To Know That Which Is Unknown [Open]

[Kazu]

There was no break for the young man. He had a mission. A purpose that fueled him, drove him, and made him seek knowledge. He needed more of it. He had to find it. Tracing the outlines of every single book that his fingers grazed over, the young man could feel the information stored inside each and every book. They felt heavy with knowledge and insight, and the young man could gauge their material based upon the feel and the weight of that knowledge around him. It was a very intimate feeling, being able to, quite literally, sense the power of the words around him. He had to find something in particular, though. Some piece of knowledge, that may not even be here. But still, he would keep looking.

Deep within the Accolade's University, the young man had decided to continue his quest for answers within a place where the entire village's knowledge was held. If he could not find information here, then there was little more point in searching this village. His muddy brown eyes scanned each and every book, and occasionally he would pick up a book and read through a few pages. His metal arm was fully exposed, and the way it slid over the paper made interesting sounds. The scraping and the sliding was strangely hypnotic to the young man. He could spend hours in here, just flipping through pages as he skimmed the material. Skimming, actually, wasn't the right word—the puppeteer read at a speed of about 3,000 words per minute, meaning he was rather just tasting the information that lay inside that particular book. He didn't like referring to himself as such, but others have in the past called him a genius. To the young man, he didn't care whether he was a 'genius' or not. He cared about results. Right now, he just needed to get his questions answered.

Moving his search over towards medicine, Ginjiro began flipping though more pages. He'd have to the Puppetry section, if they actually had one. The young man was sorely dissapointed, both because it made his search much more complicated and because it made him hurt to see no love for the art of puppetry. It was his trade and passion! How could they not have any freaking books on puppetry?! They were either crazy, or they'd organized this place in a way that Ginjiro had just plain missed it. Either of those options had its own problems, but Ginjiro would simply stick to this current conclusion. His eyes darting over the words in this book on Medical Theory, the young man was hoping to find something about a hollow body. His attention was occupied, and as such he hardly noticed anything around him. Everything but this book was simply cut off from the young man.

 

[Satsuki]

This is a new feat with the young girl, going to the libraries, not only the one in the Academy. She was very young, under aged even for these kind of books or learning. But there wasn't any book advanced enough to explain the extensive number of jutsus and techniques. She had been self-learning and practicing some. A couple a bit advanced for an Academy student such as herself but so far she has managed to execute them correctly, though she still needed a ton of training.

Satsuki had gone to the University's library for a couple days in a row now. She wasn't allowed to take home books yet. Not just because she's still in the Academy but because the librarians and the staff were part of the typical "oh, that's the traitor's daughter" crowd. They looked at her funny, they looked down on her. At this point of her young life she already didn't care. She'd learned slowly that sometimes it's best if you didn't care what others thought of you. The girl wandered aimlessly in the huge library. Rows and rows and columns of the vast book collection. Satsuki didn't realize that she was already lost. She had passed things like "shadow techniques", and "element manipulation", and bloodlines and whatnot. She didn't know what they meant nor know what they were in general. She just went on and walked. It felt like she had walked from Inner M to the Concrete Jungle, the girl thought. Who thought walking inside a big library would be this tiring and tedious? The girl started to bark out her frustration, still not that keen on the "no talking" rule,

"Bah, this is annoying! Where am I?" the girl said while walking.

She muttered more annoyances and turned a corner and saw a person who was digging into something. She was flushed and felt wrongfully to talked. Maybe it's in the unconscious to be apologetic inside a library, who knows.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was someone here." Satsuki said to the man. He was unfamiliar to her. She has a knack for remembering faces but his was new.


-MFT-

 

[Kazu]

Despite the younger girl's intrusion, the young man didn't even react. He simply stood there, still deeply focused on the book, with his left hand rubbing his chin as he thought. He really was completely engrossed, wasn't he? He even seemed to be muttering to himself, as if he were conversing with someone else. "No, no, that's not quite right. This one's about removing organs, and then sustaining the original body with chakra. That couldn't have been the original body we saw. Besides, this kind of a technique wouldn't work long term..." The puppeteer's eyes seemed to dart through the words for a few more seconds before he let out an annoyed sort of grunt before he tore his eyes off the book and began to set it back into its place. As he did, the title of the book could be seen to be "Human Anatomy: The Applications of Chakra Manipulation". As he slid the book back into its place on the dark oak bookcases, the young man's eyes were able to wander around until he noticed the girl was there. She seemed to have been staring at him for a little bit, and the Ayatsuri man wondered if she had been standing there for long. The young man was absolutely horrid about paying attention to what was going on around him when he was busy focusing on things like this, so the fact that he seemed to have ignored her didn't actually come as a surprise. The young man did, however, feel bad about it. He didn't like to be so rude to people, and so it actually made him a little irritated with himself that he could do that to her. He'd just have to atone for his mistakes. Giving the girl an honest smile, the young puppeteer decided that it would be best to try and repair whatever damaged he'd done so far. "Oh, hello there. I'm so sorry, I guess I didn't see you. I was just so engrossed in this book, you see, and I just..." The young man kind of ended his excuse in a lame way, and began to chuckle nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.

As the young man relaxed a little, though, a question came to his mind. This was the Advanced Medics section of the library. She was just a little girl. "Say, what are you doing in this section of the library? Isn't this stuff a bit difficult and boring to read?" If the young girl looked around, she could see such various, and exciting, titles as "A Study of the Central Nervous System", "Chakra, and it's Uses in Medicine", "The Complete Medical Journals of Amegakure", and "Dissertations on the Effects of Shinobi Physiology". Such truly riveting and fascinating titles these were. It led the question as to why, this little girl, could possibly be interested in this section of the library. Or, perhaps, their meeting was purely accidental? Who knew, but now that the girl had the young man's attention he would be all ears for whatever she'd have to say.

 

[Satsuki]

The young girl stared at the man a bit shockingly after she had heard him mutter 'organs' and 'bodies'. It was a bit macabre hearing such things but what sparked her interest was the constant muttering by the man. It was funny how he talked to himself, the girl thought, before he actually turned his attention to her. He said some things that she wasn't even sure she understood, but the question that she did understand was why she was in the area of the library for grownups.

"Well, I'm lost." Satsuki shrugged. She knew that it would be years, decades even, before she would be able to read and understand some of these books. Though she had already started reading the less complicated ones, she seems to be on the right track, at least in the case of book-reading which not all children liked. She looked around. Still books that had titles she can't pronounce. Satsuki turned her attention to the man again. The girl eyed him for a second, yeah, never seen him before, she thought to herself.

"You don't happen to know where chakra books are?" the girl asked randomly. He seemed to know around his way with books, she thought to herself. Maybe he knows where she could read them. She was having a bit of a head time executing the new techniques she'd read in the last book she devoured not two weeks ago. "Don't get me wrong mister, I like to read. Well, at least the ones I can understand." Satsuki added. The young girl sounded older than she should be. This might be the result of not having a lot to talk to besides her grandmother and a couple other adults.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Ryu is not one to be interested in the university; however she was not in control right now. Ryu was wearing Taili, who was one of Ryu’s more intellectual puppet personas. Taili was in the library wing of the Accolade's University. She was looking for books on puppetry. These books were not for herself of course but for her future students. Taili wanted to teach a class on puppetry in the academy. The art of puppets came naturally to her and she is aware that it will not like be the same for her students, so she is researching to find the best teaching method. Puppetry is an art not commonly practiced despite its usefulness; in fact she has only every met one person that practices such an art. She hopes she could make a lasting impression on her students. It would be nice to see more puppeteers in the village of Stone. No, it will be her mission to not let this precious art die only to be remembered in history books.

The oddest sight pass before their eyes; a lavender pony with a horn on its forehead walks by them. Her horn glowed with a strange mystical aura and floating above her was a book engulfed in the same glow. This was Taili using a kinetic infusion jutsu to carry the book; without hands she required such jutsu to do things. The book read Puppetry 101. This would show the young puppeteer that there is indeed books on such arts, however none the subject he’s looking for. Human puppets were taboo for they messed with the dead. However, this little mare would know the topic intimately; all he would have to do is ask. Taili believes that knowledge should be shared and forbidding the learning of certain knowledge do to religious beliefs is wrong. “Books on chakra control are three book sleeves over.” If seeing her wasn’t enough to surprise them, her speaking likely would be. If they asked what she was, she would claim to be a contract animal; one of the few types of creatures able to speak and use jutsu.

 

[Kazu]

Oh, how rich! The girl was merely lost? For some reason, the young man had been expecting a much different answer. She was a gifted prodigy, hell bent on uncovering the secrets of the human body so that she could become the Medical Sennin. Or, perhaps she was trying to find a way to kill her enemies—they were all jerks, anyways. Even better, was that she was actually older than the young man and simply looked younger due to an age manipulation jutsu. The fact that the reality, where she was simply a lost child, seemed the most ridiculous answer of all maybe said a little something about the world in which they lived. Now that the young man thought about it, this seemed to be a bit mind boggling in general. Giving the girl a smile, the young puppeteer began to make some idle conversation with her. "Chakra Control, huh? Are you a student in the Academy? Studying to be a kunoichi, am I right?" The young man remembered his days in the Academy. Those were simpler times, indeed. What he wouldn't give to re-live those years. But, no matter. The past was in the past. The best he could do at this point was to live through the next generation. Though, the girl's question about where the actual books were located remained unanswered. Using his right hand, the young man pointed in a particular direction. "I saw some books on Chakra Control somewhere ove-"

He was interrupted. By a...a...a talking purple horse? What?! WHAT THE HECK!? The young man was almost stunned in shock. What the heck was a talking purple horse doing here? And what the hell? Was it telepathically carrying a book? This was too weird. Despite the oddness of the whole situation, though, the second the young man saw that the book was one that concerned Puppetry, he instantly forgot all about the fact that there was a talking purple unicorn in front of him. His mind instantly snapped over to the fact that there seemed to be a section devoted to Puppetry somewhere in this godforsaken library. Hurrying over to stop the unicorn, the young puppeteer didn't even question it on anything regarding its state of being. In fact, at this point he didn't care what it was. "Excuse me? Where did you get that book? I was hoping to find something on Advanced Puppetry? I need to read up on some theoretical and high-level techniques." The young man was trying to keep his search vague. He wasn't sure whether the Human Puppet technique was forbidden here or not, and whether even seeking knowledge about it was taboo. If even his clan had hidden information about it, though, perhaps this place would also keep it a secret? It surely was a dangerous technique that not everyone should know about.

It only dawned on him now, actually, that he was really talking to this thing. He actually had to blink a few times before he remembered how strange this was. Before he could hold the question in, he felt the words slipping off of his tongue. "Wait, how are you a horse? And a talking horse, at that?" Oh crap, that might have been a wrong move. The young man knew that some creatures got offended at those questions, and some just got down right pissed. Would he have to engage in battle with this scary looking thing? He hoped not. Still, nothing that purple and sparkly could be trusted. It just went against basic shinobi law.

 

[Satsuki]

“Pony.” the girl said dreamily, but in disbelief.​

Satsuki blinked more than twice. This was a shock. She liked ponies, but a purple one with a floating book? Now that was a surprise. She knew that the man said that Chakra books were where? She forgot. All she knew was there was a pony. A pretty purple pony. But the girl snapped back to reality when the man started asking the pony stuff.

“Hey mister, you do know yer talking to a pony right?” the girl said. Before turning her attention back at the odd creature. Odd; An understatement of a word that pertained to this situation they were in. she needed to get lost in this library often, Satsuki thought to herself, dry-mouthed and all. The man then asked the creature how was it able to talk being a horse and all. Satsuki’s eyes narrowed, “She’s not a horse, she’s a pony!” growled the girl, wanting to smack the guy in the head. But then it dawned on her. The pony was talking. How can a pony talk? How can a book float? Was this a trick of some sort? This was getting a bit out of hand, the girl thought to herself. A sense of panic and excitement filled her, barely able to contain herself. She wanted to tackle the pony and hug it until she passes out.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Taili’s eyes lit up in a dreamy expression that matched Satsuki’s. She almost could not believe her eyes. A fellow puppeteer stood before her and one seeking knowledge of the advance arts. The book she held in her kinesis fell as her concentration was focused solely on the boy. Her eyes fell on the puppet limb the boy had and she gasped at the sight. “Oh my you are an advance level puppeteer.” Her horn glows again as she gentlely caresses the arm while inspecting its design. It was Ginjiro question about her being a horse that woke her out of her dreamlike state. She lets go of the arm as her head retreated back at the question. She didn't take offensive, she just found the question odd. “Well, how are you human? She asks with a chuckle. "I am because I am. I gather you haven’t met any contract animals. There is a quite a few contract holder here in Stone.” Taili notices the girl and she too seemed to find her ability to talk strange. However she was very likely an academy student and contract holders are rarely students. Taili only heard of three and they were tournament winners. “I’m quite a puppeteer myself, though not as good as my overlord. I was planning on teaching a class at the academy. I can teach you some of the advance arts if you like. Is there anything in particular you would like to know?”

 

[Kazu]

Today sure was an odd day—everything seemed to turn out differently than the young man was expecting. First, the young girl that had asked him where the books on chakra were seemed that it was pertinent to make sure that he knew what he knew what he was doing by talking to this purple unicorn-pony-horse-thing and then proceed to correct the young puppeteer as to the exact genus of the animal with which he was conversing. The first part, he understood. He wasn't even sure why he was conversing with this thing either. But when she brought up that it was a pony, not a horse, the young man simply didn't know how to respond. So, instead, he simply looked back at her with an incredulous expression as he raised his hands slightly to either side and brought his brow into a slight furrow. "What does it matter? A pony is just a type of horse! It's the same a how a square is just a kind of rectangle." Seriously, though, did it matter? Either way, it was still a talking animal! But here, in particular, was where things got even weirder. Ginjiro had expected the pony to just kind of stay where it was. However, the next thing he knew the creature was much closer and was actually examining his mechanical right arm. It had a look of wonder and amazement in its eyes—the same look Ginjiro had when he was examining some kind of cool puppetry equipment. He'd never had anyone examine his puppet arm so closely and with so much mindfulness. It actually made the young man a little nervous, making him almost want to pull away. However, before he could do so, the creature seemed to realize the question he'd asked it a moment ago. So it was a contract animal, huh? Ginjiro didn't know why he hadn't thought of that before. Maybe he just didn't have his head on properly today? It would also explain why he couldn't find the puppetry section of the library earlier.

Regardless, the young man felt a little nervous about her question regarding his interaction with Contract Animals. He almost looked over to his right, where his contract familiar Riza was. She was a Kami, and thus was unable to be seen by others. She'd actually been there the whole time, like she usually was, keeping herself hidden from anyone who might be wandering the library. "Yeah, this is my first time seeing one...It's kinda weird..." Just play it cool, Ginjiro. No one will know the difference. They didn't have to know he could summon ancient spirits to aid him in battle. Instead, he would play the part of a curiously naive young man. It usually helped him to get the kinds of information he needed. When the contract summon mentioned that it was a puppeteer, Ginjiro was actually, genuinely, surprised. He didn't know that summons could use puppetry. How did it even do so with it's hooves? Regardless, the young man made himself respond. "You're a puppeteer? Well now, there's a twist! Maybe I could assist you in your class or something?" Well then, here's where it all boiled down to. This creature was asking if he needed to know something about puppetry, specifically. Well, of course he did! That was the problem, though. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to outright ask this creature whether it knew anything about the Human Puppet technique. He might be labeled as a heretic by these villagers if he asked such a question. He had to keep this open ended. He needed an out, just in case this went sour. "Oh, well I'm just trying to see how far I can push myself. I'm always interested in new techniques to help improve myself." As he said this, the puppeteer leaned himself against one of the bookshelves, using his mechanical right arm as his support. With it, he drummed his fingers against the wood, trying to gather as much attention as he could to the sound of metal hitting against wood. He wanted to emphasize what he was talking about. If the creature seemed to react favorably to his hidden question, then he knew he found a kindred spirit. If the creature seemed suspicious, however, he could simply write it off as them looking too far into his words. If his sensei had taught him anything, it was that you had to sprinkle the truth in with your lies. This was very much the truth, but could easily be claimed to not be. Sneaky, sneaky.

Trying to move the conversation into simpler waters, though, the young man attempted to make things seem more normal than they were. Getting himself off the bookcase, the young man turned his body to also be addressing the young girl, along with the pony. "Oh, and where are my manners? The name's Ginjiro, by the way. I don't think I caught either of your names..."

 

[Satsuki]

This was the first time the girl has heard of a contract animal. She didn't even know the real meaning of what a contract is, so this triggered her curiosity yet again. At this point Satsuki still haven’t had the reality don on her, that an animal was talking in front of her. The allure of a pony is always ever so present in most little girls and she wasn't an exception to that. The color also added to that fondness as well. The girl wanted to pet the animal, but she was weary since it was talking funny.

The girl listened as the animal continued to speak, apparently to the man she had just met. At this point of her life, unlike that forgettable scene where she met a crap ton of people at once, she wasn't that anxious around people or animals in this case anymore. The pony said that she can teach in the Academy. This struck her curiosity yet again. Who knew animals can teach at the Academy? The girl thought to herself. Then she heard the man tell her that it didn’t matter if it were a pony or a horse since they’re the same thing. This mildly irked the little girl. Narrow-eyed the girl growled at the man,

“Listen mister, ponies and horses are different. Ponies are smaller and cuter and horses are bigger and smellier. There’s a difference.” the girl pouted childishly. After a second, and cooling off a bit, she turned her attention at the pony. “Hey, Pony, what’s a contract animal?” the girl asked. “And are you teaching at the Academy? I wanna be in a class where the teacher’s as cute as you? And can I pet you?” the girl asked in rapid succession. The excitement was still boiling in her blood, so much so as she had already forgotten about the man.

 

[Ryu Hime]

When you're communicating in code, sometimes you just have to hope that whoever you're talking to is smart enough to figure out what you're saying. Use a code that's too simple, and it will get broken. Use a code that's too complex, and you're just talking to yourself. In this case Ginjiro was being far too cryptic; simply drumming the fingers of his artificial limb meant nothing to her. However she did get the feeling that he want to ask her something, but was hesitant to say it out right. For Satsuki’s question, “Contract animals are creatures with intelligence and powers similar to a human’s, which in my case includes the ability the puppeteer.” Taili horn glows with a blinding light and in a bright flash and pink pony with a mane that looked like cotton candy appears beside her. “However this is what were are really known for; the ability to be summon. When a human signs the contract, he too will have this power to a degree.”


The summon equine was quite energetic as she bounces around the three, “Hi, I’m Pinku. Did someone offer a petting? I like to be petted. Can pet me too?” As Pinku was sure to distract Satsuki, Taili prepares a private talk with Ginjiro.

“Hey Pinku you got a bell on you?”

“Of course.” Pinku sticks a hoof into her mane and pulls out a silver bell, which Taili takes with her kinesis.

“Now I believe that the answer to your puppet needs lie within this bell, you just need to open your mind and let it happen.” Taili rings the bell and casts a mental kombat genjutsu. If Ginjiro didn’t resist the illusion, he would find himself in a library completely void of people except for him and… Gen Ryu? Well technically even though Taili was the personality in control it was still Gen Ryu casting the jutsu. However it is likely Ginjiro would find her sudden appearance surprising to say the least. Ryu was taller than Taili by a decent amount; she was no pony. Her appearance was a frightening form but Ryu found it to be quite elegant; it was the perfect form for an overlord. She was modeled after a Night-mare. Her form was made to look like what her creator theorizes to be the creature that inspired the nightmare genjutsu.

 

[Kazu]

That one girl seemed to still want to make it a point of wanting to correct Ginjiro. The young man couldn't really understand why she seemed to want to do this, but he had gotten to a point where he didn't really care all that much. If she wanted to call it a pony, then what the hell did it matter anyways? The puppeteer was more interested in what this telekinetic horse had to say anyways. Listening to the creature explaining the basics of contract summoning, Ginjiro maintained an expression of patient waiting. He knew this stuff. And while it seemed to amaze the girl, Ginjiro had no need for such knowledge. He was already well versed with it, having signed his Contract with the Kamis that existed outside the realm of humanity. Instead, he looked to see when the horse would shown any indication of recognizing his code. As the conversation seemed to progress, however, Ginjiro got the sense that only half of his meaning, if that much, was understood by the equestrian. As the purple horse summoned another horse, Ginjiro could already tell that he'd had enough of this other creature. Her energy was way too high, and even for Ginjiro it was starting to get annoying. He was so glad that she was summoned as more of a distraction for the younger girl than anything. Ginjiro wanted to get moving with this, and to have her constantly correct her as to the correct nature of the creature that spoke to them was frustrating, to say the least.

As the horse named Taili, which Ginjiro couldn't have known, spoke up again, she addressed the newly summoned creature who was, apparently, named 'Pinku'. Bit of an odd name, but whatever. The object being requested was a bell, but for what? Ginjiro wasn't quite sure yet. "What are you doing with tha-?" The young man didn't have time to finish his question, as he could feel a disturbance in his chakra flow immediately. The young man was not very good at casting Genjutsu, but throughout his whole life his clan had trained him to resist the techniques quite well. He could instantly recognize when he was placed under one, and could even feel the beginnings of one before it took hold of him. This, to the young man, was an immediate red flag. This creature hadn't answered the young man's question, asking for her name, and now she was putting him under a Genjutsu without asking him? He could see glimpses of a midnight black horse, but he couldn't make it out clearly. His mind was fighting desperately against the Genjutsu, which was interfering with whatever it was the purple horse had wanted to show him. Something was fishy here. The young man didn't like it. His chakra immediately spiked, indicating to his spiritual partner Riza that something was afoot. Outside of the Genjutsu, a figure began to form next to Ginjiro out of thin air. It was an ethereal, unexplained, kind of force. Out of this indistinct chakra, a woman began to form. She was a beautiful woman, fully grown in both height, beauty, skill, and bust size. She wore clothes that were rather ripped, though not obscene in any way—she was fully covered. On her head, she wore what appeared to be a skull, and across her nose she had an odd red marking. But what truly stood out about the woman was the anger and protective instinct she seemed to be displaying. She had put herself between Ginjiro and the other two, as she angrily stared them down with such ferociousness. Don't you dare touch Ginjiro-sama! I'll rip your heads off if you come any closer! The woman began to change. Her form was shifting, and you could see her demeanor shifting. Her body moved to stand on all fours, and soon she was of a much different form from how she was. She was now a wolf, almost formless except for wisps of smoke and fire. Her body shifted with a ghost-like appearance, letting out tufts of green fire that blazed with the force of her fury. She let out a howl, and instantly Ginjiro was snapped out of the Genjutsu he'd been under. Shaking the illusion off, the young man quickly realized the situation and readied himself into a defensive position.

"Thank you, Riza-chan." What the heck was up with these people? Were they actually spies sent to capture him? Was she working with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire? That kind of aggressive action, without his consent, was grounds for an all out fight. Ginjiro didn't like this situation at all. He was willing to fight his way out, if necessary, but he thought perhaps he should try to figure out way she was doing something like that to him. Surely if he could figure out his motive, he could figure out who she was working for. "What the hell was that for? You tried to put me under a Genjutsu without asking me. Are you trying to capture me? Who are you working for?"

 

[Satsuki]

[will post here later. sorry for the delay]

 

[Kazu]

[ooc]
Sorry, but this is taking way too long. I'm voiding my presence here, and leaving the topic. Sorry guys, but I want to move on. :/

 

[Satsuki]

[leaving topic as well, sorry just couldn't bring myself to write good content plus work is kinda holding me atm =/]

 

[Ryu Hime]

[It's alright. Happens to the best of us. Left topic with Inpc]