The First Petals of Winter [Private]

[Byakko Yukiin]

There are a few constants in a shinobi's life which permeate their minds and work a sort of arcane magic on them until they adjust into what are properly known as weapons of war - you are always under threat, you are never the strongest, and you must never let those first two things compound into a life-terminating decision. The younger you were the more likely it was that you understood one or two of these things but the third fact was much harder to discover and adopt into one's own flesh, something that Yukiin was thinking about rather heavily as the girl at the gates had seen fit to pester the gate guards. Her citizenship was the acting barrier keeping them from physically moving her out of their way but their eyes still conveyed the idea as if they were secretly hoping they were latent Uchiha and could use eye contact to Genjutsu this girl into someplace else. if they had been then Yukiin wouldn't have minded too much, he'd never seen someone be sheared apart by a forced teleportation and while the loss of life and limb of one of his comrades would be tragic...it would also be educational. Very educational.

She'd chosen to make herself a curious nuisance at a good time though as he approached the gates and caught the eyes of the guardsmen, latching onto their intended meaning without a need for chakra exchange as far as he knew it (although he performed a Kai anyways once outside of eyeline because why take risks?) to communicate a simple idea - take her away from us. Yukiin obliged and before he knew it he was unofficial babysitter for another academy student who had many of the same issues Kei presented but with a more earnest approach that didn't make him want to encase her in a block of ice and shove her off the nearest cliff (or maybe that was coming and she just needed more time to grate on his nerves.) Really this whole space of emotional range was new to him and he wasn't really sure what to do with it all at times except not act on it too much, he needed to 'fill' more or less before he became a Revenant and Osuteno seemed to believe it was critical to his health; ignoring a medical professional's advice was unwise after all. Thus Yukiin was growing to occupy more and more of the emotional landscape he possessed and had left barren and unattended for so many years since being turned into a war engine.

Those three constants were less like shackles and becoming more like standing stones, anchor points for him to return to when the blossoming fields of strange sensations proved too alien and he needed respite under the cold winds and harsh earth. Maybe, in due time, his obligations would come to fill a similar role but for now he was taking on obligations which weren't even his own, the Main Branch was supposed to be attending to children after all and assisting them in the Academy...he was a Medical Shinobi. Yukiin retrieved corpses and made new ones, living individuals were outside of his job purview unless they were close to becoming a corpse which might be the case if the girl was nosy enough to stick her face into things that might remove it...he'd have to think on that chain of thought.

He didn't allow any of this to change his course however, once he'd chosen to bring the student with him he'd expressed that he was going out into the heartlands and that she was to stay close by but had failed to really elaborate on the why of that, although she asked several times...several dozen maybe, he'd started ignoring it after a while. It was a bit of a trek to come out here, even at shinobi speed, and if it was even slower when he had to keep step with a student so she wasn't accidentally dragged off by a bear or something, so he was less of an active listener and more of a passive 'uh-huh'er to any poised questions or statements.

Only once he was deeper into the heart of the wild forest did he put his heel to the earth, its wetness from the churning vegetation feeling very unlike the wetness of Marsh or the harshness of the homeland, did he open up to any dialogue between the pair that wasn't simple instruction to not die along the way. Yukiin gestured for his company to stop as he had as he took stock of the clearing and pulled a scroll from his pocket, snapping a finger with the nail pushed in to draw out the line of blood that as quickly as it was created snapped into crackling ice. The thin icy needle was used to cut the scroll open and break its seal before dissolving back into liquid and splashing onto the paper, mingling with its arcane etchings as he set it out against a nearby tree stump and adhered it. The markings glowed almost imperceptibly because, as mentioned earlier, he was not a Uchiha and the sight of chakra was nothing he possessed but when used in this fashion even the blind could determine when a scroll was active or inactive.

The Genin snapped his fingers like a pianist and gave the field a look over. It was as literally verdant as he metaphorically barren, flowering blossoms snared the ground floor like a hundred layers of trap wire, capturing the movement of any who passed through and relaying it wordlessly to the vines that had captured the trees here. Neither of them were happy about this arrangement, trees were voracious and vines were parasitic. A tree took decades to develop and through hard work and even harder luck they could pierce the skies and sprawl outward in both earth and air but vines simply waited until the tree did its job and crawled up to its height ontop of it. The fruits and flowering herbs knew their place below the trees but the vines didn't care and that reminded him somewhat of the shinobi lifestyle - a tree knew it was strong and because it failed to account for the consequences of its strength, the vines capitalized on it and took advantage much like a powerful punch could be turned around and cripple the thrower or a jutsu reversed, they were careless things that pursued simple goals and were punished for that. SImilarly, the vines thought themselves strong for being clever and Yukiin corrected that error as he casually tapped a finger to the vine lattice on the tree he'd placed his scroll, allowing the ice to travel all along its length and crystallize it instantly.

And his correction was firm, a piercing break of glass in a place that knew nothing of it, as the vine dissolved into falling icy mist. Mistakes weren't repeated in the shinobi world, the natural world was much the same and by making yourself as visible as the tree was, but not also as strong as it was, you were an easy target to eliminate.

"Don't let the weak prey upon you and don't use the strong to gain an advantage you can't hold, vital lessons from the natural world for our world."

Yukiin addressed his speech to the girl, effectively opening up dialogue now that he was where he wanted to be.

"I apologize for not engaging much along the way but we have the time now for me to explain things. We're here to capture the attention of an otherworldly life form, the scroll is a beacon to attract one and when it arrives, if it hasn't already, and begin a negotiation of sorts for an exchange of strength. I am not a tree, it is not a vine, but instead we are both ourselves and we must agree to speak amicably and fairly with one another to share our power. You are not required to participate in this exchange but are welcome to do so, if you so please, but keep my words in mind - they may be stronger than you are prepared to associate with and thus you must be prepared to shore up the difference."

He smiled.

"Of course they're also dangerous sometimes but you seemed like a fiery spirit at the gates, I assume a little conflict won't ruffle your feathers too much. You can make a handsign or two right?"

Yukiin didn't smile for her, more for himself nervously, as he realized he didn't know if he'd brought dead weight with him or not and hadn't really bothered to ask. He knew what he'd brought with him to conjure forth but he wasn't really certain what, exactly, it would draw out and what its disposition would be as the majority of texts on this type of jutsu were less technical manuals and more adventure stories with frogs or what have you. Some of them were far more deviant than that and the Genin shook his head to forget what he'd read about the creative uses for abyssal sea squids. All in all, it would seem that Yukiin himself wasn't old enough to understand that there were more than three things to remember about being a shinobi and that one of those things was to ask the right questions before you went out into the wilderness looking for monsters.

It would be a lie to say this was the first time.
A bigger lie to say it would be the last one.

"...please tell me you can make a hand sign."

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya got up at a decent time in the morning. She was not sure what she would do for the day since she had no classes scheduled for the day, so she probably would end up training.

Aya is a small girl, standing at only five feet tall, and looked like she was the average weight for her age. Her skin is close to paper white, except for her freckled spots anywhere her skin showed. Her eyes are Hazel, they look blue in most lights. She wore a baggy green jacket over a white tank top and a pair of black shorts. She made she her hair was brushed before leaving the Academy dorms, she was lucky that her hair seemed to not tangle too easily.

Aya did intend to train, but she found herself wanting to find a new place to explore, she remembered a place not too far from the village, it was outside, but she wanted to see it again. She hadn’t left the village since arriving, she remembered someone Vaguely telling her she couldn’t leave the village, but she didn’t fully remember. It was worth a shot anyways.

Once Aya was at the gates, she tried just walking out, but the guards stopped her asking her for papers. She, of course, asked why, and they explained that she needed to have permission to leave. SO she explained that she has permission from herself to leave. Aya was not sure what they meant and didn’t understand why she couldn’t go outside the village, it was kinda unfair to her. Before she came here, she could go wherever she felt like.

Soon after they explained to her why she couldn’t go out right now, she kept asking why, why, why, again and again. Soon they stopped answering her and started to ignore her. Though they stood as physical barriers to prevent her from leaving. She didn’t want to break rules, but she did want to know everything about why she could not go out.

Aya was about to give in and go back to the Academy when a guy came by and told her to come with him. He looked like snow, pure white. It was a bit odd to her, but the guards seemed to be allowing him to go through, and he was giving her a chance to go with him. So she took this chance.

He told her to stay near him, so the catch was she could go where she wanted to. "My name is Aya, where are we going?" She asked, but he didn't seem like much for chatting. He did tell her that they were going to the heartlands, where ever that was. He probably only took her along so she wouldn’t keep pestering the guards, but hey she was out. So she made minor chit-chat or at least tried to, but she was only answered with minor replies if none at all. She asked a few times, where they were going, why she needed to stay nearby, but it was all moot. Maybe she could annoy him enough that he’d ditch her, and let her go explore. Though he seemed to be able to ignore everything pretty well.

So eventually she went silent, and just followed behind. She was agile, and quick due to her training, and the need to be so. Though she probably wasn’t as fast as him, he was obviously a rank that was out of the village, meaning he had been training for much longer than herself.

Finally, they stopped, they went way farther than she wanted to go, but at least she got to come with. The field they stopped in was breathtaking, this was way better than where she wanted to go. Her attention was caught by the guy who brought her along opened a scroll, with what seemed to be solid blood? She’d never seen a sealed scroll in action before, she didn’t know much about them, other than they can hold weapons, some can hold people, this one seemed to hold none of these though. When he activated it glowed.

Finally, he spoke to her, he told basically don't be taken advantage of, and don't take advantage of others. Aya didn’t want anyone to use her, at least not again, though she wasn’t sure about the last part. She understood no one wanted to be used, so she would avoid doing that. She nodded to him to assure him she was listening.

He went on to apologize for not talking, and then he answered her questions. She just listened to what he had to say before saying anything. He said they're going to capture the attention of otherworldly creatures, she remembered an old man in her village spoke about these, he called them aliens though. She used to listen to his strange stories all the time. People told her Aliens didn't exist and the old man was crazy, but it seems like they were wrong. Aya grinned, and nearly hopped for joy.

"We’re going to talk to aliens? I want to be friends with aliens too!" Aya stated enthusiastically. She understood that he wanted to partner with them, and share strengths, she could do the same thing. THough she didn’t have much to offer right now, in time, she would be strong.

He told her they are dangerous and went on to say she looked like she could probably handle it. She could, though the thought of them maybe having weapons that could take out whole cities, and erasing memories of any witnesses made her a little anxious. But her mind was taken off of that when he asked her if she could make a hand sign, he actually asked twice, as if he questioned his choice to bring her.

"I can make a hand sign, I know all the hand signs..." Aya stated, she then showed him a hand sign. "Maybe you were actually wondering if I knew any Jutsu." SHe stated with a chuckle. "I know a couple of Jutsu, but I know mostly Taijutsu..." She stated. With her new found abilities, she could make a weapon if just in case she needed one. She had been practicing it, she also had been practicing shooting wind arrows, with a solid wind bow. Her aim was getting pretty good.

[Topic entered]
[WC: 1,057]

 

[Midori Futotta]

......​

The price had been paid, the sealing scroll now soaked with blood began to glow a strange green before the stroll itself began to bubble a strange inky black substance. The black liquid beginning to tinkle down the page then onto the tree stump… then the sky darkened. The duo of cloud shinobi would be able to see the entire garden becoming cloaked darkness, nearly pitch black but they could see as the once beautiful garden that they stood in... Turned into a disgusting nightmarish swamp. The beautiful fruits transformed into grotesque mushrooms that pulsed with toxins that could kill a person in mere moments, the trees were now dead leafless abominations with nooses tied at the ends of each branch. Some of these nooses had some decaying corpses of shinobi who failed the little trail that they went through. The flowers were predatory fly traps with their little mouths open wide as they waited for their next snack to fly into its mouth, the water was a pitch black abyss that housed god knows what within it. Bones and human remains could be found anywhere you looked, with strange bushes that looked strangely enough like people. Some old, some young, some boys, some girls, and somewhere in between. The two succeeded in summoning something, but whatever brought them into this world didn't seem friendly. At all….

The place was cool, damp and dark. Yukiin was probably prepared for this situation of running into a not so friendly type of otherworldly creature, these summoning rituals usually are a gamble the lucky ones usually get a creature that dwells within the light while the unlucky ones get the ones that dwell within the darkness. Whatever the case, showing no fear and having a good plan in dealing with these kinds of monsters would probably be the best course of action, considering that these creatures that dwell in the dark a bit… mean. Very mean.

As the stage was set for the duo, the scroll again began to bubble that inky black liquid again then suddenly something shot out of the summoning scroll, using the scroll as a sort of place to pop out of there stood a 5 foot tall, conscious sunflower. It had a white androecium, six yellow petals, and a light-green stem with a couple vines that stuck out to look like hands. It's eyes were pitch black with red dots for pupils, a toothy sadistic smile spreading across its face revealing rows of sharp jagged teeth. “Why hello there? You aren't afraid of little ol’ me are ya?!” it spoke in a high pitch voice, giggling a shrill ugly giggle that almost sounded like chalk squeaking on a chalkboard. “Mm-mm! Well don't you two look delicious! I could just eat you two up. NEEEE HEEHEE! Too bad that's against this whole summoning rule” It narrowed its eyes, looking quite annoyed. “Lucky you. Oh shoot! Forgot to introduce you to my friend out here, he's kinda the host for our little game we are gonna play…” The sinister flower sunk back into the scroll, then after a few moments it popped up from the ground behind the duo looking out in the wooded area seeing if he could see his friend. Then he turned, pointing into the darkness with a vine. “There he is right now!” it said, however the other creature couldn't be seen right away, but within the distance in that dark were a pair of two glowing white eyes staring from behind a tree which began to approach when the evil flower called out its location.

As it slowly approached, its features although hidden by a garb of darkness, the creature looked like a walking humanoid tree with a dark cloak. Two branches extended from its head like horns, tilting its head as it studied the two. “Greetings…. I wasn't expecting any human guest in my swamp.” it said in a deep and sinister voice. "Considering how many other humans sacrificed a generous blood donation to get here, perhaps you're here to make a deal... Am I correct?" The creature of darkness inched closer, the sinister flower turned around waiting in excitement of what these two had to say.....

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"None of us would be here if that weren't the intention, you're asking a rhetorical question right, tall one?" Yukiin responded curtly, a billowing fog of his chakra steaming outwards to combat the environmental shifting that the pair of creatures had decided to make with their arrival. He pressed a handseal together in one hand and his thumb down on his middle finger in the other, snapping the bone with one press and grinding it to near powder with a second, firmer, press as he looked back around. Nothing changed so it wasn't likely to be Genjutsu, either the Kai or the pain would've likely broken it down. He exhaled slowly, a gust of chilling wind passing from his lips and glazing the botanical beasts nearest him in frost.

"It'd be easier if this was Genjutsu, showing off a collection of bodies like this..."

The puppeteer lifted a hand, directing one his cloaked tools to dart over to the girl and lift her, pulling back in the snap of motion as his other hand snapped an icicle senbon out between the eyes of the flowery creature; a warning shot that ideally delivered his message clearly - any interruptions to his attempt to retrieve the girl would be violently corrected. Gauging its reaction speed or abilities was also a side benefit and he doubted that a creature like that would be too offended by such a casual atempt on it's life, it'd probably eaten more than its fair share of much worse attackers.

Once she was within arms reach of him the puppet retired itself, slumping down as Yukiin looked at the pair of creatures but spoke to Aya.

"Please stay within reach of myself, I can only watch so many bodies at once and I wouldn't like our guests to feel too unwelcome by not giving them my full attention. But...this is a suggestion, not an order, as a shinobi you'll need to learn to exercise your best judgment but if you fail, well..." The shinobi gestured at the hanging corpses, "You'll be in good company I suppose but I'm afraid that I'm going to put you in a bad position shortly..."

Yukiin smiled back pleasantly, the spread of his chilling chakra crackling and snapping out like frozen fireworks as he stepped closer to both parties with his arms held open, chakra strings dangling back to his puppets as a pair of the weapons followed after him in a solemn march. The bodies above him seemed to catch his eye momentarily as the puppets tried to count the corpses on their fingers, as many as they had, but since the number quickly eclipsed that sort of methodology the puppeteer frowned and returned to look at the flower.

"Games...well before you tell me the stakes I'd like to modify my end since being here under these new circumstances, while I don't yet know the game and don't presume to make demands per se, oh and I do apologize about the warning shot by the way that was rude of me, I should be honest - I intend to take any bodies belonging rightfully to Kumogakure off your hands, you've been..." Yukiin glanced at one of the half digesting bodies within one of the larger flytraps, grimacing slightly before the salesmen like smile returned to his lips. ",adequate caretakers but they belong in the care of the Medical Branch of Kumogakure. Please adjust your games stakes accordingly as I am no longer interested in bartering exclusively for a contract and games have to be fair, wouldn't you agree?"

Yukiin's question was obviously absurd on it's face, a liar asking a question of suspected liars. They were both likely going to maintain this facade of fair play and interest in balance but it was clear that if the shinobi thought, confidentially, he could take all the bodies by force he would've and if both of them could've killed him they would've; neither party could do what they really wanted and were gauging strength before trying to push for their own self-interests. The first person to show their hand and admit that they weren't strong enough to take what they wanted would be the loser which already put the flower out of the running...but the tall one? Hard to tell. So he'd keep his senses perked for that one's advances as the petaled beast had already made its status in their actual game quite clear.

Aya, regrettably, was going to be dragged into this lion's den and by 'asking' for more weight on his yoke in exchange for the bodies that these two bottom sucking swamp skimmers had managed to acquire he consequently made things more difficult for her - the more troubles he had to manage the less likely he could defend her. All in all, a poor situation; here he'd thought that he'd be making chatter with some friendly beasts and not threatening to convert them into shattered ice sculpture with his gaze.

Speaking of gazes; he passed his eyes between the pair of creatures, smile dripping off his face like melted snow now that he didn't have to worry about the girl overseeing something unpleasant in his expression. He was most decidedly unhappy, near fuming in fact and barely restrained by his commitment to the facade of pleasantry, with his body shaking subtly below his garments. This many casualties didn't scare him, seeing dead bodies wasn't exactly new to a Medical Shinobi, but this many bodies who weren't being harnessed for the glory of Kumogakure? How many Revenant hearts were they hoarding out here, how many transplantable kekkei genkai, how many salvageable organs?...disgusting. Unacceptable.

"Agreed?" Yukiin 'asked' in the same way a man with a motel receipt asks his wife about her fidelity.

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

It didn't take long for the scroll to react, bubbling and oozing. It was definitely something Aya had never seen before. Before her eyes, the scenery changed and twisted into a dark and gloomy place, a swamp with plants she'd only seen in books. Dead laid about, Aya blinked a few times, glancing around, taking it all in. Yukiin tried the 'cancel' jutsu, but unfortunately, this was no genjutsu, they were in another world or dimension. She'd read such things were possible, but not many had ever done it, let alone survive to tell the tale. Most looked at those who wrote and spoke of places like this as insane. Even the most bizarre stories had some truth behind them.

Aya wasn't taken back by the bodies, she had a neutral face, it wasn't the first time she'd seen something like this, the bodies that is. She'd never seen a swamp before. Her attention went to a flower, as big as herself, it looked demonic. He spoke of wanting to eat them, but he said it was against the summoning rule. He didn't look like the type to follow rules, seeing as there were dead bodies all around. Maybe these guys didn't summon the flower though... Aya felt something pull her towards Yukiin, she looked quickly and saw a puppet. She was about to attack it, but she realized it was Yukiin's, once she was closer it slumped down. He was on edge, and ready to fight. She was trying to see what happens, if they tried to attack, she'd defend herself.

Aya nodded to Yukiin, she didn't plan on running off and causing more trouble. She wasn't about to die either. The second being came in and spoke, then Yukiin proposed he'd take the bodies at the end of this game. Aya wasn't interested in bodies, they were just dead shells, nothing of real value in her eyes. Unless he saw a wanted nin among the bodies and wanted the reward for said nin... It didn't matter to her. After Yukiin was done, Aya stepped forward and smiled. "He can have the bodies, I am here for a deal." She stated, she wasn't afraid, she was just worried that these guys would cheat in this game. Whatever, she'd win, even if they tried.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The shadowy creature chuckled at the Genin’s reply to his question.”HM-HM-HM….. I suppose you wouldn't be here if you weren't interested in a pact.” it said, tilting its head as it curiously watched as the boy began to test the environment to make sure it isn't a show of genjustu. The shadows beast couldn't help but to chuckle to himself again, the creature began to speak again. ”I assure you this realm is not a work of genjutsu, these are shinobi who unfortunately parished within my swamp… the creature explained. ”Ignorant warriors who got a little too careless in our game. A gruesome fate but it is indeed necessary in order to see who is worthy.”

The sinister flower began to move from side to side, eager to get the game started since he might would get to have some fresh meat to consume. Of course the sunflower was a bit disappointed in the lack of fear both the girl and the boy shown, especially in the face of the tree beast. In fact, the boy had the nerve flick a senbons at him in which the flower barely avoided by ducking however the senbon did take one of his pedals before hitting a dead tree. “Goddamn kid nearly took my head!” it barked, regrowing the missing pedal that was on top of his head. “Ohhh I'm gonna enjoy eating that one!” It pointed it's green vine towards the white haired puppeteer, the bad part was that he had to wait for the tree man to give him the okay to begin the game. When the game started, he would do what he was created to do and RIP!! It was irritating how the boy began tossing out demands, telling them that he wanted the bodies as well. But the tree man tilted his head, as if he was curious as to why the boy wanted the bodies.

”Would taking the bodies really matter? I would have thought you wanted something of a bit more value than a bunch of Kumo shaped federalizer. it paused, narrowing its eyes with satisfaction. ”But if that is what you want, then you'll get your bodies. You'll get that and more if you defeat this sunflower. You two look strong enough to handle him, but don't expect it to be easy. There are reasons why there are bodies around here.” the dark tree man said, then suddenly the demonic sunflower perked up. It was true that he couldn't eat them when they summoned them because their overlord would have them wither and die. But, if they died during a test to make a pact it was fair game and now he could use his true form. However, the duo must accept the challenge first so the sinister flower decided to push them to goat them into accepting the test.

“Are ya scared, scared of little ol’ me. Its okay I wouldn't want to fight me neither, you two can chicken out if ya want.” The flower chuckled, balling up his vines to look like first to punch at the air. He was pretty cocky, he was underestimating the power of these two since they didn't seem to be that strong but looks could be deceiving. He knew that all too well. “The game is pretty high stakes, life or death to be exact. So you get two options; win against me, you get to create your own servant with any abilities you can think of plus the bodies or end up losing then joining your pals in this swamp. Whacha gonna do?”

[Ooc: Oh and I'm pretty cool with using any justu that you know so long as you know it and tell what you're using.]

[Ooc: I'll let y'all know what Mr.Sunflower can do next post but he he'll be easy enough to hit/beat ^^]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

Explaining to outsiders what the value of a body was, let alone to outside species, seemed like a lost cause. The issue was simply carried with him as he gave the pair their due attention, though the flower's inability to dodge what was the simplest attempt of his to cause harm did bring him some degree of confidence...but it was tempered with the understanding that others, perhaps even other shinobi, had failed to tangle with similar creatures or perhaps the same one. It seemed unlikely that he was an exemplary species though he was certainly strong for his position, developing into a fully qualified medical shinobi was next on the accomplishment list after all and theirs was not a department promoting the weak. Several angles to consider in that issue but the most appropriate course of action would be to treat it like a serious threat and execute it like one.

Still, it was a bit disappointing to hear the confirmation it wasn't a Genjutsu as there was the residual bit of hope that he simply had failed to remove it from himself...but they could always be lying so that residual simply shrinked.

If the only way to get caught up in this place was to be careless then he had nothing to worry about.

The idea of high stakes was a cute one though and Yukiin smiled back at the flower's chattering, his shoulders easing and body loosening as it became a bit more apparent to him that this thing was all talk and little bite. Attempting to pressure and threaten him into a position in which he might lose his nerve or footing wasn't a bad tactic but it was poorly aimed, he just wasn't the guy for it. Someone who was only recently coming to a fuller understanding of his emotional range wasn't going to really respond favorably to attempts to attack him from that avenue, emotional manipulation was wasted here. Really this whole affair of listening to the yellow thing's chatter was wasteful in several different ways, one of which was his time if he was really as weak as he appeared to be trying to hide.

Yukiin's armed puppet was pulled back to life in his right hand, the construct pulling close to its wielder as the other hand began weaving a deliberately slow, deliberate, display of handseals. If the flower was really stuck in his position until he was given consent to engage him then he was going to take his time with it, chakra coursing through several arming mechanisms within Tsurara, explosive energy armed and ready as the icy construct's silver hair flowed in the ice currents being drawn to its wielder's other hand. Water, forcibly pulled from the air and twisted into braids of snow-white crystal, constructed the crude shape of a massive ocean predator, hovering in place as the finishing touches were added and the chakra construct snapped to life.

"I..." Yukiin started, an explosion of frozen water and bursting ice spiraled forth towards the flowery target as the puppet remained in position, prepared to crush any forward counteract with more explosive force. It was a jutsu he hadn't quite perfected yet but an icy version of the Water Shark Bomb was one of the most efficient ways in his arsenal to wipe something out and he wasn't here to play games...at least not fairly. Hence he waited until the last possible moment before impact to finish his sentence, giving the flower as little time to respond in kind before being crushed under the avalanche of his jutsu.

"Accept."

No sooner had the words left his lips, counting down to the wire as best he could, did the payload collide and erupt into a storming flow of ice, snow, and ideally blasted petals. He shook his left hand free of a bit of residual frost as his eyes remained alert on the battlefield, whether the plant-life knew ahead of time or knew now that he could operate a weapon as complex as a puppet in one hand and jutsu in the other was pretty irrelevant if one of them was on the receiving end of a B-Rank jutsu, head on. It was a loss of the element of surprise but the puppet being infused and ready to strike was not a known element to anyone but himself so the likely response of a melee counter-attack was also covered, not a bad trade-off if the flower survived and make its move as predicted.

If it kept it's distance, like the cowardly thing that it was, then he would just be getting another bomb or worse and be unable to do much to his opponent. A ranged fight was his specialty after all, even easier to use his puppets without risk to himself and he could employ his poisons to boot without risking harm to the girl. Aya had mentioned Taijutsu though so perhaps she'd get in the way but it was her risk to take after seeing his first move, if she thought it was wise to stay in close proximity with the potential target of further attacks of that nature then it was a decision he would work with.

"You asked what I was going to do, I hope that answer is satisfactory."

Spoiler

[Water Shark Bomb, Water Jutsu (B Rank) -> Ice Jutsu]
[Tsurara, Puppet]
A humanoid puppet that is composed largely of ice which has replaced its internal metal components, claws, teeth, and has even managed to intermingle with the wood to give the puppet a composite appearance of dark brown and streaks of silvery-white. Typically is carried in a scroll on Yukiin's left hip and wears a white cloak, incorporating a hood, to conceal its puppet nature in public places when withdrawn.
[Explosive Seal, Augment]

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya didn't expect the flower's petal to come off so easily, it was kinda funny to her. The flower seemed mildly upset though, which only made it funnier. Aya held back any laughs since this was not the time or place for such things. The other being agreed to Yukiin's request, she hoped he could carry the bodies by himself because she did not want to lug a dead body back home. It was a long journey home. Maybe he had a few more sealing scrolls he could use to store the bodies in.

The flower started taunting them, or at least trying, she wasn't going to die, and Yukiin, he probably wouldn't die either. She didn't know his fighting style, and since her combat type is melee, it'd make it hard to attack the flower with her right there, but she could do more than throw punches, thank god. Aya looked at Yukiin when he started talking, he pauses to send out an ice attack, a jutsu she'd never seen before. Then he finished his sentence after his attack, with moves like that she definitely needed to be careful.

Aya would have to use ninjutsu, she was lucky she didn't just skip out on using ninjutsu, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to show her strength either. The goal was to win and impress these plants, and of course, not die.

Aya charged up electrical chakra in her hands and waved a few hand signs before shooting a blast of lightning at the flower, well she aimed at the ground beneath the flower since all plants had roots. She decided to make it explode on impact so it'd bring up the soil underneath and leave a small, but a noticeable crater. The water around that area probably sent out a shock as well, but it probably wouldn't have lasted more than a second.

Aya wasn't used to using ninjutsu still, but she could use it if she needed to. Just in case the flower tried to counter-attack, Aya did a few hand seals then lifted her hands in the air to create a barrier, it was pretty my invisible, but as tough as a wall.

---

Spoiler

Zeus Flash - Crank - Special move explode on contact
[ur=https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?p=878#p878l]Force Blast[/url] - C-rank - Special - Forcefield

 

[Midori Futotta]

The two waited what the answer would be, then the boy seemingly was getting prepared to attack without properly saying that he was going to accept the challenge. The shadowy tree man sunk below the ground to get out of the line of fire, leaving demonic flower to the duo of shinobi. “Hold on Kid! You gotta say you–” it was too late, the boy was already beginning to form an attack and the flower had to act quick, with a sharp whistle the fiendish flower summoned a swirling vortex of leaves that began dancing around him in a dangerous and intimidating manner to act as a barrier of leaves. When the water shark bomb came, the leaves being infused with chakra was able to block the first shark bomb allowing the flower to go below group to attempt to hide so it could gain some distance. It popped out from underground with a weakened barrier of leaves when he was met with yet another attack only this time it was the girl sending a spear of lighting at him and he flinched before the lighting to was blocked by the weakened barrier of leaves which became destroyed on contact but it saved it from being destroyed.

“So that's how y'all are gonna play it.” it hissed before sinking to the ground again, this time he wasn't trying move but instead it was trying to use its chakra to infuse its spreading roots with the area, creating a haven for itself by infusing itself with the battle field. Vines emerge from cracks, the flowers began to grow a lot bigger and even the thick trees began to seem to come alive. Soon his nightmarish forest became an arena of sorts for this fiendish flower that seemed to be against them. This Justu was well known as the Sleeping Forest, a woodstyle justu which hid the user by the living plant life around. Not to mention it made things dark, and he's much more stronger in the darkness. The fiendish flower now well hidden it decided to spread its roots deeper underground so incase it got injured it could sap the nutrients from the environment, its chakra sinking into the ground to draw in more energy at the cost of not being able to move as much.

Now that it felt ready, it was time to attack. Since a head on battle with the two wouldn't fly, it decided that keeping low and attacking from behind would be the best. Sneak attacks was it's plan. Using the environment around it, the flower was able to infuse chakra within some of the growing mosses around to release a gas poisonous spore within the air around the clearing where the duo of summoners were standing attempting to take the area in a pinkish fog. This spore if it made contact with the skin would attempt to sap the life from the duo transferring the stolen life's energy through chakra straight to the flower allowing it to rejuvenate itself further. Leeching is what it was trying to do, however from the direction of where the spores came from it was clear that the flower had casted this justu in a thick sea of bushes behind the summoners if they were paying attention. Exposing its hiding place where it was a sitting duck, of course it had no way of knowing that it exposed itself which was a perfect opportunity to strike.

Spoiler

[ Mr Flower is a Lowlight Plant creature so its stronger in dark places and regenerates a bit of chakra and energy while its dark or has low visibility]

[It knows the Wood, Earth, and Water elements and its ability are Nightprowl - General Contract Ability and Stalker- Basic ability. Yeah it enjoys hiding.]

[Justu Used: Leaf Shield - Plant Contract Senjutsu, Sleeping Forest A Rank Wood Elements, Ingrain C Rank Wood Element, and Glow Moss B Rank Wood Elements]

[Feel free to use whatever Justu and Abilities you have and its okay to attack more than once. ]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

Well if he was a coward he was at least a capable one, not that Yukiin has misjudged in any capacity. No, on the subject of judgements it seemed he was quite on the money - avoiding conflict with himself and avoiding getting hammered again with an attack of that caliber, even if he could defend himself, was something the flower seemed to greatly prioritize. He didn't even bother with a counter attack which just made things easier for him as Tsurara remained perfectly armed without additional effort and the puppeteer only needed to find and make contact with the plant's viney flesh to test its flammability. If he was lucky the explosive force would also catch him alight but that was unlikely, living plant tissue was resistant to being set until it had been dried and he had little knowledge of Katon techniques as they fell squarely in opposition to his natural talents. Still, there was a step one to get through - finding him.

The emergence of yet more wooded frustrations was something that brought him back to step zero though as he would've liked to have just blown the whole thing apart but he couldn't well do that with Aya in the way, a thought that came and went as he looked at the girl with a tinge of frustration. It didn't need to be vocalized and he was at fault for bringing her along, she would just have to compensate for restricting his options by causing injury of her own.

The barrier seemed to have, at least, two uses in it although the second use was likely weaker or susceptible to Raiton perhaps. It peeled apart with a weaker jutsu, at least in his impression, but that meant that either it had enough durable to last through two strikes or that it simply could absorb multiple impacts. The only way to really find out was to pressure him with more volleys than he could both withstand in force and quantity, seeing which caused him to drop the barrier first would give him a fairly conclusive answer. Yukiin would've considered deliberate misinformation but the flower, to be frank, didn't seem to be thinking on that level and while it wasn't safe to discard the idea entirely he could grant himself some slack in that department.

This little monster seemed to be on the defensive and using creation-type techniques to bolster his own inferior body, a mindset that wasn't dissimilar to a puppeteer using their weapons to compensate for physical weaknesses, but it was a dangerous game to be playing against multiple opponents who already have you on the back foot. Denying you time to set things up ensures you stay on that back foot and Yukiin knew what could be the result of letting an opponent of his own "type" take a moment's rest without it being pressured and accounted for, both in risk and reward.

Hiding from the battlefield in this darkness, however, made it very hard for him to keep tabs. These were his strategies however and they had weaknesses, for starters the flow of battle was always a give and take and not taking, such as by enacting defensive measures, was a loss of opportunity to give more...but also vice versa, taking the hit on the chin and using the opportunity to give back more viciously was an option that he was strongly considering. The flower didn't necessarily have to emerge to attack him, there were plenty of Doton and Mokuton jutsu that would allow him to remain concealed, but most of them carried the chance of detection. Some, however, did not which left him in a bit of a bind - it could be a free hit with no return.

Oh well, the attack would have to come first and he wasn't waiting for it.

"If I can't find you I'll just cut everything...you called me a 'kid' right? Kids are great at hide-n-seek don't you know?"

The speech was verbal, the command was physical and the action was brutal. The puppet wretched itself to life, scattered icicles falling from its cold joints as claws and teeth emerged in a frenzied display running through the trees like several alley cats taped to a rocket - anything unfortunate enough to be in the puppet's path learned that combustion, applied on top of steel-strong and diamond-sharp ice, made short work of wood. It looped back and forth, seemingly darting on instinct but it was all quite intentional, it would just take time. As the puppet continued its work he turned his free hand to other matters.

With the cowardly one finally attacking him Yukiin greeted the incoming spores like an old friend, embracing their biting, infesting embrace as his eyes focused down to the largest concentration of them and their flow, twisting his hand in the fog where he was confident that the flower wouldn't be able to see him but even if he could? It wouldn't help.

Yukiin's eyes narrowed in on the location, feral senses growing as the pain of the leeching pods affixing themselves and burying into his skin became more and more acute. Every prick of pain just made his eyes sharper and he pressed forwards in one bound, foot blowing him past the bushes the attack originated from and identifying the target as not only present but above ground...well, at least that might've been what it looked like to the untrained eye. In reality his free hand had been busy producing a clone of himself, born of the same ice that he held affinity to, which was now standing above the plant with its creator's intentions as clear as the crystal snow.

A solid spear of ice came forth from the clone's hand as the real Yukiin, stinging in the cloud with a perverse pleasure in it all, called for the girl. The clone hurled the spear down at point blank range, intending to run the thing through and freeze it in place so that any further games of hide-and-seek were short lived but he couldn't be certain that barrier of his wouldn't interfere so he decided to repeat the earlier process.

Yukiin pointed with a finger at the location, singling the victim out as the deadly chill of his words came pouring out. This was a mission to him, a mission to retrieve the bodies of Kumogakure's dead, and such a righteous task did not deserve even a shred of mercy for the perpetrators. His fingers felt...wrong almost, like his claws were in dire need of being set free and the hair of his flesh didn't stand firm in the cold, it relaxed. The young Byakko's eyes were shifting, subtly, slowly, into a different hue of foggy...well, color. An actual color, gold to be specific though it was so muddled and buried that calling it gold would be a lot like comparing a chocolate coin to actual currency.

Emotions, they seemed to come attached to something. Something...old.

"Aya, if you'd be so kind..."

...although speaking of perperatators plural, the other one had seemed to have slinked away or at the very least avoided him thus far.

Ah well. One herbicide at a time.

Spoiler

Terra Shift (Rank 2), Ice Clone (Rank 3), Frozen Spear (Rank 3)

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

The flower seemed stunned that they started without much of a warning, he had no choice but to shut up and move out of the way. Aya's lightning shock was able to hit the flower, or at least that's what she thought. He retreated again. This flower was a fast bugger and could go underground... What they needed was fire, ice yes was harmful to plants, but this was a swamp, dim, damp, and cold already, though maybe it was only cold because Yukiin was ice attuned, who knew aya had never been to a swamp before. She just knew fire was more effective, she was using jutsu she already knew how to use, ninjutsu she practiced long and hard, but fire ninjutsu was something she found hard to do... It was something she tried and tried again to use, but failed, she'd all but given up on using it, but this was a situation that needed it.

The ground around them started to come alive, trees grew and moved, while the flower receded into the now overgrown jungle. It was dark, and hard to tell where he was. It actually became darker, and even harder to see! Aya didn't know where to attack, she couldn't use her taijutsu here, due to the risk of friendly fire, and she could easily get lost, so ninjutsu that was long ranged was the best bet. Yukiin sent in his puppet to cut down the weeds, but it was useless. "I thought flowers liked the light!" Aya called out, annoyed but trying to see if he'd reply and give out his position.

Aya noticed a pink gas? it was surrounding them, Aya's first thought was poison, so she summoned to masks, to cover their mouths with. Aya took the liberty to put the mask on Yukiins face, it was up to him to put it on the rest of the way if he chose. Aya put hers on and looked around. This poison hurt, though she didn't have much-exposed skin so it was her hands, legs, and face that stung. The mask seemed to help her from breathing it in. It seems Yukiin beat Aya to spot where the flower was hiding, as he shot ice at him, trying to bind him it seems.

Aya was amazed at the sheer power behind his ice abilities. Then Yukiin asked Aya if she would be so kind... what? OH Aya hesitated for a slight moment, they needed to take him out, so fire, she needed to use fire. She knew all the hand seals, she just needed to do it. Aya removed her mask, then made a few quick hand seals, and took a big breath in, feeling the heat rise inside of herself before expelling it in a stream of fire shooting towards the pinpoint of where the flower was pinned - if he was. The sudden heat filled the place with steam and fog, and probably lit a few of the nearby trees on fire. It lit the dark place up a bit as well, it went from dark, to super bright, back to a little lighter from the remaining trees that were on fire. It left dark spots in Aya's eyes from the sudden light.

Aya blinked, then grinned, she hopped a little "Woo! Finally, I did that dam ninjutsu! 100 fails, 1 success!" She cheered for herself and hopped around a little. She was happy she was finally able to do it... Though now that she thought about it, what if she failed again? that would have been embarrassing. But it didn't matter she did it!

Spoiler

Used Mask summon and Dragon fire(with the permission of Maru)

(using the mask as more of an improvised gas mask, not perfect but better than nothing)-Rank 1: The user may summon their mask to conceal their identity. The mask may block 1 Called Shot to their Head before breaking.

(Dragon Fire)-Rank 1: Exhales a flamethrower dealing 1415 damage at -1 accuracy. The flames have a 18% chance to set the target 'afire'.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The fiendish flower snicked to himself as himself upon hearing Yukiin’s promise to cut down down the sleeping forest. His blind shots didn't do anything but destroy some plant life and cut down some trees. It didn't take long for the spores to infest his body, leeching the life's energy from the Genin to feed the demonic flower who thought that he was still doing well. Unfortunately, attacking the boy seemingly gave away his location. Stealth is great when you want to confuse your opponent, hiding while your opponent waste chakra in attacking you seems like a great strategy which could leave you room to heal, recover chakra, avoid genjustu, perform a sneak attack, or even set up a nasty trap. The problem with hiding, was if you aren't an expert in covering up your tracks when you attack, that hiding place could be blown just like that and if you abuse stealth too much you would be easy to try find. So when Yuiikin found where his hiding place was, the flower it began to go on the defensive after the Genin not only came after him but charged through the spores to get to him! 'This guys outta his mind.’ He thought, being more than happy to take some of the life's energy from Yuiikin.

The Genin was now looming over the flower, spear in hand attempting to run the spear through what looks to be its face, but then the barrier of leaves began to swirl around him again to block the impact of the spear! Ha! Unlike most barriers, this barrier possesses the ability to regrow itself, much like a damaged plant does. As long as it is given chakra, this barrier, once knocked down, might not be as permanently gone like most barriers are. However due to it not being as strong as it was when it was first casted so it the barrier broke on the first hit, which allowed the flower to command the summoned vines and thickets to come down then shatter the ice clone. The flower seemingly was shocked in seeing that this was just a ice clone, but now because the flower only minimized the damage of the ice, the flower now was seemingly a bit.. Frostbitten.

Yukiins POV:

Now that his hiding place was revealed, the flower attempted to manipulated the forest by causing the shift. The ground began to rumble which would cause the duo of shinobi stumbled and feel as if the ground itself was moving but Yuiikin was no dummy.He didn't get lost in the sudden shift in the forest, but when he looked over to talk to Aya he notice that she wasn't nowhere around…. Then the smell smoke radiated throughout the area, a lot of smoke coming from somewhere he couldn't exactly tell. However, the flower didn't allow Yuiikin to think about this because he poured chakra into the ground to summon a huge, sharp, slab of wood to rise from the ground to attempt to impale the boy!....

Aya POV:
The scene would play out like normal, the spores although didn't get into the body did began consuming the exposed skin, she would see the flower and Yuiikin like normal even after the rumbling. The flower looked as if it was planning on using some kind of justu but before he could, she let loose a stream of fire through her mouth!
“THE LIGHT! IT HURTS!” it said then the fire hit it on contact! Success! She won against the evil flower, however as the fire cracked the thing who she thought was Yuiikins head fell off then the body crumbled turning into a bunch of vines. The sleeping forest was playing tricks with her and she ended up lost somewhere about a mile or so away from where the real Yuiikin and the Flower were battling. The fire began to crack and pop, beginning to slowly set the area ablaze… the Sleeping Forest was weak against fire, it could burn the entire forest if used properly and since there were no one around to put out that fire….. GET OUTTA THERE!!!

Spoiler

[Yuiikin isn't lost in sleeping forest but Aya wasn't so lucky]
[Sleeping forest is set ablaze]
[Justu Used: Frenzy Plant A Rank Wood Justu, Grand Gaia Impalement A Rank Wood Justu]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"Unfortunate."

Yukiin wasn't making much of a joke with that, the flower managing to endure being impaled was not the best course of action...for the target and for him. On the target's end, it was going to become a lot less fun a lot faster and on the Byakko's end it was going to consume a lot more chakra just to eliminate one thing, something that he was loathe to do. The injuries inflicted onto him were drawing out some of that vital body energy already and transferring it over, not enough to matter but enough to make him aware that he would have to push much harder to grind the thing into the dirt, for good. Real dirt, dirt he controlled and not dirt that the flower was manipulating.

The puppet darted back to its wielder and the puppeteer reviewed his handiwork, the cuts into the woodwork being a fine lattice of controlled demolition as the counter attack was mounted. The eruption, coming from below, gave little time for proper counter attacks and left Yukiin with the less desirable option of sacrifice as he replaced himself with the puppet, watching its icy form crash against the thick wooden beam and be thrown up into the air, only to come back down for a second attempt at running it through. This one was more successful as it punched through and left the Genin with a fair bit of confusion, his ice was stronger than metals so allowing something like that to happen to himself...well, that might've just been the end of things. An awful lot of chakra and power to be pumping into such cowardly tactics, he couldn't afford to keep playing these games.

Thankfully, one of them was over.

"Check." Yukiin spoke aloud as the puppet lifted itself from the spike and tossed a shuriken from one of its compartments, cutting through a branch above that set the entire area into a chain reaction of shifted weights that had been cut and calculated to shift into further damage, the artificial wooden arena the flower had created coming to pieces as the thunder of falling wood and debris muffled the sounds of crackling crystal that surrounded both himself and the flower. Sheets of pristine material, mirror shined, formed a dome around both parties and excluded the girl from the entire affair, as he was uncertain where exactly she'd run off to and if she intended on coming back.

The sparking of flames from the woods as the falling timbers became floating embers made him fairly confident that she was still in decent shape, not worthy of great concern. The backdrop was more of a nuisance to himself as the consistent pumping of heat into his frosted arena was as unwelcome as dog shit on the living room carpet but she really had no way of knowing about his preferences in the first place. Neither did the flower, which was for the best...learning experiences were few and far between for something like him, he'd venture to guess.

Glued to the ground, however, maybe he wouldn't appreciate the view he was offering as the polished ice reflected dozens of armed shinobi, more Yukiin's with more Tsurara's all primed and ready.

"I'll let you tell me if its a 'mate' or not."

The reflections darted out in time with himself, an army of puppets on strings forming a network of attacks that would've been difficult even for an able-bodied creature with legs to dodge but for the flower? Iced to the earth? Likely impossible. He could throw his barrier up again but if it was counting attacks, as was one of his speculations, then it was going to run out of count by the time he finished his first volley and if it wasn't? He'd recalculate and just blame the trapped flower harder this time. With all these helping hands? How could he lose?

Spoiler

Puppet Switch (C)
Terra Shift (B); Special action - removing Sleeping Forest
Demonic Ice Mirrors (A); Special action - assault

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya was excited she finally used a fire ninjutsu, it felt good, but that excitement faded when she realized she was nowhere near Yukiin, or the fight"Wait, when-?" She then realized she set the forest around her on fire "Oh shit" She stated, her skin was still burning from the poison, or whatever it was before. She made a few hand seals and dosed herself in water to rinse off, she then looked at the burning trees, she couldn't let the forest to continue to just burn. So she decided to use a bigger water jutsu, grand waterfall to put out the fire. The area became flooded, suffocating the fire before she decided to move on.

If she wasn't careful, Yukiin might freeze her by accident. She used her speed to run towards where she heard the fighting come from, she knew Yukiin could probably take care of the flower himself, but she wanted to help still. It only took aya a few moments before she found her self at the scene, Yukiin had some sort of ice mirror thing going on, she wasn't going to dare step into that, but she was prepared for it the flower escaped Yukiins ... funhouse? Whatever that jutsu was called.

[Sorry for the short post]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Unfortunately after the sharp slab of wood that rose from the earth hit Yukiin’s weapon rather than hitting the puppet master itself, even though the attack didn't hit the spores still leached on the Genin as well as Aya who was lost in the forest. However, the Sleeping Forest, which was a haven for the fiendish flower would soon become no more. Not only did the girl nearly burnt the artificial forest down, but Yukiin's puppet began to actually cut the forest down. Sunlight beginning to seep through causing the flower to hiss with pain at the bright sunlight as his world began crumbling down. Branched feel like rain, exposing the where the flower was and severely weakening it to where it would be less accurate in the light. But that was the least of this tall flowers problems for what was to come next…

Before they knew it, the forest that they were in took on the same setting as it had been before. And that was the swamp they first saw when agreed to take on this battle. The fires were put out before they gotten too bad, then Aya could now easily find her way back without a problem since the Sleeping Forest was gone and the threat of being lost was out if the equation, besides things were about to get more interesting as this duel was seemingly coming to an end.

The flowers leaf barrier came back again, circling around him dangerously while he looked around to see to see that it was now trapped within the confines of multiple sheets of Crystal Ice, even without being too familiar with this technique the flower was already getting a sense of dread from the chilling chakra that it produced seeing that these crystals weren't only sheets of ice but they were mirrors… Mirrors that showed Yukiin, armed with the same dreaded puppet that tore his Sleeping Forest. He may could block one of his attacks with this weakened barrier, but a whole on slot was a bit much. “Damnit” it said, already bracing for what was to come next. The barrier was able to block one strike, but the rest began to shred the flower. Cutting the light green stem, its pedals, its face, the flower as a whole was reduced to nothing but ribbons! Green liquid began oozing from it while it laid on the ground which seemed almost like blood, only it smelled like freshly cut grass.

It would seem that the duo was victorious, from outside of the demonic mirrors a ebony hand rose from the ground then the tall tree man crawled out of the ground.“Excellent, it seems you taken care of that terrible weed that I had. As agreed you can take the bodies with you, and… you both get to choose a seed from my garden to create your own living plant life.” it said, its coat flowing as it began to step away from the mirrors. But of course, their trail was for from over. “When your plant servant is created, you must journey to the Great Forest to meet with our plant overlord. Your servant will guide you and help fed off some predator plants but when you reach the end. The plant overlord should deem you two worthy…”

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"That's the risk, life or death..."

Yukiin surveyed the damage, stepping out from his mirrors as the sheets of crystal white whisked themselves into the winds, glittering white butterflies swarming their creator as their liquid contents dispersed to leave only the shinobi with one hand and one claw pressed to the flower's stem. The razor edge of his talon, the gifts of a heritage stolen on his behalf, pressing out more of the fluids that substituted its blood.

"...which is why you're not getting out of your end of the bargain."

The Genin drew his claw through it like nothing but air stood between his open claw and his suddenly closed hand, claw retracting as swiftly as it had severed, captured the separated 'flower' between its fingers. The soft glow of medical chakra surged between his fingers followed shortly, Yukiin recalling his crude knowledge of botanical health as he directed the flow of the vital life force into the strange plant-creature hybrid. By his guess, it possessed traits of both animals and plants so he needed to be careful how he treated it, though the spray of fluids told him it was much more plant as the presence of hemoglobin was one of the defined features of an animal. Chlorophyll was blood-like however and it seemed to register pain so he presumed the existence of a nervous system as well but ultimately it was his body that did most of the work, he was just observing with his use of invasive chakra.

Though this was not an act of mercy and the foreboding chill of his gaze, as well as the sweltering temper he had only so recently crushed back down in the face of a victory he was expected to be gracious for, made that evident. Thankfully the scattering of this 'blood' did very little to activate any interest of his, it was inert as far as his primal instincts as an animal himself were concerned and his features slowly reverted in response. Whatever force he was touching upon, it was dormant once again and the lapse of its influence was a great weight lifted from his shoulders as Yukiin addressed the current situation.

"I am not permitted to be inactive or passive in the defense of life, even if you gave it to me, at least until I receive further clarification regarding whether or not your type of life is considered 'living'. For the time being, in compliance with the laws of Kumogakure and my best interpretation of their intent, I will take your life and repurpose it."

He did not address the flower any further, as far as he was concerned it was an open and shut case, instead he turned to the taller creature.

"My servant is already created, I take it the absence of your 'weed' is of no concern to you and you have no objection to my choice in this matter."

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya arrived at the battle and it had ended. The forest disappeared when she was on her way back. She used a lot of chakra, but she could still keep going, but she wouldn't be defenseless if she couldn't use chakra anymore since she was mostly a taijutsu user. SHe felt ba she was left astray in the forest while Yukiin was off actually fighting. The flower was cut into pieces, presumably dead. The shadow returned to tell them they did it, and now they had won, and they could choose a seed to call their own. Yukiin took the flower they had slain and started healing it, she didn't take the cold prince as the merciful type.

Aya turned her attention to the garden and looked for a seed that caught her eye. But before she did, she looked at Yukiin when he said he'd take the flower they just fought. "You want that? He'll probably be salty about that." She stated, then she smirked, and went back to looking for a seed. It'd be funny to see how the flower reacts to such a thing if it was still alive.

Aya saw a seed that looked interesting to her, it almost called to her, she picked it up and looked at it, she wasn't sure how to 'make' it grow. Yukiin told her before this they wouldn't be servants, so she looked at this as making a partner rather than a being to serve her. No matter what the creatures here said, she wanted a mutual partnership. Aya decided to put some chakra into the seed, and it started to grow and sprout.

The creature that grew looked like a plant of the flower variant, and it grew as tall as herself, which wasn't that tall. She stared for a moment, "Hello there..." She said then smiled. "From here on out, you'll be my partner and a friend." She looked at the plant, it was hard to tell how it was feeling since... well it was pretty expressionless. It seemed decile, and quiet, but it gave aya a nod.

Aya lead it back to Yukiin, she didn't know if the plants named themselves or what, but if it stayed quiet like this then she'd have to name it. Names were something she was terrible at... The best name she had so far was a leaf or something... Maybe she'd think of a better one as she came to know her partner.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The flower that was lifeless in the hands of Yuiikin slowly began to heal from the medical chakra coursing through it. The damaged plant began to regrow its pedals, the limp lifeless flower suddenly sprung to life then let a inhuman screech from its mouth! Shooting a look from left, then right and composed itself before snapping a look towards Yuiikin. “You brought me back. Why?” it said, giving a mean look to the boy who just murdered him not too long ago. Apparently he actually wanted the flower for medical research or something. Of course, the tall tree man didn't mind since he wanted the flower gone anyway but he never thought someone would actually want to keep the thing. The flower shrugged its roots, guess it was better than being dead but he wasn't by no means happy about it. “Well since it looks like I'm stuck with you, my name is Sakaeru. Your win was beginners luck, would've won if tall man fed me a seed.” Sakaeru shot a glance at the black tree beast, of course he didn't care since he was hoping for him to lose anyway.


Aya had decided to create her plant, the seed taking in the chakra to begin to flourish into a beautiful flower like creature that was as tall as her summoner. This Lili like creature haf "skirt" resembles a plant bulb and appears to be wearing a cloak of dark green leaves with a crown on top of her blossom. The Lili like creature looked around confused, feeling weak due to the lack of sunlight around since she was a Daylight plant. Then she looked at Aya, a curious look in its eyes since it was just born the Lili creature tilted its head to listen to her summoner. “Fr...ien...d?”It struggled to mimic Aya’s words. Sakaeru laughed deciding to yell out. “MORE LIKE SLAVERY!”the Lili looked over at Yukiin and Sakaeru who seemed to be covered in... Chlorophyll. This made the newly born plant creature frightened, moving behind Aya to try get some distance from them. Shivering behind her, a pedal fell from her head.

The tree man deciding that it was time for them to journey off, it was time for them to make the journey to their overlord.. "Well, now that you have your partners. They will guide you through our realm to meet Kodama…”<i></i> the ebony tree man snapped his fingers, the trees began to twist and take the shape of a gate into another world.

On the otherside of the tree gate the dup would see great pillars of trees stretch up as high as the eye can see and go on for what seems like an eternity. Each of the trees themselves are vast with huge trunks covered in a soft coating of moss giving them a greenish hue. Above, the sky is nearly completely obscured by the thick canopy of leaves nearly blocking out all light completely. Normally this would leave the forest in a erriery darkness, however, here a soft blueish glow that is seemly emitted from the very trees themselves pulsates slowly almost like a heartbeat. Beneath their feet the ground is covered in soft springy moss and leaves covered by the thin gloss of mist which disperses with each step.

All around is the sound of life from the sounds of birds nesting in the trees that surround you, their chirping and call echoing off the trees to the shuffling of small creature sniffing through the undergrowth for bugs or berries to eat. If you listen hard enough on the wind, the light sound of clicking can be heard from the tree spirits that call the great wooden behemoth their home. Everywhere would walk the sound of life echoes arounds them, the air is heavy with the heady earthy smell of moss and foliage. The Lili's eyes grew wide, twinkling at the pretty glowing lights and began charging into the gates without regard of the dangers that could've been around. The tree man turned. “Some of the paths you would travel on might be safe, some probably won't be safe, and some may have traps. I suggest you be careful.”<i></i> And this time, the tall tree man went deeper into his swamp. Their first trail was over, now it was time for their second trail.

[Great! Now you get to choose your own awesome path. Right now you would probably come up at a fork in the path that leads to two places.]

[Path 1: it looks as dark as the swamp, there were the sounds of things moving within this side and it generally got a bad feeling from their. The Lili creature is scared to go in but the flower wants you to go in this path besides the kind of threats you'll have there would be viable if any. Do you trust Sakaeru?]

[Path 2: it was pretty bright and vibrant. An obvious choice since it looks like a peaceful place, banana's, apples, and all kinds of berries could be found around. A paradise and the Lili seemed to like this path the most pointing for the group to go. But Sakaeru doesn't want to go into this path because it seemed scared to go down this path. So do you trust Lili and go down this peaceful path?]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"Killing is easy, the discretion not to is what separates the Medical Branch from everyone else." Yukiin said, unfurling a scroll from his pocket and opening its blank state to the sky as he plucked, carried, or bagged every human remain that was now his to possess and dumped its contents inside. A fair quantity of corpses, to be sure, but it was also something that was part of his duties - ensuring the proper acquisition and disposal of Kumogakure's deceased. An enemy might be able to gather information from them had they accessed them first and the task of disposal was a critical one, he was shocked he was the first to mention it but perhaps all other attempts at retrieval had failed...it was a bit of a hard place to reach after all, wherever they were. With the corpses settled and sealed, however, his concern for that matter was shifted to a lower priority.

Sakaeru's chattering at the other life form was a bit pointless but it wasn't enough that he felt the need to intervene in the matter, especially since he knew very little about the interactions between these 'creatures' and how their social hierarchy might actually work. Perhaps it was normal to be aggressive towards their youth, who was he to say anything on the subject? He had to take his cues from observed behavior and the newer life form shirking at him being covered in 'blood' was one such cue; the response to which was to take any residual mud, blood, and green stuff off with a brush of rain conjured from a couple of handseals. The rain would also help clean off the smoldering embers of the flames, as well as handle any issues of dirty, blood and 'blood-like' covered clothes Aya was facing.

Coming to the fork was the next objective and he'd let the plant and any other chatty parties do their thing as they moved towards it, taking in the scenery as he tried to figure out where they actually were but finding no convenient, known, landmarks to help him out in that regard. The sun also didn't seem to be offering as much help as he would like, especially buried down below the tree boughs, so even how long he'd been here was a hard thing to determine. Hopefully he'd be able to leave this place in a timely fashion but that was a secondary concern to leaving at all.

The larger figure, apparently called 'tall man' offered some advice on the subject but it was cryptic and not very helpful in this case. It was obvious traps would be a problem in a foreign land, they didn't know anything about it so any surprise could well be considered a 'trap' if it was dangerous and considering what they had already experienced? Dangerous was likely.

With the two options offered Yukiin gave it some thought, giving his thoughts accompanying noise.

"If we're pursuing a 'plant overlord' then they likely have large nutrient needs and are probably also themselves large, it seems unlikely royalty would be competing with its own servants for resources so a filled up jungle with other plants would be a strange choice. Most large plants choke out smaller ones to sustain themselves, even in this odd place the plant life seems to follow basic rules...a paradise shouldn't be possible and it shouldn't house royalty, it would be like a human king keeping his castle full of cattle. Then again, maybe these plant forms don't follow conventional wisdom and it's like a human king with his court full of people..."

He paused, glancing at Aya and her own newly acquired company. "Still, its Sakaeru's recommendation that we take the darker path and he has been alive for longer than a couple minutes, it would be unwise to trust a newborn's wisdom on the subject. We're not pressed for time though so what are your thoughts on the subject?"

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya smiled at the Lili plant, it was adorable. But then she shot a frown at the sunflower. She didn't want a servant or a slave, a partnership was more fun, they might be used to this kind of slavery but she was against it. Not just because of what Yukiin said before. "Don't worry about him, he's just salty about getting his butt beat." She snapped back at the flower.

Yukiin collected the bodies, she'd forgotten about those, good thing she wasn't the one collecting them. Aya kept an eye on her new partner, making sure she wasn't running off, but she seemed to bond to Aya quickly. THat was good. Aya listened the other creature speak, and soon enough they were walking through this place in search of the overlord. Soon they hit a crossroad, and their plants wanted to go opposite ways. Yukiin's logic was right, but maybe it was in their veins to know where things were? But then again this flower could be messing with them. Truly Yukiin was the leader of this adventure though, she wanted to make her Lili comfortable, but she didn't have a counter-argument.

"I agree, Over there looks bright, and full of life." She stated, she then gave Lili an apologetic look. "It'll be okay, just stick with me." Aya stated with a smile. She hoped it'd understand. SHe kinda felt like these guys were choosing paths based on their comfort though, maybe both paths lead to the same place. She didn't trust the sunflower one hundred percent though.


[apologise for the shorter post]