House of Gold [Tao, Open]

[Zethui Kobayashi]

Zenichi had found a small but elegant tavern. It was strange the things you will crave when living a blight life. When he was younger, he had hated the mere smell of alcohol. Wine, Run, Gin, it was all revolting. He remembered the first time he tried alcohol, it was a shot of whiskey. The urge to vomit outshined the euphoric feeling of the spirits. As he got older though, he never really liked alcohol but would find himself drinking it none the less. It was a cheap escape from reality, a way to calm his nerves from a long day. He wold watch older generations drink Sake as if the plums fell straight from a branch into their drinking saucers. He couldn't imagine growing accustomed to such a sour taste.

As he lived the starving artist life in Moon, he was forced to drink home made wine. Zenichi called it Double Burning Dragon because it burned your throat and then burned your belly. It was horrible but a means to an end. He didn't want to drink it but sorrow dictated his actions, not desire. As he trekked to Stone, up rigorous passages and through steep valleys, his body seeped all of the poison from his pours. It made his muscles weak from withdraw and his mind would go mad with a yearning. Zenichi couldn't bring himself to drink the swill anymore, he was done with such crude things and wouldn't sink to such lows. As he laid beneath a blanket of stars, he dreamed of a refined spirit that slowly crept into ones mind, avoiding all the taste.

Bartender, Give me something smooth and light. I want to feel it before I taste it.

He sat upon the stool, glaring at his world worn face and picked at some dried edamame peas before him. A pianist played a slow melody for entertainment in the background and someone's perfume lingered in the air. He knew he was out of place here but knew he had to find a magic elixir to calm his nerves once again

 

[Ryu Hime]

Getting a job look like a horse was rather difficult, but it does help to have a little musical talent. Ryu had two little ponies under her command that took several odd jobs playing in different place. Shino played mostly in night clubs where there’s a nice strong beat you can dance to. Tavi was a proper mare that preferred the elegance of the classical style of music. She too played music that one can dance to, but more civil ones like waltz. This bar was a little below her standers but, Shino was not going to touch this job. To Shino if the floor ain’t shaking from the beat, the music not loud enough.

Tavi was a grey haired mare with a black mane. A treble clef was branded into her hide and severed like a tattoo. Some of the residents didn’t even notice that she was a pony because they were just that drunk. Soon after Zenchi makes his order she sits at the piano and begins with Fur Elis. Despite having hoofs instead of hands she played majestically. Hopefully some of the people here will be kind and leave a little yen in the tip jar that sat on the piano as she played.
[Ooc: Hope you don't mind me entering]

 

[Tao]

A night as particular as this didnt come too often, Tao was requested to go and invastigate some imoral operations going on through on of the taverns in Maruishi where from what the intel said they were some claims of seeing shady figures walking in and out the tavern always on the same hour and same day of the week, like clockwork. A tavern was not exactly Tao's cup of tea, he was known between his peers that he was not a drinker but for some reason he was asked to do that job anyway, just a sneak peak to see if the rumors were true. He walked into the tavern and looked around for a short while, the people sitting around, chatting and drinking their drinks seemed odd to him, but then again, he never actually been to a place like this before. The atmosphere was quite welcoming, especially from the melodic tune that could be heard in the background of an increadible piano preformance. Knowing that he had to do something other than block the entrance he decided he need to change his position, the bar seemed like a nice enough place to sit, it was wide and not too crowded along with a person who was serving drinks and the people who were served by him.

Tao sat at one of the stools and pulled his sleevs back so that they wont cover his hands while he placed them on the counter, then he had to do something to blend in... Something to blend in...... Blend in.... He raised his hand slightly to grab the bartender's attention

"Excuse me sir, can I get a glass of... Um... What he is drinking?"

He spoke and pointed at the person sitting to his right, he seemed like quite a character, definatly different than what he's used to see around here, he could as well be the shady person that appeared in Tao's report.

"Pardon me sir, but have I seen you somewhere?"

He spoke as he turned to his right, adressing the person sitting right beside him. There couldn't be a way Tao knew this man, he never met him or anyone quite like him in his life, not since that person he saw in the gates that called himself Kuromaru. He hoped he could engage in a conversation with this man just for the sake of getting more information regarding the insident he have been called for, but then again, his interest was peaking towards this stranger who seems to have quite good stories to tell since after all, the only people he knew were people from this village... Aside from the towns he visited back when he was still a slave.

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

The bartender sat against the shelves that housed the hundreds of liquor bottles. He wore a funny bow tie that his manager insisted that he wear. He personally hated it but the tips made it worth the hideous costume. The small things wore on him though. He noticed early on that most of the customers fell into one of three categories. The first was the lonely. Horny people were a subcategory of these people. They came here to find someone to help the escape the loneliness they lived. The second were the miserable who found that liquor numbed the pain that life dealt in spades. The third were the rarest ones. The one who didn't belong there. Most of the time, the third were there to meet up with friends or attend a business meeting. They seemed awkward and not able to get comfortable. While a horse who could play piano would make just about anyone uncomfortable, the bartender could notice them a kilometer away. He was always curious about them since they usually had a story to tell. He grabbed the most expensive drink on the wall to evoke a response from the two strangers.

Separate or together? Do you want me to start a tab?

Zenichi heard the light melody pierce the air. It was instantly calming. He could see how drinking here could have its charm. He took a hold of the drink an gave it a small sniff before taking a swig. It went down smooth but still had a horrible taste. He was surprised that there was no escaping that the body's instinct was to reject poisons. He sipped it none the same since it was leagues better than Double Burn Dragon. As Zenichi listened and drank, he wondered if the newcomer was going to introduce himself. While he waited, he turned to the left to marvel at the piano player. He rubbed his eyes a few times in disbelief of what he saw. A horse was playing the piano. Zenichi raised his drink to inspect it. Hallucinating wasn't uncommon when drinking but he had barely drank half the glass, it was too early to be seeing things.

As he looked back at the horse, he still couldn't believe his eyes. To attempt to disband his disbelief, he grabbed a handful of peanuts. Forming the shape of an O with his thumb and middle finger. With a flick of his finger, he sent one single Peanut flying through the air, hitting the Horse in the head. It wouldn't hurt and would probably go unnoticed. To insure maximum reaction, he continued flickering peanuts towards the Horse's position while answering the strangers question.

I have traveled many places, done many things. It is hard to say if you had seen me somewhere before. I make it a habit to not make friends where ever I go.

 

[Ryu Hime]

As Tavi begins to ends her piece she is hit with a peanut which cause her to mess up slightly. She looks out the corner of her eye she sees the man doing it, but if she wants to be paid she must remain calm and keep playing. She is then struck by another peanut. Okay then, this means war. She plays her next piece, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which had a much faster tempo. Her eyes changed to a crimson red and three tomoe begins to appear as she activates her sharingan. With this doujutsu she could better calculate the trajectories of the bothersome projectiles zooming at her and respond accordingly. Her tail sways to the melody like a conductor’s baton, which batted away some of the flying peanuts like an annoying mosquito. Of course she must cautious with her defense or she may end up hitting someone else with a peanut, which would not be good. So, those she deflected went straight up and fell into the tip jar. Those that she didn’t knock of course she evaded by moving her head forward or backwards; there was no on the other side off her, just a wall two feet away. She wonders how long the man would keep this up. Will he start flicking other things? Will she need to activate Mangekyou Sharingan if he decides to rapid fire? May The Five help us, if she is forced to use one of the elements to protect herself from harm. Hopefully someone will stop him before it get that far out of hand.

[MFT]

 

[Tao]

Tao looked at the bartender who was preparing their drinks, Tao got one of these wide glasses with a large chunck of ice in the middle surrounded by a light brownish liquid. He raised the glass and sniffed it a bit, the smell seemed off, something he was unfamilier with. He looked at the man who was sitting next to him drinking and he figured that he should have at least a sip as well, so thats exactly what he did. He felt the warmish liquid slide through his throut and gets disintigrated inside of him, but then something happened, his face reddened a bit and as he opened his mouth what seemed to be a thin layer of steam coming out of it slowly, the steam would dissolve almost immidietly as soon as it escaped his body but it was still visible nonetheless. Tao quickly put the glass on the table, confused by what just happened and as he tried to move his head slowly towards the man, it moved instantly and agressively to his left. He saw in the background a four legged creature playing the piano and having something thrown at it, from it's angle he could have guessed that it was the working of the man who was sitting next to him. The creature fasinated Tao quite a bit, it was... Different, something he couldnt classify as a human or a beast or even an insect, it was... Strange. He rubbed his eyes and then looked again, it was still there, playing the piano and having peanuts flicked at it. His attention was caught by that thing to the extent where the surrounding began to blur out a bit. He than snapped back the moment the stranger talked, explaining how he have been to verious places but never made any friends there.

"You... I... I'm sorry... I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Tao and I'm here... On a super secret mission... But shhhhhhhh, dont tell anyone about it"

Tao spoke and without even realizing it his tones just kept going up, luckily enough he didnt start shouting, but he was acting weird, that was a fact. He didnt get what happen or what caused him to act this way, but it probably had something to do with that liquid he drank moments ago.

"T-that... Hourse... Is it your friend?"

At this point Tao didnt even manage to make any sense of what he was saying, he just spoke whatever came to mind. He slid the glass away from him a bit further, it was appearent that he didnt like what he drank and that it has taken effect on him in some way.

"Hey you! Pianoist! You... Want some of this brown stuff too?"

Tao shouted at the horse playing piano while waving his hand up high to grab it's attention, he was acting on pure impulse now.

[MFT]

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

As Zenichi threw the peanuts, he started to smile with joy. It was a challenge to hit the Horse, furthering his belief that this was a hallucination. He was even further convinced when he saw the Sharigan on the horse. Playing the fool's game, he quickly activated his own Sharigan and tried even harder to peg the equestrian nightmare from the keys. It would seem that the liquor was effecting his new acquaintance too. His words were slurred and he seemed to have lost his composure. Zenichi could remember many a dumb founded nights of talking to coconuts and palm trees. He laughed a little bit at the kid and wanted to have a little bit more fun with him.

Secret Mission huh? Well, I think your secret is safe with me. I am Zenichi of Konohagakure

Zenichi was getting invested in pegging the hallucination, a child like joy was making his smile wider with each projectile. He wondered if he was sober, would be realize that he was throwing at an silly object like a painting or door chime. All of this abruptly ended though when Tao asked him if the horse was his friend. If the query had come a moment sooner, he might have be able to keep a last peanut from sailing through the air. He was positive that he had used the power of his Sharigan to nail the horse squarely in the center of its head.

Have you ever pissed off a Horse before?

 

[Ryu Hime]

Oh no, Tavi saw that her opponent also possessed the sharngan. A match between doujutsu was likely to end badly, so perhaps a change of strategies is in order. Tavi was about to put up a barrier when some man comes up to her and asks if she wanted a drink. Distracted she didn’t see the peanut coming and it hits her straight between the eyes. The shot causes her to fall off her stool and the bartender seemed to be concerned. He asks if she was alright. “Yes, yes I’m fine. I think I’ll take my lunch break now.” The bartender nods and goes back to serving people drinks. Tavi rubs her head; that guy really hit her good. He even knocked her so well her sharingan deactivated. She get’s up on all four and address the man. “No thank you, I don’t drink that swill.” She didn’t think he should be drinking it either; especially considering he seems to be drunk already. “It does not agree with my stomach. The name is Tavi by the way. So are you friends with the annoying Uchiha?” Tavi really hoped the other man would not continue to pelt her with peanuts now that she was no longer playing.

 

[Tao]

Tao looked at the man who was shooting peanuts at the horse, the man called himself Zenichi of Konohagakure, a name Tao most centrainly wasnt familier with, Tao blinked and like a badly edited film quite some time passed, he wasnt sure how he got to stand next to the horse thing nor was he sure what was going on around him, what he was sure of however was that the drink he injested sure pulled one hell of a trick on him, he was confused and disorianted, his judgement was off and so was his posture, he for some reason was constantly leaning to his right to the extent where his body would tilt right until it was almost out of balance.

Friend... I dont know... Am I?"

Tao asked, he wasnt sure what was going on anymore, but something was urging him even more than that. The identity of the man named Zenichi and the horse thing, he have never seen people with eyes quite like these before, they were red, almost bloody. At first he thought that maybe it was something genetic but then he came to realize that maybe they were injured. The horse's eyes came back to normal once he came to, but the man's eyes were still as red as before. Instinctly Tao flashed out a heavy string of handseals at a surprisingly fast pace considering his current condition and then shot his hands forward toward the man's head. His palms were glowing and streams of light began to flow intensively along them like ribbons wrapping lunching themselves at the man's face attempting to wrap his head. Behind Tao a figure began to manifest out of pure chakra in a vivid white, if they could see past it's glow it'd seem almost like a female human with wings slowly wrapping around him and smiling above Tao but in reality it was just his chakra rushing out at an intensive pace. That didnt happen to him often, normally he could control it way better but now his body was acting strange. Tao's chakra then suddenly stopped and the image shattered, the light vanished and the streams disappeared, if the jutsu would hit and take affect, it'd give a warm sensation of relief and calmness, would most likely eliminate migranes and pain from the surfaces it'd touch.

[OOC: sorry guys for the, erm, blankish post, kinda out of it lately]
[Jutsu used: Angelic Blessing]

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

Score

Zenichi hadn't meant to hit the horse once he realized it wasn't a hallucination. But the inpact the peanut had on the horse was something that anyone would be proud of. The Sharigan slowed down time so he could take in every morsel of delight in the dominoe effect that a single peanut created. As the peanut sailed through he air, his drunken stranger friend had made his way to the piano. Almost as if they were working as a team, Tao asked it a question so that it would turn his head. That is when the fun began. As it's long face turned, the peanut hit its bulls-eye right at the bridge of it's nose. The horse’s eyes shot wide open in disbeleif as it was forced back by its sheer velocity. Slowly it fell from its chair straight onto its ass. All the talent in the word couldn’t make up for the ungraceful way it had managed to land. The sad part was that he was the only one not drinking but the first one on the floor. Zenichi gave a deep laugh at the series of unfortunate events and truly felt bad for being the cause of it. But he wasn’t sorry because it was a spectacle to be witnessed and would have a great story to tell for years to some.

As Zenichi stood up to offer a hand to the fallen pianist, Tao seemed to fly into several perfectly executed hand seals. Zenichi was caught off guard by this because if the man was truly intoxicated, how could he be so flawless performing signs? By the third handseal, Zenichi realized that he was casting a Medical ninjutsu. He seemed to be healing a Horse with an incredible powerful jutsu. This night just took a turn into Strangeville. Soon, a white aura came towards Zenichi which caught him off guard. He had no idea why the guy was attacking him but suddenly felt overly warm. Zenichi didn't react well to it. Though it didn't hurt him in the least, the action seemed aggressive. Zenichi flared his Fire element aura, seeming to catch the medical jutsu on fire itself, an common Icarus. Strangly , the alcohol effect was completely gone.

I can promise you that am no Uchiha. I loved one once but that's as close as I have come.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Tavi blinks a few times unsure if what she is seeing is true. The man seems to have created an angel with wings of flame hugging Zenchi in a warm embrace. She could tell it was a healing jutsu far stronger than any she could perform. Now that she thinks about it; why was he healing him? She was the one the fell from being struck by a peanut. It should be her receiving the angelic embrace. However the sight was so beautiful that she could not complain but instead she compliments it with her own healing jutsu to herself. She begins to sing

When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.
​

As she sings an emerald aura forms around her, it gathers around her back and stretches out. Its forms and takes shape into ethereal wings much like the angel’s. The wings then wrap around her body in a loving embrace. Any injuries she had would be healed almost instantly. With the end of her song the wings would vanish. Tavi was a very musical pony with most her justu conjured by instrument or song.

 

[Ryu Hime]

[left topic due to inactivity]

 

[Tao]

[OOC: I'm very sorry for the dellay]

Tao didnt realize it but his jutsu started catching ablaze making the once angelic figure seem almost demonic, fortunatly enough the healing jutsu still healed much faster than the flames would hurt the man, or at least that way it seemed to Tao. He stopped the chakra flow instantly and the streams of firy light seemed to fall apart and disintigrated in mid air. He also didnt manage to notice yet but the horse-like... Thing began to glow with greenish emerald light during the time Tao was healing Zenichi. Tao stumbled and fell back, not out of surprise or anything of that sort but mear lose of balance, hitting his rear pretty hard, but he didnt seem to feel anything, he wasnt even aware that he fell on the ground at that point either, but he already knew that the drink he ingested earlier took quite a toll on him and at that point the first intelligant thought went through his mind, he had to recover from that, several methods passed through his mind, he could try to heal himself, but as a matter of fact, he didnt know if he could heal that, it wasnt an external injury, his shell wasnt damaged at all nor was there any defregmation surfacing or crystalizations forming from his skin, so he was clueless on what he could actually do on his own. He felt slightly heavier than before, he had a hard time getting up, he tried to pull himself up by using tables and stools that were near by, but he only managed to tip them over instead of lifting himself up, so he stretched out his arm towards the person he just healed so that he could maybe help him up, he didnt even consider asking for help, it never even occured to him that he could speak, he just sat there silently, looking up with an arm that tries to reach the man to maybe grab him and pull himself up that way or letting him help Tao up instead.

[MFT]

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

Zenichi felt like he was in a carnival of sorts. A dancing, singing horse and a clown that seemed to trip over air. Zenichi was having a blast, smiles and laughter seemed to take the edge off from the road. He knew that the alcohol in his system was playing its part in raising his spirits but it would seem that every bottle came with a friend. He listened to the joyous sounds the horse made while he offered a hand to Tao, using the solid connection to use Poison Extraction on both of them. Being a little buzzed seemed to put Zenichi into a fine mood but Tao seemed to be falling apart because of it. Since he was on a mission, this couldn't be working in his favor.

Here's a hand brother. Maybe you should stick with the juice instead of the hard cider.

As he helped pat off a few specks of duct lining the man's coat, Zenichi noticed that the Horse had left. Wondering if he had done something to offend the abomination. He saw sure that flying peanuts didn't help in making new friends. Zenichi drew in close so that his voice would be nothing more than a whisper

I hope your mission wasn't to spy on that weird horse-thing. It would seem that he left.

 

[Tao]

Tao slowly got up thanks to Zenichi's help and suddenly his senses began to come back to him, he wasnt sure what just happened but it seemed like that substance he injested began to leave his body or break apart. He nodded silently at Zenichi's gesture regarding the drinks, he should never drink again, that will only do harm for him, now he knew that. But then he leaned in and whispered to him that if his mission was to spy on the horse, then the horse has left. Now that he was thinking about it, the horse was fitting the description of his target, a suspecious looking person... But was a horse considered a person, that got him in a loop of considering the different angles of the argument, he decided that he had to stay, maybe if he did he'd find the intended target if that horse thing was... He now began to consider if the horse was real or not, considering it to be his target began to seem quite odd to him, but since Zenichi was mentioning it to him, then the horse must be real, but when was the last time he saw a horse playing piano, or having red eyes, or humans having red eyes in general, he began to get very confused.

"Umm... Excuse me but... Was there a horse here... Are you completely sure about that?"

Tao who have come to his senses not too long ago began to question if anything that happened after he drank that brown liquid was actually real, maybe he was dreaming or maybe he was halusinating... It could also be a shared illusion like what Nao used to do. He was put in a tough position since his mind was compremised. Tao looked around, the people around him stopped laughing a while ago and are now engaging their discussions as before, like nothing happened, but then, maybe nothing did happen after all.

"I must also ask... During the time we were here, did you by any chance... Had red eyes?"

Once the sentence was complete Tao noticed how rediculous that question was, to any sane person Tao would seem quite weird and maybe even somewhat random, but in an akward way.

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

I can see where you could be mistaken. I thought that it was a drunken hallucination myself. I don't even know how a horse can do a B - Fm stretch with hooves. But none the less, it was real

Zenichi needed to remember the name of that liquor. It was potent stuff. It left a resonating heat in his belly that would be well spent in preparation for slumber. Slumber that Zenichi was getting closer and closer to wanting. But the awkward man before him seemed as out of place as a horse playing piano. He was deeply curious to what this man was doing here on a mission.With no visible village headband, it would seem as if he were a kid playing kid games. His ignorance of the way of the ninja was more pronounced once he asked about Zenichi's Sharigan eyes. He wasn't sure if the man was joking at first. When a look of embarrassment crossed his eyes shortly after asking, Zenichi saw an interesting story in the making. To answer his question, Zenichi activated his Sharigan once more, only it was for more than a prop. Instead, the Sharigan transforms into Mangekyou Sharigan, then he cast Tsukiyomi upon Tao.

Soon, the center of his eye would swirl into a red maelstrom of raging waters. The bar would blank out and the two would find themselves on a single island at the center of the maelstrom. As if trapped in a blood hurricane, the two would be able to talk for hours in a matter of minutes. Here, he could get the truth out of this guy without anyone else knowing.

I carry the power of the Sharigan. It's one of the most powerful Doujutsu in the shinobi world. Anyone with a bit of ninja training would be able to identify it as well as it's weakness. Who are you then if you are here on a "Mission" but don't have much ninja training?

 

[Tao]

Tao saw the man's eyes turn red again and the pupil morph its shape quite oddly, suddenly the room broke apart, everyone fell out and he was cast out into a storm which lead him to a small deserted island, surrounded by red water and it rose up like a whirling wall, like a storm surrounding them and isolating them from the world. He could barely believe his eyes, but he knew that something like that could not be true, not by far, he has already expirienced a similar sensation before dealt to him by Nao, it was an illusion, thats all it could be at least, there was no other way to explain what just happened, but now he began to think that everything that happened ever since he sat by that stool was an illusion as well, no way was there a horse with red eyes like his playing the piano, no way would Tao even allow himself to injest such a liquid, everything began to make sense, this man was the source of everything he saw and felt for the past hour. But then he started question Tao, he called it the power of his Sharingan, a term Tao never heard before, a powerful Doujutsu, probably a type of technique, which he wasnt familier with but he did nail something quite well, he knew that Tao was not well versed in the shinobi world, not as much as he would like to be at least.

"Why would you automatically assume I must have been trained to the point of mastery in the ninja arts before taking on missions? I also never said that the mission was ever senctioned by the goverment either..."

He paused, was it really okay for him to speak so much and spill out information like that? For some reason he couldnt help it, maybe he was still under the effect of some sort of illusion that forces him to speak, he wasnt completely sure.

"If you must know who I am, I'm part of an organization called Kagerenmei, we exist to create peace in the world, and currently there were supposed to be some indeviduals who stop said peace from happening, I'm here only to gather information regarding that."

Now he have done it, he told a complete stranger the objective of his mission, probably one of the most foolish moves he have ever made, he couldnt say he trusted this guy, on the countrary, its very hard to trust a monstar that can alter one's preception by throwing them into illusions, but he was speaking without his will, or at least thats what he thought.

[MFT]

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

Zenichi listened to the words of the would-be spy. His words seemed true, even if they were preposterous. Ideals like peace weren't anything new for nations and organizations. What made his plight seem like a fool's dream is the fact that he was ill prepared for harboring any kind of change through peace without the basic tools of the Shinobi world. He seemed genuine in his resolve but lost in the voyage. Zenichi knew that Tao was the kind of person that would be pliable in helping him achieve his own selfish goals.

I assume that any mission a person is on withing the gates of Suna would somehow be aligned with the local government, even if it's intentions were to over throw it. To be a rogue element within these gates would be fool hardy. To do it without the same skill set or better would be suicidal. How can you defend yourself against the weakest of the shinobi forces without an equally keen edged weapon? You can gather as much intel as possible but you would be able to do very little with it unless you can hold your ground.

That is unless you can pay someone to be your attack dog.

Zenichi allowed those words to set in. He wasn't sure about what funds they had available but had to assume that this was an organization with more money than sense. Their ideals seemed to steam from the elitist types who sat around the lounge rooms smoking fat cigars and talking about how they were better than everyone else.

 

[Zethui Kobayashi]

Topic Left due to inactivity