[closed] When a boy becomes... 'something'

[TyDie]

It had been a day's boat ride from the island by the time Amaya was finally stable. With a bit of threat and some false promises of putting in a good word with the Muramasa, Ryu kept the slave Kouta around, and those two plus the boating crew had enough supplies and such to get Amaya stable after much struggle. They had no medic, so it was a bit of a stretch, but at least she wasn't bleeding anymore. The two men had taken shifts to keep the girl calm, and now she was at least stable enough to take a small walk on the deck when she wanted to.

Which was where Ryu was right now, hanging out on deck, his stomach growling intensely. Ever since he got back on the ship he couldn't help but feel hungry, like he hadn't eaten in days, and yet all of the food on the boat tasted like shit. He doubled over and held his stomach in pain as he thought desperately of anything on the boat that sounded good to eat. This is how Amaya would find him, with Kouta escorting her of course.

[Willoria]

Amaya sat down in the quarters she shared with her brother, and now with Kouta as well. Her brother had finally relented and let her have the window for the return trip home, if only because it gave her something to do seeing as she was badly hurt and couldn't wander the ship much. Kouta and Ryu were taking turns watching over her, and already she was starting to grow attached to the slave. He had proven himself far more courageous than Amaya thought possible, not to mention oddly kind and caring towards two people who would now be considered his new owners. "I wish we could have saved more of them honestly." Amaya found herself remarking quietly. "I mean, I'm not naive, I know of slaves but this is the first time I've seen someone working them quite literally to death..." Amaya shook her head and glanced over at the seat her brother should have been in.

"Let's go check on Ryu. I need a little walk anyway." she remarked, allowing Kouta to help her up and even help her up the stairs to the top deck. As they finally came in view of her brother she noticed he was doubled over as if in pain and the girl frowned. "Ryu? What's wrong?"

[TyDie]

Kouta let out a small sigh as the girl mentioned wanting to save more of the slaves on the island. "Yeah... But the good news is Takeda won't try to force them down into that mine without confirmation of the creature's death, especially now that we know the creature is real. They'll have time to recuperate. It's not freedom, but it's something." He helped her to her feet as he spoke, leading her up the steps to the deck just in time to notice Ryu doubled over. Ryu, noticing his sister and Kouta as she spoke, shook his head and turned his back to the two so that he could look out to sea.

"I'm fucking starving... Feels like I haven't eaten in weeks. But every time I try to eat something on the ship, I feel like i'm gonna puke. I don't know what's wrong with me... It's not seasickness, I don't get seasick. But god damn, even Kouta looks like food right now." Kouta smirked at the boy, thinking it a joke, even though honestly Ryu wasn't joking. "Careful, this body's been through hell. The meat's probably tougher than a rock." He chuckled at his sarcasm, but Ryu clearly didn't find it funny. A loud growl, loud enough that Amaya heard it from a distance, sounded out from his belly. And deep in Ryu's mind, he could swear he heard a voice that wasn't his own.

...ood. ...ood. ...Food.

[Willoria]

Amaya had her arms wrapped around one of Kouta's as they spoke to her brother. It was both to help her stay on her feet and also a comfort, given how close the man had already gotten to the twins. She watched her brother make his 'joke', and cringed as she felt Kouta laugh. She knew her brother wasn't joking and it was making the wheels of her mind turn. "This started right after that creature dragged you off." she muttered to herself, blinking as she thought it over. She remembered the creature vividly, pulling itself back together, no mouth, no nothing. How did it survive? How did it grind men to bones?

And where did it disappear to?

Amaya swallowed hard as she released Kouta's arm and stuck a hand under her own bandage. She hated the feel of it, her thumb sliding against the wound and pulling her hand out with that warm dampness. She reached out to her brother and smeared her blood under his nose and down his lips before taking a step back, and pulling Kouta back to keep him behind her.

She watched, and she waited.

[TyDie]

Ryu turned to face his sister as he heard her approach, but the last thing he was expecting was for her to smear blood on him. At first he recoiled, a small gag coming from his face... But then his nose started to twitch, the smell of blood filling his nostrils. He couldn't help himself as his mouth began to water, a clear line of drool leaking down his chin. His eyes flitted over to Amaya again, and for a moment she would see them twitch in anticipation as horrible, gory thoughts ran through Ryu's brain... What the hell was going on?

"Food... Amaya... Food..."

That voice again, was he losing his mind? Images of blood trailing down his chin filled his mind and the overwhelming urge to lash out against his own sister grew stronger with each passing second. His eyes twitched again, and again, his breathing intensified, and something wriggled under his skin... That feeling was enough to clue Ryu in on what was going on; that fucking thing was inside of him. "Get back Amaya!" As he spoke, his own hand shot out towards his sister, stopping only inches from her throat as he grabbed his own wrist with his other hand. He recoiled from his sister as the internal battle of wills began, Ryu flopping around the deck as he tried desperately to keep himself from hurting someone.

Eventually the struggle lead him over the side of the boat with a splash.

[Willoria]

Amaya didn't step too much further back, knowing it would leave Kouta in the path of her brother and the thing that was clearly inside of him. Her hand remained on the hilt of her Khyber blade for the entire struggle her brother held against himself, tears beginning to fill her eyes as she watched what was happening. 'What am I supposed to do?! I can't let that thing survive... does that mean I have to kill my own brother? Or can we separate it from Ryu somehow?' as she had her own internal squabble she heard the splash and realized her brother had gone overboard.

Amaya rushed to the side of the boat and looked over, her hands on the railing as she looked down. "Ryu!" She swallowed hard, sparing a glance at Kouta. "That's why we couldn't find it... its in him..." she said, swallowing hard and shaking her head. "There's gotta be someone back at the village that can separate it from him..." she turned her eyes back to the water, silently hoping she'd see her brother emerge soon or else, wound or no wound, she knew she'd be jumping in after him.

[TyDie]

Several moments would go by without Ryu resurfacing, and the crew was involved now after hearing the struggle and splash. Everyone was looking over the deck to see what the hell was going on, and Kouta could scarcely believe what he was seeing. "Every time I think I've got this shit figured out... What now?" Several more moments passed, over a minute, but if Amaya tried to dive in after her brother Kouta would reach out to stop her. "Your brother would kill me if I let you do that Amaya, don't!" Finally the sound of water rushing could be heard, and Ryu had resurfaced with something in his mouth... something wiggling.

With a rush he jumped out of the water, solidifying chakra under his feet for a moment to push himself up on to the deck, and upon closer inspection the thing in his mouth was a fish. He had caught a fish, still alive, and a moment later he grabbed the fish with one hand and tore it's flesh away with his teeth, gulping down the raw meat with feverish speed. It was as if it was his first meal in a month, the way he tore the thing apart, even one of the sailor became ill at the sight. When it was all done, Ryu staggered backwards as blood fell down his face... The creature had stopped for the time being it seemed, it's hunger sated. "...What the fuck is going on?"

The boy collapsed onto his butt, leaning against the railing of the ship as he looked down at his own outstretched feet. "Heh... It's a start. Want more." Ryu clutched his head as the voice sounded out again. "Oh god, it's talking in my mind. Get it out!"

[Willoria]

It wasn't all that shocking that Amaya would try to jump in after her brother. When Kouta stopped her she wanted to slap him, but she also knew he was right. Not to mention if this was going to end in her brother's death being necessary, better this way than her being forced to do it herself. Regardless of the dark places her mind went, she was all too relieved when he came back up on the deck. She saw the way the crew started to freak out when he ate the fish, but what he shouted after was making it all the worse. "Kouta. Help me get him below deck. Now." She was practically snarling as she spoke, moving to one side of her brother to lift him up under his arms and pull him along if necessary.

She didn't care that it brought pain ripping through her side, or that she had likely popped a stitch or two with everything that was going on. She needed to get him away from the crew immediately, and the only way to do that was to get him below deck. With Kouta's help she got him down below, locking their door behind them as she got him into their quarters. She knelt in front of him and reached out, touching both sides of his face to try and force him to look at her. "Ryu, we'll get you help at the mainland." she tried to assure him. "We'll go straight to Hideki for this, alright? You know he can help. Breathe..." It was probably the craziest thing she had ever witnessed first hand, and it scared the absolute shit out of the girl. But she wasn't willing to let her brother see that.

[TyDie]

Ryu was clearly freaking out, which was very uncharacteristic for the young swordsman, but what was one to do when a parasite of this magnitude took residence in your body and controlled it against your will? Parasite? No. The creature was learning with surprising swiftness, apparently realizing what a parasite was, not that that comforted Ryu in the slightest. Kouta and Amaya brought him below deck, and as they did his nose got to sniffing again as he smelled Amaya's fresh blood, no doubt from her popping a stitch. Food.

"No! Not Food! Shut up!" A moment later, the voice called out in his mind again. Amaya. Not Food? Ryu froze a second as he was sat down in their small room, Amaya trying to calm Ryu down. "Amaya... I think this thing is learning. No, Amaya is not food. Amaya is family." "Amaya... Not Food. Amaya... Family." This time, everyone in the room would hear the gurgling voice of the creature as it attempted to mimic human speech. A moment later, the amorphous, fluid-like body of the creature would emerge from Ryu's stomach, the appearance of some sort of face being visible this time. It's eyes were large white spots on it's elongated head, and it's rows of teeth were razor sharp.

"Amaya... Ryu... Twins..." They hadn't even said the word twins yet... the thing was inside his mind, and learning quicker and quicker by the second. "Amaya is not food. Amaya and Ryu are Twins. Family."

[Willoria]

Amaya's brows furrowed as she tried to calm her brother, and heard him talking to the thing. The entire situation was creepy, and of course it only got worse. As the thing jutted out of her brother's belly, Amaya screamed and threw herself backwards, scrambling to keep distance from the thing. 'So much for keeping Ryu from seeing how freaked this thing has me...' she thought to herself, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes met her brother's, her panic nearly as clear as his at this point as she tried to understand what was happening.

She looked at the thing jutting out of her brother again and a thought came to her. "Kouta." she said to it, clearing her throat. "Kouta is not food either... he's.... he's a friend." she told it, swallowing hard as she glanced at Kouta himself. She knew the poor man had, just a day before, seen chakra as strange magic and now suddenly he was seeing something even Amaya wasn't familiar with. She knew he had to be even more upset by it all than Ryu and Amaya themselves were.

[TyDie]

Kouta was easily just as freaked out as Amaya, but somehow Ryu wasn't too freaked out anymore. If anything, the fact that this thing could actually communicate was a comfort, at least he knew he could maybe discuss it calming the fuck down. "Yes... He's a friend. Don't eat Kouta." "Kouta is not food... Friend..." The creature parroted Ryu's words as it looked at Kouta, then at Amaya, realizing it wasn't supposed to eat them. "So... what do we eat?" Finally it asked a question, and Ryu raised an eyebrow as it clearly only had food on the mind.

"We... are hungry. We need food. Meat. Fresh." Ryu looked to the other two in desperation, not really knowing what the hell to do at this point. "Uh... Kouta, go see if the boat has fishing line. Catch fish, a lot of fish." His own stomach was beginning to churn again, clearly he was still hungry himself... or were they both hungry? God, this was by far the strangest thing he had witnessed, but if food kept the damn thing happy he'd eat a hundred raw fish. "What in the hell is this thing... I'm so lost..." The weird looking head turned to gaze at Ryu itself, the face coming within inches of Ryu's own face and making a sort of sniff sound.

"We... not I." the creature... corrected him? It knew the difference? "You are not 'I' anymore. You and I are 'we' now. We are...hm. We are not Ryu, or Amaya, or Kouta. We have no name." The speed with which the thing was learning was unheard of, it went from single guttural words to understanding basic speech, to constructing full sentences and understanding the meaning of the words it spoke. And from what it was saying... it had no intention of leaving Ryu's body.

[Willoria]

Amaya was in a corner opposite her brother as she heard Kouta leave to find the fish her brother needed, and the girl simply stared at her brother and this thing that was now within him. She was having trouble processing it, and suddenly found herself wondering if her father had had such a hard time with the Kessenchu. Her grandmother had told her about them, about the Queen, the way it spoke to her father in his head and the way he sometimes felt as if he was going mad. The tears that had been gathering in her eyes now spilled, running twin lines down her face though she didn't sob or make a sound. "No." she said quietly, shaking her head as she finally stood, glaring down at the creature.

"When we get back to Kiri we are going to find a way to get this thing out of you, Ryu. We are going to destroy it." She was adamant, but also panicked. She had no idea what the future held for her brother with something like this attached to him. By time their father struggled with the Kessenchu he was a Jounin who had proven his worth and his stability. Her brother was a genin like her, he had much to prove, and she knew if someone suspected him of weakness or insanity it could mean his death. "You are NOT staying!" she told the monster.

[TyDie]

Ryu was clearly in agreement with his sister; he wanted nothing to do with this thing inside of him. The creature, however, didn't like the sound of what Amaya was saying. And suddenly, Ryu doubled over in agonizing pain on the bed, thrashing violently as cries burst from his mouth. "Then we'll kill him now." It said matter of factly, emitting what could only be described as some sort of attempt at laughter. "I like it when he squirms..." Before long Ryu couldn't even make sound, suffering in silent horror as the pain radiated through his body... and then it stopped, just as suddenly as it came on.

"Misery... That is the thought in your mind. You were... in Misery... 'Hisan'... We are Hisan." The creature returned within Ryu's body for a moment, but then that amorphous shape began to grow all around Ryu's body, enshrouding every inch of him within itself. When it was done, 'Ryu' was covered by a red and black 'suit' of Hisan's flesh, and it's strange, fanged face took the place of Ryu's. "We... could work together you know. your body is nice... roomy... comfortable. We like it. Much better than the others. We don't do well alone... A host like you works best. Ryu... You can die. Or we can be one. Those are the choices."

The creature returned within his body all at once again, leaving Ryu as himself, though clearly stunned and afraid. "... Why did we go on this mission?" It was a rare moment of weakness for the young swordsman, but he was a child after all. It wasn't long before tears of his own welled within his eyes ad uncertainty for his future gripped him.

[Willoria]

"No!" Amaya shrieked, rushing to her brother as he seized into this fit caused by the creature. She pulled him onto her lap and held onto him for dear life. "Hang on, Ryu." she whispered, over and over again as tears ran down her face. When the creature took over her brother's appearance she scrambled backwards. She didn't say a word to it, just watched in silent horror as it spoke through her brother's body. An obvious relief began to wash over her when he receded and her brother was left where he should be. She moved to his side again, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his neck. "We never should have gone." she whispered in return, just as a thought came to her.

"Hisan... take me instead." she said suddenly, releasing her brother and looking at him a moment, an expression on her face that he had probably never seen before. "We're twins... identical... you could be just as comfortable in my body as his. We can learn to command blood itself, I could feed you better! I have all my mother's notes on Chiton, it's a better match!" Her voice may have sounded excited as she spoke, but her eyes were hollow. Her own offer horrified her, but in this moment it was the only thing she could think of to try and save her brother.

[TyDie]

Ryu was normally not one to reciprocate affection, but in a moment like this, he couldn't help himself as he embraced his sister and the two silently cried together. But his eyes almost bugged out of his head as she made her offer to the creature inside her. "What the hell are you saying, Amaya? I'll die before I let this thing get you!" The creature within Ryu had it's own opinion on the matter though, and after hearing what she had said about this 'chiton' and blood control, it once more emerged from the boy's stomach with the same strange appearance as before, eyeing Amaya up and down in curiosity. "No. We feed on more than just flesh and bone. We... feed on 'chakra'. If you use it for this 'chiton', we don't get to eat it. No... This boy works best. He fights with his body, so we get his spirit."

So that's what it was about; Ryu was a taijutsu fighter through and through, he hardly used chakra, while Amaya used both nin and genjutsu. To Hisan, that meant less food. It seemed the creature was content with it's choice to take Ryu instead of Amaya, a small chuckle erupting from it's mouth. "You two act like this is such a problem... When it could be so much more useful. Or did you not realize that you have no wounds, Ryu?" Ryu paused a moment before looking himself over, realizing that while his clothing was ripped and torn, he didn't have a single cut or tear on his body. "Heh... You're welcome. It wouldn't do us any good if you bled out, would it?"

[Willoria]

"I have to do something!" she hissed at her brother. "I can't leave you like this!" She was almost begging and pleading at this point, doing what little she could to save her brother, at least until the creature in him made clear that it wasn't an option. The girl shook her head vehemently. "No. It means I'll have a larger chakra pool than he'll ever have! You'll have more to feed off of with me, Hisan!" She buried her head in her hands, hardly able to look at the creature. 'If it takes his chakra, it could weaken him. It could actually damage his ability with a sword in the future, I can't let this happen! That is his legacy from our father!'

"You can't do this to him!" she whimpered, finding herself wishing over and over again that the pair had never gone on this mission in the first place.

[TyDie]

The creature merely shook it's head at Amaya's cries, and would roll it's eyes if it could. "No. This one is most compatible. This one is the host. But don't be afraid; we want him alive and well. We will not cripple him... as long as you don't try to kill us." With that, the creature was clearly done speaking for now, and quickly returned within Ryu's body, leaving the two alone again. "... Now what? I'm just supposed to be okay with this?" Maybe not now... but you will be. One day. Ryu finally looked up to his sister and rose from the bed, moving towards her to help her. "You still need to rest, you popped stitches Amaya."

As he was trying to get her back into the bed, Kouta finally returned with a few fish that he had caught from the sea. Once Amaya was comfortable in bed, Ryu would walk past Kouta, snatching all of the fish from him as he walked away to satiate his hunger. Meanwhile, Kouta was now left with the young Kazuki girl, and went to work immediately to try and staunch her bleeding again. "I think this goes without saying, But I wasn't prepared for this... What happens now?"

[Willoria]

Amaya sniffled as Ryu helped her back into the bed, careful to keep her laying on her uninjured side. It was clear she had definitely popped stitches in all the chaos, blood starting to soak through her bandage. She had been so upset that honestly she hadn't even felt it. "I don't care about that, I need to find out a way to help you." she told her brother, watching him sadly as he left the room with the fish Kouta had caught. She sighed to herself and shifted her clothing so that Kouta could undo the bandages and work on replacing them.

"None of us were prepared for this, Kouta. So honestly I have no idea what happens next really." she said quietly, sighing. She looked at the man a moment, their new slave, and sighed once more. "I should probably prepare you for when we arrive though. Slave life in Kiri will be very different than at the mine..." she began to explain. "If you offend someone they could demand your death. I've read my mother's journals, including entries from when she was a slave... it might be good for you to read them too. I mean, her situation was unique but it might still help. I can assure you though, with Ryu and I, you won't face half the shit that others do." she reached over and touched one of Kouta's hands, giving it a light squeeze. "Very few people in the village feel the way we do, that slaves are people doing the jobs life assigned them. We'll never treat you poorly, but there are going to be times when we may give you an order you don't like or don't understand. I just ask that you trust us in those moments, and know we'll explain when we can."

Amaya knew that when around others someone might give Kouta an order he wasn't comfortable with, and the twins might intercede when they could. But slave life was unpredictable, especially within Kiri.

[TyDie]

Kouta merely nodded in understanding as he went to work on Amaya's wound, removing the old bandages so that he could restitch the wound itself and reapply fresh gauze. All the while Amaya spoke, hardly phased by the slave working to keep her wounds closed. Eventually he responded to her, while passing a needle through her to fix her stitches. "Right, I gotta imagine being in the village where ninja come from is gonna be a lot different than mining my life away. Don't worry, i'll keep my mouth shut in public... Last I need is another Takeda calling for my head on a stick." Kouta chuckled to himself as he took a pair of scissors and cut the stitches, which were now nice and tight to keep her wounds shut.

As he covered her with gauze, he let out a small sigh, realizing that he truly had no idea what lay ahead of him. Now he was under the ownership of two kids who admittedly treated him better than Takeda, but now the boy was infected with some kind of parasite and the girl was telling him that his words could easily get him killed in Kiri. "Man, I sure know how to get involved in the crazy stuff, don't I?"

[Willoria]

Amaya snorted at Kouta's last comment, wincing at the pain that came with it. Once he was done stitching her back up she pulled her clothes back down over the wound and sighed, turning to keep her eyes fixed on Kouta. "Oh just wait, my grandmother works with Iijutsu. Healing techniques. You'll think she's downright magic. She'll be able to put her hand over this wound for a few minutes or less and it'll be healed completely. She's amazing with all of it." she told him, smiling a bit as she tried her best to reassure him. "Honestly I think the hardest part for you will just be seeing how weirdly normal Ryu and I are compared to the others. We're just kids, barely starting out as shinobi. There's a lot more out there."

She shifted in the bed a bit, moving back so there was enough room for Kouta to sit with her if he wanted to, rather than sitting on the floor. "Honestly the weirdest part might just be getting grandma and grandpa to realize that you're our slave, rather than theirs. They have a few of their own, but I'm glad you were able to come with us. You deserve a more comfortable life than a mine. When Ryu and I move out, we'll make sure you have your own room, everything." she didn't say it, but part of her was already growing to like the simple fact that he helped look after her and take care of her. It'd been so long since she'd had a true parent after all.

[TyDie]

Kouta smiled as he finished his work, standing from the bed while he helped the girl get comfortable. "heh... my own room huh? Never had that before. Maybe it'll be worth putting up with all the prim and proper nobles for that. Plus, I mean, being owned by a couple of kids isn't so bad." He gave the girl a sly grin before moving towards the door, about to go search for Ryu. However, Ryu found Kouta first, and came back into the room, his face dripping with water after having clearly washed it. Who knew what it was covered with before...

"Alright... I think i'm good for now. But this is going to be a long trip... I guess we should keep lines out the whole time, huh Kouta?" Ryu grinned at Kouta a moment, and Kouta gave a nod before walking off to ensure that the lines were cast out. Meanwhile, Ryu returned to his sister's side, sitting in a chair next to the bed. "We came to an agreement... The creature isn't parasitic. It's symbiotic. It promises that I can benefit from it, as it can from me. I don't have much of a choice for now, but at the least... I will try to make the best of this situation. Don't worry Amaya, I've got this under control."

As he smiled at his sister, he knew full well that it was a bold faced lie. He wanted this thing dead, he wanted to watch it writhe as he burned it to a crisp or slashed it to a billion pieces. But that just wasn't possible without taking his own life... for now, he'd have no choice but to play along.

[Willoria]

Amaya frowned as she watched Kouta go to set more lines for her brother's new 'roommate'. Though the thought of the creature as a roommate actually gave her a small snort. Her brother sat with her and she reached out a hand for his, giving it a light squeeze though she was frowning. "We'll figure it out, Ryu." she said quietly, not entirely believing him when he spoke of having some kind of arrangement with the thing and having it under control. She chose to drop the subject for now however, sparing a glance at the door before looking at her brother. "I think Kouta is going to be a lot of help though, he's good to have around." she told her brother, still holding his hand in hers.

"Maybe we should see about our own place soon now that he's with us. We could give him what he hasn't had before, his own room. He might be a slave but he's an adult, he could be given permission to be a caretaker for us so we don't have to live with grandma and grandpa until we're of age..." she paused though, as she came to another realization. "Plus this thing... I don't know if they're ready for this." She sighed quietly, not particularly listening for her brother's responses as she finally lay her head down to fall into an uneasy sleep, still holding her brother's hand.