Remembering Who We Used to Be (Shiori)

[Takahashi Aki]

"For an entity of the faith. You do not act like how you've been remembered or recorded."<i></i> The ancient specter remarked. He folded his arms. What she was doing was what she desired. Shade had detected it earlier. He understood it, but he did not think she would get this close. In the past she was fumbling. "He believes in you. Whether or not you accept it, or adhere to what is your prescribed designation. He prays to you. How funny it must seem now."<i></i> Mother Suna was not so vitreous. She was not selfless, but rather selfish?

She called him a false image. "That may be so. A false image has just as much power as something that is true. My purpose is true. Protect Takahashi Sousuke the third of his name, I may have faltered at times, but he remains alive."<i></i>Shade watched as Shiori buried his wielder under a mess. A small chuckle escaped from him. "This isn't over. Time flat is a flat circle. This will happen again."<i></i> Shade dictated. People never really change. This kiss? It was only the beginning. It would only grow worse. "For a mortal with many flaws he is formidable. His soul was shattered at the battle in the Toraono Dojo. It was repaired though. Kuro and I did what was necessary."<i></i> Shade shook his head. "Why a human? Those of House Toraono are much more powerful. Even a member of the hidden courts would have been a better suitor for you. Humans are not eternal. Their lives are fleeting at best."<i></i> Shade was asking the hard questions.

 

[Mikaboshi]

In the land of Wind, there was no such thing as "gods". If there were any true creature which could be called as such in the world, it had not deigned to notice the wind-blasted deserts and wastelands of that particular corner of the country. But there were certainly demons. Even though Mikaboshi would have chafed at the description for his disdain towards demon-kind, it was true that he had long since been counted among their number in the stories and wives tales of Wind Country's mythology. They had many names for him; mainly epithets created with the intention to avoid speaking his name aloud as if that might draw his attention to where it was being spoken. Perhaps Shiori had never heard those tales or perhaps she simply paid them no heed.

But in the darkness of Shiori's apartment, as if conjured by the very use of his name too many times, the specter of the dark one grew heavy and through that shadow stepped the legend himself in all of his dark majesty, blackness streaming behind him and clinging to his form as he appeared from the darkness as easily as though he had walked through an open door. His form cloaked in the same dark robes that she had last seen him in, it would be clear to Shiori immediately that this was no avatar or imposter. Not an image or a fragment or anything of the sort. The way his presence chilled the air and deepened the shadows it seemed as if wholesome things such light and warmth fled before his coming.

"She is unlike your stories because your stories are nothing more than a child's fiction." Mikaboshi admonished Shade for his comment regarding her demeanor. "After all... there is only one who still lives in Sunagakure that might truly remember her."

If there were one thing uncharacteristic about Mikaboshi's coming, it was that there was no wrath or irritation directed towards Shade as Mikaboshi passed him. Following his short acknowledgment of the spirit-being's existence, it seemed as if Mikaboshi did not register him at all. He drifted past the creature with his eyes clearly fixed upon Shiori, his cloaked visage melting away as he examined her and revealing the burning amber of his gold-red eyes. His expression betrayed no emotion outwardly but Shade might feel the cacophony of emotion flooding through the Ancient Lord. He had been very conflicted when he'd first met Shiori. She had felt... different from other humans. There was something remarkable about her that he could not place. Like a worm devouring an apple, the memory of their meeting had suffused his thoughts since then. Who was she? Why did she stick in his mind so?

He finally had his answer.

"You must forgive me that I did not recognize you at first." The way Mikaboshi spoke to Shiori was a world apart from the way he had addressed her before... and anyone else, really. In his voice there was always an undertone of derision. He spoke to most humans the way they might speak to children for in his eyes they were nothing but. Even with the humans that had managed to earn his begrudging respect there still remained a hint of contemptuousness to the way he addressed them. But not so with Shiori. There was an unmistakable respect in the way he spoke to her. "We have both changed much since our last meeting so many years ago."

 

[Michi]

"For an entity of the faith. You do not act like how you've been remembered or recorded."

Sousuke's blade injected. Shiori let out a sigh, it was true, she was nothing like the avatar of faith and benevolence history chronicled her as, in reality she was no different from her brothers. With ultimate power comes corruption. But she did not see herself as corrupt then and until she lived as a human she saw mankind as a farmer would see cattle. They work the fields, then yield their bounty to their owners. Some are better to their livestock than others, Homura enjoyed watching his humans in combat but how many humans have done the same with chickens or dogs? Someday it is possible that canines would take place of man and a man would know this strange bewildering sense she felt all these years.

"He believes in you. Whether or not you accept it, or adhere to what is your prescribed designation. He prays to you. How funny it must seem now."

She never asked to be revered. She might not have been as cruel as her peers, but she was far from the saint she has been portrayed as. Having such as designation actually made living hard, it is impossible to uphold yourself to the unreachable standard of a legend such as the one left as her legacy. Perhaps it was guilt, after living as one of them she would aspire to such human ideals but her station was never earned. Poets and historians romanticized her into something she was not. Something she could never be even if she tried for another millennium. "I never asked for any of this!" Shiori snapped."Nobody decrees my title!" She declared as she pounded her own chest. "If that were true, humanity would still be cattle and I will NOT be directed."

The shadows in the apartment seemed to grow midst the squabbles. There were no wives tales to speak of, but certainly there likely once was where if you utter his name thrice he would emerge. If that be so:

...Mikaboshi</I></COLOR></FONTFACE>

...Mikaboshi​

Mikaboshi...​

<FONTFACE fontface="helvetica">...

"She is unlike your stories because your stories are nothing more than a child's fiction."

She had heard this song recently, but she did not understand the significance then. She had forgotten him, the Lord of the Deep Court much as he had forgotten her. His domain was significant in its own way, he lived within yet separate from his own where he did not have dominion over all of a singular element but had partial right and legacy to so many. It made Mikaboshi an enigma to her and her brothers.

"After all... there is only one who still lives in Sunagakure that might truly remember her."

His shadows seemed alive, as if they had form at least to her ears. It was a defining attribute for this peculiar ancient. Truly, before her most recent fall from grace she was not even aware that another Lord persisted. She assumed when he fell to obscurity that like her many brothers and sisters he returned to the shadows forever more. "Brother Mikaboshi, it has been a long time." She acknowledged as she froze her face so it would not betray her bewilderment, he was back but from what? Death? Obscurity? Hiding? "I had no idea that you survived the war." She went on to call Sousuke's blade a false image, the creature that truly possessed that name was standing here... somehow.

"That may be so. A false image has just as much power as something that is true. My purpose is true. Protect Takahashi Sousuke the third of his name, I may have faltered at times, but he remains alive."

She was not a dreamer nor was she a part of someone else's dream. She was going to live in a reality, not a vicarious lie. "I will earn my rank and my legend, if the story calls me a tyrant then so be it. I will not live this lie." She declared. If nothing else, Suna was an entity of pride rather than compassion. She might not have been cruel, but she was calculating.

"This isn't over. Time flat is a flat circle. This will happen again."

She had no idea what the fallacy was talking about any longer. 'Flat is a circle,' like a rice cake? Her brow furrowed slightly as she continued to bury her cousin under the debris.

"For a mortal with many flaws he is formidable. His soul was shattered at the battle in the Toraono Dojo. It was repaired though. Kuro and I did what was necessary."

"You ruined him," Shiori accused. He was not always this simple was he? With his experiments and his armor, their heirloom secrets of Takahashi Steel. Now he was nonsensical, even jabbered some madness. It had nothing to do with the revelation that Shiori was not who she once claimed, no... this could not be HER fault. "If he was mended correct, he would have been able to handle the truth... now he will be left in the unfair station of the fool. Not knowing is never the best option, someday knowing what I am could have saved him. But now, to hold his sanity I am going to have to continue this lie." With that statement she used a rudimentary technique: Transformation. She took her previous form, that of the blind-woman. An image Sousuke would know well, and a facade she would maintain until he died as his forefathers had and as he will too if she cannot find a remedy.

"Why a human? Those of House Toraono are much more powerful. Even a member of the hidden courts would have been a better suitor for you. Humans are not eternal. Their lives are fleeting at best."<i></i>

Truthfully, she had always had a soft spot in her heart for the Takahashi Clan. There were many ways that she could have destroyed the Sunahoshi line without gifting them with the maelstrom. With the skills of a neophyte and the absence of the great protector, the elements and the worms would have devoured humanity long ago. Her sentiments were unrequited, there was great love for her image but not for the actual Ancient. She was flawed. Imperfect. She could never measure up to the standard humanity had placed for her. She hoped Sousuke would be different, but he was not that different from those before him. They had lives, <I>human friends... lovers... children... She was the outsider, the interloper. "Takahashi Steel," she lied but only in part. The Takahasi family was capable of forging a weapon and an armor that was able to fell a God, at least in comparison to the domesticated cattle that warred against them. Certainly, any less a man would not have been able to successfully wield a weapon but it was the fact that Homura and Fuujin remained dead all these years. Their ultimate mortality was demonstrated the day the greatest of the Ancient Court rulers were defeated by a single man. "I plan on resurrecting Homura and Fuujin," Shiori explained, this part the honest truth. "I spent decades as dust before providence allowed me to steal life from unfortunate miners. The fact that they were Takahashi was a happy mistake, and their skill with weaponry was why I stayed." she lied. In actuality she did not know who she was for the past two decades, it was instinct that caused her to kill and instinct that directed her 'slaves.' She was a necromancer, a taboo art for many but to her it was a logical need. Humans were easy, simple in fact. Ancients were sadly different. "My last attempt was a failure, it cost me my body and it was still not enough to bring them back."

Once the dialogue between the weapon and the blade had ceased, Shiori's eyes fixed on the new entrant. "You know me,"<i></i> Shiroi stated rather than inquired. They both knew the answer already but she had to be sure that this was not a delusion.

"You must forgive me that I did not recognize you at first."

He answered, his tone civil not that she found it otherwise in the past. But the words differed and with the same tone they carried a significantly different meaning. She smiled, almost apologetically. "Nor I you," she replied in her false form that was unintended for Mikaboshi but rather Sousuke in case he aroused. "I was not in my right mind then."<i></i>

"We have both changed much since our last meeting so many years ago."

It was true, she was far from the blinding form she once was. <COLOR color="red">"How... how did you survive?" She finally asked, it was a question that burned on her tongue since the moment she was sure it was him. It took decades for her to reform and that was with leeching life from humans to do so. And even then, she was far from complete and her power radically diminished from where it once was. She was returned to the sand because she overexerted her own power and as such returned to her first nature. She was the earth incarnate. While her power had expanded to a great many things as life and learning would allow, her true nature was that of the earth and that was where she would return. Many of her brothers and sisters were hunted, destroyed utterly. It was her misfortune that became her greatest providence as time had forgotten her cruelty and even celebrated her. Those who lived to this day, if any such beings existed besides them, were hidden and she did not know where.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Shade was an aspect of Mikaboshi but he did not have all of his experiences. Why that was? It never really made sense to him. Then again Shade had experiences that Sousuke had. That was what made them different. In that respect, Shade could be considered more as a parasite or a symbiote for Sousuke instead of being a manifestation of Mikaboshi or an aspect of him. Shiori quickly accused him of ruining Sousuke. "Ruin? No. He survived. That is what matters most. There are things that humans do not grasp easily. The Outsider."<i></i> Shade would shift his gaze to Mikaboshi. Yes. He knew of that terror. He feared it himself. Luck had it that the Outsider had not returned in any manifestation. "Sousuke's belief structure in Mother Suna would have proved problematic. He cannot associate it with you ... because you are not what the narratives speak of. Any mortal who met their god or goddess would have a very difficult time in reconciliation."<i></i>

When Shiori spoke of reviving Homura and Fuujin, Shade was silent. "Should you resurrect those two ... there would be oceans of blood. You cannot reconcile House Takahashi, nor House Sunahoshi with those two. Fuujin and Homura would go to war with the mortals, and the house you so love would be embroiled in it. House Takahashi is not the group of pacifists it used to be."<i></i> Shade warned. This was heresy. Maybe not to Mikaboshi, but to Shade. "This will not stand. Nor should it."<i></i> This was a delicate matter. It had to be handled carefully. There was one mortal who should be informed of this... one who's head should have sat a crown, or so Sousuke would believe.

"Why is it dark out?"<i></i> Sousuke would inquire as Shiori's poison finally came to an end. Sousuke would blink several times as he removed several articles of clothing from his person as he sat up. "I don't remember being hit in the head by that frying pan, why am I on the floor?"<i></i> Sousuke looked left and then right. Shade. Shiori. Mikaboshi. "Curious. All three of you are present... and in a state of harmony?"<i></i> The Steward shifted uncomfortably. This was certainly not something he was used to seeing. "So. For the record. What was the last thing that happened before I found myself on the floor. I was ... engaged in ... uhm ... well... something that was most fantastic. Shiori was bleeding red sand, and claimed to be Mother Suna. The bleeding part was terrible of course. I was most devastated I could not heal her. Troubling really."<i></i> The Steward did not wish to speak out loud that he thought Shiori had kissed him. Quite intimately of course.

MFT 455

 

[Michi]

Sorry, I just needed a sufficient post for this week's training. =(

"Ruin? No. He survived. That is what matters most. There are things that humans do not grasp easily. The Outsider."</I><i></i>

Mortal life was precious, that was true because it was so fleeting and delicate it could end in the blink of an eye. But survival was not always the most important thing, if he was not what he was then he truly did die. "No, as much as it pains me to say... he is dead. You can keep a body from turning to dust, but the body is nothing more than aesthetic." Her voice hardened, "you broke him." Shiori accused.

"Sousuke's belief structure in Mother Suna would have proved problematic. He cannot associate it with you ... because you are not what the narratives speak of. Any mortal who met their god or goddess would have a very difficult time in reconciliation." <i></i>

She did not share the blade's sentiments. She was a false avatar of faith and destiny, she could not heed his prayers or give him salvation. She could not do anything for him as a god, but his false ideals would also do nothing for Sousuke besides give him comfort when he should fear, the expectation of bounty when there would be only famine, for strength when the only true route to power was through his own efforts and courage. "You are offering him a short-cut, and you are blocking his path to destiny." Shiori warned. "But we are in agreement..."<i></i> she exhaled "Knowing ...what I am will be for nobody's benefit." she concluded, her arms crossed over her chest. She let out a a discontented sigh, she knew that this would prove to be a mistake if she let it play out. If she told him the truth now, she could tell him the whole truth. He might hate her for it, but perhaps the burden would be lighter when she could tell him in all honesty that she believed she was what she was and that she regretted the terrible circumstances that brought them together. She could tell him that it was terrible that she was happy despite her regrets because she was able to spend a mortal life with him. Someday he would fine out and he would be furious because he would be the last to know. Not only would she be deceiving him, but all those close to him.

"Should you resurrect those two ... there would be oceans of blood. You cannot reconcile House Takahashi, nor House Sunahoshi with those two. Fuujin and Homura would go to war with the mortals, and the house you so love would be embroiled in it. House Takahashi is not the group of pacifists it used to be."

Homura and Fuujin were monsters, even in the eyes of their fellow ancients but they were also their leaders for a reason. The raw power of Fuujin coupled with his interminable pride and his compulsion to remind others of his greatness was perhaps only surpassed by Homura's lust for destruction and war. Despite these failings, their power and dominance over their element kept order. It was then that the first tribes of man were in disarray because they too lacked a leader. The war was not to be fought by Homura and Fuujin alone, but by the army of ancients they led. When they fell, the demoralized whole of her people scattered and were destroyed. "We are the desert and everything in it... we came from the dust and the rain and the shadows and it was to them that we return, but a life is not once to be lived but many times. With or without my intervention, the flame will have new life and the sky as well. It won't be my brothers that I knew," she explained shaking her head "but they will return and without the leadership of my brothers they will scatter... suffer... and die. The world will remain out of balance and may even shatter." She truly did not know the consequence of their absence, nobody could but she did know that the elements were alive in Wind Country and that she could not make the same claim elsewhere. "It is doubtful that you can stop me."

"This will not stand. Nor should it."

"Why is it dark out?"

Shiori ceased her squabble with the sword promptly as she made her way through the boxes and miscellaneous artifacts. "You must have hit your head," Shiori lied, in her previous 'blind' form. She extended a hand to Sousuke to help him up. A pained smile painted her face as her purple lips were drawn thin and her brow furrowed with worry. "I am glad you are alright cousin," she stated in a more formal manner than she used to.

"I don't remember being hit in the head by that frying pan, why am I on the floor?"</B><i></i>

"You weren't struck," Shiori answered honestly before instilling another lie. Would this make it her third already? "You must have slipped when you entered, I am afraid I have been a terrible home-keeper," she stumbled over the words laced with sadness. "But, you are fine... I am fine... and your... uh... <I>friends are fine as well," she added as she gestured towards Mikaboshi and the Shade. She had no reason to give for why they were with her, in her apartment, in fact she was not entirely sure how Mikaboshi came to be.

"Curious. All three of you are present... and in a state of harmony?"<B>

"I met Mikaboshi the other day," Shiori answered truthfully attempting to minimize her lies before she started to forget the ones she had already made. She would have added that he was agood man, had been helpful during this turmoil or something of that nature if she could consider a single honest instance. "He gave me great comfort by telling me that you were alive," she added when she could identify something that did not involve murder or whatever that was she stumbled upon and interrupted.

"So. For the record. What was the last thing that happened before I found myself on the floor. I was ... engaged in ... uhm ... well... something that was most fantastic. Shiori was bleeding red sand, and claimed to be Mother Suna. The bleeding part was terrible of course. I was most devastated I could not heal her. Troubling really."<i></i>

She eyed the meddling weapon and Mikaboshi. Would they support or counter her lie? If they told the truth, she would have to cover it with another lie. "Well, that was some dream," Shiori concluded. "Thankfully I am not bleeding," Shiori added as she attempted to instill reality without addressing her identity. If she did not push the matter, perhaps it too could be forgotten and relegated to Sousuke's memories as a vivid dream. She needed to limit her lies so she had something to fall back on as she ignored his actual inquiry and waited to see what everyone else answered.

MFT

WC: 1160

 

[Mikaboshi]

"Survival is a subjective description of my current existence." Reflected Mikaboshi, his voice low as he spoke about the arrangement between himself and Sousuke. He subsisted certainly but to do so he had to submit himself to piloting around the meat puppet that he currently inhabited like some sort of macabre suit of armor.

Mikaboshi said nothing more as he drifted between them and listened quietly to the debate between them regarding Sousuke, his body almost as ephemeral as the darkness that clung to his form. Shiori--- rather Suna -- seemed to have taken an interest in Sousuke and that Mikaboshi found fascinating. The last time the Desert Queen had taken such an interest in a human being the Sunahoshi had been given the power to manipulate the diamond sands... a power that even to this day had made them legendary among their kind. To Mikaboshi the Sunahoshi were something else entirely. Above all other human beings, even above Primus who had laid low both Homura and Fuujin, the Sunahoshi existed as a name burned forever into the memory of the Lord of the Deep Court as they had been the ones to turn upon him and seal him within the Black Blade. The two before him bantered back and forth about whether or not Sousuke could "handle" the truth of Shiori's identity but that was not a matter that Mikaboshi concerned himself with. He was sworn to protect Sousuke's well-being but not his comfort level. It would not be the first time that the Hand of the Steward had forced his master to acknowledge hard truths. Sousuke was a big-hearted man that wished to see the best in others and that prevented him from seeing his race for the miscreants that they were. Duplicity and deception were simply not his way and because of that he struggled with them as concepts.

Moving on from the topic of Sousuke, Suna confessed that she intended to resurrect Fuujin and Homura.

Ah.

Was that why she was here in Sunagakure? The humans were nothing if not curious creatures and in their archives had recorded many, if not all, of their encounters with the outside world. If there was any such repository of knowledge that might give her clues as to what pieces of the Old World still remained enough to utilize in the revival of those two great fools then it would likely be here. Still, it seemed as if by the way she spoke about bringing them back she did not properly understand what had happened to begin with. Ancients were creatures just shy of divinity. Death and defeat were merely setbacks to them for the greatest of their kind were manifestations of the natural world as much as they were their own beings. But the destruction brought upon Fuujin and Homura was not a natural one. The blade that Primus wielded against them had not simply destroyed their physical bodies but rent them from the natural order of things. The thing that had made the human king so dangerous was the power of the golden light that he'd wielded. The human legends referred to that power as "Shoki" but it truthfully had no real name that Mikaboshi knew of. Armed with a weapon capable of attacking the "world" as a concept, Primus destroyed not only the bodies of his foes but their spirits and place within the world. Long had Mikaboshi wondered if even Primus himself truly understood the "why" of the power he'd wielded. Like most human beings he had wielded Shoki like a cudgel and clobbered whatever came within reach of him. Truth be told it could easily be said that ancient-kind got off light with simply losing their dominance of the world. If Primus had truly understood the power he'd wielded... even in the present it made the Deep Lord anxious.

"Should you resurrect those two ... there would be oceans of blood. You cannot reconcile House Takahashi, nor House Sunahoshi with those two. Fuujin and Homura would go to war with the mortals, and the house you so love would be embroiled in it. House Takahashi is not the group of pacifists it used to be."

"If you are a part of me then you should know that humanity is already in it's twilight years. The blood of Primus runs thin and even now the remnants of the Old World are beginning to find their feet once more." Snarled Mikaboshi at Shade. The specter existed only because Mikaboshi could not ascertain what consequences there might be for him if he destroyed it and given the unique precariousness of his existence currently he did not wish to do anything to jeopardize it unnecessarily. Still, the temptation of destroying the spirit grew stronger each day. "Make not the mistake of thinking me an ally to humanity. The only thing which stays my wrath is my fleeting contract with the Steward. When he expires so too shall our pact."

He had sworn oaths of service to Sousuke but such oaths only lasted so long as Sousuke's life. When inevitably death came to claim the soul of the Steward, Mikaboshi would be free to do as he wished and unfortunately for Sunagakure they would not find him roosting among their allies. Long had Mikaboshi nursed his grudge with humanity and he eagerly awaited the day he would be allowed to begin settling the generations of blood debt there was between them as a result of their betrayal. Slowly Sousuke came to and as he was wont to do he rambled on about the state of company around him and much to Mikaboshi's surprise and disappointment it seemed as if Suna intended to lie to Sousuke about her identity. Biting back a growl at her debasing herself as such, Mikaboshi chose not to reveal her... yet. He wished to know for what reason she was playing this game with the Steward before he mettled with it.

"I have only just arrived, Lord Takahashi. I do not know what you were engaged with before your state of unconsciousness." Mikaboshi responded, his voice despondent and bored as it usually was, his golden eyes rolling to complete the illusion of his disinterest in the situation.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

He wasn't hit. Maybe he must have tripped...? He would have remembered being tripped. "Your house-keeping abilities could certainly improve."<i></i> He ruled as he looked about at the mess. Certainly? No vastly. The Steward worked himself up from the mess, and dusted himself off. Shiori assured him that everyone was fine. She then spoke of how she met Mikaboshi. The Steward stared at his sennin, and then at his cousin. Then was happening wasn't it? This really was? "Well. I'm glad he had done so. Shade's power was slightly diminished, which to me was of great concern. I suspect you had bested the threat that had ... inhibited your ability."<i></i> Mikaboshi was always a very capable entity. He was an ancient. He was the most capable of all, or at least history would have you think that. The Steward reached out and ... grasped Mikaboshi by the shoulder. He had to reach up to do so. It was uncharacteristic of him to do so. There seemed to be far more sentiment in the Steward since his trials with the Cabal. "Your shadows have protected me during my trials and tribulations above. Unfortunately I have ... only begun to tap into the essence of shadow craft. I had come very close to..."<i></i> He paused. He had what? He had could very close to becoming Mikaboshi in some mortal form? He had tasted the lifeforce of his enemy through the ebon blade? "Another time. The Cabal ... caused me to ... tap into a powerset of yours I do not quite understand. It replenished me ... to an extent."<i></i> He detailed somewhat cryptically.

Sousuke coughed. "Worry not about the state of my unconsciousness. I must have ... fumbled as my cousin had said."<i></i> He seemed quite annoyed with himself. He fumbled. He tripped? Usually the Steward was light on his feet. He did not have that many bouts of being clumsy. He wasn't quite used to things as of late. He had been very tired lately. Ever since dealing with the Cabal and the finale he felt drained. "Shade, you've been very quiet."<i></i>

The Shade gave Mikaboshi a quick glance. What Mikaboshi had said seemed to have struck something with the Shade. Was he truly a part of Mikaboshi? He was the focal point of Sousuke's mastery with shadows. Yet did they share the same experiences? Not always no. My other half can speak for the both of us.<i></i> He merely said before vanishing from sight and going back into a slumbering state of non-existence. The Steward raised an eyebrow at the sudden departure of Shade. Mikaboshi could will him away.

 

[Michi]

Her most coveted ambition these years was to regain everything she had lost. She lacked the strength of her brothers but she was not as limited in her mental faculties. She had made a great many errors and even with the passage of time, how her brothers fell in such a permanent manner was always a mystery. She knew nothing of Primus' legendary blade, that is nothing that was not already wrapped in lore. Certainly she had heard whispers of a great many things, but a blade that could cut through the very fabric of reality sounded more like a childhood story told to a curious neophyte to prevent them from ambling far from their mother's care. Even if that was the case, they did not die then and there; something had to remain so they could not have been destroyed utterly. Often she wondered how a mortal man could smite the greatest among them, an apotheosis of human potential she had come to fear. If the Sunahoshi could beget another son like Primus, she especially in this deformed and wretched state could not stand against him.

"If you are a part of me then you should know that humanity is already in it's twilight years. The blood of Primus runs thin and even now the remnants of the Old World are beginning to find their feet once more.

"My curse has also diminished it would seem after generations of dilution," Shiori commented with a sigh. "But humanity has been indeed an invasive species, even if the world is destroyed utterly I know not from what crevice they would crawl from but they always seem to find a way." she observed.

"Make not the mistake of thinking me an ally to humanity. The only thing which stays my wrath is my fleeting contract with the Steward. When he expires so too shall our pact."

Her toes curled as she listened to Mikaboshi's declaration to the shade but moreover his altered opinion of humanity. She stayed out of the war, but not for a love of mankind per-say although she pitied them but in the end she saw them as livestock, irrelevant and incapable of victory. His sentiments were shared then in a way, or at least that was how she saw it. He did not intervene in the war, but his court and hers shared little domain so his true passions were a mystery to her but she could not be so wrong could she? However, there was a second point of concern - what contract was this? Was Sousuke holding the ancient on an invisible leash? How and for what reason? Her brow furrowed with Mikaboshi's worrisome statement. She did not know anything of the blade Mikaboshi was sealed within or the promise made to the Steward only the statements made here now and she wondered if the tether that bound him being released would have been his signal that her 'cousin' was dead. What kind of terrible magic did the Takahashi family possess to do such a thing? She could feel something boiling deep in her gut as she looked on the still sleeping Kazekage. There was much she did not know about her most cherished 'cousin.'

When Sousuke finally regained awareness, her gambit of lies would have to begin. She was an experienced liar, although she was unaware of her fiction. The best liars are those who believe the very words they utter, she too was a victim of her own lies. It was a painful awareness, this sense of loss she would have to face eventually. They were not friends, they were not family and they would never be. But she could defer this pain a little longer.

"I have only just arrived, Lord Takahashi. I do not know what you were engaged with before your state of unconsciousness."

She was surprised that he was willing to play along. In reality she did not know what his goals were if any - if he would be compelled to speak truths to the Steward or if he was trying to hasten his master's demise. Perhaps it was both. The more she knew, the more questions she had.

"Your house-keeping abilities could certainly improve."

"I have become a pack-rat of sorts, trifles really," she replied as she started rolling scrolls tightly before binding them in place hurriedly like a frenzied housekeeper. Artifacts, amulets and ancient tomes being gently lowered into boxes as she opened a path for him by sliding the filled marked boxes against the wall. "I think I might consider a home in the Omni Prime Medical Center once the displaced have found residences," she commented "...after I am reinstated as a Medic of course." She had feigned an argument that resulted in her dismissal a few days prior, her perceived betrayal and indignant was intended to grant her information to find him but in the end all her efforts were in vain. As a foolish human she died trying to find what she cherished most in the world, it was a tragic life and end to always reach but to never possess.

"Well. I'm glad he had done so. Shade's power was slightly diminished, which to me was of great concern. I suspect you had bested the threat that had ... inhibited your ability."

She listened to their exchange as she shifted the 'refuse' through her small apartment. Not an item in her home was in fact waste of any sort, ironically it was in perfect order under the artifacts she had recovered since the cabal threat had been eliminated. She had no idea what they were after, but they were transporting a variety of goods to the surface during their invasion. Many of these pieces dated back to her reign. Weapons, designs, ornaments, but nothing that satisfied her inquiry. She plucked from the wall the blade she pierced her wall with and slid it back into her boot.

"Your shadows have protected me during my trials and tribulations above. Unfortunately I have ... only begun to tap into the essence of shadow craft. I had come very close to..."

Her ears twitched when his words were paused. Why was he regaling him with how he protected him on the surface or about the manipulation of shadows. Did Sousuke consider his servant to be his friend? She tried to keep her face emotionless during the exchange, but the crease of her brow betrayed her.

"Another time. The Cabal ... caused me to ... tap into a powerset of yours I do not quite understand. It replenished me ... to an extent."</B><i></i>

It was vague enough that she could not fully follow. She wondered exactly what 'replenishment' could some from the Deep, a place of obscurity not rejuvenation. Was Sousuke mistaken? Did Mikaboshi have a skill-set she herself was unaware of? "With power comes corruption," Shiori warned as old habits die hard. "Taking an ancient's power comes with a price. Taking power that is not yours always does in fact, like Tarask." Shiori added cryptically. In the end, regardless of Sousuke's future abhorrence of her she cared for him deeply. That was what made this all the more painful, his sentiments would be irrelevant and his uncertain fate droll if she saw him as an adversary yet.

"Worry not about the state of my unconsciousness. I must have ... fumbled as my cousin had said."

She nodded politely, attempting to feign a visage of repentance. It was not hard, she had many things to regret, but her housekeeping was not one of them. She did not regret forcing the Steward to take an unscheduled slumber either, if things were to play out again as they had she would have been forced to take the same action. She wondered if she would be able to do it twice. Doubtful.

<B>"Shade, you've been very quiet."

Her face turned pale and her heart fluttered as she prepared herself for the weapons's response. Would she attack his weapon? What would the consequences of attacking his weapon be? What lie would she give? That this was a dream within a dream? No -- a second assault would likely not end in her favor. She had the element of surprise the first time and if the Steward did not have lingering doubts he was either a fool or is trust for her was unparalleled.

"My other half can speak for the both of us"

The blade retorted before dispersing. Shiori let out a lungful of air as she tried to appear interested in busywork, a facade that would soon come to an end. There was nothing to dust, wipe or scrub, there never was. She had clutter, that was certain but once relegated to a box, most written in an old wind country script. The blade was gone, but the danger of the blade was very real for the ancient. It knew what she was, and she had no assurances that her secret would remain as such indefinitely. "Actually,"<i></i> Shiori interrupted as she made her way over to Mikaboshi and Sousuke. "I am too scared to live alone come to think of it, those Cabal-members were very scary." She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Can I stay in a spare room at your house for a little while? I have always wanted to learn about our family's steel-making but father refused to teach me." She frowned as she rediscovered her original intentions.

She waited for Sousuke's response. She really was indifferent to his answer, she would get what she needed soon enough. She had one more thing to add of course because she had not forgotten her unfortunate accomplice. She wanted to understand the weapon that claimed to be Mikaboshi and what could possibly bind an ancient to a man. [/b]"Is that blade made from Takahashi steel?"[/b] She inquired. She wanted to know something, well a few things. This was to be the beginning of a regrettable course of actions.

 

[Mikaboshi]

Mikaboshi said nothing as Sousuke rambled on regarding how he had tapped into Mikaboshi's power to protect himself while he was in peril upon the surface. Beneath his mask of indifference simmered a white-hot rage that only boiled harder at Sousuke's words. So the Steward had helped himself to the power that was Mikaboshi's within the Black Blade in order to protect himself. How grand for him. Meanwhile Mikaboshi had suffered confinement at the hands of yet another human being out of fear of him. While trapped within the energy trap spun by the man formerly known as Spider, Mikaboshi had been given ample enough time to reflect upon "his place" in the world and how that currently defined him. He was given a long leash in Sungakure but to pretend that he was anything other than a slave would be foolish. The mere fact that Sousuke could speak so casually of channeling power that did not belong to him out of a sword that held Mikaboshi's sealed essence within it spoke volumes about their relationship. Sousuke touched Mikaboshi on the shoulder and he did his best to maintain the aloof illusion that he had cultivated but through that shone-- if only for the smallest of seconds --a bitter snarl that disappeared in a tenth of the time that it had taken to appear. There and gone without a trace, it was so fleeting that it might have come across as a hallucination or trick of the light in the poorly lit apartment.

"It is well that you are unharmed." He managed, his pride hemorrhaging from the sucking wound that Sousuke had unintentionally put in it with the casual way he discussed taking Mikaboshi's power for his own. He knew that the Steward had some level of symbiosis with his slumbering power within the sword but it was troubling to him how much Sousuke was beginning to tap into it. That he would dare.

For the crime of being what he was created to be, Mikaboshi had suffered much at the hands of humanity. Taken from his rightful throne as lord of the underground and his Court dispersed or at worst wiped out by their crusade against his kind. Imprisoned for decades within the steel of the Black Blade by men that he had considered his allies. In his eyes, he had been the picture of merciful to them by choosing to stay his hand from the war that Fuujin and Homura rallied the others of their kind to fight against humanity but those men and women that he'd chosen to stay his malice from had seen him only as an enemy to destroy and his Court just another nest of monsters and traitors to be vanquished. Sousuke's claiming of Mikaboshi's power was simply yet another act of violence ushered upon him by humanity for sake of his nature which he had been born to.

Suna's question regarding the Black Blade that Sousuke wore tore Mikaboshi away from his bitter thoughts. The Blade was a sword taken from the hand of an upstart Flame Court noble that had thought himself powerful enough to seize a portion of Mikaboshi's territory by force. Erupting into the underground, the noble whose name Mikaboshi had not chosen to grant the honor of having his name remembered soon found himself at the waiting claws and fangs of the Deep Court's most dangerous predators. Where he had expected battle, the noble had found a hunt where he played the part of prey to a host of hunters who lived for nothing else but the thrill of the chase and the high of the kill. After extinguishing his spiritual form, Mikaboshi had claimed the Black Blade from his charred remains. He never learned it's name. Never cared to. Granting it a name equivalent to it's literal description as one last act of defiance to the Flame Court rather than call it by whatever it's true name might have been, Mikaboshi had kept the sword for generations. So long in fact that it's origins had faded into antiquity and simply become synonymous with the legend of Mikaboshi by the time humanity encountered ancient-kind.

"The sword is an alloy of metal found only in the Flame Court's spiritual territory. It is significantly stronger than anything a human being might be capable of producing." Mikaboshi explained, taking note to point out that there was no possibility that Takahashi Steel could be superior or even a match for the Blade. "It does not have a name that a human might know."

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward coughed at the thought of Shiori living at his house. "Okay."<i></i> He said at first. "You do know I have like three dogs in the house, three lions, and some other ... sand runners Okibi left behind..."<i></i> Sousuke seemed to grow somber at the thought of his ward. He seemed to be sullen for a moment longer, as he snapped back. [coo=orange]"No leaving clothes around. No dirty dishes in your room."[/color] He announced. Then again... space might be difficult with Katuso staying around randomly. She inquired about learning the family trade and the secrets of steel. It struck Sousuke as odd that she never did learn how to smelt the steel properly, but then again Shiori was blind until only recently. "I can show you how to smelt Fire-forged Steel. Certainly now you are more the capable of doing so."<i></i> A smile formed on his face. Okibi never learned the technique. Kuro ... never learned it but had access to it prior to his birth.

Shiori next inquired about the ebon blade. Mikaboshi was quicker to answer that question. There had been some fixes to the original blade. The pommel needed a rework. The handle too needed some slight fixing so as for the Steward to have a good handle on the blade. The actual blade itself though didn't need much reworking. It was more for the grip and the balance. It was the small personal things. Then when the blade transformed, that was another matter entirely. If Sousuke had to guess, the transformed state of the ebon blade was perhaps closer the blade's original form.

"Well then. "<i></i> Sousuke looked about. "Lots to move. Let's get this going."<i></i> The Steward clapped his hands together and conjured some of stone golems. The stone sentinels began attending to the mess in Shiori's room, and beginning to carry things out. "You needn't concern yourself with this part Mikaboshi. I am ... certain you need to recover your strength from your trials and tribulations during this ...unfortunate time."<i></i>

(Topic will be left shortly)

 

[Michi]

Flame Court? Here? She had not seen such a weapon in years, the fires of Homura's court were unrivaled. She furrowed her brow as Mikaboshi gave his answer. Then why... what was the specter in the blade? And why...how was a human wielding it? Curious. Of all things, a nobleman's blade made it all these years to remain still despite its distress. She let out a breath, her eyes fixed on the weapon. "The Flame Court was n..." she stopped herself from completing that phrase. "...I heard was a physical court." Homura, like the denizens of his court were warriors who relished the heat of battle and while he... they were powerful in their own right, they were not commonly practitioners of sealing or binding magics. She shook her head. "--neat," she hesitated as she struggled to maintain her facade with a smile.

Sousuke was quick to take her up on her request. She did not expect that, she was merely trying to throw him off and to use her plea as an excuse to spend a disproportionate amount of time at his homestead. She needed to learn what she had set herself to know all those years ago, barely knowing and only by happenstance. She could not protest, not now. This was troublesome, she frowned at her box of scrolls. She had research to complete and trinkets to assess that she could not in front of him. "Eh.." She started to say something but was cut short by moment of silence for his ward ending.

"I can show you how to smelt Fire-forged Steel. Certainly now you are more the capable of doing so."<i></i>

Capable? Since when? She was blind last he knew, unless he did not believe the lies she had woven with lacking skill. Some prefer to live in a lie even knowing that the reality they face is a fallacy of the heart and mind. Perhaps. It might have been a slip of the tongue, a thoughtless statement to a capacity she should not be known to have. Just play along... Play along for now... The golems heaved her possessions, there were less than one would be expected to have but when she was sightless her quarters were spartan. Utilitarian for the most part, baubles and trinkets and wall hangings useless to one who cannot appreciate their splendor and sentiment. She nodded her head, she had no answer so she kept her mouth shut and maintained a wide-eyed blank expression akin to the one she had when she was the fool.

As Sousuke prepared for departure, he dismissed Mikaboshi. Shiori raised her arched brow to the Lord. She had many questions for the Deep Court, so many. "I need his help," Shiori stated announcing a partial truth. She did need him, but her purpose was her own. "I have been collecting artifacts and scrolls from looter's troves these past few days and he is the only one old enough to identify them." She lied, she was perfectly capable of addressing this need on her own but not in the form Sousuke knew. She needed to explain the strange papers and trinkets in her home, claim her inquiry was for an intellectual pursuit he would support as well as create a reason to meet up again with the Ancient Lord. "Where can I find you?" She asked, hopeful that he would not follow. The walls in his home have ears... it would not be safe to converse there.

[Topic Departure Granted: Sousuke]

[Attempt to Leave Topic]​

<i></i>

MFT - 580

 

[Mikaboshi]

As the discussion shifted to the topic of the Black Blade, Mikaboshi found himself wishing to take it from Sousuke's possession in the worst of manners. Being put back into a form of forced captivity had given him a new perspective that very clearly illustrated the invisible bars on the cage that he found himself in on a daily basis. He was not sealed within an energy trap but he was certainly bound just the same. Still, his word was his word and Mikaboshi was not the type of creature capable of breaking it lightly. The only manner in which he would be allowed to terminate his contract with Sousuke is if the human-- in bad faith --turned the contract against Mikaboshi. If Sousuke made an attempt to destroy the ancient or the Black Blade-- really an attempt to harm him at all --then the contract would be null and void and Mikaboshi would be free to do as he pleased.

Suna asked him where she could find him. What a laughable charade. He still could not figure what angle she was playing at with the Steward being wrapped up in a weave of lies but he was willing to allow it for the time being if only to salve his bruised ego from Sousuke's earlier comments. Mikaboshi's job was to keep Sousuke alive, not keep him happy. Drifting near to Suna, she would likely feel the cold chill of his person wash over her as he hovered deep into her personal space to place his lips near to her ears. She, of course, would have heard him regardless but his words were not for Sousuke and he was in a particularly petulant mood.

"You know where." He whispered before departing, the shadows yawning wide and swallowing his form like smoke as he alluded to the method by which she had drawn his attention to her person in the first place. Names carried great power for being such as they and simply having the courage to speak the name aloud was enough to steal his attention in most cases. Suna would be capable of finding Mikaboshi no matter where she went in the village so long as she carried his name within her memory and possessed the willingness to speak it to the darkness.

[Topic Left]