Second Chances (building thread/free rp)

[Takahashi Aki]

To address the problem of orphans of all ages the Steward had put himself to the task. There were many parentless children in the aftermath of the Cabal attacks, and even before that with the criminal infestation of the Grand Palaias. Sousuke had been working to eliminate crime rates in the case of the latter. The greater problem was that it was the place itself that housed those who needed help and those at risk. Sousuke was stretching himself thinner and thinner, his health was not his concern. He was pushing himself harder and harder each day. In times before he was a work-a-holic, but now it was worse than that. Work-addict was perhaps the proper term to be used as he pushed himself onward and onward. For about a week's time did he adhere to the counsel given to him by Nekozuka Kimi of trying to sleep at least for four hours a day, but even that counsel fell to the sideline as Sousuke's fear of escalation on the surface arose. Suna needed to transition faster. It had to not take a few months, or a month, it had to take days, or hours.

After a screening process of sorts, and a declaration of the most at risk, children were led to a surface surprise. A playground of sorts to lighten their moods. Sousuke brought with himself a myriad of his house pets. The Lyrons and their cubs, the sandstriders, and Kitchy. The children seemed to take well to the pets, and the younger ones took to the swings and slides. The broodier children found themselves being trained by the Elder Manits, Musashi who kept them practicing with wooden blades to hone their technique. To those who were not interested in that field, the moth Nemuri was hovering about teaching children about fashion and how to better themselves with what they had and what was around them. The sound of laughter and joy filled the air which for Sousuke was a repreive and a reward as he worked on their new domain.

Stone and metal intertwined as he worked on a household unlike the apartments he had made to replace Sietch Zensunna amongst the other households he had worked on earlier. Those in the Desert Crown could make their own houses. Those nobles had their own resources and wealth. The household he made was in size challenging to a household in Desert Crown, but it was not in fact to be occupied by a member of that district. This household was for the children and teens at risk and suffering. Sousuke used bright colours to bring a sort of cheer to this place. From time to time as he worked, some would passby and marvel at the workings of the household... or perhaps it was the giant Hercules Beetle that was helping it. Sousuke was running in and out of the house with chakra crystals and working on interior lighting and some heavy electrical work. He wore a rubber suit of armour of sorts. It looked clumsily open him, but more than one did a power surge go off and thanks to the rubber suit he did not worsen his injuries.

 

[Kazumi]

The sun blazed harshly overhead, beating down on shinobi, citizen and foreigners alike. The eldest Koizumi child had been traveling in the desert with the caravan for a week now, and she still was not used to how close the sun seemed to loom in the sky over Wind Country. Thankfully for the younger teenager, the desert styled had covered her neck and shielded her face from the worst of the rays, but the heat was more pervasive here than anywhere she had lived before. Pulling a small black and purple cloth from a pouch on her side, she reached up and wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. She could only imagine how her brothers were handling the heat.

Aimlessly, she continued to wander throughout what the local residents had called, Project Rebirth. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how they survived out here in the first place, much less how they had enough resources to try and build a city in the middle of the desert. It was, however, a Hidden Village and so she surmised that the tales of them must have been true. If anyone could survive out in the middle of an unforgiving desert it would have been a ninja, though the reason why they would want to was beyond her understanding.

Eventually her wanderings drew her towards the sound of children, some older than her and some younger as she curiously made her way towards the gatherings. She stood at the sidelines, curiously looking between the various groups as some played, some swung sticks and others listened to lectures. Was this the academy. she thought as she continued to look around with a little disappointment. Perhaps her expectations were a touch too grandiose, but for magic wielding one man armies she was expecting a little something.... more.

Movement caught the girl's attention as she saw a strangely garbed man rush out of the larger building as he hastily gathered supplied before rushing back in again. She looked back and forth between the various groups and the building itself before she turned and began to walk towards the building. Everyone else looked busy to her with whom she assumed were academy students, and so the village newcomer decided to go try to get more information about how she could apply from that other man. Surely he would be eager to take a break from rushing around, and inside it might be cooler than it was out in the blazing sun.

As her feet crunched in sand she pulled out a pen from a small secure hoop on her waist and then a hard backed notepad as she began to quickly scribble down her questions for him. Stepping through the threshold of the building, she stepped around the corner and waited for him to return as she continued to hastily write. He would come back by here eventually, she figured, and a minute or more of waiting just gave her more time to think. When Sousuke would finally reappear she would look up and raise her hand to try and get his attention.

Compared to the other children who were gathered outside she did stand out as foreign and due to her slightly taller stature she probably looked to be fifteen or even sixteen instead of the fresh fourteen year old she was. If he approached her as she attempted to fetch his attention she would hold out the notepad for him to take which read, 'Hello sir, my name is Koizumi Tsubaki and you have my apologies for interrupting you, but my family had just arrived to the village to begin our contracted work to help in this reconstruction. I wanted to ask if you knew how I could apply to the academy here, so that I could join the other future shinobi that are training outside.' Whenever he would finish reading she would looked up to him and give him an appreciative smile and a nod of her head as if to confirm the note was from her.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's running to and fro was evidently going faster and faster. "Plasma reactor in sector six... arc reactor in sector two is not liking the plasma reactor. It's... going to be okay. I merely need to adjust the panel work and allot for a two and a half power volt increase on the magnamatium level of..."<i></i> Sousuke ran into the house once more, and then all the lights within the facility lit up like a holiday tree. Sousuke was sent flying out of the building and skidded across the dirt. He was face down and not moving but his body was smoking. The Hercules Beetle wearily eyed his contractor. "Ken not sure if bad thing happened. Did power go boom boom?"<i></i> The giant beetle inquired in a booming voice. Sousuke did not move. The giant beetle grumbled. Sousuke then proceeded to twitch. Ah yes. That was a good sign. Very good indeed. The little human was not dead. If he was the Queen would not be very happy at all.

After several seconds of lying there sizzling, smoking, and twitching Sousuke would get himself up. This had not at all been one of the worst things he had ever done. His eyes glowed green and then yellow beneath his faceplate. He shook his head as he found himself dizzy. He caught sight of words in his stumbling and then found himself on the floor once again face first. "Please stand by. Reloading."<i></i> He spoke very mechanically from the ground. After several more seconds he did not arise. He instead remained on the floor. "Yes. The Botanist family. I am very pleased that your family arrived without a problem."<i></i> He spoke from the floor. His body jolted from a moment with electrical chakra. He was very much she was writing to him to communicate, which illustrated to him that she was a mute. Whether or not she chose not to speak or she could not to due a birth defect he would learn later. "Once I find my face away from this floor, I will direct you with the appropriate locations and form names in order for you to proceed with your academy induction."<i></i> He still remained on the ground. "Ken, would you kindly, proceed to place the vortex infinite relay on the top of the building. It will prevent further power surges, more importantly it'll balance things. Look for the cone looking object and place it on top."<i></i> With that the giant beetle did just that.

 

[Kazumi]

The overload that propelled the overworked inventor from the building startled the girl and she quickly rushed outside to see what in the world was happening. The sight of the giant beetle looming over the smoking body of that man gave her an eerie chill, one that was only worsened when it spoke. Seeing as the... thing was not eating people, she hesitantly approached the pair as he began to stand, and when he unceremoniously collapsed to the ground again she hastened over to kneel beside him as lingering wisps of smoke trailed up from his armor.

Just as she leaned over to try and help him up he began to speak, starling her as she pulled her hand back. She began to nod, before realizing he couldn't see her with his face firmly buried in the ground. She didn't have a clue who he was, but he seemed to recognise her clan. As he instructed the beetle with words that seemed to be either made up or highly technical jargon, she looked up towards the creature as it shambled off to perform the specifics of the task that she did not comprehend. If she hadn't figured anything else by this point, it was that he must have been one of the village's shinobi. How else could he command a... thing of that size to perform tasks?

Tentatively she reached down to poke a finger onto the suits armored carapace, worried it might shock or burn her. Thankfully that did not seem to be the case, and within a moment she had knelt fully down and put her hands under his arm and side to try and flip the man over. He didn't sound hurt, and that armor did look very... impressive, but she figured she wouldn't know until she got him over onto his back. At the least she couldn't communicate with him without him being able to see either her gestures or writing.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's armour was a mixture of long red leather coat and armour underneath, as he was flipped over, he did not move. The eyes glowed green and then yellow. His chest was going up and down, signifying that he was breathing. His designs of late had been less weighty. Sousuke was trying to pick up speed in exchange for his defensive nature. His defenses were still most admirable. In the working world, he needed the extra speed so as he could complete his daily agenda. "This is truly most embarrassing."<i></i> He finally rose up and was already back to work. He conjured a plasma sphere which he held in his hand. His little creation was being encoded, various letters were forming on the sphere. At first the words did not make sense, but then the letters began to re-arranging forming the instructions to the academy which the girl had asked for earlier. The directions of where the place was, the hours of the place, who to ask for, what to input for certain answers. He let go of the orb and allowed it to float before the inquiring young female.

"Thank-you for waiting on me."<i></i> He drew in the girls details. "Ah. Yes. Tsubaki of the house Koizumi. Not at all related to the medical twins who are known for their medical prowess and many advancements in the field."<i></i> Sousuke hesitated for a moment. He folded his fingers together as he began to ponder about the botanist clan, "Tell me are electro-orchids still growing in the area of 60, 82? They are used from time to time in my reactor researches. The juice they provide is most useful. Granted you need a synthesis from the ebon orchids to get the proper chain reaction that is required to establish a sixty-seven percent progress forward event."<i></i> He was speed talking now and realized that it was indeed quite possible she had no idea what he was talking about. "So. How are you doing?"<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Tsubaki still seemed to be silently confused as to what was occurring, even as Sousuke stood up. This, of course, only worsened when he conjured a ball of... something in front of himself. Ninja magic, she presumed, something for her to look forward to? She heard that such things drained away at your life force, and so there was a serious hesitation that kept her normally unchained curiosity in check.

As he began to speed talk of technicalities and inquiries, she did look rather confused. She was in fact a child, even if she was in her early teens. Once he did finish she still held the same perplexed expression for a few seconds before she broke into an airy, voiceless laugh. It only took her a few seconds to recover, but when she did her hands and arms began to move relatively quickly as she communicated not by words, but with sign language. "I do not know what location that is, but I know of both of the plants you refer to. We did not bring any here, as they would never survive in the desert climate without either a well controlled environment or very heavy maintenance."

She paused and began to smile somewhat widely in amusement before she continued at a more casual pace, "I am rather uncomfortable from the heat to be honest. I do not see how you can survive in that... outfit. So, what is this ball thing here?" She then gestured to the orb he had conjured forth for her, smirking in bewilderment at it as her eyes passed back and forth between it an himself. It did not even seem to occur to her that he did not understand sign language, though that would have been the most logical assumption. Over the years she should have learned better, but even now it is rare for her to find someone who knows the language, even if she acts as if everyone does.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

It was eerie. Laughter without sound. Sousuke had did not encountered a mute before, but luckily he did indeed have knowledge of sign language. Confusion becomes laughter. Most strange. His lenses focused on what the hand gestures. Language that was not spoken but made with gestures. In a way it was very much like the seals that they used. Each finger stroke, pinky circle, everything had meaning. It took Sousuke a few extra seconds to proceed the words being used. "Ah, no. No. That's perfectly fine. I am attempting to make conversation with a jumping on point being botany. "<i></i> There was one gesture that threw him off. He spent a moment with it. He holded his arms and held his chin with his index and thumb. He thought about the word. Slight gesture changes were like the dropping of vowels or consonants which was usually victim to the dialect. This minor gesture to him was in a way a dialect to sign language, given that most of what he knew was through a mixture of hand seals and other teachings.

"Oh. This?"<i></i> He pinches the flap on his coat. "Ah. Well. It was slightly chilly for me today. That and I've had to call in a Haku to restore a coolant in the basement section of the building. I had to put on an additional layer to endure that. It was not comfortable at all truthfully."<i></i> He paused. Ball thingy? Oh. The orb. "Plasma construct. A mini star of sorts. "<i></i>The orb proceeded to bounce about and chanted five words 'Hey. Look. Listen. Hey. Hey.' Plasma orbs sometimes had a mind of their own. Sometimes they spoke very limited common. Other times they just hummed and beeped. This was was a case of the former. He span his index finger about allowing the orb to spin about quickly. The orb then stopped as he made a grabbing gesture. The orb sat there just hovering. "More precisely. It is the directions for what you desired."<i></i>

Ken would return soon enough. The giant looked down. "Ken put thingy on roof. Ken also see lil Steward not smoking anymore. Is good."<i></i> Ken looked at the child. He very carefully knelt down. "Queen named me Ken. Steward refers to me as the Mighty Ken. Ken likes name. Steward said your name. Ken must think of adyjective to use for little human."<i></i> The giant beetle patted his horn. He had to think hard about this. "Ken not sure what word to use."<i></i>

Ken continued to think, and as he did so Nemuri the moth fluttered in. The moth pitched on Sousuke shoulder. "She's not as fashionable as I am."<i></i> The moth declared. "Girl. You need yourself some fashion advice or the fashion police will be all over you. Thankfully. I am an expert."<i></i>

"Ken not like fashion. Fashion is tiresome."<i></i> groaned the behemoth of an insect. The moth was pretty yes, that much he would admit.

MFT

 

[Kazumi]

Chilly!? She had to mentally will herself to not sweat as much as an ice scultpure out in this head. "A H A K U?" Signing out the letters of what she assumed was a person's name before adding, "is that a friend of yours?" She was a foreigner after all, and the nuances of bloodlines and shinobi clans was still unfamiliar to her. As he would respond her attention shifted to the floating ball of energy that somehow both curious and annoying at the same time. How was it speaking? What was plasma? He had said it was a star, but as far as she knew stars did not talk.

With a resonating thud that startled the poor girl almost to the point of panic, Tsubaki looked away from the floating ball as she noticed the massive beetle towering overhead. She remembered the stories, but surely none of them had prepared her for dealing with all of these... oddities and curiosities. She looked between it and the Steward, that title ringing familiar to her somehow, but the details of it seemed to elude her as the insect continued to speak. Habitually, she began to try and respond to it with gestures, but her attention broke once again as another much smaller voice struck her.

Nemuri received a curious stare from Tsubaki, who was either unphased by the veiled insult or, more likely, was simply startlted by the addition of more talking insects. As she looked from the ball, to the beetle, the moth and then to Sousuke she began to gesture once more, looking a little overwhelmed by now. "Does everything around here talk? They are friendly I hope?" The fact that they had not attempted to eat her was a good sign, that and if they were a threat the shinobi around here would have leapt to attack or something... right?

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Friend? Not really. I tolerate her. Granted, she can turn her skin to diamonds which is a very useful skillset and ... men oogle her constantly for her supposed good looks."<i></i> He explained. This particular Haku is of noble birth, and has had a long history of trouble. From time to time her boyfriends would ask Sousuke for his assistance in rescuing her only to find out part way she had either got herself out of the mess or ... had seduced her captors. Surprisingly it was not stockholm syndrome mainly due to the victim later murdering the captor. Before Sousuke could say anything more said Haku marched out of the building, her long flowing blonde hair was waving in the air. Several eyes were turned upon her and indeed her suposed good looks. The Steward simply facepalmed and shook his head. Nemuri seemed genuinely displeased with her and hearts were floating around Ken's head as he seemed to take in her good looks.

"She isn't clothed enough. Women need to wear clothes to be truly sexy."<i></i> Nemuri asserted. The moth's eyes narrowed as the Haku moved past them. She turned casually just to wave at the still faceplaming Sousuke. The moth in turn blew a raspberry at her, the response was the woman puffing out her chest and going 'hrmph'. "That's right you go away now."<i></i> The moth continued to see her away. "Even Yume has higher standards and is superior to her in every single way. Not me though. My wings are above all of you put together in terms of beauty."<i></i> When Tsubaki had inquired if everything here talked and way friendly the moth lifted up and landed on Sousuke's head. "Are you real?"<i></i>

Sousuke again shook his head and now facepalmed with both hands. This was not going well for him. He lowered his hands. "My dog does not talk, but she is very smart."<i></i> He began. He thought about going on about the fact that his dog used to be a puppet construct until a particular accident happened which would forever change her.

 

[Kazumi]

Skin to diamonds? Surely he was kidding but... she was doing her best to not make any further assumptions until she saw such things with her own eyes. As the woman in question stepped into view, Tsubaki seemed to take an interest in her as she looked past the crowd towards. She did not know if that was her, statistically it would be unlikely, but she was very pretty and even Tsubaki had a little difficulty breaking her eyes away at first. The small jeering sounds from Sousuke's small winged friend managed it, and her eyes averted away from them all as shs stared off to the side at nothing in particular.

Her head tilted to the side with a confused air as Sousuke performed the legendary double face-palm maneuver, presumaby from her strange question. It was a reasonable question, who was he to give her that gesture? Feeling a little miffed, she easily suppressed her faintly chaffed feelings as Sousuke mentioned his canine companion. So it was only insects that talked? As if one could call that an insect, she thought as she looked up towards the towering chiten plated monstrosity.

"Do you have any words of advice for an outsider here? We will probably be here for a year or two and I do not wish to upset any of the other locals if I can help it." No further than she already had at least, if such could be avoided. Tsubaki reached up and wiped her brow with the back of her hand, doing her best to not appear affected by the heat as the sun ground down upon them all.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's eyes shifted to the left. He was a man of some limited understanding when dealing with people. "Hm? Did you want me to grant my dog the ability to talk? I'm sure she would have neat things to say. I suppose a translator would help, but then I would need to understand howls and pitches of howls and ..."<i></i> Sousuke trailed off into a speed talking fashion of the mechanics of having to have an Inuzuka for initial translation but then it would go into something deeper, and how ultimately the device would be something of a collar of sorts with a chakra attuned to sound which would then react to the barks and then turning those barks into common. Ken was snoring loudly which came out as a howling sound, and Nemuri had made a spot for herself sleeping on Sousuke's head. It was if anything ... a true testament to his ability to be ... eccentric and somewhat of a bore.

Then came the next question about advice for an outsider. The Steward thought about the concept and again took to a fit of speed talking. "The ancestors. Always honour your ancestors and never disrespect them. We also pray to a deity named Mother Suna who is a benevolent earthern mother. It is best not to undermine those two and for the most part you will fit in. There are the usual social niceties to be had. As for other bits of advice? Well. Strange things do occur from time to time, it is best to engage these strange situations with a calm and clear mind. Panicking or making a show of things ... well... it would not really do you any good. We are in a position of transition for the moment as we have been living underground for the past thirty years due to a massive destructive storm that has since subsided... which is what in part made your travels here all the much more easier."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Thankfully for the pair, Tsubaki was nothing but patient when dealing with people, at least when she made the effort to do so. So, as he talked on and on she made an effort to listen and try, to no great success, to understand and follow along with his random proposition. The beginning sounded interesting, at least until it delved into the mechanics of such workings. Once sentences devolved to the point to which she only understood half of them she could only smile and nod along at what seemed to be the appropriate times. If nothing else, humoring him could only help get her on his good graces.

When things finally shifted to something useful, or at least something she could understand, her expression turned to a more genuine looking smile. As he talked, she looked back and forth between her pad and him, writing down key points of information as he spoke. Ancestors. Mother Suna. Strange things. She paused a moment as he continued on, pondering that last one. The thought that someone who associated themselves with, what appeared to her as, the supernatural, what could he possibly find strange? Once he finished she continued to scrawl down a few more of the notes, and finally underlined the Strange Things part as she turned the pad towards him and tapped the pen next to the pair of words as she looked towards him inquisitively.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. Strange. Things. "I do know a man who has a PhD in Strange-ology. He also went to Strange Medical School in a place called Elsewhere. He fights monsters that are snake-like that come out of fridges. He is sometimes an ill tempered man due to his ego. He goes on about how he is The Doctor. It is very difficult at times. Now the things he involves himself with are very strange."<i></i> Sousuke proceeded to remember a period of his childhood days when he was taking a lesson from this Strange Doctor in Strange-ology. His grandmother was involved with the whole mess because she used her 'Other' form which had her head light aflame, and then... well... suffice it to say there was alot of screaming involved, and chains. Sousuke's gaze shifted skyward as his eyes narrowed at this thought. How was it at all relevant? Kind of. Sort of. Maybe. No. Not really. His eyes narrowed even more so as he was not pleased having to remember that one awkward moment again.

"Ancestry isn't a strange thing. Really. It determines what abilities you have and all. You need to have your roots, literally in your case with the bontany."<i></i> He hesitated when he thought of Mother Suna. "Mother Suna could be understood as the Earth Mother."<i></i> There was also the whole bit about the large tiger god demon thing Kuro worshipped but that was something else entirely different. Sousuke absentmindedly took out his own pen and in a very neat fashion wrote Byakko which was the name of said creature he had on his mind. Even more absentmindedly he drew a picture of said creature on the sheet of paper. He looked down and realized there was the tiger on said sheet of paper. It was a very detailed drawing, considering his hand had moved about very quickly. "Ah. Yes. Quite. Ask Toraono Kuro about that one."<i></i>

MFT: 322

 

[Kazumi]

Sousuke continued to speak, and while what he said were words strung together to form sentences, that was about all the girl could decipher out of what he meant. A moment of silence thing hung as he looked away from the girl, only causing her confusion and slight unease to settle in deeper. Thankfully, as the topic shifted to Ancestry, Mother Suna and then a drawing of what looked to be an elaborately penned tiger Tsubaki relaxed a small bit. With his 'friends' and his strange tendencies she concluded that he must be the town 'eccentric'. Every village she had been to had one in some degree or another, and why would a shinobi village be any different? She could only wonder how the other townfolk treated him and his... uniqueness. Forcing a gracious bow and a nod of understanding, she reached out and took the drawing from him, if he was willing to part with it.

Things had certainly gone from strange, to stranger, to surreal and beyond in the past hour. What had started as a simple task of asking a stranger some details about the academy turned into a curiously odd sequence of events. She proceeded to turn towards the giant beetle and then the diminutive companion, offering them both more subdued bows. She slid his drawing into her pocket, clasped her hands together as she nodded her head in an attempt to make an understandable gesture of appreciation before she would begin to turn to make her departure. If spoken to again, she would stop and continue, but her mother had told her in the past not to associate with the unstable types, and even if they were magical, giant beetles and other insects were certainly friends an unstable individual might have.