Episode 9: 'Together Forever pt 5'|Nameless Arc said:[col]She would imply that he would understand the same approach to killing as her and her kind, and while technically she would be correct, it was still something he was not fully aware of himself. However, his feint vision of a past long forgotten in addition with information he already knew of the Sovereign, he had a good assumption that this was probably not his first time draining the essence of an Ancient.
For as wrong as it might of felt, from a conscience standpoint, there was a sense of fulfillment within it. He was like a broken puzzle the past few years, especially following the loss of his brother, but now it was like pieces were being plugged into their appropriate spot. He was almost complete and this female was to thank. His grip upon her wrist would tighten a bit, not to the point of hurting but still a firmer grip none-the-less.
"Shiori, was it?"
The name just happened to come back to him from their first exchange, a moment that felt like months ago.
"You are aware that there is a war brewing within this country, right? Where do you stand on that matter..."
He trailed off, he had his assumption for what it was she felt about all of this. If he had to guess he figured her response would be something similar in line with Fuu's, a hope for the mutual self destruction, except with the caveat that she probably assumed she would survive either way, unlike Fuu. Still, he wanted to hear her thoughts before he went any further with their interaction.
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OOC:
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song[/url]Mood Music
Ninpocho Chronicles
Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.
Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.
Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.
The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.
This is Ninpocho Chronicles.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time:
The Wanderer [Requesting Shiori/Private]
- Thread starter Raizo
- Start date
"Shiori, was it?"
He recalled the name she had shared, a name she never felt he would live long enough to get away with it. Still, it was the sort of thing that caused chills to run down her back. Words had power. It was something that has been said so many times before but there was a reason for this. Humanity has truly forgotten the price of words and she is no better in that regard. It was a term that tethered her to humanity, that represented not only the good but also the bad. She has coexisted with humanity, assimilating to their identity and culture for decades before she declared war against the tribes of man for the one offense she could not ignore.
"You are aware that there is a war brewing within this country, right? Where do you stand on that matter..."
"I declared war," she admitted "two years ago" perhaps more. Time did not pass the same for her as it did for others, it was actually closer to five by now. Five since the first time she died. Three since the second. "I did not know he would go this far..." she added as she looked him up and down. "That he would make an abomination such as you," she continued. She was not referring to the Diamyo in the least, he was hardly a consideration in her opinion. She was not privy to most of the things he had learned. Even as a secretary all she knew was the rising tensions, the rumored blame of the Cabal being sourced by the Diamyo and the unreasonable-seeming concern some shinobis expressed regarding an orphanage in Sora. Of course she felt that the Diamyo could be a conceivable threat, not on his own of course. It would be ludicrous to think an army armed with swords and bows could stand against casters. That said, this alleged Otogakure seemed like a viable concern, a small foreign shinobi community has something to prove. Their leader agreeing to marry the daughter of the country's leader stank of a power grab, of a people attempting to get a foothold in this country. That was until the daughter went missing. She might have had something to do with that.
"But Sousuke was always the hypocrite," she conceded. She was angry with him even still and this only added to her indignation. She went decades without a meal, but because she could, because she might she was a threat. So she did. It seemed that values were different when it was her kind that served as meals. That was not the worst part of course. One uncanny fact this not pass her by -- if he was a war machine, he was not centuries old. For him to have fed, there had to be Ancients to consume. For centuries she had lived in utter loneliness in a way man could not understand, yes many have lost their homes and their families, even their identities, but she lost her species. When people spoke of her kind, they did so in the past tense. Their language, their ways, their holidays and customs, all lost to the annals of time. Those that remained, reviled, feared and isolated. "Why does it still surprise me," she scoffed.
"I hope my brothers kill you all," she concluded through gritted teeth. She was not confident in either at this point, Mikaboshi's allegiance had always swayed in favor of the tribes of man despite their repetative betrayals. Kazuki was a silver-tongued ladder climber, she did not trust him anymore than she did Mikaboshi. He had a knack to finding a position of power and grabbing hold, something he had done in every village he had been a part of. Deception was in their nature, she knew that and understood that but she also knew that they had a strong sense of self-preservation. Her death was hardly worth avenging, neither were truly alone because they had each other even if they were always at odds and she envied and hated them for that.
Her free arm started to run through an array of handseals (one-handed seals) to try and sink away.
Episode 10: 'Together Forever pt 6'|Nameless Arc said:[col]She declared war? Two years ago?
It would quickly grow apparent that maybe they were talking about two different individuals.
"Two years? I surmise that my creation was initiated at least 15 years ago, if not further back than that..."
She would continue and open up about who it was she was referring to; Sousuke. He would smirk at the notion that his friend was the big bad, but for a creature like the female before him that probably wasn't far from the truth. He was the one with a lineage that stood in defiance with her kind. She would begin to seal with one hand as her body started to sink into the ground. His grip would tighten once more as he was not ready to let her go just yet.
"Your brothers... the Daimyo is feeding your brothers to his minions. Sousuke, regardless of what wrongs he has done towards you and your kind, are menial in comparison to that, right? He is still offering your kind to his assortment of monsters to make them big and strong... if he ever found out about you, who knows what gnarly weapon he could make, so let me propose something; I know where he is hiding your kind, help me disrupt his plans and I will aid you in free your kind."
It seemed like a simple enough deal.
"You can plot your little revenge against the Kazekage following the resolution, this time with your own beings, or you can live in peace with the remainder of your people, whatever makes you happy. All I ask is a favor in return once I've helped you free them, a small token of appreciation for a budding friendship!"
He would take another drag from the female of her Ancient essence, the surge of power felt different within him than the last few exchanges. There was something swelling up within him. The sudden change in feeling caused him to release her completely giving her the option to flee or stay as she was no longer bound.
If she did not have a response to their deal, he would give her a message;
"I will find you again, and I will ask you for your answer. Hopefully we can further this budding friendship..."
His hand would raise up and grip his forehead as the totality of the collected energy of Shiori would begin to settle within him. His body, once feeling like it had reached the pinnacle of his being, now felt like it was beginning to crash hard. His very fiber felt as if it was shaking apart, tearing him up from within. Stumbling backwards, his free hand would grip his chest as he began to breathe heavily.
"I thought the changes were done... I thought that was it..."
If Shiori was still around she would hear him howling to himself, but for him he not only expected a response from another's voice, he got it.
"Calm down, you are still new to your body~"
"Na..."
The voice of the one he assumed made him would once more fill his mind as his body continued to feeling like it was pulling apart. Pops from within his flesh could be heard. Muffled creaking and cracking would continue as he began to wave his arms around in a panic. Another change was taking place within his body, completely altering him down to his very core. What the change meant was simple, yet he would not realize it at this point. Everything he knew about his body would never be the same. The incorporation of the dark energy of the Ancient and how it manifested as tattoos on his flesh was just the first, this next transformation would be subtle at first. It was a change to him fundamentally that one could not necessarily see, but upon his next battle he would begin to see the newest changes that had started to develop within him. Like a caterpillar entering its cocoon, he would soon experience a metamorphosis into something new.
The pain would be reigned in a bit. His right hand would still be clutching at his heart while his left hand dangled off into the air. It would slowly begin to clench into a fist and around his fingers, a small distortion would begin to crack, as if the very fabric of reality was starting to rip at his fingernails.
"Gotta... go... home..."
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OOC: 738 words, accepting Celestial Seal
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]The Wanderer[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
[/legend][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYZpwSpKmA]Enjoy the song
He claimed but she did not believe him, she had no reason to trust him but he also had no reason to lie. Had Sousuke been working on this for that long? How old was he? Time passed differently for her; the span of a man's life seemed to pass her in the blink of an eye. Decades seemed to pass in a moment's notice, but these past few years have moved by at a snail's pace. She furrowed her brow at the thought, before Sousuke revealed his true sentiments towards Ancients - his pervasive distrust, his sense of ownership and his misaligned notion of friendship despite being more a master than a comrade. It made more sense now why he refused to free her brother, why he gave Mikaboshi that short chain. She was angry before, angry enough to risk the comfort and safety of her position but she was more pragmatic than being a slave to her emotions, she knew that whatever sentiments Sousuke felt towards Mikaboshi would eventually pass onto her.
I guess we were never friends. It was a bitter pill to swallow, it was the only thing that made her hesitate - lingering emotions, memories and former impossible hopes. All of course dashed. I guess that makes it easier. She continued to sink away but his grip held her tight. She could feel the tug, but she was persistent and insistent regarding a great many things and this was no exception. Let him sink with her, she did not care. If he was dumb enough as to come, hopefully he either brought a shovel or was a secret ninjutsuist. His grip tightened, perhaps he was just as stubborn.
"Your brothers... the Daimyo is feeding your brothers to his minions. Sousuke, regardless of what wrongs he has done towards you and your kind, are menial in comparison to that, right? He is still offering your kind to his assortment of monsters to make them big and strong... if he ever found out about you, who knows what gnarly weapon he could make, so let me propose something; I know where he is hiding your kind, help me disrupt his plans and I will aid you in free your kind."</SIZE><i></i>
She stopped. The ground had reached her knees by this point. "What?"
"You can plot your little revenge against the Kazekage following the resolution, this time with your own beings, or you can live in peace with the remainder of your people, whatever makes you happy. All I ask is a favor in return once I've helped you free them, a small token of appreciation for a budding friendship!"
Already planning a reward? He pulled from her again her very essence. It was like a dull ache that left her feeling hollow before he relinquished his grip on her. He left her with something to think about as she tried to determine still what sort of 'man' he was. He was aesthetically lovely but it that only skin deep; beneath that facade he was a predator no different than her. In fact, better. Physically he was stronger than she was. He was no caster, but who knows what he unintentionally absorbed and how that would translate. Her essence was both a blessing and a curse as far as she understood, toxic to most humans with some notable exception. The Sunahoshi legacy being the first, something that would have killed a lesser man and had many times before. Later survivors few and far in-between, all being shinobis with a propensity for chakra manipulation. Still, her 'gift' nearly killed each and every one of them but left them incredibly empowered after even if it was like burning a candle on both ends. He was consuming her power, in fact he seemed to hunger for it. And now he had the upper hand and was letting her go. That was why she believed him.
"I will find you again, and I will ask you for your answer. Hopefully we can further this budding friendship..."<i></i>
Was that a threat? It did not matter; earlier he said the one thing that would make her want to stay. "They're dead," Shiori answered as she climbed out of the earth she had started to sink into. Her knees buckled but she did not fall. This or rather he was likely going to kill her, but it wold not be the first time she died trying to get back all of the things she had lost, only this time it might be a final-death. "Rangers took my kin well over a century ago, myself, Deep Court Lord Mikaboshi and a smattering of remote hybrids are all that remain," she lied. There were a few others recently uncovered, they were still returning to life and she had no intention of sharing that with him. She understood better than most the predator dynamic.
He stumbled back and there was something wrong... She did not move as she watched him react painfully to the changes. Dyspnea. Chest pain. Likely a pallor. A delayed reaction? How curious.
"I thought the changes were done... I thought that was it..."
She furrowed her brow. "No, of course not." She approached the madman cautiously.
"Calm down, you are still new to your body~"
"Calm down, you just ate too large a meal... "
"Calm down, you just ate too large a meal... "
"Committed a taboo..." She moved closer. "Ate your own kind," his body was writhing, his bones were breaking apart. "You are no good dead," she added as her hands ran through an array [Angelic Blessing] and she started to glow as she reached out to touch him. "The first sin, before there was man was consumption.., Gluttony..." There were human doctrines that echoed similar ancestral sins among the tribes of man, those who plucked the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and disobeyed their creator and for their sin they were expelled from paradise. "Sin, however is a strong term... there is no divine law, however there is natural law and order." She was not a religious woman, she did not believe in gods or deities, she was older than many of these proclaimed entities. She did not believe that there was a creator. She did not believe that there was some benevolent or wrathful figure watching over them. No, there was just nature. Nature had an astonishing ability to make and create, to cycle and to destroy. She would start to sing into his ear [Delayed Agony] a sweet, low song with her enthralling voice making him numb.
He would reach up and as if the air was wallpaper, his nails would dig into the air and rip away this open space. Reality would be ripped asunder by his touch.
<SIZE size="90">"Gotta... go... home..."
Her song reached a crescendo and changed as she sang him one final song, a lullaby [Temple of Nirvana] and white feathers would fall over him. Relax. Just relax. He would be fine, she knew that as she performed one final step. Her years as a human medic were certainly helpful as she recovered a syringe from her pocket and injected its contents into his arm. [Heaven's Touch] Then she would sink away into the desert floor.
[Topic Left?]
OC: Are there any seals left that you want?
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time: