[Info Thread] On the Border of Moon and Sun

[Ace Trainer]

Word has reached the rebellion about a boy in the crescent coalition that may be connected to a former Suna Missing Ninja in some way. Highly skilled for his age, if he were to be tapped by Iwagakure to act against the rebellion, it would be cause for concern. Indra has been dispatched to the western border of Wind Country to a small town that regularly engages in trade with the Crescent Coalition to see if they have any additional information about this boy.

The tan cloaks didn't blend so well this far west, the desert have melted away into grasslands. Indra had never traveled this far west before - typically his parents hadn't had business this far out. In his youngest days, these lands had only been recently acquired by Wind Country, and there was still a lot of hesitation about tourist coming into the area. Now the years had long passed, and it wasn't even 'technically' Wind Country anymore, not that any of the locals really cared one way or another which fat noble their taxes went to. "Sooo, just to keep it straight, we've come all this way on account of some rumors?, the young woman said as he lifted her boots high with each step.

"Yeah, thats kind of the deal, Hikari. Our networks pick up on rumors and hints, and we expand on it to see if there is anything to it. If there isn't, that's a win. If there is, that's also a win. It's called espionage.", he explained.

The girl made a loud HUM noise, clearly putting little stock into what Indra was saying, "And they needed to send you, our Lucent, to investigate becaaaaaaause?", she retorted.

Indra sighed, this was the third time they had had this conversation on the 2-day long journey it'd taken to travel this far. "If word is correct, this kid Ziv is something special. Strong, And allegedly connected to Suna in some way. Sending me is to be safe."

"Great, so you brought a sweet, innocent little girl along to put her in danger with some prodigy assassin!?", she complained.

"You ASKED - no, you BEGGED, to come along! And I never said assassin."

Indra was acutely aware that being around his young disciple made him feel about 20 years older. Was this how Ikinari felt dealing with him so many years ago? He sighed, "Look, this town Miyaki only has about a hundred or so people in it. Its in Wind Country still, but they do trade with Crescent Coalition. All we're doing is asking some questions. First sign of trouble, you bail out into the surrounding area, I'll track you down once it's clear.", he instructed. Hikari would roll her eyes, but nod dutifully, it was clear Indra wasn't going to budge on this.

It would only take about thirty more minutes for them to reach the town, when they did, he'd pull the hood of his cloak up over his head and pull his cover up, avoiding anyone seeing any of his features but his eyes. Normal hazel eyes now, they would raise any alarm - it was much easier to be Teishi with his new blessing. Approaching a small fruit stand, he'd give a deep bow. "Good morning Ojii-san, we--"

"Ojii-san! Have you seen this boy from Crescent thats supposed to be like super strong!? I wanna train under him!", Hikari would suddenly interject. Well - this was one way to start this.

[Zao]

The man's information network wasn't too shabby, as in fact the blue-eyed, white-haired Crescent shinobi was indeed known to frequently visit this area on the northern border of Wind Country. Usually, it for was a combination of two reason with the first being to do some trading as the man was often searching out rarer metals for the school's crafting needs and even his own depending on the kinds of materials that he managed to run across. Secondly, at the request of the Head Mistress, he would also be on the outlook for those who had been orphaned from the war and see if he could bring them back to Sky Reach to be taken care of and taught at the academy. Killing two birds with one stone, one might say.

Today he was on the northern edge of the small village, a horse pulled cart with boxes of different supplies and materials were loaded into the back as a couple men worked to strap down and organize the contents inside the cart while large figure that had a hood over their face and layers of clothing that slide down past their fingertips set on the driver's bench without moving. Off to the left side of the cart and horse was a decent sized building that served as a small religious building and doctor's office, the building was two stories and head a front and back entrance on the bottom floor and a handful of windows that could be found on each floor allowing the bright sunlight from outside to light up the interior.

Inside the village doctor, elderly looking figure with round glasses and balding grey hair atop his head seemed to be conversing with a young looking many who appeared to be in his late teens. The pair spoke in tandem with one another, not in the normal manner that a youth would speak with an elder, but more so as if the two were on the same social status with one another, peers in a field perhaps. Behind the two men, another hooded figure stood a few meters back closer to the door only this one seemed about the same height of Ziv being a little under the two-meter mark in height and held a slender build. The figure stood almost like a watchful statue as the two men spoke before the white-haired teenager looked over at the row of medical beds that held a few sleeping patients.

"Sorry I'm not around more often to help out." The youthful voice of the young man could be heard as he peered at the two patients that were resting, one was a young kid probably only around the age of eleven or twelve while the other was an older man that looked to be in his thirties. "You aren't from here, but any help we get is a blessing." The doctor known as Abi by the town folks also glanced at the two off to his right, "That venom is a dangerous one, I wouldn't have been able to help them." Though it pained the doctor a bit to admit it, because of how long the pair had been poisoned by the vicious desert scorpion he didn't think they'd live. Ziv had only been passing through on his normal trade route when he had stopped by, demonstrating his advanced medical ninjutsu as he helped to remove the toxin from each and create an antidote soon after.

Ziv had been to the village on multiple occasions, always seeking to build a positive relationship with the towns people as that was his nature. Having been orphaned himself by the Iwa-Suna wore, the boy had eventually been turned onto the medical field in his third year as a student at the Sky Reach academy and had found a certain calling. Often times helping out in the villages he passed through because he could, not just because he needed to. He had never been a spiteful or evil person; his two brothers had made sure to keep him on the right track as they grew up and grew stronger side-by-side with one another. Even now as he looked at the pair in the beds, he couldn't help but wonder what those two were getting into without him.

"How long will you be staying?" Abi spoke to Ziv as his bright blue eyes, that were oddly colored to the point that they seemed to lack any of the normal white the human eye possessed, turned from the patients to the doctor. "I figured we'd stay here tonight and then try to get an early start in the morning back to the academy. " The pair began to speak with one another, the old man reminding him off his teachers back at the academy as he began to talk the young man's ear off about the art of medicine as the pair took a seat in the front room. The young man enjoying himself as the pair spoke about different things, the Sky Reach physician very interested in the knowledge of the old man, unaware that another was seeking him out in that very same village.



WC: 860

[Ace Trainer]

The old man laughed at Hikari's outburst, and held a feeble arm up, pointing down the small road in the village. "The uh...white haired boy right?", he asked, not waiting for an answer, G-good kid. If that's who you're asking ab-about. I dunno if he t-trains anyone. I think he's from some schoo-ool, so he might just be a stu-dent. Hes staying in an inn down the way", he said kindly. Indra would take another deep bow. White hair? A school? Were they talking about the Academy he'd been hearing rumors about in Crescent? The Hokori didn't reach out that far, so anything they heard about Crescent Coalition was second hand information, just like this info on Ziv.

"Thank you, Ojii-san.", Indra said with another deep bow before grabbing Hikari's arm and power walking away. When they were out of sight of anyone, Indra would close his eyes and briefly channel chakra, activating a sensory technique as his senses expanded out from him and into the farther reahes of the village. He'd never heard of Ziv before, so he wouldn't necessarily be able to parse out the boy's soul, but Indra was confident he would feel quite different from anyone else in the area. Hikari would watch him closely without word, then follow as Indra continued down the road.

As he approached the northern side of town, he'd suddenly be overwhelmed with the feeling. So many of the souls here in the village were soft and quiet, but suddenly they'd be overtaken by another one. It felt like a waterfall in comparison to single droplets of rain. This kid was strong. His face spreading into a smile, he'd turn to Hikari, "Come on!", he'd say excitedly. He'd deftly turn through a few streets and then approach the small clinic-church, and Indra would turn to look at her curiously. "Remember, this goes south. We bail.", he instructed. His eyes scanned the men loading up the cart, someone was definitely visiting.

The young girl would nod, nerves suddenly taking over her. Indra looked excited, that was good - but it could easily end up being bad. Caution to the wind, Indra would quickly rap on the door, waiting to see if someone would answer.

SpoilerShow

[To Sense the Spirit]
A-rank Shijutsu Technique
By performing a series of hand seals, Indra is able to expand his ability to sense souls out to [Control]x2 meters from himself. This lasts for up to [Chakra Pool]/5 posts before needing to be cast again.

[Zao]

The pair of medical professionals, one young and one old, had continued their spirited debate with one another just as the young white-haired man seemed to pause for a moment, closing his eyes as through his shared vision with the puppet outside and the one directly inside the building near him something out of the ordinary caught his eye. It was a pair moving with tan cloaks, something that seemed to suggest they had traveled from the south of the village where the edges of the sandy desert that Wind country was known for began. While he didn't know everyone in the village, he did have a decent grasp on its populace due to his efforts to aid the local doctor here whenever he passed through but these two, the young man and younger girl didn't bring back any memories for him.

"It seems we have two guests." Before Indra had knocked, Ziv's bright blue eyes opened as they swept towards the door casually and he spoke in turn to the older man who had a slightly puzzled look on his face at first before four or five seconds later the knocks came at the door. Indra would have probably noticed that as he passed by the cart, he was able to sense the souls of those helping to load it but not the thicker figure that set on the driver's bench with their hood up over their head to cast a long shadow over their now hidden face. One of Ziv's puppet's, Tako, set motionless but one could see that its head turned slightly as the duo passed and moved towards the door. Inside the room was another puppet that would have gone unsensed as well, this one was the slender fox faced Toushi whose foxlike masked face allowed for the nose of the fox mask to protrude just out of the shadow cast by the hood.

As the old man rose to walk towards the door, the white haired youth placed his palms down on the arm rests of the chair and lifted himself into a standing position, unsure of the reason for the pairs visit now and as soon as the man turned his back one of his hands formed into a seal as he took over full control of his puppets through his [Puppet Animation] (level 3) technique now as a precautionary measure. A few moments after the pair had knocked the older grey-haired man who only had a little hair left upon the balding top of his head opened the door with a friendly smile. "Hello, my friends, I'm Doctor Abi. How can I help you?" He voice was gentle but deep as he spoke standing in the doorway with the hand of the door in his right hand.


WC: 464

[Ace Trainer]

Indra's eyes scanned the people as they passed, noticing the lack of soul coming from one of them. His eyes widened as he squinted, looking a little closer - puppets!? Excitement began to boil up inside of him as he rapped on the door, he patiently waited, humming and smiling at Hikari. The young girl was suddenly tense, realizing that this could get bad very quickly. Indra's casual demeanor seemed to only stress her out even more. When the door swung open, Hikari would take a step backwards as if she was already preparing to run away, but Indra would quickly place a hand on her shoulder, squeezing ever so softly to relax her. "Doctor Abi huh! ? Wow, great to meet you. I'd love to say I've heard great things but I haven't heard anything...at least not yet.", he grinned wide, attempting to peer over Abi's shoulder into the room, eyes falling on Ziv.

"You're him! The guy!" To Abi and the others in the room, Indra would vanish and reappear two feet inside the building, but Ziv would have seen him simply accelerating to his max speed and slipping past the doctor blocking the door way. "Are you controlling those puppets out there??? I don't see any chakra strings. How are you ev-", he would stop, his eyes landing on the puppet masked by the shadows, turning completely away from Ziv he'd take a few steps towards it, eyeing it curiously, "Wow man! This is some advanced stuff, hey Hikari look at this!", he'd turn, looking for Hikari and then realizing she was still outside. "Oh. Ah, geez. I'm sorry. Hey! I'm Teishi. And that is Hikari, we're travelers.", he'd bow, having realized his excitement about the puppets had caused him to act a little rude.

"Uhmm...hi.", she said timidly, bowing to the doctor in the doorway, "Can I come in?", she asked politely.

Indra would turn back to Ziv, looking at him with a wide smile, dropping his hood, "So you're him, right? This super strong Ziv guy people have been talking about?"

[Zao]

'What a fast one.' Ziv mused but his lips frowned slightly, able to estimate already that whomever this fellow young man was, that his speed was close to or perhaps matched his own, but he didn't act out nor attack someone who had just revealed themselves. While he considered the stranger odd from this initial introduction before appearing sprint a few feet into the room past the old doctor who simply looked confused as the man who was speaking with him disappeared and only the young little girl was left standing alone before him causing a shocked expression to appear and for him to take a step back twisting his head from side to side attempting to find Indra but he hadn't realized that the man was already behind him.

"The guy?" At this declaration Ziv raised a questioning eyebrow as for some reason this stranger seemed to know a bit about him or had heard some manner of rumor about himself. 'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this guy understands they aren't people but his spot on guess about them being puppets is...surprising.' If the young Sky Reach teacher wasn't already a bit on edge the announcement and the figure approaching his slender puppet that remained stiff in the corner made him concerned for this situation. "Yes, I am." A bit caught up in the rather jovial nature of this man he didn't say much back, at least not yet.

"Teishi and Hikari, a pleasure." Exhaling slowly, he replied as his heartbeat slowed slightly, and his breath became steady; his hands came together in a martial style salute that rose up to cover the bottom of his face as prayer beads that wrapped around the wrist and forearms of the young man were revealed. Lowering his return to the gentle bow of the stranger one could be able to see the black piercing that could be found in both ears, his nose, and lower lips. His eyes glanced slightly past Indra to the young girl and with a smile he nodded at her request to enter, and the old man accepted her into the clinic as he backed up leaving her room to enter and rejoin her traveling companion. "Super strong would be quite the exaggeration, I'm just a teacher."

Ziv's response came to the last set of questions as he lowered his hands to either side now in a more relaxed posture, had he done anything to become renown as super strong? He had fought a few times with Ikanbi but openly to the world few should know about his level of strength that he kept a tight lid on in order to now draw the wrong people to Sky Reach and the children he taught and mentored. "Is there perhaps something I can assist you two with?" Still a bit unsure about the reasoning for the two figures appearance, he refrained from anything provoking for the time being and left his puppet unmoving and simply asked straightforwardly towards Indra as there was a certain pressure given off by the young man that kept Ziv alert about him.


WC: 521

[Ace Trainer]

Indra smiled wide at Ziv once he admitted to being 'the guy', and turned his attention back to the puppet, "Is okay if I touch?", his eyes scanned it, peering closer. Indra was a master puppeteer by now, but he had never seen anything like this. The puppet was...extraordinary. Hikari followed in, nervously taking only a few steps before positioning herself with her arms crossed behind her back, leaning against a wall clearly attempting to make herself as small as possible. Despite the big game she usually talked, she knew if Ziv was as strong as Indra thought he was, he was dangerous.

"Assit? Well...I'm supposed to be looking for you...I uh..", he stopped looking at the puppet to momentary scan the room, looking at the other people in it, "Sorry I'm kind of intruding by the way. But, opportunity strikes and all that. No one is in any danger!", he said with a small laugh. He turned his eyes back to the puppet, scanning every seam and piece of it, "Well, anyways. I'm supposed to be looking for you. Word is, you're related to uhhh crescent coalition right? Thats where you teach? In their fancy school? But I'm pretty sure you weren't in the war. I mean you're what, 15? 16? You would have been like 10 when Suna fell. And Crescent helped with that.", he was talking pretty candidly, but it was clear he was much more engrossed in the puppets. The black rods that were visibly intrigued him as well, silently wondering what they were and how it worked.

"So, do you like it here in Wind Country?", he asked politely, still not looking up at Ziv as he remained transfixed on the fox-like puppet. In truth, Indra didn't really have a plan here. He hadn't planned on finding Ziv so easily, and now that he had, it felt a bit weird just jumping right into things. Attacking Iwa ninja was one thing, but, attacking people from other countries felt more complicated. "I guess I'll get right to it, as far as assisting me. A few weeks ago we put out word to Earth Country letting them know the Rebellion would no longer authorize Earth Country activity in Wind Country, and that any agents of Earth Country or Iwagakure would be dealt with accordingly. If you're a teacher in that fancy new academy, I just need help understanding if that warning should be extended to Crescent folks as well.", this probably sounded more threatening than Indra intended. Hikari would swallow air in response. But hopefully, nothing too bad would happen. Ziv seemed nice enough.

[Zao]

"For me?" Ziv couldn't help but cast a slightly sidelong glance at his new acquaintance as the young man mentioned that he was looking for him, but the almost random speech pattern made the white-haired teacher feel that the other man was just a bit odd. "I do teach at the Sky Reach orphanage, yes." He didn't deny the man's words but when it was called a 'fancy school' it did make him feel a bit like this stranger was almost grasping for straws at the information he knew and what he wanted for the Crescent country native to tell him and it caused for the man to shake his head slightly.

"I was not involved in the war; my late father was." Though he didn't speak his father's name not wanting to draw any more attention on himself than Indra seemed to have for him for one reason or another. As the other spoke and still had eyes on the fox faced puppet it seemed to learn forward slightly allowing the hood to pull back revealing it face in full detail as if the puppet was examining him back. "The villages here are good trade partners, but I'm not looking to get involved in the war between this rebellion and Iwa, if that's what you're asking." Due to his late father's wishes, he did not want to become involved in the turmoil of war that ended his own father's life in the end.

"So, this if you reason for this visit." Though Ziv had already pieced most of it together, he still frowned slightly upon hearing the words from Indra out in the open. While it was true that Crescent had some alliance with Iwa due to the geographical location of the country and Iwa's rapid expansion over the past five years, that didn't mean all of those within its ranks held the same views. Sky Reach was almost considered its own separate entity and Ziv wasn't completely sure how the Head Mistress felt about the alliance as she two once held the former Suna village as her home. "While the Head Master also formerly hailed from Suna, I do not know her thoughts on the Crescent and Iwa alliance juncture, her primary focus has always been on the children of the school first and foremost." He thought about the other teachers within the academy, there were some that would without a doubt side with Crescent and Iwa on their relationship, however shallow it might actually be, while there were those like Ziv who wanted no part of another conflict that seemed to be coming with the declaration of Indra.

"I am as you said, but a teacher, my sphere of influence doesn't extend much past the school itself and my students." He started, focusing his bright blue eyes on the man who was supporting the rebellion that was growing in Wind country. "You would have to speak with the actual leaders of the Crescent Coalition, but I cannot become personally involved in this fighting for either side at the wishes from my father before his passing, but I would be willing to offer medical aide, if needed." Though the man's words had been somewhat threating with how his words has come off, Ziv preferred that people be straight forward and to the point on what they wanted to say then those that planned and plotted things in the shadows. Part of him did wish to help out those who wish to reclaim the homeland of his parents, even if he had never truly had the opportunity to be part of the village due to his father's travels and actions. But he felt himself being held back by the sacrifice made by his father that ended up costing him his life after the war, who knew if his ideals could be swayed at this point.

"I do not wish to sour this meeting or mood between us, but there will be those in Crescent that would answer the call from Iwa if asked." It made him sigh aloud, understanding that the standing army of Crescent and its mercenaries would most likely help if the request was placed by the higher-ranking members of the Iwa village. His influence was only at the Sky Reach orphanage after all, not in the higher echelon of Crescent political arena, nor did he ever want for it to be. With a hint of sorrow in his young, soft voice Ziv spoke back to Indra reconfirming his own words now. "You will need to deliver this warning message to Crescent and its leaders., my friend."


WC: 770

[Ace Trainer]

No answer, guess that meant no touching. He'd give a sort of disappointed and intrigued sigh, turning and taking a few steps away and towards Ziv. His eyes wandered to the other people in the room again, it was hard to tell if their presence there would be a deterrent or a favor. Ziv did not seem inclined to mince words in their presence though, which was good. "Oh.", he looked down somberly, "I'm sorry to hear about your dad. He fought for Sunagakure?", he asked, now even more intrigued. Ziv made some easy connections though, and Indra's face spread into a mischevious grin, the dower nature of the previous question immediately escaping him, "I hadn't even considered asking you to join in...but if that's on the table.", he snickered cheekily, accepting that Ziv had already given a no before he'd been asked, but finding the notion interesting enough to still entertain. Ziv was clearly an interesting specimen, having him among the rebellion fighters would have been fortunate. But like Katsu and even Tokugawa, Indra wasn't in the business of pressuring people to join his cause, that wasn't the path illuminated for him.

"This school sounds so interesting. Its not like the academies, huh? Your Head Mistress", he let the words slide off his tongue as if testing thm out, "She's just in charge of the school, so not like a Kage, huh?", there was not a lot of publicly available information about Sky Reach, anything Ziv shared would be valuable information to have. It was surprising to see he was a teacher, but perhaps that spoke to just how powerful Ziv was. Rumors told Indra he was strong, but to be a teacher at a school for a nation like the Crescent Coalition..well, that was something. In truth, Indra hadn't really been seeking Ziv out in order to get a direct line to the leadership, but now that Ziv was saying it, it sort of made sense. He had just hoped he was going to be able to sus out whether Ziv needed to be taken out - strike while the iron was hot as it were -and if Crescent Coalition writ large was a threat. But, Ziv's assessment and suggestion of speaking to the leadership was...smart.

"Well.", he said thoughtfully, still processing his options now that more had been laid out in front of him. At least he didn't need to fight Ziv, if he was refusing to be involved, that was good enough for him, "Wish I had the option of being uninvolved.", he said with a laugh, "This is quite a predicament! You've given me more options than I expected. Well, would we be able to come back to Crescent with you? It would be great to get to know you better, and I have like a thousand questions about your puppets, and I'll even show you mine? Seems like we have some common goals in the broad spectrum, even if we're in different worlds right now.", he looked Ziv directly in the eyes, his demeanor a mixture of firmness and practically pleading to be permitted to tag along. If Ziv were to let Indra go with him to Crescent, that would make it easier meeting whoever he needed to, even if Ziv didn't know them. Perhaps this Head Mistress was the place to start.

[Zao]

At the mention of his father haven't fought for Suna, Ziv only gave a solemn nod in response as he didn't want to give away too much information about his father and his past ties with the village itself. Though his father had returned through some means of fate to fight against the Iwa advance, it didn't truly forgive the crimes of the past so it was best to keep that separate from himself. Soon though the conversation twisted again, something that this young man seemed to naturally do, perhaps out of a constant desire to know things or perhaps due to a short attention span, who really knew as this was the young man's first meeting with this man who claimed to be working for the rebellion.

"It does have differences from the traditional shinobi academies, from my own understanding. " He spoke in tandem with Indra, though he had some understanding of what and how the academies within the great village's operated because of his discussions with some of the other teachers and Ikanbi after taking his teacher's exam with the Head Mistress, but he had not personal experience due to his own unique circumstances with his father. "Madame is influential, but not at the level of a country leader." Ziv only confirmed the words from the man as Ikanbi's main focus had always been the academy and the students from his point of view, but her strength should have given her some say in the matters of Crescent even if not at the same level of a country leader or Kage.

"Has anyone ever said that you are somewhat strange?" He couldn't help but let a smile form on his lips, even pushing back a lighthearted chuckle at this stranger before him as his bright blue eyes glanced over in the side of the room with the younger comrade of Indra's as he studied her for a moment before drawing his full attention back to the main actor. "Bring you back with me to Crescent is out of my hands, at the moment." Though he wanted to get to know a bit more about this man and the mention of puppets he owned even made the figure more intriguing than first thought yet bringing a stranger into Crescent would require documentation from someone with more influence than himself.

"That is something I can't do on a whim. I would need to speak with at least the Head Mistress to gain the permission for that." He paused for a moment, wanting to add more to his words than to simply shut down the idea completely and though he wasn't looking to become directly involved in the rebellion on its front lines this was something he wished to keep track of even if it was only for his own personal reasoning. "Is there a place that you can be located at a future time so we can continue this discussion?"


WC: 490