Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rissa smiled as her short cut came into view. She wasted no time darting forward and leaping into the spikes, jumping to and fro with a grace only acquired through years of practice. Takeshi and Cruxis weren't all that far behind her. When her bardic companion began going over mission details, she dropped back, listening intently and nodding at what he said.

Five hours was pretty hefty, but she supposed it could always be worse. It was his next words that caught the young kunoichi off guard.

A room.... In an inn... With Cruxis?! She very nearly lost her footing, stumbling mid stride as she struggled to right herself. She managed to fix the situation easily enough, keeping pace with the others soon after.... with a face as bright as a tomato. Not even touching the fact that her father would go ballistic if he ever found out, she felt as though she might have a blossom of feelings for the boy. She knew he did for her. With only Takeshi to supervise, she had no idea how the situation would play out. Rissa didn't want Cruxis to have to deal with her crazy, over-protective father any more than he had to.... Hell, she didn't want to deal with him more than he had to.

Finally, Takeshi was out of that acursid Village. He wasn't one to get lost, but with him not going there ever he was sure that he'd have to go back to get use to those streets some more. He'd just gotten luck that he was swift on his feet on that last mission. With a light sigh, Takeshi figured that he'd take the walk back to the hidden village slowly. There was no true rush in what he had to go and do, it's just he figured that while he was thinking about it he'd go and visit the grave sites of his passed siblings. It'd been too long since he last went there, and maybe he'd be able to use that time to get a better grip on his skills and not let his memories force him to fight the way he did. In all actuality he'd use the walk to the grave sites to ponder on that. He was always on guard, force of habit, but he was much more relaxed then he normally was any other time of the day.

10 lines

Takeshi had lost track of time. His mind was set elsewhere in the world. He actually had move away from both the hidden village and the market village. There was a certain spot he would visit if he had been thinking on his family. And today was one of those days, so he knew that he'd need to visit them. This was a private matter, which was why he'd left both Rissa and Cruxis alone in the market village. After visiting that spot though, he'd start to head back to the hidden village.

He'd barely started to head to the village when he heard something. Looking over to his left, Takeshi watched Rissa land beside him and asked if he'd mind if she walked with him. This didn't bother him at all, but the manner in which the question was asked was a peculiar one. Continuing to walk in the direction of home, Takeshi nodded and smiled lightly. "Sure, but you don't have to ask... Is there something on your mind?" He wasn't sure what type of answer he'd get but he'd hoped that there would be an openness between them as a good team would need to know everything about one another in order to be effective.
OOC: 208 words

The walk was quiet for a moment, the only noise was their foot steps and the wind barely pushing the leaves around to make a rustle. He'd noticed that Rissa had nodded earlier but he wasn't one to force information out of friends. Eventually though, she opened up and explained her concerns. She was always the one to worry about things, and Cruxis vanishing was a decent reason for her to be worried. Pondering on the situation for a moment, Takeshi didn't know what to say yet knew he had to say something. "I see what you mean, but I'm sure that he's fine. He's a little wreck-less at points, but I don't see him getting into trouble." As soon as he his statement though Rissa spoke up again about how she didn't like the market village what so ever. And in all honesty Takeshi couldn't blame her. Hell, the store owner that had hired them threatened them with violence. "I know what you mean... That ramen shop owner was a real..." Takeshi was able to catch himself before he said something that he really shouldn't, though he knew that the wording would have been accurate.

"Well... seeing as Cruxis isn't around. What are your plans? It's still decent hours, and having missed both breakfast and lunch I was thinking of going to get something to eat." He didn't really know what else to say. Again he was never really all that social, but was starting to learn the normal interactions now between people who he'd call friends.
((OOC: 208(My last post) + 107(Neo's last post) +124(Neo's post before that) = 439 +258(this post) = 697))

Takeshi nodded in response for what Rissa had added on to his statement. They were both being polite about what a jerk that shop owner was which was fair enough. It was silent again for a moment, only for Rissa to accept his rather vague invitation for dinner. This was good as his stomach was starting to growl at him for having not eaten all that much today. He slightly rubbed that back of his neck. It was un-like him to have this happen so he was slightly embarrassed. "Well I haven't thought of where to go for dinner, but I usually go to this little shop hidden by some street vendors. It's got some good food their at a decent price as well. Sound alright with you?" Takeshi looked over at Rissa and awaited her decision. They weren't far from the village now, so it wouldn't be long before his stomach would start bothering him due to its emptiness.
((OOC: 697 + 123 + 160 = 980 words))
Moving into Hidden Cloud village

Standing on the precipice of a rather tall, rocky hill he stood staring down at the fields of rice being farmed. His arms were crossed over his chest as he took a deep breath. Shun... awaken. He immediately looked around, hand latched around a kunai as if he were looking for someone. "Who is there!? Come out!" He continued looking around, watching around him back and forth with his eyes jumping back and forth to every possible hiding place around him. A low field of mist seemed to appear around him, his arms rose in a more defensive position. A figure seemed to apparate out of the mist, the mist itself looked as if it was becoming the figure until they stepped out into the light.

Shun lowered his arms and stood there, staring at the man before him. "I... I know you.. who.. who are you?" A small smile crossed the face of the figure as he rose an arm and pointed to Shun. "I'm Kiyoshi Ishikawa... you're my son... sort of. I adopted you in the Lightning Country when you were a young boy... from your father Hajime Yomi. There is too much to explain... just know that I am a genjutsu that I originally cast you when you were a child. The day you turned sixteen I would activate in order to explain everything to you... but looking at it now, there is probably too much to explain. I will do everything I can to make the transition easier, but very soon when I disappear you will begin to remember all of your memories. You will have more questions than answers I'm sure... but if you decide to come to the Lightning Country, seek out Yukiko... she's my wife. I'll explain everything to her so if I'm not there... she can tell you, but I will show up to tell you everything as well... to answer anything else."

Shun just stared at the figure that appeared in front of him, not completely sure what was going on. He knew of the various ninja arts from another man, Tetsuo Yoshida, who had been teaching him the way of the ninja since his arrival in the Rice Field Country. He just tood there in silence, watching the man as he began to speak again. "I'm certain Hajime told you about what happened with your clan and why the samurai of Iron Country are hunting your people... if he didn't, ask him about it." Shun seemed offput at how much this stranger knew about his clan and his people, he didn't understand how a complete stranger knew all of this. "A contingent of Samurai arrived in Lightning around when you were five... the moment after I adopted you, seeking out any Yomi clan members who might have been hiding in the area since they originally came in search of them. Hajime put together a plan in order to protect you and everyone else involved... I would create a clone that would be imbued with part of your soul and the soul of another ninja clan... then I would rewrite your memories along with the clone. The plan seemed to work for the most part... you and Hajime escaped to Rice Field Country while I played dumb with the Samurai."

Shun seemed to shake when all of this was being said to him, he could feel the barrier placed on his mind start to life as memories all flooded into his head all at once. It would be enough to break any man, but he could feel the memories rejoining the blanks he had questioned his entire life. Certain memories never made any sense to him, but now everything seemed as clear as day; the biggest trigger that caused him to fall to his knees was remembering his mother and her sacrifice. A few tears rolled down his cheeks when he looked up to the genjutsu. "I know this must be hard... and confusing, but I hope you were able to make sense of things... you might be angry or upset with us, but just know that we were trying to protect you. Come to Kumogakure in Lightning Country, Shun. Be whole again." With those final words the genjutsu faded away, disappearing into the mist that it had originally become.

Shun just sat there in complete silence, trying to make sense of everything that he was just told. Everything in his head made perfect sense, in fact it made so much sense he had trouble beliving any of it was real. He was going through a mess of thoughts and emotions from being distraught to being completely understanding of the situation at hand. He understood the reason why they did what they did, it was to protect him and themselves in the event the samurai found out what had happened. He began to run by the words he was told by the illusion and focused heavily on the final words that had been said to him. Shun felt that part of him was always missing but he never really understood it, but now with everything that had happened he really knew that part of him was in fact missing.

Footsteps dusted up the path behind him as Shun turned his head around and looked to his father coming up behind him, his Khakkhara jangling with every step he took forward. Purple hues barely peaking out from behind the Takuhatsugasa he wore over his head as he came up and stopped right behind his son. Shun just looked up at his father in silence for a long moment. "Is it true?" Shun asked without even stating what 'it' was before his father only sighed with a nod. "Yes... everything is true. I'm sorry for the deception.." Shun stood up and stared right into his father's eyes. "I... I understand why you did it, father... however... even if I understand the intention... most of this life of mine has been a lie... I could have had a whole other life somewhere else... I need... I need to go there.. be what I couldn't be here." Hajime smiled brightly and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, nodding. "Good... you need to go forth and blaze your own trail... go and learn of the world, be your own man... Shun Yomi... Shun Ishikawa, my son."

Shun halfly smiled before he gave his father a tight hug and stepped back from him, turning and took off straight for Lightning Country. He knew deep down that he held resentment for what they had done, but he couldn't necessarily blame them for what happened. It was his chance to move forward and forge his own path, but it made him really wonder what kind of life the clone was living out in Lightning Country. Even if it was just part of him, he was going to take it back and regain everything he lost. He could do nothing more than strive forward and deal with the kinks of his life there, everything could change even more or provide him some path to move forward to. The thought of this excited him in ways he could hardly imagine.

--------------------- Day of the Return ---------------------


It was early in the morning when Shun arrived at the gates of Kumogakure, being stopped by a guard in order to properly identify himself. He handed the guard a letter that had been drawn up by Kiyoshi in order to allow him to enter into Kumogakure as his 'apprentice'. The guard seemed skeptical but directed the boy to immediately go to Kiyoshi's home and wait for him there, telling him he would be returning home later today from a mission. Shun reluctantly agreed and followed the route over to Kiyoshi's home, knocking on the door when he arrived. It was a long moment before the door opened and a short, dark skinned woman stood at the door and looked up at Shun. "Er... I'm..." Almost immediately he felt two arms flung around him and squeezed him tight. All of a sudden he felt an overwhelming sense of sadness overtake him and he embraced the female in return. "I know who you are, Kiyoshi told me you were gonna be coming by." They embraced each other for what seemed to be eternity before she pulled back and smiled at him. "Come on in."

Shun entered the home and Yukiko showed Shun around their home, telling him various memories she had of him while he was growing up. Even if this was his clone she was talking about, he could feel the love she had for him. The moment she showed him the room that the clone had been using he walked inside, remembering various things about the room when he was first introduced to it. He knelt down just beside the bed and slide one of the boards out, revealing the hidden compartment that Kiyoshi showed him. He fingered through the various objects his clone had kept, pulling out the Cloud Headband he looked over to Yukiko. "Did he... abandon the village?" She shook his head and smiled. "Nah, he had a mission and thought it was best to leave his headband behind... didn't want to get recognized." He nodded as he took the headband, closing the compartment. Yukiko walked over and took the headband from him, then she tied it onto his bicep.

Once she had brought him into the kitchen, she began to explain everything that she was told. She was as much out of the loop as he was and while she was mad at Kiyoshi for hiding the truth from him, she knew he agreed to save their son. She confirmed that everything that happened was true, handing Shun a small book that had the entire story of what happened from the moment the Samurai contingent arrived in Lightning to hunt down his father to the point another group arrived years later and he was whisked away out of Lightning to Rice Field Country. She told him to keep the book as a way to remember the past he couldn't until he could remember everything properly, but also told him that he was free to roam around the village and the outskirts. She would clear it with the guards at the gates, but he had to wear the village headband. Shun agreed and set out to find the location of his mother's grave as his father had described to him.

It did not take him very long to locate the run down shack and unkept grave, seeing the state it was in seemed to pain him just a little. He began to clean up the outlying area, clearing the grave of weeds and replacing the tombstone before chipping away in small, concentrated bursts of explosive power in order to shape the stone. He knelt down at the grave and smiled, patting his hand on the mound of dirt before taking a heavy sigh. "I'm home... this place is my home.." Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move, causing him to immediately turn around and see the aparition of his mother standing before him. At first he was not sure if it was her, but he could feel deep down that it was her... he could barely remember but her soul resounded to him in a way that he knew... it was almost as if he remembered the way her soul felt to him when he was a boy.

"Shun... I've been waiting a very long time for you.. I wasn't sure if you would ever make it here. You've grown up into such a fine young man." He just looked at her, trembling in both happiness and sadness. He knew that his bloodline gave him the ability to see souls, even ones who still lingered long past their time and still the very sight of her put him into shock. He was surprised that she had waited around this long and wondered if it was so they could have this meeting together, one last time. "I want you to know... I love you, my boy... You have all the power in the world to go far as you want.. be good to those who care for you." Shun just seemed to nod, staring over at her. "I will, mother... I will.. thank you.. I'm sorry I made you wait so long." She smiled brightly as Shun stood up slowly and walked over to her, his bone hilt flipping between his fingertips as he held onto it. "Allow me to send you away." She only watched him as he drew his arm back, fingering the hilt tightly in his hand before he swung his arm forward with such force that might have sliced cleanly through rock but he focused his soul through the hilt and formed a blade that sliced through the soul of his mother. Her soul dissipated into the air around him. "Goodbye, mother."

Shun stood there for a long time, gazing up into the sky until he remembered why he was there in the first place. He took off back for the village, heading for the southern most gate where he would be waiting high upon it for the return of himself. The male flipped open the book that Yukiko had given him, beginning to read the very beginning of Kiyoshi's life and everything that had happened until a few weeks ago.

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Shun leaned back and sighed, ushering the horses onward while they passed through the border into Lightning Country. He seemed rather sluggish, more than usual as he was having a hard time keeping himself focused and was unsure of why. He looked over behind him to Takera using Zarathos as a pillow, Averus who was just sitting in the cart and Sha who was laid out a few feet from Zarathos. Shun knew that Takera had made a rather grim choice that cost many their lives and it seemed to weigh heavily on him, at least that was the assumption he was making.

He had told Takera and Averus about his adventures underneath the city, running through a tunnel with one he had assumped to be a ninja. He told them of the tunnel flooding and his loss of nearly each of his senses, even telling them of how he had almost died. He had assumed that the girl was the one who saved him, but he wasn't necessarily sure how. He hadn't gotten a chance to thank her for saving him, but knew that if he had decided to leave on a journey to find her he would have been considered a traitor to his village - something he was sure Kiyoshi would hate him for.

It was only for a moment, but he felt something pull at him that caused him to gag loudly. He tried his hardest to pull the horses to stop, but it seemed as if all of his strength had left him... as if everything had left him. And then suddenly everything returned to normal, nothing was different. Shun drew the horses to an immediate stop once his strength had returned, but then he gripped onto his chest and tumbled over into the back of the cart gasping in pain. His body was shaking, feverish almost as he screamed out in agony. His eyes barely looked over to Takera before they rolled into the back of his head and further the pain spread through his form. A nearby branch was moving, wavering in the pain that was filling the child. Zarathos seemed to watch with an odd eagerness that only those who were looking at him might catch.

It was a second, a moment later that the branch had stopped moving and an unknown man was now standing above Shun. A strange purple light was flowing into him while the man just grinned with a sadistic grin... a murderous one. The pain seemed to have subsided as he looked up at the man and in a matter of seconds, everything that he was had been lost. He felt himself being ripped, torn out of the body and into the purple light. He felt himself merge into the light, become one with it... become whole. It was a strange sensation that both of them felt, Shun still laying there bewildered by what was going on. Everything seemed to be moving slower to him when he noticed that this figure was holding the Whirlwind Sword that Takera had taken possession of in the Holy City of Aren. He saw everything happen to him, even the moment the blade sunk through his neck and his head rolled.

Blue eyes were wide as he realized the truth and the head itself transformed into Kiyoshi before disappearing with a 'pop'. Takera, Averus, Zarathos and Sha would have all seen this taking place right in front of them. The figure would slowly come to a standing motion, a strange force exerting from his body as he stared down at the duo. He rose the Whirlwind Sword to his lips and ran his tongue from the tip all the way to the hilt and smirked. "This is mine... by the way, I'm the real Shun Ishikawa... or Shun Yomi... this.. that was a clone.. an eleborate plan, a ruse to protect my family." He swung the sword into an empty scabbard that hung over his back, the blade seemed to fit all too perfectly - in fact it was the very scabbard the blade was in.

A tinge of purple sparked through his eyes as he stared at Takera, taking the bone hilt tightly into his hand. The purple energy that had appeared before was now amassing into a large amount, his 'pressure' seemed to have disappeared. "Why do you have tw--" A strange snarl-yell sounded out from Sha as before their eyes, the wolfhound transformed into that of Kiyoshi who was now facing Shun with one hand wrapped around his wrist tightly. "Father..." The energy itself began to fade, drawing back into the hilt as he slowly began to calm down. "That's enough, Shun... that's enough."