Boiling Water [Travel]

[Deacan]

/enter (From Land of Water to Land of Fire)
He finally made it out of the mist, the gates vanishing behind him as he entered the forest. There were layers of natural barriers from the gate, and Deacan was used to them by now. He went to an outter village of the land of water, hiring a boat. It wouldn't take him the entire way, but it would get him to the borders at the least. He could have taken the bridges, but the water was a quicker and more secure route, especially to a skilled oarsmen, even if his singing got annoying halfway through the ocean.

After he got off the boat, he had determined that, when he went home, he was taking the bridge. The bridge was much less safe, but at least Deacan wouldn't have to worry about singing the entire time. This land was much different than the land of water. Instead of rivers of water, there were rivers of leaves covering the ground and trees everywhere. It was a verdant land that seemed quite nice, but that wasn't why Deacan was here. He kept his pace up and ran to the nearest city.

[adero]

Moved to Fire

[Katsumaru]

Jiyuu soared through the skies, the wings of the Shikigami carrying his lithe, muscles figures through the azure sea. He was the Hokage, but his appearance was concealed this day – the armor of the ANBU covered his body, hiding skin, healed wounds, and the clothing beneath. Upon his face was a mask, its white material covered in red ink which drew an image – delicately drawn to imitate a bear. Drawn only with lines, the image appeared almost a caricature, not truly recognizable despite the creators of the mask crafting it into a shape representing the animals after which it had been designed.

Beneath him Jiyuu spotted a man – nay, a boy. Descending rapidly he landed before the child, standing fully straightened and hands hanging at the side. ”What brings you to these lands.” he grumbled, tone, deep and low.

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[Deacan]

Deacan had finally made it to the Land of Fire. It wasn't a terribly long trip from the Land of Water, but it was about as far away from home as he had been and he wasn't used to it. He was heading towards the capital of the Land of Fire, trying to find someplace out of his village that he could practice medical techniques. It was fine to use them in his village, but he had used the techniques so much there that they had become more of a pattern instead of an "on the move" kind of learning experience. He was prepared how to use Iryou there, since he did it almost daily. In a new land, with new people, he could practice for weeks without even worrying about starting to repeat operations.

A small sheet of paper fell from the sky and, almost instantly, a man appeared in front of Deacan. It was an ANBU from the looks of it, wanting to know what Deacan was doing. Thankfully, Deacan didn't parade around with his head-band on, especially not in a foreign land. He knew that the ANBU wasn't sent to find and kill him, otherwise they wouldn't have shown themselves to him.
"I am a traveling medic. I left my town to study medical jutsu in different lands. I am looking for any new diseases or complications of the body to try and learn about. And what is an ANBU doing clear out here? Aren't they supposed to stay near their villages?"
Deacan acted blissfully ignorant, as if he didn't know what an ANBU's real job was. They were to hunt down escapee's from their village and bring them back, dead or alive. Deacan was also careful not to say that he was from a "Village" but instead that he was from a small "town." Anyone from a village that knew medical ninjutsu was probably a ninja from a hidden village, and with an ANBU, that might cause complications.

[Katsumaru]

Paper circled the shrouded figure’s body in a threatening manner, some pieces of parchment close to Deacan. The ANBU stood with folded arms, steel grey eyes peering out from beneath the mask. The man remained silent for a moment as the weather worsened, gray clouds covering the skies as a light rain began to fall, droplet after droplet plummeting onto the grounds, moistening the grounds as they slowly turned into mud.

”An ANBU does what he wishes – our task extends beyond what you may expect.” The man tilted his head. Again, he was silent for some moments as the paper continued to circle his figure. ”Konohagkure, it is befallen by a…wretched plague. You will look into it, or you will not leave these lands.” he threatened.

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[Deacan]

Deacan almost jumped forward to thank the man, but managed to maintain himself a bit, though a large smile did cover his face, despite his attempts to hide it. To most people, a plague was a bad thing. It meant death, disease, war, etc... but, to Deacan, a plague was magic. It usually evolved rather rapidly in order to survive, it spread like wild fire and consumed people as though they were food. It had an instinctual knowledge of the human body and where to hit to cause the most suffering. A plague was a natural born medic, though with the opposite effects a normal medic would have.

Deacan simply smiled. "That sounds... Delightful." Anyone with any sense could hear the pause in his voice was not due to fear, but excitement. Going to study a new plague also meant new test subjects and unique opportunities that would present themselves in ways that he had almost feared to dream. Bodies could liter the streets and no one would know whether it was him or the plague that caused it, assuming this plague was lethal. At no time did fear for his own life even enter the equation of Deacan's mind. He wasn't even near the plague and his body was already excited, quite evident by his bodily reaction, the same most boys get when they get excited.

[Katsumaru]

It was rather foolish of Jiyuu to make such a rapid offer to allow for a stranger to stride into his village, but the Hokage was desperate, and he found himself in desperate times - the wretched plague had befallen Konohagakure, along with the civil war and the Hungerer's cult. The Shikigami simply knew not what to do, and where better to find help than in a stranger? Such a belief was, perhaps, asinine, but Jiyuu believed in destiny, and certain this was a fateful meeting.

As Jiyuu's steel grey eyes rested on the traveler, he spoke in a low, threatening tone, his voice a deep growl, attempting to make his desperation unheard. "You will follow me to the village then. Should you step out of your bounds, or chose to support the enemy in some manner - I care not how - but shall you, then I will have no reservations with unleashing my fullest furry upon you, a fate so much worse than death."

[/i]

After Jiyuu took the position of Hokage, his demeanor changed. Whereas once he loathed to take a life, now he had killed children. Whereas once he avoided conflict, he now searched it out as means to define himself in a world where he simply felt overwhelmed - surely he was a Hokage, but a wretched one. The man was a soldier, not a leader; he told that to himself again and again, believing it to be an excuse for his failing duties as a leader.

"Follow me then, boy."

The ANBU-clad Jiyuu begun his travel towards Konohagakure whether or not the traveler would follow him. As he neared the village, the trees seem to have grown wretched, the leaves of many rotten, the branches brittle and soft. The flora, too, has wilted, a sign of the plague that befell Konohagakure


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[Deacan]

Deacan could care less how much worth his life had to this man, nor did he care if the disease was going to kill him. All he knew was that this was a great chance to study a new organism. The options on what he could do with that knowledge were limitless. Creating counter-viruses, modifying it to make the infected stronger, or just causing it to become more leathal. Of course, this was all conjecture. Until he had time to study the virus in it's entirety he would have no idea how he could alter it or how it would alter him.

He followed the man through the forest and noticed that the plants were dying and some of the animals around were rather violent, some timid animals attacking normally much stronger and more aggressive animals. Some of the symptoms of the plague were obvious. Death was almost assuredly caused by the plague, as most legends of the land of fire told of trees that had survived centures. Deacan followed close to the man. He seemed to be at least somewhat immune to this plague, or his stage of infection wasn't very progressed yet. It was hard to tell with a plague.
"When did this plague start? Lethality Rate? Point of Origin?"[/b]
Deacan was pretty interested by this plague, the plague and the village. Somehow, they managed to contain this plauge to the surrounding areas, but thats it. Deacan had no real intention of working for either side in this place, but he did plan to wreak havoc on both, though he wouldn't say that out loud.

[Katsumaru]

Finally the two arrived at the gates. He ignored Deacan’s question for he simply did not know an answer. The travel was entirely silent, Jiyuu not even uttering a word. ”The gates are here. Feel free to enter.” he said while walking through the gates himself.

[Exit]

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[Deacan]

The man didn't answer Deacan, but he felt it was for a reason. That, or he was just being ignored. The second one felt more likely to Deacan, after all the man knew many village secrets, it was only natural that he shouldn't expose them. This might have been a biological weapon developed as part of war. No matter what, now it was Deacan's toy. He was going to play with it until he broke it, or until it broke him. He walked up to the gates and looked at the guards.

/exit