[Graded] Church is in Session

[Niro]

The escape from Water Country for one Toukai, Sai had been completed with his arrival in Aroma Country after stowing away on a merchant vessel. He had hidden in the shadows of the vessel and used his training to make sure he was hidden whenever the sailors came to check on the cargo. Sai had at first stole minor rations from their stores but their suspicion had skyrocketed and patrols of the storage became too frequent. His meals from then on came from the rats also hiding aboard the ship. Once the ship had made land, Sai was quick to escape the hold and run until his legs failed him and he once more passed out from exhaustion. Just like after he had been graced by Yalda.

Sai came to in the midst of a thunderstorm. The wind and the thunder had woken him from his stupor on the forest floor and the teen dragged his weary self along the path. Finally, he was rewarded and came upon a small town. Several houses and other structures dotted the land but what drew his attention was the light from the still-operating inn. The rumble of his stomach and worsening weather were easy motivators for the boy to make way towards the inn. Before he entered, Sai removed the blank white mask covering his face and hid it beneath his cloak. Better not to attract too much un-needed attention.

The doors to the inn swung open easily as Sai stumbled through them. His appearance drew a momentary stare from the bald man behind the bar before Sai found and sank into a booth while slinging his scythe off to rest it against the wall next to him. The minor cushion on the seat was like bliss compared to the surfaces he had been sitting and sleeping on for the past few weeks. It didn't take long before a petite brunette popped over and took his order; a simple beef stew and some ale. After she had gone, Sai relaxed back in his seat and closed his eyes for a moment. A moment to rest.

[ThatGuy]

"Oi! Kenji! Breaks over, kid. Let’s get to cleanin’."

"On it, boss!"

Daisuke quickly stood up and started collecting his things. A little bit of work was nothing if it meant he had a place to stay and food to eat. He’d been playing his games with this family for a couple weeks now, and he was starting to think it might be time to move on to the next phase. But he would need to wait for a good opportunity. As easy as it would be to kill them, he didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention to himself. Especially considering they ran an inn. As he made his way out of the backroom, a brunette stopped him with a peck on the lips.

"Glad you’re getting along well with my Dad."

"Of course! You both have been so kind to me… But I've gotta get back to work. We can pick this back up later."

It wasn’t long after he’d reached this town that he found the girl, she was easy enough to manipulate. A few sweet words, a lie about his burns, and some fake tears went a long way. He’d started dating the girl, and in a matter of days, she’d gotten him a place at her father’s inn. It was almost too easy, really. But he knew that not every town was going to be like this, so he might as well ride this one out. He’d need to skip town once he was done playing house anyway. Giving the girl another kiss, he brought his supplies out to the front room. There weren’t many customers, thankfully, making his job a bit easier as he started wiping down the tables. To keep up his friendly facade, he sparked up some conversation with the customers.

"Back again, Jiro? Don’t go drinking us out of stock now!"

Daisuke gave him a playful smack on the arm as they both laughed. He topped off the man’s glass with the bottle on his table and moved onto the next one. As he started to wipe down another one, he noticed an odd figure in a nearby booth. Anyone who walked around with a scythe was bound to be interesting. Daisuke pondered what their deal might be. Was he a Samurai? Shinobi? Missing nin? Whoever they were, they definitely weren’t your run of the mill villager. After finishing the table, he moved to the empty booth next to the newcomer.

"That’s a mighty fine looking scythe you got there, friend. I doubt you’re using it for farming. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Kenji. Just cleanin’ up and figured I’d spark a bit of conversation. I haven’t seen you around before."

With that, he continued to wipe down the table, curious if they would engage or not. He doubted they’d open up to a stranger, but people tend to give off more hints than they realize in conversation. Regardless, Daisuke had a job to do.

[Niro]

Sai was able to enjoy a few minutes of near silence in his booth until the doors to the kitchen in the back opened up and a similarly aged youth began to clean tables and chat up the few customers in the bar. The clinking of dirty glasses created a high pitched, tinny noise and Sai’s closed left eye twitched. The noise stuck in his head and even through the laughter and general good atmosphere of the inn, it was the one noise Sai honed in on and couldn’t ignore. Maybe it was due to exhaustion. Maybe to hunger and thirsty but the repeated, dreadful noise only drew his ire to the surface. Even with his eyes closed, if one’s eyes were sharp enough to see his face through the cloak and darkness of the booth. His brow furrowed as it only got closer and closer until it finally stopped right next to him.

Then, the boy spoke. and the urge to wield his scythe with a flourish and remove all of theirs heads, just like his rivals had been removed by the missing ninja which had converted him, came over him. A moment seemed to pass before a voice whispered in the back of his mind. Too faint to make out just yet.

‘Make…make…make…’ The deep, distorted voice of Yalda clawed at the back of his mind as Sai’s eyes shot open. Bloodshot yellow orbs stared at “Kenji” for several moments before Sai finally blinked.

“It’s for protection. The roads are…not safe for those who travel…alone.” Sai spoke slowly, as if it had been his first time speaking to someone besides the voice in his head in weeks. He debated how much he should reveal to the teen. If all went to plan, no one in this village would be able to pass any information about him along anyway. “The trains are too…expensive.”

The girl from earlier who had taken his order upon first sitting down finally returned with his bowl of steaming hot stew, a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye before she realized “Kenji” was talking to the man and her attention shifted to him instead. Sai watched out of the corner of his eye after the stew was placed down and he was able to finally get something into his stomach. The red haired teen devoured the spoonful with vigor as the door to the inn opened once more and a small group of locals wandered in. The rain had began to let up and the usuals began to fill the space. The girl snuck a quick peck on the raven-haired youths cheek before heading over to the new group to begin taking drink and food orders. Sai shot “Kenji” a wry smile in between bites of stew before it almost immediately fell from his face.

The voice was calling again and this time, much strong.

‘Make us whole…Make us whole…Make us whole...'

MAKE. US. WHOLE.’

[ThatGuy]

As soon as the newcomer started speaking, Daisuke knew he was crazy. There was a possibility that they were just slow, but it didn’t seem likely. While his eye color was certainly noteworthy, it was how bloodshot they were that really tipped him off. They were the eyes of someone who hadn’t slept in a long time. That combined with his manner of speech, choice of weapon, and cloak, made Daisuke positive that this person had totally lost their marbles. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite see their face, so he wasn’t able to read expressions. Just who was this individual? He was dying to know.

He was going to make up some generic response to the price of trains, but the innkeeper's daughter had arrived with the newcomer’s food. After getting a quick peck on the cheek, he let a warm smile grow across his face. It was a bit exhausting to keep up the facade, but when the wool was pulled from their eyes, it was always so worth the effort. As she left, Daisuke thought of a much better topic of conversation. Something that might give him a hint as to exactly what type of crazy his scythe-wielding friend was.

"You ever fall in love? Some say it’s a blessing, others say it's a curse. When I’m with her, it’s bliss, but when she’s gone, I can’t get her out of my head. You know what I mean? Like there’s this voice in the back of my head telling me I need to be with her. It’s enough to drive a man mad! It’s a constant struggle to not be consumed and a fall into total obsession, you know? But I gotta say, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me."

Daisuke wondered what would be going through the newcomer’s head after a corny speech like that. Was he a crazed psychopath who loved the thrill of murder? Was he a schizophrenic who no longer could separate reality from fiction? Was he the type to stalk and hunt women? It wasn’t a surefire thing, but Daisuke was fairly confident that his words would help reveal which one he was. Catching himself lost in thought, Daisuke returned to wiping down tables. Now looking over at the group that just entered. It seemed the night might end up being more busy than expected.

[Niro]

Sai only heard his own heartbeat thunder in his ears as the voice drowned out any other thought in his head, his eyes lost any focus in them, and the boy's face turned even more pale. It felt like an immense pressure was building and working it's way out of his head and through his eyes before it vanished in an instant and Sai could breathe again. The fainting remnants of the voice echoed at the edges of his mind before they too disappeared. His eyes once more focused as "Kenji" finished talking about his girlfriend and the color came back to his face.

"Where's the bathroom?" Sai hissed out as he made his way clear of the booth seating and left his scythe. He didn't wait for an answer, instead his eyes found a poor drawn sign indicating it went through the kitchens. "I see it, watch my stuff."

Perfect.

Sai stumbled his way across the floor and did his best to avoid bumping into any of the patrons as he beelined it for the bathroom while clutching his stomach. He wasn't even spared a second thought by the busy bartender as he pushed through the doors and his eyes began to dart about the kitchen. Sai scanned the room in search of something, anything he could contaminate and to see if there was anyone else there. It seemed the cook had stepped out for a smoke or a piss. Either way, the bathroom story was just that; a story. Something to allow him to get to where he could began his Sermon.

His eyes shone with delight as they found a recently tapped barrel of ale. Sai made his way to it with almost a skip in his step and pried off the lid before holding his hands over the liquid. They glowed briefly with chakra before spores of [Viral Infection] began to rain from them and into the ale. A wide-eyed smile over came his face and a low chuckle escaped his throat once it was thoroughly contaminated and he hammered the lid back into place with the heel of his palm.

Sai turned on his heel and made his way back to the dining hall, thankful no one had come to the back while he had set his plan into motion. The smile had faded into a smirk on his lips as he slid back into the booth.

"Could we...get a round to drink for everyone? Put it on my tab..." Sai asked as he relaxed back into the seat with a near complete opposite look on his face than when he had gotten up.

[ThatGuy]

Daisuke raised an eyebrow as the newcomer rushed to the bathroom. Did the young man’s words really get to him that much? Did they even hear them at all? He wanted to secretly follow them to see if they actually went to the bathroom or not, but there was no way he wouldn’t be noticed. So instead, he continued his job while passively observing everyone in the inn. The group that just wandered in seemed to be celebrating something. From the little bit that he could overhear, it sounded like a bachelor’s party. What a pain in the ass!

As the hooded young man returned from the bathroom, Daisuke immediately noticed the change in demeanor. Whatever they had done back there seemed to bring the light back to their eyes. After they offered to buy a round of drinks for everyone, Daisuke put on a fake smile.

"You must really have been holding it in! You’re like a new man. I’ll help grab the drinks."

With that, he made his way to the back room alongside his ‘girlfriend’. They wasted no time in gathering glasses and filling them with ale. After splitting the drinks among two trays, he spoke.

"It's shaping up to be a busy night."

"Dad will be happy at least, maybe we can make a little extra on tips!"

They both smiled at each other before leaving the kitchen. They split up to hand out the drinks, with Daisuke making sure to place the final drink on the strange young man’s table. He was starting to doubt his instincts. There was definitely something off about them,but he was having a hell of a time figuring out what.

"That was really generous of you. Are you celebrating something, or are you just in a good mood? I think we got a bachelor’s party over there. I’m sure they appreciate the drinks."

Continuing to wipe down a table that he’d already finished cleaning, Daisuke observed the newcomer’s reactions. They’d slip up and reveal something at some point, he was sure of it.

[Niro]

Sai's amber eyes danced from bargoer to bargoer, the smile still on his face. He simply watched each of the patrons as they went about the festivities. Oh, how little they knew. Soon they would join something so much more, something truly worthy of praise and party. "Kenji" returned with a mug of ale for himself as well and although he accepted it, Sai moved it off to the inner portion of the booth table with a slow wave of his hand. He wouldn't imbibe the blessed liquid; the less he drank, the more others would be able to.

"Celebrating." Sai was quick to answer, the slowness to his voice no longer there. Underneath the tabletop, his hands slowly ran through a string of seals to activate the now-lingering spores within each of the patrons. "Additions to the church."

Sai's hand seals finished beneath the oak and several of the bachelor party attendees leaned against the bar grasping their stomachs in pain.

"Praise be to Yalda." Sai said to himself with a chuckle. Those who began to grasp at their abdomens soon let out groans of pain as well and collapsed to their knees. A sickening squelch erupted from them, cut by several terrified screams from others who had not yet been blessed. Grotesque arms burst from their upper bodies with sickle-like fingers ready to carve any who came within reach to slivers. The limbs flailed wildly and the people attached to them began to scream not just in pain but terror and scramble for the exits of the bar.

It didn't matter, however. The remainder of the bachelor party then too doubled over in pain as extra hands, feet, arms, and even tails sprouted from each who had consumed the ale. In the terror and confusion, the bartender had taken up the hatchet behind the bar and begun to swing wildly at the gangly limbs while his daughter was caught in the middle of the confusion, too terrified to even move.

[ThatGuy]

Daisuke took note of how the newcomer simply pushed his drink to the side. When they spoke, Daisuke finally got his answer as to what type of crazy they were. A religious fanatic. When people started groaning in pain, he looked around the room. The newcomer said something about ‘Yalda’, which was likely whatever he chose to worship. As things began to erupt from the bodies, Daisuke’s look of confusion turned to one of fascination. Taking in the screams around him, the young man’s jaw dropped. It was simply beautiful. He noticed that the only people who weren’t transforming were the four who never took a drink. Looking over at the innkeeper who was fighting for his life, Daisuke used his technique to bind the man’s shadow. He wanted to see what exactly these things were going to do to them.

The young man’s eyes lit up as the grotesque limbs shredded the innkeeper in a most violent manner. The chaos was perfect. Daisuke could not have made a better scene if he tried. Putting the mask called Kenji back on, he called out for the innkeeper's daughter.

"Mika! Get behind me!"

The words of her apparent boyfriend snapped her out of her terrified paralysis. She quickly ran to Daisuke, narrowly avoiding the flailing limbs around her. When she reached him, he pulled her close, giving the illusion of safety. As she tightly held onto him, Daisuke opened his senses, the foundational technique of Skitter Step. The flood of information put him in a euphoric state. He was able to take in every scream of agony, every terrified look, every limb growing and flailing about, and all the chaos. As he began to twitch, he grabbed Mika by her hair and pulled her in front of him.

"Kenji! You’re hurting me!"

The look of betrayal on her face was like a drug to him while his senses were opened. He could read every miniscule movement of her face muscles, hear her breath speed up, and practically smell the fear. Finally dropping the mask for good, Daisuke gave a wide smile to the girl, before turning back to the worshiper of ‘Yalda’.

"My name is Daisuke, and I love what you’ve done with the place. I don’t mean that sarcastically. It’s truly beautiful, so beautiful that I’d love to see it up close. Whatever is happening, it was something in the drinks, wasn’t it? What do you say to another member of your church?"

"W-what? You… You said…"

Another wave of satisfaction hit the young man as he took in her reaction. This was his favorite part, when his lies were finally revealed, when they realized that the one they trusted was really a monster this whole time, and the hopelessness as they realized it was all about to end. Pushing the girl forward, he bound her shadow, watching the newcomer as they both took in the chaos around them. If they didn’t like his offering, he was confident that he could escape the inn without much issue.

[Niro]

A wide smile and crazed look crept across Sais face the bar exploded into a frenzy of terror. All around the room, the new wild, controlled limbs growing out of peoples legs, arms, and backs grabbed and flailed and strangled with no discrimination. They struck out at anyone that stumbled close and if no one was in their immediate reach, they began to attack their host. The terrified screams and gurgling cries were like a choir of music to the Toukai's ears.

The barkeeper tried his best to hack away at the grotesque flesh growing out of the people he had known his whole life. The hatchet sunk into the mutated flesh and the people tied to it cried out in pain like it was them who had been struck. The moment of fear and hesitation was more than enough to make his life flash before his eyes, memories of the very people who were able to tear him apart. Tears poured from his eyes and he went to let out a primal yell of defiance before being cut short. His shadow bound him in place and silenced him as the mutated tail tip of a neighbor pierced through his throat. The man fell to the ground clutching at his throat as the blood drained from him and he eventually fell still and silent.

What Sai hadn't expected was the twist of "Kenji", not actually being "Kenji!" A renewed interest shone in his eyes and rapid claps of glee escaped him at the revelation. The look of confusion and terror laid bare across the girls face was exquisite. He hadn't expected someone like to him to be lurking among the dreary place.

'Another...another...another...'

The voice clawing at the back of his mind whispered as Daisuke pushed the girl back in the cacophony of chaos playing out in front of them. She didn't fare long before one of the sickle-like arms mutated out of someone's back grabbed at her and dragged her into the fray. The same arm that had dragged her soon began to strangle the life out of her, it's long and sickly fingers wringing her neck like a towel. Even as the light faded from them, her eyes stayed locked onto Daisuke.

"Daisuke...hm. Dai and Sai." Sai mumbled to himself, chewing on the combination of names and mulling them over like it was a new flavor of gum. "Yes, yes. Yalda will be pleased." He finally called back and his eyes drifted to the few stragglers who were still alive after the carnage. He would leave them to spread what they had witnessed here. Their bodies spent and traumatized, they laid on the floor like fish taken from a pond.

Sai got up from the booth, this time taking his scythe with him and placing it along his back, and walked over the bodies of the fallen towards the kitchen. "It was the ale. I spread Yalda's influence into it. Let us gather as much food as we can carry and begone from here. Someone will eventually notice the inn is silent and something amiss."

[ThatGuy]

Daisuke watched with a twinkle in his eye as the girl was pulled back into the chaos. He soaked up the fear and betrayal written across her face. All his dreadful time spent wearing the mask of ‘Kenji’ was worth it for this exact moment.

"Goodbye, Mika. Thanks for being so naive!"

As the light left her eyes, he took a deep breath, savoring the moment as much as he could before it ended. It was absolutely… Divine. Yeah, that seemed like the appropriate word.

His fellow artist had finally offered a name: Sai. It was nice to be on a first name basis. A few stragglers were alive, but his new friend didn’t seem worried about them. They’d probably die regardless, and if they didn’t, Daisuke would be leaving town soon anyway. As they made their way to the kitchen, the boy closed his senses. He was already starting to feel jittery, and he figured that if Sai wanted to do something, he would have already.

"I know where they keep most of the vegetables. There’s some meat, but we’d have to cure it. I don’t think we really have time for that. I’m pretty sure he kept some waterskins around here somewhere."

Daisuke made his way to the storage and grabbed a couple of burlap sacks to store food in. It wasn’t ideal, but they couldn’t really afford to be picky. After loading one up with some potatoes, he set out to look for the waterskins.

"Forgive me for my ignorance, but who is this ‘Yalda’? It’s not a god I’m familiar with, but if what happened out there was worshiping them, I’d very much like to know more."

He had no idea what the hell happened earlier, but it was fascinating. How did it work? Could something like that be spread on an even bigger scale? Just who was this ‘Yalda’, or Sai for that matter? Regardless, the boy was happy to have found someone like him. Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to let his guard down, but at the very least, he’d follow along until he got his answers.

[Niro]

Sai pushed through the double doors leading to the kitchen and storage areas with Daisuke hot on his heels. He gave a nod at the suggestion of loading up on vegetables but wasn't too concerned with the meat spoiling. If anything, he'd seal it within a scroll and they wouldn't even have to worry about the weight of it. He figured leaving out his ability to use other ninjutsu would be best for now and stuffed a sack full of supplies, anything and everything he could get his hands on.

When the other youth asked who Yalda was, Sai was almost entranced as he thought back to the visions he had been granted by the apostle of Yalda he had first encountered in the outskirts of Water Country. The great serpentine being he had been shown and spoken to by was gargantuan; the hide covering it seemed to shimmer in the low light but as Sai got a good look at it he saw a sea of hands reaching out and grasping at a freedom that would never come from the body made up of the biomass of millions if not billions of souls. It's mouth reminded him of a venus fly trap as it split into four sections lined with serrated teeth to reveal a grossly human-like set of teeth set farther back in the mouth. A deep, suffocating voice boomed from its form and Sai came back to the present.

"Yalda is the God of flesh and sin of man, of many becoming one. He was cast down millennia ago by His enemies and split into the tiniest grains to spread spread across the land so He could not reform. I hope to one day revive his true form through sacrifices just like the one here. It may take all my life but to see Yalda rise would grant me eternal life alongside him." Sai continued to stuff whatever food stuffs he could find into the now bulging sack until finally the doors to the front creaked open and a piercing scream echoed through the air. Sai dashed for the back door and into the heavy rain as thunder and lightning cracked overhead.

[ThatGuy]

Daisuke listened intently to Sai’s description of Yalda. He wasn’t sure about this "many becoming one" business, but otherwise, Yalda sounded like something he could get behind. He’d always been fascinated by the concept of "sin". Who could really say what was right and what was wrong? It seemed that at some point, people got together and decided that weakness was admirable. Why? Regardless, Daisuke was happy for the strange social norm because it made it so much easier to manipulate people.

“Fascinating. So is that what you put in the ale? Pieces of Yalda? The idea of a deity being real is definitely hard to believe, but after seeing what happened in there, you can say I’ve seen the light.”

As outlandish as it might have seemed, Daisuke considered the possibility that he had witnessed the flesh of a god transform people into monsters. It was the only scene that had ever come close to the beauty of the fire that killed his former team. If he stuck alongside Sai, then maybe he’d be able to see even greater things. The young man’s burn scars started to tingle with anticipation just thinking about it. A scream from the entrance snapped Daisuke back to reality. Without hesitating, he followed Sai out of the back door and into the storm.

“There are two towns close by that we can head to next. One is about two days' travel northeast, and the other is roughly three days’ travel west. I don’t know what your plans are, but I’d love to see some more of Yalda’s work. Are you able to spread his influence on a larger scale? Like a well, for example.”

Daisuke smiled as he imagined a widespread transformation as the town was overrun with monsters. It didn’t get more chaotic than that. It was obviously risky and would put a target on their back, but true art was worth dying for. Daisuke was overly eager to see more of what Yalda could do. He had never imagined he’d meet such a fun individual after leaving the village!

[Niro]

The two missing ninja dashed through the downpour and between cracks of thunder and lightning, Sai tried his best to educate his new junior. He understood as a new member of the church, he would have plenty of questions and Sai preferred an inquisitive student rather than a lazy one. To find someone interested and potentially useful so soon after leaving Kirigakure? He was in luck!

"The Blessing Yalda has bestowed upon me allows me to take my flesh and imbue it within the air or another medium like water or ale to infect others with it and influence them with the Blessing. I infected the ale before it was served; it was over for them before it even began. By the time the second round was served, my spores were already deep within their digestive tracts ready to sprout at a moment's notice." Sai explained as he hid behind a tree away from the light of the oil lanterns acting as street lights here and there. A gaggle of townspeople ran by and it wasn't hard to overhear them mention something happening at the local inn. The news had already spread and the town was on alert. It would be best for them to leave now lest the risk getting caught or even worse, a shinobi from one of the villages sent for to deal with them.

"I could do it on a well or lake but the more diluted it becomes, the longer the spores take to infect people and the risk of getting caught rises. We'll head to the town to the west, the farther we get from here the better. The last thing we want is a curious shinobi showing up and sticking their nose in our business. Come, let's be off." Sai finished as the last of the crowd turned a corner down the street out of eyesight. He resumed his escape from the village with Dai in tow, this time he direction set towards the west, or what he thought was west, rather than the directionless flight from before.

[ThatGuy]

Daisuke listened to his new friend intently, and with a smile on his face, he followed them. They would head west before continuing their spree of chaos. It was the start of a beautiful friendship. No matter how much the young man tried, he’d never have been able to produce something as beautiful as Sai did in that tavern. Together, they would do great things. But that didn’t mean he was going to let his guard down yet. Especially considering that his new friend could easily infect him with “Yalda’s Gift” at any point. That just made everything more exciting!

“I can easily come up with a cover in the next town. There’s always at least one gullible idiot I can get a house from.”

With that, the two disappeared into the night, ready to hold Yalda’s sermon in another town. Daisuke wasn’t completely sold on the whole religion, but he’d gladly bring it to the unsuspecting fools. Whether they accepted Yalda or not, however, the church would soon be in session.