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Hedoro

Hedoro opened her eyes wide, as she realized she was back in the accursed hallway. She didn't know if that was a curse or a blessing. On the one hand, she was trapped once more, with no fresh air or freedom. But on the other hand, she didn't have to see the depths of cruelty to which she had so willingly descended only a short time ago. She wasn't that much different now, she felt, but even so, something about watching herself from outside of herself made it seem even worse. She hadn't had to kill those three, she could have let them go on their

way. They might not have even bothered her. But it was too late for second thoughts, they'd been dead for some time. And to be perfectly honest, she wasn't so much regretting killing them, but more, she regretted letting herself act the way she did back then. Those three, by themselves, meant nothing to her, nothing more than any other human. But still, the way she'd savagely provoked and then murdered them, that she couldn't allow. If she were to act out of control like that, it was hard to say just what might happen. More people might be

alerted to her existence, and she could even be taken back to that dark room again, and never given another chance to escape. The fact that they'd never come after her after that incident surprised her, perhaps she was just paranoid? With good reason, of course, because they were out to get her. But even so, there was a limit to what paranoia could sensibly allow. She would simply have to deal with everything in it's proper course, not let insubstantial worries overtake her instincts. She was stronger now, much stronger. If she ever found a way out of this

never-ending hallway, she could show them. Although, it might be better to ignore them, unless they chose to start something with her once more. Yes, it would be wise to act prudently in that situation. Seeking out strong opponents to become stronger herself was one thing, but foolishly provoking too many battles could eventually see her overwhelmed. She'd have to be a bit more selective in how often she allowed herself to cut loose, as it were. As it was now, however, it didn't matter what she'd decided on, though. She was still in this hallway, with

who knew how many more doors that she would eventually have to go through. She had a sinking feeling the rest would be just as painful and uncomfortable as the ones she'd already completed. But if that was the case, then perhaps she could try to rush through them, get through them all as fast as she was able to. Not very likely, considering just how much walking it had taken to get from door to door so far. But even so, perhaps she could try. She'd successfully gone through three doorways, so that was a start, at least. She got up off of the ground, and

straightened her posture, before looking around herself a little more closely. Sure enough, she didn't see the door that she had passed through just recently, just as she had expected. That was a good thing, otherwise she could find herself going into the same door over and over again. They all looked precisely the same, so without an indicator, she'd have no way of really telling just which one she'd gone through beforehand. There was nothing more she could do at the moment, she she oriented herself as best as she could, and started to proceed further

down the hall. She moved at a brisk pace, although not flat-out running. Despite how quickly she'd learned, it hadn't been all that long since she'd first learned to walk, after all. Running was in and of itself another challenge she'd have to come to grips with, sooner or later. That, and she felt somehow sure that no matter how fast she ran, it wouldn't hasten the appearance of the next door. She wasn't exactly eager to face the next door, she was eager to be done with it, just as she was eager to be freed of this unending prison. So she moved at a decent pace,

fast enough that she felt she was making progress, but not rapidly enough that she would tire out, or stumble. Although, now that she thought of it, ever since she left that first room and moved into this hallway, she hadn't really felt tired, even during the few moments that she had moved faster. It wasn't something she felt like experimenting with, but she tucked the idea aside, hopefully she'd keep it in mind for later perusal. She stopped herself from drowning in her thoughts, making sure to keep her attention on the walls blurring past her, keeping a sharp eye out

for the next door. And then, almost too soon for her to even recognize the fact, it was there. So much sooner than the other three had revealed themselves, she paused. The fact that it had shown up so quickly was different, true. But that might not be a bad thing. The last three rooms had all brought back rather unpleasant memories, after all. That wouldn't necessarily mean this one would house a pleasant memory, of course. It could mean that it housed an even worse memory, or it could be something else entirely. The door could be locked, or it

could only look like a door. But regardless, she didn't have much choice, she'd have to at least try and open the door, the door to her memories. Coming to a full stop, she turned and slid back a few feet to fully face the door. Again, it looked precisely the same as the other doors she'd seen, down to the smallest detail that she had tried to identify. Gathering her focus, she stepped forward and grasped the door. The knob felt like the others, cold metal against her mysteriously human hand. She gave it an experimental twist, and it moved, as easily and silently

as the others had. She began to open the door, and again, everything went black for her. Whether the blackness affected the hallway, plunging the nearby light out, she didn't know, and couldn't say. All she knew was, as far as she could tell, everything had gone pitch black. She felt the floor give way beneath her, and soon the rest of her senses were just as suddenly stripped away. In the nothingness that followed, time became even more meaningless than it had already become. She had no sense of time moving or halting, just as she had no sense

of anything else. She couldn't see, couldn't touch or smell or hear or taste. She tried to pinch herself, and she had no idea if she'd actually done it, let alone felt it. In the void, she had no choice but to remain alone save her thoughts, and those soon became too loud, she tried to stop thinking as well. When she did, the nothingness seemed to grow stronger, like her thoughts had been the fire that had kept the wild animals from attacking her camp in the dead of night. But even so, she tried not to think of anything, the thoughts became too overpowering

without something, anything else to focus on. This continued for what could have been an eternity, or perhaps only a single heartbeat. Finally, thankfully, the darkness and the void were siphoned away, in an actual tangible sensation. She could actually feel the nothingness being pulled past her, vanishing into some unseen spot far behind her. Then, the light came, and she blinked blindly as her eyes struggled to adjust. A long moment later, they did. She looked around, and was shocked. She wasn't back in Hidden Rain! The sun was brightly shining,

there were fat white clouds puffing lazily overhead, and everything was green and verdant. The scenery was so different, she wasn't even sure just where she was. There were tall trees all around her, and they were all ealthy and sturdy. There was grass underfoot, slippery against her bare feet. She experimentally wriggled her toes, and felt an odd, strange sensation against her feet. It brought an involuntary change to her expression, it took her a moment to recognize it. A smile. And that sensation, could it be tickling? She'd never been tickled,

she never had a body that could be tickled before. It made her want to laugh, although she just barely held the compulsion back. She moved forward, keeping an eye out for some sign that would tell her just where in the world she was. And then, she saw it. She blinked several times, unsure if what she saw was really there. But no matter how many times she blinked, it remained in place. A series of large buildings that, though she'd only been there a few weeks, had nonetheless made a huge impression on her. The Academy. The place where

she'd started her training as a ninja. The place where she'd met someone who knew what she really was, and didn't reject her. The place where she'd discovered the simple joy of learning. She moved forward quickly, the bad feelings that had been filling her vanishing much more quickly than they had appeared, and she fairly ran towards the Academy. She hadn't been there that long, but she remembered where everything was. She ran inside the main building, and went up the several flights of stairs until she reached the proper hallway. Racing down it,

she was surprised she hadn't seen any of the Academy's students. But she didn't worry too much about it, she couldn't remember any bad memories here. Finally, she skidded to a stop, the sounds of her bare feet slapping against the floor quickly muffled. She stood in front of a door, but not just any door. Not the door from that unending hallway, either. No, this was the door that led to the classroom, the one where she'd taken her classes, and the final exam, to become a ninja. She peered inside, but was crestfallen to see that it was empty. She tried to

open the door, but her hand passed right through it. The oddity of that occurrence notwithstanding, she tried not to think of the significance of that, in relation to the fact that her feet had made noise against the floor. But regardless, she was insubstantial. So she just stepepd forward, and passed right through the door like it wasn't there. Or more appropriately, she wasn't there. She moved deeper inside of the classroom, looking around, remembering bits and pieces of her time in it. She moved to the seat she'd sat at so many times, and almost tried

to sit down, before remembering she would pass right through it. Sighing, she looked around, remembering the other faces of all of her classmates, all of them intent on doing the same thing she had, to become a ninja. She couldn't precisely remember which of them had passed, she knew not all of them had. She had, and that had been good enough for her. But why was she here now? This wasn't in and of itself, a true memory, she was only recalling the location, and thinking of what had happened. Not like the other times, where she'd actually been plunged into

an old memory. No, this wasn't what she needed to see. So she sighed once more, and left the classroom, and began wandering the Academy. She wasn't sure what else she might be looking for, but she knew that she'd know when she finally found it. She took her time, enjoying the partial memory as much as she could, all the while wondering what the final result would be. Eventually, she reached the doors of the Academy, she'd explored as much of the building as she could. The rooms that she'd never been in, she hadn't been able to enter them,
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as her memory had no idea what they were like. So she left the Academy proper, and looked over to the dormitories. Perhaps in her room, she might find what she was looking for? It made as much sense as anything else in this waking memory, so she might as well look and see. Walking down the lane, she headed towards the dormitories, still not seeing any of the Academy's various students. Even if it was in the middle of classes, it was the middle of the day, there should at least be someone out and about! But she didn't see a soul. It was kind of disturbing,

in an odd, unsettling way. She tried to ignore the feeling, and hastened her steps towards the dormitories. Like before, there were two of them. One for the young men, and one for the young ladies. She'd never been in the boys' dormitory, so she didn't even bother attempting to go in now. Instead she went into the girls' dormitory, and walked down the short hallway to reach the stairwell. Several flights of stairs up, she left the stairs and stepped out onto a hallway. It extended a fair distance, with doors that led to rooms on either side. She walked

down the hall at a sedate pace, not feeling the urge to rush that she'd felt before. Finally, she stopped at one door. It looked like all the others, but nonetheless, she had recognized it the instant she'd gotten near to it. It was her room. Before she had first come here, she didn't even have a place to live, this was the first place that she could really call hers. It had been a small, cramped room, most people would think it was the very height of unlivable conditions. But to her, it had been a veritable palace. She went to open the door, but then remembered

she wasn't really there, so she merely walked through the still-closed door. Looking around, the room was just as empty and barren as the first time she'd seen it. A few small pieces of furniture crammed into a room several sizes too small for them, no real warmth or individuality to speak of, but it had been hers. It took all she had to refrain from flopping down on the bed in a tangle. Instead, she walked over to it, and gently ran her hand over it's surface. Only to feel shock as she could actually feel it! A second rare smile, only the second that she'd ever had,

spread across her face as she sank down onto the bed. It was lumpy, and could probably use a good cleaning, but it was the same bed that she'd used before, she was sure of it! She lay down, letting her eyes wander over the room's ceiling, taking in the various cracks and stains and other details, remembering them from times long past. As she lay there, she slowly felt a wave of fatigue steal over her, and everything around her began to go dark. She tried to cry out, she wanted to see more! But it was no use, the darkness soon had her totally enveloped,

and then a moment later, she felt no more. The nothingness could not be truly measured in time, but it seemed like quite some time passed before it began to fade. Hedoro slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see the familiar hallway once more. But she was mistaken. She was still in her old room from the Academy, although it seemed a little different. It took her a moment to realize what, but then she realized it. The room was furnished! She sat up, and the covers that had somehow been pulled over her cascaded down to her waist. The walls looked

much cleaner, and there were several pictures set in frames on the far wall. The window was clean, and showed a nice view of the endless trees outside of the Academy. There were several books and other items piled neatly on the desk, and the closet's slightly open door revealed several outfits hung up on hangers. She didn't recognize any of it. Her mind spinning, she quickly got up and looked around again, before going to the desk and grabbing one of the sheets of paper. It was covered in intricate handwriting, but was quite legible. She looked it over,

until she found what she was looking for. She felt a pit form in her torso as she didn't recognize the name. This was someone else's room, not hers. She frowned, and glanced back at the bed, at the rumpled sheets that stood out so vividly compared to the rest of the tidy room. She seemed to be fully corporeal now, but what could that mean? And for that matter, she had never seen this room like this before, how could she even be in it if it was a memory of something she'd never actually experienced? Unless... Unless it wasn't a memory? She didn't know how

she could prove if it was or not, perhaps treating it like a genjutsu or maybe a dream? Pain was supposed to jar the consciousness enough to break free from either of those, maybe the same would apply for whatever she was currently afflicted with? Moving her hand up to her other arm's bicep, she pinched sharply at her flesh, and winced as the actually felt it, and it hurt. Quickly letting go, she rubbed the sore spot, trying to figure out what that meant. She could feel pain, she had a physical form, and she was someplace she'd never been to before,

sort of. Could she finally be awake? Or lucid, or whatever? Woken up from that illusion, or fever-dream, or hallucination, or whatever it was? Suddenly, an epiphany hit her, as a possible realization struck her. Perhaps this wasn't a memory, perhaps she was actually back in the Academy? Of course it wouldn't be her room anymore, there were always more new students coming to the Academy for lessons. She decided to try to make the bed, but since she'd never done so before, it was a rather haphazard job. Hopefully whoever currently had this

room wouldn't notice. Now, she just had to make her escape. She wasn't a student here any more, so she should probably try to leave before someone saw her and asked what she was doing here. Even if she did look different from how she'd looked before, that was actually all the more reason to try to remain under the collective Academy's radar. So she gave a last tug to the bed's sheets, and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once more, she was in the dormitory's hallway, which she quickly walked through, returning to the stairs.

Unlike when she first passed through, she could hear people talking, they weren't too far away. She wasn't precisely sure of what direction, so she ducked behind the stairs' railing, trying to remain out of sight. A trio of young Academy-goers walked up the stairs a moment later, chatting noisily. She waited until they were just out of earshot, then ducked onto the stairs and quickly descended. She didn't see anyone else until she reached the ground level, and came to a premature stop when she did. The lobby was filled with easily a dozen students, far

too many to sneak past. She'd have to gamble, if she moved quickly and acted like she belonged, it was possible that they wouldn't really notice her until she was outside. From there, she could go into the forest and hide. She took a deep breath, and prepared to do just that, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she was about to pull away, when she saw who it was, and any concept of a plan left her mind in an instant. She recognized them in an instant, even though she'd only known them for a few weeks. They stood a little bit shorter than her,

no more than an inch or two difference, and had blue hair tied back in a somewhat elaborate ponytail. They were wearing rather elegant black garments. It was Tamao, the girl who'd been the closest thing to a friend that Hedoro had ever known! But what was she doing here, did she recognize her?! Hedoro searched Tamao's face carefully, but didn't see anything that indicated that Tamao knew who she was. Relaxing somewhat, she asked if something was wrong. Tamao shook her head and smiled, then removed her hand from Hedoro's shoulder.

She commented on how she didn't remember seeing anyone who looked like her before, and then said something that made a thrill pass through the erstwhile visitor. That being that she wasn't an actual student at the Academy. Hedoro tried to deny it, but with her garb as unkempt as it was, she certainly stood out. A couple of the other students were starting to take notice, so she squirmed a little and asked if they could talk about this somewhere else. Tamao seemed to deliberate for a long moment, but then agreed. She then grabbed Hedoro's hand and

nearly dragged her back up the stairs, not stopping until they'd reached the roof. Holding the door opened, Tamao pulled Hedoro onto the deserted roof before letting the door clang shut behind her. The sun was shining, it felt much warmer up here than it had at ground level. Hedoro looked around, the view was spectacular, the forest extended in all directions pretty much as far as could be seen. So lost in sight was she, that she was surprised when she noticed Tamao move next to her to gaze out at the endless sea of trees. Tamao admitted she liked coming

up to the roof every once in a while to get away from it all, most of the other students never came up here, so it was nice and isolated for quiet times. Hedoro digested that piece of news, she didn't even remember Tamao ever having mentioned it before. Tamao waved a hand in front of her eyes, breaking her out of the spell of reverie she'd been placed under. Tamao introduced herself, and Hedoro did the same, although she stuttered when it came time to say her name. If this wasn't a memory, she couldn't just say who she was, could she? She

looked different, if this Tamao even knew her then she couldn't say her real name. Trying to come up with a fake name as fast as possible, she finally decided on the unlikely moniker of Urufu Fumiko. Tamao seemed to accept it as truth, however, and shook her hand warmly before moving on. She asked what Fumiko was doing here, since she wasn't a student. Hedoro frowned, and tried to come up with a lie that'd satisfy Tamao's curiousity, but couldn't. So instead, she opted for only a partial truth. She said she wasn't sure why she was here, that she

was on an odd voyage of sorts, and that she wouldn't know why she was here until it was time to leave. Tamao blinked at that, the explanation being a little too 'out there' for her to grasp right away. But then she smiled, and said she'd accept that, although she knew that wasn't the whole story. Instead, she asked how long Fumiko would be staying, to which Hedoro only shook her head, not sure. Tamao mulled that over, and moved to the edge of the roof, to lean against the wire fence surrounding it's edge, leaning back as she looked up at the

endless azure sky. Unsure what to do, Hedoro followed suit, feeling the somewhat jarring sensation of the wire fence give way slightly from her weight. A long moment later, Tamao finally stood up again, sending a wave of motion through the fence. Hedoro looked at her curiously, until she explained herself. Tamao said she'd take Hedoro on a grand tour of the Academy, and perhaps she'd find whatever it was she was looking for in the process. Tamao admitted that it would be good practice for her as well, there were quite a few new students arriving
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she sighed, and asked if they could get on with it, before anything more happened. Tamao nodded exuberantly, and pushed at Fumiko's back, herding her in towards the next room, where the actual hot spring was. Hedoro didn't fight it, she let herself be guided in, and then looked around. As she expected, it looked more or less the same as what she remembered it looking like, the last time that she was here. Which apparantly hadn't happened yet. But thinking about the significance of that would have to wait, she knew that if she appeared lost in

thought again that Tamao would likely do something even more drastic. So instead she moved further inside the next room, and saw the washing off station, where people would do the actual soap and scrubbing part of their baths before slipping into the hot spring for a long soak. Tamao was right behind her, so without further ado, she grabbed a small plastic stool and sat down, squirting shampoo from a small dispenser into her hand before trying to work it into her hair. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she felt her hair, it felt odd. Kind of dry,

it reminded her of thin strands of rope or perhaps thread. Her investigation must have gotten Tamao's attention, because she suddenly felt a second pair of hands working at her scalp, scrubbing the shampoo in, and then splashing some water on her to work the shampoo into a lather. She let Tamao do as she would, she knew better than to try and stop her, at any rate. She sat there and endured until finally, Tamao seemed finished. She was about to get up when suddenly she felt a torrent of water splash down on her, dousing her from head to

toe, washing the shampoo off in the process. She sputtered for a moment, having made the mistake of breathing in when she was splashed, and coughed up some water before wiping it off of her face. She glared at Tamao, but then sighed and let it go. Tamao was already treating herself the same way, scrubbing shampoo into her own hair before rinsing it off. Then she was done, and urging Fumiko into the water to soak. Hedoro let herself be pushed, but stopped short when her foot first hit the water. It was hot! Pulling her foot back, she hissed at the sudden

higher temperature against the sensitive skin of her foot. But Tamao wouldn't have it, she very nearly shoved Fumiko headfirst into the water in her zeal. Hedoro slipped into the hot water carefully, wincing occasionally as the water was much hotter than the air or the rain or her rags, the only things she had to measure it against. Finally, she was in a sitting position and froze, and was relieved to find out the water wasn't nearly as painful as it first felt. She carefully moved her head and looked at Tamao, who was already reclining deeply in the water, submerged to

nearly her nose. Unbidden, a trace of a smile came to Fumiko's face, it was all too obvious to see that Tamao was enjoying herself. Very well then, she'd endure this for a while longer, long enough to let Tamao get relaxed enough that she wouldn't be able to stop her from making her escape. She leaned slightly back, and was surprised to feel an odd looseness slipping into her back along with the heat from the water. It was like her back was getting looser, like the tension was leaving it. And it was an almost... pleasant sensation? She siddled a little

lower in the water, the heat no longer painful to her. It seemed her body had adjusted to that as well. She closed her eyes and merely rested for a long moment. It was such a restful experience that she very nearly fell asleep there and then, but managed to come to full wakefulness when she heard Tamao ask her something. As she became fully alert, she identified just what it was that Tamao had said. Namely, it seemed as if she was really enjoying herself, despite all the resistance she had initially given. She nodded, and admitted she had been wrong, that

this was a positively enjoyable experience. Tamao gave her a big goofy grin at that, moving closer with a moderate amount of noisy splashing, before sitting right next to her. Fumiko's cheeks reddened slightly, although she didn't know why. In her new human body, this was the first time she'd had skin to skin contact with anyone, the first experience striking her with it's importance immediately. Her flush deepened, but she didn't pull away. Neither of them said anything, enjoying the amicable silence for a long moment. It was finally Tamao who

broke the silence once more, in a quiet voice she commented how she was rather nervous about finally gaining a roommate in the near future. Hedoro knew how things would turn out, but had the definite feeling that she couldn't say anything about it, or perhaps it would change, and the aftereffects of such a happening could be severe. Instead, she stayed quiet for a long moment, before settling on a neutral comment, saying how she was sure that Tamao would do fine, that she'd made Fumiko feel welcome in just a few short hours. Admittedly she

had gotten maybe a little bit too exuberant, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Tamao's face had reddened from Fumiko's comment, was she embarassed? Hedoro wasn't sure, but she thought to be safe, it might be a good idea to stop. So she went silent after repeating she was sure Tamao would do just fine. Tamao stayed silent for a long moment, but then attacked. She turned and pounced at Fumiko, wrapping her in a tight hug. Fumiko blushed furiously, she was still new to skin to skin contact, and something like this felt wrong on quite a few levels.

She tried to pull away, but Tamao would have none of it, hugging her even tighter as she thanked her for what she'd said. Finally, Fumiko gave in and returned the hug, hesitantly placing a hand on Tamao's back. She looked up at the sky, trying not to think of her newest predicament, instead looking up at the sky's coloration. It was already starting to darken with impending night, it'd be dark within an hour at the most. She looked back down at Tamao, and felt a rush of shock pass through her as her eyes met Tamao's, who was staring right at her with a very

serious expression. Shades of the past flickered in front of her, as she suddenly remebered what had happened during her last stay in the academy. That had been awkward enough, she had no desire to repeat it. Well, perhaps a small one. No! She quashed that thought instantly, and used her determination to extricate herself from Tamao's grasp. She got to her feet and back up, the water sloshing around her legs as she got out of the spring. She could see Tamao looked a little hurt by her silent rejection, and muttered a soft apology before grabbing

her towel, wrapping it around herself and dashing out of the bath. She stopped in the next room, and realized she couldn't just run away. Her garments were piled up roughly in the small cubby, there was no chance she could dress herself fast enough to get away before Tamao caught up. As her mind whirled, she felt a wave of dizziness rush through her, leaving her light-headed for a moment. Funny, the floor seemed so much closer than it had before. As the floor seemed to loom up before her, she felt her eyelids grow heavy, and everything faded to black...

A long moment later, or perhaps only an instant, her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around tiredly. She seemed to be laying on her back, with something warm placed on top of her. She tried to sit up, but felt a wave of weakness insist otherwise, causing her to flop back against whatever she was lying upon. Suddenly, Tamao's face appeared above her, concern shining in her slightly teary eyes. She exclaimed in relief, thanking the gods that Fumiko was alright, clinging to the prone girl as she began to cry. She apologized for what she'd said earlier, she

must not have been in her right mind, the water had been a lot hotter than she thought and she'd gotten kind of out of hand. She told Fumiko to just stay in bed and rest, she'd gotten overheated and moved around too much too soon after getting out of the water. Hedoro tried to say that wasn't the case, but her words were cut off when she felt a blessedly cool cloth against her forehead. She sighed in contentment, and managed to mumble out that it wasn't Tamao's fault, before she felt those same familiar tendrils of weariness and sleep began to wrap

around her. She didn't fight it, she knew it was what had to happen, she'd seen what she needed to. Just before everything went black once more, she gathered her strength for one last comment. She spoke it quietly, very quietly, but nonetheless she was positive that Tamao had heard it. With that, before she could even see Tamao's reaction, everything went dark, and she was once more in the nothingness that meant she was back to where she'd been before. Had everything that had happened at the academy been another memory? No, she was positive

it wasn't. But had it been real? No, she didn't think that was it either. Then what was it? That, she couldn't answer, it could be that there was no answer. Soon, the darkness and nothingness began to lighten, as color returned to her vision. As she'd expected, she was once more in that eternal hallway, although oddly enough it looked quite a bit different this time around. Where before there had been very few lights, now they were plentiful, spaced approximately twenty feet from each other, casting bright globes of light that met at each other's edges. She

slowly got to her feet and took a closer look around her, taking in all of the details, comparing them to what she had already noticed from her previous times here. There were some other minor cosmetic differences, but just minor and vague enough that she couldn't easily identify them without spending a great deal of time. Rather than that, she felt it'd be a wise decision to press on, to continue moving down the hallway. She felt that with this last experience, her journey was drawing to a close, that if she just kept on, she would reach the end, whatever

that meant. Whether it was a good ending or a bad one, she actually didn't really care any more. She felt curiously at peace with herself, after everything that had happened she felt that she'd learned something very important. As to what that was, she still wasn't precisely sure. But she knew that she knew it, at least, and that was enough for her. So now, she could press on, to try and reach the conclusion of this interminable escapade. So she stopped focusing on the wall sconces, and instead began moving, continuing along the path that she'd been

following before the last doorway. She somehow knew that she hadn't been returned in the opposite direction, that she was still moving in the right direction. She didn't rush herself, she moved forward at a steady pace. Perhaps it was the remembrance of her overexertion in that last experience, or perhaps just that she didn't feel that deep sense of urgency that had filled her before. She knew that she didn't need to rush, that the result wouldn't change if she arrived at her destination now, or if it took a long time. Even so, she felt a sense of anticipation

start to burble up within her, causing her pulse to quicken slightly. She still didn't quicken her pace, however, and the sensation dwindled until it was barely there. She watched the lights as she passed them by, wondering why so many of them had suddenly appeared after her last experience. There could be some subliminal meaning in it, or perhaps it was just part of what made this whole situation so unusual, but there was most likely a reason. Even so, if she never found out, it wouldn't bother her. She knew that whatever happened, she wouldn't be staying in

this hallway for much longer. At least compared to the time that she'd already spent in it, at any rate. Admittedly, time seemed next to meaningless here, but even so, she still had a vague sense of the passage of it. Not enough to know if a week had passed, or a decade, but enough to know that time was moving. That in itself calmed her somewhat, and combined with her feeling of peace and tranquility from her latest experience. After all, the concept of an eternal prison was enough to unnerve anybody, and even though she considered

herself remarkably well-adjusted, considering everything that she had to deal with, that was quite the hefty order. If time itself were to stop, whether on a global or universal scale, or just for her, that would mean several things. Stagnation, entropy, and ultimately destruction. None of which sounded at all like anything she'd enjoy, in even the most remotest sense. So she'd do what she could to ignore the matter, perhaps she'd be able to ignore that looming threat long enough for a solution to become available? Whether it would work or not would have

to remain to be seen, but at the very least she could make the attempt. But that being said, or thought, rather, how should she go about distracting herself?? There wasn't really anything to do in this eternal hallway, save walking and not walking, so it'd have to be something she could do on her own. Oh, if only she could think of something! Wait, that was it! Think of something! She had a perfectly functional mind, why not use it!? She'd simply think of stuff, to keep herself occupied. She'd remember the past. And not like she'd been enduring

up until now, nor the unique method of reuniting with Tamao. No, she'd remember the old fashioned way, actual recollection of memories. But where to begin? Ah yes, that was a good one. She remembered her fight in the Chunin Exams like they were only yesterday. Of course, they were much longer ago than that, but that was the funny thing about memories, they were prone to misinformationa nd alteration. Why, any memory any person had could be changed in am yriad of ways, either through volition or unintentional consequences of actions. Somebody

could block a memory from themselves, so they couldn 't remember it, or they could seal it off so others couldn't gain access to it. And they weren't the only one capable of altering their memories, either. Anyone with the proper training could put them under a hypnotic trance, and make them relive the memory, altering aspects of it as needed to create something completely different. And of course there were the various perception-altering chemicals and drugs available throughout the world, which could either make you remember something incorrectly,

or live through it incorrectly, and in so doing, alter the memory to follow suit. But that was a discourse for another time, she was thinking about the Chunin Exams now. Yes, that's right, it had all started in that enormous hotel building. It had been the biggest building she'd ever seen, that was for sure. Hidden Rain had never been prosperous enough to have or need buildings of such a size. No, the building had been the first in a long line of surprises that were in store for the relatively in experienced aquatic ninja. She remembered the famed ninja Drago had been

the one to hold the exams, and had even arrived, presumably in person, to explain the rules for his exam. It seemed simple enough, the main task was to ascend from within the hotel to the top floor, and defeat the person waiting on the top floor for whoever made it. But that wasn't competitive enough, so an additional condition had been added. The only way to get from one floor to the next was for one of the exam takes to perish. She could remember the entire group, now that she thought about it. Even if she didn't know much about them. There had been

a total of thirteen ninja who'd taken part, all of them hoping to make the grade. There was the trio of young Hyuugas, Komen, Xavier and Vaan. There was the young Orimara, Usagi, and a ninja by the name of Soshaku Rouga. There was a mysterious ninja by the name of Gara, and even a Benimaru with the chosen name of Hayate. And then the newcomer from the Nara, Yoshimitsu. There was the laughable entry of a Kaguya named Velar, and the two very strong competitors name Tai Kasuka and Akuma Mizu. And finally, of course Tamao Suzumi and herself.

Thirteen in all, with only one planned to survive. But of course things had gone horribly awry, after that certain incident with the young Kaguya, who refused to accept his incompetence and instead chose to- but that was later in the lineup, she had to remember what happened before that to truly appreciate the irony of that particular spectacle. She remembered arriving somewhat late, although not as late as the last few, obviously. Even though she and Tamao had departed for the exam at the same time, she hadn't arrived until a solid half-hour later. By
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Hedoro

last of the roof collapsed, causing her sphere to go falling down, down through the shattered and near endless pit to the ground below. She was watching all around her, using her connection to the outside material to see through it in whichever direction she wished. Whenever she saw a large piece of the building falling, she'd send out a large pseudopod to grab onto it, pull it to her, and press against it. This slowed her own momentum, while sending the various pieces down faster than her. As wires and pipes ruptured, fireballs blossomed all

around her, sapping the moisture from a portion of her colloid shell. Not much, her own Inner Fire from before was aiding it's heat resistance. She continued, going into a lumbering yet graceful dance, halfway between a wrecking ball and a grasshopper. She moved from falling chunk of wall to crumbling floor, sending more and more pieces to plummet down as she delayed her own fall noticeably. She was still going down, there was nothing she could do about that. But she was delaying it as much as she could. The more of the building that had already hit

the ground when she did, the better. The kinetic force present in a single fifty pound chunk of concrete was sizable, and when three blocks that size hit at the same time, their kinetic output was amplified. Therefore, the less things that hit when she did, the less kinetic impact her colloid shell would have to absorb. Even so, there was only so much she could do, each floor of the hotel was absolutely enormous, there was no way she could keep herself in the air long enough to outlast it all. The explosions were getting more frequent, as sparking wires were torn from

their walls, where they ignited the gas from the heating lines, causing near-constant balls of fire to explode every which way all around her. With a jarring thud, Hedoro's colloid shell had finally hit the large pile of debris at the bottom of the buidling's shell. Some of the building's exterior walls still stood, but they'd be crumbling very shortly without any support from the center of the hotel. As soon as she landed, she was moving, internalizing the colloid shell to increase her physical size. She looked noticeably stockier, and her legs had lengthened considerably,

as had her arms. She began to scramble to the side of the building, hopping spider-like from one mountain of rubble to the next. There were still large pieces of building falling all around her, many of which came very close to hitting her, some actually hitting her. It took a lot of work to unearth herself from each collision, but she kept going. Not having bones definitely helped there. Finally, she reached the wall. From the sheer amount of rubble, she was technically on the third story right now. Even if she was ankle deep in pieces of the roof. The wall she

was near began to crumble as well. It didn't tip over neatly, instead it just shrank in on itself, collapsing straight down. And straight towards Hedoro, as well. She hardened her arms, contracting their density as she shrank them, giving her a much needed boost to physical strength. Crouching low, she jumped as high as she could, and clung to the side of the wall as it crumbled. Hammering at it as she did, it began to crumble more and more. She had to continually move up once more, as more and more of it fell. Finally, the last chunk of the eastern wall hit the

pile of rubble below, and Hedoro landed harshly on top of it. She'd done it! She had known, if the building was falling, that she had needed to go up. If she went down, there would have been more and more debris to deal with. Instead, there was less and less to deal with. And now, there was none, at least in the area where she was. She was drained, though, she had expended quite a bit of chakra. But she'd made it, and had technically stayed within the hotel the entire time. With a grace measuring of about five to ten feet, when she had ran up the wall and

stood on the roof, that should really still count as within the hotel. And since she hadn't been killed by a sniper, not that a simple gun would have worked, she assumed the official ruling matched her own opinion. Looking around, she began the laborious process of making her way to the front of the remnants of the hotel. With this much destruction, there was no reason why the ones holding the exam wouldn't come to say what would happen next. But just to make sure, she'd stay within the hotel, to not go against the orders they'd been given. Even now, she stood

about fifty feet above ground level, looking down at the others who had already escaped. They had left the hotel, would that be the only difference between her and them? She didn't see Velar either, she hoped he'd been crushed to death in the collapse. Once everyone had extricated themselves from the rubble, they had spent a tiny bit of time preparing, then the next stage of the ad-libbed exam was on. It was simple, everyone fight everyone. Even Tamao had gotten involved in a fight, not that Hedoro had noticed. She had stayed on top of the mountain

of rubble, casually sifting through it for anything edible for her to recoup her chakra losses from the workout. After a while, the various contestants gradually paired off to begin fighting. After all, it was said that another word for 'fight' was 'ninja's greeting'. The various fights were savage, bloodthirsty and violent, and that had suited Hedoro just fine. She had wound up in a vast multi-fighter skirmish involving her, Tai Kasuka, Komen Usai and Akuma Mizu, among others. The fight continued until one of the officiants stepped in and announced it was

over. In the end, three people had survived to the end. The rest had either died, forfeited or been rmoved from the exam. In the end, she'd been promoted to Chunin rank, and then, later on, she'd done similarly well in the Jounin Exams, the exams that had seemingly cost her her life. She still wasn't sure if this was death or not, but from what she'd been able to surmise, it seemed the most likely of several unlikely possibilities. But yes, that Jounin Exam had been interesting, to say the least. Overall, it had seemed simple enough, and rather similar

to the Chunin Exam besides. At least one of the examiness had to die for the others to proceed. Luckily the building didn't get destroyed that time, but she would have preferred that to the alternative, her dying because she hadn't been able to kill everyone else. In fact, she felt she had, and still resented the Raikage for that decision. If she had the chance, there would surely be a reckoning sometime in the future. But for now, she'd bide her time in this odd non-world, until she knew enough to change things. Whether it be a return to what she considered

normal, or something else, she would surely find a way to change things. It was this eternal waiting that was getting to her, that was getting so irksome. Even with all of the truths about herself that she'd come to terms with, she still wasn't happy. Both because she really had no say in the matter, no control over the situation, and also because she had the feeling that there was still some great truth she needed to know, something that, until she saw, she'd never be done with this ordeal. As for what it might be, she couldn't say, she couldn't remember anything

that had made a bigger impact on her life than Tamao had. She tried thinking, but nothing else declared itself, no other truth became evident to her perceptions. So she merely pushed on, down this long, long hallway with no end, waiting to see what she needed to see. As she did, she seemed to drift in and out of reality, to gain a more philosophical angle on which to view things, a more detached viewpoint on which to think the thoughts that were normally hindered by the existence of a body. She felt the universe that was the hallway seem to fall

away from her, even without the accustomed trigger of the familiar door to signify it's beginning. As she was swallowed up by the darkness, the imagined door closed of it's own volition behind her, snuffing out the little bit of light that had feebly been trying to illuminate the dark hallway. She opened and closed her eyes a few times in slow succession, and realized the darkness was so absolute she couldn't tell when her eyes were open or not. She tried waving her hand in front of her face, but couldn't see it, even in the slightest. For someone who'd just recently

gained the sense of sight, this was a rather startling loss. It'd likely be just as disconcerting to someone who'd had it all their life, though. But it still bothered her. The lack of visual input was unnerving, she needed to know where she was. Unlike the last room, where things had gone dark, then quickly too bright to see in just an instant, this darkness seemed to last far, far too long. She called out, needing to express something of herself in this absolute nothingness. But again, there was nothing. She knew she had called out, she was positive. But she hadn't heard it,

she hadn't even heard it when she first emitted the sounds that would be formed into her words. For that matter, she hadn't even felt her jaw move, had she actually only thought she'd called out? She tried again, with the same results as the first time. Namely, nothing whatsoever. Again, she was struck with a sense of confusion. Had she imagined herself calling out twice in a row? No, that was impossible, she was sure she had called out. She tried moving, to find out if maybe she was just standing in the wrong spot, or something else that didn't make any sense.

But try as hard as she could, she couldn't even feel if she was moving. She was sure her mind had sent the signal through her nervous system to tell her legs to start moving, to step forward, but in this utter blackness, this infinitude of nothingness, she had no way of knowing if she actually had or not. She tried stomping her foot, but again, she couldn't tell if she actually had done it, or merely thought she had. There was no sound, no impact of her foot against the floor, nothing. She tried clenching a fist, and the worst shock came then. She couldn't feel her hand!

Starting to panic, she tried to run her hands over her body, to assure herself that she was really there. But she couldn't feel herself, it was like she didn't exist! There was no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, and finally, no touch. All of her senses had been stoppered like before, but this extended duration was something else, something beyond her experiences. This vast and miniscule nothingness seemed too much for her, she began to doubt her own existence. With the concept of herself not existing, her mind began to wander erratically, calling

up memories and then flitting on to a completely unrelated thought. She began to wonder if she had ever existed, if she had ever been alive. Or was she just a random creation of memories, a product of energy accumulated by electron discharge between atoms, a non-entity living in the space between a nucleus and it's orbitting electrons? With no sense of scale, she realized that she was simultaneously bigger, smaller, and the same size as an electron. In fact, she was the electron, buzzing rapidly around the nucleus of the universe. No, she was the

nucleus, the electrons were circling her! It was at this point that she began to acclimate herself to this new and impossible non-world she found herself in. With no physical body, she was free from all constraints, she had finally achieved the ultimate level in freedom, that the illusion of her mortal body had always longed for. Such an easy task, she knew with utmost certainty. Anyone could do what had been done to her, they could shed their mortal forms as easily as changing shirts. It was said that the human mind only used maybe 10-20 percent of it's

total power at any given time in a human's life. The rest of this potential was locked up by untold aeons of lives, habits, traditions, evolutions. If one could look beyond the norm, truly explore their own consciousness, they would discover this same nothingness she now found herself in. But what was more, they would rule this nothingness, they would be supreme. In effect, merely by mastering their own minds, all of humanity could become virtual gods. The feats they would be capable of, the knowledge they would grasp instantaneously that would have

taken their pathetically limited forms decades to master, the truths they would discover about the universe and their place in it. It would be a golden age, where nothing was impossible, where humanity would finally come to grips with the one cosmic truth. That all of humanity was one, that there was one common racial mind, which was huge unto an ocean, and each individual's personality and memories was a mere current in it's waters, part of the whole but capable of it's own workings. But it was an impossibility to think that all of humanity could arrive

at this great cosmic truth. To shrug off the aeons of habits would take a tremendous degree of courage and willpower. And at it's heart, humanity was lazy. This wasn't a bad thing, it merely meant that they preferred convenience. Humans gathered in cities because it was more convenient to do so. They mastered the lands around them because it was more convenient. Untold centuries, eras, aeons, of human progress and development, in fact, civilization itself, all because it was convenient. With this much genetic stubbornness, no wonder that

so few people could even achieve enlightenment, it was locked beyond their capability to handle, taking more willpower than they had ever possessed, or would possess. Why was it so uncommon for those few great minds, those prodigies of talent and knowledge, to come into creation? Because all humanity possessed this potential, but only a few ever attempted to grasp it. Of those that did, only a scattering ever achieved it. Those that did would go down in history as one of the greats, advancing civilization hugely with their achievements.

Which, of course, created more convenience for humanity's civilization, and thus made it that much harder for the people of the next generation to reach out and achieve enlightenment on their own. This was why, in older times, their were so many ages of burgeoning civilization, of advances in arts side-by-side with technology and science. It seemed humanity could eventually learn everything, but because of how much they learned, they began to lose the capability to learn. Soon humanity would stagnate, and the advances would falter. Only then could the ability

to learn return to them, and the cycle begin once more. This process could take decades, centuries, it might never truly complete. But it was possible. And for one who'd reached true enlightenment, it was obvious that it would happen. Whether they would choose to use this knowledge or not, that was another matter. If they did or not, it all depended upon their individual desires, and what they felt was best for humanity's continued well-being. This would be decided by those who had reached deep within themselves, deep within their minds. In the infinite depths of

their minds, they'd come to understand their own consciousness. They'd learn to truly understand their emotions, and to control them. They'd achieve perfect memory, remembering everything that had ever happened to them, even what had occurred in previous lives. Only by doing this, by truly understanding themself, and their part in the racial mind, would they reach enlightenment. Hedoro was not one of these, one who'd reached enlightenment through willpower or strength. She was trapped in this nothingness that was in fact everything,

not understanding of the sheer significance of where she was, which is why she saw it as a vast nothingness. To an unenlightened mind, this was too far beyond understanding to even be comprehensible. Even so, when light very gradually returned, when Hedoro was slowly released back to the world of mortal understanding, she felt a bitter sadness and sense of loss. Tears ran from her eyes and she didn't know why. She just knew that she had lost something truly precious, and she could spend ten thousand lifetimes searching for it, but it was

possible she'd never regain it. It was a truly bitter feeling, that of losing an integral part of herself utterly. But gradually, the sensation faded once more, even though she still felt that she had suffered a tragic loss, like what someone might feel if they lost an arm, or their sight. She'd lost something important, something that had helped define her entire being. She'd have to get used to what it had felt like before, before she had discovered that sense of completeness, of being whole in such a wonderful way. It'd take some time, she'd just have to do the
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The beetle hovered for a few seconds before landing n the ground, folding up its wings. Hotar tilted his head as he watched Alastor go flying. The beetle's horn had done quite a number on Alastor's chest. Hotaru chuckled as he remembered the sound of bone cracking. If they had still been alive, this match would have already been decided. The beetle suddenly vanished in a large cloud of smoke. Hotaru stepped out of the whisp walking towards Alastor. "So thats what happens to the injured in this purgatory...very interesting" He muttered with a chuckle.

[3/11]

[5/7]

Alastor watched Hotaru walk towards him. A strange feeling filled his chest. The pressure, and pain seemed to be slowly subsiding. He felt his ribs slowly reattaching themselves. He even felt a disturbing lurch of a piece of rib removing itself from being inbetween two organs. Alastor coughed, and found the ability to speak again. "Man, I could've died... again. Thats one powerful bug you got there. Is that a clan technique?" Alastor placed his hands on his back and leaned back, cracking his spine in various places. He shifted his entire torso to the left, and then right, cracking even more vertebrae.

Tsugime was rather annoyed with this statement. True he was paralyzed with fear by the statement but he felt insulted. Tsugime snapped "Who are you calling little boy? I'm twenty-four.......you've been coming to me in my dreams. Why?"

"Well I suppose I am in my infancy since I'm going to live forever. I'd be lying if I said I didn't lust for power. I've lusted for it so much that I've become the leader of a village whose prized possession multiplies my power tenfold. Normally this would soon kill me after but with my extendable lifespan, I have this power is at my disposal till the end of time......but its not enough. Thats when you started appearing in my dreams" Tsugime quietly answered.