Visions and Plots

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

The desert stretched endlessly, a golden sea shimmering under the relentless heat of the midday sun. Sakaze’s sandals whispered against the sand as she pressed forward, her layered beige-white robes fluttering with each step. The brass torc hidden beneath her fabric weighed lightly against her collarbone, a subtle reminder of her devotion. Her deep brown eyes, nearly black, stayed fixed ahead, unwavering despite the sweat pooling at her temples. The pillar had risen into view hours ago, a lone sentinel jutting from the dunes, defying the timeless shift of the desert sands. Now, standing before it, Sakaze felt its ancient presence keenly. The stone was weathered, its pale surface scored with grooves like veins, and adorned with carvings that had eroded into faint impressions over centuries. Each mark felt deliberate, and as her hand skimmed the surface, her heart quickened.

Her gaze swept the base of the column, catching the faintest hint of an outline—a seam where the sand refused to settle. She pressed her palm against the pillar, her touch steady but insistent, and felt the resistance give way. With a low groan, the sand at her feet trembled, cascading down in rivulets as the door revealed itself, sliding into the stone. Cool air poured from the opening, carrying the scent of earth and something faintly metallic, and the staircase beyond was narrow, descending into shadow. This was not a place that she would normally go--she hated venturing beyond the places where the sun could reach--but the voice that whispered in her dream told her to seek out this place, to speak to the people here. The kunoichi took a breath before beginning her descent into shadow, a hand briefly brushing against the stylized sun that was the centerpiece of her brass necklace.

The stone steps spiraled downward, each footfall amplified in the confined space. The dim illumination from veins of crystalline material embedded in the walls pulsed softly, their glow suffusing the descent in a ghostly light. Her hands brushed against the cool stone as the air grew heavier, each breath laden with the weight of untold centuries. When she reached the bottom, the space opened into a vast cavern, and the sheer scale of it momentarily stole her breath. The temple loomed ahead, carved directly into the rock, its architecture both austere and grand. Towering columns supported a ceiling lost in shadow, their surfaces etched with curling patterns and glyphs that seemed to shift under her gaze. The floor was tiled with massive stone slabs, some cracked and worn, others smooth as glass. Pools of still water reflected the faint glimmer of the crystalline veins above, their surfaces so undisturbed they seemed like mirrors to another world.

The central chamber of the temple drew her forward. Its entrance was framed by immense statues, their features eroded by time but still emanating an aura of solemn power. They stood sentinel over the wide archway, their gazes hollow yet watchful. Each was draped in the robes of a forgotten age, and their outstretched hands seemed to both welcome and warn those who dared to enter.
Beyond the archway, the cavern ceiling seemed to stretch higher, the central chamber lit by an ethereal glow. The walls of the chamber were adorned with murals, faint outlines of battles, rituals, and figures cloaked in radiance. Though the imagery was faded, the intensity of their craftsmanship still resonated, each line and curve conveying reverence for something far greater than mortal understanding.

"A place like this, bathed in shadow? What is it you want me to see?" she asked the empty air, her eyes glancing towards the ceiling and the holy sun beyond it. Perhaps this could be a place to bring her followers--although it was bathed in shadow, it was well-hidden and spacious enough for all of their non-combatants, and its location in the shifting dunes meant the dogs of Iwa would be hard-pressed to find it, but she felt as if there was something... more.

[Ace Trainer]

Ever since the soul genma had been sealed inside of him, Indra had described to anyone his ability to sense souls around him. Jinchuuriki were interesting, every host was different even for the same spirits. The Tenkujutsu squadrons in Old Sunagakure had told Indra that the genma would 'influence' him in various ways, and they were extremely disappointed to find that Indra reported no new abilities or talents upon sealing. Of course, this wasn't true. The very moment the sealing began, Indra could "hear" the souls of people around him. As his power over the genma expanded and improved, the ability to sense souls around him did as well. Souls each felt different, every single one of them. If Indra could see fingerprints from afar, he imagined they would have the same sort of feeling to them.

Deep in the cavernous interior of the ancient Yuumegure temple, however, the feeling of a soul was like an ice cube suddenly being dropped down your shirt on a hot desert day. It was like being blind and suddenly seeing light, or being in silence and someone suddenly talking to you. The presence of a new soul was immediately noticeable, and impossible to ignore.

Indra jumped to his feet, chakra immediately channeling to his fingers as he darted through the library and towards the doorway leading into the central hall. Even after being in the temple for two months, he'd found this library to be the place he enjoyed being the most. The books that had been around him clattered to the ground, and as he crossed through the door into the central hall, chakra strings would fly from his hands. Two would attach to the large statues next to Sakaze, and the rest would fly towards her to attach to her limbs, Indra standing defensively at the end of the hall, his eyes locked onto her.

"Eh?", his tone a voice a mixture of surprise and disappointment, "You're not an Iwa ninja.", he said, "Who'reyew", a quizzical look on his face, the chakra strings remaining active.

SpoilerShow

*[Puppetry Style • Advanced Puppetry Technique]
B-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: *[Puppetry Style • Initiate Puppetry Technique]
Master Puppetry is a Ninjutsu technique used by puppeteers. By releasing chakra from their tenketsu, the puppeteer is able to release chakra strings from their finger. These strings are able to move 40 meters away. This jutsu allows the puppeteer to attach their chakra strings to humans or animals arms and legs at [Control] Speed, using every part of the puppet to its max potential. In order to break out from this technique, the target must be willing to break out and at least [Control] strength to resist the strings. While being controlled, the target is unable to move on their own and the puppeteer can move their arms and legs in any natural way.

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

The sound of footsteps echoed faintly through the immense chamber as Sakaze stepped forward, her sand-colored robes trailing behind her like whispers of the desert wind. The chill of the underground temple bit at her skin, a stark contrast to the searing heat above, but she pressed onward, her shadowed eyes fixed on the towering statues guarding the central hall. Her thoughts swirled with anticipation and reverence—this place was older than any she had seen, and the weight of its history seemed to press down on her with every step.

Then, the stillness shattered.

Thin threads of chakra shot toward her, glowing faintly in the dim light, their speed betraying the precision and control of their wielder. She reacted instinctively, her lean muscles tensing under her flowing robes. Sand stirred from the folds of her garments, coiling around her limbs like serpents, before lashing out to intercept the threads before they could make contact, preventing him from getting a hold on her limbs. She stopped mid-stride, her gaze flicking upward. Across the expanse of the chamber, a figure stood at the far end of the hall. His stance was tense, defensive, yet his words carried no malice--only curiosity and perhaps a hint of disappointment

The accusation of her being Iwa--or rather, some confusion and disappointment that she wasn't one of her hated enemies--caused her to pause before she lashed out any further. The sand that had poured from her robes was coiled around her body like a serpent for just a moment before it slowly retreated back under her robes, slipping between the folds and back into the deep pockets sewn into every fold of fabric. Her glance shifted to the statues he had managed to attach threads to, raising a brow at their massive size and looking back to the...

Well he was just a boy.

Perhaps just beginning to enter manhood, but still a boy to her--no older than her youngest sibling had been when she found his broken body. The fact that the boy looked nothing like her brother helped her disconnect him--in fact, he looked nothing like anyone she'd ever seen. The strange eyes, the hollow cheeks, the strange discoloration of his fingers, none of it spoke to someone who could be considered normal by any means. Then again, neither could she.

"No, I'm not an Iwa-nin," she remarked dryly, her nearly-black eyes studying the odd young man as she wondered what he could possibly be doing in a place like this.

"My name is Sakaze. The Sun showed me this place," she responded simply--if he'd been living in this cave for a while, and by all appearances he had, he'd have no way of connecting that name to the legend she'd cultivated. "I don't know why. I got the distinct impression it was important," the kunoichi trailed off after a moment, looking around the place.

"Tell me, are you alone here? Why are you in this place?" she asked curiously, hoping that if she learned his purpose, she might glean some of what her lady wished from her.

OOCShow

Stats:
Chakra Pool: 40
Endurance: 20
Control: 50
Strength: 20
Speed:20
Willpower:20

*[Sandkinesis]
A-rank Ninjutsu
Having achieved notable mastery over Sand, the user is capable of shaping, directing, and manipulating existing bodies of the element without the need of hand seals or an existing technique. The range at which the user can manipulate the element is equal to the user's control times 2 metres. While the user can freely manipulate this element, they cannot produce the element naturally.

[Ace Trainer]

The strings that Indra had shot out would grab onto chunks of sand and fall limp as Indra soaked in what he was looking at. About his height, it was hard to make out any real features on her from the sand. Indra wasn't far off from having been in a similar situation, and remembered the first wash he'd taken and how much dirt he found in every one of his crevices. In addition to being dirty, she did look quite tired, causing Indra to twist his lips a little after she asked her question. Silence hung between him for a moment, his hands still suspended in the air, the string from each of them attached to the statues on the wings of the hallway. He remained locked on her, before slowly retracting the strings and crossing his arms in front of him instead.

"Sakaze.", a smile spread across his lips as he said her name.

He focused on the feeling of her soul radiating from it. Hers was vibrant, almost chaotic, but it also had a warmth to it, warmth that he recognized as the Sun. That part was easy to pick up on, he had no doubts in her words. "I'm Gekko, Indra.", he nodded affirmatively at her. "I'm not alone. My friend Soseki is here too! But he's uhm, sleeping right now.", Soseki did that a lot lately, he wondered if something was going on with his friend, but now wasn't the time for that. Why he was here was a hard question to answer.

"Well, I was guided by Her Light. Much like you it seems. This is Holy Ground, you know.", he crouched, touching the ground he was standing on, the stone floor of the hallway. "Based on what I've found, probably older than Sunagakure. There are books that reference times before Sunagakure, before the Daimyo's lineage. When the three Deserts were one. Do you know how long ago they were given their borders?", he grinned wide. This place was something special, he had known it the moment he arrived, and then Soseki arrived and he knew it, and now there was Sakaze.

So why was he here? He stood back up, standing straight"Hm, well. I think I'm starting a rebellion.", he scratched the back of his head, letting out a laugh as he did. "As She guides me to do!"

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

Sakaze stood still as Indra retracted the chakra strings, her expression unreadable beneath the sand-encrusted layers of her hood. Yet, her dark, almost black eyes gleamed with quiet intensity, scanning him with the weight of someone used to measuring a person’s worth with a single glance. His words hung in the air, the sound of them reverberating in her mind alongside the faint echoes of the temple's cavernous halls. She shifted slightly, her sand-caked robes whispering against the stone. The mad prophet walked over to the wall and reached out slowly, brushing her fingers against the stone bas relief carved into it. The grit of dust clung to her fingertips as she whispered a short prayer under her breath. Whether it was gratitude, reverence, or resolve, even she could not say.

Holy ground.

He said it so casually, as if it were not precisely the thing she had been looking for, and her features softened for just a moment as a fleeting expression of hope managed to cross her features. She hadn't had much use for hope as of late. Anger, passion, burning hatred, those things had been her watchwords for so long now that she'd almost forgot the pale warmth of hope. This place could serve as a home to her followers, a place where she could gather shouldering embers of resentment and fan them into a flame of true rebellion. The history, the knowledge contained in this place stretched back beyond the founding of the Village Hidden in the Sand--knowledge that could be turned to any number of ends.

When Indra mentioned rebellion, Sakaze's faint smile hardened into a resolute line. The Sun's Light guiding him, as it had guided her. Holy ground older than the Daimyo. Books about the time before borders. The pieces clicked into place in her mind, not like a plan but like the dawning of purpose.

"And lo, are her workings not miraculous?" she muttered to herself, in some half-remembered quotation from a sermon she'd heard long ago as a child.

"The Light has led us both here, then. Perhaps to uncover what was lost--perhaps to reclaim what was stolen," she all but snarled as the hand touching the wall curled into a fist at the rememberance of what Iwagakure had cost her--cost her people.

"I have begun a rebellion of my own, Gekko Indra. I have gathered followers, demolished and desecrated Iwa's constructions in this land--and yet I face issues I cannot overcome with might alone. I don't have the infrastructure to support those who follow me, and some are non-combatants who simply believe in the cause. Cooks, tailors, blacksmiths, children, elderly--those who cannot fight for one reason or another. Her light showed me this place, I think, for the same reason she showed you. I believe we are meant to work in concert," she expounded as she trailed her hand along the murals and carvings that lined the wall in the place and moved toward him, pinning him with her unrelenting gaze. She'd been told before that her eyes had a haunted quality, a kind of fervor only seen in the truly fanatic or the truly desperate--descriptors that she supposed applied to her now.

"If it's a rebellion you're looking to build, young man, then let me bring those who follow me here. We will build a movement to cleanse the desert of these shadows, and bring her Light back to these lands," she said with a grin as she stopped in front of him, reaching a pale hand up in offering.

[Ace Trainer]

She seemed to be soaking in her surroundings, as she did her soul reverberated more and more, the warmth radiating off of it more palpable, but also the buzzing that accompanied it become more chaotic. If Indra were to put a word to it he would say it felt like vindication. He swept the messy white hairs out of his face, tucking the loose strands behind his ear. She prayed under her breath, and Indra couldn’t help but smile slightly wider. Soseki was a believer, but he wasn’t exactly devout. Indra had found that when he got too into the patterns of Yuumegure, Soseki’s eyes sort of glazed over and he seemed uninterested. Someone who would pray so easily likely wouldn’t feel the same, it was a welcome change, especially with Ikinari gone.

But then she spoke, and the warmth in her soul gave way to something else. Anger. Frustration. Rage? It was a sudden and violent shift that caused Indra’s smile to fade into a tight flat line. ”That sounds violent.”, he responded, the excitement in his eyes having faded away into concern. ”I’m happy to have your people here. I have no right to deny someone refuge under Her guidance. But, the people of Sunagakure, the people of Wind Country, they have all suffered enough. We can’t uproot violence with more violence. I may call it a rebellion, but I have no intention of fighting. When we will force Iwagakure out, it will be with a show of force, but no blood.”, his voice was firm. Indra had no doubt there would be a time they’d force out Iwagakure, and he had no doubt they would need to appear strong to do so, but he and Soseki discussed being a storm. He had no intention of violence.

”Violence is never taught to be the answer. Her Light touches us all, even those who don’t follow her. We’re taught not to shed blood in Her name.”, he broke his gaze off of her, now staring down at the ground nervously, his blacked eyes refusing to look at her. The excitement he was feeling moments ago was gone now, as much as he wanted new friends and new allies, recruiting this way was not the right way to do it. Not if it meant he had to violate his beliefs. ”Didn’t you see what Iwagakure did to Suna? How could you ask for more of that? What about the people we lost? Family, friends…teachers”

His mind went to Ikinari again, he wondered if Sakaze knew him, if she had heard any word of him?

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

"That sounds violent."

The words made her own smile falter for a moment in confusion as she lowered her hand, wondering how he could possibly expect a rebellion against slavers to be anything else. Sakaze stood motionless, the air around her heavy with the palpable tension Indra’s words had summoned. Her eyes narrowed slightly when he spoke of suffering and peace, her expression betraying no reaction, yet inside she felt the sting of something raw and unrelenting--a wound left open too long. She'd seen what Iwagakure had done to Suna firsthand. She'd returned to her home to find her entire family butchered and her home wrecked beyond recognition because they'd had the temerity to stand against Iwa.

He spoke of a show of Force to convince Iwa to leave, of non-violent resistance, of how Her light shone on them all... and that last note caused her expression to soften just a bit. He wasn't a coward, hiding here and not intending to take a stand--he simply wished to take a stand in a way that aligned with his belief in Yuumagure. He was misinterpreting her will, she thought, perhaps bogged down by the teachings of the priests before the fall of Suna, but it wasn't as if he wanted to live under the yoke of Iwagakure either. Her eyes turned to regard him--and now that she was closer and looked... The Shingenma hosts were said to have the edo tensei eyes, just like this young man, could it be? Something inside her pulsed warmly, and she thought perhaps.

She could work with that.

"That sounds like a wonderful dream, Indra," she said softly, "and a world that I would very much love to live in."

The sounds of shifting sands followed her movements as she stepped up the stairs before sitting down on the steps next to where the young man she was speaking to was standing. She was tired, in many ways, and let out a long-suffering sigh as she looked out at the cavern that would soon serve as her follower's home--she hadn't missed that he'd said they were welcome, and whether or not they agreed on methods, she was responsible for those under her care.

"They've been taking slaves, you know," she said quietly as she brought her hands together under her chin and rested her lower jaw on her own knuckles. "I've heard story after story--liberated more than one convoy. They just take people when the towns can't pay their taxes. I was away when they attacked Suna, but I managed to get back in afterwards. I found my entire family dead in the ruins of my childhood home--it looked like my little brother died with a kunai in his hand. He was always a fighter."

Her voice was wistful, and bitter, with an undercurrent of the white-hot rage that had hollowed her out and left nothing but single-minded determination in its wake.

"You ask how I could want more of what happened in Suna, Indra? Because it never stopped happening. I don't know how it seems from down here, but people are suffering up there. I would love a world where a show of force and a stern conversation would be enough to get them to stop--but I don't think they will allow that world to exist," she said as she glanced over at the young man who had to be the shingenma host--a possibly very powerful weapon against the occupation, sitting in a cave and dreaming about a peaceful rebellion.

"If we don't resist, Indra, there won't be anything left of us to save. She showed me that. She told me that I should take up arms, She told me to fight for my homeland and my people. Violence is the language these dogs understand, Indra, and we must communicate to them the error of their ways," she explained as she leaned forward, not looking at him as her eyes and soul burned with her conviction.

[Ace Trainer]

Her initial comment brought a soft smile to Indra's face, but he could sense her soul and the way that it wavered, and he could tell she had her doubts about it. Soseki had had not a dissimilar response to Indra's insistence on a peaceful rebellion, and when he agreed to begin recruiting he had prepared himself mentally for having to wage this battle often. People were hurt, people had loved ones who were hurt, and revenge was not only a natural thing to want, but often a justified one. But Indra saw the foreign invaders as wrong, what they had done was fundamentally wrong but it was worsened by how they did it. Could he truly stand against an enemy and take a righteous stand for his homeland if he employed the same tactics used by what he saw as an evil entity? Indra had his answer, but he would have to defend it to.

So as Sakaze brought up slaves, Indra would break his gaze on her and stare down at the ground, clenching his fists as he did. "I know.", he pushed back, or at least attempted to. She wasn't saying anything Indra didn't know. He heard the stories, from Soseki, from Seiji, and now from Sakaze. Maybe they were all right about it? Maybe he was wrong to feel the way he does.

"Are we dogs?", he lamented, "Should we speak their language? Be like them? Should we return people to their families guiding them with bloodied hands? Will Suna know peace when bodies line the streets we walk every day when we go to grocery shop?", he focused on sensing her soul, trying to make sure he wasn't going in the wrong direction with her.

He sighed, turning and beginning to walk away, "This is our temple," he gestured wide, seemingly suggesting Sakaze should follow, "I have no right to turn anyone away that is guided her through The Light. Let me show you what we've found so far.", it seemed he was giving up on trying to change her mind, or at least he didn't want to argue with her about it anymore. "There is a lot of space, but if you're going to bring a lot of people here lets make sure its welcoming for them!", he attempted to feign excitement, maybe they could just move on.

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

He was young yet, and the way he glanced down and bit out the, "I know," caused her to pause and take stock of the situation. He was devout, of that there was no question, and steadfast in his beliefs in a way that few she knew ever were. There would be time to convince him--or perhaps he did not need convincing. Maybe She put him in her path to give her a reminder that there are many ways to the same goal. She only knew what she had seen, just as he did, and it was too much to expect him to know what she knew--that Iwagakure would never leave of their own volition, that peace would have to be won at the tip of a blade.

Perhaps he was one of the ones she was burning for.

She hadn't stopped burning since that day she'd wandered into the desert with no particular destination in mind, and she knew what she was burning for now that Her Light had shown the way. She'd burn her decency, she'd burn her life out, she'd burn her entire future to create the sunrise, even if she never got to see it. She would soak her hands in blood and use the tactics of the enemy she hated against them if it meant there was even a chance that she could bring that day one step closer. He spoke of using those bloody hands to guide their friends and family back to their shops with bodies lining the street, asking if they were dogs who had to use the enemies tactics--to her, those were moot questions. The only thing that mattered was seeing Wind Country free. If that meant that she had to pile enough corpses to build a ramp up the walls of Iwagakure and scale them to fight the Tsuchikage one on one, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

Indra would come around, in time--he seemed to be a good kid, and she doubted he'd maintain pacifism in the face of death. In the meantime, Sakaze could tell that Indra was approaching his limit for the conversation. Conversion, especially of a reluctant listener, was hard enough without annoying your audience. She stood as he turned and began to follow him through the winding halls of the ancient citadel. The place seemed to hum with the Sun's energy, even in this dark place, and she could tell that he was right in his assessment. Even without the solar motifs that adorned the walls or the intricate tilework that made up the frescos, she could feel Her Light in this place.

"There is a lot of room, it seems," she responded as he led her through the temple. ""I have around 200 followers that I've been hiding in the desert, and from what I can see there's more than enough rooms for them all."

She stopped at a wide doorway, one which led to what might have been the largest collection of scrolls, books, and manuscripts that she'd ever seen. Something about the room caused her to cease walking, even if Indra kept going. She wasn't one for reading, really--unless it was a trashy romance novel, she was always a sucker for those before.... Well. Before. But something about this room called to her, told her that something important was inside, and she reached up and touched the sun symbol on her torc as she considered the feeling. She had time, now, and didn't have to follow every impulse immediately, but the temptation to abandon her host was strong.

"What is this?" she asked curiously, reaching a hand up to touch one of the reedy pillars that marked the entrance to what was obviously some kind of library or literary storehouse.

[Ace Trainer]

Indra didn't wait to see her relent, or the process she went through to reach that place. He suspected she wouldn't give in that easily, but he wasn't going to revisit the idea with her just yet. He'd let her settle in, and her followers, and they'd come along with the way as they were exposed to the glory of this temple. She followed as he passed the library he'd just exited, and was relieved but unsurprised that the library very quickly took her attention. Even if he was atune to the Sun, he was sure the library hummed with a sort of irreverent glow. The temple was a truly amazing place, and the library seemed to be it's crown jewel. Based on what he had found so far, he was certain that this temple existed primarily for the purpose of that library. Because the temple was buried, they had actually entered it from the top, having come down from one of the spires of the temple's towers. So as the door that lead into the library was actually the highest level of the library.

Indra would smirk, "Go in.", he gestured.

If Sakaze did, she'd find herself on a rather large balcony, large enough for 15 or 20 people to sit comfortably. A couple of bookshelves, a few desks. And then walls. Walls lined with books, on shelves, in piles, some of them stand alone volumes, some of them clearly anthologies. If she went to the edge of the balcony, she'd she that they were actually at the top of what was likely 20 if not 30 stories. A long spiral going further and further down. The light from the torches Indra had light to illuminate the temple not enough to see all the way to the bottom.

"A library. A very, very, very big one.", entering behind her, he'd run a hand against the closest shelf, "Most of them are written in an older tongue. I'm still learning it. Some are written in the common though. Or, an older form of the common. I've seen the libraries they have at Sunagakure. The archives the Scribes of Sand have. Those are nothing compared to this.", he explained.

Giving Sakaze a moment to soak it in, as amazing as it all was, he'd gesture back to the door, walking back towards it, "I'm still exploring. But, I've gotten about 3 stories down. There's dormitories. By my estimates, this temple likely housed well over 5,000 people on a regular basis, and had capacity for much more. There are kitchens, study rooms, plenty of space for you and any followers you have. This place is safe.", he said with another smile and a affirming nod.

[Throniv]

Sakaze of the Red Sands

---

Sakaze’s amber eyes followed Indra’s gesture, the smirk on his lips one of quiet triumph, as if daring her to be unimpressed. She stepped forward without hesitation, her sandals barely making a sound against the ancient stone floor. The scent of dust and parchment--cool and dry--washed over her as she stepped out onto the balcony that the pillars led to and took in the room in question. The balcony stretched out before her, vast enough to accommodate a small crowd but currently silent, save for the faint crackle of distant torches. The dim, flickering light illuminated towering shelves filled with books in various states of preservation. Some tomes were carefully stacked, others leaned precariously, their leather-bound spines cracked with time.

At the edge of the balcony, she paused, glancing down, and her breath caught as the spiral staircase stretched far below, vanishing into darkness. Twenty, perhaps thirty levels—an abyss of knowledge. The light from Indra’s torches could not penetrate to the bottom, leaving the depths cloaked in shadow and mystery.

Indra's voice pulled her from her reverie. "A library. A very, very, very big one,” he said, running his hand along the nearest shelf. His tone was casual, but Sakaze could hear the reverence beneath it. He spoke of the ancient texts, the language she assumed was older than the sands of the desert itself. He spoke of the Scribes of Sand and their collections in Sunagakure—pale imitations of what lay here.

Her lips curved into a small, wry smile. “I’ve seen those archives,” she murmured, half to herself. “They were impressive once. Now, they feel like mere grains of sand compared to this sea,” she said as she leaned against the railing and peered down into the darkness.

She turned to look at him just as he gestured back to the door and followed him through, knowing that she would find what had drawn her to that place within--but it wasn't something that needed taken care of right now. She listened as he talked, making a small noise of appreciation as he described the massive complex with more than enough room for those that followed her, and how he had barely scratched the surface of what was here, and could not help but wonder at what the original purpose of this facility could have been. A temple like this should never have been lost, especially not with its entire collection of literature still intact. It was as if those who had been here simply picked up and left.

“If it is so safe, I wonder what prompted the exodus of its original inhabitants?" she mused, her tone more curious than accusatory as they began to make their way down another spiral staircase. “At any rate, this place is amazing. I can feel Her Light, even in this shadow. Do you know who built this?"

[Ace Trainer]

Indra kept his gaze on Sakaze, watching as the enormity of what she was looking in began to sink it. It was truly an incredible place, and it was hard to believe it was there for them. But it was. Grains of sand compared to the sea was a good way of putting it. He was sure, as he had explained to Soseki, that there was vast and deep knowledges buried in this temple, buried in these books. "I do too.", he said in response to her question, "But it happened at least 500 years ago. Nothing I've read has been more recent than that. Its that old.", he shrugged, not sure what else he could say. He wondered if the reason they left would be an answer to find somewhere in this temple, too?

Regardless, he would turn, walking back to the door he had brought her in through, and looking down the hall.

"Down this way you'll find dormitories. There are bathrooms attached. You traveled far to get here?", the question seemed rhetorical, "Get some rest, recover. The faucets feed from a natural underground spring. Deep enough that there isn't an oasis here. But, its fresh. Recover. Lets make sure its ready, and then you can bring any people you have here. How about that?", he didn't really seem concerned with waiting for an answer, instead just holding up a hand to wave as he continued down the hall to a different room. Seemingly attempting to welcome her into their shared home with his indifference.