but he simply craned his neck away in feigned irritation. She went on to more or less agree before saying she hadn't seen anyone like Riyota. He found himself for some reason biting his lip gently behind his mask as she folded her arms. She was more mature than he and the closest thing to such a form he'd seen was Azusa, but she was a child like he. Shiori was different, visually studied for sure but the urges he felt towards her were different. Was he to be this fascinated with every female?

Surely not, as the young woman quickly covered herself with a technique quite modestly. He remembered Ikuko and her pink hair, the way half of her skull was caved in after being bashed into the floor. The lost look on her corpse, never dreaming all her bad karma would come back in the form of some sickly vagrant. It was only after her death he had learned of her crimes, her love affair with an academy teacher, and the violence towards other students. All he had known at first was she had used him and then laughed in his face. Being used was all a freak like him was good for, he reminded himself not to forget that sentiment.

His eyes suddenly becoming quite dull and unresponsive, he began to shut down but something echoed. "Dark horse..." He muttered with a small laugh following. Something about the term pleased him but couldn't be found anywhere in his vocabulary. Dullness had become a look of thoughtfulness just before he realized what else she'd said. The nickname...Inu-kun, it was entirely knew. Not in his present life or the forgotten past had be been called such. It removed the major negative connotation and added something endearing on top. With a sudden blink he responded. "'Nother kid who goes to the Toraono Dojo back in Sand with me." Which wasn't a lie. Even if they never actually met on the grounds before departure.

"What's a dark horse?" He let loose quietly, shifting the topic back rather forcefully. It concerned him. What the figure of speech was to mean, and why he liked it so. The animal itself was no mystery for sure but- "Please don't say an animal?" He questioned and pleaded simultaneously in a subtle manner, but his arched brow showed posturing in case the answer was something he didn't want to hear.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

As the boy spoke the young lady paid close attention, she saw the changes in his mentality rather easily. Especially when his mind was wandering, it looked as if he just zoned out completely but the comment of the Dark Horse apparently brought him back to reality for he chuckled at the term. The girl was curious about this one, he seemed different than the other children she has met through the academy. He seemed darker. Maybe it was his attire, or maybe just some of his physical characteristic like his eyes. Nonetheless, she decided she'd keep an eye on him.

"Another student you say? Is he a friend?"<i></i>

Kumomi probably sounded annoying with that last sentences, she lifted her voice in a way parents often did to their kids on the first day of school. She turned a little to get a better view of the area and found a nice little spot to sit down. She stretched her arms above her head but when he asked what a dark horse was she stopped. She lowered her arms but began to tap her nose with her right index finger.

"Well, Inu-kun, that's an excellent question."<i></i>

The phrase itself is an old one, she remembered her dad using it when he complained about other caravans that seemed to be doing bad that ended up with a better revenue than ours. She wondered why she even said it, then it clicked.

"You see, a Dark Horse is a competitor or someone worth rooting for that is facing the hardest odds."<i></i>

She smiled at the boy and pointed at him.

"Just like your name. Makeinu can mean Underdog and that's the same thing as a Dark Horse"<i></i>

 

[Takahashi]

Kumomi, an elder Kunoichi figure whom effortlessly stood atop the steam's rolling water's with her focus. The fact that she was directly responsible for his near immaculate recovery with her medical technique made her all the more a topic of intrigue. The dug out flesh and near gaping bullet wound stuffed with ash and overflowing with pain had faded entirely into the past at her hands, and still she seemed so- Casual about everything. When asked whether or not Riyota was a friend of his, there was a mild pause. To tell the truth, he didn't know. There wasn't a single person that he would directly call a friend. Shiori was more of a mother figure, Kuro a guardian, Sousuke an elaborate acquaintance, and such was the trend. It wasn't as if he felt some incredible bond wit the boy, and he couldn't tell anyone why he took that bullet...His body more or less moved on its own as far as he was concerned. It was a question he just wouldn't answer, instead choosing to let her go on.

She was still talking to him as if he was a child, which he was, but that didn't matter. Something about her seemed genuine enough to put up with it instead of taking off now that he was healed up. Besides, there was still the matter of getting his answer. A matter which the teenager would touch upon after she found a spot next to him and began visibly pondering an answer. He didn't mind that she needed a moment to collect her thoughts, for it was better than those who simply spouted nonsense without a moment's consideration only to regret the folly later. Though they weren't particularly close, he could almost feel the warmth from her...Much like the instances with Shiori, then Azusa. The simple explanation she gave was enough to sate his hunger for knowledge, but her gentle smile followed with an identifying finger made him wary of more to come.

With a blink he seemed quite caught off guard, tilting his head in the opposite direction and then leaning back a little to look at the night sky. "That's pretty cool." Even with his mouth covered, something about the way what showed of his cheekbones and eyes made it known to a perceptive one such as her that he was smiling. "Thought Makeinu just meant 'Loser'- Heh." He hadn't seen the dagger sinking into Riyota's eye before they were separated, making the urgency with which he felt in finding his companion lessened. Instead, while the other boy was somewhere bleeding out and knocking things over here Makeinu was speaking with a beautiful young woman by a stream in the night. It was almost betrayal. Beneath his mask his cheeks turned at the thought of being considered worth rooting for by this person, but then again he was getting his hopes up and his priorities tangled. He wasn't an official member of the Sunagakure military, but she was. A full fledged Shinobi, with all the responsibilities and perks that came with it. Whatever those were. People made it seem like being a mercenary tool for hire was such a glamorous thing, but he knew better...Shiori knew better.

"What's Kumomi mean?" He questioned, a most curious inquiry when he could have asked so many other things. Everything about his tone and body language was earnest though, he wanted to know about her. Maybe...Maybe someone with her strength could help him. If he had the gall to request aid from another student such as Riyota, then it wouldn't have been too ludicrous to consider the hand of a more experienced healer. Between himself and Riyota, they remained very basic the sense that Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu had been witnessed from either by either, much less medical skills. It didn't matter whether or not she knew the answer, her response would surely move things along at a steady pace.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

It was water...There was that, at least​

Riyota stumbled forward, sure the guards wouldn't be able to find him for a while, he heard them go a different way and they hadn't seen him jump through the window, so he could stop worrying about that for now, eventually he managed to shamble his way to the waterside. Still in slight shock from what had just transpired, he had known things would be difficult, but nothing on this scale. Karasuba had been right, he was just too arrogant.

He sank to his knees by the water and began washing his hands, he cupped his hands under the water and lifted them to his lips to drink. He felt parched from all the running. He didn't have time to go back to the village to get proper treatment for his eye, so what little he could do now, would have to last him the rest of the trip. He undid the piece of fabric from around his eye. He began washing it in the stream, The gaping hole where his eye used to be was still bleeding and the blood was trickling down his face. He couldn't do much with it right now for fear of irritation or infection. He saw his reflection in the waterfront and smirked very slightly, he was even paler than usual.

He knew he needed to find Makeinu as soon as possible, but it was getting hard to focus.

Soon the World around him went Dark and Riyota fell unconscious.​

[I hope no-one minds me hopping in?]

 

[Takahashi]

He awaited an answer, and the deep shade of lavender that coated her lips held his attention longer than it should. Realizing how lost he'd been, he came to the conclusion that his obvious interest in the older Kunoichi had been displayed just a little too much. The heterochromial gaze consisting of red and black descended towards the stream, beneath his mask teeth were clenched at how simpleminded he must have seemed. It didn't help that a few seconds longer than comfortable passed without an answer passing her dainty chops. Now, in an awkward situation he was at a loss for words until a scene much like what brought Kumomi to him would catch his eye. There was blood in the water.

Quickly looking further upstream, he felt like a ghost tried to punch him in the stomach and failed due to intangibility. Riyota's face flashed across his mind's eye, even with their being no hard proof of any connection. Looking up and back to meet with the emerald eyes of his healer, he would just as quickly break the connection as a splash came from upstream. Noticing the water becoming even more red afterwards, making Makeinu stand up and out of the darkening water. "I gotta check." Was all he said before sprinting off at full speed along the edge of the stream. Unlike his savior, he hadn't the ability to walk on water or anything of that sort. Instead, his feet tapped furiously against the earth before coming to a sliding halt.

He would see the body of Riyota laid out in the middle of the stream, propped up by some rocks to barely keep his face from drowning. Blood was flowing freely from a gaping hole in his eye and he wasn't moving. Makeinu's eyes widened making him freeze, like a deer caught in headlights. Everything inside him screamed that this was his fault, and if no one minced words about it they'd have said the same as well. Breaking through the initial realization, he hastily moved towards and began wading in the water. His clothing became drenched as it soaked up the water but couldn't absorb the whole stream. Digging his arms underneath Riyota's pits he'd haul the other boy back towards the edge of the shallow water source and lay him on its banks. Breathing heavily, and kneeling beside Riyota he would look back to see if she had followed or stayed behind. He didn't know how to treat wounds very well, much less one of such magnitude. "Kumomi!!!" He yelled out, not caring who else would hear at this point anymore. Luckily for them the guards had went the opposite direction, and nobody was near enough or simply didn't care if they did.

OC: I figured with Kumomi having taken while to respond, it couldn't hurt for me to jump in after the 5 day period to add another post. Sorry for breaking post order.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

[Topic left]
[I'm not sure if this was an issue with me joining or if you just became busy but I feel like this isn't really going to go anywhere.]

 

[Takahashi]

[Topic Left]
[Voided due to inactivity.]
{It's been around 9 days since my last post, and twice that for you.}
{I think it's safe to assume you've gotten pretty busy.}
{No hard feelings, shoot me a PM any time for an RP request.}​