How Resourceful!

[Takahashi Aki]

Okibi's healing process was timely, but it was not as dramatic nor complex as what Sousuke went through. Prime Diamund administered the Emeraldeon but didn't use a portion as big as she did for Sousuke. Secondly the crushed bits were not inhaled, there were spread upon her wounds. Suffice to say not only did the healing take well, she was at a loss over Sousuke's improved nature or temperament. To the Steward he found it slightly awkward but then again Okibi was one of the people who knew him best.

Thus the grouping of them took to the surface with breather and what spare equipment provided. Ken had joined them shortly and he took them up. The Steward looked skyward trying to find a cluster of the Skyward Sirens. "Well now."</I><i></i> He shifted his gaze from left to right. "You can't see a forest for the trees, but you can see the sky for the birds."<i></i> He attempted a joke. While it wasn't exactly the funniest, it truly would have seemed that underneath his breather he was grinning.

"Hur. Hur."<i></i> Ken laughed, or made noises that could be understood as laughter. "Ken like Steward's joke. Ken will remember it."<i></i> The Steward climbed up the insect's arm and went up to the horn. He had underneath some cloth the Grim Ward. As he reached highest point of the horn he removed the Ward from it and placed it on the horn. As the Steward stood there, a swarm of something could be seen coming towards Ken.

<I>"Coming in at north north west ... moving at 40 kilometres per hours ... our foe. Is it a bird? Is it a demon? No it's our ticket to getting back to Suna ... or part of it. Well, in particular it's more of resources that we'll be using to " Sousuke would announce as he prepared for battle. He conjured the ebon blade in one hand, and in his others he began to gather plasma chakra.

 

[Okibi]

Upon waking up, Okibi had been surprised to find herself in the midst of trees, or any real vegetation at all. The last she remembered they were in the middle of the dry desert, with nary a cactus to be seen, riding under the wings of Sousuke's giant beetle. For a moment, she thought they'd somehow made it back into Sand, and more specifically the underground forest that sat on its outskirts in a giant cavern all its own. But, when realizing the grotto she was in was considerably smaller, and seeing Prime Diamund in all her rock and crystal glory, she knew they werent home.

Her son had been sitting next to her, patting her arm softly with a worried look on his face. "Mama." He whined softly. Okibi smiled and pat his head, grimacing as she prepared herself to sit up and bear the pain of the wound in her stomach. The grimace quickly turned into a look of surprise when she found she could sit up with ease, not even a twinge in her side. She looked down and patted at her stomach with her metal hand, blinking as if she were seeing things when she saw no cauterized wound.

She was going to ask what had happened but the arrival of a tall, rather muscular man in a mask cut her off. He looked at her and Prime as if he knew them, and started talking to the ape in a further familiar manner. Okibi frowned, looking the male over. Where had this stranger come from?

She didnt have time to speculate about that either as before she knew it she was being hauled to her feet by the stranger and a mask similar to his own was being forced on her face. Okibi only struggled for a moment, unthreatened by the males actions as none of them came with a hint of hostility. The way he handled her, while quick and efficient, was strangely gentle. That, and Prime's lack of reaction to the male told her that he was someone she trusted. That was good enough for the time being.

As the man in the mask started to haul her away from the earthen ape and her son, she turned in mid stride, walking in an awkward sideways gait. "Please look after him for me Grandmother Ape!"

When they broke out on the surface and Okibi saw Ken waiting for them, she looked sideways at the masked man once more, still confused. He knew Prime, and apparently he also knew Ken, yet he didnt look, sound, or smell like anyone she knew. After climbing onto the giant beetles back and listening to him as he looked for some sort of 'sirens', Okibi pulled her mask up for a moment (despite the diamond sand whipping around them) and glared at the stranger. "Who the hell're you?"

 

[Enatsu]

Sousuke's adaptation to his condition wasn't what Hiku was expecting. Clearly the Steward had undergone something but beyond having more personality, a stronger voice, and seemingly better medical health with a more toned frame to accompany him. Yes this Sousuke had indeed been improved. He wondered how deep the power of the Origin Mist went. More prodding questions arose, such as it's source, why ti could do the things it did. The drawbacks of one who does not take well to the exposure. Is it as lethal as death or do they become a creature of unseen proportions? Was this the only change that would happen to the Steward or was there more to come?

While Sousuke and Ken attended to navigation and detection Hiku prepared for the battle. He would unseal the Captain Puppet and a chamber on his back would open. An obscenely large scroll would be expelled which he would promptly strap to his back. These two tools were essential for his battle if he planned on doing anything to the enemy. They would likely be facing a horde, until they could find the Matriarch and put her down. Personally Hikuidori wanted to turn her into a puppet first. This would be a grand moment to attempt his technique on a living creature other than a human. The shrieks however, was something he was not looking forward to.

The puppeteer finished the preparations, just in time for Sousuke's "funny". While it was hardly funny, the response from Hiku might have been even weirder. "..Hmmmphhhhmmm.. Did you just make a joke?" He was trying to hold back his laughter but even he a bare excuse of a human could hold the composure. A burst of chuckles would follow behind his holding. "Oh my mother.. I can't even contain it. To hear you, -you- of all people make a joke. This... definitely suits you better Sousuke." It wasn't like Sousuke exhibited emotion often, his words had always sounded more like a scientific analyzation than conversation. This was like one of those rare moments in history.

While it was all fun and laughter for now, things would surely change as the Steward made moves to reveal the Grim Ward a crude but effective contraption that could draw the creatures attention. It would only take moments before they would catch a glimpse of what was truly ahead. "Captain Frame, Hawkeye Mode." The puppet's optics would glow as it began to zoom in on it's targets. The visuals were a two way link allowing Hiku to see what it saw. They were gigantic birds, with a large eyes, but these eyes looked more human than avian. Their wings were structured more like a giant pair of hands. These creatures were far from normal, the very physical make-up begged questions about their true capabilities. Could those "wings" if you could even call them that, still be used for grabbing rather than their talons? Okibi came into the picture wondering who her surrogate father was. The change in his person made this a very logical question. To break the ice quickly Hiku would address him before they went into battle.

Sousuke had already produced his black blade and the plasma like energy he was so capable of. The Captain Puppet would use a mass of the Petal Like Shuriken to create a Steel Dragon a deadly projectile jutsu that conjured a creature made of the weapon. It would then quickly reveal to cylinders in the palm of it's hands. They were flamethrowers ready to burst and blow at the targets in the sky. "Take point Steward, lead us to victory." A suggestion more than an order. They would follow their leader into battle and do as instructed, this was his right as Kazekage. He should have nothing more than full loyalty of his partners in battle.

[Entered as Hikuidori]

Spoiler

-Equipped Advanced Puppet: The Captain [Human Puppet]
-Created a Steel Dragon, with Flower Petal Projectiles [Projectile Jutsu + Yamanaka Passive].
-Each Projectile's laced with Castorenum Poison [Yamanaka Poison]
-Preparing to use Flamethrower Stream [Puppet Jutsu]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Yes I tried to make a joke. Maybe my timing was off, or maybe it just wasn't very funny, but I am glad you're having fun with this."<i></i> Sousuke spoke as he heard the chuckles coming out of Hiku. Okibi didn't laugh at all, she just merely glared at him and asked who he was. Sousuke's eyes softened as he was hurt by her question. He couldn't explain how the feeling was, just that it didn't feel nice. "Young lady you put your breather back on! That's cold Okibi. Very cold. Considering the amount of time we've spent together and the adventures we've had ... you're inquiring who I am? Shouldn't my 'stupid armour' signify most of it? Or the plasma? No? Nothing. I know this is a new design, and the coat you've never seen but ... you of all people should realize there had to be an alternative when the MkII was heavily damaged."<i></i> Sousuke paused for a moment, "I'm still very much your Sogay as you like to call me."<i></i> He answered. "Eh. It's been a while since you've call me that... hasn't it? Is this what sentimentalism feels like? I'll have to investigate this later. Prepare for battle Okibi... our enemy has arrived."<i></i>

A swarm of five first swooped down upon them. Sousuke released a plasma blast at the first one. It struck the Skyward Siren soundly. While the blast wasn't fatal, it caused the creature to realize that they were dealing with predators of one kind or another. The other four turned to look at the leader as if he had lost his wits. The five of them would turn their attention to the constructed made by Hiku. The five of them would not get to have a conversational moment as Hiku's flame thrower disrupted anything. Ken would not move forward but would move his arm. Sousuke would run down the head and then down the arm to Ken's wrist from there he would emit a flaming crescent from the ebon blade, and he would open fire with a plasma blast. The attacks broke their formation, but from then two of them would go after the Captain puppet, and one would go after Okibi. The other two would go after Sousuke who engaged with them in melee combat with the ebon blade set aflame.

***

Prime Diamund would look at Sousuke-Sister's child. He was quite adorable for a human. "Let's find Ivory, and let's put some food in your belly."<i></i> She would move slowly towards the child, showing her hands plain as day so as to show she had nothing ill planned. She would pick up the child and smile widely at him. "Safe is what I'll keep you, and safe is where I'll keep you."<i></i> The two would go for a walk of sorts to go locate Ivory, or more commonly known as Number Seven. Along said walk the two would pass by a series of trees. As the passed by Prime Diamund would reach up as grasp a fruit from said tree, it was a yellow fruit and one she personally enjoyed. She pulled back the peel revealing the nutritious goodness of... "Banana."<i></i> She spoke slowly trying to educate him. She doubted that the child ever had a thing, but more importantly she hoped that this would be a treat for him. "Banana."<i></i> She would say again hoping he would catch on.

 

[Okibi]

Once it occurred to her, Okibi couldnt help denying what she was seeing. This was her Sogay? That was impossible. Sousuke was smaller, leaner, more frail than this guy. He didnt make jokes, or 'feel' things. It was only on the rarest of occasions that she ever saw him show emotion; when she'd returned from her kidnapping and he'd cried, the few times he'd smiled at her (or tried to). She was certain there was a time or two where he had been angry with her, but those memories werent as clear. In the end, the Sousuke she knew was nowhere near as . . . sensitive as this guy.

"What in the sands-" She was about to ask what happened to him when a screech interrupted her. She turned her eyes skyward and glared through the whirling sands. A blast of plasma from Sousuke knocked back a descending shadow, and once it shook of the shock it came back with a vengeance, four others following it. Birds, she could see once they were close enough. Birds with metallic feathers. Interesting.

Once of the birds swooped down at her, and without missing a beat she leaped into the air and tucked into a tight double flip. When the bird was under her, she extending one of her legs and nailed it in the back of the head with her heel. "Why are we fighting these things!?" She excalimed, trying to be heard over the sounds of the storm and the fighting. Flipping through a few seals, she extended her hands and grabbed hold of the magnetic forces surrounding the bird she'd kicked. Those metal feathers would make for good anchors. Creating an invisible slingshot using the magnetism around the bird, she flung it into the air, aiming it at one of the birds attacking Sousuke. Collision course!

Then, without warning, she turned and looked at Hikuidori, pointing a metal claw at him. "And who are you!?"

You couldnt blame her for being a little confused. She had been knocked out since the gate, after all.

-----------------

Seeing the person leave, his 'mine', the skinny child cried out and tried to get up and follow her. "Mama!" He yelped, seeing her long white hair disappear into the trees as his legs gave out beneath him and he went tumbling to the ground. He hadnt been hurt like his mama, but because he'd tried to save her back at the bad man's place, he was a little banged up and worse for wear. Pile on top of that his lack of muscle and proper nutrition, and the boy was really barely living. Thin as a stick and dirty as hell; he barely resembled a human.

The rock-like creature picked him up, and for a moment he froze in fear. But when nothing happened - no pain was brought upon him - he sagged down and let his head rest against her hard shoulder. She was speaking in words he couldnt understand, the way his mama and the other ones like her did. He couldnt understand her, but the soothing sound of her voice made him feel safe. "Mama." He whined again, softly and forlornly as his chin began to tremble.

Saving grace came in the form of something long and yellow. The boy lifted his head of the gorillas shoulder and watched as she plucked one of the long things off a large bunch of them and began to peel it in front of him. He watched with curiosity as her big bulky fingers pulled the bright yellow away and revealed a soft white colored flesh underneath. She held it up to him and he leaned forward to smell it. It had a subtle, sweet scent. It smelled good. He looked up when she said something to him, a single word instead of a string of things he couldnt understand. She repeated the word, putting emphasis on the sounds.

"Bana." He said as he grasped the white flesh and pulled the top half off. He put it to his nose for a closer sniff, and said the word again, missing that final syllable, before taking a tentative bite. As he chewed his eyes slowly lit up, rounding to the size of saucers. He was so hungry, starved really, that anything would have tasted good to him, but this.

"Bana!" He chirped happily after having crammed the rest of the piece he'd grabbed into his mouth. He had bits of it stuck to his cheeks, but the boy didnt seem to notice as he reached up, making grasping motions at the banana bunch. He whined, obviously wanting more.

"Ah, there you are Madam Prime." Said Seven as he padded into the clearing. "I was checking on Tama, who is resting peacefully." He came to a stop and sat down beside the large stone creature, watching as Okibi's son tried to climb her to reach the bananas. "Thank you for giving us refuge, especially in his case. He wouldnt have lasted long in the desert."

[MFT]

 

[Enatsu]

The birds with iron feathers and human like hands descended on them rapidly. The Flower Dragon, would defend them as best as it could keeping the birds of prey at bay with a multitude of projectiles. While they were flower petals, they had all been enhanced by Hiku's chakra making them far more dangerous than expected. They could cut into metal, and hopefully any petals that cut deep enough could seep their poison into the beasts making them more sluggish. Two of the sirens however came from above and immediately attacked the blind spot of the puppet but there would be interference from the summoned creature. Hiku was able to fend off one of them but the other got through and managed to strike at the floral creation. The creature buckled but recoiled with a barrage of petals aimed at the creature. The flamethrower did it's job searing the birds, but it wouldn't be enough firepower to put them down.

"Normal flames won't do the job, I'll have to use an alternative method." The Captain's flamethrowers would recede into it's body, while holes would open all over it. These holes produced thousands of metal petals from within, which had been reinforced with chakra. The petals floated around the Captain, as Hiku began to use his targeting system. It would pinpoint multiple spots of the siren but mainly would focus on their eyes. Without much hesitation, the expert projectile Puppet would read their patterns and let loose a portion of the metallic petals aimed at the large eyes, and other various parts of the two sirens that were after him. The hope was to poison them and disable them from further pursuit. They were not the ones Hiku wanted, not even close.

As they fought further, the young girl with a false arm would have ask Hiku who he was. While fending off the creatures she still had a mouth on her. "A friend, my name is Hiku. Sousuke, more are bound to be on the way. How do we find their queen." Depending on how many more came Hiku might have had to enact drastic measures. In the past he happily would unleash his puppet army but now he was more patient, more conservative. Rashly acting wouldn't do him any good the Hundred Puppets would have to wait until they were vastly over-swarmed. Then he could unleash the technique and hopefully take down many of them at once, maybe even forcing their queen out.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Well. For one ... we're locked out with no resources. If we're going to get home--"<i></i> Sousuke paused as the bird Okibi had kicked, and then slingshotted towards one of the birds attacking him made the connection. "Well. That was well aimed. Well aimed indeed."<i></i> Sousuke spoke complimenting his ward. Sousuke then tried to finish his train of thought as another the other of the birds dove at him. The bird paused and tried to grab at him. No doubt the intention was to grab him only to drop him later. "What I'm trying to say -- hey stop that it's rude -- is that if we're going to get home I'm going to need materials. These birds happen to be a menace to Prime Diamund, but more importantly they're wind elemental in nature which we need to freeze Shouki with, and secondly I can make weapons and armour from their exteriors or bones. I'm going to need something to work with if we're going to forge ahead so to speak."<i></i> Sousuke emitted a plasma blast at the bird which then swung upwards and kicked him forward. The Steward almost fell off of Ken, but he grabbed hold of the carapace and swung about to kick himself into the air then to somersault back onto Ken's arm.

Hiku's flower dragon made around about Ken and fired off a series of projectiles. Another set of sirens would descend upon it. The Steward fired another round of plasma blasts from his palms hitting several of them and annoying each of them greatly. During this time Hiku introduced himself to Okibi in what simple way he could given that now the sirens were crying at them in human cries. The Steward sheathed the ebon blade and took to hand seals. He unleashed a psionic storm upon a small fleet of them. They were stunned for the moment and were then shot at by the Flower Dragon. Some of them began to fall down towards the earth. Hiku had questioned him about the Queen. "I see that more are inbound... as for their Queen... we're looking for one with a twisted beak. Prime Diamund said that she was able to grab it and break it. I think she'll show up soon enough once we've taken out a few of her lackeys. I would advise you to swap to a blue flame, my good Hikudori."<i></i> Another five would descend down but this time they all went from Sousuke in particular. The Steward rearmed himself with the ebon blade and began a series of crescent slashes sending them outward, three of them got past the attack and proceeded to lay their talons on him. "Get those talons off of me. This coat is quite new, and I don't know where you've been!"<i></i>

Another three would descend and this time would go for the Flower Dragon. More projectiles fired out, but these three seemed to be smarter. The barrel rolled and managed to grasp some of the projectiles and began tearing them out.

***

It took the child some time to get used to his new surroundings and his protectorate but within a few moments and a few bananas the child was calmer now. He reached out for the bananas, but was coming up short. Prime Diamund would raise him ever so slightly so he could grasp at the fruit and bring it down to feast upon. "Banana."<i></i> She spoke once again as the boy seemed to grasp the work slightly. "Bana-na."<i></i> She spoke again helping him with the word. The honoured matriarch laughed as she watched the little one seemed to be most pleased with a simple discovery. "Have your fill little one. Have your fill."<i></i>

The little one took so much of her attention span that she did not notice Ivory slip by, and take a seat next to her. She blinked as she was being spoken to, slightly caught off guard. She would bring down Okibi-son with a supply of bananas and would turn her attention to him next. "Ah. Good to hear that Spark is resting well. He reminds me of Judori-son in a few ways, but something is not quite right with him. His skin is far too stretched for the way he handles himself. He is younger than Judori-son but his skin is deceiving... it is not a bad thing. Too fast to change that Spark... but Judori-son is slow to change ... except today. A great deal of difference."<i></i> She spoke in riddles of sorts, not only to her company but to herself as well. The great earthen being would rise again to bring down another bunch of bananas. This time she peeled one and placed it before Ivory. "Masanko-daughter does not like this type of food, but a hungry being will eat anything. This is what I have to offer. Not much, but better than nothing."<i></i> She would turn her attention back to the child and wipe from his mouth the bits of mess. "I have been a mother many times, many times over many many moons. You are under my roof, and thus you too will be a son to be for a time. I have been under the roof of noble Kin-brother... and noble Judori-son. I suspect though that his roof may be shattered now. Taken from him. What woes and dread must lurk in his heart... that his roof is now not his own."<i></i> The brooding saddened mood would shake itself off like rocks falling from a great mountain. "Time for a story... translate for little Okibi-Son... if you can. Did you know that I knew Judori-Son's mother and father? I knew his mothers and fathers, and their father's fathers and mother's mothers? I cannot same the same for Mako-Daughter who was raised by those noble Toraono Tigers. Mako-Daughter is not at all like her mother. I ... seem to have forgotten her name. I knew not her parents so I named her accordingly."<i></i> She paused. She had to remember the name she gave Mako as she did not know her parents. "Mako-daughter is not at all like ... ... Venom. The worst thing about Venom is that the more harm she does to others, the worse it becomes for herself. No. Venom did not seem to take an interest in her child. Not like I. No. The first time I met Mako-Daughter it was a time ago. She was like ... like ... a clouded moon. Unsure of herself, as she had to choose a husband or risk being assigned one by the Overtowering House of Red Eyes."<i></i>

 

[Okibi]

As Sousuke explained their plight and why they were fighting the armored birds, Okibi's knuckles cracked of their own accord. Normally, she wouldnt be for taking life from animals unless they were posing a threat to someone she cared about. These things were bothering Grandmother Prime? Good enough reason. She didnt even need to excuse Sousuke spouted; taking their feathers to be used for armor and other such things. She was more than happy to take them out for Prime alone.

Leaping off of Kens back, Okibi grinned with fiendish delight as she met a few birds head on. She dove into their midst, blocking her face with her metal arm and saving it from being scoured through with their claws. Grabbing hold of the legs of two of the birds, she used them like maces to smack the others away. She let gravity do its work as it started to pull her towards the ground. In mid fall she swung the two birds in her grasp around, building momentum, before hurling them into the earth one right after the other. Just before the second of the two could hit ground, she flashed through a few hand seals and shouted. "Everyone with metal watch out!" And blasted a torrent of electricity at the nearest bird. She aimed for a chain affect, letting the metal of the birds feathers act as a natural magnet for the energy in her attack.

--------------

The human child laughed as Prime hoisted him up so he could grab hold of the bananas. For a moment, he took joy in being up so high, and flailed his arms about as he laughed loudly. Then his attention was grabbed again by the bright yellow yummies hanging from the tree. He wrapped his thin little arms around the bunch, but wasnt able to pull the treasure free with his measly strength alone. Thankfully, the big rock lady was more than strong enough, he just had to hold on. When he was set back on the ground he plopped down on his bottom and started trying to figure out how to open up one of the treats like she had. "Baaaaana-NA!"

Seven had come and sit down by them by this time, and he watched with fondness as his partners progeny tried his best, but was still making a mess of the bananas. He outright laughed when the boy tried to squeeze one of the fleshy fruits free, only to succeed in squirting himself in the face with the mushed up goop hed made inside the peel. The boy wasnt to be deterred though as he just wiped the mush off and stuffed it in his mouth. Seven turned with surprised when one of the precious fruits were offered to him by Prime, and he nodded his head gratefully, although on the inside he grimaced just a little. Bananas werent his favorite. Nevertheless he ate what she offered and listened as she went off into a story of sorts. When she requested that she translate for the boy, he did so, having just the slightest bit of trouble trying to remember how to word some things in the very basic beast speech that the young of the wild used.

The child cocked his head to the side, listening to Seven. When the 'story' was through, he issued a high pitched yip, which loosely translated to something like "Who?". Seven laughed and turned to Prime. "He's confused about who youre talking about. The only people hes ever met are Okibi, Sousuke and Tama, aside from the . . . men who were holding him captive." The dogs face twisted into a nasty snarl at the mention of the foul creatures that had caused his humans young to be so thin and breakable. He shook off the nasty feelings; those men were gone now. "Who is this Venom?"

Just as Seven asked that question, the sound of soft retching could be heard and a 'sploosh' quickly followed. He looked at the human boy in surprise, seeing the chewed up banana running from his mouth, down the front of the sack that covered him and on the ground between his legs. Seven winced. "He must've eaten too much too quickly. As I'm sure you've realized those men didnt take very good care of him."

 

[Toraono Michino]

Post Musical Theme​

Within in his room, finally alone for the first time in what seemed like forever, Tama finally had the chance to stop and reflect on everything that had happened. He couldn’t remember when he had last gotten to rest since they had all lost track of time during that horrible mission. The things he had seen, done, said...it all haunted him to a deep degree. To have reawakened an unholy hunger, even for a moment, had exposed something about himself that he had intentionally kept hidden from his mate for reasons he thought were good. And though he had used it to preserve his own life to complete the mission he felt the scar it had left on his soul to see the tormented look on his lover’s face.

Inside the darkness of the room his finger gently tapped against the floor in the mimic of a clock. The sound, produced by an extensive length to his index finger’s nail, kept his mind calm while he wrestled with the emotions of right and wrong. It wasn’t just something to consider anymore, he couldn’t be ‘good’ or ‘evil’, he had finally pushed his body to the brink of destruction unless he kept his mind and soul in a constant check of neutral. For him to sway close to either side now had consequences, the tapping extended nail proved it.
It had not effected him until after they had left but a bit of the madness that tugged at the corners of his mind had caused him to sway a little towards the darkness as he was faced with yet another obstacle upon their return to the village. He had studied too far into the ‘artwork’ of the madman guarding the gates and the nature energy that kept him alive reacted to it; now his fingernails were wooden.

Tama had knew the consequences of straying too far. He had seen it happen to his clone when facing off against the stubby little villain he had stolen his sharingan from. It was going to happen to him anyways unless he could find a way to stabilize his body without having to use nature energy to survive. The tethers of his soul were loosened from his last battle, the power he had forced through his body just to win had nearly destroyed it. His reckless ways were finally coming to call, and it was now all he could do to lay dormant in a room while his companions went out to free their village.

The scientist slowly sat back up and scooted himself backwards until his bare back touched the wall. His blond hair cascaded down his shoulders while his one open eye gazed out into the darkness. The man was simply emotionally distraught over being unable to be at his mate’s side to face the dangers ahead for fear that to do so would sway too close to being an act of ‘good’. To stay neutral to stay alive was killing him, and he had no idea how Sousuke was able to accomplish it for so many years.

The door was opened just slightly for a moment to see Seven’s snout poke in to check on him.
“I am fine Seven, please just let me rest a bit longer.<i></i>”

Not another word was exchanged before the door was closed again and the mad scientist let out a soft sigh while running his wooden nails through his hair. He wondered just exactly where he had gone wrong with his clan’s forbidden jutsu, but until he could get back to his research he couldn’t exactly discern what he needed to fix yet. There was a reason forbidden jutsu were forbidden, as he had learned during his medical exam, after all; though he was at least justified in using one this time around.
His hand moved from his hair to gently touched his stomach where his chakra coil would be and traced the lines of it outwards absently. Despite all the knowledge he had on the subject of chakra coils and how they worked he was at a lost for how to expel the nature chakra from his body without killing himself. It takes time to rebuild one’s one natural reserves of chakra when they were brought down, but once you ran out of that energy all that was left was your life energy. The technique he had used turned his chakra coil into an energy absorbing state, reversing the flow of it all together. Doing this allowed him to absorb nature chakra permanently and increased the output of his ninjutsu by nearly three times his normal strength; which was ridiculous. But he was untrained in how to reverse the technique once used as his clan members had been so he was now stuck in a permanent calm state of mind. It had done wonders while already in combat, but once with such a state of mind did not seek combat because that showed a push towards anything but neutrality. It had become a conundrum for him to figure out.

His left eye opened up to reveal the sharingan implanted there while his right eye closed to keep him from getting weird vertigo from having one eye massively better than the other. At one time he had needed glasses really for both eyes but since his last soul absorbing he had regain his eyesight. Yet still the ocular power in the stolen left eye gave him a level of vision that was like high definition in comparison. He began to review the memories he had stolen from the owner of the eye of what powers it was capable of when an idea struck him.

He held out his hands and began to leak his chakra out from them to combine with that was around him and slowly manipulate it with exact precision he couldn’t do before because he couldn’t see chakra. Two small trees appeared in front of him that became humanoid feet in shape as the trees started to grow upwards...

[Not sure on how fast I’ll be in replying so instead of being rash and jumping into the thick of things with everyone I’ll do a solo-esque post or two until I’m sure I’m getting back into my flow. Reading this thread breathed some life back into my writer’s flame. Dattebyo.]

 

[Enatsu]

Sousuke made more "cracks" which showed that his personality had almost took a complete 180. The once stick in the mud Kazekage had grown socially more than they expected. His way of fighting seemed different as well, like he was less reliant on the suit and just using his energy and sword skills. Hiku wondered if this man even needed his suit anymore. Was this Sousuke in a bad position without it? The Steward was certainly better off this way as they their battle raged on.

Being informed to change his tactics brought Hiku to a quick halt. His puppet would reel back in while the flower serpent coiled around him while he fiddled with the cartridge and mechanics of his captain's flamethrower. It was then that he realized all attempts at this would be useless. The captain was running low on fuel and he'd have to waste the few flask he was saving the over-expending for the Queen. Hiku had no over glaring abilities in fire or wind however so expanding these flames were not a conventional possibility. However there was more than one way to tackle these birds. With more enemies surely on the way Hiku was going to focus all his chakra into controlling his ace.

As the sirens pounded the flower dragon who was using the last bit of it's life to protect him he unravelled the giant scroll. A large amount of chakra began to transfer from him. A huge beam of light would shoot from the scroll as a sigil appeared in the sky. Hiku's projectile summon died but a glorious summon took it's place. From the sigil a mass of puppets descended from the sky all connected to Hiku through hundreds of chakra strings. Each puppet held a weapon, some traditional melee, some launchers, and even a squadron with poison canisters. Some of these were primed with explosives but all in all is Puppet Army was ready to go.

"Sousuke.. More are coming and my Captain is going on standby until we find the Queen. I will use my puppet army to overwhelm them. Here take these enhancements." Four puppets would go to Sousuke and Okibi transforming into a pair of Puppet Crafts (leg gauntlets with chakra jets) and Targeting Visors that attuned to their chakra. With these they would be able to see better and target more accurately. With the crafts they could manuever swiftly around the sirens being lighter than air. Hiku would have to use up more chakra for this but for his teammates it was worth it.

The rest of his army would advance on the enemy a squad of them using Oil to douse the enemy so Sousuke's plasma jutsu would be stronger. Next he'd utilize the poisonous gasses that they could emit to further harm the sky predators. The rest of the army was all assault with puppet weapons such as hidden blades, kunai projectiles, chainsaws all poisoned by his Yamanaka Clan's venom. The intent was to decimate as many as possible before his chakra ran thin. He would leave just enough to do battle with the queen.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Okibi took to a stage of arial combat of sorts at she grabbed a hold of the sirens and flailed about with them in the most literal sense. Human screams emitted from their beaks as she batted them about. The ones that were grabbed by Okibi tried to resist but found themselves incapable due to Okibi's strength levels. There was a pause as the follow up came up, the wild-child unleashed a torrent of lightning at the two and allowed natural law to have its effect. More human screams filled the air as the fiendish avians were subjected to being fried by the use of a chain lightning effect. Ken very slowly would place his hand out for Okibi to land upon as he had been instructed by Sousuke to keep what was precious to him safe from harm. "Careful precious."<i></i> He his low voice would rumble. "Little Steward would be most upset if something were to happen to the precious."<i></i> Ken would slowly raise Okibi up so she could reposition herself next to Sousuke. "You have spark. Ken like. Precious little princess. Yes."<i></i>

Sousuke was battling with the one siren that didn't get attacked by Okibi. The Steward moved with confidence seemingly. His style was the same, but he wasn't shaking or anything. "Thanks for dropping in, so to speak."</I><i></i> He would say as he spun about delivering a diagonal slash cutting his foe in two. Sousuke overheard what Hiku had said. The Steward took the targetting visor and began a quick scan. His field of vision let up as oil was sprayed upon the next flock. Sousuke's eyes shifted quickly as weak points surfaced in his field of view. Part of it was due to his own analytic skills, the other part was now due to his enhanced view. Sousuke held out his palm and fired a very concentrated plasma beam from his hand which then broke into several beams and lit the sky up. Corpses began to descend from the sky. "There we go---"

"KILL AK. KILL AK. KIIIIIIIILLLLL AK. The sound was very throaty in nature. One moment it was distant, another moment it was almost behind them. The Steward began to shift his vision back and forth. He was trying to locate the source, but the problem was that it was moving quickly... there was a certain stillness in the air. Sousuke looked directly up seeing a red tornado spinning in the air.

<I>"Crap."<i></i> Sousuke spoke as the tornado began to spin quite rapidly kicking up the winds. Sousuke then made a motion to grab Okibi and then grab unto Ken's horn. "Hiku. Careful with the projectiles from your puppet army. I suspect ..."<i></i> Sousuke grunted as he held tightly unto Ken's horn. "I suspect this defense is of a deflective nature. We need to jam it, or stop the momentum. Okibi, can we force it down? Get this thing's head out of the clouds so to speak?"<i></i>

One would safely assume that the Queen had just arrived, instead of leaving the building.

***

Prime Diamund resorted to a more primal nature when the child's cry was translated. "Oook. Uk. Oook."<i></i> This child had few experiences, and needed to be edcuated in such a manner, but with such a light and playful manner. She had heard the child called Sousuke-sister his 'mine', "Ah. Yes. Tell him I'm speaking of Sousuke's mine... who is Okibi's mine, who is his mine. Yes. That should do it... or one would hope."<i></i> The child seemed to have some difficulty with the banana peel opening process, but he did manage to figure it out.

The second question was far more easier to answer. "Her human name is Mako, but we call her Venom. I am surprised you've never had the ... ..."<i></i> Prime Diamund paused. Mako was not what one would call good company. Even Prime Diamund was placed in a hard spot to say something, such as evidenced by the grinding of her teeth. During this time another Kirishii had approached their matriach, and spoke to her in a rumbling voice of sorts. Prime Diamund spoke to him back in the native tongue in turn. "Spark seems to have awaken. I will ... offer him what I can in terms of healing, and ... food."<i></i> It was then that the little human took sick, and Number Seven explained why. With great care the motherly earthen picked up the child once more and wiped his mouth. "We are going to give this little one a much needed ... washing, yes. To the pools. Perhaps he may even enjoy the company of my great, great, great grand children."<i></i>

The pool to which they went was a grotto really. There were several Kirishii about with their little children. A child Kirishii didn't have the hardened stalagmites that the adults had, and none of them had the shine that Prime Diamund had. As the matriach approached, all of them gave pause the adults all got on their hands and knees. The Matriach dismissed them with a wave of her hand. Several child Kirishii approached though each of them looking at the child with great curiosity.

"Akkiiiiii-ah, Akiiiiii-ah. Akiiiii." They cried out pleasantly. Some of them clapped their hands, and other rolled about as children would when playing. The matriach would make her way into the waters, and would slowly bring the child-human with her. Prime Diamund had done this hundreds, possibly thousands of times before, and certainly knew how to havea child approach the unknown.

"Come too Ivory. We must get the smell of your enemy off of you."<i></i>

***

The Kirishii Bosalt, who had dealings with Suna nin before attended Tama. The younger earthern entity was quite possibly a good deal older than Tama, but in attitude was perhaps closer to Tama in age. "Oook. Oook." He would rumble as he would give Tama warning of his coming, to Bosalt's surprise there was a tree growing. "Agh. Agh." He was frightened by the tree Tama was growing. "Tree! Tree!" He would cry out lout as to further disrupt the silence. "Augh. tree wasn't there before. Who? Who put that ak ak tree, dere?" The Kirishii would hesitantly approach it. "Spark. Tree might be dangerous. Diamund told Bosalt to get Spark. Spark need to get his strength back with food, and need healing. Bosalt come to deliver Spark, but tree here. Bosalt not sure what to do now."

 

[Toraono Michino]

Sweat was dripping from Tama’s face.

His hair had become matted and rather gross looking and it was obvious that doing this was causing a rather grand amount of stress on him. Yet before him stood a grand creation in which he hoped would allow him to aid his family when they needed it most. No doubt the duo and their odd companion would eventually succeed in their plan but not without possible injury; wounds that would forever haunt him for not being able to help. The scientist, despite some of his old reclusive nature, was not one for sitting back while his friends were in peril of any kind.

Tama ignored the intrusion by the rocky primate and his confusion over the tree until he was completely done. His hands dropped down to his sides, the muscles aching from being held suspended in the air for the good twenty minutes or so it had taken to create the wooden clone. His lungs breathed hard and ragged and a headache that had started long ago was finally starting to get the better of him, yet he stubbornly kept his conscious in a constant state calm.
“Be at peace good creature, you may do what was instructed of you in a moment.</B><i></i>” Slowly, ever so cautiously, the over-aged youth gathered his legs beneath him and with a weary grunt stumbled up onto his feet. He closed the eye to hide the sharingan once more and opened up his right to take in the work he was honestly proud of; his heart skipped a beat in the wondering if selfless pride wavered his soul but nothing happened. A weary arm lifted up and placed his hand against the forehead of the clone before allowing a small amount of the natura chakra inside of him to leak into it. Its features started to shimmer and become life like as the scientist gave consciousness to his creation. Once he removed the hand a small seal was left there to hold in the artificial intelligence he had given in via his own memories. It was a simple technique, to pass on one’s memories through a chakra source, but very few people actually thought to use it outside of reconnaissance.
The right wooden foot began to move, the bark cracking and finally snapping as a perfect wooden copy of Tama broke free of the earth. It more or less looked like someone had carved the shinobi down to the most minute details of his clothing, (even the hair was a lighter color than the rest) out of wood. Its eyes moved around the room, an eerie strong life radiating from them as they looked directly at the man who created it.
“I honestly can’t believe that you’d rather send a clone to do your work, but at least I understand why,” It spoke in a voice that had the bit of sharp sarcasm he would use in such a situation.
“I am sorry, truly. You only have a limited life yet you will go out and fight for me rather than live it out as no doubt you wish to do. But I need this...they need-<i></i>”
“Stop, before you waver. Don’t worry yourself, I’ll handle everything while you work on getting yourself back to normal.<i></i>”

The Wooden Tama turned and walked past the no doubt super shocked ape and out of Prime’s home to move out towards the battlefield. Nature chakra that had been implanted in a coil he had created from his intricate knowledge of the systems was channeled into his feet to increase the speed of his arrival. The real Tama, having seen his clone off, collapsed to floor as his body, weakened from the stress of his creation, finally had enough. The being he had far more to it than any normal ninjutsu used for making clones. Unlike the jutsu used solely for distraction and counter attacks, the Wooden Tama was every bit a real clone of the actual man. It had the same dreams, wants, needs, emotional scarring, and, above all, his power. The chakra inside of him would determine how long he would retain all of that until he eventually became nothing more than just an oddly shaped tree, but it would do far more to help his family than just sitting in cave in calm compilation.

The darkness of unconsciousness slowly closed in on the scientist as weariness took him over.

----------------

Getting to the battlefield didn’t take near as long as he thought it would, considering he was in new territory without anything to guide him but the inhuman screams of metallic birds. Perhaps it was that screeching that helped him out but before long the scientist started to happen upon the bodies of fallen foes. Turning his head to the sky with a wooden creak the clone finally witness the battle above, his eyes turning a little wide at the spectacle. His vision caught something moving in the air but he couldn’t keep track of it without the sharingan that this clone did not have, (as the power technically wasn’t his), but it did easily catch the stillness in the air that came before a powerful storm cell. A deep red tornado tore at the skies but his eyes were distracted instead by the large beetle in the sky that was the only thing keeping Sousuke and Okibi aloft.

A wooden grin appeared on Tama’s face as he turned his eyes to the trees and began to climb them quickly until he reached the canopy. Whatever had created that tornado wasn’t the only one here who had a mastery of the wind. It was his primary element, after all.
The clacking sound of wood banging against each other would enter into the air for ears sharp enough to hear them over the roar of the storm as he rolled through a long list of seals that ended on the, perhaps ironically, bird seal as the scientist’s creation yelled in defiance at the storm,
“<B>TATSUMAKI!”

The winds in the air would begin to gather around the tornado as he focused a powerful wind jutsu that showed itself in the form of a tornado, but this massive twister wasn’t there to attempt to suck up enemies, but instead reverse the flow of the red tornado in the attempt to simple cancel out both massive storms and take his allies out of the danger zone. A tree branch started to grow out of the wooden Tama’s shoulder as he used a great deal of chakra to pull of the jutsu, but the scientist’s clone stubbornly reached up and snapped the branch off before tossing it to the ground.

It was far too soon to start turning into a tree.

-----
Jutsu Used

 

[Okibi]

Upon entering the grotto the boy sat up in Prime's arms, trying to get a look at the creatures that were surrounding them. The bigger ones looked like her, but the smaller ones were much different. They didnt look like walking mountains. The child cocked his head curiously as he watched the young prance around them, mimicking the sounds that some of them made. "Aaaakiiii." He said. Of course, the boy had no idea what he was saying, but he liked the sound of it. "Aki? Akiii! AkiAkiAki!" He started to chant in a sing song voice, bouncing in Primes hold as she started wading them into the water.

Seven watched from the shore as Okibi's child suddenly frozen in Prime's arms when the first of the water touched his ankles. The boy looked down and started to whine, softly at first but with growing volume. Seven laughed when he started trying to climb the poor alpha Kirishii. "I guess he doesnt like the water. Takes after his mother that way." He said with a chuckle. When Okibi was the boy's age, she didnt like bathing either.

When Prime called him to join them, he paused, surveying the water. He didnt mind getting wet, but it didnt go beyond his notice that there was nothing to dry off with afterwards here. Shrugging, Seven stood and padded into the water, shaking off the initial chill before plunging in and dog paddling over. He yipped to get the childs attention and swam in circles around Prime. He proceeded to speak to the boy in a series of similar yips and yaps, before popping out of the water high enough so he could nip at the boys 'clothes'. The boy cringed away at first, but after Seven did it a few more times he caught on. They were playing a game. Seven popped up and tried to nip and the boy had to try and catch him. Of course, this meant the boy had to get low enough so that he touched the water.

The childs laughter bubbled around the cavern harmoniously.

--------------------------

Okibi held on tight as Sousuke drew her to him and grabbed onto Ken's large horn. The winds that whipped up around them originated from a red tornado that hovered in the sky above them, throwing sand every which way. Okibi could only be thankful that Sousuke forced her to put her mask on. She jerked with surprise when a pair of somethings slammed into her legs, locking into place around them. She looked down and almost started to try kicking them off before she realized they were implements sent over by that Hiku person. She didnt know what they did, but they looked kinda snazzy. Something snapped onto her head, and she could only assume this was Hiku's doing as well. When she looked back up at the sky, she was seeing things through some sort of visor that had situated over her mask. Somehow, it made her eyesight sharper. Interesting.

"I can try!" Okibi said in response to Sousuke's inquiry of whether she could get the tornado out of the sky or not. She had to shout to be heard over all the wind. She flipped through a few seals and was about to make an attempt when she heard a battle cry, and more gale force winds started whipping up around them. Okibi cringed and wrapped her arms back around Sousuke's waist, holding on for her life. Craning her neck she looked over Sousuke's (much higher) shoulder, and spotted in the distance what looked like Tama situated amongst some trees. Only thing was, he looked like a wooden version of Tama. What?

Turning back around, she looked up at the sky and saw what the wooden Tama clone had done. It summoned a jutsu that created a tornado right next to their red target, spinning in the opposite direction. He was trying to cancel out the red tornados movement.

"If that works it'll be way easier to get it down!" She yelled at Sousuke, telling him in a roundabout way that she was going to wait before trying to force their enemy down with gravity.


[MFT]

 

[Enatsu]

Their offensive strategy seemed to be working as though the Puppet Army had turned the tide. Sousuke got the message and as the oil doused the Sirens, he utilized his Plasma Jutsu instantly creating a larger explosion. Their combination was dangerous and that caught the attention of the empress avian. She descended upon them at blinding speed and with her ear scratching caw they knew what was happening. The queen let loose a tornado to disrupt their formation and send them plummeting. However it seemed each of his teammates had a plan. Sousuke and his ward had grabbed onto the large beetle protecting themselves from the gust, while Hiku had another maneuver in mind. He would use the remaining puppets from the puppet army to be his shield at this incoming blast. Some of them were instantly torn to shreds while others had simply managed to withstand it. If this persisted it wouldn't take long before they were all destroyed.

Then out of no where as if it was meant to be a counter to the red tornado, another force of wind surrounded them as if you cancel out the effects of the dastardly Queen Siren. Hikuidori could only take this moment to reorganize his strategies while hiding within his puppet army. Their numbers are decreasing it's only a matter of time before they are all out of commission. Within this time I need to figure out a new plan. This counter wind is helping but my Puppets have reduced too much. I could switch back over tot he captain but that would take time and in that span I would likely be interrupted. No my best course of action is to utilize myself yes I can do this the best. My Puppet attacks will only be repelled by the strong winds but I need something solid. I'll need to drop every puppet formation that I'm holding to make this work though..." Hiku would begin to allow the Puppets to drop while he charged his chakra. The puppets would react and contort in shape taking in every tool he ever used on them crushing and destroying most of then. They were being fused together into one structure.

All of the Puppets Hiku had at his disposal, except for the Captain were coming together as one. He placed himself in the center, covering his entire being in a shroud of his white wooden mass. This was one of his ultimate techniques, the Puppet Fusion. It was a way for him to create a more powerful puppet and one of this size could only be created by using his many puppets, and the greatest work of art he had, himself. with a roar of proudness Hiku would yell, Gram! As if by voice command the giant creation would begin to light up with chakra and move.

Spoiler

A strong stream of chakra emanated from this puppet's back, Hiku was releasing so much at once, seeing as this was the first time he used this technique it would take time to adjust to the right balance. For now he was content with expending himself because if he did not how could he prove himself to be the superior puppet master he had hoped to be. He would speak through a loud speaker to allow his voice to be heard by his comrades and anyone listening. "Well Sousuke it seems we've got the Queen to come out and play. Do we exterminate now?" Two enormous blades would promply pop from the Gram Model's wrists each with their own set of Runic Terran. بواسطة غضب الملك (By the King's Wrath) , "نحن حماية العرش (We protect the Throne).

Spoiler

[Gram is a giant puppet created through Puppet Fusion. All of Hiku's nifty poisons, traps, and weapons in the puppets used are destroyed and condensed into other weapons for Gram to use. Such as all of the hidden blades, saws, and projectiles metal made to make the two runed blades. Then it has a few deposit areas where it can shoot projectiles. The general idea is to make a large swift Puppet that can fight by dealing high melee damage]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The wind jutsu from Tree Tama caused the red tornado to stop for a moment. The two great wind storms collided with each other. Upon collision the red tornado stopped moving, as the wind died down the form of their enemy was revealed. The Queen Siren. Her metallic winged form was horrendously scarred and damage, a tribute of sorts to her long existence. Whereas Prime Diamund was ancient and of the earth, this entity was in many ways her equal. Perhaps as ancient, but of the skies. The Queen Siren shrieked a human scream from her beak and twirled for a moment. The Queen Siren was quite large, at least five times the size of a normal skyward siren, but certainly she seemed child-like in size compared to Ken. Sousuke would land on his feet, and shift his gaze downward to seeing a tree-version of Tama being the grand orchestrator of the wind-storm. "My dear Tama, have you gotten that green with Envy? For what I'm not sure of. Maybe you're jealous of all the not-fun we're having."<i></i>

"Does Tama produce oranges? Ken likes oranges."<i></i> The giant would inquire, but just as he finished speaking the Queen Siren would emit another screech as if to remind everyone she was here. Ken grumbled, "KEN PUNCH."<i></i> he declared before he would move forward and throw a punch at the Queen. Ken's movement was slow but it was enough to just clip her. The bird went flying back though but managed to catch herself. It was more than likely she was making a note in her bird-brained mind not to take a punch from such an overly large creature. "Ken was talking about his favourite food. Be rude again and Ken will throw another Ken Punch."<i></i>

As if Ken wasn't enough fire power Hikudori put not one, not two, but three cherries on top as he revealed one of his master creations being Gram. Gram quickly armed himself with two blades. The Skyward Siren Queen again let out another shriek and began to spin about. She called in the remainder of her court so to speak being another two Sirens which were about half her size. The three of them began to spin again this time creating another potential storm. "Ken. Counter. Beat your wings but don't go full force. We need to counter this... properly."<i></i> As the giant opened up his wings, he began beating them unleashing his own wind storm. "Tama, fire another Tatasumaki if you can spare. Okibi try and magnetize the three of them together and then lock them together, then try and send them straight down. Hiku attack with Gram from a vertical position, lead with a winding blade storm, try and impale the three of them if you can."<i></i> Sousuke would instruct.

***

The child had some reservations about water and that was understandable. This was going to take some charm and tact, but Prime was certain that she could have the child comfortable with water. Help came from Number Seven who proceeded to play with Aki. The child's laughter echoed throughout. "Aki."<i></i> Prime Diamund would speak in a low rumbling voice, "Hrmph. For a human name, it seems to fir for him, and he has mastered it quickly."<i></i> There was a pause as the Earthern mother as the playing continued and ultimately the child had adapted to the water.

The earthern mother would hum a tune to the child. It was a low tune of sorts, but it was gentle and calming. The intentions was to keep the child in a constant state of bliss. The humming would come as a rumbling of sorts, but it was not harsh in the slightest. Following the matriach the rest of the Kirishii would join in with the humming. She would raise Aki up slightly, so he could have a greater view of all that surrounded him, and all the peace that was before him. Then she would bring him back down to the water. "Little Aki. Yes. That fits. Little Takhashi Aki son of Takahashi Okibi. I may not be the ... truest of ceremonial entities, but little one you will no longer be nameless."<i></i>

(MFT 699)

 

[Toraono Michino]

A wooden fist raised into the air in victory at the sight of his tornado clashing into the red twister and canceling them both out. Doing this revealed the creature behind the attacks and what was apparently the matriarch of the screeching fowl. Strong winds and ear piercing screams shook the tree that Tama stood on to have sight of the aerial battle. His memories were running behind the wooden eyes as they gazed up in conflicting strategies and found them lacking in how to deal with creatures of the sky aside from what he knew naturally happened to such creatures via strong elements.

“’I couldn’t let my family go into battle without me’, is the command I was given.<i></i>” was his reply to the strange new personality that Sousuke had devolved, “He just couldn’t sit back and do nothing, driving his body to fall into a near coma.<i></i>
“I can fire off two more of those tornadoes before this body gives into the nature energy that is powering it. This next one will leave my body completely immobilized but I’ll still be able to use a few other ranged attacks. Hopefully, if the gods are willing, I’ll be allowed to retain the consciousness that the original man who created me gifted. I could tolerate with being a sentient half-tree.<i></i>”

The wooden clone dropped down from his perch to land on the soft ground and stamp his feet into the dirt beneath him before the sounds of loud clacking echoed from beneath them as Tama’s clone began to charge up a second tornado. As the chakra required to do so entered into his body through the ground his feet became less humanoid and more root before starting to borrow into the ground to lock him in there. Strong winds began to gather once again, stronger than the ones being created by the head-ache causing avians. He would seek to upset their flow of flight before fully activating the tornado to cause as much damage as possible.

 

[Okibi]

Seven paused mid paw-stroke, looking up at Prime as she suddenly and rather aptly named the child. Aki, as he was now christened, wiggled free of Primes hold and fell face first into the water where he flailed and sputtered, getting water into his mouth. Seven swam toward him and ducked under the water, getting the boy onto his back before resurfacing. The child sputtered and coughed before starting to cry - and quite loudly too. Seven's ears fell back, trying to block out the sound as he swam around in an attempt to soothe the boy. "A good name. I wonder how Okibi will react to having her son named for her." Honestly, even he wasnt sure he could predict how his fiery human would take it. Hopefully she came back in a decent mood.

As he swam around, Aki's wails slowly died off into quiet hiccups and whines. His little hands held fast to Seven's fur, causing the dog only a bit of discomfort. There had been more occasions than he could count when Okibi had pulled on his fur as a child. Not all his bald spots on his old body had been a result of an altercation with an enemy.

He felt the child shiver on his back, so Seven paddled back to Primes side and waited for her to take him so he could make his way out and shake off. Once he was on shore, he thrust the water from his body, spraying a few of the young Kirishii nearby. "I would like to pay Tama another visit to check on him. Would you come with me, Madam Prime?"

-------------------------------

When the winds died down Okibi immediately let go of Sousuke and ushered herself to the tip of Ken's large head. She squinted into the sky, getting a look at the so called Queen of the Sirens. She was large, much larger than any of her underlings, but certainly not as big as Ken. When the giant beetle thrust one of his mighty limbs at her, it became apparent that the queen did have the upper hand on speed, even as he grazed her. The familiar sound of her mates voice surprised Okibi, drawing her attention away from the battle momentarily as she sought out the sound. She zeroed in on him, not too far away from them. Why hadnt she noticed him before? There was no way in the world she wouldnt have smelled him, even in that ridiculous wind st- Wait. Okibi sniffed the air in his direction. That didnt smell like Tama; it just smelled like . . . wood. (I'm going to pretend Okibi didnt noticed Tree Tama in my last post . . . >> I like it better this way lol)

It was then that the clones words registered to her, and Okibi's brows dropped in vivid concern. Tama overexerted himself making a clone that could assist them on the surface because he just couldnt stand being idle while they were out fighting. Figured. She didnt like being held back from a fight, so it wasnt like she could talk, but still. If he wasnt dead when she got back she was going to kill her mate.

Turning back around as Tree Tama started working on another of the jutsu's he'd just used, Okibi started flipping through seals of her own, focusing on the magnetic fields around the queens henchmen. She manipulated them as she pleased, causing the birds to suddenly draw themselves together. Their squawks of surprise were like music. Once they were stuck together, Okibi made a few more hand seals and multiplied the gravity around them a good twenty fold, sending them crashing towards the deserts surface. "Let's get this over with. I have a mate to check on."


[MFT]

 

[Enatsu]

Ken was proving himself to be a proper ally breaking their formation up with his lean punches. As this battle persisted the Puppeteer would control Gram with efficiency propelling the Puppet into a suitable position over the desert. He hovered over the grainy earth and began to retain the chakra it was originally pushing out losing the minor hovering it did have. Gram's feet dug into the ground as Hiku waited for the fall of the gigantic bird.

Personable Sousuke seemed good at commanding and far more confident in his ability to do such. Ken's wings began to flap creating a storm to offset the one they were creating. The Sirens put so much effort into their tornadoes that if it was stopped they'd have no defense even it was only briefly. This was all that Team Suna needed to complete their plans. Woody (Tama) began to control the airwaves defying all logic that these simple avian had. His winds weren't full like the controlled hurricane he unleashed earlier, but they were meant for another purpose. Combining the air disturbance from Ken and the disturbance from Woody's winds, the birds began to lose control of the air they coveted so dearly. While this persisted Gram began to intake air and chakra around it.

"Chakra Intake at 73%. Air Intake 89%, initializing heating unit. Gram's Blades energy output beginning now." High velocity chakra would begin to rapidly surround the two blades that the giant puppet had produced. It wouldn't be long now, the sirens were losing balance and Okibi was only a step away from unleashing her gravity powered jutsu. She skillfully magnetised their iron feathers and pulled the creatures together. The Queen began to squawk obviously irritated and confused about her predicament. Next came the drop, as the welded sirens plummeted to the ground with great force.

Hiku bid his time waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He wanted to come at them from a great position and he had already scouted the general area beneath them. When they finally got in range a large gust of wind would bellow from gram as the Puppet would launch into the air, knocking up a small wave of sand behind it. Chakra would burst from the back of the puppet propelling it even faster. The chakra output would immediately end as he got closer to the tri-siren. The energy transferred to the blades and in a rotating motion Gram's blades would cut deeply into siren. They let out a horrid screech hurt badly by his slice, but it wasn't over. "I'm not finished with you!" Hiku would make gram twist it's body and reverse it's positioning diving down after the sirens. Gravity would do it's job now, but just to ensure that this next strike would be fatal he'd yell loudly to Okibi. "A little gravity please Okibi!" His tone was cheerful hinting at the fun he was going to have crashing the giant puppet fused body into the ground.

With Gram's blades extended outward Hiku would come down stabbing the chakra enhanced weapons into the sirens. Gram and the Sirens would crash into the sand stirring up a larger wave than before as they basically became gravity bombs to the earth. The giant puppet would loom over the body of the Sirens jabbing with it's blades repeatedly as if it was in a trance. Hiku wanted to make sure these birds were dead, for the Sunans had spent far too much time stuck out their village and this bird was the final piece of the puzzle.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The wind force generated by Tama's wood clone and Ken's wing beats was enough to overpower the trio. Ken had to beat his wings in a manner so as to not overpower the trio, but overpower his allies too and blow everyone away. Thankfully the Steward was privy to this knowledge, and was able to work with it and make the proper call. The two wind forces intersected through a crossing and combined were able to cancel out the trio's final tactic. The three sirens stopped twirling once their attack had been counciled out. The queen Siren took a moment to look about. She was at a loss as her technique was quite literally cancelled out. She let out a confused shriek as it seemed that this was a first for her. More confusion came as the three of them were drawn together and then Okibi quickly brought them down with her gravity technique.

That of course created the opening for Gram to make his attack. Gram connected sounded with his blades. Feathers were sent flying about, and so was vital fluid as the master puppet brought the skyward menaces life to an end. The body was badly damaged, but there was plenty for Hiku to work from. With the body Hiku would have enough to make his next set of livelier 'puppets'. "Quite on the cutting edge of puppet technology there Hiku. That design is quite similar to my father's Blue Savior, but it that design is more defensive that offensive based."<i></i> Sousuke's eyes narrowed upon the bodies. The Steward would make his way to Ken's hand as the giant would lean down and deliver the Steward to the ground. The Steward looked at the corpse and would then turn to Hikudori. "We have our wind elemental ... no wind elementals. Do what you need to do Hiku. You know my ways. I will not watch it, for that is knowledge I do not wish to carry with me."<i></i> He paused for a moment. Tama of course given his mind for science would perhaps wish to watch this. It was dangerous knowledge to be had... and quite frankly the Steward wanted to limit that knowledge to a selected few. Tama had knowledge of darker powers, he didn't need to have his mind warped any further with the knowledge to transmute flesh to steel, or vice versa. Once on a dark path, one had to be mindful or else all paths would in time became that of a bleak and bloody road. "Tama, Okibi, let us collect our resources, and return to Deadline. We'll make use of what we have and formulate a plan from there. We have the tools, let us now make use of them."<i></i>

***

Prime Diamund's eyes widened in horror as the child took the plunge in the water. Yes, this had happened before to her, but child Kirishii were far more durable than children of the flesh. The great Earthern scrambled to get the child, but the canine was quicker than her to do so. Following the rescue she let out a sigh of relief. "Oook. Ak. Blessings upon your years Ivory."<i></i> She would rumble. Certainly now the child was much cleaner than before. His pink flesh was very visible now, and he was more becoming to be considered a child of the First Men.

Prime Diamund would lower herself so as to remove the child from Number Seven who seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort. With the child in her arms, she took the needed actions to comfort the child's cries and whines. Consoling pats, a playful tap of the nose. Little tricks to try and cause amusement for the child. It was not difficult to do to cause the laughter of children to come about, and truly it was music.

Number Seven had made his request to go see Tama, and as he did so Bosalt returned. The younger Kirishii spoke in a rumbling and rolling sound. The matriarch in turn bowed her head and made a gesture so as to dismiss the returning Kirishii. "It seems that Spark is in a mood of sorts, and may be difficult to deal with... we can go meet with him if you wish though, but making an older one smile and laugh may be difficult even for me."<i></i>

***

The Steward returned to deadline with his prize, or prizes rather. The Steward dismissed his company. Okibi needed to check up on Tama and her child. Hiku would more than likely need experimental time to create an ice jutsus with his newly acquired wind elemental. This of course left Sousuke with his metal work. He had been given knowledge by the Cabal joker than Suna was surrounded by a barrier. He needed to get past that barrier without being made known of. It was a surgical strike that had to be made, any one that required quite a deal of stealth. He was separated from his lab in keystone, but at the very least he had his wits, his smelting knowledge, and his artisan skills.

Of course now that he had the resources, he needed tools which wasn't the hard part. Quickly enough the Steward was able to make himself a forge out of the stonework the Kirishii had. Quickly he smelted down the feathers and went to work. He was making weapons for Hiku's puppets, along with new armoured suits for Okibi and Tama. Light weight, flexible, durable. The designs weren't of any great important, but the Steward had turned feathers into a scale-like pattern which allowed him to interlink the various sleeves and leggings. With these armour pieces, desert travel would be somewhat manageable considering Okibi's bodysuit was not in the best of shape.

The MkII needed heavy reworking, and needed tools from keystone in particular. With much regret the Steward took the MkII to the metaphorical scrapheap. The silver centurion was subjected to intense heat and began to melt away. As this occurred the Steward covered his face with his hand. He wasn't a sentimental man, but watching one of his oldest armours fade into a re-worker resource hurt. He felt an unfamiliar thing begin heart ache. It was a strange pain, that wasn't all-encompassing, but it struck his nerves in a way he wasn't used to. It was like watching an old friend fade from memory.

Yet all the same the Steward's mind was a buzz. His enemy knew much about him, but he in turn didn't have much knowledge about them. He was tempted to go out on a scouting mission on his own, or at least summon Kou to observe for him what he could about the barrier. The Steward was confident that Kou's siblings could find out something about that barrier. The insects were small enough to get through the rubble and get a picture in pieces. The Steward could in turn make a bigger picture out of this.

The Steward thought of running interference in order for Kou to slip in. The Cabal were smart enough. Granted Kou was small, there was perhaps some way of him being detected. These Cabal were smarter than the Steward, and it was a fact that Sousuke didn't enjoy. Still though if he were to do something like have a momentary fight with Shouki, it was perhaps enough to have all eyes turned on him or at least the vast majority.

Dealing with Shouki was a problem of its own. He had butchered the gate guards easily enough and spoke of a technology the cabal had crafted which gave them exceptional abilities. He needn't have to win the battle, merely have a moment to gauge his combat abilities. The Steward's mind was a buzz with many plans, and each of them exceedingly difficult to execute.

 

[Okibi]

Okibi winced just slightly as Hiku's giant puppet made mince meat of the siren birds and their queen. Now that the fight was over, she breathed a sigh of relief and took a seat on Ken's head, leaning against one of his horns. She looked away from the massacre they'd just committed, and towards the stormy sky. It was dark and cloudy and made her think of a certain scientist who'd been unable to join them because of his condition but forced out a wood clone for their sake anyway. She glanced down at said clone, and watched as it slowly started turning into a tree.

Sitting up quickly, Okibi hopped off Ken's head and landed on the ground with barely a sound. "I'm going back." She said as Sousuke and Hiku looked over the corpses of the sirens. With a whip of her hair she about faced and made a break for Deadline, rushing her way back to her mates side. Okibi still wasnt certain how to feel about what she'd learned about Tama, but what she was sure about was how she loved him, dark past or no.

And right now he needed her.

--------------------

Seven nodded along with what Prime said about Tama, agreeing with her. They walked as they spoke, leaving the pond cavern and all the other Kirishii behind. "Tama has been a bit odd since we got out of our enemies stronghold. Okibi and Sousuke seem to know why but I havent asked." Partly because Tama wasnt his problem, he was Okibi's. Supposedly that would also make him Seven's problem because what belonged to his human belonged to him but . . . Human drama was so strange. He just didnt want to deal with it really. The two would work things out just fine.

A grin split his face when the newly named Aki suddenly burst into laughs and giggles, his fear at having fallen into the water clearly long forgotten. The boy grabbed at Primes large fingers as she poked him in the nose, sticking one of them into his mouth and biting down experimentally. Seven laughed out loud. "Maybe we wont be able to make him smile, but I'm certain he will." He said, nodding at Aki as he suckled on the giants finger. "Theres just something about young children that can lift even the heaviest of spirits." Seven turned his gaze forward once more as he delved into memories of his past with a younger, more erratic Okibi. She'd been a handful - or pawful rather - but she'd been his pawful, and he'd loved every second of it. Never had there been a dull moment.

Turning a corner, they came upon Tama's resting quarters and Seven nosed his way into the room, spying the knocked out Tama sprawled out on his pallet. He pawed his way over and sniffed the scientist, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The male smelled vastly tired, his energy practically drained completely. His furry brow wrinkled with worry, and just then a hurried Okibi stormed through the doorway. She made a beeline for Tama's bed, seeming deaf to Aki's sudden excited cry of "Mama!". She sat at the top of the bed and lifted Tama's head into her lap, stroking his jaw and kissing his forehead. "Tami?" She said quietly, "My mate, please wake up." She could smell her mates fatigue as well, and it was worrying her moreso than it was Seven.

Aki wiggled his way out of Primes hold and dashed for his mother's side when he touched down on the floor. He climbed onto the bed and grabbed hold of her arm and her attention. "Mama." He whined plaintively, his bottom lip trembling. Okibi smiled through her worry and lifted a hand from Tama's face to stroke the boy's head reassuringly. Aki smiled widely before looking down at Tama, his smile quickly dropping. The child patted Tama's cheek softly with his little hand, trying to wake him up. "Mama?"

Okibi chuckled softly and shook her head with a low growl; it was a negative sound. Aki looked at her with question, and she clarified. "Papa." She circled the boys hand and patted Tama's cheek with it again. Then she brought it up to her own face and pat her cheek. "Mama." Back to Tama, "Papa."

Aki's face screwed up into concentration as he looked between Okibi and Tama. "Mama." He said with one little hand On Okibi's arm. Then, "Papa." with his other hand resting on Tama's face. Okibi smiled and nodded, making Aki smile and nod as well.

A few feet away from the scene, Seven couldnt help smiling and nodding as well. He didnt want to interrupt the moment, so he decided they could tell Okibi about her son being named in her absence later.


[MFT]