Voice in the Forest [Contract]

[Saotome Asami]

​

Asami had what was, in theory, a simple task on her hands. The city of Raimei no Seiko was having some issues with a bear or lion or wolf; the descriptions weren’t very consistent, but the overall message was clear. One of the heartland’s monsters had ventured into the city and was making itself a persistent, but seemingly harmless issue for its civilians. Her superiors seemed to think it was the perfect job for a junior shinobi. There was little to no chance of a fight, and she could be in and out of the area in two days, if she was quick about it. Oddly enough, the journey to and from her destination was predicted to be the most dangerous part of the job.

She’d heard stories about Cloud Country’s wilds. Who hadn’t? Even as a child, she’d been warned to stay away from Kumo’s forests, for the beasts within were all too happy for fresh and easy meat. Supposedly, a genin would have no problem fighting most of the Heartland’s predators, and would be able to flee from the worst of them, but she didn’t feel too convinced. For one, the never-ending overgrowth provided too much cover, and too many places for a creature to sneak up on her. She could’ve sworn she’d seen the same pair of eyes through the bushes on three separate occasions. The administration probably wasn’t aware of her skills – or lack thereof. She’d managed to learn a small arsenal of jutsu, but constantly avoiding classes meant that her actual combat skills were below par. Most creatures didn’t take well to fire, but landing the flames while avoiding injury herself would prove difficult. She would rather not try to test her skills against some wild freak of an animal. Besides, she’d already had to fight for her life in darkness once before. It’d been unpleasant, and she was in no rush to experience it again.

The sun’s rays poking through the mass of trees told that it was late afternoon, at best. Her destination was nowhere in sight, and while she felt fairly confident that she was going in the right direction, she didn’t want to risk spending a night in the wilds. Her survival training was basic, and more suited to the harsh snowstorms of the mountains than the lush grasslands that made up her environment. Again, a trial by fire wasn’t how she wanted to check her capabilities.

She could guess the time, but the forest around her stopped her from even guessing how far she had to go, much to her chagrin. On the other hand, none of its many, many creatures had tried their luck with her yet; as her research had suggested, most of the biggest creatures were either herbivores or unwilling to try their luck with a human. For the time being, it seemed that she would be safe as long as she kept to the path, in the loosest sense of the word. The trail was simply a section of flat land carved out by trampling travellers over the years, mostly covered on both sides by overgrowth. It was no surprise that she felt like she was on alert, keeping her eyes and ears open for any would-be attackers.

She continued on her path for a few more minutes before she decided to come to a halt. Her gaze moved to the trees above. It had been but a few months since she had started taking the shinobi life seriously, which made her all too aware of the skills it had granted her. At a mere glance she could map a journey, from her place to the ground to a branch a dozen metres up, and feel confident that she could make it up there. And so she did, bounding from ground to bark, using chakra control to give her a steadier footing before the next leap. Before long, she was barely above the thicket, but enough so to confirm her suspicions. The sun was low in the sky, and she couldn’t see any distinctive glimpses of silver in the distance. She was either hopelessly lost, or she still had quite a ways to go. She hopped down from the tree and picked up the pace, desperately hoping it was the latter.

***

Half an hour passed, with no end to her journey in sight. She traversed through an area where the grass barely grew over a foot tall, and the trees allowed for more rays of sunlight – a constant reminder of her deadline. It didn’t help when the path was interrupted, drawing her to a halt. Asami knew a shrine when she saw it, but what on earth was such a small one doing in the middle of the heartlands? “It doesn’t matter,” she whispered to herself. “Have to keep moving.” Her spirits were low, but her voice hinted at her resilience. She knew how much worse things would get if she gave in to despair, after all. She allowed her fingers to glide against the base of the shrine as she walked past, continuing to search for the metal city.

WC: 854​

 

[Suika]

​

Alone stood a quiet, deserted shrine in the Heartland of Kaminari no Kuni. As many dared not venture into the forest due to its bestial dangers, the once renowned altar felt the sting of seclusion. Many worshipers and caretakers of the forest passed, and their generational descendants cared not to upkeep their ancestors duties. As a result, here was the lone shrine, all but abandoned. Well, it was, until this fateful day. As Asami momentarily brushed along the forgotten shrine, it emitted a faint, green-hued glow as she went along. It grew brighter and brighter by the second. Whether she noticed it or not was up to her natural senses, but as sudden as it occurred, the bright light simply vanished. What was that?

If Asami were to investigate the shrine, she would not notice anything peculiar or significant about it at first. It was covered in moss, vines, dirt, leaves, and other remnants of the surrounding forest. In front of the alter, and if she were to investigate further, was a variation of odd symbols etched into it.

προστάτης του δάσους

What did it mean? If Asami was familiar with Ancient Kumo, she would recognize it as so. If she could interpret it, it'd simply read "Protector of Forest". It was a modest title. Perhaps this shrine was dedicated to some type of unremembered deity? Regardless, if Asami chose not to examine the shrine or could not interpret it, nothing supernatural or worthwhile would occur for a short period of time. The Heartland continued to play her fine tune as the animals of the forest and the wind composed a serene melody of sorts. Perhaps she was better off to be on her way? That was for the young Genin, Asami, to decide.

After time passed naturally, the girl would feel a small berry darting her way. Swoosh! Then she'd hear a giggle. Again, several more berries, all a different breed of fruit, were continuously thrown at her. They were small, but if landed, would stain the garments she wore. This was followed by an even more abrupt, loud giggle. The teasing voice didn't sound menacing or ominous in nature, but it was quite clear she was in the presence of some type of prankster. What would Asami do?

"She's so cute!" coo'd the Guardian as she swirled around the trees. "She will be my first follower in decades!"

(OOC: Stole your song because it's so cute and fitting for even this post! Now, let's have an amazing RP adventure :3)

 

[Saotome Asami]

The child caught the glimmer out of the corner of her eye. Her head whipped, but by the time she focused her sights on the shrine, the light had faded. She gave pause, staring at it. As far as she could tell, she’d found a relic of years gone by. Nobody had tended to it in generations, so there definitely wasn’t a light inside. Against her better judgement, she turned her body around to take a closer look. Her suspicions were confirmed by the words upon it – she knew Ancient Kumogakuran when she saw it, and its presence dated the shrine a fair bit.

It had to be a trick of the light, then. Yes, the lowering sun had peeked through the trees and bounced an emerald glow off an altar covered in matt materials. She was too clever to take comfort in that conclusion, but without any other, her best bet was to stick to the plan. So long as she kept going, she could keep herself out of trouble.

It sounded like a good idea that she, but didn’t account for the fact that she was already being followed. She’d barely left the clearing before the attack began. She ducked her head out of the way of… something small and deadly! Like a startled cat, she dashed several steps forward before turning to evaluate the situation. It had been but a harmless fruit, but from where? Her eyes darted around the place, searching for the foe, but instead she found a barrage of berries. Asami switched between dodging and defence; while the pellets couldn’t hurt, they could stain clothes that she’d taken great care of throughout her long journey! If the figure hoped to irk the child, soiling her appearance was a great way to do it. A quartet mess bombs made their mark on what had been a fairly clean jacket.

Her hand moved for her pocket, ready to draw her weapon, but she hesitated upon hearing the voice. A mysterious voice following her through a dense forest was both uncomfortable and concerning, but it hadn’t done or said anything that was outright hostile… Yet. Just annoying. She kept her hand hidden, glaring in the general direction of the voice. “Please stop!” She immediately admonished herself. Who politely requested for a potential enemy to give up? The girl switched to her brave face – a stern frown. “Enough. I’m not following you. I have somewhere to be, and I don’t want any trouble. If you try to start a fight…” The brief pause revealed her concern. “I am armed, and I will defend myself. So… Stop hiding, or go away, and don’t start trouble!”

[MFT]
[I'm looking forward to it! ]​

 

[Suika]

To their surprise, the girl was growingly increasingly more agitated with their antics. What? Did their new follower not enjoy their silly antics? In the past, children used to absolutely love playing a game of ‘throw-a-berry’. Truly, it appeared as times have changed. Sensitive to their new follower’s angered response, the creature revealed itself almost immediately. Well, that wasn’t too hard.

“No need to get your stem all twisted! Make like a tree and brush it off, worshipper!” Sprouting from the coverage of the surrounding plant-life, a small, plant-like sprite flew toward the girl with a confident and cheery expression. The creature was green, winged, and unlike most common wildlife in the area. She spoke, too, and did so without any fear of potential consequence. One could say the tiny being was naïve, and they would probably be correct with that assumption. More than anything, she was just full of herself. She was once revered as some type of god, after all. “It seems like you might have some place to be, worshipper! As your new deity, I, αιγόκλημα , will accompany thee…” She paused for a second. The being, now introduced as whatever it dubbed herself, was now visibly lost in thought as she gazed toward the sky. Worshipper was a good enough title, but what was her follower’s name? Any entity that was somebody had to know their worshippers intimately! If she wanted to be a god of the present time, she had to rack up the pollen points with this girl!

Slightly changing her tune, she approached the young kunoichi more sweetly. “I’m sorry, dearest follower, for staining your clothes. What ever is your precious name?” The small plant fairy grinned cheesily. This was now time to earn the faith and trust of her follower. She would not fail!

[OOC: The Ancient Kumo translation is “honeysuckle”]

 

[Saotome Asami]

‘How does something with a head that big and a body that small stay balanced? …More importantly, what the hell is that thing?’ Asami was fresh blood in the shinobi world. She’d seen all kinds of humanoid oddities, and a few strange beasts, but the thing before her was neither. There was no creature she could liken the thing to – no frame of reference for what she was seeing. Its mere presence had bamboozled her, and it showed on her face.

“Er… What?” She attempted to blink away the confusion and regather herself. The creature (‘How do I even start to pronounce that? Ai- Aikoghi-’) wasn’t hostile, at least. Friendly, even. Childish, but friendly. She slowly removed her hand from her pocket, keeping herself unarmed for the time being. The plant pixie’s odd insistence that it was her god now prompted her to quirk an eyebrow. If she hadn’t been fighting off a cautious feeling, she might have even laughed. As it was, however, they were still in a potentially dangerous forest. Half of her wanted to walk and talk, but she would give an intelligent creature the respect it deserved by stopping. For that moment, anyway.

“It’s alright.” It wasn’t, but she put on a small smile anyway. How was she going to make a good impression on the city dwellers with so many stains? “I’m not a worshipper, though. I’m a shinobi. Asami of Kumogakure.” She pulled up one of her cardigan’s sleeves. Tied around her bare arm was a metal plate on a cloth. It made for fairly terrible armour, and an awkward accessory to wear, but somehow the forehead protector had become the sign of shinobi everywhere. “I need to get to the metal city, Raimei no Seika, as soon as possible. Before it turns dark. I don’t really want to have to fight my way out of a forest in darkness. Do you know if I’m heading in the right direction?”

 

[Suika]

As the young girl spoke of her status as a shinobi and not, in fact, a worshiper, the plant fairy's expression slanted into one of subtle disappointment. This didn’t make sense to her; was she not summoned purposefully here by a faithful devotee? Crossing her arms, she blinked curiously as she listened to the rest of the youth’s spiel. As she knew nothing about anything beyond her sanctuary and the surrounding forestry, the fluttering being shrugged its petite shoulders. “Raimei no Seika? Never heard of it, follower-” It stopped itself. Placing its tiny hands on its chin, she posed a simple question (or three).

“If you’re not one of my worshipers, then why did you call me out here, Asami of Kumogakure? Are you not here to shower me with praise? Fellowship with me? Or, perhaps, the forest is in some type of danger?” The look of complete puzzlement was painted on the small being’s face. Anytime it was summoned in the past, it was for most those reasons and more. There had to be a purpose as to why her presence was needed once again. There must have been, right?

“Anyway, it seems you’re having trouble pronouncing my name. Call me Kiku, after my favorite flower.” The hovering sprite beamed a smile. “I am not sure of the location of this ‘metal city’, but I can sure accompany you as an extra measure of safety! It’s the least I can do after I soiled your style.” Her gesture was meaningful and sincere. Although Kiku was definitely pressing her nose into matters that didn’t concern her, she was a benevolent deity, or so she thought of herself. If Asami was not a follower at this moment, she sure hoped she’d gain her favor by the end of this expedition.

And, so, if Asami allowed, Kiku would follow her into the forest and to Raimei no Seika. Little did either know, their path would be met with darker turns, devastating twist and, eventually, a conspiracy that could threaten the Heartlands of Kaminari no Kuni.

[OOC: Feel free RPing your chosen path/anything Asami notices and/or observes. But be wary - the forest is full of mysteries and dangers!]

 

[Saotome Asami]

The forest fairy meant well enough, Asami realised. She visibly relaxed a little as she listened, even if she wasn’t hearing good news. If the being had no idea what the city was, it meant the creature rarely ventured from her home – or that Asami was very far off course. She wanted to doubt it was the latter, but the brief frown on her face told a different story. The questions the ‘deity’ had for her only added to the confusion; before long, they had matching expressions. “I didn’t call you. As far as I know, anyway… I’ve been passing through the area, that’s all. It doesn’t look like there’s any trouble here, either. I mean, I’ve always been told the Heartlands can be dangerous. Not dangerous enough to stop one child from walking through, but still risky.”

Something else must have been up – it was either that, or assume that there was something working behind the scenes. Either way, she couldn’t stop for long. The sun wouldn’t wait for them to figure it out. ‘Kiku’ might have read her mind – or she might have been used to natives that had long forgotten the old tongue. Hopefully, she was just being paranoid when there was no need to. After all, the creature was big-headed (in more ways than one), but she seemed interested in helping out. How could she say no to that? “Well… You’re definitely the friendliest creature I’ve seen in a while. I’m hoping I don’t run in to any trouble, and I should be able to keep attackers away if they come, but the company would be nice.” If nothing else, a companion might put her nerves at ease.

She beckoned for Kiku to follow and continued down the path. The trees were rising up to hide the sky, each one they passed a little taller than the last. It was no surprise that she’d felt a little cautious after a few hours with her own thoughts. The animals hiding amongst the plants mostly ignored her, but the occasional bird’s shrill or the rustling or a rodent searching a bush left her feeling jumpier than she should have been. It wasn’t long before she started asking questions. Many questions.

“So… You say you’re a deity?” ‘Sprite’ might have been more accurate, but was she really going to argue with her only friend? “Deity of… what? You make it sound like you’re used to having people worship you, but nobody lives out here… right? And even if they did, could they see you? I mean, obviously I can see you, but I see lots of things that normal people don’t. Either that or I went crazy a while ago… Sure feels like it sometimes.” She paused, bearing a faint frown as she stepped over a tree root crossing the path.

“Anyway. I’ve never seen anything that looks like you before. Do you… have a family here? Do you worship each other?” She barely slowed her pace as she watched a bush on her right. That was the fourth time she’d thought she’d seen something in them, but the low light made it hard to be sure if her mind was acting up. “Don’t you get worried? I’ve heard there are big beasts hiding in the Heartlands. Most are herbivores, and some are nocturnal, but some are apparently big enough to eat a person whole if they decide they don’t like you.” As if on cue, a sound best described as a giant’s empty stomach rumbling echoed past them. She paused mid-step, a flash of alarm in her eyes, before she switched to a brisk pace.

 

[Suika]

“Of course I’m friendly, Asami of Kumogakure. And benevolent as well! If you run into trouble, I can lend a vine to ya for sure!”

As Asami explained herself further and began shedding her thoughts, the tiny green sprite attempted to hold in an amused grin. So many questions – what a curious young mind! Being the self-proclaimed deity that she was, Kiku did not mind answering her future follower’s questions. After all, what worshipper did not want to know their goddess more? And Asami was so cute to boot! She was a very pretty girl, albeit with a serious a face at times, but that made her all the more cool. Kiku was pleased that such a person revived her from her slumber.

With a cutesy giggle, the sprite fluttered around the girl. “I am the deity that protects this forest, Asami-chan! And I have many followers. They are all…” Kiku paused. Placing her small finger on her chin, she glanced upward as she entered contemplative thought. “Well, I am sure they are all fine now! It’s only been over 100 years! That’s like, what, the equivalence to 15 years for a human? Maybe I’ll meet up with them sometime later.” The plant sprite beamed a satisfied smile. She was more than half-serious with her convoluted sense of time and how humans related to it, but part of her knew that it was not true. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

“I do have a family, Asami-chan! I’m the only one of my kind that looks like me, but there are others-” Kiku’s attention was directed to a bush on their right. Was something there? She shook her big head. “Me, scared? Ha! I am a guardian deity for a reason, Asami-chan! I laugh at danger.” She placed her arms at her petite hips and bellowed a laugh. Ironically enough, the next string of occurrences happened almost on cue.

Out from the bushes popped out a large spotted cat. Its size was grand – it clearly was bigger than Asami and Kiku combined, then double that. It bared long, piercing fangs with feral, bloodlusting eyes that were directed at the two before them. Kiku squeaked and fluttered behind Asami. She was hopeless.

“Asami-chan, help!”

The cat lunged out at them. What would Asami do?