The silent vibration of the five pillars striking the heart of the forest traveled through the soil like a physical weight and it settled into the bones of every creature within the village. At the jagged border where the wild trees met the cleared earth of the village a massive alchemical circle ignited with a low and rhythmic thrumming. The light was a shifting display of a myriad of colors that looked like light bending through an uneven prism and it carved a definitive boundary into the dirt. This was the throat of the ritual and it was prepared to swallow everything that approached.
Standing at the very edge of this glowing perimeter was the Rabbit. It was a macabre and silent figure that looked less like a living creature and more like a discarded toy left to rot in a forgotten garden. Its small body was draped in finery that had long ago succumbed to the elements and the silk of its festival sashes was now fused with the leathery patches of its own dead flesh. Where a soft face should have been there was only a pale and eyeless skull. White and crimson flowers burst through the ivory bone and the tattered muscle to crown the creature like a mockery of royalty. This sentinel carried the heavy memory of its own end when it had been caught in a hunter’s snare and left to be devoured inch by inch by the forest insects while it was still breathing. That ancient suffering had been distilled into a stoic and unwavering guardianship. It stood with its heels dug into the earth as its skull turned toward the horizon to scan for any living soul that might dare to interfere.
A flood of lesser spirits began to pour toward the forest from all directions. Thousands of squirrels and mice and lizards and birds moved in a frantic and rhythmic tide as they crossed the alchemical line and vanished into the thick undergrowth. The Rabbit did not acknowledge their passing and its glowing empty eye sockets remained fixed on the distance.
The air shimmered and the snake from the cemetery appeared in a sudden fold of space. He moved with a calm and terrifying grace that only a serpent could. He stopped before the sentinel and lowered his head in a deep and formal bow that showed a clear and ancient respect. The Rabbit did not move and it did not blink but the serpent took no offense at the silence as he simply turned and slithered across the glowing line to be lost in the shadows of the trees.
Next came a chicken of remarkable and regal detail. Her feathers were decorated with fine gold filigree and she wore articulated plates of armor that allowed her to move with the precision of a soldier. A golden helmet sat on her head with gaps designed perfectly to let her comb and beak peer through. She paused to bow to the silent sentinel and she was not bothered by the lack of a greeting before she followed the path of the snake into the dark.
A massive toad arrived shortly after and its presence was heralded by the sharp sound of stone splitting under its feet. Though it was only twice the size of a natural amphibian its weight was impossibly dense and it seemed to carry the gravity of a mountain within its small frame. Every rhythmic step left a web of cracks in the soil. It was not a giant beast by the standards of the world but for its species it was significant and its massive weight was far greater than its physical form should have allowed. One of its front arms was missing and the stump was covered in thick and ancient scarring. When the toad blinked its large eyes it revealed the unmistakable red and black patterns of the Uchiha Sharingan. It bowed its heavy head toward the Rabbit and like the others it felt no insult in the sentinel's stillness before it moved into the forest with a sense of grim purpose.
The crow followed from the sky as it descended in a slow and spiraling path. Though it was normal sized it looked much larger than it was as it left a thick and suffocating trail of smoke and shadow behind its wings. Its eyes were not the eyes of a bird but were instead black and highly reflective like polished obsidian. It dipped its wings in a mid air bow and it was unconcerned by the sentinel's distant gaze before vanishing into the canopy of the forest.
Finally the Fox Mother approached and she carried the lingering aura of the marketplace ritual with her. When she reached the border she stopped and lowered her head in a profound and submissive bow. This time the Rabbit moved. Its skull turned with a slow and grinding precision to look directly at her and the ghostly light in its eye sockets intensified. The Fox Mother reacted instantly by lowering her head even further and tucking her tail tight against her legs. She did not wait for a greeting and she shifted her pace from a slow walk to a nervous trot as she passed the sentinel and disappeared into the woods.
The true defense of the forest did not lie in the shifting light of the alchemical circle but in the small and rotting figure that stood watch at its edge. Any shinobi approaching the border would feel the Rabbit's gaze as a physical pressure that seemed to strip away their resolve. It was a sentinel that did not sleep and did not tire and it stood as a silent wall between the living village and the ritual unfolding in the dark forest behind it. The rabbit turned its head back to the horizon and waited for the first sign of a threat as the ritual behind it began its final and most dangerous phase.
Ooc: anyone free to join. Please only rp arriving, don’t rp crossing the circle, don’t attack the animals in your first post. Otherwise feel free to be creative in how you arrive
Continued from here and here - https://ninpocho.com/threads/heart-of-fire-prologue-1-aint-no-rest-for-the-wicked.69695/post-395827 https://ninpocho.com/threads/heart-of-fire-prologue-2-aint-no-rest-for-the-wicked.69696/post-395828
Standing at the very edge of this glowing perimeter was the Rabbit. It was a macabre and silent figure that looked less like a living creature and more like a discarded toy left to rot in a forgotten garden. Its small body was draped in finery that had long ago succumbed to the elements and the silk of its festival sashes was now fused with the leathery patches of its own dead flesh. Where a soft face should have been there was only a pale and eyeless skull. White and crimson flowers burst through the ivory bone and the tattered muscle to crown the creature like a mockery of royalty. This sentinel carried the heavy memory of its own end when it had been caught in a hunter’s snare and left to be devoured inch by inch by the forest insects while it was still breathing. That ancient suffering had been distilled into a stoic and unwavering guardianship. It stood with its heels dug into the earth as its skull turned toward the horizon to scan for any living soul that might dare to interfere.
A flood of lesser spirits began to pour toward the forest from all directions. Thousands of squirrels and mice and lizards and birds moved in a frantic and rhythmic tide as they crossed the alchemical line and vanished into the thick undergrowth. The Rabbit did not acknowledge their passing and its glowing empty eye sockets remained fixed on the distance.
The air shimmered and the snake from the cemetery appeared in a sudden fold of space. He moved with a calm and terrifying grace that only a serpent could. He stopped before the sentinel and lowered his head in a deep and formal bow that showed a clear and ancient respect. The Rabbit did not move and it did not blink but the serpent took no offense at the silence as he simply turned and slithered across the glowing line to be lost in the shadows of the trees.
Next came a chicken of remarkable and regal detail. Her feathers were decorated with fine gold filigree and she wore articulated plates of armor that allowed her to move with the precision of a soldier. A golden helmet sat on her head with gaps designed perfectly to let her comb and beak peer through. She paused to bow to the silent sentinel and she was not bothered by the lack of a greeting before she followed the path of the snake into the dark.
A massive toad arrived shortly after and its presence was heralded by the sharp sound of stone splitting under its feet. Though it was only twice the size of a natural amphibian its weight was impossibly dense and it seemed to carry the gravity of a mountain within its small frame. Every rhythmic step left a web of cracks in the soil. It was not a giant beast by the standards of the world but for its species it was significant and its massive weight was far greater than its physical form should have allowed. One of its front arms was missing and the stump was covered in thick and ancient scarring. When the toad blinked its large eyes it revealed the unmistakable red and black patterns of the Uchiha Sharingan. It bowed its heavy head toward the Rabbit and like the others it felt no insult in the sentinel's stillness before it moved into the forest with a sense of grim purpose.
The crow followed from the sky as it descended in a slow and spiraling path. Though it was normal sized it looked much larger than it was as it left a thick and suffocating trail of smoke and shadow behind its wings. Its eyes were not the eyes of a bird but were instead black and highly reflective like polished obsidian. It dipped its wings in a mid air bow and it was unconcerned by the sentinel's distant gaze before vanishing into the canopy of the forest.
Finally the Fox Mother approached and she carried the lingering aura of the marketplace ritual with her. When she reached the border she stopped and lowered her head in a profound and submissive bow. This time the Rabbit moved. Its skull turned with a slow and grinding precision to look directly at her and the ghostly light in its eye sockets intensified. The Fox Mother reacted instantly by lowering her head even further and tucking her tail tight against her legs. She did not wait for a greeting and she shifted her pace from a slow walk to a nervous trot as she passed the sentinel and disappeared into the woods.
The true defense of the forest did not lie in the shifting light of the alchemical circle but in the small and rotting figure that stood watch at its edge. Any shinobi approaching the border would feel the Rabbit's gaze as a physical pressure that seemed to strip away their resolve. It was a sentinel that did not sleep and did not tire and it stood as a silent wall between the living village and the ritual unfolding in the dark forest behind it. The rabbit turned its head back to the horizon and waited for the first sign of a threat as the ritual behind it began its final and most dangerous phase.
Ooc: anyone free to join. Please only rp arriving, don’t rp crossing the circle, don’t attack the animals in your first post. Otherwise feel free to be creative in how you arrive
Continued from here and here - https://ninpocho.com/threads/heart-of-fire-prologue-1-aint-no-rest-for-the-wicked.69695/post-395827 https://ninpocho.com/threads/heart-of-fire-prologue-2-aint-no-rest-for-the-wicked.69696/post-395828
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