holonymy [o]

[Ahraga.]

[FRAGMENT]

What?

"Oh. Well. This is gonna hurt like hell."

She says, pointing out the swirling black gateway that has ruptured suddenly before them. Her eyes mimic this same twisting convergence of force caught in the full bloom of immortal eyes. She speaks matter of factly, her head cocked to the side.

"The way I see it, it's like a complex species of slug that exists in and between both realms. One end exists here, while the digestive process forcibly excretes out the other end and into the human world. This..."

She says, opening her hands wide.

"...is the mouth."

She narrows her gaze and moves to indicate shifting interruptions of static, lightning storms, dotting the inner shell of the vortex. They are arranged almost like kanji, but of a type he can gather no meaning from.

"Old Snake Summons proverb my grandmother used to tell us; 'All Mouths Have Teeth'.

"Maybe you go in there and you're fine on the other end. Or maybe you get chewed up into little pieces by some horny monks mystic god-wards and come out on the other side as a rock lizard. I know that Pa Shoko says this is the only way you can return to your world but...this is dangerous Ahraga. You could age to be 500 years old, or go insane.

"I think you could even die."

She bites her lip and looks down, trying to hide her concern.

I think...

He says, his hand rising to gently touch Yuri's chin.

I think...you talk too much for a woman.

He finishes, sharpened claws tracing the outline of her mouth, his own curving into a small sarcastic smile.

"Then you think too much for a man."

She says in reply, knowing as she leans closer to the only living being that she has ever loved, that there is absolutely nothing she can do to stop him from leaving.

[Ahraga.]

He wakes, suddenly disturbed. In the shadow of mile high mountains that wind up into nothing gushing water and mesas overlooking fields of dim rock. His eyes are fatigue heavy but wide, crimson red beneath a cold glance of sun that throws his surroundings into unsettling light. Standing, his legs shake free of past confinement and twitch in time, walking and searching. He is on a road leading somewhere colder than his mood. His feet skip loudly along the surface of the earths bones and mark brittle treads through herbs matted like inch-thick ash. He wanders for what seems like hours, and without obligation to time or purpose, his mind clears of the disturbing sleep images, and his stride spreads echoes along the crag.


High, higher, higher still. He climbs an angle of overun land until the air is too pure to breathe. His memories are of home, true home, where multicolored stones bleed their discoloration and populate a lurid mephitis of steam to radiate like stars in the void but he does not know why he remembers this. He stares ahead, driven by senseless compulsion. The urgency of his passage disturbs lesser creatures shivering amongst their own. If he is careful, he knows he can follow the approaching coils of harsh rock and trail the scorched mineral skein deep underground. Deeper into the 'new' village, further and further and beyond.

Past monuments of precious gemstone rigid, squat deities of metal untouched by man from fear of the forms they convey. He moves between rows of half-finished statues carved like demons and beasts from the wild. He will not be deterred. Soon. Soon to arrive and to know and to be complete.

Where am i going? he thinks with wild panic. Why do I feel like I know the way?

He has never been to Takigakure No Sato before this day, or if he has, it too is a memory lost with all the others. There are few other stragglers pacing the gnarled lush, damp rats scraping at the sterile serenity of each empty restored building. Something foul dampens knee level fog spreading away from the sounds of a pinched sea crashing between pillars of earth. His head feels heavy with the noise of nature. Congested. Fit to burst and reeling, tired. He moves impatiently, like one possessed, looking for something to look for yet finding only the abyssmal quiet of abandoned tors cutting maze walls where they rise. If he knew where even one other thing was, he would be lost, but as a stranger...he is simply alone.

[Ahraga.]

Ahraga entered the eroded wooden double-doors, and ducked suddenly as two kunai embedded themselves near the half-rusted hinges behind him. His eyes narrowed as he looked on a small shocked young girl, not even a preteen, her hair a long brown mop and her eyes clear and pale violet and defiant. She ran suddenly while mumbling "jerk face..." and ran out of the back of the building, her feet barely scuffing the wood as Ahraga watched in confusion. He sniffed at the air for a few minutes while the sound of her footsteps faded in the wind, before reaching out suddenly, his right hand closing around what appeared to be solid air. Soon a muffled grunt of panic shook the nothingness with a visible heat shimmer and the girl appeared suddenly within Ahraga's grasp, her deception uncovered.

"Not as...dumb...as you....look..."

She spat as her feet kicked out, arms waving sporadically, trying to dig her nails into his resistance flesh. Ahraga had no choice, he couldn't control himself.

He laughed, loudly, dropping her and shaking his head.

Control your anger young one, I mean you no harm. I am...Kishin. What are you doing here alone? Where are your parents?

She stared at him crossly for a second or two, still coughing, before nodding slightly, her head cocked to the side just like Yuri's.

"You talk funny shark man. I'm Hitori. Parents are dead. I'm here 'cause...well, I live here. Where the hell else should I be?"

She spoke as if much older than she appeared, and Ahraga felt compelled to ask

How old are you, Hitori?
"Seven and three quarters, Shark Man. Your name's too hard to say, so I'm gonna call you Shark Man. So now the question is...um...why'd you bust up into my house destroying stuff?"
I have destroyed nothing. And you attacked me unprovoked.
"Totally didn't. How about I send a big Whale Man to walk through some lake you're bathing in and we'll see how you react! And look at the door! Those hinges aren't gonna fix themselves, and I think I threw those kunai so hard that I chipped their edges. You gonna pay for that, Shark Man?"

Ahraga felt something peculiar from the girl, some familiarity he couldn't quite place his finger on. He ignored her question and walked closer to her, leaning down to bring his face down to hers.

"You're super ugly Shark Man, you know that?"
And you are very brave, to speak in such a manner to a 'super ugly Shark Man' that hasn't eaten breakfast yet.

Hitori looked at him and squinted, her mouth turning up into a challenging smirk. She backed quickly into a combat stance, removing a small ninjato from her side and holding a kunai between the clenched fist of her other hand, grinding her foot slightly against the wood grain floors.

You wish for battle? Braver and braver still, I see. Stay your blade Hitori. I will not fight a child.
"Good. That way you won't lose to one.
I have been a warrior for longer than you have been alive.
"And you'd still lose to a child? Wow, I think that's kinda sad Shark Man.


She frustrated him in the way that only small smart-mouthed children can, though he was also highly amused by her attitude and encouraged by the spirit she showed in addressing him so plainly, and almost without thinking about it, he blurted out with a slightly sarcastic grin

I think little girl's shouldn't talk so much, Hitori.
"That's because big monsters shouldn't think so much, Shark Man."
- - - !


Ahraga gasped, eyes widening, floating on the faintest edges of a memory, and something once locked away in the recesses of his mind, opened.

[Iizuka]

"When you're done exchanging banter, we have a mission to do."

I leaned against the broken remains of the doorway, looking in on the hulk that was before me. It only occurred to me after speaking that I should watch my words carefully - a single punch from this guy would likely shatter all my bones. He was massive, both in height and in muscle mass. I couldn't imagine the type of physical training that this man had undergone to reach such a phase, but then there was also his peculiar appearance, one that denoted that this was not exactly natural, or perhaps too perfectly natural.

His skin, although devoid of any color that would otherwise indicate it as strange, had an odd appearance to it. It seemed that the texture itself was not the same as that of normal human skin, but from where I was I couldn't clearly discern this. His hair was a shade of red that was abnormal to anyone, really, and upon his gargantuan arms there were tattoos scattered across. I truly had no idea what to make of this beast. I found it hard to believe he was to be my teammate.

I stepped forward, moving into the room as I brought a finger to the headband tied around my left arm. Upon the metal block there would be the insignia that all ninja of the village bore. A single waterfall showed my allegiance, and I hoped that my words had not angered him to the point of hostility, even against his own brethren - if I could even be called such. I stopped approximately two meters away, giving a sly smirk as I introduced myself.

"Iizuka. Pleasure to meet you... Partner."

My smirk would then turn to a nervous grin, for up close the size of the man - no, monster - would become even more apparent. I would chuckle nervously before I spoke again.

"Didn't mean to interrupt, but orders are orders, and our orders are to finish our patrol."

[Ahraga.]

"When you're done exchanging banter, we have a mission to do."

Ahraga turned to the sounds of conversation, muscles tensed for the briefest of seconds, as he took in the dark haired man who'd approached silently from outside the dojo doors. He looked down at Hitori and held up a finger to indicate she should wait while he attended to the business at hand, and bowed slightly in the newcomer's direction, noting his takigakure headband. It seemed whoever now led the village had assigned him a partner, and almost as if on cue, the man introduced himself.

"Iizuka. Pleasure to meet you... Partner."
Well met. I am called Kishin.

He said, offering up the human-made moniker without hesitation before speaking to the young girl.

You are strange, but interesting, and quite possibly too intelligent for your own good. You should stay here and keep yourself out of trouble. I will return later to make sure someone of quicker temper has not slain you for your...unique charm.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me Shark Man. Go look for fish or whatever it is you non-people do. I got training anyway."

She said it almost as if she might miss Ahraga's presence but didn't want to admit it, and he shook his head slightly as his new partner spoke up again.

"Didn't mean to interrupt, but orders are orders, and our orders are to finish our patrol."
You did not interrupt. I'm ready to leave whenever you are.

Without waiting for the man to follow, he walked past him, out of the dilapidated doors of the training facility, away from the outcropping of stone that hid view of it from the main road, and out towards the more interesting part of Takigakure No Sato, assuming the man would follow.

I have officially been a shinobi of this village for less than a week, so I'm not quite sure where we should begin...or....where anything in the village is in order to 'patrol' it. Any suggestions on where we should start?

He called back after a few moments.

SPOILER: Click to show

_{VILLAGE PATROL DUTY
RANK: C
DESCRIPTION: "NOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN REBORN ONTO THE WORLD ONCE MORE, THE EYE OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE ABLE TO - AND SHALL - PENETRATE THE HOME WE ONE REVERED AS INVISBLE TO THE WORLD. BUT FEAR NOT, FOR WE ARE NOT BRED WEAK. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US COME FROM THE FALLS, FOR WE ARE THE BROTHERHOOD! WE ARE, IN ESSENCE, SAFE IN EACH OTHER'S HANDS; SHOULD PERIL COME FORTH WHILE SCOUTING, A TRUE WARRIOR OF WATERFALL WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO. JUST MAKE SURE TO KEEP THE STREETS OF TAKI SAFE."
RESTRICTIONS: UNLIMITED / 1+ GENIN
REWARDS: 50 EXP / 1,000 RYOU}

[Iizuka]

To my surprise this hulking beast was, apparently, a gentle giant. He laid the girl back down, exchanging once more a few words before turning to myself. As he walked towards me I moved off of the wall that I was leaning on, crossing my arms as I looked up to him. "You know, it's harder to find you than you'd think." Snickering lightly, I'd follow suit as the man, now known to me as Kishin, walked out the door. We descended into the village, and so the mission would begin.

"I have officially been a shinobi of this village for less than a week, so I'm not quite sure where we should begin...or....where anything in the village is in order to 'patrol' it. Any suggestions on where we should start?"

My brow raised at this notion. I was with, quite literally, a rookie, at least to our ranks. He towered over me, so not only had I raised my brow but I had to look almost directly up to catch sight of his face. Again, I had to laugh, not only at the ridiculousness of the situation but at his time in the village.

"I wouldn't know much more. You see, this is the first time I've been to the village in over seven years!"

Previously I had been hopeless, lost and confused out in the world. I had had no place to call home, no place to return to. But now I had returned, led here by a stranger, a person whose name I had realized I never learned. It was oddly simple associating with others once more. I thought that the art of making friends would have long been lost to me. Then again, I never thought I'd have the chance to meet with another Takigakure ninja.

"I think our best bet is to just walk around - the action will come to us."

As we continued down the path, I wondered what our wanderings would actually bring to us. The village seemed to be in pristine condition, despite the war that had passed only years earlier. Reconstruction did not simply happen overnight, so this was indeed cause for concern, yet I couldn't trouble myself with such thoughts now. I focused only on fulfilling the mission, on serving my country. And in the meantime, I'd try for some small talk.

"So, what brings you 'round here?"