Call it Fate [Contract Search]

[Morishige]

It had been some time since I stepped outside the village. And, if I were to be honest, it was kind of a culture shock. Never had I thought that normalcy would be shocking to me. But as soon as I stepped foot into the small town about thirty miles from Kumo, it seemed like I was on a different continent. In the village, everything was regimented: set in stone. But out here-- outside of the harsh restrictions of a militaristic government, life was for lack of a most descriptive word, simple. I did not have to worry about my position as Captain or the gates. Believe it or not, getting a promotion isn't all it's worked up to be. Sure the extra pay is nice, but there is a lot more responsibility upon your shoulders to do well. Huh, I think that is the reason I enjoy these little patrols. It let's me take a small vacation from my duties in the village while still doing something for the village.

While relaxation did take up most of my time, I could not forget the real reason I was even let out of the village. There was land to be scouted, mercenary groups to check in on, and outpost to check in with. Of course, there was Donut's informants to meet with as well. That was probably the other major reason I was out and about in the country. There were times that my 'acting sennin' (if he was that anymore) needed someone to go out and retrieve sensitive material. Naturally, I was eager to help him out since it got me out of the village. Plus, it only furthered the good relationship that had been created between the two of us. So I would pick up whatever he needed me to; a letter here, priceless artifact there. All for the glory of our village.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, I love my village and think it's got it's head in the right direction. But like with all big brothers, everyone once in a while you just need to step away and get some along time. Know what I mean? Anyways, it was early morning and time to head out into the wilds of lightning country once again. I was about half way done with my scheduled route, but this was going to be the longest leg of the journey for sure. The beginning wouldn't be to bad, just a dense forest to get through and I would be just outside the base of the mountain itself. The hard part was that I was going to have to travel my way through the rough pass to get to my destination on the other side.

With my general plan in mind, I ate up my last piece of toast and put my map away. Tossing the waitress who served me a large coin, I left the bed and breakfast and began on my journey. The town wasn't that large at all, the forest literally was it's fence against the harsh creatures of the forest. They seemed to be in symbiosis with nature though, as I saw no evidence of depression or stagnation due to traumatic events. Nevertheless, it was my time to leave and face those dangers on my own. It was at the time of this decision that a new revelation prodded my consciousness. What if... my preconceptions about the world were warped by my shelter within Kumogakure. It was possible that the legends and tales of travels had boggled facts up and made the world seem much darker and more chaotic than it really was. Or maybe they weren't stretching the truth... Only time would tell I suppose.

As I set out onto the dirt path between two massive trees, I took one look behind me as if looking for someone waving good bye. I don't know why I expected someone, but my disappointment was expected and I quickly jumped forward into an unknown future.

WC: 667

 

[Toraono Kuro]

My apologies for the wait, you have found the DEEP SEA CONTRACT

DO YOU ACCEPT?

 

[Morishige]

Yes sir I do, thank you for taking the contract.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

The forests and rivers yielded their bounty to many and on just such a day an unusual creature had decided upon and unusual feast. A massive shadow surged up from the frothy sea waters where the rivers released their bounty of fresh water to mix with the ever churning sea. Mighty tendrils as thick as the great trees that blockaded against the snow on a hard winter surged from beneath the depths to scour the rivers and forest for delightful snacks that simply could not be found in the deep sea. Bears of massive and unusually large size were seized and yanked from their caves up into the sky to be tossed miles away into the deep. Mountain goats, giant eggs from giant birds and the occasional bull or milk cow all summarily snatched into the sky and flung into the waiting sea no more than ten miles away. As things would have it Zaku's significant chakra signature caused him to be snatched up by some impossibly strong silvery white salt scented tendrils and flung high into the sky along an unstoppable arc towards the cold vast deep waters to the northeast. Zaku was flying ever so briefly and surprisingly but now he was falling and if he didn't do something soon the fall alone to strike the frigid waters of the sea might kill him.

 

[Morishige]

The sounds of chaos echoed through the forest: bouncing of the trunks of trees, then the boulders on the ground, and finally the leaves that hung off the branches. The river that ran beside me seemed to freeze-- the current of motion disappearing. My eyes widened as a multitude of bird and fowl zipped past me. Something was coming and it was huge... or unnatural. The cries and howls of wild animals resounded in my ears, but it was the plethora that really got to me. Bears were top of the food chain in this forest, and the fact that they were crying for help set off an alarm. "Get out." I told myself and quickly turned to make a run for it. I wasn't sure what it was, or where it was coming from, but I needed to be somewhere else as soon as possible.

But unbeknownst to me, my chakra signature attracted whatever it was. It was my training and life as a shinobi of Kumogakure that would lead to my possible death. The smell of the sea assaulted my sense snad a felt something immensely strong wrap around my body. With immeasurable amounts of force I was thrown back towards the direction of the sea. The g-force nearly knocked me out, but I was able to keep myself oriented. Turning my body with subtle movements of my arms, I began to think of how I would stop myself from impacting the see at terminal velocity. I slowed my breathing and began to think. From the look of things, I would remain in flight a few moments longer. But then that voice, whom hadn't shown himself in a very long time, spoke up. "Must I always save you." it said. My concentration broke with the words and what seemed to be walls of sand appeared before me.

I hit into them with force, but not hard enough to do damage. In fact, they were slowing me down until I finally thumped against a layer that was hovering above the frigid ocean. The cold sea air chilled my bones and my teeth chattered for a moment as I acclimated to the weather. My eyes searched for the massive tendril that brought me here... In fact, they searched for anything that could give me a clue. And besides that, who the hell was this guardian angel who seemed to always show up to save me...

 

[Toraono Kuro]

A woman of immense beauty swam to the surface of the ocean and looked up at Zaku with a sense of awe. No creature had ever resisted her lord before so openly and not be snatched to the depths and devoured. Yet here a mere human with some power never before seen had not only stopped himself from being struck by the waves. He had managed to stay completely dry, and even hovered beyond her reach. Zaku could see the woman was nearly blue and had shock black hair that covered her breasts. Her eyes were storm grey and her lips plush yet firm. She seemed to be on the verge of smiling but took back to the water as waves passed and only her face could be seen. Maybe she could talk to him or he to her?

 

[Morishige]

As I lay on my platform conjured up by some magical being, my eyes were drawn to a woman with an immaculate face, one beyond compare. She too seemed to be staring back at me equally in a sense of curiosity. How was this woman swimming in such freezing water, I could not tell you at the time, but she seemed unphased by it. Perhaps this was my guardian angel who had saved me? Her skin held a blue tint, which I assumed was because of how cold the water was, and her hair hung in front of her naked chest. "Sure looks like an angel..." I thought to myself as I was mesmerized by her beauty. But just as soon as we had met, she seemed to be retreating; but there was no way I wasn't going to get a few words in.

"Wait! Don't go. Who are you? I've never seen anyone so...perfect. Are you a Kami?" I asked, ignorant of how the spiritual world worked.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

She dipped her face under the waves for a moment all Zaku could see was dark waters before she re-emerged she wore a conch shell necklace and though she did not speak directly Zaku could hear a soft keening sound in the air before a whisper thin veil of water splashed his left ear and he could hear a soft haunting voice in his mind say ((Hello)). It seemed she could not speak to anything outside of the sea directly so she used a charm of some sort to carry her thought on the salty mist of the sea. Content she had spoken to the man on the beach cloud she began to swim away to perform the job she had been sent here to do, bring the creatures and objects his power had called into the sea before him. As she swam away Zaku could see she had a fish like tail instead of legs, and her fingers were webbed. She would soon be out of view unless he could manage to get her attention.

 

[Morishige]

"Does she not understand me?" I wondered for a moment, but I soon felt a spray of water on my skin and a faint hello. For a moment, it didn't make sense to me, but like the voice who had seemingly saved me, her's seemed to be coming from within the confines of my consciousness. Perhaps they worked together to bring me here, but I knew that I had to learn more about both of them. But she seemed to turn away as if she had something better to do, and there was no way that I was going to let her leave without learning more. However, as I was about to call out to her again I realized that she was no human.

"Amazing." I said, consciously forming hand seals. It was standard in Kumogakure's academy to learn advanced survival skills based on where we lives, and keeping my body warm in freezing temperatures was the very first I had learned. The trick was being able to swim as fast as she could; and while I had no doubt I could manage some kind of transformation jutsu, it would be more efficient if I could try something less straining. In just a few moments it clicked, and I took a deep breath. Jumping into the air, my body turned and I dove to the cold ocean; normally this wasn't something I would do. It just goes to show how powerful curiosity might be.

Upon entering, I immediately began to surround myself in a ripple like chakra bubble that quickly spiraled it's way to the surface. Air quickly filled the bubble as the ripple effect slowly began to propel me toward the fish-woman. I soon caught up to her, unsure of where she was heading and gave a slight wave and smile. "Who are you?" I asked, unsure if she could hear me or not. She seemed to have understood before, but now I was in her domain, and from what I remember, voice doesn't travel well in water.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

She swam back in a blur as Zaku entered the waters of the deep blue sea, white foam splashed against his chakra shrouded body before she re-emerged face to face with Zaku. Her conch shell necklace was actually pierced into the flesh of her chest, just above the collar bone. Oddly enough it did not look painful. The water reverberated around her and words reached Zaku, he could hear a soft keening voice clearly now as it seemed to bass lightly through his chakra shroud in a soft haunting voice to say ((Hello Again, I am the messenger of the deep, are you the one foretold to bring his majesty dominion over the land?)). It seemed she could not speak vocally but she could transmit sound from her body. She used a conk shell charm of some sort to carry her thoughts into vibrations in the sea water. As she swam before him, Zaku could see her hands had light webbing between her fingers which were slightly claw tipped. Her teeth were pearly white and sharp like those of a predator but amazingly not in a dangerous way. Her face was exquisitely beautiful as if she was every man's dream, her black hair was alive though it could actually move against the waves. Her eyes shimmered an aqua green, her tail was at least seven feet long, although she swam like a dolphin, the scales on her lower half rippled like a rainbow trapped in thousands of flat diamonds.

 

[Morishige]

She approached me quickly and almost surprisingly fast. While this was going to be an interesting conversation, it could very well be a test of my endurance in these salty waters. Either I was to swim manually or by chakra, but both would leave me tired at the end of the day. But right now, I was far too focused on the beauty before my eyes. I took in every detail included the inlay conch on her chest. It seemed to be apart of her somehow.... just who was this creature? No matter. Her voice rang in my eyes in a beautiful tone once again. ((Hello Again, I am the messenger of the deep, are you the one foretold to bring his majesty dominion over the land?)) she said. I couldn't resist the slightly confused look on my face. However, my mind quickly processed this as to the reason she was here. It was likely that if I told her no, then she would depart and I would never get to speak with her again. So I lied....or did I? Could I possibly be fated to bring this king dominion over the land?

"Yes, I am. Are you going to take me to him?" I asked in a simple manner. There were more questions I would like to have asked, but I did not want to seem ignorant after I just put myself into this position. As I waited her response, my eyes moved to look at the rest of her. Everything was so amazingly surreal, and yet real and believable. Her tail shimmering through the water was a trasure in itself, I had to wonder if people had ever seen her before and made it their mission to capture her? Nevertheless, the rest of her was just as perfect. And honestly, I just wanted to touch her to make sure she was real...but that would be out of place.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

She reached out and grasped Zaku's hand easily piercing his chakra shell, but where one might imagine the hand of a maiden of the sea to be cold it was amazingly warm. Zaku's chakra easily melded with her own and the scent of the wild sea assailed him as she drew him close and kissed him deeply. It was like being kissed by smooth lightning and though he could feel her sharp teeth, they drew no blood. Then things began to get dark as he found them slowly sinking beneath the waves and though he felt oddly heavy he found he could breathe the sea water. She had given him gills with her deep kiss, she had performed some form of transformation jutsu upon him. She spoke with her gills vibrating the water to give her thoughts sound. (((Stay close to me and you will be able to breathe, swim too far from my side and the predators of the deep will be able to have at you. If you are forced to separate from me you will have one moon before you change back to a normal man. Use whatever power you have within to keep up with me. Your testing has begun...))) The water was cold but oddly soothing, the darkness of thirty feet below the surface of the sea was a deep blue but here and there Zaku could make out movements. He would have to be careful what jutsu he used under the sea as this environment would change the affect of many jutsu.

She swam away slowly leading him down but it would not be long before she picked up the pace. What might Zaku do to keep up with her now?

 

[Morishige]

Her warm hand took mine in it's grasp; the strange thermal energy surprising to my nerves even as my shell was invaded by her presence. What happened next was beyond prediction, as the maiden of the sea drew me close and kissed me with what seemed like raw power. Her lips warm and the smell of the sea was strong, I could no doubt taste it on her lips. The tips of her teeth seemed to be passive and did me no harm when they grazed my skin for more than a moment.

But we soon began to descend, and though for a moment I jerked in shock and tried to take a breath, my actions were quickly calmed by the fact that I now had gills. "Impossible..." I thought, reaching up to feel them. It felt no different than breathing above water. As I now tread water with my arms, she looked to me and began to speak. I could hear her clearly now, and could tell it was through her gills that she was emitting her words.

(((Stay close to me and you will be able to breathe, swim too far from my side and the predators of the deep will be able to have at you. If you are forced to separate from me you will have one moon before you change back to a normal man. Use whatever power you have within to keep up with me. Your testing has begun...)))

"Testing. This I can handle." I thought with a smile as she started swimming downward. I gave chase but her natural appendages gave her speed that I could not match conventionally. I did the only thing that made sense to me. With a few handseals, my hands grew webbing like hers and my feet changed into flippers like one might use in the pool, or divers would use in the ocean. With the additional tools, I raced after her, curious as to whom her Lord was and how I might be of assistance to him.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

She swam with the speed and blessings of a water touched being. Zaku had transformed himself even further than her kiss had and even though he had webbed his hands and strengthened his limbs he was falling a great distance behind. It seemed he would have to do something more to keep up with her. She swam fluently and from what Zaku could see she was not only using her tail to propel her along. The water itself seemed to be cycling around her to propel her forward. He would need a way to catch up soon. What would he do now?




(Sorry about the short post... not much to add yet)

 

[Morishige]

She was still getting farther and farther, and that was a problem. I filled through my known jutsu that would even have a chance of assisting underneath the water. I smirked realizing that my knowledge of earth and poison jutsu would get me no where in this situation. While I knew a few basic jutsu of the fire element, there was no way that was going to help. However... Yes, wind jutsu should have worked. I knew a basic one that might be able to assist in my movements should I have the skill to change how it was used. Making a quick hand sign to cancel my transformation, I shifted my hands once more to prepare Pressure burst. Normally this jutsu was used for one time, disorienting damage. But if I could maintain it under my feet, I was confident that it would propel me after the beautiful woman. All I would need to do is concentrate and use my arms as rudders to steer. "Welp, won't get anywhere without trying." I thought to myself, and focused the wind chakra into my feet. Their was an surge of movement as the burst pushed me forward, but it was quickly dying out. In a urge to keep it maintained, I pumped chakra into my soles. The wind chakra began to manifest and displace the water around my legs. It was slow at first, but as I donated more chakra to the jutsu I grew faster and faster until I began to catch up and follow the woman.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Kijareit swam at her normal pace before realizing her guest was having problems keeping up with her. Then suddenly he surged passed her in a burst of elemental energy. It was impressive to say the least it would definitely make the larger predators stay away from him. It would also beckon a challenge to the stronger dwellers of the sea but THAT she was prepared for, she added a pulse of elemental water to her movement and swiftly caught up with Zaku before pacing him towards the undersea caverns that led to their first testing area. As she brought his movement to a halt she touched the coral in the area and it began to light up. It was obvious that it was lightning chakra flowing through the coral but condensed into defensive light. (((These are the caverns of Formynder, it is a bit of a maze. You must make your way through within one moon or less time or be trapped beneath the surface under your own power))) The caverns glowed golden wherever Kijareit touched the coral beneath her the coral glowed blue. The ceiling was incredibly sharp and dense and glowed a vibrant red for danger. The opening to the cavern was massive it resembled the maw of a great beast. ((( If you have any questions feel free to ask them or just enter the caverns of Formynder, and find your way out.)))

 

[Morishige]

As I zoomed passed her, I looked behind my shoulder and in a flurry of movements she had caught up with me, which was just as impressive as her looks. I didn't know however that my jutsu was going to make other creatures take notice of me; I was definitely out of my element here in the water. (Heck I didn't know much about marine life as a Shinobi anyways) But she soon lead me to some caverns and stopped my movement with a signal. My chakra ceased moving as her own seemed to flow through the coral with a single touch. The dark waters soon began to lightning up in a variety of colors as I simple tread water in amazement. My eyes gazed all around me at the colors until she spoke to me once again.

It was a maze, as far as I knew. It seemed like I was being challenged like she had hinted at early. And a maze was something that was intuition... or perhaps more. I did have a few questions that needed answering. "Yes I do have some questions. Are there guidelines for this maze? I assume I cannot just blast through the walls to the other side. Also, is there anything dangerous I should be worried about on the inside?" I asked. I had already begun to formulate a strategy, but it was better to be sure than sorry.

[[Question: Is this cavern all maze? Or is their an open space between the walls of the maze and the ceiling?]]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

​

She smiled kindly before her face became somewhat serious. "There are many ways to get through this maze, you can use any ability you can muster, be aware that there are bakemono as you call them here. They wait in the dead ends of the maze to hunt those whom have no sense of predator and prey. They come in all shapes and sizes and some even work in tandem, also if you make too much of a stir some may come after you. My gift of breath will stay with you for one moon so please make haste." With that she slipped away almost going through the coral until Zaku could plainly see it actually parted for her. As she left it the area turned pitch black except for the phosphorescent sea life that lined the ocean floor living on the coral.

 

[Morishige]

"Heh. Too easy." I said with a confident grin. I would be able to use the same tactics as I had in the mountains of lightning country on our assault of Shadow Moses. As my guide slipped into the darkness of the water, I turned to face the daunting task ahead. But it wouldn't be daunting. The ninja world was full of useful jutsu, and not all of them were elemental. Forming hand seals, I cast the Crystal Eye jutsu, and small transparent eye forming in front of me. Using chakra to guide it to the ceiling so I would have a complete view of the entire maze. With a cheater's view I began walking through the maze with ease. Dead ends were foreseen, and I need not worry about anything if I just kept my actions to myself. Of course, fate might have something else in store for me. But hopefully I would be able to fend fate off if need be.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

The crystal eye couldn't see as much as it would on the surface but it did its job by looking around corners and detecting the movement of creatures before he physically showed himself. He avoided several traps and an interesting but decidedly dangerous whirlpool before finding himself in a large clearing somewhere near the center of the cavernous maze. His crystal eye had been swallowed by something large and to make matters worse he could actually feel the cold of the water beginning to trickle past his chakra barriers and transformed flesh. Water began to swirl around him as bubbles blocked his vision before he was confronted by three rather large fishmen. Each of them looked as if they had crawled from the depths of a watery hell. Spiked fins, and ridged hands, two had tails, one did not. They spoke as one... "Are YOU the CHOSEN ONE?!" There was an aura of cold and the actual feel of death about them.