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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:16 am

((Alternate time location space distortion.... I'm training, basically. Just go with it. xd ))

emotion_donotwant !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or Above
Train 1/100

The sun was streaming through the windows of Byakuran’s humble sized apartment as he slowly opened his eyes, the sleep still clinging to them from his long night’s sleep. He almost, almost, moved his hand to scratch his nose, when something occurred to him. His arm was asleep. The familiar numb prickling sensation only barely noted itself with him in his still sleepy state of mind, his nose continuing to itch as he lay there. He’d apparently slept funny on the arm, leaving it in the state it was currently in, but rather than be awake enough to do something entirely sensible, like, say, use his other, rather in tact aqnd NOT asleep, arm, to scratch his nose, he instead elected to roll off his asleep arm and move it regardless of it’s state. The arm was rather uncooperative, obviously, the blood flow having been cut off to it but…but the chakra was still flowing. Yes, that made sense after all. Only chakra could constrict the coils of chakra that ran through the body, blood flow had nothing to do with it. It was one of the reasons people believed that phantom pain existed. That being the pain that some amputees felt in their limbs despite the fact that they were no longer there…the chakra coils might still be there even if the arm wasn’t.

But in Byakuran’s case the arm was still certainly there. Perhaps he could just…he focused his chakra in his coils, instinctively, not having too much clarity given his sleepy state to actually think about it too hard, and slowly used the chakra to push his arm…to move it, in place of the muscles which were currently being so very difficult. The arm, slowly but surely, began to move, began to shift, and, bit by bit, he scratched his nose.

For a moment, Byakuran was still half asleep…until he was suddenly awake enough to realize just what it was that he was doing. What WAS he doing?

He jerked more alert as he assessed the task that he had just preformed. He had moved his body, shifted his limb and conducted the muscles, by force, using chakra. Rather than using the complex system of tendons and muscles to move his arm…he had done so with pure chakra.
The feat boggled his mind. He’d simply never imagined it before, never even considered it. Surely it was a difficult thing to do, far more difficult to the point where even scratching his nose was a chore…but..

But what would be the boon of training using such a phenomenon? What would be the boons of using such a trick to one’s advantage? Surely if he was mable to master such movement, if he worked at it, his chakra reserves would increase exponentially. His chakra’s power would grow far beyond what it was now. For someone who had such adept control on his chakra for his age, he had to admit himself that he’d never really worked to hard on increasing the power of his chakra itself. Oh certainly for his age it was impressive enough, but it was nowhere near his most potent ability, as it should have been. He intended to be a ninjutsu specialist, after all, chakra was one of the most important aspects of that. Perhaps then he should try and see where this road might lead. He didn’t have anything to do today, he was still waiting for his team assignment. So then…perhaps, just maybe if he dedicated himself to this task today, he just might be able to make an untold break through with his chakra. Steeling himself and tempering his will on the matter, Byakuran, rather than sitting up in bed, focused his chakra, attempting to pull himself up, slowly but surely, until he was sitting up.

It wasn’t easy. Scratching his nose was nothing comparison. It was one thing to lift his arm, but lifting his entire torso up fron laying back was exceedingly more difficult. He seeped the chakra into his muscles, continuing to push and try however, slowly, ever so slowly, pulling himself up. It proved fruitless, however, as he merely found himself falling forward, intentionally keeping his muscles entirely limp. This was definitely going to be harder then he’d thought…but perhaps that just meant that the rewards would be all the more amazing when he finally managed to pull it off.

The trick to sticking up was balanced. He had to hold himself up, not merely pull himself up, it was the point of managing to strike an accord before back and front. It was strange how something he did effortlessly with his own muscles seemed so much more difficult when using pure force to conduct them. It was certainly not going to be the most basic of trials to stand up.

When he had at last found the strength to sit himself hup without toppling over one way or the other, he was faced with the task of actually getting out of bed. This was even more difficult. He had to turn himself, shift his weight and support it on his hands as he slid off the small bed and slowly put his feet on the floor. Naturally, about half way through attempting the process his over compensated on a motion and ended up toppling to the floor. Ouch. His face was now planted on the floor of his apartment, his body limp upon the tiling as he once more attempted to stir himself, drawing his limbs underneath himself and he shakingly pushed himself back up. Controlling the chakra wasn’t the hard part for him her, it wasn’t that. Controlling the chakra was something he was very good at. No, it was finding the strength in his chakra to move himself without hand signs of building the chakra up into a formation. This was using chakra at it’s purist, without technique or method. Purely with instinct, with will.

In a way it made him feel like a child again. Like an infant unable to move their own body for the weakness of their muscles. Yes, this was most certainly what this felt like, even so, he fully intended to overcome it. He was never one to back away from a self-imposed challenge, after all. And this was daunting one if nothing else.

Slowly he pulled himself from the floor, the chakra straining within himself as he relied purely on it’s strength to raise him from the floor, his balance shifting and shaking as his motions seemed like those of limb doll. He felt a strong kinship to the puppets that those puppet masters were always tooting around with them. He moved erratically, his limbs and body occasionally trembling and giving off movements as he fought to keep himself off the floor.

Not that he didn’t have a few slip ups. After managing to drag himself into the bathroom, slowly lifting himself back up to the level of the sink, his eyes full on his reflection in the mirror. The new that Otogakure had fallen to his family had hit him harder than he’d thought it would. It was the point at which the world changed not only for him but for so many people. He was no longer just a young boy forced into serving the interests of his family, but a ninja actually serving the interests of his clan…a clan that currently was the rulers of an entire hidden village. A hidden village that seemed to steadily be changing and gaining a new strength and image that came with, admittedly, prosperity. True this didn’t really sound like a bad thing, the people of Oto might be happy. But it would be other’s who faced the wrath of the new Oto…not it’s citizens. The enemies of oto, the criminals of Oto. Spies, those suspected of being spies. Orikami was clever, he wouldn’t let it get out of hand, he would keep their public image well in the gold, but under the surface Oto would slowly become a village of strength and unwavering loyalty to itself…and it would slowly lose any idea of what “mercy for an enemy” meant. Was that really such a bad thing though? Otogakure would at last become the village it was mean to be, in a way. Finally fulfill it’s role and reclaim it’s lost glory.

He stared in the mirror, shaking as he held himself up by the sink, his chakra still all he utilized to do so. But what if the same thing were to come here, to Kiri? What would he do? Would he be so willing to write it off? He had long ago been torn between the forced loyalty to his clan thinking of Kiri to his home. He didn’t like his clan, in fact, he openly disagreed with them on so many points he suspected that destroying them all was his only option in the long run…but did that mean that defying them was worth it just to save this village?

It was his…home, perhaps, but it would most likely turn on him just as quickly as his clan.

He put such thoughts aside for now, focusing the chakra in his legs to solidify as he forced them to stand tall, battling to keep him from toppling over as he held on hand on the sink, and went through the task of trying to brush his teeth.

Even walking seemed like an impossible task at the moment, and every time he attempted to do so without some sort of added support only left him once more toppled unto the floor.

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:18 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 4/100

Slowly pulling himself for what seemed the tenth time, Byakuran managed to get himself to the counter. All in all, as exhausting and troublesome as this all was it was a rather illuminating experience when he considered the possibilities. He wondered if he were do this every day for a month just how strong his chakra would be. Or perhaps, if he managed to pull this off, he could began adding weights to his body to make the process more and more exceedingly difficult. Still, he supposed that he should curb his ambition for the moment and focus more on the task at hand. This was certainly a daunting enough trial that he didn’t need to focus on the future quite yet. It was far more than enough of a challenge without making it even more troublesome, whether by adding weights or simply dividing his attention with the thought of adding weights.

Making breakfast was a complete and total nightmare. Just in order to get the things on the tallest shelf had to stick himself to the wall with chakra, slowly crawling his way up to the highest shelf. He supposed he considered this cheating in a sense, but at least he wasn;t using his wall walking technique to stick his feet to floor thus helping him stay somewhat standing. While that would most certainly have made the process easier, this was a training exercise after all, it was supposed to be difficult. The pots and pans retrieved the next task was starting his rather simplistic stove, which he was at least able to accomplish without setting himself on fire. Cracking the eggs however…

Well he had mentioned that it was a nightmare. Yolks and egg white splattered every which way as he fought to maintain his coordination and balance enough to properly facilitate the act, but in the end all he was able to do was make the splattered eggs into what reasonably resembled a rescued omelet. There were bits of egg shell here and there, but it was nothing unforgivable. He’d need to take a shower before he got his new clothes on now of course…but he settled himself up into a chair, just barely, and focused on eating for the interim before he worried about cleaning up.

Chewing was even a trial without actually using any of his muscles. His chakra had to do everything, including the little things that he took for granted. Every voluntary muscle he owned went unused as he trained on with the smallest of actions, even the act of chewing his rather shoddily made omelet now a battle to maintain focus and control.

He did manage it of course, finishing the last of his makeshift breakfast and starting right into cleaning up the mess. The spilled orange juice, the numerous yolks and stray egg whites, he waqs constantly wavering about and tripping over his barely maintained limbs, but his chakra held fast as he continued to push it to it’s limits. He now had nothing but the utmost respect for infants and their somewhat troublesome tempers. It was a now wonder they were always crying when they had to put up with such uncooperative bodies. At least when he had been one he’d been more focused on the earth shattering agony of his second self to worry about other things such as thing to much. Even so, it was no walk in the park. Though, seeing as even a walk in the park would be very difficult while only using chakra, perhaps that was a bad example. Still that said he managed to make it back into his bathroom after only a single running into a wall, and into the shower where he was able to clean himself off of the eggy mess he’d gotten all over himself. Not that his apartment got a lot of hot water, but he personally enjoyed any and all water, so the matter of hot and cold water didn’t really bother him too much.

Cleaned, if not refreshed, he managed his way back out of the small shower and through the apartment once more as he fought to get into his outfit for the day. This was just plain aggravating. It was positively mind boggling how even putting on a shirt could become a difficult task when having to move one’s body in this manner. He imagined that it could all become much easier if he were try and actually mold the chakra into a more efficient form, strengthening it like one did in jutsu, but he felt that would have been defeating the purpose. Not only did he not really know how he would begin going about doing that, but also he was trying to make it more difficult. To make it harder for his chakra and thus test it further to it’s limits. Controlling his body with the raw force of chakra alone, without putting control into the mix too much. Theoretically, this would be ideal for increasing his reserves to a certain point… but he also suspected that it was going to take him quite a while to get accustomed to. If he was really going to try going through the whole day like this, he was going to need to focus, practice, and analyze his own movements. Once he got the basic idea of moving around, and was capable of at least walking without looking like a complete fool, then he would be able to get out and really push the envelope, as it were.

This proved to be far easier said than done, of course. He did manage to get the hang of standing quickly enough, but not without the price making a complete a** of himself falling over quite a bit more. The entire process exhausting and required the utmost concentration on every little action he was trying to accommodate for. Spreading out the strength of his chakra to the various workings and muscular functions his body normally did without thinking was a rather trying obstacle, leaving very little room for error introspectively merely because slipping up would often cause him to lose his balance.

And that of course, once more forced him to admire just how very solid his floors were. At least he wouldn’t need to worry about fear of an attack from below from conventional means.

And that was only about a quarter of the way through the task.
He would have complained verbally, but that would just have been yet another use of his chakra, and that would have been much too troublesome at this point. Still, at long last, he was finally able to get himself to raise to his feet with regular efficiency, only slightly wobbling now as he stood, his chakra keeping him aloft against gravities pull. It was really no wonder that no one used chakra to fly much…even the act of standing up with it was a task not to be taken lightly, let alone actually lifting one’s self up with it. He didn’t think he could begin to master such a feat. Still, as he’d told himself earlier, he had to focus on the present rather than thinking of feats which lay far away from him.

Walking. Yes, he certainly hadn’t thought that he’d be learning to walk again this morning…still, that was the price of training. The unexpected. It occurred to him, about the fifteenth time he fell flat on his face after trying to perfect his walking, that he should probably have tried to perfect this training in a place with much soft ground. MUCH, softer ground. Still, hindsight and all that. He continued to try regardless of his location, slowly gaining ground in his efforts as he slowly gained a sense of keeping his footing. The strength he required in his chakra preform this was a little astounding truth be told.

He didn’t actually suspect that it would be this difficult to so much as stand properly…it was really amazing what some people took for granted…what some people, even himself, didn’t even realize about their own limits.

The truth was that the Otobe didn’t like to believe they had limits. They always assumed that they were unstoppable, invincible, that they were completely and utterly beyond anything that the world had to throw at them.

He supposed that in a way that was admirable, it was something, at least, that they had such boundless confidence in themselves…but there was a price to pay for such a thing. That blind faith they had in themselves was a slow bleeding wound that weakened them through every conflict. Never knowing one’s limits, one’s faults, meant that one didn’t get the opportunity to mend them. To facilitate them. It was once said by a wise man that to know one’s self and one’s enemy meant you need not fear the outcome of one hundred battles.. but that if you knew only your enemy, and didn’t know yourself, or the reverse, that every victory would be a picric one. He understood the thinking behind that, understood what it meant to win and yet lose. Victory was such a difficult thing to define, like good or evil, it was a cloud that one could never truly wrap your hand around.

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:20 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 14/100

Byakuran though, at least in this instance, could safely say that he had made some progress. He was finally able to walk from one end of his admittedly small apartment the other. Without making a total fool of himself. His movements were slightly, unnatural, true, like a puppet on strings, but even so he could function well enough without falling this way and that. He took a moment to straighten his appearance, at least determined to not look like a total fool, as he adjusted his shirt and sleeves, before, rather than making his way out his oft unused door, instead chose to leave through the window as per usual. He wasn’t about to try jumping in the manner of ninja, of course, not yet, but he merely slowly and carefully conducted himself down the wall of the apartment building, his form limp as he made his way slowly but surely down to the street below. Drawing little attention, this being a village of ninja as it was. He supposed that the best place to kept up his practice would be the cliffs along the shore line. He would have to test himself to make sure that he was able to swim well enough using only chakra, but climbing the cliff faces would be well enough to push his limits, and the water would be below to catch his fall. True, this was a somewhat risky plan just for training, but risk nothing and gain nothing, as the saying went.

So he went on down through the lain, occasionally stumbling and having to catch himself before bumping into someone, but at least with the fruits of his practice he merely managed to look like an odd individual who had an affinity for being clumsy. The shore line around the village hidden in the mist wasn’t that far from the village proper…if you were willing to take the sheer drop off from a certain point to the salty water below. He was heading to this particular drop off, easily able to just walk down the cliff face at first to test his ability to swim using only chakra, before testing himself by climbing back up without the aide of securing himself to the cliff with chakra.

He was about to take a step over when…

“Are you going to jump?” Byakuran flipped himself back in a rather unnatural looking pose, keeping himself standing using chakra alone allowing him to bend his back back while his arms hung limply at his side. It was easier then actually going through the process of turning himself around.

The speaker was an…oddly familiar girl, white hair at the crown of her head, and red about half way down and the rest of the way to her chin. It took him a moment, trying to focus on keeping his chakra stable within his muscles as he was, but suddenly recognition hit him and he fell backwards, landing on his back at her feet as he looked up at the girl. “You!” he said with a blank, almost accusatory tone.

“Yepperuni.” The girl said in …confirmation? “It’s me. And it’s you too. It’s been a while. You got tall.”

Byakuran was staring at the girl he’d met in the marketplace all those years ago, the very same one which, he might add, had vanished into thin air the last time he’d seen her. There were times at which he’d wondered if he had seen her there at all…if it all hadn’t been a dream. The girl was older, but…oddly, not as old as she should have been. She’d seemed a little older than he when last they’d met, but now to look upon her it seemed as though they might be the same age. “Your name…” he struggled for a moment. “Tori.”

“Huh?” the girl seemed confused for a moment, before she smiled and laughed. “Oh yeah! That fake name I gave you back then! You remembered that?” she laughed at him as though this was adorable.

Byakuran looked slightly indignant at this. “Well too be fair it was the only name you gave.”

“Yeah…I guess so.” She leaned over him, looking him upside down as he lay there. “Say, why were you going to jump huh? You shouldn’t throw your life away so easily, ya know.”

Byakuran looked rather bemused now as he raised himself back up with his chakra, sticking his feet to the ground this time in order to pull himself back up.

“And how come yer movin so funny? You drunk or something?”

Byakuran chuckled, apparently humored now as he turned around, taking a step up the ledge of the cliff. “And what if I was? Would you stop me from jumping, little bird?”

“H-huh?” the girl seemed surprised by something in his statement, Byakuran lifting a brow.

“Well that’s your name means…pardon, what your alias means. Bird.”

The girl seemed slightly relieved about something, adapting an embarrassed expression. “O-oh…right. Bird. Yeah.” She looked curiously at him for a moment. “And…why? Are you seriously going to jump?

“That depends…would you stop me if I was?” Byakuran was secretly a rather playful sort deep down. Messing with people was a passable hobby of his.

The girl seemed taken aback by the question, blinking at him like a fish for a moment. “Uh…well…yeah, I guess so?” she scratched the side of her face.

She seemed only mildly considering the outcome, as though it was barely
registering with her that she might not want him to die.

“Hm… alright. That’s good to know.” And he took the step backwards.

“AH! HEY!” the girl lunged to grab him, only to lose her own footing, tumbling after him. “AHH! Idiot! Humans can’t fly!”

“No.” Byakuran said with his rather gleeful smile. “But then, Ninja are exceptions to a lot of rules.” The girl opened her eyes, actually clinging to him as he stuck his feet to the cliff face, chakra keeping them from falling.

“You…” the girl seemed to take a moment to realize. “You weren’t ever gonna jump huh…”

“I was not.” Byakuran confirmed looking rather unconcerned as he continued to smile. “though I must admit having a hug from a pretty girl always makes descending down cliff faces more enjoyable regardless.” The girl seemed to put on a slightly indignant puff into her expression, bravely released her grip on him and repositioning herself to a sitting position atop his torso, her legs both swung over to one side so as to treat him more like a park bench.

“That wasn’t funny at all. I really thought you were trying to die or something you know? So what were you really doing?”

“This coming from the mysterious girl who disappears after a series of odd questions and doesn’t show up again for…oh what’s it been…4 years?”

“I guess so. Yeah. Four years.” The girl was kicking her feet absently as he walked backwards the cliff, his chakra still keeping him from falling into the shifting sea below.

“Then you see my point.” Byakuran said confidently, apparently not at all minding be treated like something similar to a porch swing elevator to the shore below. “All fair in equal trade.”

The girl seemed to ponder this for a moment, airily admitting. “Okay yeah, I guess that musta seemed pretty weird and stuff. Okay, fair’s fair.” She nodded, looking at him sidelong still seated. “So…what, I guess you won’t tell me what you were doing unless I tell you what I was doing?”

“That would be the general consensus yes.” Byakuran had to admit this was a bit surreal, running into this girl out of nowhere again after all this time. It was finally time to answer some of his questions…finally time to perhaps get some answers as to just who in the world she was…and why she smelled a bit like wet duck…

“Hmmm…” the girl squinted in an almost childish manner, her face scrunched up. “Dang…I can’t tell you that yet.”

“Oh? Can you not?”

“Nope.” The girl confirmed as though absolutely sure. “You’re not ready to know that yet. No way. You’re head would explode like-“ she made a strange sound which sounded very much like a five year old trying to emulate and explosion.

“You are a very odd sort of person.” Byakuran observed as he had all those years ago.

“You already told me that remember?” The girl said brightly, apparently not taking offense to the remark in the slightest. “And anyway, you’re a pretty strange duck yourself.” She said a bright tone, as though paying him a compliment.

“I suppose I can’t really deny that at all.” He admitted with a slight nod, well aware that even at this moment he was walking backwards down a cliff with a girl sitting on his stomach. Yes…he supposed was an odd sort of person himself. “Regardless.” He remarked idly “I far less mysterious than a girl who vanishes into thin air only to reappear four years later. Not even taking into consideration your unwillingness to explain yourself. Very suspicious.” He was smiling as he said this however, intrigued as to just what in the world this girl’s intent was. “Are you a ghost perhaps? A power prodigy shinobi here on a secret mission to overthrow kiri? Or perhaps you’re a deranged stalker secretly pining after my every move.”

The girl laughed. “Aha, I like that last one. Let’s say I’m a stalker. That at least sounds interesting.”

“More interesting than a secret Operative for a mission to destroy Kiri?”

“Obviously.” The girl rolled her eyes as though only a fool wouldn’t realize that.

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:23 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 18/100

“I see,” Byakuran noted lifting a brow at the girl, as though he’d never quite seen anything like her. “alright then, so, stalker. What brings you around this time? Were you just trying to stop me from jumping off a cliff?”

“I was going to check up on you anyway. The stopping you from jumping sorta came outta left field.”

“I see,” Byakuran chuckled at this, their descent down the cliff still progressing steadily. “Well you vanishing into thin air had a similar effect on me last time. So know you have some understanding of how it feels.”

“That really bugs you that you don’t know anything about me huh?” the girl said, looking rather smug as prodded him in the chest next to where she sat.

“Hn, you’re one of those people who really has to know everything or it bothers you…you must bothered a lot.”

“Only when the naswers I seek are being intentionally withheld from me.” Byakuran noted looking rather unbothered none the less. “And it’s less
actively bothers and more intrigues my curiosity.” He tilted his head slightly.

“That said, I suppose I do find myself lacking for answers much of the time…but half the fun is uncovering new mysteries and their answers, so I can’t really say I mind at all.”

“Hn,” the girl seemed tickled over something. “So you’re basically just a nosy kind of person who has to know everything.”

“I don’t really have to know anything…” Byakuran insisted with a hint of bemusement himself. “…I just want to know everything.”

The girl laughed again, as though pleased by his answer. “Hey! That was good answer. Maybe I won’t have to disappear this time.” Byakuran’s expression fell contemplative once more as he scrutinized her.

“So…when you disappeared last time…it was because I answered your question wrong?”

The girl winked at him, holding up a finger. “Bingo! You’re pretty sharp Bya-kun.” She wagged a finger at him. “So just answer them all right and maybe we’ll be able to hang out more.”

Byakuran gave a coy smirk. “Hm…that doesn’t really sound like the word’s of a stalker.”

“Oh!” the girl put a fist into her own palm, as though just recollecting.

“Riiiight, I’m supposed to be acting like a stalker huh? I suppose I did pick that one as my disguise, huh? Hmm…” she shrugged. “Ah whatever, just suspend your disbelief or something okay?”

Byakuran gave another slight chuckle. “Hm…suspend my disbelief…? I should tell you I’m not very good at that… but if you like I can pretend to for your sake.”

“Kay,” the girl affirmed with a nod. “That’ll do. Anyway,” she peered down below. “as your stalker or whatever, what were you trying to do here anyhow?”

“I was training, actually,” Byakuran said unphased, still wearing his smile. “I was practicing moving about using only my chakra.”

The girl actually pulled a double take. “S-say wha? Like…that’s why you were moving all funny? Why? Do your muscles not work or something?”

“No,” Byakuran assured. “they work just fine, it’s just that I’m trying to train my chakra reserves. I’m trying to build up enough chakra to be able to use the summoning technique.”

The girl practically fell off him for a moment, looking startled before looking at
him with a slightly staggered expression, her eyes wide as she gaped at him.

“The-…then…you…” she seemed to regain herself. “Hey are you actually serious? I mean…the summoning technique, that’s supposed to be really advanced ya know. It takes a heck of a lot of chakra to use that kind of technique right? I thought it was supposed to be a technique for elite ninja. Aren’t you, like, just a kid? I mean you’re an apprentice or whatever, just a
Genin or something. Or something…” she raised a brow at him. “Right?”

“That is true.” He admitted, affirming that everything she managed to babble was reasonably true.

“So…” she pressed.

“I suppose I’m something of an exception to the rule. I have very high ambitions for my future, so I fully intend to excel, not matter what I have to do to achieve that goal. If I have to move using solely my chakra for the whole day just to strengthen my reserves, then so help me, I shall do so. I don’t have any qualms with pushing my body it’s limits to achieve that. I am someone who has to achieve greatness…or…” the girl actually seemed to fall into a curious look at his pause, hanging on his answer. “I’d get really bored.”

The girl looked surprised for a moment, before she burst out laughing. “Heh, heh, is that right…” she started kicking her feet looking pleased again. “I guess I can understand that perfectly. No one wants to be bored.” She looked up at the sky now as they continued to descend.

“You still haven’t told me your name.” Byakuran reminded, as though hoping his declaration had earned him at least a little bit of information.

“Hmm…” the girl seemed coy once more. “I guess I haven’t given it to you yet huh, I suppose you wouldn’t buy it if I gave you my old alias huh?”

“Probably not.”

The girl seemed to muse over this for a moment. “Okay…fine.” She looked down contented at him, as though in a fit of whimsy she just decided it couldn’t hurt. “Ahiru. That’s my name.”

“….Duck..?” Byakuran considered looking amused. “Your name is Duck?”
The girl puffed up slightly. “Hey! What’s wrong with that! You’re name’s some girly flower! What right do you have to say anything! And anyway!! You got something against ducks!?”

Byakuran merely continued to fall into laughter before managing. “No, no, not really, but I just found it so fitting. I’ve always thought you smelled like wet duck when I met you…and you still do.”

The girl folded her arms suspiciously. “Is that some kind of insult? Ducks smell fine!”

“I’m not really leaning one way or the other on how they smell,” Byakuran informed carelessly, his smile unfaltered. “I’m merely making an accurate assessment. I know what ducks smell like, and you smell like one.”

The girl blinked at him as she turned this information over. “Hmmm…is that so.” She seemed to be considering something. “Well I guess that makes sense…” she muttered out of the side of her mouth.”

“It does?”

“Uhhh,” the girl covered quickly. “yeah, cause I…have a pet duck at home! Lot’s of them! So it’d make sense I’d smell like them!”

“You aren’t very good at lying.” Byakuran informed with a rather assured smugness.

“And you’re not very good at talking to girls.” Ahiru rebutted, looking somewhat put out.

“Fair enough.” Byakuran admitted apparently not very bothered by the prospect.

Despite the fact that he was currently having to walk backwards down a cliff face using only his chakra, while carrying a rather difficultly mysterious girl,
Byakuran did at least have time to admire the view…and no, he wasn’t talking about the Ahiru, even if she was fair enough to look at. No, he was referring to the sea. From above all one could see was the thick fog that gather about the cliff above, the village’s outlook often rather difficult to outlook from, given the places constant haze of mist. The water stretched out for miles as unto the distant horizon as the waters below, shifting a dn white with foam and salt from the sea frothed below. He did so enjoy the sea, even the sound of it was rather relaxing. So even if he was doing something so absurd as scaling a cliff wall backwards solely with chakra while having to speak with afore mentioned difficult girl, he wasn’t really what he would call stressed. His chakra was still being pushed to the limits certainly, but he was at least able to keep himself directly horizontal to the wall as he feet stuck him to it. If he were to have a slight lapse, after all, it was very likely that
Ahiru would fall, and while it might be amusing once he got down a bit lower to the water, it would seriously endanger her if he were to do it from this height.

Then again, he asked himself, why did he care? Wasn’t this girl clearly mysterious and suspicious almost the point to utter blatancy. She was being INTENTIONALLY mysterious. Shouldn’t he be the least bit concerned about her intentions or bothered by her presence? Was this what hormones did to the logical mind? No, surely not. He knew it was like to be infatuated by a woman, but this wasn’t exactly the same thing. He didn’t feel attracted to her…well, perhaps a little, so much as he did feel safe around her. He felt as thoug he really had nothing much to fear from this girl but the oddest thing about this was that he didn’t really know why. It might have been something as simple as that she didn’t mean him any harm…or something as deep as a strange connection he felt he’d formed with her since he met her those years ago. For her to suddenly turn up again like this, contrary to what one might expect, it seemed almost natural to him, as though he had been expecting that he would meet her again. All in all it seemed as natural a thing as seeing someone he knew walking down the street. It was just…an expected eventuality. This was strange enough to be sure, but at the same time the feeling really preventing him from considering it as such. It was a bit of a confusing cycle actually.

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:23 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 27/100

Still, confusing or not there was the fact that the girl had returned from out of nowhere, and despite being willfully mysterious he was at least sure she was real this time. She even seemed to be far too…what was the word, naïve, to be some enemy ninja out to reveal his place as an Otobe…then again, maybe that was the point? He supposed it might be an effect of some elaborate genjutsu that he felt he could trust this girl…it wouldn’t be to far out of the question… but…

He was currently giving his chakra everything he had. If indeed a genjutsu tried to invade his system now, he suspected that he’d be able to feel it. If this girl was able to sneak a genjutsu passed him in this state, then she was far more powerful than he could hope to contest with at the moment. And all of that seemed rather unlikely, all in all.

Still, he openly admitted that he tended to over think things and was somewhat paranoid. It was a healthy trait in any ninja as far as he was concerned. One didn’t live very long in the ninja world trusting everything at face value. In fact it tended to shorten one’s life span something fierce. But this time felt different, and even Byakuran wasn’t entirely sure why.

“So,” he had to admit that since this cliff was rather steep and he wasn’t exactly walking backwards very fast this might be a while, he might as well strike up conversation. “if you are indeed intent to remain completely mysterious, then do you mind me asking you something so long as it isn’t directly related to who you are?”

Ahiru seemed a miffed still about the whole duck business. “Hmm…maybe. I guess you’ll have to ask and see.”

“I suppose that’s reasonable.” He mused. He would have shrugged, but using his chakra to preform unnecessary movements like that was troublesome. “then what do you think of Kiri?”

The girl had apparently been thinking he was trying to trick something out of her, because the question seemed to take her guard for a moment, causing her to give an innocent gaze upward towards the sky again. “well, it’s pretty misty here. So you can’t always see the sun, which is kind of a downer, but at least there’s lot’s of water fish around, so I guess it’s an okay enough place.”

“So…” Byakuran said with a triumphant smile. “You like the sun, fish, and water…and you aren’t from around here.”

“Doh!” the girl actually pointed at him even from her position seated on top of him “You were trying to trick me after all!”

“Naturally.” Byakuran stated, rather unperturbed.

The girl puffed up her cheeks indignantly. “Tricky little… hmph…” she seemed to calm down but then demanded “well, in exchange, I get to ask you a few questions. And you have to answer them!”

“I didn’t make you answer my question…”

“Too bad. Life’s unfair. You have to answer.” Byakuran found the girl’s rather forceful personality a little refreshing.

“Very well. Go right ahead. I’m guaranteed to answer. Though I make no guarantee that my answer will be true or not.”

The girl furrowed her brow. “I’ll be the judge of that. What’s you favorite color!?”

Byakuran nearly fell off the Cliffside from the seemingly pointlessness of the question. His favorite…color? “I…” he seemed to pause. “I don’t really have one, actually. I suppose I’m partial to white, red, and black… also blue and purple. Though guess Orange does have a certain-“

“Hm hm.” The girl looked like she was beaming about something.

“What?” what could she have possibly learned from asking his favorite color? That he didn’t really so specifically have a favorite color…? How was that useful information in the slightest?

“Red, white, black, and blue huuuuh?” she chuckled again.

Was there something funny about… oh. OH. He had just noticed if one took into consideration the girl’s own general color scheme, that was exactly what one got. Her vest and shorts were blue, her belts and buckles black, and her hair was red the bottom half and white for the top. Even her shirt which she wore under her vest was white. If taken out of context, it might seem as though he had been noting that everything about the girl was his favorite color. Interesting…was that intentional…or a froidian slip on his own part…?

Hmm…

“Heh, heh,” the girl seemed rather gleeful about whatever it was she was taking away from this, and Byakuran got the impression she was reading more into his answer then had been there… “I get it. Okay.” She then held up two fingers. “Second question. Why do you count the number of opponents you defeat?”

Byakuran smiled even more broadly at this one. That one was easy.

There was a legend in the ancient history of this land, a saying that had captured his imagination when he had first heard it. The saying was actually based upon an ancient fairy tale that told of a humble farmer. A humble farmer that, when his family was slain, swore vengeance upon the demons who had been responsible, dedicating his life to mastering the art of battle as he strove towards mastering both himself the blade. The man was said to have broken on hundred strong swords throughout his training, becoming a master swords man. Soon his reputation was known across the land and he traveled about serving lords and ladies as he dealt with the demons that plagued them. He walked down a hundred roads before his reached the destination he sought. The demons who had killed his family. He fought and killed the demons, taking his revenge, but it wasn’t enough. The man continued to kill demons. Demon after demon, until at last, after the man had killed 100 demons…he became a demon himself.

The story had always tickled him on some level. The idea that to become something…to understand something, you had to prove victorious over it 100 times.

It had been the day he had heard this story that he had decided…no, promised himself, that he wouldn’t consider himself a ninja until such time as he had defeated 100 ninja. The perhaps, after having attained such a feat, after having defeated 100 shinobi, he would truly understand what it meant to him to be a shinobi, what it meant to him that HE was a shinobi. By the time he achieved that feat…he would be able to wear the title proudly, and know that he had earned it. Whether through eventual understanding, or pure strength. He wasn’t really sure yet…but he was actually willing to bet that, like most things, in the synergy of the two ideas.

He told Ahiru his answer, explaining the long tale about the farmer who became a demon, and indeed what he thought about the tale in general. The tale itself was clearly a commentary on vengeance, and the act of becoming a warrior. It spoke of how a person who sought evil, if he didn’t know when to stop, iof he didn’t know when to call himself back into the light, then he would become just as evil as the things he sought.

Byakuran, of course, preferred the metaphor for revenge which referred it to more as sword. That seemed like it was a far more wise observation…or, perhaps, a more practical one. It spoke pf revenge not as something be avoided entirely, but rather as a sword that could be a potent weapon if one knew how to wield it properly…but one should never use a sword as walking stick. One should never rely on revenge to keep themselves going, as a support… for not only would that carve up whatever path you chose to walk, leaving scars behind you, but it was just as likely you would take a misstep, and end up stabbing yourself in the foot with your own blade. That was what he believed to be the truth. He told the girl all of this, apparently impressing the strange individual more and more as they continued to talk.
Slowly but surely they made their way down the cliff, Byakuran at last getting the chance to dump the girl harmlessly into the sea once they reached a safe distance. The girl however, didn’t seem to mind all that much, taking to the water as though she lived in it her whole life.

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:24 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 32/100

Still, confusing or not there was the fact that the girl had returned from out of nowhere, and despite being willfully mysterious he was at least sure she was real this time. She even seemed to be far too…what was the word, naïve, to be some enemy ninja out to reveal his place as an Otobe…then again, maybe that was the point? He supposed it might be an effect of some elaborate genjutsu that he felt he could trust this girl…it wouldn’t be to far out of the question… but…

He was currently giving his chakra everything he had. If indeed a genjutsu tried to invade his system now, he suspected that he’d be able to feel it. If this girl was able to sneak a genjutsu passed him in this state, then she was far more powerful than he could hope to contest with at the moment. And all of that seemed rather unlikely, all in all.

Still, he openly admitted that he tended to over think things and was somewhat paranoid. It was a healthy trait in any ninja as far as he was concerned. One didn’t live very long in the ninja world trusting everything at face value. In fact it tended to shorten one’s life span something fierce. But this time felt different, and even Byakuran wasn’t entirely sure why.

“So,” he had to admit that since this cliff was rather steep and he wasn’t exactly walking backwards very fast this might be a while, he might as well strike up conversation. “if you are indeed intent to remain completely mysterious, then do you mind me asking you something so long as it isn’t directly related to who you are?”

Ahiru seemed a miffed still about the whole duck business. “Hmm…maybe. I guess you’ll have to ask and see.”

“I suppose that’s reasonable.” He mused. He would have shrugged, but using his chakra to preform unnecessary movements like that was troublesome. “then what do you think of Kiri?”

The girl had apparently been thinking he was trying to trick something out of her, because the question seemed to take her guard for a moment, causing her to give an innocent gaze upward towards the sky again. “well, it’s pretty misty here. So you can’t always see the sun, which is kind of a downer, but at least there’s lot’s of water fish around, so I guess it’s an okay enough place.”

“So…” Byakuran said with a triumphant smile. “You like the sun, fish, and water…and you aren’t from around here.”

“Doh!” the girl actually pointed at him even from her position seated on top of him “You were trying to trick me after all!”

“Naturally.” Byakuran stated, rather unperturbed.

The girl puffed up her cheeks indignantly. “Tricky little… hmph…” she seemed to calm down but then demanded “well, in exchange, I get to ask you a few questions. And you have to answer them!”

“I didn’t make you answer my question…”

“Too bad. Life’s unfair. You have to answer.” Byakuran found the girl’s rather forceful personality a little refreshing.

“Very well. Go right ahead. I’m guaranteed to answer. Though I make no guarantee that my answer will be true or not.”

The girl furrowed her brow. “I’ll be the judge of that. What’s you favorite color!?”

Byakuran nearly fell off the Cliffside from the seemingly pointlessness of the question. His favorite…color? “I…” he seemed to pause. “I don’t really have one, actually. I suppose I’m partial to white, red, and black… also blue and purple. Though guess Orange does have a certain-“

“Hm hm.” The girl looked like she was beaming about something.

“What?” what could she have possibly learned from asking his favorite color? That he didn’t really so specifically have a favorite color…? How was that useful information in the slightest?

“Red, white, black, and blue huuuuh?” she chuckled again.

Was there something funny about… oh. OH. He had just noticed if one took into consideration the girl’s own general color scheme, that was exactly what one got. Her vest and shorts were blue, her belts and buckles black, and her hair was red the bottom half and white for the top. Even her shirt which she wore under her vest was white. If taken out of context, it might seem as though he had been noting that everything about the girl was his favorite color. Interesting…was that intentional…or a froidian slip on his own part…?

Hmm…

“Heh, heh,” the girl seemed rather gleeful about whatever it was she was taking away from this, and Byakuran got the impression she was reading more into his answer then had been there… “I get it. Okay.” She then held up two fingers. “Second question. Why do you count the number of opponents you defeat?”

Byakuran smiled even more broadly at this one. That one was easy.

There was a legend in the ancient history of this land, a saying that had captured his imagination when he had first heard it. The saying was actually based upon an ancient fairy tale that told of a humble farmer. A humble farmer that, when his family was slain, swore vengeance upon the demons who had been responsible, dedicating his life to mastering the art of battle as he strove towards mastering both himself the blade. The man was said to have broken on hundred strong swords throughout his training, becoming a master swords man. Soon his reputation was known across the land and he traveled about serving lords and ladies as he dealt with the demons that plagued them. He walked down a hundred roads before his reached the destination he sought. The demons who had killed his family. He fought and killed the demons, taking his revenge, but it wasn’t enough. The man continued to kill demons. Demon after demon, until at last, after the man had killed 100 demons…he became a demon himself.

The story had always tickled him on some level. The idea that to become something…to understand something, you had to prove victorious over it 100 times.

It had been the day he had heard this story that he had decided…no, promised himself, that he wouldn’t consider himself a ninja until such time as he had defeated 100 ninja. The perhaps, after having attained such a feat, after having defeated 100 shinobi, he would truly understand what it meant to him to be a shinobi, what it meant to him that HE was a shinobi. By the time he achieved that feat…he would be able to wear the title proudly, and know that he had earned it. Whether through eventual understanding, or pure strength. He wasn’t really sure yet…but he was actually willing to bet that, like most things, in the synergy of the two ideas.

He told Ahiru his answer, explaining the long tale about the farmer who became a demon, and indeed what he thought about the tale in general. The tale itself was clearly a commentary on vengeance, and the act of becoming a warrior. It spoke of how a person who sought evil, if he didn’t know when to stop, iof he didn’t know when to call himself back into the light, then he would become just as evil as the things he sought.

Byakuran, of course, preferred the metaphor for revenge which referred it to more as sword. That seemed like it was a far more wise observation…or, perhaps, a more practical one. It spoke pf revenge not as something be avoided entirely, but rather as a sword that could be a potent weapon if one knew how to wield it properly…but one should never use a sword as walking stick. One should never rely on revenge to keep themselves going, as a support… for not only would that carve up whatever path you chose to walk, leaving scars behind you, but it was just as likely you would take a misstep, and end up stabbing yourself in the foot with your own blade. That was what he believed to be the truth. He told the girl all of this, apparently impressing the strange individual more and more as they continued to talk.
Slowly but surely they made their way down the cliff, Byakuran at last getting the chance to dump the girl harmlessly into the sea once they reached a safe distance. The girl however, didn’t seem to mind all that much, taking to the water as though she lived in it her whole life.

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:25 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 38/100

The shoreline near Kiri was actually rather beautiful, though Byakuran admitted that he didn’t often come down to this particular stretch of it, so close to the village over the side of the steep cliff. Byakuran loved the ocean.
It was one of the few things apart from music and learning things that he really truly loved. He slowly lowered his body into the ocean from the cliff side, testing himself to see if he could swim properly while only using chakra…as was actually surprised to find that it was easier. He could whip himself about, shoot himself forward, swirling about and flitting through the water almost playfully as Ahiru did much the same, their conversation proceeding whenever both had their heads above the water.

There was so much life her. So much wonder. Even in a single tide pool so much seemed to be happening, thousands of tiny creatures flowing through one another’s existences as they all attempted to live their own. Water was the very essence of life, it composed life itself. Air was vital to life, but water WAS life. It was truth that Byakuran felt he understood every time he even so much as set foot in water, or more ardently when he used his chakra, both of which he was going through the process of now. The truth of it seemed to wash over his second self, which, because of the smaller spaces between the matter of the water for vibrations to pass through, could hear MUCH better under water, able to pick up sounds for what seemed miles. It was rather…amazing, truth be told. Peaceful, despite the fact he was fighting to keep his chakra moving as it should. It was different sort of peace that came from being totally relaxed. It was the peace that came from exhilaration. From living. Byakuran emerged from the water eventually, content that standing was actually easier then standing, took his stance upon the water, his chakra keeping him aloft.

“Hey! You can do that walking on water thingie!”

Byakuran gave a slight smirk. “Actually, I didn’t even find it all that difficult. I was able to master in about…ten minutes.”

Ahiru started laughing. “Heh…I guess you really are the perfect one huh…” it sounded like she was suggesting that he would be the perfect one FOR something, as though he was…a candidate. But what in the world could she be talking about…? He knew better then to think asking would help. Standing atop the water he was able to twist himself about, trying some basic physical maneuvers using only his chakra. As per before, he was having difficulty and making odd unnatural puppet like movements with his limbs, but bit by bit his form with the matter was improving, which meant, most likely, his he was either getting the hang of it or that his chakra was just getting stronger and thus making it easier for him.

“Hey! Tell me a story!”

Byakuran fell back into the water. Coughing and spluttering slightly her merged, looking at the girl laughing at his expense with a slightly bewildered expression. “W-what?”

Ahiru smiled. “Tell me a story, you heard me!” She raised a hand out of the water triumphantly. “Come on, you should focus on dividing your attention while you training to make it harder right? So then do that by telling me a story. It’ll help pass the time for you, you know.”

Byakuran slowly stop back atop the surface of the water, his face slightly clueless as he seemed t ponder over the matter. “Well… I suppose that I do have a few stories that I know... mind you all of them are very odd.”

“That’s okay, I’m an odd person remember? So go on! Tell me!”

Byakuran actually gave a slight sigh, but dawned a bemused smile. “Alright, I suppose it couldn’t hurt. He slowly struck a pose his chakra still moving his body about of it’s accord.

“Well, this is a story that was made predominantly in the western lands.” Were I grew up, he wanted to say, but held back merely on account of giving himself away. “But I think it will translate well enough.” He cleared his throat. He did like preforming, after all. “Some people say the future can be seen in the stars, that in the celestial movements one could spell out the future,” his tone was low and dramatic, his flare for it seeming to be brought out by Ahiru’s rather gracious attitude. The audience was half the fun after all.

“A few of these people lived their whole lives by the recorded movements and readings of the cosmos around them. They allowed them to govern their smallest action, to their most crucial descion. The stars and the words of those who were determined to speak for then ruled their lives completely and utterly. Could what these people did really be called living? Could they be someone who could be called human? Without free will is humanity truly worth having…? These people might never known unless fate deems them to…” he paused for effect. “But Allen W. Noir was not one of those people. Destiny was one of the many things he didn’t believe in. He didn’t believe, for example, that there was good in all people, then again, in his defense, he’d never really been given much reason too. His town was not a warm close nit community by any definition of the word.”

Byakuran tried his best to pain an image in his mind. “In the town Ailenbrook, one kept mostly to one’s own. It was a town where people came to be left alone, or where those who already dwelt, stuck to their homes. Ailenbrook was an old town, with old customs and old ways. Ways that, like the archaic architecture of the town itself, outlasted the changing times.”

“Aside from a few modern connivances here, a theatre or changing signs there, the small town had remained unaltered in 100 years. From the narrow cobble stone streets save a few brick paved roads, the grey and altogether dull coloring of the buildings, the place seemed to be predominantly constructed of stone, and it was as cold and hard as this might have implied.”

“One of the few places that wasn’t taken right from the late 1800 hundreds was a small café on the corner of Rose and Fifth, it was one of the places those few who weren’t isolationists came to congregate, and even there there was a calm silence that seemed to be in every corner of the community. Yet despite the silence, this was one of the more lively places that Allen liked to visit whenever he felt like going out. He’d come in, sit down, sometimes order coffee if he was in the mood, and sit back listening.”

“He wasn’t listening to the people, the people always whispered here. But the owner did have background to make up for his customers’ near mute tendencies. He always played the same old record on his same old machine.
Even after hearing every second of it many times Allen still didn’t know what it was called. Some sort of out of date jazz,”

“What’s Jazz?”

Byakuran chuckled. “It’s a form of music which is more popular in the west than here, though I expect you might find some people who know what it is.

“Okay, go on.”

“Byakuran laughed. She was like a little kid. He went on “Despite this constantly playing music, Allen never seemed to tire of it. Despite having heard it every time he’d come in, and having almost memorized the soft seemingly erratic beats, he didn’t really desire to hear anything else when he entered.

"Today was one of those coffee days… black, no sugar, no cream. The woman didn’t even bat an eye but instead nodded without question or comment, turning around to go retrieve his order. It didn’t really occur to either Allen or the waitress that perhaps a 17 year old ordering straight black coffee might have been peculiar, or that not realizing it was peculiar was peculiar in itself, but in Ailenbrook, most people ordered their coffee black, and most people included the younger generation.”

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:31 am

(Whoops)

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 38/100

Byakuran wondered just what in the world this girl hoped to achieve by making him tell a story. Did she truly even HAVE an agenda at this point...? Or was she simply bored? She supposed he might have believed either one about her at this point. She did seem rather directionless over all, and he had rarely met anyone so very...free spirited. He supposed that was a polite enough term for the girl's mind set. He supposed that this sotry in particular would have to be a good enough one to keep her entertained. The only problem was that he didn't remember the whole thing very well... so he'd be making up some of it as he went along. He supposed that was fitting though, it would keep him on his toes as she had suggested, his chakra training still ongoing through the whole process.

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

Offline

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:32 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 44/100

Byakuran continued on “On this day the rain was coming down rather passively, while undeniably thick. There was no wind to whip it about or blow it into a stinging shower, but the black skies were not relenting in their downpour a soaking cascade upon the earth below. Allen himself was dripping wet, pulling back his green hood as he dripped cold water unto the tiled floor beneath him. His dark green hoody was undeniably wetted to the core, even his t shirt underneath was moist, indeed the jeans he was wearing had been stained a darker shade, a clear sign of the water they’d recently absorbed….”

“Sopping wet the young man ran his fingers through his blonde hair, sighing. He seemed to be trying to release some unseen stress. The gold of his hair was almost always lost on onlookers however, it’s medium length only serving to frame his most striking feature, his eyes. His eyes were green, yet a very peculiar shade of it. It was far more accurate to say the young man’s eyes were jade, jade with strange shimmering pattern near the center. The pattern was nearly undetectable unless one looked closely, but it was clearly there when one knew what to look for. If Ailenbrook was a place that took note of such things, one could have searched the world over a nary found another pair of eyes like them…still…here, hardly anyone looked one another in the eye anyway.”

“Allen turned his head to the downpour outside the café’s front window. Across the street he could see the small local bakery, it’s blackened windows and lifeless stone façade not unlike the rest to the dreary place. Ailenbrook seemed made for the rain, Allen thought, the rain seemed to compliment it so well. Whenever it rained the grim mood of the community seemed to turn even more melancholy, spilling an extra echo of sorrow into the town’s image. This wasn’t why he came in and ordered coffee though, it wasn’t as if the rain really dampened his mood any. No indeed it was the opposite. He liked walking in the rain. To him it was true that it made the town seem sadder, but it also made it seem more alive. Even the sort of soft pattering sadness of the rain was better than the towns usual numb enigmatic aura.”

“Allen looked up as the waitress brought his coffee. “Here you are.” She said giving him a small small smile. It was a pitiful excuse for a smile really, hardly qualifying as a mouth spasm by normal standards, but it was genuine and not forced. Such show of emotion was uncommon from the people of his home town, and Allen always wondered if she was another reason why he came. He took a sip of the steaming coffee and closed his eyes, relaxing as the dark liquid sent warmth through his soaked form. He didn’t really mind the bitter taste, it was just something he was used to.”

“He sat there for a few short moments taking occasional sips, allowing the hot beverage to run through his insides, staving off the chill from the drenching he’d received before checking a watch on his wrist. The watches face was a deep ebony black with hands and numbers of silver, the numbers themselves also being, rather than standard print, roman numerals. The hands indicated that the time had rolled on to 3:48pm this Saturday afternoon… Allen didn’t really need the watch, he didn’t need to be anywhere till 5:15 and the Clock Tower in the center square would quite plainly inform the whole of Ailenbrook when 5:00 finally came around, giving him 15 minutes to get where he needed. Still, his watch was useful on such occasions like this, judging how much time he had when he was either to absent minded or too impatient to use the large clock tower.”

“The tower was one of the towns more interesting aspects. It was far and away the largest building in the grey collection. Standing over 10 stories and made in a different manner than the rest of Ailenbrook, the clock tower was a dark void not unlike the color beneath his own watch face. Like a black thorn stabbing up toward the heavens, it stuck out from the center of town, sounding a tremendous gong every hour on the hour. To Allen it always sounded like a death toll, like the dark keeper of time was reminding them each one brought them closer to their end. He sighed finishing his coffee. He wasn’t really a cheerful person, but growing up without a real family in such a place did that to you, at the least he didn’t seem altogether depressed like most of the communities residents.”

“Allen set some money down for the coffee and got up. Needing nothing more he turned his hand reaching up and pulling back up his dark emerald hood, covering his face in a shadow as he departed. He pushed open the glass door, hearing the familiar ring of the bell and the sound of the rain clashing against the cobble stone as he went out under the awning the door sliding to a silent close behind him as the humming of the jazz ceased and the rain was all he could hear.”

“He turned and started off down the lane, the awning no longer shielding him. He walked into a curtain of rain and once more felt the water begin to retake the ground it had lost during his brief spell in the shelter of the café. Allen didn’t mind. His young face was completely mellow as he walked through the barrage. He even lifted his face to the rain on occasion, closing his eyes and letting it wet his face. To him the rain was a relief, even though it was coming close to snow this time of year. A relief from the dull credulity of the place he lived… the place he hated.”

Byakuran was a little amused at the eager way the girl continued to listen.
“What destiny could he possibly have had? A destiny that took his parents from him, a destiny that made him come here to live with his grandfather. Allen had grown up alone, there was another person in the house, and his grandfather would even buy him whatever he asked for…but it wasn’t the same. He’d gladly trade it all away for one who’d showed him love rather the cold indifference which was so common in this place. Destiny indeed…”

“Allen crossed the street without fear, there were no cars running about here after all. At last the young man looked up before a small grassy lawn. Having a lawn at all was very rare in Ailenbrook, it was what had caught his attention the very first time he’d come here. The building itself was even more unique, though perhaps only the in same way the clock tower was. It was the same black and had a simalar architectural design, but to Allen it seemed far less imposing. It was a fairly large building even so, in appearance being a large restorated mansion, with large double doors and an exaggerated entry way.”

“This impression wasn’t far off, the museum had apparently once been the home of the towns lord back when it was first constructed, but as the family got on they eventually ended up turning their ancestral home into a place to display all of their families collection of artifacts and heirlooms. “

“Allen passed under the outcropping of stone that covered the front steps. The immediate lack of rainfall made a strange stillness fall into the air as Allen walked forward pulling back his hood and grasping one of the large lion head door knockers and pulling. He smiled slightly as the familiar warmth of the old place swept over him as he entered and shut the doors behind him causing a resounding knocking of wood to echo through the entrance gallery. He’d been here many times, almost every weekend. He walked forward dripping rain as he came. He glanced around at the pictures that lined the walls, each a work of art from long ago, most of which being a piece done by a man named Lionel, who’d apparently been a favorite artist of the current owner’s ancestor.”

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:32 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 48/100

Byakuran’s chakra continued to conduct his movements free of intervention as he continued tell the story at the same time, losing himself within them all, the movements, the story, and the chakra. ““Ah, hello Allen, I’ve been expecting you.” said a warm voice. At a work station complete with television and a rather comfy looking chair, was the museum’s owner and curator, though his face wascurrently obscured behind the news paper. It may have occurred to Allen that Mr. Lamdow hadn’t even looked to see whether it was indeed him or not, that he’d simply known that it had to be his young friend.”

“Mr. Lamdow was a kindly man, the only real one that Allen had ever met in person. He was around 46 years old and had a very regal look in his features, despite their slightly wizened turn. His hair was streaked with grey on either side and even his well kept beard had signs of pigment loss. He smiled as he lowered the paper. “Hey Mister Lamdow.” Allen said with a mellow smile.”

“The curator had a twinkle in his eye as he asked “So, are you just here to look around like usual, or are you following the pretty girl?””

“Allen looked surprised. It may have seemed odd, but the museum didn’t often get visitors besides himself. Indeed it may have been accurate to say that Allen was the places main source of business. But more than even that,
Allen didn’t really know of any girls he’d call pretty in the whole of Ailenbrook. There was one beautiful woman, but the rest where either as hallow eyed and sallow faced as an old woman, or actually old women. He didn’t really think for a moment that his friend would have called Madam Arche’ by anything but her name, and that left the only logical conclusion. It was either someone he didn’t know, rather unlikely, while everyone kept to themselves, word always seemed to creep around the small clumped town. Or, it was that she was not from Ailenbrook at all.”

“The latter seemed the most likely, but in itself was rather amazing. In all his years living in the depressing place, Allen had only seen two people that weren’t from the town actually come through, the first had been a guest of his grandfathers over 6 years ago, the second…well, there had actually been a story behind that one.”

“About two years ago the month previous, Allen had been sitting on one of the benches that stood in the center of the plaza in front of the clock tower. He did this often coming there with a book to sit reading for long periods of time. He could’ve done this at home of course, but sometimes he just tired of the stuffy decrepit house.”

““Pardon…but do you have the time?” a strange voice had said. The voice itself had reminded Allen of a deep growl, as if some beast had spoken, albeit not an altogether vicious one. The voice sounded more like the growl of a sleeping lion, even giving the grumbling impression of a purr. Either this man had a very unique voice, or was a chain smoker…”

“Allen turned, looking at the source of the voice strangely. He was an exceedingly large man, tall and broad shouldered, yet his build was that of a professional wrestler. Allen had noticed with some alarm that the man looked like he could crush his head like grape. To further the very air of intimidation this man seemed to give off, he was dressed all in black from head to toe.

While black was not uncommon dress in Ailenbrook, this man wore it differently than any others Allen had seen. He wore a long leather jacket, one that was rolled up at the sleeves, exposing his formidable forearms.

Beneath that it seemed he was dawned in simple black t shirt and jeans, a pair of ebony businessman’s shoes to top off the strange attire. The man could have been accused of being a matrix cosplayer, but he lacked the sunglasses.”

“The man’s face was fierce, yet not in the active way, not in his expression. His expression was in fact in direct contrast to his face, calm and completely civil. No it was the face itself that was fierce, fierce in the same way a war veteran’s was. Across the left side of his face spider webbed a wicked scar, his left eye, evidence of the scars genuine nature, was completely white with the signs of scar tissue. At first glance it was apparent he was blind out of that eye, yet his right made up the slack by looking as intense as any ten pairs of eyes put together Allen had ever seen.”

“Allen had lowered his book slightly before blinking, and simply pointing to the clock tower looming above them.”

“The man had laughed a grizzled laugh following Allen’s finger. “Ah,” the man had said letting his mouth crack into a small smile “Missed that…you’ll forgive me…I’m not from around here.” At the time Allen remembered thinking how extremely unnecessary telling him that was. Allen had never even seen someone of this man’s like on TV, let alone his miserable little home town.

The man had looked down at him again, still smiling slightly, he looked almost bemused “So, you live here? I’m here on business…it seems like a rather…dull place for a teenager.””

“Allen didn’t bother asking him what his business could be, he for some reason felt he didn’t want to know. “Yes…nice of you to put it so delicately. I just call it emotionally retarded.””

“The man laughed, this time with more vigor. “I see, I didn’t want to say anything…but yes.” Allen noticed how the man talked slowly, yet perfectly. It was almost as if he was not in any hurry to finish speaking, and let the words come at their own pace. “So…I don’t suppose you have a light do you?” Chain smoker it was then.”

“Allen had looked at him with a slightly amused smile “No. Sorry.””

“The man sighed running a hand through his black gelled hair, “Shame.” The man held out his rather large hand “Well, thanks anyway kid.” Allen had shaken it with slight hesitation. The man straightened and turned walking away. Allen had lowered his eyes back to his book before “See you around Allen.””

“Allen had jerked his eyes up in surprise… but the man was gone…naught but the wind and a few birds with him in the now empty plaza… he’d never given the man his name, how had he…”

“Allen had never seen the man again, but he had always wondered … Furthermore, when he’d asked a few people he knew if they’d heard anything about a stranger in town, no one had heard anything. When his grandfather’s guest had come to town, everyone had somehow known about it, his movements through Ailenbrook could have been thoroughly catalogued by the accounts of the people who’d seen him going in and out. But this time, despite the fact that this large man would have been near impossible to miss, no one had seen hide nor hair of him. No one, that is, but Allen.”

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:33 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 51/100

Byakuran was actually getting into it now. This story was coming along nicely.“So naturally now hearing that yet another stranger had arrived in town, Allen was, to say the least, exceedingly curious. He raised an eyebrow at his friend “A girl? Who is she?””

“Mr. Lamdow wasn’t the gossiping type, he didn’t really take any undo notice to strangers. He simply shrugged “She came in about 15 minutes ago.””

“Allen looked almost nonplused, but he paid the usual fair, to which Mr. Lamdow gave a wink and hinted “She might,” he put strong emphasis on the word “have headed toward the family heirlooms…but what do I know?””

“Allen took off at a brisk pace along the width of the room, but even though he was in a slight haste to get a look at this stranger, he still took the time to look at the paintings. Even the tiles, smooth as glass, were works of art in this place. Contoured intricate designs covered them in such a way that they added to the overall atmosphere of the place.”

“Allen walked through the entry hall and into the next room, which was another painting gallery. He now, pausing only to glance at one of his favorites, a rather distinct piece depicting a warrior standing beside a moonlit lake, moved onward down the hall to the left. He passed several doors on the way, some of them closed some of them open galleries like the one he’d left behind. He’d been in them all at one time or another, and every work of art in the building was carved into his memory. He didn’t really come see anything new though, to Allen, it was being here, in the only place outside his room in this town that wasn’t dreary or depressed, that made him come back so often.”

“Finally he reached the end of the hall and walked through another archway into the heirloom collection. The Heirloom collection was surprisingly large.
Apparently the Lamdow’s ancestor had been into collecting expensive relics. They had everything from authentic medieval weaponry to vases and jewelry. The collection could have been worth millions if Mr. Lamdow had felt like selling it, but he had always told Allen that he just couldn’t bring himself to give away what his grandfather, and his grandfather before him, had worked so hard to gather. So he’d opened the museum, and even took the time to manage it himself, even though he didn’t really need the money.”

“Allen had immediately caught the attention of the person he’d come there to see. He was fairly certain in fact that she saw him before he saw her. The stranger his curiosity had compelled him to seek out was standing at the other end of the oval hall and at first glance, Allen could already discern two things about her, one, she owned an umbrella, because the girl was bone dry, the second, Mr. Lamdow had NOT exaggerated.”

“The girl was dressed very oddly indeed…well actually, rather normally, but very oddly for Ailenbrook, that was for certain. She was wearing something that could only be labeled, “A little black dress” with thin shoulder straps and black slip on shoes. She was also wearing a coat, but she had it pulled down around her elbows. The coat itself was white, lined with fur about the collar. One thing was certain…like the man who’d been there two years ago…this girl stuck out like a sore thumb.”

“No, Mr. Lamdow had not exaggerated in the least. This girl was pretty. She had long blonde hair that was roughly the same coloring as his own, and even similar in texture, only far longer. Her eyes were a almond shape, colored a dark brown. With a flawless complexion to top it off, the girl was an 11 on a scale from 1 to 10, she even looked his age.”

“He finally snapped from his surprise long enough to note the look she was giving him. The almond eyes that he’d been admiring were in fact locked on him like a hawk’s. He immediately turned awkwardly and faced one of the exhibits, trying very hard to act as though he couldn’t feel her eyes boring into the back of his head. After some time though, the girl apparently decided that he wasn’t worth any fuss and looked back to the relic she’d been eyeing before he walked in. Allen didn’t risk a look, but instead pictured in his mind which one she would be standing in front of. If he recalled correctly, it would be…ah!”

“There was only one piece in the immediate area in front of where she stood. The stone…what was it called…oh! It had been labeled “the crimson tear” if he recalled correctly, it was an odd thing, that at least Allen could recall perfectly, in that respect it suited the girl perfectly. It looked like a shade darker than the color of blood, with veins of black swerving across its surface. Carved into the shape of crystal, it looked just large enough to fit in ones palm.”

“What was odd was that Allen didn’t really know anything about it aside from its name. Unlike the other items on display, it didn’t have a history listed, nothing about it at all save the name. Allen pretended to browse for a few more moments before he risked a dart of his jade eyes to the girl’s location…she hadn’t moved at all. She was just standing there staring down at the stone with an almost evaluating expression. He didn’t risk any longer than a glance, turning his gaze back to the swords along the wall.”

“He was eyeing the same Flamberge for a few minutes before he finally dared another look…she was gone. Allen blinked…oh what was it with strangers and disappearing? Allen frowned and turned quickly looking around the room as a whole, only to receive a rather startling surprise just behind. Allen jumped slightly, his heart speeding up a degree as he found the girl had standing directly to his rear, staring at him with folded arms. Allen just stared blankly, not quite sure of what to say of to the girl. The thing which surprised him the most was that she wasn’t looking at him crossly at all…more…well certainly not in a manner any girl from Ailenbrook would look at him…”

““Hello.” The girl said her mouth forming the tiniest hint of what he might consider a smirk. As she spoke he noticed the faintest hint of a French accent, but it was barely noticeable.””

““Allen wasn’t really prepared for this, truth be told, he hadn’t really talked to many girls his own age, and certainly not one so… Allen felt his face go slightly pink against his will. “H-hi…” he responded clumsily, wondering if perhaps, he could possibly be acting more like an idiot.””

““The girl raised an eyebrow still allowing that smirk to play across her face. She seemed to amused by some hidden joke that Allen simply couldn’t see…or…was it just that she trying to make him feel even MORE like an idiot?”

““So…you come here often?” She asked this as she seemed to sink into a pose. While this was not exactly a predatory pose as might be examined in the animal kingdom, it was certainly what Allen might consider a predatory pose of a different nature. That is he would have, if didn’t know about as much of woman as he did the secrets of the universe. She cradled one of her arms, using the other to twist a lock of her hair around a delicate finger, her weight upon one hip as her eyelids dropped about half way closed, so as to give a slightly alluring air. “

“Allen just stared, hearing his heartbeat in his head, a very odd place to be hearing it he decided. “Uh…yeah…all the time.” He once more conjectured at how he might make a bigger fool of himself.”

“She chuckled, her voice seeming to echo slightly in the large hall. “Really? So you must know about everything here then, oui?” Her French Origins seemed to enunciate themselves as she reverted to a word of her native tongue.”

“Allen blinked, glad that this conversation was actually taking a course that didn’t involve awkward questions like why he was watching her, or perhaps even why he was acting like a complete fool “Well…yes…I guess so.” His face was its usual mellow calm, which under the circumstances was quite a well put up façade considering his nervous interior.”

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:34 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 57/100

Byakuran's chakra seemed to actually growing stronger as the story went on, his resolve strengthening rather than weakening. “The girl gave a less mischievous and more genuine smile, for which Allen was secretly grateful, he was fairly certain the longer she’d been giving that smile the more his grasp on the ability to speak coherently was waning.

“Would you mind giving a tour then?””

“Allen did his best to keep from stumbling in speech “Uh…sure…if you’d like…””

“The girl gave a cheerful expression, then nearly caused him to freeze up and grind all his mental processes to a halt as she slipped beside him and locked his arm in hers. “Ô combien magnifique! What’s first then? My name is Alouette by the way!””

“If Allen had not been an avid reader as he was, if he hadn’t had access to both TV and the internet, if all he’d had to go on was the people he personally knew, this girls cheerful attitude probably would have sent him into a world of confusion the likes of which he had never known before. Luckily, as he was not deprived of such things, he managed to witness it with simply being taken aback, and of course the for mentioned feelings that he was behaving foolishly. He conjectured most boy’s his age must feel that way around attractive girls though, because Alouette didn’t seem bothered.”

““Oh…well…start wherever you want…and, I’m Allen.” He felt he should at least get his name out, who knew when he’d lose the nerve to form words altogether.”

“Alouette, as she had so eccentrically introduced herself, was by far and away the closest thing to a stereo typically overly happy blonde that he could’ve found if he took a lifetime to comb the globe. While he still couldn’t help but recall the hawk like look he could’ve sworn he saw her shooting him earlier, her merry enthusiasm, coupled with the fact that she was wrapping him around her finger with every French accented word, convinced him it had all been in his head, and that he simply was around too many depressed people all the time.”

“The bubbly girl seemed deeply interested in every single thing in museum, insisting that Allen tell her about EVERYTHING from top to bottom. Allen, it may come as no surprise, didn’t mind at all. He’d thought until now that he didn’t like other people outside his few friends, but he realized as this appealingly pleasant girl led him about the galleries by his arm that perhaps it was simply the people of Ailenbrook outside his few friends that he didn’t like… it certainly would make sense.”

““You really do know a lot about this place, when you said you come here a lot, you weren’t joking.” His excitable arm ornament was saying.”

“Allen had finally managed to shake off his embarrassment, after about an hour it should be noted, and had finally started to return to his casual self, making the only occasional idiotic stumble. “Yes, well, I don’t know if you’ve seen the rest of the town, but there’s not really much else to do here.””

“Alouette made a sour face “Si vrai, so true. This place looks like they ripped it out of the stone age… they must all have the same colorblind exterior designer or something oui? How do you stand this place Allen?””

“Allen rolled his eyes “Sometimes I really wonder.” he led her through two more galleries when he finally inquired “So, you’re not from Ailenbrook, are you visiting someone?””

“Alouette seemed to glow with her optimistic cheerfulness. “Oh! I’m here for the day with my parents, we’re just passing through.””

“Allen looked rather surprised “You’re passing through? Where are you headed? I mean, Ailenbrook is so secluded it’s an hours drive through the forest to get to the nearest city, and the other road leading out just takes you through more forest into the mountains.””

“She looked at him still aglow “We’re going hiking.””

“Allen gave her a weird look, hiking? In those mountains? Surely there was a better place. There wasn’t a soul around for miles in those mountains, certainly nothing even remotely ressembling a tourist spot…then again…maybe her parents were going there for that exact reason, like some of those nature freaks from TV, wanting to experience “pure nature”
…whatever THAT meant.”

“Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted, as a ghostly chime swept through the whole of Ailenbrook. Even inside where Allen and Alouette were, they heard it clearly. Allen nearly jumped looking at his watch.”

““Oh! Is that the time already? Wow…geez I didn’t realize it was so late!””

“Alouette winked at him “Time flies when you’re having fun.””

“Allen nearly had to pry her from his arm “I’m really sorry, it has been fun, but, I really have to go. I hope you don’t feel I’m ditching you?””

“Alouette gave him an assuring nod “Oh don’t worry! It’s fine. Thanks for putting up with me.””

“Allen rubbed the back of his neck slightly sheepish “It wasn’t any trouble…um… will you be leaving today?””

“Alouette seemed deeply amused once more at some joke that eluded him.
“Oui, yes, but…perhaps you could give me your number to contact you on our way back through…?””

“Allen was rather immediate to comply, telling her both his cell as well as his home phone. He’d probably have given her his social security number by this point though, for the life of him, he truly felt as though he was under the girl’s spell.”

““Then…I guess I’ll catch you on your way back through town...good bye.” He lingered for an awkward moment then took off quickly, waving back at her before exiting the current hall, leaving her alone.”

“She sat there for a while in silence with a blindingly cheerful look still in place…until, as the distant sound of his footsteps faded into nothing, it twisted into an amused, if not slightly sinister, smirk. The blonde reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a slim cellular phone. Flipping it open with a casual flick of her wrist, she hit a button, opening a communication channel.”

“There was sound of someone picking up on the other end of the line. “It’s me.” Alouette said still with that slightly sensuous smirk. “Oui, oui,…I found it. It was here just as that man said…but there’s something else.” She bared her teeth in the smile now, looking almost like hungry wolf “Tell Mr. Valan… we’ve found him. No I’m not kidding, he was right here with the stone the whole time…. Of course.” she shut her phone with a snap and spoke now to herself. “Looks like the big bad wolf has found you, mon petit attractif.” She gave a girlish giggle.”

“Mr. Lamdow was smiling to himself shaking staring at television. That Allen, such a card that boy was. He’d rushed out in such a hurry that he didn’t even get a chance to tease him about the girl. He’d save it for next time though. Suddenly the doors shut with their usual clacking of wood.”

““Back already? Did you forget- oh, I’m sorry…I thought you were someone else…can I help you sir?””
““I certainly hope so…” mused a calm growl of a voice."

“Allen’s house was the very paragon of dark foreboding mansion. He could even vaguely remember when he’d first come to Ailenbrook so many years ago, shivering at the mere sight of the place. But now familiarity had wrung out any fear he might have felt, making the otherwise ominous residence just another house. A dark fence of wrought iron clawed up at the sky from the top of stone wall, producing a stacked barrier against the outside world, as though to thoroughly slay any stray thoughts passerby’s might have had that the place might not have been so bad. As Allen shut the black gates behind him, locking it as he always did under his Grandfather’s long given directions, he turned round to face his home of the last many years.”

“The rain had let up, but everything was still slick with water, the stone that comprised the “yard” around the house dark with moisture. The yard looked once as though it may have been like Mister Lamdow’s once, that it had perhaps once held life, however any plant’s or soil the place might have contained had been long smothered beneath stone work. Perhaps when his grandfather’s heart turned to stone, his domain was merely expected to follow suit.”

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:35 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 62/100

Byakuran continued to shift his limbs about, stretching and flexing and moving them as he might while training...still only ever using his chakra, his muscles limp and unused... it was a trying task, but his efforts thus far preapred him for it. The story continued. Truth be told he was running low on ideas already. Coming up with a story on the fly was difficult... but it was certainly better then just spouting one of the many philosophical tales he knew. “Allen wasn’t entirely sure when his Caretaker had started to act the way he did. It had certainly been before he’d ever come to live there. Despite his hazy memories of his long dead parents ensuring him his grandfather was a kind man, the man that was awaiting him now was a man that, like the mansion in which he resided, was dark, ancient, and completely devoid of cheer.”

“The entry hall of the abode was barely lit, a cob webbed and dull chandelier above filling the black stone floors and shadowy walls in a twilight like illumination. The entire hall seemed like darkness had slowly seeped into everything over the course of centuries, staining all into the black of the deepest oblivion. Curtains, furniture, small dust covered trinkets of mysterious origin, if there was a single thing that wasn’t black in this hallow place, it was gold, whether in the form of wealth, or inlaid filigree to accent the aforementioned black. This was what Allen had grown surrounded by, and to him in was no more remarkable than a ceiling fan, but a stranger to the scene might have been able to draw that the owner of this place was both fairly wealthy, and long past the point where things such as cheer and goodwill could reach them.”

“Allen ascended the stairway, one of the few things that wasn’t covered in dust thanks to the inattentive maid that came in once a week. While it might have seemed she didn’t do to admirable a job, in her defense, his grandfather had forbade her from touching the grand majority of the house. Aside from Allen’s wing of the house, to the left of the upstairs landing, she was limited to the floors, and indeed she wasn’t allowed to even set foot near his Grandfather’s wing, which was just to the right.”

“Turning himself down this very direction, he made his way along the rather shabby hallway. Unlike his own, which was actually up kept, his grandfathers half of the upstairs seemed to have gone the way of its master. The walls were faded, cobwebs drifting from the ceiling and along the walls. In some places the wall paper was peeling, and in others large black spots that looked suspiciously like mold, though his grandfather had assured him it wasn’t. There were numerous doors along this hall, just as there was in his own, but they looked long unused. He himself didn’t use many of his own rooms either, but at the very least they were kept in livable condition, his grandfather’s…well…”

“The doors were chained shut for the most part, and indeed the chains seemed to be the only things he kept in mint condition. From under each door one could see only blackness, and thick garish cobwebs greater than all the rest of houses combined warded them off. It was as though his grandfather had hired a giant spider to come in a do the work especially… indeed, if giant spiders were available for hire, Allen wouldn’t have put it past the old man.”

“He’d learned long ago that one didn’t ask about these rooms. His grandfather was fierce when it came to their contents. His emotions about it, if indeed what the old man had could be called emotions, were hard to read, even to Allen, who unfortunately knew him better than any other. He might have hated their contents, he might have been ashamed, he might have been a deranged murderer who stowed his victims corpses behind these doors, the possibilities were endless. Allen took comfort though that if it was the latter, his grandfather hadn’t taken new victims in a quite a long while. The doors had been sealed since before he’d come to live there.”

“His grandfathers room, evident by the firelight coming underneath the door, was at the very end of the wing, it’s wrought iron knob in the form of a slightly gothic lion, surveying the hall with a rather stern gaze. Though Allen had once been afraid of it, his hand grasped hold of it without a hint of emotion, twisting it, and entering the room beyond.”

“The room his grandfather inhabited was similar to the hall, disheveled and dark. The only things that seemed preserved was the tall long backed arm chair near the fire, and the fireplace itself. Even the formerly extravagant bed seemed long neglected, adding to the long held suspicion Allen harbored that his Guardian never actually slept at all. His grandfather sat as he always did, in his chair, facing the crackling fire and away from the door, the chairs long cast shadow just reaching Allen’s toes as he shut the door behind him.”

““Grandfather… I’m here.” For a short time it seemed he hadn’t been heard.”

““Why?” The old man’s voice was croaked. He sounded like an ancient contraption of paper and dust, spewing words through sheer force of will, as though they threatened to rip him apart at any moment.”

“Allen frowned slightly, but not too noticeably. His grandfather wasn’t looking in his direction. But the man, on some level, had made Allen almost superstitious about him over the years. To him his grandfather seemed unbound by the conventions of normal people. Able to see things he wasn’t watching, able to somehow know when his will wasn’t adhered to. It was some sort of talent he possessed, and Allen took few chances with it when possible.”

““You sent for me remember? You told me to come here at 5: 15…””

“The only thing Allen could see from where he stood was the man’s bony hand, claw like as it grasped the arm of the chair, like the talons of some great bird. “Did I?” there was a sort of ironic consideration in his tone.

“Yes…I suppose I did.” Allen waited, still fighting frowning outright. He’d left Alouette at the museum for this? His grandfather spoke again. “Come here.””

“Allen regained his completely unreadable exterior and approached the fire, not halting until he stood by his grandfather’s chair. Now his grandfather was in full view, glowing in the light of the fire. Old didn’t seem to fit what his grandfather had become. He knew the man to be about eighty or so, but he looked far closer on to three hundred. He was as wizened and weathered as a man still breathing could be, his skin pale and shriveled as though it had not seen sunlight for low a century.”

“Indeed for all else his grandfather might have been dead, if not for his slow breathing, and his eyes. His eyes were what defined the old man. They were the only thing about him that seemed untouched by time. Always sharp, always aware, they each seemed as hard as steel, filled with a cold regard for whatever he happened to be looking at at the time.”

“It was these eyes that met the boys gaze unyielding, Allen’s own jade eyes perhaps some of the few that would not look away in disconcerted self-consciousness. His eyes seemed to cut through to one’s soul, and the sentinel like chill in them bespoke no mercy in judging whatever it might find there. They held no fear for his Grandson though, they had not in a long time.”

“Allen’s own dull, unreadable gaze seemed the perfect defense for such glare. Indeed, he might have subconsciously built his expression for that exact purpose. Not even those piercing eyes could break the boy’s poker face when he had the mind to put it up. This indifferent mask was a wall about his soul and thoughts, one he felt safe behind, even from those eyes.”

““Yes Grandfather?” His voice was so different from when it spoke with others. Any trace of melancholy or mellow openness was gone. His Grandfather’s mere presence seemed to cause him to lock up all signs of weakness, as one would around an enemy. His tone was sharp and to the point, as one addressing a superior in the military.”

“The wizened man still stared unceasingly. “…Did you read those books?””

“Allen merely blinked, this the only show of reaction he gave. “Yes Grandfather.””

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:36 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 69/100

“The old man held the gaze a moment longer, then turned them to the fire.
“Good. I’ll be testing your knowledge of them later. Commit them to your deepest memory.””

““Yes Grandfather.””

““You left the house today…where did you go?””

““I went for a walk.””

““Where?””

““The Coffee shop, then to Mr. Lamdow’s.””

“There was a minute of silence, as though his grandfather was dissecting the sentence for any exploitable flaws. “I see…” another minute of silence, Allen knew better to leave before he was excused though.”

““Was there something else?” he inquired in a monotonous fashion.”

“The ancient man’s eyes narrowed at the fire. “Perhaps…” more silence. When Allen was just about to speak again his grandfather continued. “Did anything…unusual… happen today?””

“Allen almost dropped his expression to one of slight curiosity and surprise, but he caught himself before any error. “Such as?” Could he be talking about Alouette? Maybe word of her family passing through had spread after all.”

“Yet His grandfather seemed unsure, if Allen had to put a word to it. Indeed he now had the impression the old man had asked it on more of a feeling than foreknowledge. “How old are you now?” he seemed to have no interest in addressing the boy’s question.”

“Seventeen sir.” It might have seemed an odd question to ask one’s own Grandchild, but Allen wouldn’t really know how the man kept what date it was at all considering the only calendar in the house was in his own room.”

““And…Your birthday?””

“Allen blinked before answering. “Next month sir.””

““Wednesday of next month…””

“Allen once more fought a frown. If he’d known that, then why had he asked?

“Yes sir.””

““Hmm…” There was yet another state of silence, before the old man at last bid. “You haven’t been associating with any…odd folk… have you?””

“Allen’s mask hid all, the eyes returning their gaze to him. Allen knew what his grandfather meant by “odd folk”. He meant any soul from outside this god forsaken place. His grandfather had long warned Allen that people from the outside were not to be trusted… but it had only cemented Allen’s mistrust in the man himself. He seemed determined to keep Allen trapped in this stone prison till he wound up just like him, and Allen would have none of it. The day he turned eighteen he’d take his Inheritance from his parents and leave as fast as a taxi could carry him. He’d no idea what he’d do after that, but with all his parents considerable fortune, he was sure he’d think of something productive.”

““Of course not Grandfather.” He said evenly.”

“The old man made a grunting sound, returning his gaze to the fireplace.

“You may go.” Allen nodded, maintaining his dull expression all the way out the door. As Allen shut it behind him, the old man continued to stare into the fire, his eyes dimming slightly. “Not much time…” his skin seemed even paler as he grasp at the arms of his chair.”

“Allen shut the door to his room with a sigh, his emotions seeming to flood back into his features as though a valve keeping them at bay had been opened. He leaned against his door and turned on the lights. His Room was the only remotely normal and modern place he’d seen in all the town outside Mr. Lamdow’s “workstation”. His Entertainment system, computer, and other such teenage technological necessities, spread about the opposite wall. He’d had to have almost everything shipped in from outside Ailenbrook, but his grandfather was always happy, well not happy, but he didn’t raise objection, to spending a large sum for his requests. Slipped down into a far cushier chair of his own he let out yet another sigh.”

“He hated his grandfather. He didn’t really like to say he hated anyone, but it was true. If there was a human that could personify heartless, callous, and ill tempered, it was him. Allen closed his eyes, watching the insides of his lids as tried to wish his birthday to arrive all the faster. Maybe it was Alouette having run him about the whole of the museum, but he felt tired. He closed his eyes… he was fairly sleepy…”

“Allen awoke to the oddest sound he’d ever heard. It sounded like a tone pulled from the throat of a weeping soul, a sorrowful sound that sent a slight chill down the spine. Almost at once he got up from his chair, taking note that it was much darker then when he’d shut his eyes, but he didn’t have long to dwell. Again that sound assaulted his ears. He opened the door to his room, peering down the hall.”

“There was nothing out of place, but the distant sound sang out yet again. Was it coming from the front door? Allen slipped out of his room and down the hall of his own wing, so well kept in contrast to his grandfathers, until at last he stood on the upstairs landing. He stared down the stair way, his eyes on the front door as an odd suspicion entered his mind.”

“My god, was that what their door bell sounded like? What in the name of heaven did his grandfather rig up to give a door bell that sound…?”

“It came again, causing Allen to be faced with a dilemma. Did he open it? Should he talk to his grandfather? Who in the world could it possibly be? No one in their right mind would come up to the house…and how’d they get over the gate? He started to walk down the stairs, chancing a glance at his grandfather’s door at the end of the hall. Every step down the way he felt a strange sense of a foreboding building within him… he reached out for the door handle…..BOO!”

“AHHHH!!” Ahiru nearly leapt out of the water below as Byakuran finished the tale, his laughing at her earning him a swipe at his legs, causing him to fall into the water as well. “Hey! That wasn’t funny!”

“I disagree.” Byakuran chuckled as he pulled himself back up unto the surface of the water. “Sorry, but I seemed to have run out of ideas for that particular story. I’m not really sure where I was going with it.”

“YOU MADE ALL THAT UP JUST NOW?!” the girl chided at him.
Byakuran seemed to ponder over the matter. “Hmm…yes. I certainly did.”
Ahiru made a disatsifed noise. “You can’t just do that! Because that way the story doesn’t have a proper ending! Everyone knows that good stories need an ending. A Happy one too, or there’s not point in even telling it. I don’t care what sorta stupid lesson you’re supposed to learn. So tell another story, and this time do it right!”

Byakuran raised a brow at the girl as he resumed his exercises. A story with a happy ending eh? He supposed he could think of something, surely. But where to start? Most of the stories he knew were from philosophical works, stories trying to teach a lesson or make a point. Many of those didn’t necessarily have what he might consider happy endings. He supposed he could work something out though. He’d just have to think. He could tell the story of the prince who had nothing, and found everything. That at least DID have a happy ending. The prince did, after all, end up with everything that he’d ever wanted. But that one was a bit abstract for what the girl seemed to be asking of him. Something simpler maybe…something that still fit in to the terms of her criteria, but also fit into the sort’s of stories that he was familiar with. He paused in thought for a moment…

“Well,” Byakuran’s face suddenly lit up with on in particular. “Have you ever heard the story of the man with the magic bag?”
Ahiru seemed intrigued. “No! That one sounds good, does it have a happy ending?”

“Oh indeed.” Byakuran said with a nod. “the happiest.”
The girl seemed to tred water eagerly once more awaiting the start of the story, causing him to almost lose focus on his chakra from the humor of it.

“Alright…well… it’s start’s out, like this.”

The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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The Ghost of Xmas Awesome

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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:37 am

To move with the Soul!
An exercise Chakra!
DC:14
Description: Move about for a day of training using only chakra! (Similar to how Kinimaru did)
Chakra: +4
Roll: 10 or above
Train: 76/100

Chakra was the soul. It was a apart of everything that a person was. It was the heights to which they could achieve, and the lows to which they could sink. A chakra, in many ways, could define a person at it’s base nature, the pure energy that was given off by their soul. It was a force which governed many aspects of the person’s life, in the littlest of ways, even if they never truly learned to weaponize it as most ninja did. There was a truth behind all that human’s did that came through in their chakra, a facet of it which truly and absolutely brought life to the meaning in their actions. Even as Byakuran told this story, a strange little smile on his face a slight bounce in his dramatic tone, it seemed to reach through as he worked with his chakra, the telling of the story, in the smallest of ways, making the largest of differences in his exercise that he might have never intended.

“It all began long ago,” Byakuran explained, Ahiru merely treading water excitedly as she seemed determined to take a more active role in this sotry to ensure it had a happy ending. “thousands of years ago, in a land that, by all accounts, no longer has a name, and on a particular stretch of road that long ago has faded into the nothingness of history.” He gave a smile at the glimmer this introduction caused in her eyes. “It was a fairly ordinary road by all accounts. It had tree’s and bushes and the like along side it, and everything about the road seemed perfectly and totally innocent. It was miles from anywhere of much importance and for the moment, as we join the tale, it had but one traveler in sight. A soldier, just returned from a long war abroad, returning back to his native land with no particular goal in mind once he finally got there. He was an honest soul with naught but a shilling in his pocket and three dried biscuits for the long road ahead of his feet.”

“What was the soldiers name?” Ahiru inquired with a rather enthralled air.

“Well,” Byakuran mused as he seemed to ponder it over. “It never really says.”

“Can it be Kino?”

Byakuran was a little surprised. He too had once read a little book of philosophical anecdotes about a traveler named Kino. Though the soldier in this tale was meant to be a boy, and the Kino from the books had been a girl…yes. Yes he felt that it just might fit regardless. He gave a slight smile. He’d just need to switch around a few details here and there. “Very well,” he said with a sunny smile. “Her name,” he clarified. “was Kino.” He slowly pulled his body from one pose to another, his chakra still doing all the work as his muscles were totally relaxed. “Kino was a very skilled soldier, with a cross bow at her waist that was said to be fast enough to deal with the strongest of foes, and a fleetness of foot that could out run the fastest of shinobi.” Byakuran was actually enjoying himself with this. “She wore a brown western styled uniform coat underneath a heavier travlers coat, and a baggy hat which perched atop her head. With her petit frame and short hair, one might suppose to look at the pretty young girl that she was a very fair looking young boy, which was how it happened that she had gone off to fight in the war.” He straightened his posture. “Still as quick as her hand with her cross bow and as swift as her feet, neighter could fully prepare her for the adventure that she was about to stumble upon…”

Ahiru was looking rather excited merely by the prospect.

“As she was walking along, Kino had been carrying on a merry little whistle to pass the time and lighten her spirits. A cheerful little travelers tune that seemed to go nowhere and everywhere all at once. Still as it happened the girl had not been born with a very good sense for whistling and it sounded rather haphazard overall, not by a long shot the best whistle that had ever been heard, even in these remote lands.” He held up a finger even as he spun himself about, indicating. “However…a thousand miles Kino had walked, having spent her last shilling some ways back, all her arrows even spent hunting game along the way, and just about to start on her first biscuit she suddenly came across a man by the side of the road. Now just as Kino’s whistle was among the worst heard, so too was the man’s fiddle playing as he played away, Kino choosing to join in with the old beggars song. While one couldn’t whistle, and the other couldn’t play a fiddle, quite happy the pair were as they went through their aimless tune, until at last they reached a suitable end, both gladdened by the encounter.” Byakuran adapted a rather calm and heartfelt voice. “”A merry tune, worthy of praise.” Said Kino,” Byakuran informed. “Worthy perhaps of a farthing?” inquired the old beggar. “More” Kino assured with some lament “though I’m afraid I’ve naught to spare you.”” Byakuran gave a wink. “But being a merciful and kind soul at heart Kino corrected herself saying “But I do have this biscuit I might give to you.”

“Aww! That’s nice of her!” Ahiru threw in with a smile.

“The beggar thought so as well,” Byakuran assured. “so grateful was he that he said, with an odd little smile. “Then you’re a good’un, traveler, and you deserve a better whistle. Best of luck and wishes upon yee.”” Byakuran twisted about yet again. “And so Kino continued on down her path, her journey pressing on, though this time, as she began to whistle herself up another tune…”” Byakuran, having a rather good whistle being an Otobe and all, gave a rather spectacular display.

“Oh wow! She could whistle now!”

“She could indeed,” Byakuran affirmed. “A better whistler had never been heard. Imagine what rubies might sound like if they whistled." He waved his hand slightly for emphasis as he conducted himself into a backwards lean.

“And so she continued on down the road a ways whistling her ruby whistle until at last she came across another beggar, this one playing a on a drum of all things. And oh thus the story repeated itself as Kino danced a clumsy dance in reply the man’s beat, her old weary and worn shoes giving her little by way of assistance as she tromped about, however so went their exchange as just as before Kino gave the man a biscuit to help a soul down on their luck, and now as the drummer started once more low and behold look how she dances. Just like magic Kino seemed to prance about unhindered, her feet refreshed and eager to continue on down the road on her journey. And so bidding the drummer goodbye she did, heading further down the path until at last she came to yet another poor soul, wither down to a whisper, and playing a game of cards on a stump by the roadside.” Byakuran had to admit he did enjoy a good audience, and Ahiru played the role just fine.

“A game of cards? With who?”

“Oh why, with himself.” Byakuran informed with a smile. “And one by one Kino watched as the man shuffled the cards and dealt them out without a care, revealing a perfect hand. Then with a mere flick of his sleeve the cards seemed to jump right back into the man’s hand, a marvelous little trick.”

Byakuran smiled as he followed through a rather simple series of stances, his chakra moving his body as he did so. “Kino was very impressed, giving her slight applause. “A splendid game.” She said with a smile. “Worth a farthing?” inquired the beggar with a hopeful smile. “More,” said Kino, “but I’ve nothing for you…though.”” Byakuran winked. “She still had that one biscuit left, but she was hungry as never you mind and weary from the long road. She could break the biscuit in half, she supposed, but it didn’t seem right to give the man less than the others. With a warm smile she handed the man her last biscuit. “But…here…I’ve this very last biscuit you may have.”” Byakuran gestured even as he explained this.

Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Guilds

Naruto: The Way of the Ninja

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