The Beginning of a Brotherhood. [Plot/Private]

[Shinryu]

I shrugged my shoulders in the noonday sun. The breeze wafted to my nose, and pushed a fleeting scent of damp grass along its path, conspiring to make me think of the many blades these fields held. And as I did, Iimagined each one sliver of grass was but a shard... like the so many shards of ice that I'd had shred Ryu's body... But that was a triviality, now. What was done was done, and I hoped that the kami would render their harshest judgement upon him. I cleared my head and decided to sit down for a spell, resting on a rock by the roadside, and wiping my brow. It was humid... the common term was muggy, and I felt my shirt cling to my skin where sweat was staring to bead. I needed to cool down a bit...

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U

[/i] I calmly shouted past the five meter distance between me and him. There were people moving about on this bright and early morning though us two seemed to be the two at a stand still. Fate brought people together in an unusual pattern. . and I was beginning to see just how unusual this all was.

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[Shinryu]

The heat was deplorable, and I felt myself hating the sun for once in my life. Of course, when living in Mizu no Kuni from birth, the climate seems fair most days, but even so, some days it becomes harsh even on the locals. I assumed that thunderstorms would not be far off with all of this heat. I closed my eyes and rested, almost about ready to leave. That's when I heard them. Footsteps were beating a soft and steady trail toward me. I looked up to notice a man shorter than I, but with something that scared me... his facial features, though not a dead match for my own, were rather similar. What preturbed me more was the sudden feeling I got on my forehead, a chill that something told me had nothing to do with a change in the weather...

Was this boy part of the family?

He came closer, but I did not let on to my surprise, waiting for him to come near, and treating him as I would a passer-by, giving him a trained casual eye. I had figured he would pass on for business' sake, but he had to stop to ask me something.I almost rolled my eyes at the irony. I heard out what he had to say, and was prompt to respond.

I suppose I've got time to spare, brother... what is it that you need...?"

I strained the word, and made some of the haze around his face shimmer, freezing, then melting again. I looked upon him and saw a ninja headband, and stood on my guard, but to be fair, it was not from a village I had ever heard of before... perhaps more about that could be discussed elsewhere, at a later time. What I really wanted to know right now, was why there was another Yukina in mist who'd I'd heard nothing about? This didn't bode well...

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U

[/quote]

It were bright alright; bright enough for me to see the own gleam of my head band on the ground as I captured a glimpse of a flower growing right beneath where I stood. I stomped on it and looked back up to the guy I’d given direction to . . . he looked like a girl . . . or he was one and was just flat chested. I tried not to look at his or her chest before responding because girls hated that though I couldn’t be fully sure of whom this actually was. He called me brother and presumed to bringing about a haze of cold to the front of my lobes.

Burgundy hues manifested swiftly to the cycle he lay out before me – turning the haze into ice and then to water and back again. He were skilled just as I in the moderation of hyouton . . . but if he were yukina why had he spawned here in mizu no kuni? Much to learn from the stranger I’d just given hint to. ‘Ahh, yeah. Ahaha, umm. I need to know where there’s a good place to stay. . .’ I cooed calmly breathing forth the manifest of energy it’d taken me to speak aloud. I didn’t really talk much to strangers but when I was one myself there was no need to cling onto old habits.

My heart raced as a new adrenaline found itself pumping into my every vein. Eyebrows of mine own quirked up to the inquisition I now faced. Curiosity tugged upon my every thought which bounced around to no extend within the confines of my own mind. I had many questions but I did not know how to approach him about it. Were there other people of my kind here within mizu no kuni? Or was this just the one in a million chance that I’d found a cousin in a strange place other than my home town? I were to eager to contemplate such childish drivel – I quarreled no more within my thoughts as I spoke aloud once more to cut myself short of my last sentence.

‘Hyouton huh? How is that you just did all that in front of me. . .?’ I bellowed out finally in a quizzical look. My eyes stared into his. . . or hers. . . questioning the fact if this shinobi were kin to me. This boy resembled the face of some of my ancestors – signifying that of female kunoichi but instead being a deadly hunter ravaging through the night leaving their enemies hearts and souls frozen within the night sky only to be turned back to their watery state the next day under the smoldering tendrils of the sun. Surely this man knew of our history as well, yukina or not.

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[Shinryu]

‘Ahh, yeah. Ahaha, umm. I need to know where there’s a good place to stay...’

I quirked my eyebrow at this ninja. Somewhere to stay? Why would he have come here unawareas to where he would be staying? Clearly he could not be a delegate on shinobi business. If I had recognized his headband, I'd likely have killed him on the spot, but he was not from anywhere that was currently recognized as a ninja village, and it was more than likely a memento from past times, before the war, than it was a matter of signifying any allegiance to a village. At least I would figure it to be so. In of the least I would not allow him back to the main village. Then again, if he was interested in such a thing, he could always apply from the place where I was to take him.

"I'll take you to the capital. Take you, that is, only because I don't know if I can trust you not to follow me back home, and since you wear the headband of another village, I'm afraid that such a thing would be seen as an act of treason on my part. Even if we may yet share the same blood, politics aren't so convenient as to just let you step in, I'm afraid."

I hoped the last line had satisfied the boy's curiosity. I firmly believed that we were indeed of one and the same lineage, separated some time back. He was perhaps a distant cousin of mine, but I knew one thing. We both had possession of an extremely rare ability, and if I could turn him to the advantage of our village, I would do so. Hopefully we could find some use for another skilled ice shaper... if not, it would do well to have an acquaintance outside the village... all the better were we bound by familal bonds.

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U

[/i] I choked out bravely. It seemed this guy, or girl, were interested in making me a shinobi of mizu through the process of taking me to the capital. My eyes scattered upon him swiftly to check his armaments. He were a shinobi indeed – but what was he doing so far away form the village? Training perhaps but that were a slim chance considering that this were a place filled with many people. Maybe he were on a mission? The approximation seemed unlikely now at this point seeing as he’d graced himself upon a seat.

I sort of looked at him funny as I responded. ‘Well let’s go to the capital then ! I said with no base feeding from my vocals. Eyes fired up with passion glared towards my brother, if I could even call him so, in attempts to get him from his seated position. I would have to walk slightly to the side of him in order to follow him. After he’d gotten up and we had begun our trek towards the capital of mizu I would pull out the b.i.n.g.o book from my back pocket. In suna they were as common as shoes.

As I flipped through the nuke-ninja index I would see a few ninja that I had quarreled with. Oculars gazed upon the words that wrapped around their dirty deeds. I was going to need to become stronger, and quick, if I was going to handle these men on my own. It was the only sure way of figuring out what happened to my parents and the connection between ANBU and the winters’ solstice asylum. Maybe tagging along with this other yukina would prove useful to my arsenal after all.

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[Shinryu]

"Well let’s go to the capital then !"

I rolled my eyes as I slid off my perch, stretching my arms and yawning in the awful haze of humidity. It wasn't much to go on, but it was something to do, at least, and for that, I could be grateful. Life in Mizu no Kuni could be boring sometimes. I rolled my shoulders and began walking beside the boy, my form towering over him as it did most. I snuck a peek at the book he was reading, and noticed the faces of ninja within. A tricky gambit... This one was sniffing though a B.I.N.G.O. book? Not that I had anything particular to worry about, after all, I was far too low a rank to be noted in such a publication. Still, reading through a B.I.N.G.O. book, in the land of mist... something irked me about this character.

"Say, stranger... what might your name be?" I inquired of him. It was a gamble... but then again, what wasn't in the life of a shinobi? At least this was measured. If he revealed he was a Yukina, then there was nothing to worry about, as we would have a bond to share. If not, then I could always capture him later and extract any information about another ice clan from him. I wanted to confirm his identity before things continued any much further, though. If he turned out to be an enemy ninja, I would have to be on my guard, lest he try to attack me, steal my headband, and scout for the village. This had to be a measured approach. Carefully measured, for if he proved to be hostile, the slightest slip-up could prove to be my end.

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U

[/right]

A piece of me wanted to stay here and investigate the country even further. But I guess hopping on into a stable ninja village were the best thing for me to do right now if I could continue this search. There were rumor that some missing yuki ninja had shown their faces amongst the village of kiri. It was my job to find out why. My mission consisted of several different things, one of them being to capture and relieve the world of these AWOL shinobi. If it were true that this shinobi here were yukina – could he have also just become a ninja this quickly?

Nonsense. . . if that were true then . . . he would be set out to kill me as well. My instincts climbed towards the edge with this one shinobi who insisted on calling me ‘brother.’ I chewed a piece of hard skin on my lip and spit it out afterwards as my feet stepped upon the tile of ice I’d formed. One seal on my right hand kept true to its aim to aid me in my pasture towards the capital of mizu. It were not as fast to leave an after image but it did sustain a very decent speed. Frost spat behind me in a trail of smoke.

I would climb past his distance nearly seconds after my depart if he did not acquire some form of transportation quickly. My head would turn slightly to see which direction he were coming so that I could follow him.


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[Shinryu]

"Shinryu. Yukina Shinryu." I said, and continued, watching for any signs of movement. The boy who I now knew to be Shinzo was sliding down the path before me. I would continue on, and be on my guard for attack. I risked a lot by coming into the open, but I was not afraid. I was confident. And I was proud. My name meant something to me. It was a symbol of lineage and heritage that said everything about me before anyone met me. It was the kind of name that send chills up the spine of others. We were reknowned as demons of the ice, the ninja of our clan proving to be ruthless tools of destruction in any army.

If he made anything of it, so be it. I would subdue him, or, if unable, kill him. I had no qualms. It was the way we ninja lived. I yawned and continued down the path, the sun drooping in the afternoon sky, slowly starting its long descent to the horizon.

"We've a ways to go, yet. We'll be lucky if we make it there by evening."

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U

[/i] I said with a sniveling grin. I needed to make some more money. My eyes scanned the overbearing light which bellowed out from the opening just a mile away. There were voices and laughter – it made me want to grab a drink myself but I knew this were more important.

I wonder if this yukina thought the same way. ‘so. Before we go towards the capital you mind stopping by for something to eat?’ I asked in a polite manner pulling out my wallet which was almost over stacked. I needed to exchange these bills for bigger ones. I looked at him hoping he was going to say yes but there might have been some edge to him that I hadn’t seen yet. Either way – I was going to get a bite to eat.


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[Shinryu]

"Ahh. I see. The capital of mizu should be the place I register right? What then after that?"

The question caught me off guard as we walked down the road together, the boy beside me seeming to have a much easier time of traversing than I. However, as evening drew closer, and the weather cooled, I was happy to jog alongside him, the cooler wind rippling against my shirt.

"Hm? Register? For the village, you mean?" I said this non-assumingly, pointing to my own headband. It came off perhaps as a little condescending, but he did look to be my junior, at least in age, and it certainly would help to clarify things, regardless of feelings.

"If you wish to join, then that would be the place to do it; however, I would expect you would be under constant surveillance... We don't generally take kindly to ninja from other villages just wandering in... Then again, I can't say I recognize the marker on your hitai, so it may be just as well that your village was destroyed in the war, and you're a refugee. After all, what do I know?"

This slant at myself was veiled, mostly because it had been true that I had spent so much time at home during the war, a civillian who was not trained to fight, then. Even now I reflected on my sorry lack of knowledge on the world around me, mostly due to my lack of travels, restricted by my parents... my mind flashed back to the scene I had viewed but a night hence, and I grimaced... I didn't want to think about that... or talk about that... not that I cared much, but it was far too fresh in my mind to speak of it.


"So. Before we go towards the capital you mind stopping by for something to eat?"


My thoughts of the burning house, and what had lay within it had rather spoiled my appetite, but I would politely agree to the idea of a meal, even if I wasn't particularly hungry... I had more than enough money on me, and I might as well spend it on something. Besides, it would be good to converse about things, and break the ice, so to speak. I knew very little about Shinzo... and it wouldn't hurt to learn more from the boy. Perhaps he knew things about my own clan that I did not... after all, beyond the veil of the mist, I knew very little about my family's history.

[Sayomi]

Shinryu: 42 exp

Sohyo: 50 exp

[Kasumi]

To say that I was a long, long way from home would be an understatement. The war hadn't treated me well, heck I didn't even know if my "village" existed but I knew one thing. The war had changed me right to the core. I cared not to be affiliated with any village, politics were meaningless to me. Not when there was so much suffering, so much hatred in the world...yet where would I begin anew?I was traveling on boat for the longest time, pulled onto the coast of a misty island. Since then, I'd been wandering many a dirt path; trying to find some civilization, get my bearings down and all.

As to my current path, well I was on a side road, that much I was sure. Ahead of me was a rather large road, maybe a main road, seemed like it. I'd at least traversed many a main road but...wound up getting lost every time. Something about jumping off main roads in favour of side roads, y'know...paranoia. Speaking of paranoia, further up the road I heard a voice. It sounded like a male voice, not too old though, probably an adolescent. Still, avoiding detection was my primary agenda then again...it's not like I looked like a kunoichi. I was...nicely dressed, featuring a white long sleeved kimono variant, a red bow tie, black skirt...long black boots, yeah professional.

Problem was, how did I explain the gourd at my backside? Well it wasn't that big, could easily be filled with water. Then...what about the pouch to the other side of my waist? Well, it uh...could have y'know pencils/notepads...yeah, that. Okay then there was the ridiculous sabre I had but in this dangerous day and age, a lady had to protect herself! So that was about it, my red hues narrowing slightly as a gust of wind came through. It picked up my red tresses, blowing at a north west angle before subsiding. Moving further down the pathway, I'd try to look inconspicuous, though I also made due with sticking near the right side of the road, hopefully I hadn't been spotted...fighting wasn't on my agenda.

[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U «

[/spoiler]


The amber sun finally set upon the horizon as I was responded to the invite I’d given for a casual meal. Optics flared with a hungry passion as I moved the white drapes to the sides as I entered the bazaar. The first thing I noticed were a bartender all the way on the other side of the room. He could see everything that entered and exited the shop though there wasn’t much he could do behind a wooden barricade serving drinks up. I walked towards him as I pushed my fingers down into the depths of my pocket.

I pulled out the first bill my pointer finger stroked upon. Eyes scattered loosely above the bartender where the four giant letters spelled out M E N U. I just wanted a burger and a shake to be honest – I wasn’t on a date or anything. My hand found itself around the cuff of the stool and I pulled it under me as I ordered. ‘ahh. A pound cheese burger and a chocolate milkshake with gin atonic please’ I said boastfully as I handed him my i.d and cash.

My eyes pardoned back for a moment as I looked for Shinryu. Hopefully he’d followed me in and were going to settle down to eat as well. ‘Eh… we don’t do milkshakes with tonic in them boy, where you from?!’ he shouted aloud with a boastful laugh – attempting to mock me within my own element. I was tempted to grab the fork to my right and just stab it in his fucking eye. . . no. Can’t do that. My cover would be blown all too easily – not to mention I was about to convert my fellowship – for now anyways.

My goggles were fogged up from the heat that had gathered around my figure. Although I were from Yuki I got heated much quicker than others. My right hand would swiftly move their position right to the cater-corner of my head. My body, although angled sideways to the bar, captured all the movement within the room. . . looking for anything suspicious amongst this break me and Shinryu were taking. I had my head band on as did he . . . so we were always going to be on guard – and if not he then I.
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[yōmi]

/exit. moving too slowly.