under the falling sky

[daisy]

new world coming ♥

Upon exiting the council chambers, the sky itself was in turmoil. As shinobi dashed to ensure the safety of the village, I made my way to my favourite vantage point, a lonely stretch of stone, rarely populated by Iwagakure citizens. It was quite the sight. The sky, clear and calm before my entry to the council, was now a roiling sea of dark and disturbed clouds, and if I wasn't mistake, they were gravitating towards a focal point... but where? To the east, but far enough to be the land of lightning? Perhaps the north of the land of fire... or one of the minor countries? And, for that matter, what on earth was it?

As I watched, the event seemed to reach it's denouement, a wild culmination, and the noise crashed throughout the sky. This was more than a powerful jutsu, this was entirely beyond anything I'd seen before! And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was finished, leaving behind a brand of light that pierced the sky. Even being able to see it from so far was a testament to whatever enormous power was conducting such a display, and I wrapped my arms about myself, trying to suppress a chill that had run through my body.

The light didn't seem to be dissipating, and the eerie noise that had accompanied the whole event played still in the background. Despite the immense distance, I had always been sensitive to chakra, and I almost formed the sensory handseal, as if I could identify this occurrence in some way. But I was the Tsuchikage now, I would have to identify this occurrence, in whatever capacity I could. Scouts would need to be sent, but...


It unnerved me, this monstrous demonstration of power. An ancient, forbidden jutsu? A summoning of some unearthly power? Anybody I sent would likely be in grave danger. Could I go myself? I was as curious as I was cautious, and I would not feel guilt if I attended to the investigation myself. Oh, what on earth was going on? My petty power squabbles with the council seemed rather insignificant now. Come now darling, you are perfectly capable of addressing this! A decision must be made, of course, but what to do...

[Hotaru]

Off with his head!"'

`How dreadfully savage!' exclaimed Alice.

`And ever since that,' the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, `he won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now.'

A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.

`Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

`Then you keep moving round, I suppose?' said Alice.

`Exactly so,' said the Hatter: `as the things get used up.'

`But what happens when you come to the beginning again?' Alice ventured to ask.

BOOM!

A thunderous charge detonated in the distance, causing Hotaru to (finally) pry herself from her book. Eyes since glued to written word on page turned to the horizon to discover that the azure skies of the morning had been stained the color of iron with dark smudges of charcoal generously smeared in the distance.

Hmmmm....how odd.

The Iwagakure Chuunin pondered to herself. Under normal circumstances, the time spent dedicated to thinking of the anomaly of weather would have stopped there, but storm clouds that dark were normally harbingers of a great deluge (one her book was sure not to survive.)

Hotaru preferred reading outdoors under normal circumstances. The light from the sun was much better than what shone from a lantern indoors. Besides that, Hotaru's apartment was particularly cramped after a rather lucrative mission to Kaze no Kuni afforded her allowance to raid a few book and antiquities shops. She had relocated to a relatively secluded ledge earlier in the day some distance from the heart of the village. Descending from her perch, she landed back on the path to encounter none other than the Tsuchikage herself.

"Tut tut...looks like rain!"

Hotaru said cheerfully as the sky continued to growl with a guttural timbre. While most shinobi in the Iwagakure ranks would have offered a far more formal greeting, the Shiranui clan had been in the employ of generations of Tsuchikage serving as architects, artisans, and... demolition specialists. In fact, any citizen of Iwagakure would be hard pressed to find a building in the village free of Shiranui fingerprints. Because of this, the clan is one of the most respected in the city and Hotaru grew up surrounded by high ranking diplomats and officers as family friends. Mostly oblivious to the rarity of this privilege, Hotaru addresses almost no one with conventional esteem and thinks nothing of it.

[daisy]

ask alice, when she's ten feet tall ♥

My gaze set so intently upon the ominous sky, I almost didn't notice the girl's arrival. It was quite the rarity, my being caught off guard, a testament perhaps to how deeply the occurrence had unsettled me. Her entirely irreverent comment rather disrupted the gravity of the situation, and I smiled.
"I rather think that the least of our worries, Hotaru," while I was not quite as diligent as to have learned the names of all my shinobi, the girl came from a particularly prestigious clan, and was a chuunin. On a personal level, I also had quite the appreciation for her artistic temperament, a value so little encouraged by our dear, goal-oriented council.

My eyes, however, still did not leave the sight before us. It was strangely beautiful, really, despite hinting at such upheaval.
"Quite the spectacle, no? I appreciate the flair for dramatics, if nothing else," I was relieved to find myself able to make light of the situation, perhaps taking my cue from the seemingly unaffected kunoichi.
"What do you make of it?"

Her arrival also served as something of a prompt. I ought to select shinobi to investigate the situation, but with no knowledge of its nature, making that choice was difficult. They would need to be capable, if nothing else.

[Hotaru]

"Dunno."

She replied simply, now paying a bit more attention to the mysterious tempest that engulfed the horizon.

"We Shiranui are no strangers to...theatrics but even I've never seen something on this scale. Still, I find it hard to believe that this is purely a natural phenomenon"

Her arms came to rest behind her head, sharing the sight with casual interest.

"It's hard to tell from this distance...but given its position I would venture to say Ta no Kuni is the likely epicenter."

Blessed with a home among the highest peaks in the world, Iwagakure was privy to an unhindered view of the lands below. Though thousands of miles separated them from the tempest, it appeared as clear as if it were happening in their own boarders to Hotaru and her Kage. Having traveled the continent extensively and by studying and creating maps, Hotaru was able to hazard a guess as to the location of the storm.

[daisy]

follow me down ♥

Ah, the land of tea... I knew little of the place, and news of its shinobi village had been nonexistent, if it was in fact still active. Still, it was only an estimation. The fact remained, it was almost certainly closest to the land of fire, meaning that were we not quick, Konoha shinobi would have established control of the area before we arrived. We? Had I subconsciously made my decision?

"I suppose the most pressing question is who to send? I'll admit I'm dreadfully curious, fancy an outing?" Despite the chuunin's rather... casual level of respect, and her independent nature, her dossier marked her as capable, and she would doubtless be an asset should we encounter anything particularly troubling. Yet I was still the Tsuchikage, and although the council would adore the chance to dance upon my grave, they would look down on me taking only one escort. We had to display strength, especially were we to chance upon foreign shinobi.

"Yes, I think it's quite settled. I apologise for taking you away from your book, do make sure you're prepared, won't you?" I turned, walking back down the mountainous path, past the girl,
"I'll rustle up a travelling companion, meet us at the gates shortly, darling!"

My first outing as Tsuchikage... Better do it in style now.

/exit

[Hotaru]

"But...

She exhaled in protest, staring longingly at the novel she had only half finished. Though she wanted nothing more than to shirk her duties in order to finish her book, she supposed there would be plenty of time on the way.

"I will meet you at the gates then. Dress warm, the air is chilly when we get up high."

If there was going to be any chance of getting reading done on this trip, they would have to travel by air. But before that could happen, she would have to make a stop and pick up quite a bit of clay.

/exit

[Anmida]

Grade score: