Sleep
It wasn't something that came easy to Homura these days, and was more and more fleeting by the day. The pressure was on as the cabal continued their destruction of the village. He was exhausted, running from every Sunagakure ninja that looked at him funny and staring at the ceiling every time he heard a small bump in his bedroom, He was at a safe house, one of many the family had spread throughout the village. Even though it blended in with the surroundings as just some building, and there wasn't a real way anyone could find him with him having destroyed the estate after he ransacked it for what it was worth, the paranoia was still there. However, tonight wasn't going to be like any other night, for the body needed it's rest and was going to force him to have it. So, he closed his eyes and as soon as he did he heard a sound, a faint wind blowing in the darkness that was his vision.
"Homura, my love." his sword spoke out to him as he faded into a deep sleep. It reached out, grabbing his consciousness before his body could shut it down. His eyes shot open and he was in what appeared to be a big sand pit. He had not ever seen a calm desert, as the one above the village had been untame and wildly flinging sand since before he was born, a long time before! It was peaceful, except for the heat and sun bearing down on him, which he could fully feel. Some distance up he could see a shadow standing in front of the sun, above him on a sand dune.
He would walk toward it, climbing up the sand dune but it was tough. He felt like he was moving through mud from the knee down, planting his hands in the dunes to force his way to the top. Once up there he saw a woman, tattered robes and hidden face with a hood on, her bangs covering her left side. She would turn to him as he approached, a solemn tone to her voice. "Chosen Chikara, it is good to see you finally make your way here." she said, turning her head down toward something in the distance, on the other side of the dune. He didn't say anything, only looking to where she had looked to see what looked like a bunch of sand being picked up in the distance, a trail leading to the right of their vision. At the beginning of the cone of sand, was a bunch of buggies, animals, people, all marching unendingly too some destination or another.
"What is this?"
"A look into the past, that caravan is the one that would become your village. I'm down there right now, with the first of your name." she said, as the sky above began to rapidly switch from day to night, the sun flying by as if the whole world was on fast forward. The scenery below him swept out from under his feet until he was left standing at a big battle taking place. It was happening all in slow mo, in a city guarded by walls in the light. A pipe dream for sunans most of the time.
"Where are we now?"
"This is the cause of your birth. A clan war dating back to the first men." she said, walking through the battle unseen, as they were essentially just floating through the memories of the sword, of the clan. He followed her, dipping under jutsus and things, afraid they may actually hurt him. She would stop, turning her head toward him and waiting for a response, for what he would see is his father battling ferociously against the other clan. The look for rage and determination on his face could not be understated. "Your father fought in this war for some time, me at his side. He's much older than anyone would ever know." she said, as the world began to speed up, showing them underground in the village, years prior to his growth into a full human adult.
"How is that possible?" he was right to question.
"Just listen..."
"Homura is growing fast, we need to kick his training into gear fast. If he's going to inherit my power, I need him to be stronger than me." a voice of the past rang out, it was his father speaking to his mother. She nodded in agreement and said some words, muted for some reason to his ears. She would then disappear into another room. The time would fast forward about an hour, and she would come out of the room and find Homura, time would freeze.
"I remember this day, mom made me drink this disgusting liquid. This was the first time, but nowhere near the last." he said, looking around the area. His dad was watching nearby unbeknownst to him at the time. It was from this day forward in his life that they cracked down, he was broken down and raised back up. The time was once again moved around him. The house shifting in size and shape, as it had gotten bigger over the years, a product of his fathers fostering the clan into prominence. They were at the moment he recieved his ancestral blade, whom he was now talking to.
"I kept your father alive this whole time, we were bonded. Through the war, the fall and rise of new Sunagakure, through your birth. I kept a hold of his pain, his weakness and I turned it into strength. He, like the Chikara before you, took my power as it was offered to them until such a time as they had an heir to claim it." she spoke as the sword was handed down to him with some kind words from his father. Not to long after, he would distance himself from the clan after having a marriage arranged for him.
"So he passed his power down to me, and the marriage was suppose to give me an heir to pass my power down to?"
"That's correct. You have a much stronger bond with me than he did though, while he did take my power he did not fully understand me, couldn't speak with me as you do. Nobody has been able to since the first of your name." she stated, lowering her hood to show more of her features. Time had un-noticeably stopped at the handing over of the sword as he looked her in the eyes. "I want to share with you my power, and you share with me yours. Be one with me like none before you, create a power truly worth passing down." she said, reaching out her hand for him to grab.
He hesitated for a moment, thinking of everything he learned. His father was ancient, had seen so many things and done so much. His whole family, had so much history he didn't know about. Then his mind went to the most obvious place, his fathers death. The scenery violently changed, and they were standing behind a vision of himself and his father, right before he was murdered by Homuras own hand. She understood his concern, that he felt unworthy of a power because of the price he had to pay for it.
"In order to gain my power, a sacrifice must be made. The heir must pay the ultimate price..." she said, as the death scene played out before them, followed by the burning and destruction of the clan. The whole time her arm remained out stretched.
"Did my father know he was walking into his death? After seeing what I've seen I can only assume he did, and he sacrificed the whole clan with it? he paused for a long moment, coming to terms with the possibility that his father had killed himself and everyone he loved just to pass on a legacy.
"As long as you and your brother exists, the clan name carries on. Take my hand and rebuild it in your own image. Don't let the sacrifice be in vain." she said intensely.
His eyes went from those of sadness and tears, to those of intent and intensity. He would reach out and grab her hand, and they would both envelope in a bright light. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he took a very fast, but absorbing trip through the history of the very sword he owned. It began at a big, dark forge and fast forwarded through many lifetimes of combat and usefullness. He absorbed it all, the knowledge the sword held was great and immense. He even felt himself running through his father, a brief slowdown on the memories as a few words came across, thoughts absorbed by the sword as it ended his life. "Take care son, carve your own path now." the thoughts of his father carried through his ears and into his very soul.
Snapping awake, he shot up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down his face. Putting his hands in his face, he would breath in and out heavily. Sliding out of bed, he put his hand on his sword that laid next to it and it felt as though he was touching an extension of himself. As if he had just reach out and grabbed a limb. Placing it on his belt, he would walk to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.
"Let's make our own way now, no more living in the past."
"Yeah..." he said aloud, to the voice in his head. "I have one lingering question." he said, as he dried his face off and starred into the mirror, talking to himself but not to himself. "Why are you so different from the first time we met."
"I was what you needed me to be, I'll always be what you need me to be."
His heart sank, she was a wild vixen back then because she knew taking that form would keep him calm and collected, or at least distract him from the possibility of getting reamed by Akio. She had been protecting him, who knows what else she'd done for him that he didn't even know about.
"We're one now, mind and body. I'm you, and you're me."
"Sharp blade, sharp mind."
They both smiled in unison, as he turned and walked out the door. It was time for Akio and whoever he could get his hands on to pay.
[Tsukumogami Kinjutsu App]
[WC: 1759]
[This is a continuation from http://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=390&t=25472 of which I'm also adding into this.]
It wasn't something that came easy to Homura these days, and was more and more fleeting by the day. The pressure was on as the cabal continued their destruction of the village. He was exhausted, running from every Sunagakure ninja that looked at him funny and staring at the ceiling every time he heard a small bump in his bedroom, He was at a safe house, one of many the family had spread throughout the village. Even though it blended in with the surroundings as just some building, and there wasn't a real way anyone could find him with him having destroyed the estate after he ransacked it for what it was worth, the paranoia was still there. However, tonight wasn't going to be like any other night, for the body needed it's rest and was going to force him to have it. So, he closed his eyes and as soon as he did he heard a sound, a faint wind blowing in the darkness that was his vision.
"Homura, my love." his sword spoke out to him as he faded into a deep sleep. It reached out, grabbing his consciousness before his body could shut it down. His eyes shot open and he was in what appeared to be a big sand pit. He had not ever seen a calm desert, as the one above the village had been untame and wildly flinging sand since before he was born, a long time before! It was peaceful, except for the heat and sun bearing down on him, which he could fully feel. Some distance up he could see a shadow standing in front of the sun, above him on a sand dune.
He would walk toward it, climbing up the sand dune but it was tough. He felt like he was moving through mud from the knee down, planting his hands in the dunes to force his way to the top. Once up there he saw a woman, tattered robes and hidden face with a hood on, her bangs covering her left side. She would turn to him as he approached, a solemn tone to her voice. "Chosen Chikara, it is good to see you finally make your way here." she said, turning her head down toward something in the distance, on the other side of the dune. He didn't say anything, only looking to where she had looked to see what looked like a bunch of sand being picked up in the distance, a trail leading to the right of their vision. At the beginning of the cone of sand, was a bunch of buggies, animals, people, all marching unendingly too some destination or another.
"What is this?"
"A look into the past, that caravan is the one that would become your village. I'm down there right now, with the first of your name." she said, as the sky above began to rapidly switch from day to night, the sun flying by as if the whole world was on fast forward. The scenery below him swept out from under his feet until he was left standing at a big battle taking place. It was happening all in slow mo, in a city guarded by walls in the light. A pipe dream for sunans most of the time.
"Where are we now?"
"This is the cause of your birth. A clan war dating back to the first men." she said, walking through the battle unseen, as they were essentially just floating through the memories of the sword, of the clan. He followed her, dipping under jutsus and things, afraid they may actually hurt him. She would stop, turning her head toward him and waiting for a response, for what he would see is his father battling ferociously against the other clan. The look for rage and determination on his face could not be understated. "Your father fought in this war for some time, me at his side. He's much older than anyone would ever know." she said, as the world began to speed up, showing them underground in the village, years prior to his growth into a full human adult.
"How is that possible?" he was right to question.
"Just listen..."
"Homura is growing fast, we need to kick his training into gear fast. If he's going to inherit my power, I need him to be stronger than me." a voice of the past rang out, it was his father speaking to his mother. She nodded in agreement and said some words, muted for some reason to his ears. She would then disappear into another room. The time would fast forward about an hour, and she would come out of the room and find Homura, time would freeze.
"I remember this day, mom made me drink this disgusting liquid. This was the first time, but nowhere near the last." he said, looking around the area. His dad was watching nearby unbeknownst to him at the time. It was from this day forward in his life that they cracked down, he was broken down and raised back up. The time was once again moved around him. The house shifting in size and shape, as it had gotten bigger over the years, a product of his fathers fostering the clan into prominence. They were at the moment he recieved his ancestral blade, whom he was now talking to.
"I kept your father alive this whole time, we were bonded. Through the war, the fall and rise of new Sunagakure, through your birth. I kept a hold of his pain, his weakness and I turned it into strength. He, like the Chikara before you, took my power as it was offered to them until such a time as they had an heir to claim it." she spoke as the sword was handed down to him with some kind words from his father. Not to long after, he would distance himself from the clan after having a marriage arranged for him.
"So he passed his power down to me, and the marriage was suppose to give me an heir to pass my power down to?"
"That's correct. You have a much stronger bond with me than he did though, while he did take my power he did not fully understand me, couldn't speak with me as you do. Nobody has been able to since the first of your name." she stated, lowering her hood to show more of her features. Time had un-noticeably stopped at the handing over of the sword as he looked her in the eyes. "I want to share with you my power, and you share with me yours. Be one with me like none before you, create a power truly worth passing down." she said, reaching out her hand for him to grab.
He hesitated for a moment, thinking of everything he learned. His father was ancient, had seen so many things and done so much. His whole family, had so much history he didn't know about. Then his mind went to the most obvious place, his fathers death. The scenery violently changed, and they were standing behind a vision of himself and his father, right before he was murdered by Homuras own hand. She understood his concern, that he felt unworthy of a power because of the price he had to pay for it.
"In order to gain my power, a sacrifice must be made. The heir must pay the ultimate price..." she said, as the death scene played out before them, followed by the burning and destruction of the clan. The whole time her arm remained out stretched.
"Did my father know he was walking into his death? After seeing what I've seen I can only assume he did, and he sacrificed the whole clan with it? he paused for a long moment, coming to terms with the possibility that his father had killed himself and everyone he loved just to pass on a legacy.
"As long as you and your brother exists, the clan name carries on. Take my hand and rebuild it in your own image. Don't let the sacrifice be in vain." she said intensely.
His eyes went from those of sadness and tears, to those of intent and intensity. He would reach out and grab her hand, and they would both envelope in a bright light. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he took a very fast, but absorbing trip through the history of the very sword he owned. It began at a big, dark forge and fast forwarded through many lifetimes of combat and usefullness. He absorbed it all, the knowledge the sword held was great and immense. He even felt himself running through his father, a brief slowdown on the memories as a few words came across, thoughts absorbed by the sword as it ended his life. "Take care son, carve your own path now." the thoughts of his father carried through his ears and into his very soul.
Snapping awake, he shot up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down his face. Putting his hands in his face, he would breath in and out heavily. Sliding out of bed, he put his hand on his sword that laid next to it and it felt as though he was touching an extension of himself. As if he had just reach out and grabbed a limb. Placing it on his belt, he would walk to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.
"Let's make our own way now, no more living in the past."
"Yeah..." he said aloud, to the voice in his head. "I have one lingering question." he said, as he dried his face off and starred into the mirror, talking to himself but not to himself. "Why are you so different from the first time we met."
"I was what you needed me to be, I'll always be what you need me to be."
His heart sank, she was a wild vixen back then because she knew taking that form would keep him calm and collected, or at least distract him from the possibility of getting reamed by Akio. She had been protecting him, who knows what else she'd done for him that he didn't even know about.
"We're one now, mind and body. I'm you, and you're me."
"Sharp blade, sharp mind."
They both smiled in unison, as he turned and walked out the door. It was time for Akio and whoever he could get his hands on to pay.
[Tsukumogami Kinjutsu App]
[WC: 1759]
[This is a continuation from http://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=390&t=25472 of which I'm also adding into this.]