Midnight Rainfall (Open)

[Frozen]

The rain fell angrily on the roof tonight. Elsa found herself rolling out of her bed at an embassy somewhere in the water country. Where, she couldn’t be quite sure since the world had changed so much since the samurai took over. Although she had a lot more freedom than most, her status in the snow country demanded samurai escort as she made traveled and established trade connections.

The past 10 years had been kind to the snow country. Since it had a relatively small amount of livable arable land, the samurai hadn’t expressed much interest in invading and establishing rule. Or perhaps, they were just putting it off until the time was right. In any case, Elsa didn’t feel much different around samurai than she did around shinobi. They both had their mysterious arts, were cold killers, and ruled mercilessly. It was just a change in scenery.

Pulling out an umbrella and slipping into her boots, Elsa exited her room and nodded to the samurai standing guard. “I’d like to go outside,” she told the soldier, wishing he didn’t have to cover his face with that silly mask 24/7. The guard reluctantly sighed and led the way. Soon enough they arrived at the doors and started on their midnight journey down an old country road. Not ten minutes passed before a powerful gust of wind tore the frail umbrella from the princess’ hands. It was okay though, the cold never bothered her anyways.

[forbidden-one]

The rain had swept across the water country as if it were a fierce deity, the rain pelted down hard on anything and everything it’s molecules could touch. It was an unpleasant hour to be out in such weather, though dude to the samurai’s rule over the shinobi nations, the grueling work the slaves had to do had no end, really. There was one unfortunate soul on his route home after such a day, though it really didn’t bother him much, or at least you couldn’t tell that by looking at him. He had worn a black cloak to protect his head and body from the wet rain, though in reality he hadn’t needed to do such a thing, for he loved the rain. As he walked upon the road, he noticed that it was a muddy due to all the ran, and that was something he did mind.

But as he continued to adventure forth, he could sense others making their way through the mud coming from behind him-- though it had been ten years since he considered himself a shinobi, his ways had yet to go dull. He stopped and turned around to look and see who it was, his facial expression showed that of meekness and curiosity. He spotted a samurai, dressed in his or her usual attire, and someone else with them, a girl. A strong gust of wind had swept by, ruffling his cloak and rubbing the girl of her umbrella. Unfortunate as it was, there was nothing he could do about it, and surely by now, despite the rain, he was within view.

“This land is quite unforgiving, isn’t it?” He said loud enough for his voice to be carried over the sound of the rain, his body now turning to face them completely.

[Frozen]

The samurai had made a half-hearted attempt to grab the umbrella as it flew away, but it didn’t amount to much. He didn’t want to be out here anyways and maybe now they could go back inside. “Might I ask where we are going,” he would ask with as polite a tone as he could. Elsa was about to respond when another voice made its way through the heavy rainfall. Elsa turned her head and tried her best to pinpoint the sound’s origin. It took a few moments, but she eventually spotted someone in a black cloak, probably a night shift laborer if he was out this late.

The samurai had spotted the figure a lot faster and had drawn a spear that was clasped to his back. He stepped between the two and pointed his weapon menacingly at the cloaked man.
“Be on your way!” Elsa frowned at this and put a soft hand on the samurai’s back as she peered out towards the newcomer.

”That won’t be necessary,” she murmured just loud enough for the guard to hear before speaking loudly, “You’re telling me! I wish I had a coat like yours, we don’t get much rain where I’m from!” She would pause for a few moments as she thought of what to say next, then continued, “Would you mind accompanying us? I’m sure we could get you excused from work tomorrow if it inconveniences you.”

[forbidden-one]

His inklike hues carefully watched the samurai as he had gotten into his battle stance with his weapon drawn, though the young man was unmoved by the actions of the samurai, continuing to carry the same meek expression upon his face. It wouldn’t take long for the girl that was accompanying the samurai to step in, and put her dog back on its leash, otherwise he would have had to put the samurai in his place. And his place hadn’t been in the world of the living, sadly enough. The young woman spoke out to him, appearing to be far more endearing than her friend, which was nice.

Based off of what she had said, she must have been someone rather important to get him a day off of work. Or perhaps the young man had just been reading too much into it, regardless, it was a potential day off of work, and he wouldn’t let it pass him by so easily. “Accompanying you where? Though, I must say a day off of work doesn’t sound too bad either. These samurai really know how to oppress a brotha.” His eyes shifted from the girl to the scum next to her.

[Frozen]

The samurai be came visibly more tense by the second and nearly erupted into a blind fury when he was addressed. But no matter how much he wanted to tab the boy right through the neck, he dared not upset the special guest. What did he have to worry about anyways? He himself was a seasoned veteran and the princess' family was renowned for their ice abilities. The samurai lowered his weapon and stepped aside so the two could talk openly.

"I just wanted to pay a visit to a building not to far from here. It's a warehouse where we store a lot of shipments from my country. We're mysteriously losing product and I'm here to investigate what's been going on. I had planned on going tomorrow morning, but I couldn't sleep with all this rain." Elsa offered a smile and beckoned the boy to join her as she continued down the path. The samurai would give the two enough space to speak privately as he followed. He was more focused on picking up on any potential dangers than listening in on small talk.

If he joined, then Elsa would speak again, "My name is Elsa by the way. How have things been around here lately?"

[forbidden-one]

“Losing products, eh?” He said as he watched her and the samurai motion toward his way, the raining continuing to beat down upon them all as they weathered it. “If it gets me a day off of work, then I am up for it, miss. Please, use me as you see fit on this… rainy evening.” Once they reached him, he would continue down the path they were originally going, walking side by side with the girl. Initially she had given away the fact that she had been from a different country, but perhaps that should have been a dead giveaway from the start, since most people don’t usually carry around umbrellas here, even when it rained like this.

“Elsa-ya?” He said, before his meek expression vanished and his lips were charmed into a polite smile as the continued onward. “My name is Kijima, but usually everyone refers to me as Orca. And, as for how things have been-- I am sure your samurai friend could answer that himself, but he’d probably sugarcoat it. Here, in the Water Country, things have been quite depressing since the samurai viciously took over and started slaughtering women and children for the past ten years. Despite all of that, we still find the strength to smile, even to the samurai every day…”

[Frozen]

“I’m sorry to hear that Orca. It must be terrifying,” Elsa would say with a shudder as she thought about what Kijima just said. She wasn’t sure if he was over exaggerating or not, which was even more upsetting. Everyone was aware that the samurai had taken control by force, but so many different parties had presented the story in so many different ways that it was hard to get an accurate account on what had actually happened.

“Of course, we are told quite a different story. Not that many people where I’m from care either way. The samurai were very generous to us at first and helped us build the kingdom, but now we’re so reliant on trade that we can’t survive without their business. It’s become a worrying trend indeed.”

Soon enough, the trio would reach the warehouse where something was clearly off. The bodies of two guards laid at the front of the building which had wide open doors. Elsa’s escort reached the bodies in mere moments and verified that both had been knocked unconscious. “Leave them,” Elsa said with an authoritative tone, “we catch the perpetrators now. If they think the samurai have harsh punishments, I’d like to see how they react to watching their own blood freeze.” Elsa wasn't the carefree princess that she used to be; time had matured her and she now valued the well being of her country over her innocence.

[forbidden-one]

“It’s alright, it is our pain after all, and we will continue to endure.” Then he continued on after he had spoken again, “I believe that all the samurai should die, to be honest-- or at least endure the pain that they’ve made us accept.” Even though it had been a dreadful topic, the smile upon Kijima’s face had yet to disappear, as if he had known something that he hadn’t been sharing. It hadn’t merely been a polite smile anymore, but a surreptitious grin like a fox.

As the two and the dog advanced, it wouldn’t have been long until they arrived at their destination, where they would find the bodies of two samurai who had appeared to be unconscious. Unmoved, he watched as Elsa changed the aura around herself, becoming a bit more tense than she was before, ordering the samurai around like the dog he was. Perhaps she too wanted to work the young man like she did the samurai. “Perhaps I should lend a hand in your endeavors? I am sure if this was a recent attack on the warehouse, we could find tracks in the mud.”

[Frozen]

“As you wish,” the samurai said as he finally came to terms with what was about to go down. He truly hated how every command the princess gave was just rational enough for him to follow. If it weren’t for the chance at catching these notorious thieves then he would have outright refused. As he thought about it more and more, he realized that this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The guards hadn’t even been injured which meant that the enemy probably didn’t have any weapons, right? Plus they were simple commoners, not trained killers like he was. Drawing his spear, the samurai would step into the warehouse and turn on the dim lights.

Meanwhile, Elsa had been somewhat shaken out of her well hidden rage by what Orca had said. She had honestly not expected to find anything and just wanted the man to come along so she’d have someone interesting to talk to. Now they were in quite a pickle if the criminals were still in the area. If she got into trouble could she trust Orca? Surely his hatred for the samurai didn’t extend to their trading partners… right? She wanted to trust him but up close this guy’s persistent smile was a little too creepy to be completely genuine.

“You do have a point,” she would respond, “but I think you should decide to either go home or stay close to us. You’re not a soldier and I wouldn’t want you to get injured on my behalf. That being said, if you have any skills that would come in handy I would very much appreciate your assistance!” Her cheery demeanor was back as she finally calmed herself down. With a faint smile she proceeded into the warehouse…

Inside would be found… ice. Elegant ice statues that took hundreds of hours to sculpt, bricks made of ice, fancy ice cubes suspended in near-freezing water, entire arsenals of weapons made of ice, ice, ice, and more ice. Elsa knew exactly what was in here and it still made her knees tremble as she took careful steps and looked around for any signs of movement.

(u can throw in what happens next. sorry for leading so much haha)

[forbidden-one]

Kijima listened carefully to the woman’s plight, turning his head to look at her, with his smile now fading into obscurity. “Well, I have already come this far, Elsa-ya, I might as well see it through. Besides, I am really looking forward to that day off from work.” He had spoken with a light chuckle, teasingly speaking about the day off he had really been looking forward to. It is not that he hated work, but it is just that he hated being enslaved and forced to do someone else's work, surely she would feel the same if she had been in his shoes.

He followed suit right after her as she entered into the warehouse, the samurai had been ahead of us, looking for the attacker. Kijima stayed by Elsa’s side, just encase the attacker had been close by and would put her in immediate trouble. It was the least he could do for her, especially with what she was planning on doing for him. “Wow, I guess ice is really big with the samurai, eh?” He said as he looked around, being amazed by everything that had been sculpted.

“Though, not to be rude or anything, I don’t see the big deal with why someone would want something made of ice. Doesn’t seem so luxurious to me.”

[Frozen]

Elsa was somewhat relieved when Orca decided to stick around. If something happened to the samurai then she didn’t want to be all alone. Although she did become a bit flustered when he failed to realize how amazing ice was. She didn’t want to spend an hour going over the specifics, so she would just laugh and play it down. “Haha, you got me. For whatever reason they sure do order a lot of it!”

It wasn’t long before the trio reached the center of the warehouse where there was a rather large puddle that was getting bigger by the second. Had someone come in here just to melt the ice? That made almost no sense. The samurai stepped into the puddle and was instantly grasped by a pair of hands that seem to come out of the puddle itself. With one fluid motion, a human formed out of the water itself and hurled the samurai across the floor and into a large ice block.

Elsa was quick to react, using water from the puddle to form a caged cell around the water-man. This wasn’t very effective, however, since he just phased through it like some sort of freak of nature. “What the hell is this?” she would ask as she turned to Orca in utter bewilderment. She wouldn't even notice that there was another humanoid forming from the puddle; someone different from the first.

[forbidden-one]

Inklike hues continued to dance around the warehouse in an attempt to find any details that would stand out more than others. His eyes wouldn’t leave a trace within his view uncovered, noticing multiple signs of the ice melting just a bit, along with larger puddles of sculptures that have already melted-- like the one ahead of them. Kijima watched as the samurai stepped into the large puddle before them, off the bat thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea, especially with what country they were in. This was the Water Country, most of the inhabitants who had the ability to utilize Suiton had been very versed at it.

Hands would erupt viciously from the large puddle, taking the samurai and tossing him off and away toward a large ice structure. His careful eyes noticed Elsa quickly reacting, making a combination of hand signs that he had been familiar with, springing forth a water-based jutsu of her own. Of course, the young man had known it would be ineffective, and by the time the Elsa would see how powerless her Suiton techniques would be to the foe, Kijima would have wrapped a free arm around her waist, easily picking her up and taking to high ground upon the ice statues. With his current view of the area, he had noticed that there had been another who had been water-like, and would no doubt be after the girl, or perhaps the both of them.

Though he allowed her feet to touch the sculpture below her, he kept an arm around her waist. “We’re in quite the pickle, Elsa-ya. These guys appear to be from the Hōzuki clan, regular water-based techniques and weaponry won’t work on them, do you have anything else at your disposal?” He asked as he kept his visage down upon the attackers who had still been in pursuit of the duo.

[Frozen]

Elsa gave a mild shout of surprise as she was hoisted away to safety. When they finally came to a stop she would give Orca a nod of thanks as she tried to reorient herself. Oh how she wished her father were hear to deal with these hoodlums. He would freeze the entire warehouse solid and put these water-people in their place. Sadly, she herself was quite incompetent in using ice since she had only learned to do as a formality. That meant the only thing she had left was…
“I can use the wind release… how will that do?” she asked as she formed the handseals, not wanting to miss a beat.

Her seals would be performed literally as fast as humanly possible as a translucent sphere of air was sent hurtling down towards the men who leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the concussive blast. Within a blink of an eye, the samurai appeared out of nowhere and skewered one of the men with his spear. With a roar he slammed the body to the ground and removed the man’s hood revealing his appearance.
“I know your face. There is no escape for you now.”

Elsa’s attention had been focused so hard on what was happening that she didn’t see the second man heading straight for her and Orca. “Say, where did the other guy go,” she would ask. By then, the criminal would have already finished his handseals and started commanding several cubic meters of water to launch some sort of attack.

[forbidden-one]

“Wind Release? That wouldn’t be very effective either…” Though it had been too late, due to Elsa’s tenacious attitude toward stopping the attackers, she was quick to attack. That was good in some instances, it wouldn’t be so good during this one, sometime you had to think a little more about the situation, and Kijima was the right man to show her that. While Elsa’s wind-based attack had been easily avoidable by the attackers, they would then use this moment to scatter and attack us from different angles.

The samurai managed to raise back to his feet to catch one of them off guard before they had used their Hydration technique again, which was an extremely lucky break for the samurai. If it hadn’t worked, he could have set himself up for a fatal injury. The young man’s senses wasn’t dulled or overly occupied by one situation, he had always been conscious of the other attacker who wouldn’t let up on his assault. Whilst the attack had flung straight toward them with an attack incoming, Kijima had prepared himself to strike next. “My turn,” he was curt with his response, the free hand that he had would extend forth before Elsa and himself, and then became pliable as it launched forward toward the attacker and his technique that had been within our path¹.

Kijima’s hand had turned into water itself and rushed forward like a rushing waterfall stream as it expanded in size to be able to easily dwarf the attacker and catch and nullify if need be. The pressure and force of the hand would be enough to send the assault back crashing into the guard and enough to knock him unconscious, due to his inability to focus on the water-based attack and use the Hydration technique at the same time. “Hopefully it was only these two, we’d best act quick before he recovers.”

---

¹ Kusshin (Cushion) Mid per limb Low per limb,

[Frozen]

Elsa gasped involuntarily as she finally set her eyes on the assailant and realized that even her incredible casting speed wouldn't be able to save her from the massive glob of water that was rising into the air. As Orca put an arm in front of her, Elsa would step back and grasp his cloak tightly as she started to shake uncontrollably out of fear. This was clearly a woman that was incredibly uncomfortable in dangerous situations.

That was when the cloak went suddenly limp on one side making Elsa unsure of what exactly Orca was doing. Upon further inspection she discovered that he had turned his arm into water and had hit the assailant square in the chest! She didn't know what she was more surprised of, the fact that Orca could use ninjutsu or that he himself was a water creature. Regardless, she was thankful that things had worked out so well. The samurai was quick to make his way over to the downed man and pick him up by the throat. The samurai would then begin to beat the man repeatedly as he laughed, "when will you ninja learn that you're completely outclassed by us? I'm going to have fun with you!"

"Stop!" Elsa would yell with a shaky voice as she struggled to regain her composure.

"Shut up woman. You've been bossing me around all night but in the end you're no different than the rest of the ninja scum. Just let me finish up here and we can go back to the embassy."

Elsa had no idea what to do now other than just sit there and watch as the two unconscious criminals got beaten. What could she even do in this situation?