Hmm... That Sucks [Exam]

Arashi Hisame · Feb 1, 2017

The desert expanse was something hoseki found comforting. The expanse of nothingness calmed his ever running mind, but he was able to make it through the expanse and found his way to the Soon's Haven. This was a place many of his family lived. The art of creating unique crystalline structures and artworks was appreciated here more than at Sunagakure. Though his bloodline provided amazing skills for a Shinobi it was originally formed by the artist of the First Men. The ability to create crystals from the sands Mother Suna provided was a strong feat indeed. His skills were still growing but this was a place special to his lineage.

After traveling he long journey the boy found himself at the Harbor. There was more water here the an he had ever seen. This sight was awesome to say the least. The boy had came this far because he heard the Sands here were unique. Upon arriving at the beach the boy took his blue shirt up over his head and placed it on a near by log. His shoes were awaiting himy there as well. His blue shorts were the color of the deep sea as his crystal blue eyes shined like the sky. His silver hair looked to be spun from the purest ore and his eyes had as sharp feline eyeliner adorned upon them. The boys body was well toned for someone of his age, even though thousands of tiny scars were scattered across his skin.

As the boy began his practice he would shift his weight around sumooning forth the different spirals of sand up into different shapes. He could feel the abundance of rose quartz in this sand and as he would condense the tendrils into crystals spires a pinkish hue replaced his normal clear gems. The spire around him were tall and strong, few imperfections could be seen in any of their cuts. This was time for his true practice to begin. Dropping on all fours the sand would collect onto his body forming crystal claws, each blade at least 6 inches long. He was here to practice his taijutsu and not just his art. Darting from each spire he would spend what seemed like hours cutting them down before reconstructing them.

The boy's training for the day was finally done. The now messy child would slowly make his way to the waters edge, all visible crystals dissipated back into sand. Dropping to his knees and breathing heavily he would begin to use the water to wash off the dirt.

Sand Council · Feb 2, 2017

[col]Nothing happens by accident. Nothing is truly the result of random happenstance and for many this fact is comforting. That there was always a plan, even if it was something that they could not understand at the time. That there is always an end destination, even if the finish line was far from sight. This was true, however many seem to confuse the fact that 'there was a plan' with having the health and welfare of every participant at heart. I am going to let you little buggers in on a secret: the planner does not. This was nothing more than a game of chess and the only pieces in play thus far were the pawns. I am such a pawn, but I am fine with that

You see, Hoseki was sent here to Soons Haven. No reason in particular for a lone child to make the journey across dangerous terrain and no destination in mind beyond the city of walls would cause the young man to aimlessly wander. He would eventually find himself at Soons Harbor. The grey skies and inky, choppy waters were particularly dark and lovely on this day. The scent of salt and fish would make the air heavy, and the world was abuzz with noise. Such wonderful sound, this droning cacophony that refused to cease. Was that why I was there? Of course not. What sort of story would we make of that, of a Watcher that only watches.

The day was drawing late when I first arrived, beach-goers parting ways. The merchants on the docks were shuttering their shop, curfew was sunset for good reason and many of them planned to make it home with time to spare. The sounds of life would become dull, the occasional call and reply - nothing more. It was the quiet I most dreaded. It was the quiet that always preludes the terrors that would come next. There was a time, albiet it was distant and I could hardly remember when I still had a shred of humanity. When I would reject the cull, but that was a long time ago. What I dreaded was the dire sense of sadistic anticipation I would have keep from roiling over. It was painful at times.

The people did not know me, but many even after generations of domestication still had enough primal sense to leave me a large breadth. I would take my place along the shore, my long, slender blade dug into the soft, pliable earth as I simply watched. Yes, call me a pervert for watching children play. It might make you feel better about yourselves to vilify me further, but I assure you I am sick enough without your perverted fantasies. There were two that piques my interest, one was a little girl likely no older than 8 collecting shells along the shore. It was a curious sight because I saw the waves lap the shore where she was about to trod but the waters would always recede in time for her bare soles to touch the sandy floor. It was likely that she had no idea that she was chakra sensitive, potentially chock-full of untapped talent. No shoes - they could be left in drier parts Her hair a dark, unkept mess. Her clothes, tattered traditional garb. No waiting parent calling her home. It was likely that she was alone. No worries, she would not be alone much longer.

The second, a young man who was manipulated the earth around him. He was obviously a boy trained in some manner. He did not appear to be as 'poorly kept' as the little girl but he was also not much older, perhaps a year or two. My pale eyes scanned the beach. Did not look like mum was keeping a good eye on either of them. Did they simply stray too far? Were they simply trusted to go off alone? Perhaps they were alone, everone else who could or would care for them was already dead. If the later, hopefully they saw it. There was always something poetic about watching something you love wither and die. Watching something you need break into a million pieces. Hearing their final testament, burdened more with regret than victory if there was any clarity left in those last moments through the fear, pain and uncertainty.

I would wait until they were among the last that remained. The beach was already thinning. A sick grin would came across my face, twisting my bandaged features revealing a row of crooked and yellow teeth.

"She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells"

I called out to her. She would clutch her shells in the hem of her dress and approach. When she came close I would hand her a shell, it was one of those swirly ones that seemed unnecessarily complicated for a sea-critter. "Say kiddo... do you like candy?"

She nodded, her little head bobbed up and down.

My hand clapped onto her tiny, boney shoulder. "I have lots of candy, but I need you to do something for me first."[/b]

Her head continued to bob. I pointed to the the second young man and I said to her something I cannot in good conscience reveal. Those sweet nothings of course not intended for idle ears would be brief, children are not ones for drawn out romances. With a little shove she would toddle away.

"Hiya! Are you a Sandyninja? I'm Naomi!" Her voice was chipper and sweet. "Wanna be my friend?" Her little arm would then point back towards me, her index finger fully extended. "He wants to take me someplace fun but I need a friend."|

Ichi
Soverign Member

[/col]

Arashi Hisame · Feb 2, 2017

The cool salt water felt good against his hot body. Instant relief soothed his muscles as the Chakra no longer surged through them. The dark water easily washed away his sweat and filth, but the Grey skies told him a different story. Losing track of time the sun began to set and the crowds were gone. All except a girl and a man, but he paid them no mind. He was a foreigner here and he didn't want think make assumptions of the locals, no matter how odd they seemed.

Finishing up with his impromptu bath he slowly made his way back to the log he had rested his personal items on. Pulling his shirt back over his toned body and do placing his shoes back onto his feet he would hear a voice. The girl came up to him and began speaking to him. "Hello, Naomi. I'm not technically a ninja yet, I'm still in school learning how to be a real ninja.endspeech, tightening his laces he would smile at her as she asked him to be her friend. Finishing of the knot with his laces the boy chuckled a little. "Of course Naomi. My name is Hoseki, it's nice to meet you." He stood up and followed her finger to look where she was referring to.

She was pointing at a man. Well at least a beast of a man. Something about him felt off, and it wasn't just his appearance. The mummy of a man seemed dark, like Hoseki shouldn't trust him. As the boy's mind wandered the pupils of his eyes began to slit like a cat's. He would reach for the girls hand before stepping in front of her. "Do you know him? Where did he say he would take us?"

Sand Council · Feb 8, 2017

[col]"Hello, Naomi. I'm not technically a ninja yet, I'm still in school learning how to be a real ninja."

The kid had no care about the young man's physique, it would be another half-decade before she even cared. Rather the youngling seemed to be on a preemptive sugar buzz. Her smiling expression did not falter when the young man stated he was not a full-fledged shinobi. She did not really care. "That's OK, I like candy," the kid certainly has a one-track mind. She shifted her feet in the sand restlessly as she waited.

"Of course Naomi. My name is Hoseki, it's nice to meet you."

It was that man over there. The silly bandaged man with his arms crossed over his chest. He was whistling a low tune that would barely reach Hoseki's ears. He gave a curt nod in response to the little girl's gesture.

"Do you know him? Where did he say he would take us?"

"To his castle..." There was emphasis on the last word as the girl seemed to go into a dreamy state. She was probably imagining princesses and shiny armored guards, fancy ballrooms and fancy dresses. That was the usual assumption for a little girl when they heard the word castle. For a lot of little boys, it usually meant dragons. Thankfully both were mere fantasies. She would attempt to grab Hoseki by the wrist as she gave him a wide smile. "C'mon Hoseki, let's go!" she would attempt to tug him along, she was just a kid so he would not feel any substantial force behind her attempt as she used all fifty or so pounds of her to yank him in the mummified man's direction.

Success or not, the mysterious man would have something to say. "Don't you think it a bit cliche if I kidnapped some kids with hopes of candy?" His words had an incredible cadence "if I did not know any better I would think you kiddo... a Sandy."|

Ichi
Soverign Member

[/col]

Arashi Hisame · Feb 9, 2017

Hoseki realized that this girl was just that, a little girl. She heard the promise of glorious splendor from this man and she was hooked, but the boy knew better than that. Something about this man felt wrong, something was dark about him but the boy couldn't put his finger on it. He looked back to the girl with him. She would try to run off after grabbing the boy. His arm didn't move in the slightest, the boy was significantly stronger than this girl. "Naomi, we can't go with him..." his voice trailed off as he was slightly intimidated by the large man's voice.

The crystalline boy was asked if he was a Sand Shinobi. This was something he was proud of but being outside the Toarano Gates meant he wasn't being protected. Though he had skills he was still a child, and a student. He had heard of some conflict within the Wind Country but being a child most of his kin did not express how deep this conflict truly was. Looking boldly at the man the boy would step forward moving his arm in front of the girl in a protective manner. "Yeah, so what if I am?" The boy's Chakra began to fluctuate slightly slowly increasing. His crystal blue eyes would begin to shift into a more elongated pupil, much like that of a cat's.

He looked at Naomi while summoning forth a cute little kitten made of a sparkly rose quartz. The kitty cat would paw at her legs before running away from the large mummy's direction before stopping and mewing at her. "I think the kitty wants to play Naomi." Hopefully this would distract the little girl long enough for Hoseki to find away to get the two of them away from the man.

Sand Council · Feb 16, 2017

This seemed like something out of a stranger danger skit. There was a pair of kids minding their own business having a fun day on the beach, one with special magic ninja powers screwing with the tide and the sand and the other robbing the shoe of its natural treasures. Just an average day with a pair of 'normal' kids by Ninpocho standards doing what kids do when an obviously unsavory man offers them candy and paradise if they would only follow him. It was times like this that one would wish that they had parents or at least parents that took an active interest in their child's safety. Who but a negligent and awful parent would allow their child to enter a shinobi academy where their preteen child is sent on dangerous, life-threatening missions in the company of other children and perhaps if they were an important character in some imaginary story the inexplicable company of a man far above his station that has for whatever, probably not perverted reason, decided that he should spend his days in the company of under-aged children. They needed someone to tell them basic cardinal rules such as: never talk to strangers, do not take candy from strangers, and whatever you do... don't go into the white van nondescript transportation vessel.

"Naomi, we can't go with him..."

Hoseki apparently knew these rules and warned young Naomi that they should not go. Perhaps there was a part of him that knew that the bandaged stranger was a very... very bad man. It would have been better if they had come across a pervert than him. The little girl insistently tugged on his arm but he was like an unmovable stone despite not being -that- much larger than the young girl. Naomi would put all of her weight into the tug but there would be nothing. "But the mister saaaaaaid," she complained with a final tug. The kid did not have much stamina but what could one expect with an untrained little girl of her age.

The mummified man called out to Hoseki and the young girl, chiding him for his hesitation.

"C'mon Hoseki, let's go!" she repeated. Her words seemed to have a familiar cadence to them as she tugged but her efforts would be futile. Hoseki was not going anywhere. Hoseki stepped in front of her, between Naomi and Ichi.

Ichi called out to him, his words seemed to have an upbeat tempo and maintain a rhyme. Hoseki seemed to stiffen, if that was even possible as he stepped in front of Naomi with an arm extended.

"Yeah, so what if I am?"

The defiant and potentially foolhardy youth replied. He would be able to feel the little girl wiggle behind him. "Because the sandy wants candy!" the little girl sang. She would then erupt into playful laughter, but there was something troubling about the way she laughed.

"You are just such a curiosity. And I... this monstrosity. And then there is dear Naomi here, such a good girl... I am sure you do not want her to disappear." Ichi smiled through his layers of worn bandages, exposing his crooked yellowed teeth. His gaze seemed to hold something sinister.

The little girl seemed utterly clueless about the danger they were in despite Hoseki's warnings. With an array of handseals a crystalline creature of the feline variety was made. Likely some sort of quartz given the sands they were standing on were his probable source. It let out a strange cat-like sound that would pique any little girl's interest. "I think the kitty wants to play Naomi." The small, playful cat-like simulacrum bounded off along the shore along the water's edge.

A low guffaw would escape Ichi's chapped lips. "Yes, I agree. Naomi... You should run along and play." Hoseki would hear laughter erupt behind him as she little girl bounded off after the crystal kitten. "Fear not young sandynin, it won't be I that leads you astray." He took a step in Hoseki's direction, there was a maddened gleam in his eyes. Curiosity is indeed what has killed the cat; one would have hoped that the cat was just provoked in such a way that they became curious to see what death was like, having no cause to go on licking paws... A cat minority of one is all that can be counted on to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is what the loving do, and that dead dogs are those who do not know that dying is what, to live, each has to do." It was then that the little girl stopped frolicking in the sand and looked out to the sea, one dirty foot after the other she trod into the waters.

Arashi Hisame · Feb 16, 2017

Hoseki chuckled to himself softly as it appeared the man would take a step closer. Not caring that he was only a child the boy had pride on his skills as a shinobi. The cat-eyed boy could feel the evening breeze come in up from the coast. The cooling salty air danced along the sand making the small particles of debris twirled through its moving pressure. The boy was focusing his Chakra through his system readying himself for battle.

" Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I can assure you that satisfaction is what brought him back, " The boy ended his statement with a quick thumb to his chest. Proudly gesturing the himself. " Even if the cat dies in your scenario, that cat isn't me!" His ear perked as he heard the girl dart into the water.

What was this? The way the man was speaking made it seem almost like he had something to do with it. Was this genjutsu? Regardless the boy needed to stop her. Another quick waive of handseals later a clone of Hoseki would come forth from the water, being created from the muddy sand below. The clone would attempt to grab the girl before darting back towards the village.

Turning his gaze back to the man the young Kes'Hoshi blood began to boil from within Hoseki. A whisper slipped through his breath "Kesshogan...." His eyes pulsated with Chakra shifting them to look identical to that of a cats. The bright blue irises were cut in half by a slotted pupil which allowed the boys vision to pick up on the smallest of details. The young boy could see every speck of sand clearly allowed to drifted along the shore line's breeze. The crystal cat now came closer to the Kes'Hoshi and the quartz creation slowly grew as sand spiraled around it adding more mass until it was the size of a fully grown cheetah.

His eyes locked on the man. " What do you want with me?" Sand trickled up to his fingers as elongated claws began the grow. Six inch blades grew from the tip of his finger during which crystals also formed around his knuckles the latch the claws time is hands.

Sand Council · Feb 19, 2017

Ichi

Dream Weaver

"Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I can assure you that satisfaction is what brought him back... Even if the cat dies in your scenario, that cat isn't me!"

Indeed, it was not Hoseki. It was her.

She bounded off into the water, the rough salty waters would splash as they hit her misting her face. She was heading to deeper, darker waters. That was dangerous! She seemed undeterred as she let out a childish laugh and trudged onward, her colorful dress getting weighed down by the waters. From behind the little girl something churned within the mire. A pair of long, dark earthen arms would reach above the choppy waters along with a face that seemed to resemble that of a melted plastic doll but the dropping features would quickly resolve giving the muddy creation an uncanny resemblance to the young man on the beach. An arm would reach out to her and attempt to encircle her wrist, but it was too far, too slow or perhaps the waters were simply too rough. But it would try again, its long, moist fingers would encircle her tiny wrist and pull her back from the chest deep waters.

The little girl did not fight the clone, in fact the did not respond. She continued to try and walk forward, whispering softly "it is time to play..." over and over again. As the clone tried to draw her back, it would feel the resistance of the waters as well as her continued trek into dangerous seas. She would get no further and she would find herself slowly being drawn back by the mud-clone. Her bare feet would slide uselessly over the sand. "The Mister said it is time to play..."

"To be truly curious is dangerous enough." Ichi continued, his dull eyes rested on Hoseki.

What a pretty kitty cat. A vertical slit in both of his azure eyes long claw-like blades extended off the tips of his fingers like blades. A low rumbling guffaw as his incantation focused on the nekozuka?

"What do you want with me?"

"To distrust what is always said, what seems to ask odd questions, to interfere in dreams." Like the ones that he was weaving. The manifestation of something terrible as a cold wind started to blow and the sky became dark. "Curiosity will not cause you to die-- only lack of it will." A fog would start to roll in, obscuring the waves and the view of the young girl and the clone that tried to pull her to safety. A laughter would erupt through the obscurity and then something would step forth through the fog.

[[Insert your PC's worst fear here]]

"Never to want to see the other side of the hill or that improbable country where living is an idyll, but truth be told an actual hell."

The little girl let out a scream. "Where am I! Who are you!"[/glow] There was something different about the young girl that Hoseki's clone had a grip on, she would swat at the clone that held her and like all mudclones it would disperse back to the mire it came from but it would not be long before it reformed. She let out another scream and she splashed away from Hoseki's clone, "Monster!" Away, towards deeper and more dangerous waters. It was hard to swim, the waters made her dress heavy but her toes could just barely touch bottom but as the waves came they washed over her face, the briny water attempting to invade her mouth and her nose. She would let out a cough and a shiver, the waters were cold but they always were even on the warmest of days.

"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all."[/glow] There was a pause "and what I want from you is a chance to tell a rousing tale because words have true power." On this he was right. Words begin and end wars. They create and destroy families. They break hearts. They heal them. If you have the right words, there's nothing on earth you can't do. So what tales would this encounter make? What powers would it awake?

OC: Yes, time to fight -something- It may sound small being under 10K HP but I assure you that not everything threatening has to have 6 or more digits.

Arashi Hisame · Feb 25, 2017

((OoC: sorry for the delay I'll be working on my post today for you))

Hmm... That Sucks [Exam]

Arashi Hisame

New Member

Sand Council

Sand Event NPC

Arashi Hisame

New Member

Sand Council

Sand Event NPC

Arashi Hisame

New Member

Sand Council

Sand Event NPC

Arashi Hisame

New Member

Sand Council

Sand Event NPC

Arashi Hisame

New Member