Lost Steps; [ Relic Search ]

[Kii!]

A fiery, golden ball lay still in the midday sky, washing its warmth over Kaze no Kuni. It seemed endless, vast expanses of waving, sandy dunes. The path here was untraced and unknown, much like the sands that made it. It was carried and commanded by the wind, which blew with a frightening intensity all around. Of course, there was little in sight for the Nuke-Nin, even the horizon seemed to fade into nothingness, with little more than the clear blue sky to show. With little to guide him, the path he could take would be made only by him, through his own choices.

In the distance, far ahead, a silhouette passed by from behind a large dune of sand. It stood for a moment, and the wind seemed to die down as it did, until it disappeared in a blur. Little was left in its wake, save for the memory of its existence. There was little reason for anyone to be in this place. Observation of the area afterward would prove to yield little results, as it appeared the shadow had done nothing more than flee the area, or wait still in hiding.

[Comatose]

The heat of the desert no longer had much effort on me, my times spent gallivanting as a ANBU of the Sungakure village having allowed my body to adjust to the extreme heat. That wasn't to say my eyes or other bodily functions had adjusted to the rigor that was the desert's other challenges. The shifting and sinking sands made it both time consuming and tiring to continually walk it's expanses — even for the most hearty of ninja. I could not exactly tell if it was a mirage of sorts, or a true cognition of what had appeared in front of me, a most ghostly shadow, only visible for the most fleeting of seconds before disappearing, leaving in it's wake nothing but blowing sand.

The purpose of my journey was clear, though the path was not. I had caught wind of the possible location of a most powerful relic, a sword from the past I had once seen before in my previous life the, Kusanagi no Tsurugi. The weapon was a herald of power, unbreakable, near-sentient, and able to cut through almost anything. Many ninja had wielded it before me and been lost in it's madness, it consuming them with the violence that was power, but I knew I would not be lost. I had died once, both metaphorically and physically, and had little need of the weapon and it's power beyond the point to challenge myself. I was evil in my own right, but I sought the possibility of a boost of power for another; I almost dare not tell myself why.

Of course, I had little choice but to follow what I thought was the direction the shadow had moved to. My higher cognitive sapien brain functions tried to hold me back from pursuing it, a possibly fruitless attempt at following what could have been little more than a mirage. There not even being anything to actually cast a shadow for miles, save the static cactus that laid littered about. But, I couldn't resist; the weapon and it's boost of power could have meant the world for my other in a time of need.

[Kii!]

It was a fair distance to close--perhaps heightened by the intense heat of the desert--but soon, the lone shinobi would come upon the dunes where the shadow has passed. They were large, comparatively, though held nothing of interest. Little clues as to whether the figure had been a reality were left behind; the wind had blown over any possibility of lingering footsteps. However, passed the dunes, it appeared that the sand dipped down quite like a large hill, as if the sands the missing ninja had been standing on before were nothing more than a large dune themselves. This was notable, though still gave little in the way of information. No life lingered in the area noticeably, either.

If the Nuke-Nin chose to pursue the fleeting figure and make his way down the large hill, perhaps fifteen meters tall, his interest would likely be piqued. In the side of the hill, which was before overshadowed by the sand atop it, was what appeared to be an entrance of sorts. There was little way to see into it; no lightning appeared to exist within it, and thus it was filled with a cool darkness. If inspected, it would become obvious that the walls of this passage were made of stone, quite unlike any found nearby.

Furthermore, if he chose to enter into the quite suspicious corridor, eventually the sounds of running water would permeate the darkness. Much like a waterfall, it was quite powerful, and would become more and more apparent the further down the corridor he moved. Still, no lighting of any sort filled the place, and he would eventually come to a left turn. Deep into the corridor was the faintest of lights, a speckle coming from what appeared to be the floor, hot and white.

And if he chose not to enter, well, he'd be faced with more and more sand.

[Comatose]

The desert was not an inviting mistress, and only led me more astray. The shadow, having likely just been a mirage hadn't left any notable impression of it's existence. There was no indication of footsteps, they having been likely blown away by the wind anyway, or any trace of foreign material that could have been left behind. If I was a more impatient man I would have left in anger, but I had learned to trust the finer instincts, and go with my gut. I continued up the hill a long ways before reaching it's peak.

There was something odd about the hills construction, that I could only put my finger upon when I had finally reached the peak. My eyes, shielded by a hand I had made a visor with, allowed me to view the surrounding dunes, and note the larger impression in the middle of this central locale of dunes. The impression was odd because there was nothing like it as far as I could see, there was something foreign about it.

On the other side of the hill, just beneath me I could see an entrance of sorts made of rock I had never before seen in my life, let alone around here. My better judgement had made the conclusion it was likely the den of an animal or a band of thieves or mercenaries, but I couldn't help the exploratory and curious urge to move into it's depths. Sliding down a ways I allowed myself to peer just into the cave, not that I could even see anything.

I took the risk, entered and followed down it's corridor, careful of what I stepped on or touched, knowing there could be booby-traps or the like lined in the corridors. My mind tried to ignore the sound of the running water — water being the grave enemy to all shikigami along with the fire, as I continued on, blissfully unaware of what sort of trials laid before me within this cave-like construction.

[Kii!]

The structure of the passageway made it obvious that it wasn't natural. The stones were placed together as blocks, in such a way that no animal or phenomenon of nature could produce. It was a straight corridor, with precise turns and a smooth floor. Thus, the lack of lighting seemed to be done purposely, and the 'intruder' was right to be wary of any traps he might come across. However, he would find nothing of the sort as he made his way through.

Only one path was offered to him, and eventually he would come closer and closer to the white light in the distance. It came from the floor, through a small crack, much like a light on the opposite side of a closed door. Upon inspection, it would be found to be a trap door of such, which was the only path forward, as the corridor ended just past it. Once the door was open, pale light would flood into the passageway, illuminating the Nuke-Nin's surroundings in an instant.

A wooden ladder awaited him, down a narrow, vertical passage, at the bottom of which was a stone cliff. It looked natural, rather than man-made, and overlooked quite the sight--an immense, underground cavern, illuminated completely by artificial lighting. Although much of the cavern seemed natural, from the stalactites and stalagmites that jutted from the floor and ceiling, to the haphazard and uneven shapes of the stone walls, much if it, too, seemed man-made. There were buildings, many made of the same blocked stone pattern that lined the passageway above, and a waterfall blanketed the far wall. It fell into a small river that ran through the cavern and off into the distance, where the light failed to reach and it dipped into pure obsidian. Little movement or signs of life would be obvious to the newcomer, however, save for the rushing water in the distance.

[Comatose]

There was very little else I could do but continue on warily. The path didn't split or present any challenges to me, not that this was a specific problem of note — which the opposite, but did make my mind wander. The path seemed almost inviting, because it lacked all of the traps one would normally expect out of a derelict man-made cave structure. What was in here?

The light only made my suspicions more apparent, as it shined from behind what seemed to be a trap door. When I got it open, it bathed me in it's radiance, blinding me momentarily (and quite suddenly) before my eyes could properly adjust. I was certainly right, this place was inviting me in. My more cynical side couldn't help but poke fun at the obvious extreme polar opposite it's entrance posed for a accommodations, a wooden ladder. So much for a red carpet.

I didn't bother climbing down the old ladder at all, but rather parachuted down using a simple paper construction, and landed on my feet to see the site that was presented before my eyes. The site was quite astonishing for several reasons. For one the rock walls though seemingly natural seemed unnatural, typically not of the type of rock one would expect below the surface of sand. Secondly, the buildings here were astonishingly built similar to the cave structure above, and must have all been build inside this area for the lack of space allotted to drag stuff down here. Finally, the most extreme, there was water under the desert. It failed even the simplest of logic.

"What the fuck?"

I spared no expense to personify my feelings. This place was more amazing than I could ever imagine it to be. Even if the relic wasn't here, there had to be some secret to be unveiled in these runes, perhaps, even some other item of worth. I didn't bother to try to set a path, knowing I'd probably get lost, regardless. The best bet was to search from the apparent front (at least to me) onward, moving in toward the central bigger structures as I went. After floating down to the beginning of the start of the building area, I trudged forward to the first small buildings that lie ahead of me; searching for any small clues.

[Kii!]

It was obvious something unexpected had happened--or was happening--here. The place was large enough to be an entire village or city, but otherwise seemed totally lifeless. Oddly enough, a zephyr passed by, a warm wind that washed over the intruder, but died down just as quick as it came. Small piles of sand were littered about the place, where bits of it had fallen through cracks in the ceiling and found their resting place beneath the earth.

The first building, closest to the entrance the man had taken, was quite petite compared to the rest further in. It was a single story stone building, with three rooms. However, it was utterly empty save for the still air that filled the space. There was little else to see. The roof was flat and, in general, the building was simply a sectioned, hollow cube. It boasted two doors, once closest to where the shinobi had come from, and one on the opposite side, in toward the dead city.

The next closest building, which, with the previous, formed a sort of alleyway, was quite peculiar. Through the windows on the second and third floors, it appeared to be completely filled with sand. If the door was opened, it would be revealed that it was, indeed, filled to its entirety, and would pour out slowly through the door.

Here and there were buildings similar to this, in that they were filled with sand. Otherwise, so far, they seemed to be completely barren. Their designs got increasingly complex the closer they were to the center of the place, however.

---

In one building, perhaps forty-five meters ahead of the Nuke-Nin and within one, random empty building, sat a lone man. He was well-built, had teal hair styled into a fauxhawk, and sat with his back against a stone wall, tapping a toothpick against his knee. Though dressed much like a shinobi, he bore no headband. A silence filled the air around him, as it did with the entire cavern, save for one small snicker as he flashed his eyes off to the wall to his left, in the direction of the newcomer.

[Comatose]

Each building I visited either held nothing, or was full of nothing but sand. It was a peculiar thing too, seeing as the cave held no sand in it's immediate area at all. Of course, we were underneath a desert, so, the sand somehow leaking in wasn't something to be farfetched, but I couldn't shake the fact that even with that, it just didn't seem normal. That being sad I didn't take my chances of opening any of the doors, as I could clearly see that it was just simply full of sand.

As my search continued I found many more buildings like this, which held absolutely no signs of life in it at all. Again, an oddity, because a structure like this must have served a purpose at once time, of which I suspect was being a city of sorts for perhaps some earlier indigenous peoples. More time was spent wandering aimlessly before I came upon the one house which changed everything about where I was.

Opening that door, I was almost shocked into disbelief to see any person at this point in my journey. From the look of the man, I could tell he had quite possibly been a shinobi at one point, like myself. Breaking the ice wasn't easy, seeing as he seemed like he had been sitting there for quite some time, even perhaps aware of my plots and known that I had been coming this entire time.

". . . A person? . . Who are you?"

I tried to make my tone indifferent to veil my surprise and the oddity of the conversation at all, it wasn't easy.

[Kii!]

As the Shikigami made his way through the dead city, excitement built up within the teal-haired man, until finally the Nuke-Nin opened the door and came across another living being. The man's eyes flickered to the newcomer with undeniable excitement, predatory and desperate, as if hungered or mad. Still, he didn't move from his sitting position on the floor; he only took the toothpick he'd been bouncing in his mouth.

"Kishishishi," he laughed, setting a hand to his forehead as he did. In that same moment, the entire cavern shook, and the raging water in the distance seemed to increase in power. Just as soon as it had happened, however, everything returned to normal, and the teal-haired man disappeared in a blur. To trained eyes, it would appear as a shunshin; where he had gone would be impossible to predict. All that was left was a tense, silent stillness in his wake.

Whatever the Shikigami would do, he was nearly halfway to the center of the place. Only new questions would be brought about should he continue, and no answers. The buildings closer to the center, as they became increasingly complex, also would be found to be anything but empty. Some held furniture and other furnishings, though most of these items were completely toppled over and in ruin. Despite the condition of the inside, the foundation--the buildings themelves--were all unscathed and showed no signs of deteriorating.

[Comatose]

The maniacal laugh didn't really affect me much, reminding me of the days when I had laughed like that so, evil and sinister. A certain someone had made me rethink the exact point of being that way when I could do things for the greater good. I didn't buy it entirely, but, I knew, that I wanted to at least protect this one person. Again, feelings that were entirely new to me, all I knew was being a dog of war, fighting and killing.

When the man finally up and disappeared I connected some of the dots of the mystery that I had been lead into. The shadow I had seen earlier was likely this man, as the manner in which he disappeared was none dissimilar. It was because of the heat and distance that I could not discern what he had actually done, which was a simple meager shunshin, likely fleeing to here.

This time I was close enough to see what he had did, just after the rumbles and shakes began. I honestly believed in those moments that the cavern might have collapsed, or was going to under the strain of the sudden rumbling and earthquake-like conditions. His sudden disappearance, while answering some of my questions heralded others. Still I wished to know; what was he doing here? What was this city?

I wasted no time in continuing down the unbeaten path, moving ever closer to the central complex of this city-like structure underneath the sands. I didn't bother to enter any of the houses that I came across after the first few, because of the pattern of the lack of any clues in any of them. If I could find any answers, I thought, they would have to be closer to the center of the complex.

[Kii!]

Just as the buildings began to change closer to the center, so, too, did the very air. It became notably more humid perhaps halfway through, quite suddenly and very significantly. Nothing would stand in the man's path for quite a while as he continued on his way, except for more questions. There were many roads and alleyways all across the city, and no real straight path to the center. Eventually, the sand-filled buildings came to a stop, until all of the buildings were either empty or contained some furniture, usually ruined and destroyed.

Although much of the city in the distance was cloaked in a veil of shadow, including where the river flowed to, what was visible looked much the same as what had been experienced already. Eventually, as he walked, some of the buildings were in ruin. They were toppled over and broken, laying in pieces on the ground. The closer he came to the center, the more of these buildings were in ruin.

The very center was a town square of sorts. There was a fountain, which depicted a man holding a double-bladed jian, with a likeness to Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Here, the teal-haired man stood upside down, his feet against the bottom of the stone sword, with his arms crossed and a toothpick still in his mouth.

[Comatose]

Something had definitely happened here, more than likely tragic and sudden. The actual environment and buildings here held little clues to what had actually happened at all, besides telling me that they had been broken and battered by some unknown force.

The air ran thick with vapor, suffocating the lungs with a wet humid air. If one thought a dry heat was infuriatingly difficult to breathe in they hadn't visited somewhere where the air could run thick with moisture. I hated it, and didn't hesitate to show my disdain visually in a scowl as I continued on foot toward the center, making my path as I saw fit to be able to continue, taking note that the buildings started to become more and more ruined, and more and more seemingly random.

Coming upon the statue and the man I did well to approach cautiously, the man having once before both eluded and amazed me with his random feat of power. The oddity of him standing upside made it hard to approach him, so I took that out of the equation entirely and didn't; I thought it better anyway. The statue from which he seemingly hanged like a bat depicted the very thing I sought after, or at least something that looked very similar to it, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

"Enough of the games. Who are you? What is this place?"

[Kii!]

At the Shikigami's inquiry, the upside-down man stopped the flow of chakra to his feet, falling and flipping in order to land in the water of the fountain below. Slowly, he walked toward the other man, silent save for his snickers, which he couldn't seem to stop. About halfway to his destination, he tilted his head to the side.

"Well . . ." His voice was surprisingly deep and strong, booming even. If he would be allowed to approach the man, he'd press his index finger to the Nuke-Nin's sternum and push ever so slightly. "What do YOU think this place is?" Then, he'd turn his back on the newcomer, but twist his head so that he could still see him, eying him maniacally. "The wind, the water . . ." At this, he began to spin and move around, erratically, spreading his arms out as he did. "The ruined buildings and the sand . . ."

Eventually, he'd come to a stop, facing his company, his expression serious for once. "A statue of that sword." Then, in an instant, his face twisted into one of maddened joy once again. "Ah, well, I bet you're confused!" Lazily, he sat on the edge of the fountain, leaning back on his arms and crossing his legs.

[Comatose]

I wasn't confused, I just had questions. I was certain in my resolve for what I knew, but not at all confused at all. Something happened here, something tragic, and I was sure that this was all that it was; whether the tragedy was man-made, or concocted from natural formulas of the earth didn't matter. The mystery was tertiary, and he had managed to say on thing that piqued my interest, and push the mystery from my mind — the sword.

"That sword, rather that statue's sword, it's a depiction of The Kusanagi isn't it?"

I allowed the man to get in close and push me around as he would, not quite ready to reveal my own prowess and strengths, and still nevertheless ready to manifest paper at a moments notice. The man's mannerisms were difficult, odd, and rather whimsical; and to that end they did well to demean my thoughts of him and distract me. What was his problem?

"Is that sword here? Was this it's doing?"

For him to answer concretely or to answer at all was a long shot, but I wasn't getting anywhere on my own.

[Kii!]

Once sitting with his legs crossed, he would actually take the time to listen to the intruder's words. Silence would fall over him, however, at least for a moment. It seemed as though he was thikning--pondering over how to answer--or perhaps brooding on something else entirely. It wasn't obvious, even when his answer came.

"Is that sword here?" He asked, standing and once again approaching the questioner slowly. All emotion had been drained from his face, even as he tilted his head and stared straight into the man before him. "Is it here? Well, let me tell you this: it shouldn't be. Oh, no, it absolutely should not be here. But is it?" By then, he'd be close enough that the Nuke-Nin could feel his breath, if he would allow it. ". . . Yes."

Then, he'd spin away again, twice, before stopping just before the fountain, facing the man he spoke with. Again he laughed, though this time the laughter was different. It was no longer confident and mad. It was filled with something different entirely.

"OF COURSE THIS IS IT'S DOING, EVERYTHING IS BECAUSE OF THAT SWORD!" His breathing became raspy and heavy, as if he were struggling. The entire cavern shook once again, much like before, though this time it was rougher and more violent, and lasted far longer. It would easily throw most people off balance, though he continued to remain still, swaying slowly. ". . . Absolutely, absolutely everything. Oh, and not just this place. You'll find out, you'll come to know all of it soon. Everything."

Then, in an instant, he was returned to normal. A smug grin took over his face, and he twirled around a few times. "Where do I start? Oh, I think I know. Are you ready?" He stopped spinning with his back turned again, looking back at the intruder with hungry eyes.