Winter Wonderland [P]

[yōmi]

(冬の楽園) – Yuki Rakuen (Winters Paradise)

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IIC 48 hours

[yōmi]

[glow=red,2,300]NI Jū J I N K A K U[/glow]
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] fountain forever screaming in eternity from those who’d not heeded the warning. The fountain glows so you can see it even a mile away – its radiance beckoning to all yukina within the vicinity. I could hear loose footsteps other than mine along the tree-tops and off to the side but those treks would not register to me personally for I knew that we were all here for the same purpose… power. Burgundy pools of hue transpired towards the monument which stood tall within the back of the fountain.

It were a dark and secretive looking door but the sculpture of the Yukina’s founder points to its direction giving us all hope as we come across the borders to the land of Yuki Rakuen – a safe haven to us yuki ninja who have no other place to go now. I stopped short where the stream started to catch a feel of the wind that captured me so swiftly. My body calmed as if it were being hugged by the alms of this cold entity. Red oculars scattered across the few silhouettes I’d heard travelling aside me earlier. One of those silhouettes I did not see.

I angled my shoulder diagonally backwards to the forest . . . and there it was; another person. My eyes fell lifelessly back toward the horizon where I stepped a bit closer to the waters. My reflection gleamed back at me with a smolder – I was pretty handsome but looks in this world didn’t really get you anywhere other than the dirt where someone else thought you should have been. I wasn’t one of those people who got pushed around helplessly… I am more of the person who likes to be beaten up first so that my anger can fuel out after I’ve gotten mad. My fists tightened to the thought hoping that someone pursued me.

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] she responded whilst turning around and blowing me a kiss.

My heart jumped simultaneously as my steps continued. I was smiling the entire way down the path of water which travelled against the way we were all going. It took stamina to get to this place but for a yukina it were a walk in the park to reach our destinations simply because we could manifest ice in the blink of an eye. Thinking of my clan only made me think even harder about where my folks were. The only thing I remember before leaving Yuki no Kuni on my vacation from training with the Oinin was that I woke up in a mind-chamber.

Usually when people wake up in a mind-chamber their memories are being erased because they’d done something very terrible. What was so terrible for me to have done..? There were a lot of loose-ends I needed to tie a knot into before I could return back to Yuki. So I’d keep true to the things my mother had told me about – maybe they would trigger some form of flashback if I were to visit the places she’d been within the past. It was a silly thought, honestly, but it was all I had to go off of seeing as I couldn’t question the ANBU – they would have me thrown out for treason.

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] I murmured softly; this time, without much tone so that she couldn’t hear me. A golden spring were her hair and her eyes were blue moons. That’s all I can really think about when looking at her.. she looked pretty good. I couldn’t’ take my eyes off her honestly but I’d have to in order to play the ‘cool cat.’

‘Hey its you again! What brings you to Rakuen. . ?’ she said in a squeaky after-tone. I didn’t mind it at all although it did make me scratch the lobes of my ear a bit before responding. My eyes fell upon her entire figure as I halted my trek to regain consciousness. ‘I…uh. Well, its sort of a long story you see? I don’t really think you’d want to know all that..’ I said, picking up my steps once more so that she didn’t ask me another sensitive question. Geez, girls sure do know how to ask you questions that make you stammer.

She seemed pretty good for it too – its as if she had my entire life programmed in her head; full of questions and curiosity. Her head cocked to the side as she asked me questions. ‘oh, hmm maybe some other time then? Whats your name?’ she said almost standing directly an inch away from me. She had slid all the way down here and her ice path had just stopped inches before mine. I tried pretty hard not to get turned on by the distance she’d given me. With a finger I’d push her collarbone so that she’d get the idea that I was uncomfortable. ‘My name’s Shinzo-kori, and yeah, maybe some other time . . ’

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] she said in a vanishing spree of hail. My face remained calm although she’d left a debris of water upon my visage. I wiped my face off before continuing my slow-paced walk towards the entrance of this place. Pity, I wish I could have gotten her name in return but I guess I did come off as a little harsh. I couldn’t help it – I was a chaotic bastard who didn’t really give a shit about forming bonds . . . no matter how cute the person is.

As I reached a certain point possibly 15 meters from the actual fountain a greater chill became present upon me. My jacket even seemed to tighten around my muscles a bit as I took the last steps upon the stream – giving a giant leap to land upon the blank sheet of snow which surrounded the fountain. My peripheral glanced a bit towards the left to see the entrance where the blonde haired girl had gone. So far it was the only door I’d noted but something even more strange brought my attention back towards the fountain.

In a litter, it seemed, people had gathered around the fountain in a frozen manifest. They were lifeless creatures that would break instantly if you touched them. I didn’t want to take my chances so I left them alone. With a few steps I found myself closer to the fountain peering down into the strange liquid which filled its decadent area. To my surprise it were just normal water swirling around in a blue aura. The people who placed their hands in this stream must have thought the water were just a cold substance sustaining the name for “ice” because of its freezing touch. . . but they would have been wrong in fact.

This stream was living off of them – the yukina blood were blue pouring out into its waters seemingly unfit for any man or woman. I gave a good five minutes before turning back around towards the entrance I’d seen the hotty run into. If my mother had done something significant here I’m sure I would have faltered under some form of vision or flashback… hell anything. My steps thudded within the snow as I came towards the entrance of the building. . . my hand etching forth to enter the door.

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[yōmi]

[glow=red,2,300]NI Jū J I N K A K U[/glow]
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] she said bellowing her voice… it echoed throughout the hall and after she’d heard herself she continued by placing her mouth over her hand. I was pretty embarrassed myself but after seeing the white tunics on a table beside me I figured why not?

I started stripping – taking my pants off and my shirt until the girl beside me started giggling a bit. ‘whats so funny..!?’ I yelled out, not really giving a damn about who heard me. She covered my mouth for me and held her other hand up towards the man who looked to me like the owner of the dojo… or maybe even the master of the dojo. My eyebrow cocked up after looking at him once in an accepted look of coolness. I turned my attention back to the blondie as I took the tunic from the table, pushing it over my naked body soon after taking my original clothes on.

I kept my nodaichi hidden beneath the second robe which acted as a cloak without a hood, no one would really notice I had it unless I sat on the ground hard. After I’d gotten the gear on she grabbed my hand and ran towards two empty seats on the right side of us. She sat down and patted on the pillow next to her gesturing me to do the same. My hands ran through my hair before I sat down to seem cool though the only person who seemed to notice were the bald headed bearded man within the center of us all.

I could hardly hear what he was saying. ‘Can you hear what he’s saying..?! Hey! Baldy! I can’t hear you!’ I said out of frustration. This shit didn’t make any sense to me and I was definitely not getting any flashback from my subconscious memories. The bald guy disappeared right in front of me and re-appeared at the same initial time. I was jacked up by my robes before I could even say ‘what the fuck is this!? put me down you geezer!’ He chuckled a bit before letting me loose towards the back end of the wall. ‘get out. . . you are not wanted here gaijin..’ he said. Gaijin meant outsider… I was no outsider I was the same as everyone else here!

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] he said in a smirk. The grey hairs protruding form his mouth to his chin were very long and I felt like snatching it right off of his face to relieve him of any smile he could conjure up.

I had respect for my elders though in that sort of way. I guess cussing at him ticked him off because I was feeling pretty bruised only from the two hits that he’d given me. I was nothing but an icicle to the oncoming wave of the avalanche of snow he’d just thrown at me. Eyes reverted back to distant positions – I’d seen the blondie looking at me sticking her tongue out. Boy she was immature but I guess I deserved that too seeing as I’d badmouthed her not too long ago. She must have still been holding that grudge in.

A middle finger cocked out from my left fist as the old geezer let my neck go. I was already purple-eyed and bleeding. The middle finger was all I could really do because my stamina was utterly shit. I was a man of tactical illusion and surprise attack – there was no way I could fully compete with a person attempting to rip me limb from limb right then and there. I awaited to stand but just as I’d gained enough strength to push myself up he’d land another kick – blind-sighted towards my jaw. That was all I could take before blacking out.

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] I shouted aloud trying to hold myself up. I was sore as hell for some reason. ‘Calm down! He’s not here just yet you can kill him once your wounds have healed now lay back down!’ said a squinty voice. Wait. . . I knew that squinty voice. It were the same voice that followed me just as I’d stepped foot upon the stream. ‘Blondie!?’ I shouted aloud after she’d pushed my head back down. I couldn’t resist because my muscles were tense.

‘Yep, that’s me. But you can call me Inochi-izumi. It means fountain of youth. . .’ she responded whilst dipping a cloth in a hot water-bowl and placing it over my chest. All the while I can remember saying ‘that’s a beautiful name. . .’ and afterwards she responded ‘thank you, so is shinzo-kori, it’s nice.’ After that I completely blanked out once more falling into the deepest of the pits of my own subconscious where I could lay my head to rest. The next time I were to awake would be the day I would challenge that geezer.


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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

[/i] she calmly stated to me in the heat of the moment.

‘Yeah I’m starving actually,’ I responded getting up fully to meet her halfway. There was a grilled cheese sandwich and some orange juice. She seemed very tired as I walked up to her. My shirt was off and I was bandaged up pretty heavily though the wounds it seemed to be covering did not give any shed of pain now. ‘Oh, well good. Yozi wishes to train with you in the afternoon, he says you owe him a beat down or something like that. . .’ she said with a smirk. I calmly took the tray from her and chuckled a bit and later responded ‘Fucking geezer. Hell yeah we have unfinished business.’

‘You should be more kind to him. He didn’t kick you out he let you stay here well over a week..’ she stated whilst taking a seat next to me and leaning her head on my shoulder. I spit out my food. A fucking week? ‘A…. a fucking week?!’ I said looking towards her in surprise. She had dozed off pretty quickly and though I was an asshole I wasn’t the type to just leave a girl leaning on a wooden seat for a bed. The least I could do would be to give her a shoulder to lean on.

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[yōmi]

NI Jū J I N K A K U
chapter I - the fountain

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[yōmi]

/exit.