A bright column of light shined through the darkness of the night, getting Kaori's attention. The sounds of booming and crashing of buildings and the screams of the locals were heard clearly, carrying on the wind. Kaori picked up her belongings and ran across the ground, from tree-to-tree and over buildings until she found herself in a medium sized city that was on fire. The buildings were turned to rubble and the sky-line was set ablaze. A mighty roar could be heard within the city, having it's roar resonate through the air and reverberate through the cramped city streets. A monster of tremendous proportions, dwarfing the towering buildings, stomped it's foot down, crushing a house with relative ease. 
It was a beast of tremendous power with a well-defined body, imposing stature, and glowing red eyes. This creature bore horns similar to what Kaori used to have, making Kaori believe that she, too, was still a monster; regardless of any advancements she had made to believe the contrary. Once the creature saw Kaori, it stopped and stared at her. The event was strange with everything growing silent; it was, as if, time stood still in the moment the creature with the glowing red eyes looked over the Dragon Priestess. Words could be heard in Kaori's ears seemingly from the creature itself.
Help me, Priestess. Save me from this bondage and let me rest in peace.
The voice shouted at her in a deep and commanding voice. Kaori raised a hand up to her head and looked up at the creature. It's voice sounded like it was in pain and that it didn't want to do any of this. Before Kaori had a chance to respond, time seemed to have returned to normal as a woman with beautifully flowing white hair, clad in a deep blue armor could be seen appearing to stand upon the head of the megalithic creature who called out to her.
The woman smiled, swinging blood off of her long blade, splashing it upon the massive creature's body. The spirits of those who were slain here started to plague her vision with glowing apparitions now wandering aimlessly throughout the city. Kaori grit her teeth upon seeing this and pointed up to the silver-haired woman. "What are you doing!? Why are you killing so many innocent people?" she asked before the woman jumped off of the massive monster and slowly floated to the ground. Her feet touched the ground gently, as if supported by a cushion of air. She swiped her sword across the air, causing air pressure to blow Kaori's hair back, severing the bindings upon her hair and letting her long black hair flow loosely in the wind created by this woman.
"Why else would I do this? To summon you, of course, Tenkawa Kaori!" the woman shouted as her voice started to cause buildings to crumble behind Kaori.
"But why? What have I done to you?" Kaori shouted out.
"Muraki," the woman said in a somber tone. Just hearing the word caused Kaori to recoil for a moment. What happened in Muraki, when Kaori first started going around the world in search for the Dragon Statues, was something she didn't want to relive. She made a mistake in the town of Muraki which caused the lives of almost everyone in the village, nearly wiping the village off of the map. While there were a few survivors, she couldn't get over the mistake she made there. She wasn't able to stop the demon's self-destructive behavior and thus, she failed to save the village. Certainly, the ends justified the means, but the cost was far greater than she anticipated. It was this event that caused Kaori to never kill another villager victimized by those demons. If she could help it, she would try to help the villagers from their bondage unscathed.
"I-I'm sorry! I couldn't stop the demon from destroying Muraki! I was weak then and I--" she said before she was inevitably cut-off by the woman in the blue armor.
"Sorry won't bring Yohei back! Sorry won't bring Kanna back! Sorry won't bring back my mother and father! Sorry won't bring back my village that you destroyed!"
A memory started to flood into Kaori's brain of a meager-looking silver-haired girl holding the remains of a young boy named Yohei; this woman's younger brother. Kaori's body started to shake on it's own with tears falling from her face. "Then hurt me! Don't bring upon the same calamity that I did to Muraki to this village. Stop this non-sense," she shouted before another voice rang in her head.
Stop her, please! I don't want to see her like this!
Kaori grit her teeth. She bowed her head down as her shaking from grief and regret turned to anger. She put the pieces together and balled her hands into a fist. "I'm sorry for what happened in Muraki, but you turning your brother into this monster is a defiance against the gods and nature. I could have delivered him across the river if you needed me to. You didn't have to turn him into something like this!" she said before looking up towards the woman with anger in her eyes.
The blue-clad woman laughed and spat on the ground. "You don't think that he wanted revenge? Seeing our parents die and his little girlfriend die in his arms as the demon vaporized EVERYONE! Enough talk, I'll kill you and everyone here! We will rebuild Muraki with this land and the souls we will harvest!" she said as she whistled to the monster, causing it to attack buildings and begin to devour the terrified people of this town.
I don't want to hurt these people, Priestess. What happened wasn't your fault! Let me help you stop her madness, the creature said before time came to a complete stop once again. The spirit of a young boy could be seen appearing from the creature, shattering into a million pieces before being completely absorbed into Kaori's body. She felt power surge through her body. After this happened, time seemed to resume with the creature that once held Yohei's soul falling over. It was an empty husk at this point.
The silver-haired woman's eyes widened; she was stupified at what she just witnessed. "Yohei? Wake up, Yohei! It's me, your sister, Kachi!" she said as she ran over to the fallen creature, caressing it's face with her hands. Coming to a realization, the woman stood up and pointed her blade at Kaori. "You did this, didn't you, witch!? How many times will you take away my dear-sweet Yohei from me?!" she asked before lashing out towards Kaori. She quickly activated her Byakkugan and summoned the Divine Shield, blocking the hits from the woman's sword, causing the blade to bounce off and slide across the curvature of the shield, hitting nothing. She swung her blade frantically and without much thought. Anger and raged blinded her from attacking with any thought.
The woman swung at Kaori once more, with Kaori bringing up her shield to block the blow once more. A strange blue steam could be seen by Kaori, evaporating off of the one named Kachi. Her chakra was starting to hemorrhage, draining her more than usual. Dropping the Divine Shield, Kaori formed together a quick set of handseals before a 3-headed serpent of water went rushing out towards Kachi. What was strange with this was that the triple serpents were glowing a green color. As the serpents smashed into Kachi, they didn't cause her to bounce backwards, but instantly absorb into her body and caused some kind of internal damage. After a brief moment, Kachi dropped to her knees and started to cry.
Kaori approached her while keeping a wide berth. Kachi still had her sword on her. "Let's go to Muraki and send them off properly. There is nothing left to do here. I'm sure Yohei would like that," she said as the woman wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded to her.
The two traveled out of Tea Country and back into an undisclosed country until they reached the remnants of the town of Muraki. Walking through the rubble, her mistake began to creep up on her. There were several make-shift graves; mounds with fresh dirt thrown upon them. Kaori looked on at the mounds with sorrow written upon her face and takes a deep breath. Kachi sat back and watched as Kaori closed her eyes and began to sing.
As Kaori sang her song, she saw the spirits of all of the people put to rest, within the town of Muraki, begin to rise from their graves. All she saw were smiles upon their faces as they rose up with some even bowing to Kaori. Tears came down Kaori's cheeks as she continued to sing. While they were dead, they got to die as their true selves and not as brainwashed drones of the dragon statue. Kachi lets out a pained cry. She was able to see the spirits rise up as well. She shouted, having her voice drown Kaori's singing, saying, "I miss all of you! I miss you all so damn much! Please forgive me for what I have done! I'm so sorry!" she shouted out, throwing her face into the rubble and bawling her eyes out.The only spirit of the dead that didn't rise was the spirit of the child, Yohei, that she had within her. Kachi looked around at the spirits during Kaori's song. "Yohei!? Yohei! Where's Yohei?" she shouted out as Kaori finished her song. Kachi grabbed Kaori by the shoulders and shook her. "Where's Yohei? You did the sending so where is my little brother?" she shouted out in Kaori's face. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Kaori stepped back (away from Kachi) and placed a hand over her heart.
"Your brother, Yohei, loved you very much. His spirit reached out to me. He wasn't happy with how you reacted, letting grief take you over. Your grief turned you into a monster. Yohei gave me his soul, willingly, to stop you and bring some sense into you," Kaori said. She couldn't manifest any part of Yohei's soul as it completely merged with her own.
"Willingly? Because of what I've done?" Kachi said as she stepped back, baffled by what she just heard. She began to self-reflect on the things that she had done in that town and her own grief started to manifest itself. "What have I done? I did something inexcusable! I killed so many people! Yohei wouldn't have wanted that!" Kachi said as she pulled out her sword and attempted to thrust it into her chest before Kaori quickly summoned the Divine Shield and blocked the blade.
"Instead of killing yourself, repent for your sins. Let the people of that town decide what to do to you. Explain your part of the story and help them rebuild. If you want to die so much, then let them be the one to kill you if that is what they desire. That is what Yohei would want," she said before walking away from Kachi. The woman sat up and let out a howling cry.
Some people are bound by their past and some people can't seem to let go. Kaori was just like this girl; wanting vengeance for people that wronged her. Due to her inability to protect the people of Muraki, many people died or lost their homes. It was because of the incident at Muraki is why she refuses to kill those brainwashed by the statue. It is her vow to never kill someone affected by the demons' allure is her repentance for her weakness at Muraki.
MFT
Application for Chakra Attuned
Wc: 1943