His Slow Return <Open>

[Toraono Michino]

A small droplet of water trickled down from the caved in ceiling. It tapped against a piece of terracotta roofing that had broken away from the roof. It held in its bottom-side up bowl-like curve a small pool of the water. It had gathered there from the leak above for the past few months now. Explosions, screams, the cries of the dying...all were things that spilled past the small, ruined, unassuming house that poked out from the surrounding mansions like a sore thumb.
There were memories here. Grand ones of love, suspicion, and discovery. The ghosts of the Diamond District still walked by it with looks of disgust, no doubt, knowing the mad genius and his wild lover that had once taken residence there. His wild long silver-blond hair tucked hastily into a hat, different colored eyes, mad laughter, and general disregard for the residence of the rich still echoed from the dilapidated building.

Not a lot of people knew who he was, or at least those who had no concern with Sousuke didn’t. Ryuu Tama had once lived in this house with his mate Okibi and the Diamond District had been forever changed by their short, destructive stay. Before the Cabal had attacked it was even spoken that their short-lived presence had actually managed to get a few nobles to finally unclench their collective anus’ and quite a few more to tighten beyond help. Yet despite their ill-looked upon antics the house was not damaged by the hands of anyone who once lived here in the ruins of the area surrounding the scientist’s old house. It was just a part of the after-math of the fight between the Cabal and the shinobi who lived here. No one batted an eye when so-and-so was thrown through the roof. Nobody was thinking at that time, “Oh dang! That was Tama’s house! He’ll probably sic Okibi or the Kazekage on me!”
No, that time was all about survival. Time has passed and the wound inflicted upon the roof was never repaired as the people of the Underground decided to finally venture up to the surface - a process that the bright-minded one had always said needed to happen. Something he very much would have liked to have been a part of...but he was missing.
It was completely unknown, at least to nearly all but save two or three, as to what happened to the mad scientist who once terrorized the nobles and their riches with his wild experiments.

The dripping water from the hole continued, on and on, until finally the make-shift bowl finally could no longer contain the weight of water at its center and rolled to one side to dump the water on the dusty floor. It rocked back and forth afterwards, slowly trying to slow back down to where it had always been after breaking away from the roof. Forever collecting water from a never ending leak and dumping it out on the floor. It was not the first time the leak had caused a spill, but this time when the water washed over the floorboards of Tama’s house it stretched a little further out than normal, and a small bit of it began to drip down a long hole that was covered by a trap door and broken ceiling. The small droplets of water fell down a long hole and splashed against a large box made of metal with a glass screen. There was a sudden spark of electricity that still ran a current through all the technical equipment stuffed into the old basement.
The room was about fifty square feet and in the center was a large intricate Sealing Circle that the scientist had used quite a few times to unlock the hidden potential sleeping in himself and once even Okibi. On top of that circle was an alter and a strange glass coffin shaped like a tube on top of it. A few large computers and their respective towers surrounding the circle all the way back around to the broken ladder that was the entrance; their wires looped between themselves and the coffin in the middle. Another drip of water fell down the eight-foot hole and landed once again on the corner of one of the computers to cause yet another spark, larger than the first. This spark caught on and started a chain reaction that slowly forced power from a electrical chakra crystal underneath the cement floor to begin powering up the metal boxes. Lights from the screen cut through the natural darkness of the room with a soft green glow as programs began to turn on and run themselves as if it had been set up to eventually do this exact thing. The sounds of large fans moving to try and keep the large towers cooled off in a tight space deafened the clicks and clacks of the hard drives doing their work.
After a solid ten minutes of each computer uploading and running their separate programs the small glass coffin opened. Pure oxygen rushed out of the chamber mixing with the stagnant air of the basement as a thin, frail, and old looking hand slipped out and gently grasped the glass. The figure inside slowly pushed the glass up and over where it hanged on hinges before a frail male slowly sat up. Thick greasy hair cascaded down to his feet as it sought to cover his naked body. The man inside groaned with the pain of having not moved a single muscle in his body for what felt like thousands of years as he tried to swing his legs over the edge of the coffin.
After a difficult five minutes of trying to lift himself out he finally managed to grab a knob on the side of his tomb and pull his frail body out of it, falling two feet down to the floor. The man coughed and hacked as dust flew into his lungs after taking a sharp breath from the pain of falling on his side. His skin felt very nearly like it was on fire and his body felt broken. The male’s left eye hurt for a reason he could not explain and honestly felt like it was very nearly trying to rebel against him. A shaky hand reached up to cover it and push pressure against the orb in the attempt to get to the pain to subside for a moment but that only seemed to make it worse. Trying to ignore this pain the apparent elder reached up to the edge of the coffin and tried to use it to help him stand. Thankfully the thing had been bolted down into the alter but his frail arms shook as he tried to raise himself up and his legs all but said “no” when he tried to move them. He collapsed back against the ground in defeat.

Then sudden flashbacks of a old man with red eyes and strange wheels inside of them assailed his vision. He remembered terrifying evil, a creeping darkness, a battle that baffled him...and the strong fingers of his own right hand reaching in to rip one of those eyes out and replace the one the elder had taken during their fight. The man held his hand up in front of him to try to see his fingers in the glowing green light of the computer screens... all he found there was bones with skin barely hanging on. He must have been a spectator the frail male told himself, because he had no memories of his own face, of his life, or even why he was here in this darkness. No idea who he was without the strength to scream for help or even stand...

 

[Michi]

The mask of the neophyte in her bag, a tall solitary woman ambled these dilapidated streets. Many of the denizens of Sunagakure had fled for the surface after the gates were opened and the maelstrom was subdued. There were a few homesteaders who lingered and remained but they were the degenerates and the forgotten. It would make a good temporary residence, not every home was ruined and while not every home was abandoned either, it was obvious by the stack of papers at the door and the thin layer of dust and dirt that covered the walkway and the doorknobs that some residences had fallen away to disuse. She entered one such home, it would have been the home adjacent to one Ryuu Tama, that the Ancient Queen had entered. She was still recovering, slowly from the grievous wounds inflicted onto her by the Steward. In the battle of attrition, she would need to maintain her strength and not underestimate her adversary once again. He was perverting their court weapons and through his attempts to perhaps create the god-killing weapon once wielded by Primus, the powerful albeit still unsuccessful recreation was dangerous indeed.

She unwrapped her limbs and her face, beneath was a terrible, twisted and broken form that she did not recognize. This porcelain flesh that obscured her radiant glory seemed so... human. She was still wounded. She still felt the visceral pain of being cut and the dull throb of her body being assaulted. The Kazekage had dissected her while she was still alive. He left her writhing on the floor as he froze her twisted and shredded carapace, only to leave her at the peak of her suffering for a time longer. Vengeance was perhaps something to relish, for both him and her in this intimate period of discord where she would make him suffer as she had. Where he would feel the same and indignity that he allowed her to experience. A man of science without sentiments of love, friendship and nobility, it was odd that he could express wrath and rage as he had. It was an unexpected incident to be certain as she never expected to actually die on that day.

Her hair was no longer the color of fire, now golden. Her bale blue eyes were for the most part unchanged, although now they seemed to possess a hint of green. She was taller, the previous, smaller woman she once was could not possess what she had become after her voracious hunger was sated by Mikaboshi's generous gift. Her skin was repairing slowly, deep, angry darkened lines marred her flesh still. With each step, she could feel her bones grind together painfully. They were not her bones, rather the alien form she created to serve as a reasonable facsimile. She left the bandages on the floor as her feet padded through the homestead, her coverings left at the door. Her fingers, still twisted and broken slowly snapped into place. Long, delicate things, a change from the meatier, small hands she once created. She empties the contents of the drawers and flung whatever remained into the closets onto the floor. Like many homes, whomever used to live here left in a hurry. She found something, it was several sizes too small but it would at the very least keep her decent. Nudity did not truly phase her, but it certainly made her stand out among the clothed masses. With a sigh she squeezed into the white leather pants.

It was then that she heard something unexpected from the home adjacent. Beep-Boop-Beep or something of that that nature and the whirl of computer fans. She did not recognize any of these sounds, while not a technophobe she had also never taken an interest in the inventive capacity of humanity. She struggled to pull the white... whatever this was, a halter top maybe over her head. Fine silver lines could still be seen throughout her body as a fine maze-work of scars but with each passing second another would seem to fade away. It was then that she heard the sound of something falling, it was not a distant descent to the floor. A matter of feet but she recognized the sounds of the living. The sounds of a potential meal that would not be missed.

With that she emerged from the empty home and followed the sounds of biology to the dilapidated and collapsed structure. It seemed nonsensical that something was inside of there, these buildings were damaged over a year ago when the Cabal attacked but her ears never lied. Had someone entered the already precarious structure only to have it collapse onto them? She did not hear such a crash but she had other things on her mind. Still, an easy meal was not something for the Ancient to ignore. The click of her white heels against the stairs heralded her presence. She came upon a strange, large open space with an oblong glass box. Neither of these things were of interest, rather the meal. She stalked these persistent sounds and came upon... a naked old guy?

OC: Since we both have went through some changes as of late IC, may as well start here. I also pointed the thread out to a new student, unsure if he will come. I also promise to not eat you I guess =/

 

[Toraono Michino]

Serendipity is one of those things that the scientist had always underestimated. It was such a rare thing in his life to experience any kind of luck that, when it happened, he could do little but marvel it. Boards above him was shuffled about and a non-colored light filled the dark room from above. It revealed little more than the heap of skin and bones that laid there on the floor.
Tama’s good eye tried to focus in the small amount of light to get an idea of who or what had found him so soon after being awakened. He had no idea what to hope for except for the off chance that whatever had come to find him came in peace. As the lone blue eye wearily raised itself over the Ancient’s form it came to rest on the horrifying expression of hunger. It became quick reality check in his head that this person was not friendly and he found himself in the situation of a sick deer looking at the face of a starving wolf. His mind froze completely as it was unable to fathom something, that his mind was trying to register as humanoid, would have such a carnivorous face.

While the mind panicked, the body, though frail, held true to the lessons that had been beat into it.

The arm cocked under his right side flipped its palm to the ground and ejected him from his position on the floor and into a corner. His left arm continue to move of its own violation and form half a ninjutsu seal. The movement of muscles into that certain position shocked his chakra coil back into movement and caused a terrible massive pain to roll across his flesh. It was as if someone had placed a flame against his skin and only his nerve endings had caught fire. His face twisted itself into a silent scream as the burn of chakra moving through veins with such force threw his mind into complete shock. For the scientist everything from there on went black, but for the body it continued to move out of what was no longer reflex, but something else.
The hand that was formed into a half seal gradually began to turn into a wooden state as his natural chakra flow began to return. Immediately the healing nature of his chakra began to repair some of the damage of his body and return some vitality to the elder’s flesh. Tama’s head suddenly jerked up straight and his left eyelid opened to reveal the stolen orb. Black wheels upon wheels rotated against the green backdrop of his iris. They eventually converged together and then split back apart like a kaleidoscope before revealing its strongest form. The wood form on his hand began to creep fast tendrils of wood towards his back to push his body into a standing form before they wrapped them around him to form something simular to an armor that lifted him slightly off the ground. A disembodied voice echoed inside of the basement from his gaping mouth,

“I recognize you, Old One. This eye sees the power that radiates under that sack of flesh you embody. The container of this eye, however, is moving towards its end...it is purely his fault too.<i></i>
“My name is Odei...some time ago this fool tried to eat my soul and stole one of my precious eyes. He tried to take their power and use them for himself but I am far stronger than he realized...oh so much stronger. He didn’t know what dark power dwelled deep inside of him and like a fool he took with my soul the memories of my last shell in order to know how my powers work. It was his undoing when he unleashed far too much of it trying to help his leader and that...bitch. His lover.<i></i>”

Tama’s mouth closed and opened like a fish and a strange high-pitch laughter squealed from deep inside of his throat as the branches continued to push his old body further and further up, pressing the face of the unconscious man against the ceiling.
“I possesed his body in the most crucial moment.When the Steward left to force his way back into their home and the bitch was still trying to bond with her unfortunate brood. I forced her to fight him and beat his fleshbag into submission and since they had no way to know how to extract my soul from his body they simply sealed him in his own basement...for over a year now I have kept my “sanity” by studying his mind and blood, hiding his memories and keeping him in such a state of weakness that when someone finally did wake him up it would be me they would have to contend with...<i></i>”

The scientist’s head lolled forward, the eye no longer looking at the Ancient as a shrill giggle began to fall from the gaping mouth of the unconscious man. It snapped back up suddenly with a malicious grin,
“In that time I have learned how your kind eats...but I wonder if it can eat their own...</B><B>]”

The wooden tendrils began to form thorns on them before launching twelve broomstick-thick barbs at the unfortunate person to find Tama. Or perhaps the serendipity of the situation had yet to begin. It was obvious that this was a single attack as the act of it took whatever color he had regained though the Sharingan stared dead straight at the Ancient in as much defiance as it did when the scientist faced off against the creature.

[OC: Looks like fun! Oh by the way this is the thing where Tama ate this dude.]

 

[Michi]

Shiori, or rather Suna if she were to do by an older moniker did not reply on sight alone. The eyes were a thing of deception in these days where the psychic energies of a single man could run rampant in a victim's mind. What can be seen could not be unseen even if only deception answered the cull. Her eyes saw the living although not necessarily thriving remains of an old man. With long hair that somewhat covered his shame, she could not help but feel as if she was being deceived. She listened to the patter of his heart and how it hastened when he gazed upon her visage. She was always hungry, or at the very least she could always find space for another meal and with the dire times that lay ahead she would not forgo a single meal that presented itself. The Steward was perhaps right to fear her and what she might do -- she had consumed more than she would have in a century since war was declared. Lives that would have otherwise continued on, unaware of the fact that they could have been food. She would have brought herself to the brink of starvation for companionship but she would not forfeit her freedom to do so. That left only this -- this predator and prey circumstance that brought the old man here.

He bounded away with a speed and strength that betrayed his form. Suna bit her lower lip at the sight, the old man had life in him still yet. "I will be swift old man," she assured him. It was a kindness not afforded to her. She continued her approach, the dull click of her heel was like a metronome with each progressive step. There was no place to run but past her, his attempts would be futile and his fate only delayed as her eyes caught sight of his hand making a half-seal. Ancients did not use ninjutsu but they were capable learners and she had taken many of the lessons she had learned in the Academy to heart and as she rose through the ranks she emulated the movements of her fellow shinobi. She recognized it as a partial handseal and with a snap of her fingers she summoned a tendril of sand from the dust and clutter and through the cracks in the basement from the ground all around. It was not fast enough to prevent a series of oddities or rather curiosities.

First was the flesh ensconced in wood that seemed to overtake his form. (Groot?) She would not know of the vegetation's restorative properties only that a tree had just taken her supper. She stood a cautious half step back, her face was painted with a deep scowl. The left eye possessed an eerie optical organ, a verdant iris and tomoe revealed by the now opened eyelid. It made her wonder what the old man was -- a uchiha, a tree, a chimera of some form. Many of humanity's more forbidden and macabre practices were lost on her. She took in a sharp breath and readied herself for the scuffle that might ensure, she was hoping for an easy meal but it seemed that the old man had some fight left in him still.

“I recognize you, Old One. This eye sees the power that radiates under that sack of flesh you embody. The container of this eye, however, is moving towards its end...it is purely his fault too. My name is Odei...some time ago this fool tried to eat my soul and stole one of my precious eyes. He tried to take their power and use them for himself but I am far stronger than he realized...oh so much stronger. He didn’t know what dark power dwelled deep inside of him and like a fool he took with my soul the memories of my last shell in order to know how my powers work. It was his undoing when he unleashed far too much of it trying to help his leader and that...bitch. His lover.”

She did not know the tree and he did not truly know her. "I would never lower myself, truly," she replied. Her body was made of the very earth that she was born of the very sands that sustained her. "Flesh rots and decays, grows loose or coarse... much like you old man," she breathed. Her voice sounded like the wind, "You crumble and sag, even now through that perilous layer of scabby bark waits only withered remains." The tree continued to grow, the pallid, rumbled man was pressed against the spaces above. "But it seems that my raven is already another's meal, I have no taste for demons or whatever it is that you might be," Suna commented, disappointment in her voice. She did not eat non-humans, not that she had a greater love of them but rather they were simply not considered 'food.' demons were considered vile, loathsome creatures worthy of their disdain and disgust not something to sate one's appetite.

“I possesed his body in the most crucial moment.When the Steward left to force his way back into their home and the bitch was still trying to bond with her unfortunate brood. I forced her to fight him and beat his fleshbag into submission and since they had no way to know how to extract my soul from his body they simply sealed him in his own basement...for over a year now I have kept my “sanity” by studying his mind and blood, hiding his memories and keeping him in such a state of weakness that when someone finally did wake him up it would be me they would have to contend with...”</I><i></i>

She knew nothing of these tales this deceiver spoke of. She recalled two lives ago now Sousuke venturing into the maelstrom, it felt so long ago know. Her perceptions then were so different, she did not know what she was back then or she had lied to herself so many times that she had truly began to believe that she was actually human. When he failed to return and the Cabal attacked, she grieved for him as if he was dead and her heart broke then. She knew nothing of his companions only that when he returned he had a son. He always claimed it to be his own whenever she asked. As for the mother, that he gave no answer to. It was a continual source of jealousy for her if she were to admit this to herself, there was a time when she desired Sousuke much like a human would desire the companionship of another. Now all she wanted was to see him suffer. "They" she repeated as the mad tree finished his tale. Did Sousuke kill the mother? Better yet -- was she still alive? Perhaps this was a moment of providence, she sneered at the mad tree. "Your vessel's lover yet Sousuke's bastard was all that returned," she concluded with a gross bit of misinformation certainly. It was not the old man's child, a simple conclusion considering how things were phrased and Sousuke claimed paternal privilege for the disabled, likely retarded youth. "Tell me of the mother's fate?" They sealed him away in this coffin or so he claimed, an impossibility given the circumstances. There was a large chance that nothing that came from its mouth was the truth but she would have fun pruning it down to a shrub trying to find out.

<I>“In that time I have learned how your kind eats...but I wonder if it can eat their own..."<i></i>

It could indeed, something any Ancient would know. It was a common cautionary tale to tell their young of Orochi of the wild Hunt. A great and powerful Lord, representative of the hunt. They ate to gluttony but the ritual of the hunt was a deeply embedded practice. And perhaps because it was in their nature to do so it should not be surprising that Orochi was the first to break their one great taboo. Orochi ate his own kind, his children and the children of the other Courts. His power continued to grow exponentially and he could not be contained. Mad by the defiant nature of the kin he had consumed, the tethers of his own nature were broken but he fed... he continued to feed. One of the first true instances of true death for those Ancients he had devoured, Suna Queen of the Earth Court, Homura Lord of the Fire Court and Fuujin of the Solar Court banded together in a rare instance of cooperation and defeated Orochi. Homura through Orochi's heart into the depths of a great pit that would be one day known as the Obdisian. And there to this day, the slowly reforming remains of Orochi linger, semi-dormant.

Suna did not verbally respond as she waved a wall of earth between her and the barbed projectiles that the mad tree had shot at her. Most would rickochet off the wall of earth but a few got through. They pierced her shoulders and one of her legs and sent her sailing back several feet across the room into a far wall. Whatever was there would clatter onto the floor as the razor-sharp wooden staked were embedded in the far wall. In an odd choice of action, Suna started to sing a strange, ominous song with a rolling melody that summoned a darkness over the space. Black as tar, this dire requiem was intended for her meal. "Again I ask -- what of Sousuke's whore?"

OC: Is Okibiki(sp?) coming back? Also, lets start with you getting the first few licks in.

 

[Toraono Michino]

A gleeful squeal echoed through the basement and up into the open air above as the creature’s attack connected. One of the blooded spines coiled back up to the old scientist’s slack-jawed mouth and ran the blood across his tongue. The life energy taken from his opponent was fed to the shell and instantly Tama’s body convulsed a little as if the blood was a shock of electricity. The roots seem to become a little stronger. Odei, however, could really care less. He thought full control was his and being a creature of pride and insanity he already thought the match was won simply because he landed the first blow. Already had the thing forgotten that his last battle had a simular start, but the amusement of the Ancient before him asking such questions turned his mind to ignore such a memory. Instead it was reveling in the fight he had forced Okibi into. Remembering the tears that flowed down her face as she was forced to strike her fist covered in her lover’s blood against his face over and over again was nearly orgasmic for the evil that possessed the scientist.

“What happened? I crushed her spirit. I forced her to fight and nearly kill this body I inhabit. I never planned to live any longer than that fight originally but they thought they could remove me someday...but I still won! The battle had broken her psyche hard. She had gone through a great many things in the days previous and she wondered away from this man’s broken body and the Steward, despite his anguished cries, and into the desert. She could very possibly even still be alive though I doubt she still has any humanity left. Non of this matters though...soon you will be eaten and I will use your power to return this shell to his youth and live another life!<i></i>”

The spirit roared with a rolling laugh of madness as one of the tentacles slipped around behind the computer equipment in an attempt to lash out while he sent three more vines out to attack from the front. The plan was to grab her ankle and hold her still long enough for the wooden spines to bury deep inside and begin draining her life force. The armor broke away from the wall and stumbled forward as if it was going to tackle her while four vines arched over his shoulders towards Shiori’s face and shoulders. The red eye squirmed around watching every single movement, waiting for the perfect counter.

Yet while the evil that possessed the scientist’s body tried to use the last of it’s chakra in a make or break attack something deeper was happening. Odei was a separate conscious from Tama’s mind and until his body had enough energy the evil could never fully possess the body. It had no idea that the brain was still working, firing signals back and forth through his nervous system. Memories flashed like pictures behind Tama’s closed eye and though it was covered by a wooden armor the orb behind it was moving rapidly
.
A picture of himself and some girl with white hair battling a frog monster. A scene of himself working in complete solitude as something sinister ravished his body. A grand imagery of the white hair girl’s return and the scientist holding her in his arms as if clutching his own child...the scenes continued to flash through his mind. He knew this girl, and cared for her deeply, though he was unsure what the deeper connection was. They had lived a short time together in a sort of wonderful whirlwind of love and friendship but it didn’t add up to why his heart felt so goddamn broken.
The pictures continued to rain down on him over and over again until it came to the very story Odei was speaking off...

The picture began to move....​

Sousuke had stepped away from the oasis camp to begin working on a new armor made with the feathers the team had helped him collect by taking on a giant bird of some sort. Their child was being taken care of by old Elementals and Okibi was with the scientist with his wild white hair. They set next to each other on a fallen palm tree that was knocked over during the battle with the avian. Her head was laid gently on his shoulder and his left arm was snaked around her small waist while their eyes focused on the same thing - the sunset.

“We’ll be going back tomorrow. Back to retake our home and maybe finally get a chance to settle down for a second...get a chance to....actually live,” the male said wearily. The trip had taken a toll on his body and the left eye he had replaced was causing such a migraine but he refused to look away from the light of the setting sun and the hope it represented for the next day,
“Yeah...and this time...no more distractions. No more crazy past coming back to bite either one of us...just whatever the hell is invading Suna and we can retire for a little bit....” The young woman replied as she turned her head towards Tama and reached a graceful hand up to turn his head to face her before kissing him. They had no need to say anything else as they knew that nothing else could be spoken in words. There was one more night they could have together before this battle that could see them both dead and he intended to spend every second he could afford to be awake with her.
She stood first and began to walk back to the Oasis cave, her fingers brushing across his shoulder and then his slightly pointed ear to beckon him to follow without a word. A playful smirk crawled across Tama’s face as he stood up from the fallen tree and stretched with the dying heat of the sun to bathe his body.
However in that moment of bliss when everything seemed to finally be right after so many years, the train-wreck called reality began to roll off the tracks once more. He felt the massive pain behind his eye suddenly flare out across his body. A choke and a gargle was all he was able to manage in his warning before his body twisted painfully to attack the back turned to him.
The fight was in blurs. He saw moments where she was overwhelming him and vice-versa, but what stayed there more than anything, what haunted the memory harder than the feel of his wooden claws tearing at her flesh was that look of utter horror and betrayal. It was that look coupled with the cantankerous laughter that came as Odei’s trademark that continued to echo louder and louder as the last scene played out when Sousuke finally came out of the cave and firmly knocked Tama unconscious.

The laugh continued to play over and over again in his head. The laugh and that look. An old fury began to build deep in Tama’s core. A low rolling growl came from deep within the tree armor that was batteling the ancient and during the middle of one his attacks Odei paused at the sound.
In the sharingan filled orb there was something akin to fear reflecting across it. The growl became larger and the wooden monstrosity actually took a step back in what appeared to be absolute terror.
“No...no you’re not here. I have you in my control, your soul is IN MY HANDS! I WON’T LET YOU WIN AGAIN, RYUU TAMA.<i></i>”

No response. The growl no longer echoed out and a strange stillness filled the room. The eye visibly relaxed a little bit before focusing back on the Ancient,
“It appears this body has a little bit more fight than I had thoug-OOAAAGAAAGHHH!<i></i>” The spirit screamed in deep pain as a strong arm covered in tough lizard scales broke through the wooden armor’s chest from inside. Talons wildly clawed at the chest and around the face as the beast stumbled back and screamed in fear. The claws dug deep against the wood protecting the flesh of the scientist’s face, prying them back and snapping the chakra crafted material as if it was rotted.
“No, no, no no! Yo-you can’t still have anything left! I took everything I could and hid the rest, how are you doing this~!?<i></i>”

On Tama’s chest there was a mark. It was a head shaped like a dragon done in a tribal style; the symbol of his dysfunctional nomadic clan. It held no power and was merely a symbol to prove he was the last walking of his bloodline and people. The small runic lettering that was tied into ninjutsu surrounding it, however, was of the Demon Beast King’s hand, and within it a whole mess of untapped power that Odei completely missed. The reason why was that the cursed seal only activated when the ordinarily collected Tama was pushed to full rage; just as he was now being forced to watch his body attempt to kill someone he loved; even if he didn’t know why.

Odei desperately turned his eye to face the Ancient and lunged the large wooden body in an attack with the last of his willpower. He was sure that if he could just get a bit more blood he could take back full control...

[OOC: I really don't know. Not sure what she's been up to lately because I've just kind of been wondering around myself. Also I laughed a little bit at the Groot reference. Totally wasn't even trying to go there.]

 

[Michi]

The razor-sharp thorny barbs that impaled three of her limbs, nailed her to the wall. Crimson sand dripped from her wounds and fell to the floor. Suna looked over at her wounds, they hurt but they would soon hurt more as she pulled her body from the wall, against the will of the barbs that continued to rip through her carapace. She reached up and wrapped her hand around the briery rods and they cut into her hand. With a harsh sudden downward motion she broke the first nail along the shaft and forced her shoulder past this broken, terminal point. She let out a pained gasp as she worked to free herself at the risk of further injury for the reward of freedom.

“What happened? I crushed her spirit. I forced her to fight and nearly kill this body I inhabit. I never planned to live any longer than that fight originally but they thought they could remove me someday...but I still won! The battle had broken her psyche hard. She had gone through a great many things in the days previous and she wondered away from this man’s broken body and the Steward, despite his anguished cries, and into the desert. She could very possibly even still be alive though I doubt she still has any humanity left. Non of this matters though...soon you will be eaten and I will use your power to return this shell to his youth and live another life!”

A trio of tendrils poised for attack above Odei waved menacingly, versed potentially in the act of slight of hand a fourth to make this a quartet snaked behind the strange human machinery. Her hands shook with pain as her already torn palms pressed against the second thorny staff that impaled her thigh. A wave of pain shook her body as she snapped the broom handle-sized spear in her hands and forced her leg despite the pain to slide off the end point. She was still hanging precariously by a single skewer. She did not have time to break all three before a rough tendril wrapped around her ankle. Shiori grimaced as she brought her hands in front of her and started to run through a series of handseals, she had no idea how effective it would be but upon completion of the series was the dragon seal and upon completion a wave of flames shot out from the Ancient.

Her hands united a second time as she poised them to initiate a second attack, not caring if the first was even effective. She bit her thumb with her incisor and a flesh flow of crimson sand spilled from her and accompanied the ever growing mound of sand at her feet. She was taken by surprise, yes but that would not happen again. Before she could complete the summoning spell she saw the mad tree step back in fear.

“No...no you’re not here. I have you in my control, your soul is IN MY HANDS! I WON’T LET YOU WIN AGAIN, RYUU TAMA.”

The monstrosity cried out. Distracted despite the ever-open sharingan, with haste Shiori grabbed hold of the third and final wooden nail that had held her in place against this basement wall and broke it in her hands. She let out a muffled cry of pain as she forced herself off this final barbed staff. Something was still wrapped around her ankle so she simply fell rather than landed. The gaping wounds on three of her extremities continued to bleed onto the floor. Her palms pressed against the floor as she attempted to force herself to rise. So she could attempt to avoid the mad tree's assault.

“It appears this body has a little bit more fight than I had thoug-OOAAAGAAAGHHH!”

The mad tree made a horrid noise as an arm covered in tough lizard scales (D&D Dragonborn?) broke through the wooden armor’s chest from inside. Splinters clouded the area before the mad tree as it reeled back. Curved claws ripped away the bark and pried off a piece sufficient to expose the old man's face.

“No, no, no no! Yo-you can’t still have anything left! I took everything I could and hid the rest, how are you doing this~!?”

Shiori coughed from the place she fell on the floor. The vegetative tendril was still wrapped around her leg, keeping the one at an unnatural and uncomfortable angle a few feet into the air. She bent at the waist, forcing the plant to support her full weight as her bloodied and torn fingers wrapped around her restraint and she attempted to pull herself free before whatever it was that was attacking her attacker got loose. It was then that the tree lurched in Shiori's direction, perhaps a final desperate attempt to sate its own hunger. With a series of lightning-fast motions her pained fingers ran through a fire jutsu array and once again she spat out fire in the mad tree's direction.

OC: Groot is happiness. And shame about Okibiki not that we ever RP'd really but it is always nice having some oldies around and trying to decipher how she used to talk was entertaining to try.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The creature ran afoul the blast of heat and flame head on, the attack causing the sharingan to be hidden behind the elder’s eyelid as it came close shut for the first time since revealing itself; fire did hurt things made mostly of liquid after all. The clawed hand that was scratching at the protected face felt the muscles moving and finally found what it searched for when the eye closed while the burst of flames lit the wood of the tree armor. With the deftness of a well practiced raven, the claws on the right hand of scales flicked back open the eyelid and then dug themselves into the squishy flesh of the orb. A howl came from both Odei and Tama as the scientist inflicted damage upon himself in order to free the possession.
As if hitting the breaks the tree creature stopped its advance while the scientist’s naked body was thrown from the innards of the beast, breaking from the hole his scaled arm had made. The rest of his body looked like some kind of demented lizard man as even his face had become distorted and twisted to look less like a human and and more like the monster. The sight of this form was incredibly rare as it had only been used one other time in his life, but just like that time it went as fast as it came. The scales began to recede back into his flesh like insects until all that remained was his pale dehydrated flesh and strange runic writing that wrapped around his entire body. This too eventually slithered its way back into a circle of words around the tattoo on his chest.
Clutched between his thumbs, index, and middle finger was the eyeball of the Uchiha he had taken while thick red, almost black, blood oozed from the new self-inflicted wound. He was panting and his skin had taken a waxy sheen that most elderly became right before death as what little sweat the body could muster was being pumped out. His good eye turned to look at the flesh orb in his fingers and oddly enough the eye seemed to be looking right back at him,
“Cha’ didn’t hide the right things, jack-ass,” Tama muttered, his voice sounding a bit distorted as if he had swallowed a tiny robot with auto-tuning. He raised his left hand and cupped it over the eyeball. A strange glowing blue light shone for a second in his hand like as if he was using a paper scanner. When he opened them back up the eye had been reduced to a pure form of energy in the shape of a ball. With a tap of his long, still claw-like, fingernail it exploded into a couple of hundred smaller balls. Reaching his hand up into them he scooped out a hefty amount and placed the palm full of soul material against his wounded eye. Another quick flash of light and his original eye had been recreated. Raising both hands into the soul material he called out to it with his little remains of chakra and reeled it into his body until all of Odei’s soul was once again absorbed into his body. A flash of memories began to run behind Tama’s eyes like someone taking a picture book and thumbing through the pages as fast as they could. He closed his eyes and shook from them the scenes of the weird little old man’s life. Mikaboshi had been right about looking too far into the memories of those souls he absorbed and was feeling first hand the cost of ignoring his master for so long.

The weird part of this entire situation, for him, was that he knew the name Mikaboshi and that he had been a former master, but not why or how. Tama knew that he had just consumed a soul, knew that it was a soul he had once tried to eat before and apparently failed, but did not know how or why he had learned to do or why he did. The effects of reabsorbing the man began to slowly show; some color returned to his flesh, vitality in his presence, and his mind, though completely confused, was at least finally on a level ground of thinking. His muscles were reawakened by the small amount of power that began to flow through him and his chakra coil regained a little more strength despite how much it had been forced to activate in the fight.
The naked old man stood up slowly, stumbled a little, and turned to face the bleeding woman in his basement and the burning ent. He walked past her and placed his hands into a proper seal that caused his chakra to flow out of his body gracefully and transform into a strong gust of wind that blew around the sand in the basement to cover the flames. Some of the computers sputtered in protest about getting grains of earth in their operating systems but the scientist ignored them as he turned to face the bleeding Ancient,

“Who...who am I and where the hell are we? Are we enemies? Are those wounds inflicted to you by my purpose or was it purely the mad soul? Are....ugh....”

Tama had at the very least one-hundred different questions. His brain was starting to return to it’s normal insane state of thinking fast, hard, and overly much; he also didn’t seem to care that she was losing blood. The activity of his brain was starting to cause his eyes to hurt as a migraine began to thump behind his eye lids that reflexively half-way closed themselves as if blocking on some of the small amount of light that shone would help. His knees shook a little and the he took a step back with his left hand outstretched behind him to catch the edge of his ex-tomb while the right covered his face; instinct made him keep just a sliver of Shiori’s bleeding form in front of him. He wasn’t overly sure if he should help her or if she had put him to start with.

[MFT]

 

[Michi]

Sprawled out on the floor, her desperate attack had set the mad tree ablaze but not before the scaled inhuman form was expelled from the blazing timber. His talons reached for his sharingan and ribbed the orb from his own skull, the delicate sphere attached still to a visceral optic nerve that he tore free from his body. It was a sickening display by this strange, possibly cursed creature. The markings and the rough scales seemed to recede into this uncovered form. She recognized his crude practice -- he was reforming with pure spiritual energy.

Shiori grabbed hold of a tables' edge or the length of one of the bloodied spears that had implanted themselves into a wall. She was breathing hard but she too was in the midst of repairs. Her scarlet sand, her blood seemed to have a life of its own as it started to retreat of its own accord back inside her damage form. The wounds almost seemed real, how light could be seen from the other side of her body as if it was a macabre piercing she was going to let scar over. Flesh, or rather something rather similar wove over these gaping wounds. In this newly empowered form, damage was a passing state of affairs thanks to her brother Mikaboshi's generosity.

Not the meal she anticipated as the less enfeebled, less reptilian, less tree-like man's voice changed. He asked her who she was. Who he was. What happened between then. Where they were. This left her with two options: to share with him the little truth she knew and take the risk of a further assault or to give him a convenient lie that held a few granules of truth with some clever misdirection. "You attacked me and I do not know why," she partly lied. She was a threat and it was likely that the creature within him escaped as a primal and dangerous form of self-defense but he did not need to know something he soul never be told. "I thought we were friends,"</B><i></i> she continued to lie as she brushed dust off her damaged white leather pants.

"We only met a few weeks ago," she continued to weave a web of lies. <B>"But you called yourself... Ryuu Tama,"<i></i> she recalled the name the tree shrieked. She knew he was a friend of Sousuke's or at least an acquaintance and that he was bound to that strange child in the Steward's charge, Aki. She did not know that the child's father was neither Aki or Tama's; only that his lover's child was in the Takahashi's care and that Sousuke claimed paternal right the the boy... girl? Whatever it was, she truly could not be bothered. "But you saved me then from the Steward Kazekage, stricken with madness and bouts of senseless rage you stopped him from hurting me again,"<i></i> she lied utterly. "You told me that you too suffered from this rage and harmed your lover and that she is gone now but that her and the Steward's child is under the Sousuke's care."<i></i> While not entirely right in this instance, she told the one truth she thought she knew.

She laid out the bait, now she needed to see if he would bite and if so to which part he would latch onto.

 

[Toraono Michino]

Tama looked away from the ancient as she stood up to down at his bony hand and clutched it into a fist. He felt joints popping through out and a sharp shooting pain along each and every bone in his hand. The abnormally long nails of a man asleep too long dug into his flesh though he didn’t readily bleed as most would. He was unsure if this was due in part to what he had just done - consuming a soul - or because he just had so little left to spare.

He began to study his body in the attempt to focus away from the head pains while trying to focus on everything she was saying. She claimed to be his friend, a companion that perhaps had placed him here and came to check on him? She also claimed that they had met only a few weeks ago but by the state of his body it had been under than just a few weeks. The strong hand and arms he kept seeing in his vivid flashbacks were his own, weren’t they? If he had been reduced to such a state from those hands then he had to of been out of commission for a little longer than a few weeks. A few months or a whole year. Tama assumed the only way he had managed to stay alive was through what ever the contraption his hand laid against was.
Then she claimed he saved her from someone, the ‘Steward Kazekage’ who was stricken with a mad rage that had consumed him. It was a disease that apparently inflicted his own form and would explain why he lashed out in an attack without thought and perhaps the man she called the Steward was inflicted with the same problems as himself. Had he fixed this problem? Was that the reason he was locked away in a chamber somewhere under a house? Her answers only led to more questions until she breached the subject about his lover and what he had done.

The still far to vivid moving photographs in his head caused him to grimace a little. Other things confused him now, such as he she mentioned that the Kazekage was now taking care of a child that he claimed as his own. Did that mean that this man possibly stole away his lover? Was that the spark that started the chain reaction of violent actions? The hand covering his face gripped a little harder.
“Forgive me for attacking you then...I am...not truly myself. Aside from this name you have given me I still know little of who I am. Ryuu Tam-”

As if turning a key the act of speaking his name aloud from his own lips woke something up. The figure of a man who looked eerily like himself. Death caused by his hand to the scientist’s entire family. The run for his life that lasted years before him and his mother finally made it to Suna under the guidance of a mysterious voice. He began to recall some of his years at the Academy, his invention, and then...Mikaboshi. The Ancient that had taken him under his wing, trained him, and even helped the child take revenge when a rather unfortunate gang targeted his mother for a hit. The pain of gaining everything and losing everything washed over him suddenly and the scientist was forced to let go of that train of thought before the feels train de-railed him any further than he already was mentally.

“I suppose right now it doesn’t matter. You say the Kazekage has a child birthed by my lover that he claims? Something about that rubs me weird though I can’t truly say why right now. It appears what I need to do is gather back up my power to face this man. Something deep inside tells me that child is not his...but mine. If he attacked you in a rage it brings me to fear for the child, seeing first hand what my own rage is capable of...”

 

[Michi]

OC: Sorry for the wait, was exhausted when I got home from work last night.

IC:
She was not a practiced liar but it did not matter greatly, even if he was a transiently global amnesic (similar to a TIA) he could never be entirely certain that what she said was a lie. There was a sprinkling of truth in every word, certainly exaggerations as well and of course some were outright lies. She had only met him on this day, the glass coffin he was sealed inside of that failed to contain him did not have any discernible purpose. She eyed it all the same, would she have to manufacture a lie about whatever the contraption was that housed him? No, she would simply claim a similar incident occurred on that day, that HE was capable of putting himself inside that oblong box and that in truth she had no idea what it did for him. In fact, there was a better lie... it would only ground her point that Sousuke was the fiend who locked him away but the technology was so far past her there was nothing she could do but occasionally look in on him from outside his prison. A dedicated, near stranger and 'friend.'

“Forgive me for attacking you then...I am...not truly myself. Aside from this name you have given me I still know little of who I am. Ryuu Tam-”

"You were not in your right mind," she assured him as she took a step forward. "I am sorry that I could not tell you more," she soothed as she attempted to clasp her hand on his shoulder. For a woman she was quite tall, six foot without heels. "Our meeting prior was rather brief, I broke into your home to flee the Steward. You awoke much like you did on this day, however if it was a purposeful action or otherwise you attacked only the Steward the last time and spoke while you fought. He defeated the pair of us utterly, I assume it was he who put you back into that strange clear box. As for me, he hurt me but eventually I was able to escape." Hints of truth with many facts omitted and a few manufactured. "Curious of your fate, be it as grim as mine... or as I can see now rather a state of hibernation?" She let out a sigh, "it would seem that you have been twice disturbed, this time due to my curiosity." She did not know for certain if this chamber was intended to imprison him or maintain his aged form. Considering the machinery at use in here, she was likely not wrong that Sousuke had something to do with this vile act against an old man. Some of her lies, even she believed to only be good guesses at this point.

“I suppose right now it doesn’t matter. You say the Kazekage has a child birthed by my lover that he claims? Something about that rubs me weird though I can’t truly say why right now. It appears what I need to do is gather back up my power to face this man. Something deep inside tells me that child is not his...but mine. If he attacked you in a rage it brings me to fear for the child, seeing first hand what my own rage is capable of...”

She could not hold back the smile providence had provided her. "I fear he has went mad a long time ago," she replied, this time having no need to tell another lie. "Sousuke has always lacked empathy, with his mechanical mindset. I have long believed him capable of emotion, something that makes him a dangerous man." In fact, it was Sousuke that once used to commonly announce the fact that he was a 'sociopath.' The title was apt and it only supported her point on this day. "But Ryuu, you do not appear to be in the midst of your youth any longer and you destroyed whatever it was that controlled you. Odei?. Perhaps, rather than defeat the Steward in combat you simply befriend him, you can surely perform a henge... your memories may be lost but I have seen your skill as what I can only assume a former shinobi. The Steward has a ego with an insatiable appetite, he often martyrs himself by claiming illness, demonstrating his genius with body armors and weapons, or by inviting even foreign strangers into his fold. A man cannot protect himself in his own home with his back turned," she shook her head. She did not know that this antediluvian look would have been something Sousuke had never seen on this nude elderly man. "He loves beautiful, mysterious and powerful things that he feels he can control."</B><i></i> She was referring to her brothers with that statement. Mikaboshi, once subjugated by Sousuke's will and bound to the Black Blade. Also, the foreign possible half-breed Senju Kazuki, for now the hope of power, authority and a home is enough to compel the dark and lovely brother but eventually Sousuke would come to fear this brother as well and how would the Ancient respond when he was being assaulted for what he 'might' do. When the risk of something worse than death or prison was hanging perilously over his head. <B>"One can easily earn his trust and surely then opportunity would present itself."

Would he be brash like he must have been in his likely distant youth and attempt to take the Steward head-on. The same man who until recently could have defeated her with only a little effort? If so, the result would be a minor nuisance she feared and she would have lost out on a meal for something no more troublesome than a glass of spilled milk. "How about we start by getting you some clothes."

 

[Toraono Michino]

A headache began to pound behind his eyes as the blonde tried to take everything in the Ancient was telling him. He sighed at all the information that was being laid before him and pondered lightly if she was telling him the whole truth. If he really had been awakened once before from hibernation and resealed away did that mean he was much too powerful to kill? It didn’t make much sense for his opponent to return him to his hibernation, especially when he felt so weak now. The chakra flow in his veins felt sluggish and his mind was in such a state of haze the fog couldn’t be lifted. His heart felt like it was racing but his blood was going nowhere. Absorbing what had remained of Odei’s soul had brought back control to his body and a little energy to move with but the emptiness of his stomach gnawed at the back of his mind and his legs shook. Taking this all end he replied after a small moment of silence,

“An attack on Sousuke right now in this state would be suicidal. I have every intention to take back what ever life that mad man has stolen from me and I will not rest until I do. I need to regain a little more of my former life and build up my power from scratch - and in secret so I do not attract his attention. It may be some time before I’m able to remerge into the politics of this place...my memory on everything is a fog and I can only see a foot ahead at any given time...”

At the mention of clothes the scientist dully nodded and began to lead them back out of the basement on his weak legs. He was completely aware of his own nudity and had been so since he awoke but the length of his hair had been sufficient enough to cover him; though he truly didn’t care.
Once at the top of the staircase he looked around at the ruined home. Nothing about it at all seemed overly familiar but every time his eyes came across the broken couch on the wall to his left his heart skipped a beat for reasons unknown to him. On pure instict he began to walk about the broken house, avoiding glass, nails and bits of rotted wood until he found himself back in what was his old room. It looked as if it had been ransacked as there were papers scattered everywhere, clothes in piles around the bed that had been broken in half, and the smell of rot. Aside from the smell this was pretty much how his house looked before the Cabal attack though he didn’t remember it yet. The elderly man shuffled across the room and opened up the closet, hacking at dust and swatting at moths as he did, and pulled down the only clothes he could find - tattered and moth eaten that they were.

After a good five minutes of fighting with his body’s weakness Tama finally managed to get his dust covered clothes on. The pants had to be held up with a belt, though he had to cut a new notch into part of it just to use it. As he began to walk out of his room his eyes caught an old torn up hat hanging on a hook next to the doorframe. Almost out of old habit he reached up and grabbed the hat before placing it over his dirty blonde hair.

Once out of his room he looked up at the woman and asked,

“What do you suggest I do? I need to let him know I’ve returned but in a way he can’t bother me until I’m more ready...perhaps...is there a medical center near by?”
While his memory wasn’t doing much to serve him there were some things that just seemed like habit to remember such as patients being undisturbed while recovering...

[OOC: Sorry for the super late post. Life gets in the way and then your mesh-screen lining inside of you decides it wants to be an ass. This topic should be coming close to an end though.]

 

[Michi]

Suna was a liar, a far from practiced one. It was not her prerogative most commonly to lie, it was an unnecessary adjustment to reality -- one that up until these past few hundred years she was in utter control of. Not anymore, as now it seemed to be not a want but rather a survival tactic to weave a web of lies where she has said so many even she is starting to forget which ones she had already told.

“An attack on Sousuke right now in this state would be suicidal. I have every intention to take back what ever life that mad man has stolen from me and I will not rest until I do. I need to regain a little more of my former life and build up my power from scratch - and in secret so I do not attract his attention. It may be some time before I’m able to remerge into the politics of this place...my memory on everything is a fog and I can only see a foot ahead at any given time...”

The old man announced. She did not recognize him in terms of the political arena. How long had he been left in that strange oblong glass box? She had assumed the better part of the past year if he was involved with Sousuke's time outside of Sunagakure, the exact time that the Cabal took as an opportunity to attack. The same attacked that ravaged the community, decimated entire portions of the community and caused one of the greatest losses of life since the slaughters that followed godsfall. She wished she knew who she was dealing with, perhaps he was a greater asset than she had previously thought or he was an overzealous nobody who would simply drag her down with his failures.

He made his way up the stairs, apparently his hair was long and thick enough to hide his shame which was sadly a likely statement regarding his endowments. All the same, it was more comfortable seeing him in clothes. Modesty was a learned trait among humans, something neither they nor Ancients were born with. He seemed frail, his clothes hung off of him like they would a rail. His face partially shaded by the brim of his hat, he did not seem to don the attire of an old man, perhaps that of his son or his grandson for that matter.

“What do you suggest I do? I need to let him know I’ve returned but in a way he can’t bother me until I’m more ready...perhaps...is there a medical center near by?”

He finally asked. She had no idea, she knew not his strengths only that he was a link to one of Sousuke's. She pondered the question for a moment, her response seemed more like a risk than a benefit to her. "Sousuke is the Steward, his reach is as far as the borders of Sunagakure. You would not be safe in these tunnels or even the newly built village on the surface. If he ordered it so, there is not a man or woman in the Medical Center who would not turn you in to him if he truly seeks you. Honestly, I think you should figure out why you were in that cell." It was a curious prison, one that she feared could have further uses that could prove problematic for her. "I would change who you appear to be,"<i></i> she recommended after another moment of thought. She of course was unaware that he had already aged himself multiple decades within a single year. He would already lack the mannerisms of the man he used to be, except for whatever was so etched onto his core that it was compulsory. Having a single preference is like claiming every woman with red fingernails was the same woman and hardly a risk. The risk came with him learning who he was. Why he was locked away. Likely an enemy of the Kazekage's, there was still the distant possibility that Ryuu was once a dear friend and ally and that his son was under the Steward's care as an act of kindness rather than cruelty. That begs to question: What of the mother? Why was he left down here alone? why was he not making an active effort to recover him?

"Sousuke was a man of science," she explained. "His greatest weakness is hubris," she added. Sousuke always held long-term vendettas against those who questioned his brilliance, his ethic, his power. "Cater to his pride, specifically in his sciences... in fact, he has taken a keen interest as of late in creating a god-killing blade. This requires the skill of a smith, a likely resurgence of the Journeyman Order and the rediscovery of a lost art that never existed..." Her voice trailed off as she made this dangerous statement, it was a rewrite on history as many knew it but in fact it actually followed history to the letter. Primus donned the armor forged by the Takahashi Clan, made of Takahashi Steel. The blade, however was not just any blade but rather Shoki -- an eternal object... deity... entity? It predated even Ancients and was a balancing force that was capable of negating, not destroying. It was never forged as far as she knew. "Yet, weapons do exist that can harm Ancients," she raised a single brow as she added "but it would be much easier to create a weapon that makes the wielder believe they are causing greater harm than they actually are." If he was a capable genjutsuist in her previous life it would be a simple task to sell the steward this fabrication. "I personally recommend learning how to poorly forge a weapon."

 

[Toraono Michino]

Though he was listening to every word of advice she spoke, Tama moved around the broken down house in search of something more sustainable for food. His mortal needs gnawed at his stomach and as he opened each cabinet, some of which broke right off their hinges, he couldn’t help but let a single tear roll down his cheek and into his dense beard. A hand reached up and wiped it away as he stared at the moisture on his fingertips in pure confusion. It was as if just being in this house was supposed to be heartbreaking for him but he had no idea why. Everywhere he turned and looked he’d see a flash of pink hair, a strange smell of flesh and desert flower, or hear the echo of genuine laughter and it was starting to get rather annoying.
A can dropped out of one of the cabinets and landed on the floor with a loud clunk. He reached down and could barely make out that it was a meat broth of some sort; well at least he had something to eat. With a little focus of chakra he was able to poke a hole into the top of the can though the force sent in caused some of the broth to splash out. Without bothering to see if the oven still worked he simply lifted the can to his lips and began to greedily drink down the protein; even if the flavor almost made him gag. Shiori’s timing was near perfect as he advice on making a weapon ended when he dropped the empty can to the floor.
Something about Sousuke being a scientist rang bells in his head. He would start seeing the odd equation float behind his eyes, numbers, the way things work and why. Just by mentioning a single word a piece of his life fell back into place and he looked down at his hands covered in dust and sweat. Tama curled them into a fist and back out again wondering if these hands had really done the things his sketchy memory was telling him. The memory of his first invention struck him - a table that could fold itself into a small box and back out again - and he knew he had the talent.

Now he had an idea and a plan. In order to get everything to start following each other in the correct order there was still much to do, though, but at the end he could very well see toppling the Kazekage’s regime and placing someone else in power that he could control. With that in place, and with a child in his care to carry on anything he wouldn’t naturally live to see, he could carry out a legacy. But was that what he really wanted? Right now it just seemed like the right thing to do given what was done to him but without true knowledge of who or even what he was he doubt he’d ever be able to live a full life. So while he was busy regaining his power he’d have to work on regaining his memories as well.
Tama’s eyes floated around the apartment looking for something else to give him a direction and they landed on a single picture on the fridge. It looked like the remnants of an exploded laboratory but there was a little message scrawled on the corner - “Love can be found in the most unexpected situations.” It looked like something worth investigating. He turned to face the Ancient who had helped him thus far and held out a hand to shake because he couldn’t think of anything else,
“I don’t know how to thank you, so I shall go about my best trying to topple this madman. Had you not come I’m sure I’d still be laying down in the dark preparing myself for death.”

If the hand was shook or not the human would take no offense before stepping over the broken glass and debris to walk through the giant hole in the front of his house. He breathed in deep, looked for a sign as to which way to go, and started heading towards the medical center out of pure instinct...

[Topic Left]

 

[Michi]

She accepted the hand in silence. He was a man worth watching more than destroying. Even if he did nothing with his vengeance, he was no threat to her. At best, he would further unravel the Kazekage. "Until we meet again doctor-stranger."<i></i> With that he departed but she lingered a short time longer. She returned to that strange basement and she ran her hands over the strange glass coffin. She sifted through the papers, equipment and refuse this science space possessed. She was not curious about the man Ryuu Tama but she was curious about the insidious threat that might be and the connections that he might have with her former cousin.

She would take her time this time. She would learn and she would beat humanity at their own ingenious games.

Topic Left -- she took with her any files she could find.