The Sorcerer's Rod

[Jintou]

Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod,
Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice,
And (borne about) will strangely nod
To hidden Treasure where it lies;
Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine,
For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline.
— Virgula divina



Thank you for going through all of this for me. I firmly hold you responsible for making it possible for me to have this story to tell. It was quite the experience, with so many chapters— paths walked, that I have tried my best to put on pages. But when my memory muddles and the ink has dried on my quill, I find myself coming back to thoughts of you for my purpose. It behooves me to be the bard of this tale, a mere scribe, here to dote upon the history of a human boy who’d grow to walk in your shadow someday.

If I was more gifted I might be able to start this story closer to its maxim. It feels appropriate to begin humbly though, somewhere along a lonesome salt flat under an endless summer’s sun. Your bare feet might lose their soles to the heat, should you wander there unprepared. But on that day, a band of ninja from within the fortifications of Primus’ Bulwark had ventured far from home on a quest of some sort. They were a group of four, all seemingly born within that mysterious bastion and so native to that haven that they hardly ever ventured out. One of the four specialized in techniques that summoned moisture from the air into water for use in a variety of ways. At the urging of her comrades, the water conjurer was essentially put on refreshment duty, expending much of her latent chakra to create cooling veils of mist or light rains. It took everything the party had to not gulp down all the water out of their canteens, as they were desperately drinking from them as well. One might think that was all she was brought along for, though she wasn’t the only member among their troupe with a single purpose.

You see, this squad was actually traveling by way of a supply wagon belonging to one of the elite merchant lords of Soon’s Haven. Apparently, he had a son who answered the call to patriotism— or had disgraced the family and needed to disappear— and became a driver for this team. That had to be his purpose with how rotund he was, potbelly exposed and sagging below his flak jacket. He was too much of a coward to demand a greater role; he stuck to the wagon’s reigns any time their band was on the move. To his credit, he was a natural at handling the armatunk which steadily pulled their vehicle. He was kind to the beast of burden, enough to keep it willing to pace them across the unrelenting land. The beast let out groans at a regular interval, most likely cursing its own naturally armored carapace. The thick bone-like chitin gave off a calcium scent as the sun bleached them, along with a rank musk faintly reduced by the occasional arcane rain.

The two aforementioned ninjas were hardly a step up from their mount, but notably acquiescent to the pair of twin ninjas who sat arguing day in and out. All four of the ninja were approaching maturity; the oldest had to be the wagoneer and the water specialist seemed bookish but womanly. The pair seemed out of place partnered up with the other two twin ninjas who seemed to laze about all day and bark out demands. Yes, they practically barked— they were feral that way, including a single fur-trimmed shoulder guard accenting each of their uniforms. When they spoke fangs could be seen amidst off-white smiles. There were whispered rumors that the pair came from a fang-marked clan, though young as he was, Jintou had no understanding of just what that meant.

Ah, I did say there were four members to this team, didn’t I? Just as a fifth wheel sat lodged into a corner in the wagon, an academy student had been brought along on their mission in order to shadow the ninja and learn. Actually, toting a student meant a bit more pay for the mission and a little more food to share for the duration. It was of little consequence to any of the four chuunin whenever they glanced back to see the boy staring off into the horizon. Occasionally the water-girl might have checked on Jintou to make sure his canteen wasn’t tapped, but the rest of them avoided him like a nuisance. Once, Jintou overheard one of the cretinous twins speculating that he was from one of the savage tribes being run out of the badlands. The second agreed, theorizing that he likely didn’t have much of a handle on the common tongue or any social skill to speak of. After a few instances of his seniors speaking slowly to him and making gestures with their hands, Jintou deferred to acting as if he really could not understand in hopes that they would leave him alone. For the most part, playing dumb towards his seniors provided Jintou a sense of peace and privacy that he was sorely lacking since enrolling at the ninja academy. He would spend what felt like whole days in that week’s journey reminiscing of the time before he had joined that accursed school.

Jintou was missing the way his grandmother brought old stories back to life using the power of her voice and the crackle of an open flame. His sister’s absence was particularly impactful during the long journey abroad, for it was her who’d send Jintou and his brothers on day-long walks to find rare wildflower and other ingredients to make dye pigments while she sewed fabrics for their garments. Those same pigments would be used to make paint for his eldest brother’s murals— he could have made a museum out of the countless boulders that wagon passed along the way. But the reminiscing frequently came back to the lessons of his father and that deep baritone voice spouting more wisdom than Jintou could hold.

“Real ninjas have to learn how to survive off of the land”, one of the twins proclaimed when withholding adequate meals from Jintou. “Indeed, listen to my sister. ‘Consider this an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the locale flora,” put in the other, doing their best impression of some former teacher of there’s who would have admonished them for their present behavior. When the sun met the horizon and Jintou split off from camp to scrounge for something edible, it was indeed his father’s teachings that guided his steps. Rather than aimlessly searching on a flatland where he’d likely not find much, he preserved his energy and found a short boulder to sit on when his comrades were out of view. An average human could go three weeks without food, and he was being provided sufficient water from the conjurer. While the words rang true they weren’t stopping the stomach pains from kicking in, and after enduring three days of the occasional pieces of food he could steal back, his resolve was beginning to crumble.

The stars were emerging from the blanket of deep purple chasing away the sunset. Above him was the same sky he gazed at the night before his arrival in Sunagakure. He and his father had spent days traveling away from their own camp, embarked on a journey where Jintou was instilled with the values needed to survive in a world more dangerous than the wildlands they called home. “Son, we are a people who have learned to master a land that rejects the unworthy. “Be proud of your heritage and traditions, and be confident that you are greater than the obstacles ahead of you. “They will seek to make you a ninja, a weapon, but you are not some tool to be used. “You are Jintou, and you are my boy. “Once your eyes open to really see, there will be a million futures before you, and only you can decide which is the truth. “You’ll see, this sacrifice will be worth the gift awaiting us, in you.”

“I don’t want to be a ninja” whispered Jintou on bated breath, alone. His hands cupped his mouth anxiously as if he feared being heard. His mind reeled like he was racing in altitude and running out of air. The pressure, the loneliness of this new place, and feeling of utter desertion— all for him to endure to gain something he left behind? What good was a million futures if the present felt like some fresh hell? The desire to be wanted and to not be betrayed are complex and hard to recognize in a child’s developing mind. He did not understand it all, no— rather, he was trying to discover what it might take to be… valued?

“Hey kid, I see you over there hiding, it ain’t fooling nobody” called one of the menacing twins. The masculine one had come from around a tall cactus and was flinging about the last couple drops from his emptied canteen. He taunted, “for a ninja, you sure don’t know a thing about how to disappear.” This didn’t earn a reaction from Jintou though, who was hiding his face and wiping the dew of tears from his cheeks.
“Anyway,” the senior ninja said in a bid to move the awkward interaction along, “we’re in a bit of a situation back at camp. Our friend with the water jutsu is looking kind of tapped and…” he trailed off with guilt in his tones. Ironically, their human faucet of a comrade was facing heat exhaustion and dehydration from overexerting herself all day and in a bad way. Jintou could see her laying on a sleeping bag by the campfire in the distance with the others looming over her. The de facto leader snagged Jintou’s attention again, saying “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but I read your file before the mission... It said that your clan was from this territory.” Even then he was speaking slowly, albeit desperately trying to communicate a simple request. “Could you— please — help us find some more water to help our friend?”

Jinto didn’t have the nerve to keep up his ruse of not understanding. His small hands slowly rotated the tall crook he had been carrying with him for the duration of their journey. To the unaware, the stave resembled a wooden bident with a wide fork, but to Jintou it served many purposes: a defensive weapon, a walking stick, or even a dowsing rod.


- Jintou Oba has entered the thread.
- Requesting Contract Search
- Using Discovery of Contract of Random Choice
- wc1779

 

[Midori Futotta]

Congratulations! You've found Lizard!
Do you accept?​

 

[Jintou]

-- Do I? Sir, please.

The return to their camp on the range presented Jintou with plaintive looks from his company. The three healthy ninja were clueless in this situation; none of them had an inkling of survival knowledge or experience in providing aid and it was painfully obvious. The sister of that twin duo spoke up in protest of relying on a student to tend to their friend but was quickly reminded by her peers that they were left with no choice. And so Jinto dropped down beside his first patient and began seeing signs of an ailment at once.

She was struggling to breathe— an immediate sign of trouble far apart from dehydration. Her skin was wet with sweat despite the cooling night coming. Jintou raised a hand to her jawline and traced two fingers in circular motions with a soft touch; first below her ears, and down to her neckline. Some swelling was present in her lymph nodes. Jintou was focused as he continued downward in making his investigation, even ignoring the reddening expressions of his comrades. This was his first time being this close to a girl who wasn’t of the Oba bloodline and yet he didn’t feel nearly as nervous as he expected to be… at least, not in that way. Finding and diagnosing bites from various critters was a common thing at his home. By no means was Jintou an expert or even on par with a real medic. As a necessity, he and all his siblings learned how to identify a bite or sting by maturity; either first hand or through each other’s experiences.
“It’s a spider bite,” he decided. A red spot was on the patient’s exposed midriff; the skin was broken into a festering boil. The swollen mark was surrounded with prickling rashing from excessive scratching. She had to have known she was bitten but tried to downplay the severity.

The group’s leaders entered a melodramatic rage and engaged in a hunt for an arachnid on their wagon. Apparently, violence and anger were the only things either of them had to offer, but the wagoneer sat by, ready to offer any assistance to their junior medic. Jintou appreciated his humility and care enough that he unhooked his own canteen and handed it to the man. “I saw some plants earlier today with some properties that should help her, but it’s going to take some time to find them. Keep an eye on her, and I’ll be back soon.”
There was some protest from the others. They didn't trust him and yet they didn’t bother to stop him. The least they could have done was offer assistance in his search, but Jintou knew they’d only make more trouble by splitting up further in unknown territory.

Soon the trail was long behind Jintou and their campfire dwindled from sight. The wandering boy did not fear getting lost as he left the occasional scrape in the salted earth with his stave. However, the darkness of a waning moon sky left Jintou wanting better light for his search to yield better findings. The occasional firebug enlisted motes of light but wasn’t of much help as they flittered about. Rather than pawing through the darkness, Jintou went to a patch of blooming knocksroot. With gentle fingers working, Jintou stole helpings of pollen in a careful process. His digits were coated yellow as if he had been mixing saffron dye. He caressed the powdery substance on the forked branch ends of his bident. Far from the ways of manipulating one’s own chakra using jutsu, there were naturalist techniques or as the ninja called them, sage jutsu capable of drawing power from nature. Jintou knew little of the concept, but he did understand that there were innate magical qualities hidden amongst nature. His bident was made from the flesh of an Ivory Pareidolia— a single grand fruit tree tended by his extended family of House Oba. This ancient tree was found on ancestral grounds overlooking the Mizumi Coast to the far west. Jintou had never met any of those distant cousins of his, but the wooden bident he received as a tenth birthday gift had been a mainstay in Jintou’s life abroad. Now, his weapon made of mystical wood began to flourish at the edges with thin branches and leaves in a multitude of green shades. A sweet scent filled the air, prompting firebugs to flock towards the bident in droves until they equated to a lantern’s glow. The lantern of gentle fireflies served as a beacon for Jintou’s search and likely warded away any potential predators as a bonus feature— or so he hoped. An added benefit of the terrain was that level ground made it difficult for most creatures to sneak up on you unless they had either supernatural speed or silence and could avoid being spotted. Then again, some creatures had such an innate power that they did not require either, and could simply exist outside of perception.

I want you to imagine such a thing, gargantuan but imperceptive to mortal senses. Picture a beast so incredible and so alien that it could simply shift its skin and hair to colors imperceptible to the human eye… well, most humans. Jintou was busy scouring the ground, identifying every sparse shrub within a mile and at a hasty pace when he happened upon a jagged mound in shades of blue to black and back again. His eyes went wide, diamond-like spheres in their centers trembling as he struggled to take in the structure laying ahead of him. Curiosity bade Jintou move forward but wisdom and his sense of urgency kept him complying— thoughts of his ally entering a convulsive fit had he move aside, around the sudden sloping shape. But then Jintou’s thoughts emptied, even of the plight of the innocent ninja, as the blue his began to sweep across the ground and generate a swiftly passing dusty wind. A lone witness as he was, Jintou was speechless and lifted his lantern rod high to better light the spectacle or disseminate illusion from reality. The jagged blue hill was in fact a tail and must have been the size of his entire housing complex. The scaly blue appendage met a hind end covered in beige fur in strands long enough to cloth the entire village’s populace using a single side of this creature’s hide. Its spine ran long and high into a black silhouette that cropped out the stars, with back fins that cut the moon in twine.

Jintou was dumbstricken for a second, just long enough to drop his stave. With a clatter on the earth, the firebugs were rapidly dispersed and flitted about in a wild swarm. Jintou hurriedly dipped low to scoop up the tool and shook it in a panic, trying to lure the bugs back into an illuminating focus. He wanted to run. No, he wanted to scream, but neither would get him far in the pitch darkness.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

A warm and moist breath caressed his backside, accompanied by a voice that seemed impossibly old and wise yet— incomprehensible. When it spoke it carried a delivery that drowned out everything else in the night without trying to be loud. A golden glow eclipsed Jintou, prompting him to spin h’s yellow boots on the pavement. He turned to meet a giant face that was apple red and ground level to stare at him up-close and personally.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

The creature’s maw was wide enough to crush Jintou between two teeth and lodge him there like stringy meat for the flossing. Its nose was more ape-like than reptilian but its face was surely leathery and scaled. Its eyes were black holes with motes of golden light, gates to heaven, or some strange abyss, just as likely. More beige chin hairs swept the ground and uprooted everything from the stones to old bones and a cluster of cacti. Jinto froze in place, certain that the being would have erased him from existence if it saw fit— to do nothing meant keeping some course towards survival, though it might still be a short one.

The being continued the poem, stanza after stanza, taking long enough that Jintou wondered if his patient would be waiting ahead of him in whatever afterlife awaited him. At this time, the gargantuan creature was slowly maneuvering its face around the human boy named Jintou, thoroughly investigating him like a sculpture in a gallery. “They can never see me…” said the godly being, speaking irony to his immensity. “And even when they sense me they never stick around long enough for me to finish the entire poem.”

“It was a nice poem” Jintou stuttered, blurting out the response.

“Ah, and it speaks…” The impossible creature was genuinely surprised. In fact, it was likely that it thought Jintou had died on his feet. After all, he had seen just about everything else the tall apes were capable of. “It is not paralyzed by fear, but it did not carry out its will in twenty-five attempts.”
Jintou finally thawed from his shock but made no sudden moves. “I’m sorry. What?”
“It will fail to make five hundred and fifty-nine differences… “Four hundred times it has chosen the spines of a rose cactus— wrong, the creature perishes.” The omnipotent creature was staring in the distance then, out a far difference in the darkness.
“Rose cactus—” Jintou blurted again. “What are you seeing? Who are...:” His confusion trailed off as he recognized the talk of probability. The creature was speaking the language of his people. “You can see the variables! So can—”
The mammoth being let out a sigh that shifted a weather pattern. “In the time it speaks, this one has counted one thousand-thousand world burstings, and twice as many forming from star stuff.”
“Then why is it here right now?” Jintou could dare to be curious if he was really so insignificant. “Is it everywhere?”
“It is everywhere and nowhere. It is outside the fabric of space stuff, apart from time. Folly.” Then the ever-omnipotent, quasi-real lizard god-like thing leaned in and sniffed Jintou. His cloak flew up over his head and his curls were almost straightened all at once. “The creature sees it and bears a fruit of the seven-faced sage. “The creature must give the fruit— this is inevitable.”

Jintou was untangling himself from his twisted cloak, and before he could ask for the creature to clarify he felt a sudden difference in weight on his bident. It wobbled awkwardly in his hands, and then he noticed something else impossible… a single peach, so rich in the quintessential color that was peach. It was enormous as far as peaches went, but fairly normal aside from that. It was perfectly ripe, and so plump even the slightest squeeze might make it burst. Even the subtle fuzz made it look that much more delicious.

“Behold the fruit of the seven-faced sage. “A creature has only one, as recorded, as ruled.” The great reptile’s maw opened and a tongue wet with lusty desire was unfurled and forked, perhaps the most reptilian feature the monster would ever reveal. “The fruit must be given, for this one cannot take, as recorded, as ruled.”
“You can’t take it? Then if I only get one of these why should I give it to you?” It was a valid question from Jintou, whose fear had dissolved the more he learned about this thing’s apparent limitations.
“The creature accepts a bargain a thousand-thousand times” answered the omnipotent one.
“For my life?”
“For the other. The other dies a thousand-thousand times when the bargain is not stricken.”
This bargain could have been for anything at yet Jintou knew his desire so clearly. If the weird space lizard could make anything happen, Jintou wanted to undo his course as a ninja and return to his home. But then he realized that no— even if he hadn’t come along with those chuunin on their mission, the water conjurer would have still met the same fate, apparently a thousand-thousand times. If Jintou eventually learned to see his own futures as well, he would eventually see the event take its course regardless, and the guilt of his selfishness would haunt him. Therefore, he could not be a Jintou who chose himself.
“The creature strikes the bargain—”
“—The other lives!”

So it was recorded, so it was ruled.

The impossible thing’s turn rolled forth and took Jintou’s hand presenting the peach down to his forearm. Jintou jerked and winced uselessly as he felt countless muscles grip him and confiscate the fruit before unwinding just as fast. The boy reeled back, fearing that he’d vanish into the black hole before him he stayed caught on the monstrous tongue.
“One million gratitudes,” said the ape-faced lizard thing, whose emotions never changed throughout the ordeal. “The bargain is sealed to one soul and infinite paths.”
Jintou was speechless but listening, just too busy gripping with the pain of the lizard’s caustic saliva burning a strange brand into his right arm.

The impossible lizard began to lose permanence, seemingly satisfied and quickly erasing from reality in a shift that took time, likely due to its extreme size. “The fruit satisfies inevitably,” it said, taken as a compliment by Jintou.
“And what about my comrade? You can guarantee she lives?”
“The other will see one thousand-thousand results, but zero at the fault of Jintou Oba.”
The boy became elated twice over, cherry cheeked and proud. Sure his ally would survive, but a space-lizard god thing called him by his name!
“Wait... yeah I’m Jintou, and it was really nice meeting you. But before you go— what’s your name?”
“Jintou will know this one to be Jabber.” And like that, the omnipotent Jabber ceased to exist.


A short time later when Jintou returned to the wagon-side camp, he discovered the four chuunin settled down for dinner. They were each sitting upon their own sleeping mats for comfort and facing the fire. The scene was utterly oblivious towards the one he had last left behind. Jintou approached slowly to take in all the changes but sped up when he spotted a package wrapped in parchment on his own bedroll.
“Welcome back kid,” said the second of the two twins, bearing a fanged smile. Then the other added “you were gone so long we started to worry about you. To be honest, we’ve been going hard on you to make you tough… but I know I wouldn’t be able to find shit if I went scrounging for scraps.” The squad let out one of those cheesy sitcom group rows. Jinto wasn’t so amused but faked a titter to keep from being too awkward.
“Anyways” the sister twin pointed at the bento set in Jintou’s spot. “Please accept our humblest apologies… “Eat up and get some rest, kid. “Maybe we’ll go through a few hand-to-hand moves in the morning if you’re game.”
Jintou gave a vigorous nod and sat down to tear into his first proper meal in days. His lips stayed curled into an unstoppable smile as he stuffed his face. He hadn’t been this happy since he was back home. But don’t misunderstand… He still knew those ninjas to be a crew of jerks, even if Jabber had changed things to a timeline where they weren’t complete assholes. Actually, Jintou was happy to see just happy to witness what a being like Jabber was capable of: utter magnificence.

“Hey” the wagoneer ninja to Jintou’s right was looking at him suspiciously then, and pointed with his stubby finger at the new seal that scarred his right forearm, obviously a fresh one still red and inflamed… “Is that a summoning brand?” The entire group looked at Jintou in silence before the merchant’s son continued, “can you teach me?”
No, he couldn’t.

-- Jintou accepts the Lizard Contract.
-- Jintou also leaves the thread, chapter complete.
-- The poems were excerpts from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.
-- wc2682