Breath and Life [Flashback][Closed - Vegapunk]

[Gally G6]

SPOILER: Click to show

Once in a great while someone comes along who changes our whole point-of-view, the way that we think, and everything we thought we ever knew. They can teach us that the things we thought were the most important to us really mean nothing...and maybe the things that meant nothing, are what count. In the end, all that matters is that we've changed, evolved...into something new, something better...something fantastic.

We were told that all humans except us had been utterly wiped out, by a cause which remained unknown to us. I was born in a place known as Äksturstålfa, a village located in Bølvanger, a neighboring country of Tetsu no Kuni. Around the perimeter of Äksturstålfa stood grand walls which seperated us from the rest of the world, numerous omens scrawled in the Primordial tone

[/color]. One such warning was upon the very gates which opened connected our village to the outside world. Dried, cracking crimson forewarned of a horrible place. "Äksturstålfa in Bølvanger:" Driven by darkness in the field of evil.

It was known and told by those all over Bølvanger that greats Beasts[/color], demons who roamed on the physical plane, resided within the forest of the great, snow-deadened country. These Beasts[/color] had one law over the inhabitants in the village of Äksturstålfa: humans were forbidden to explore the Great Forest[/color], or anger the Beasts[/color] and unleash such a terror even the earth would tremble. In return the terrors lefts the villagers alone, as well as ridding of those unwelcomed in the village. However, everyone feared the possibility of warriors from the Far-snow Country, for this meant that the gate was open, and would remain in such a state until the winter solstice ended. What I feared most was not the Beasts[/color] coming out of the Great Forest[/color], but that they would become free, tormenting and feeding upon the rest of the world's pitiful state.

I don't really understand why we were born here. To live every moment of one's life, afraid to take a breath...no desire to go back to the place you called your home. That is not living...it is a curse, a nightmare. No longer would being a good little child suffice for happiness and comfort, nor would bringing home the daily rations for meals. In the beginning, as we were told, humans and the Beasts[/color] worked in harmony, complimenting each other's faults. As the land began to flourish and the humans prospered, those of the earth, humanity, began to forget about the Great Forest[/color] and in turn the Beasts[/color] who built it. Try and try again, attempts to provide for the humans' wants only lead to the eventual destruction of the Great Forest[/color]. The Beasts[/color] no longer were inspiration for humans, instead becoming something much more terrifying...our enemy.

The Beasts[/color] had been blessed with Mother Nature's gift of primal instincts, something we as humans tapped into only once long ago and later sealed away by choice, and so they rebuilt their home due to humanity's selfishness, a place in which we were no longer part of the picture. They became feared, for now their glances stole our our breath and burned away the soul to leave a lifeless husk behind. No longer were these Beasts[/color] peaceful judges of the world; these creatures were no more monstrous than the humans who caused the Great Shift[/color]. These beings knew everything was to come, what was, and what is. It was they, Beasts[/color], who rebuilt the Great Forest[/color]...and those who raised me up. I will show you how horrible these Beasts[/color] truly are. For it has been recorded by our village elders that these creatures were the sole cause of every powerful and righteous civilization falling.

I was never...so primal as they were, at least not entirely. However, being within a village where everyone was asocial, I learned to expect nothing but treachery, selfishness and deceit from all those around me. I remember when I was younger, one day in particular which I will never forget. It was a midsummer's night, the humidity so overwhelming one could choke if they breathed too deeply. I dared not venture out of the comfort of my home, for that day was All Temptation's eve. The villagers would gather all their crops at the edge of the Great Forest[/color] and hide with in the safety of the village borders, hoping the Beasts[/color] would be pleased. Even as a child, I was never considered one of the village. Often times I heard the elders call me Giftgeben ("Poison-giver). Back then I never knew what it meant.

Maybe this is why I was sent to the Great Forest[/color] as a human sacrifice, waiting for the monsters to clamp their jaws around my bare throat. Beasts[/color] had begun to demand villagers, young and tender in muscle, as fruits and vegetables no longer became satisfactory. I later learned why this began to occur. I was appointed by the entire village to give my blood, and I accepted with no qualms. If this was to be my fate, then there was nothing I could do but embrace my death, though I was unaware of the events that were to unfold. I waited in the darkness for something I could not comprehend, the final snap of light and rush of blood. The villagers glared at me so fiercely it made me cry a little inside. They were willing the Beasts[/color] to come and kill me.[/quote]

[Gally G6]

How do you explain what seems to have no meaning, to have defied all you were taught? The Beast

[/color] stepped forth; what I saw was so strange. A shadow walked up to me, while what seemed to be its body was within the confines of the Great Forest's[/color] darkness. It was as if a shadow possessed a body, instead of a body having a shadow. This Beast[/color] defied physics and creation: what appeared as a shadow of a wolf seemed to have a glowing body of a human child standing far in the center of the Great Forest[/color]. Even in the dead of the night, one could easily see the light this being seemed to give off. What disturbed me more than the body, which had a wolf's shadow, was how the shadow...felt cold.

"It's a boy!" one of the villages had cried out.
"Don't be an idiot. That's clearly a wolf!" another had yelled.

I had turned to face the villagers, piercing their blank stares with my rage. They were silenced, some retreating into the safety of the elders. As I faced the ignorant, the Beast[/color] rubbed its leg against my body. I felt the sudden urge to scream, not out of fear, but with a fury equaled to a raging caretaker against a troublesome brat.

"What child has a monster's shadow?" a young child's voice asked, at which my head snapped in the direction. There seemed to be a strange presence, foreign, in my mind which seemed to have a strong urge to play. I stared at the shadow, returning my gaze from the child, feeling as if I had been violated in a way no human had ever experienced before. Not my body, but my very soul, and all the secrets it contained of my personal life and dreams. "We all acknowledge the terror you bring, yet you continue to hold us with silent tongues," the child spoke once more. It was at that moment that something...unearthly compelled me to follow the Beast[/color] into the Great Forest[/color]. The villagers cried out in angst, but a violent thrust of my palm silenced their facetiousness.

"Weep tears of sorrow not for me, but for you own damnation. I know who was to be chose to feed them...my own child. You replace me because I don't accept the fate we've been given; with me gone my baby will not know of me, the truth, or the knowledge I bare of the Far-snow Country[/color]. She will never hear the truth." I was tempted to reach into the crowd for my child, as if that would draw her to me, yet I felt a stronger attraction to the Beast.

As I followed the shadow of a wolf, I called to the glowing boy many hundreds of meters ahead of us. As his head turned to face me, I suddenly felt winded as I now stared the glowing child. He appeared to be incredibly depressed, a heavy sense of sorrow etched in his eyes. Yet as I tried to understand his face, I gently reached for the boy. He was gone then, already us through the Great Forest[/color] at an uneasy distance.

"Why do you stray so far ahead? Is it your wish to give me to the vines of the Great Forest[/color], wretched monster?" I bit the last word hard, for I could not clearly express my sheer disgust, though it was not aimed at the strange creature.

It's best to convey speech to my body, and not the reflection in the mirror. As I tried to make sense of who, or what, this statement referred to, the shadow spoke to me again. Why do you call me, us, Beasts?

"We fear you and do not know yours names. Things that are more ancient than us terrify us more than what we don't know." A deep breath, I forced myself to speak to the darkness, weary of the answers I might receive. "Why do you respond to such a name, if it holds place as an insult?"

You are all the same, fearing knowledge more than ignorance...I wonder if you will change in the End. The shadow's almost painted jaws moved up and down, three teeth on top and partners on the bottom gnashing together. Despite being made of the enemy of light, the grinding of bones against each other was blood-curdling, making the hair on my arms fling upwards to the sky. It seemed as if it was imitating the first laugh, its face twisted and contorted into a forced smile, many snarls hidden behind years of time failing to learn. The name you give us is out of fear. You would only become angered to know our purpose. Raising an eyebrow at the shadow, I hoped to convey my best effort to show my curiosity without expressing any negative emotions. In the Far-snow we are called the Opportunities. I could not hold back my amusement and so I chortled. I should have not committed such a wrongful act in the presence of an Opportunity, but my doubt surfaced. The shadow's teeth moved back and forth across each other, and I cringed. I had angered the Beasts[/color] and for that I was truly fearful of what it would do. This is why the Opportunities exists, to punish those who do not believe! I can see that they did not choose wrong when you were sacrificed to me, though I would have taken you regardless of who the ancients who lead you chose.[/quote]

[Gally G6]

"Why did you choose me?" There was an uncomfortable absence of fear, sadness...anything. I just just felt...empty. "Was my birth merely to embrace death with arms wide open?" I did not fear death now. It was the strangest feeling. I was flooded with the mentality and tiredness of no longer caring. I just wanted to give up and close my eyes to whatever was ahead.

Foolish human! Are you so ignorant to think we desire the destruction of life?! Without you, I cannot be! I simply stared at the animated shadow off into the distance. You would not survive without us...nor can we live without your constant birthing. The tone in the creature's voice was cruel, bitter. I felt how much it loathed its bondage to humanity. You keep us alive! We keep you safe from those from the Far-snow who may seek harm to you. The wolf-shadow circled my legs, as if debating which appeared more succulent. A sharp pain shot up my leg, then vanished in an instant. I smelled it before I noticed the sappy, crimson liquid dripping down my shin. Did you feel that? The voice in my mind that was not my own had no care about my well-being. No, it simply seemed to be taunting my mortality as if trying to prove something.

An image flashed across the recesses of my mind, an elderly man with receding blonde hair upon a bald crown. Before I could even react the memory was gone. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I clawed desperately at the barrier in my mind to give way. I wanted to know why this man came to my mind when the creature chewed on my ankle.

"You trapped us here against our will. We have lived with your company for plenty of generations to have been subjected to the Passing. We can give nothing more than the soil we were made from." I stared deeply at the creature, and it truly felt as though in that moment it knew me inside and out. "If we had souls, I'm sure that would please you above all else...to feel emotions, pain, anything. So, I'm curious, how am I any different? What makes me so special that even the elders suggested me for the Passing? Why, after all our years of bondage, have the males never been chosen? What do women possess that please you so?"

I felt a hot, stank breath upon my legs. The creature was frustrated, annoyed that I didn't understand the fate of our little village. Teeth ripped into my bare foot; it was this moment in which I let all my inhibitions leave me. A heart of pure gold...a human being completely illuminated, as if a small sun existed in every pore. Swarms of multi-colored heart-shaped bubbles swam around my eyes. Women could give birth, perhaps some had radiant personalities, but what did that have to do with creature? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Messengers of the Great Forest

[/color] would not send such an easy riddle. I no longer had any fear of the Beast[/color]. It had awakened something inside me, a feeling which instilled a new terror: oblivion. I did not understand. I had opened up myself to the Opportunity[/i] and yet I still stood breathing. Anger flushed through me once more as I felt another bite, this time as if the creature was eating into my very mind: images flooded my senses, overwhelming me. My breathing became ragged, yet I could not shake off the terror of this strange knowledge.

I, we, need your help. Those who had been chosen were not of the right requirement. You are of an age where you body had begun a miraculous gift. An ability women were given, something hidden upon creation which could trump all those who opposed them. To create something precious, a life, from nothing but your blood. Don't you remember? Don't you get it?! The creature was hopeful, yet I could recall only images of smiling humans. I was silent, my voice unable to find its way into my body. Your gift, Luma, is something much more grand than any man could ever achieve. The Beast remained silent for a moment. Do you understand stand why you know of the Far-snow Country, why you remember faces from that place? Yet the life here is non-existant? Look around you, Luma...you are the only being in this village who has darkness following her.

Not once had I ever thought about my lack of darkness, asif that prat of me had been...erased. I looked around my body. Sure enough, as the Beast had pointed out, my darkness was the only shadow in the Great Forest[/color]. How did this creature notice something so obvious when the idea had never even crossed my mind? At this point I was now eyeing the Beast[/color] wearily, now realizing how dangerous these beings really could be.

We are closer than you think, Luma. I stared at the Beast, absolutely clueless. Do you know who I am called Luma-Kujubaima Tokoyorokobi? Don't you remember anything?! There was a sense of something digging into the back of my skull...a hint of frustration maybe, or perhaps simply anxiety. I didn't understand these Beasts[/color]. One moment they were terrifying, the next whispering your life back to you. The Great Shift, Luma! Remember the Great Shift! The Beast was frantic now, clearly flustered by my lack of memory as I was. I could tell you, I would! Then it wouldn't happen, and everything would be for naught.

As I tried to make sense of what the creature was saying, everything began to become more blurred the more I thought about it. I just shook my head in denial, as if I knew that all this was a mistake. I wasn't some grand savior with this great gift the creature keep talking about. I was the daughter of a simple man, helping the coil within us breath steadily. I was no more special then the next Coilhealer; while others, the matriarch included, wielded materials from the Great Forest[/color] I was taught to use no more than my own two hands. I just had to think about someone's tainted coil, and synchronize with it so the helping would begin shortly after.

I didn't really know how to explain it, the way I helped others' coil sift out the toxic ideals and nightmares. Pain was the perfect kick, and so I searched for that trigger first. Clearing all molevolent intentions and mistakes from my mind, I just felt for the trouble and pulled it into myself. I'd felt their pain, bringing me to the edge when it was deadly. Yet, even after every encounter with losing my grasp, after it all was over I felt...warm.

Once again, I felt something make contact with my thigh. Sticky yet flowing, the coil, my life poured out. I let the sappy stuff run free, purging my body of all harmful thoughts and enemies. I had a sudden desire to see what the Beast[/color] where its poison resided even though this was against all laws of Coilhealing, but I tried to help anyway. I placed my hand on the wolf-shadow, which had taken its place as my own darkness. My mind was violently and immediately molested with all I felt, every little horror of what was to come. I would not accept that as my fate. Knowledge of who I really was, my purpose and what my gift entailed, was to be my own demise.

You will change the world, Luma.[/quote]

[vegapunk]

SPOILER: Click to show

Death is a debt we must all pay, but it can be something from which new life is formed. People do not die for us immediately, they remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality, but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is this form that can polarize an individual to become something, do something, beyond means that they thought they were capable of. Some would call it....love after lose.

The Great War was a conflict that had been unseen for many decades. Something that wasn't meant to last any longer than a few weeks had seemed to span a life-time fueling hate, destruction, and most of all death. But, even among all the uncertainty and pain of war a flower can blossom. This flower was the beginning of the birth of Munashi, Eiichiro. Two enemy shinobi engaged on a battlefield ridden with blood and dirt smelling of rotten corpses and explosive powder. Heightened senses used for avoiding danger and keeping one alive were enlightened by another, mostly opposing force. A force of love. A Kumogakure shinobi would catch and hold the gaze of a young beautiful blonde-haired Konohagakure kunoichi. Even with the flashing lights and overwhelming sound which war brought with it, these two individuals found a connection within it. Under a clear night sky with the stars above as a witness they lay together in the night. The thrill of battle rushing through their veins and the calm of being held by another closed the pain of the outside world away from them. For that moment in time, just that moment, it was just them, and only them.

But the curse of suffering and hate could not be so easily escaped from. The night would pass as dawn broke and they would become enemies again. They were no longer two individuals compelled together by natural forces beyond their control, they were now two individuals who held an insignia upon their forehead which symbolized the conflicting ideals, customs and norms of the countries they had sworn their full allegiance to. These two would ever see each other again after that single night, the only reminder was what that one fateful night had conjured up, a new life amid death. Travelling back to her home village after years of war she would return with a prize she would have never imagined attaining in such a place. A true miracle, a single flower blossoming on a arid plain. She would treasure this gift forever up until they day she died. She would do anything for her child which she named Eiichiro. She was not ashamed of how he came about or from where he was conceived. He was hers, and hers only. She knew that she would never see the man from Kumogakure ever again, not even knowing if he had survived the rest of the war. But, it would not stop her mind of reliving the moments they had together, of feeling his skin touch hers. Hand to hand, toe to toe, and lip to lip these memories would fate over time but the feeling would flicker in her heart like a flame in the darkness.

This fateful event would spark the beginning of Eiichiro's life. Growing up as a child he could only remember being happy. It was just him and his mother living together within the confines of Konohagakure. Like many children he found peace and stability in a place was not so peaceful and stable. The villages after the war were in ruins, whole generations lost there was pressure to keep older shinobi active in the workforce and to promote and train younger and younger children in ninpou. Work was scarce and now that Eiichiro's okaasan had a baby she was weary of staying as an active kunoichi in the village, even when her passion for being one ran so deep. She loved what she did but she loved her son even more. Knowing what she had to do the women stepped down from mission beyond the walls as he had to care for her son. This limited her to a measly pay-roll like that of a genin, doing simple missions for limited Ryō. This compounded stress upon stress as the demand for money was overwhelming. How could she support her child like this?

One of the memories that Eiichiro could remember vividly of his children were they long nights. He could hear is okaasan screaming in terror so loud that while still within the house it could be heard over blocks. Her bed soaked with sweat and sheets ripped-up like paper the sadness and fear oozed from her nightmare's. The days of the war would not be so easily forgotten and to Eiichiro's dismay it would take a great toll on his okaasan. Every night she would find it difficult to sleep, tossing and turning while screaming at the top of her lungs. It it hard to imagine the pain and suffer one has seen on a battlefield and having to relive it in your dreams every night is a cursed paradox that would drive healthy man to his grave. Eiichiro had noticed change in his okaasan. She was not the same person as she was before as time took its toll on her mentally. She drank much more heavily and stayed out long into the night stumbling home knocking over glass bottles and wooden draws before making her descent towards her bed. Perhaps she thought this could fate the memories of war from her mind, if she could just escape the irreconcilable pain then all would be good again. However the drinking was soon followed by gambling as she would stay out to the early hours of the morning throwing the little money they had away in an effort to be gifted more. This once beautiful and full-of-life lady was now demeaned and looked down upon all because of her valiant service.

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[vegapunk]

The hardships would soon become harder as the two were kicked out of their home, unable to afford the rent anymore. Eiichiro didn't know what was going on, only knowing that his okaasan was not the same person as she once was. They would move into a small single house outside the wall of Konohagakure. A quiet and reclusive life his okaasan would still disappear for long periods of the day but come back to see and comfort him. He remembered days were he would sit on her lap while she sang an old war song and wrote in her leather-bound journal falling asleep in the comfort of her arms. So still and peaceful it was as if nothing else mattered at the time, not where they lived or how they could afford it. However, when Eiichiro was around the age of five he noticed his mothers movements were not as sharp and crisp as they used to be. She would drop cups and plates unexpectedly as he found it hard to control the shaking in her hands. This would rile her into fits of rage wondering why she couldn't do any simple tasks anymore. As the years passed her condition worsened to the point where Eiichiro would have to look after her. He had reached the age where he could enter the academy and there was nothing else than his okaasan wanted for him than to become a ninja like she was, to enjoy and be a part of something much greater than this.

But Eiichiro couldn't afford to leave her side as her health seemed to dwindle every year that passed. Her eye's began to slowly shrink within their sockets and her once porcelain white-skin start to flake like pastry. He went to the Yamanaka clan headquarters to try and get help from them, her own clan. They tried everything they could to her mental state probing into her mind to see if they could find the cause of this crippling virus, but to no avail. ti was truly a tragedy to see someone as young as her with a small child to be crippled by such a disease. Unable to control her movements her hands and legs would shake making even walking a difficult feat. He couldn't even hold the pen in her hand to write in her journal anymore leaving her with no medium to vent. She was not a naive women however, she had seen these symptoms coming. But it would leave her crying herself to sleep every night only to awakened once again by her own screaming and turning brought about by her nightmare's. She was trapped in the shell which would bring her no peace and no calm a vessel from which she could not venture from that would limit her capacity of life forever and always. Eiichiro didn't mind though all he wanted was for his okaasan to live. He wanted to be with her and her with him. In the end he was the only thing that kept her going.

However, on one fateful night their bond would be severed completely with no regression to be imposed. This was the single night that he would never forget, that would stay etched into the the darkest corners of his mind unable to be shaken off or driven away. The cold still night beckoned as the Eiichiro and his okaasan lay asleep together in her bed peacefully, Eiichiro wrapped within her arms. Unaware to the both of them would the sounds of rustling clothing and light 'clank' of heels dropping on a cobble path. Three individual sets of sounds all unique would encompass the house while the two resided within its walls. The sound of soft muttering as the figures spoke outside could be heard while a single owl would watch over from a tree above. Decked in black clothing from head to toe with black masks on it would be known to a later date that they were here to settle a score his Eiichiro's okaasan. She had owed their boss gambling debts far exceeding what she could ever afford to pay off, and now they were getting retribution for that fact. What she couldn't pay with Ryō she would pay with her life. The splashing of liquid could be heard splattering on the walls of their simple wooden home as it ran down the outsides of the walls. No tact or stealth was now in play as the sounds from the exterior would wake both Eiichiro and his mother up. Startled and confused their fates would be tied to the single flicker of a match as it is throw onto the wall of their home.

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[vegapunk]

Ignition..

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The house became a lit with fire thwarting the basic and cheap wood as it stood no chance against the allure of the lambent flames which kissed its edges. Screaming in terror Eiichiro and his okaasan would crawl from their bed as the once cold night started to become hotter with every passing moment. From outside the howling of laughter could be heard like a pack of hyena's playing with their dinner. "You knew this was coming Mugani you only have yourself to blame. You should have paid off your debts, we told you our boss is an impatient man." Like a sheet of paper Eiichiro's okaasan's face turned pale. What had she done. Bursting through the door the men would make their way into the house by kicking down the door. They wanted to see the pain on her face as she left the world they wanted to torture and taunt her as she took her dying breathe, as if she wasn't in effort pain as it was. Standing to her frail feet she would turn to her son as a single tear rolled down the side of her face. She would stumble to the top draw and grab her leather-bound journal and push it into Eiichiro's arms.Go Eiichiro! you have to run away. Promise me you will run and ever look back for anything. Promise me!. The words pushed their her weak body to come out strong and bold, like that of her old-self. Eiichiro, with tears rolling down his face like ragging torrents of water shook his head profusely, he wouldn't leave his okaasan he just wouldn't.

But the look in her eye was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was the will of a women who knew her fate, of a women who knew what he had to do to save the life of the one she loved. In Eiichiro she would live on to forever watch over and be a part of his life."GO EIICHIRO NOW! YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE THEY WILL KILL YOU AND I WONT ALLOW THAT. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND NEVER LOOK BACK! PROMISE ME THAT." As if a compulsion of his own his body start to move as he escaped out the back exit. The exterior wall of the bed had completely caved in as Eiichiro ran through the shearing flames to the outside. Clothes burnt through and licking his skin the pain was unbearable for the small seven year old but he faught on doing what his okaasan had said. Running as fast as he could and never looking back. With the leather-bound journal in his arms he ran deep into the forest tripping over roots of tree's and stumbling through bushes as tears streamed down his face. Only the sound of his screaming voice "MOTHER! MOOOTHER!" could be heard as he ran through the ever deeper into the forest. Back at the home his okaasan would confront those people who invaded her home. She would buy her son some time trying to fend of the men who had came to rape and kill her.

Standing brittle before them she would try and form handseals and form the Yamanaka hand symbol. But, she still couldn't control her movements, her hands were shaking and weak to the point where she couldn't even mold chakra. One man leap't forward using his hand to smack her to the ground. "Look she isn't even worth it, she is just a drugged up old hag. Quick lets go before the house burns down on-top of us." As the three men left they spat on her body as she lay half limp on the ground. Running and howling as they left they would soon vanish into the darkness leaving a single home with a single women to burn alive into the night .With an orchestra of explosions her fate was sealed but she was content. Laying on the ground only a slight smile could be seen stretched across her face. She had done enough to ensure the survival of her son for just this moment. Sad that she would not be able to protect him for his life she was glad that he had the journal with him. Eiichiro I love you and will always be by your side. Remember that." The words were spoken softly, out-loud, as the explosions riddled their way through the wooden frames. It would be known that Eiichiro hid in a line of bushes in the forest for sixteen hours more huddled in a ball on the ground sobbing unprofusely. He was now truly alone in the world, a seven-year old orphan who had lost everything he had ever loved.
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