Nascence

Kao, Valk

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Valkier
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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:30 pm

A terrible, hair-raising scream echoed through the hallways and chambers far beneath Iwagakure, filled with a raw, primal, and otherworldly plea. It was the desperate, bone-chilling scream of a caged beast, of a scared girl, and of two tormented souls beyond all hope of salvation. The overlapping, blending cries of woman and Genma both drowned out all else, filling the air with an intense pressure and reverberating farther and farther through the stone. In its wake followed other yells and shouts, quieter but no less desperate.

“—’s gone! This is it!”
“—can’t keep this up fo—longer!”
“Keep it contai—! More, mo—power! Focus!”
“—need anoth—sealing team!”


A young man burst out from a doorway and into a dim corridor. A piercing golden light shone through the door after him, along with an array of tendril-like shadows, before he managed to slam it closed again. He paused only to take a fistful of the jacket belonging to one of the guards outside the room before taking off at a run, hauling the other man along with him.
Lines of sweat had cut through the grime on his face, and he wore a mask of fear. “I—hah—need to find—Komiya—Shizuo—hah. Wh—Where?!” he panted, missing a step and staggering as they turned a corner. “There’s… no time… council too slow to choose…” He stopped, bending double at the top of a steep flight of stairs and sucking in air. “Go to the kage’s office. I’ll go to his home. Find Shizuo! Tell him—hah—tell him we need a new vessel, now! Or else…” The two men met eyes, and the guard nodded. He didn’t need to hear the end of that sentence to send him running.

Elsewhere in Iwagakure—above ground and in stark contrast to the unfolding disaster below—a group of young ninja lounged and laughed in the sun, seemingly carefree and happy. Hachiya Kotori, a recent academy graduate, sat on the top of a picnic bench and swung her legs idly while her former classmates—now comrades in arms—joked about another group of students. Their chosen hangout spot was a popular one, situated on a rise that overlooked the ninja academy and one of its fenced-in training areas. Only a short time ago, Kotori and her friends were on the other side of that fence, looking up at the older, qualified shinobi who’d sit where she was now, showing off their flashy ninjutsu and sparring to the admiration of the younger kids below. But now? It all seemed a bit pointless to her. Whether they were a few months apart or five years their junior, the kids she watched running around the academy on this afternoon today all looked just like that—like kids, young, untrained, and innocent.

“Look at them!” That was Joichiro, always the rowdiest of their little group. “They couldn’t fight their way out of the sand pit!” He laughed, louder than necessary.

“Yeah, like you were any better!” Nobuki shot back without missing a beat. The two friends fought like siblings. Nobuki leaned in towards Joichiro and bore his teeth in a rictus of a mocking grin, then laughed and jumped back as Joichiro took a half-hearted swing at him. Kotori couldn’t help but smile as Joichiro repeated the strange grin back towards her, emphasising the gap where he was missing a tooth; she’d knocked it out during her first week in the academy, despite being only half the boy’s size. She’d only meant to send a pre-emptive message to her peers to leave her alone, but she’d somehow ended up making friends from the whole encounter. Some show of dominance that’d turned out to be.

The boys turned back to watch the academy and soon began a mocking re-enactment of some of the students, with exaggeratedly bad taijutsu, but Kotori quickly grew bored. She stared upwards at the sky, followed a lazy cloud with her eyes for awhile, and sighed.
“Hey. Shouldn’t we, I dunno, go train or something?” Their scuffle stopped, and when she looked back towards them the pair were both standing watching her. “What?” She stared right back, unflinching. “We’re Genin now. We gotta be prepared for real missions. Life and death stuff, right?” Another pause, then the two boys looked at one another and shrugged.
“I guess.”
“She’s right, huh. We gotta get to work. You’ll never get picked for a squad if we don’t toughen you u—ah!” This time Joichiro’s punch landed, and the two devolved into another fight, complete with snarling and shirt-pulling. Kotori only rolled her eyes. There had to be something more productive they could be doing rather than sitting around lording over the academy kids…
Last edited by Valkier on Sun May 22, 2022 5:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Kao
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Nascence

Post by Kao » Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:31 am

For weeks, Shizuo had been preparing for the worst. At first the signs that Kiyoshi and the Ukiyogenma were incompatible were slight. Subtle. An outburst here, a migraine there. As time passed, the symptoms became more serious and frequent and eventually it became impossible to treat them as isolated incidents. He and several other jounin had kept an eye on her when she traveled to Steam Country, and tensions ran high when she encountered the nine other jinchuuriki in a fortuitous meeting on a rooftop. It was clear that she was different from the others: fragile where they were mighty, unsure where there were confident. Not least of all, they showed stability and a certain harmony with the legendary beasts that Kiyoshi sorely lacked.

They were evidently short on time. Iwagakure's dismal history with jinchuuriki led the village leaders to keep a short list of potential hosts available and up to date at all times. Shizuo had it memorized, though he had prayed Kiyoshi and the Ukiyogenma would somehow, someday, miraculously coalesce on every level. He was fond of the girl, and the last thing he wanted was for her to fail as a jinchuuriki. But the events in Steam Country seemed to seal the girl's fate, and as soon as he returned to the village he had began to steel himself for the inevitable.

His worst fears came to fruition on an otherwise quiet day.

"Shizuo! There he is - move!"

The jounin was only a block away from his home after a trip to the market when an shinobi twice his size nearly tackled him. The man grabbed his shoulders, and in his shock Shizuo nearly dropped the heavy bag of meat and vegetables he carried in each hand. Breathlessly the man continued, "Sir - hah - it's the jinchuuriki - hah - Kiyoshi! She's finally - it's time!" Shizuo's eyes widened. It was happening. His face lost what little color he had in his cheeks, and with a worried edge to his voice he demanded, "You're sure?" When the other man confirmed with a nod, Shizuo shoved his groceries into the man's hands. "Drop this off on my porch - do it! - then fetch my team. Daichi, Kiyoko, all of them!"

Shizuo dashed in the other direction with one name in mind: Hachiya Kotori.

Every precious minute that ticked by brought the village closer to disaster. Iwagakure's elderly could still recall in terrifying detail the day a genma broke free of its seal and wreaked widespread havoc, flattening nearly a fourth of the village that sat above ground. Every shinobi who had dealings with spirits and jinchuurki vowed to never allow such a thing to happen again. Now, on the precipice of catastrophe, it was up to a small group of people to uphold that oath and to keep thousands of people safe. At the center of the group, unbeknownst to her, was a young kunochi with ashen-white hair who had barely begun her shinobi career. There was no time to debrief her, no time to ease her into the role. They would present to this child an impossible choice, and upon her shoulders they would place the future of Iwagakure no Sato.

Just as Kotori's friends began their wrestling match, Shizuo appeared before them seemingly from thin air. Flanking him were two cloaked jounin, their faces hidden behind masks. Less than half an hour had passed since he was alerted, and it had been just enough time for the man to locate Kotori and find two handlers to accompany him in case there was any resistance. Shizuo's face was uncharacteristically stern, and when he met Kotori's eyes his gaze was akin to a scientist observing a specimen through a microscope. He stared in silence for a moment, willing himself to not falter, and after unclenching his jaw he said with practiced detachment, "Hachiya Kotori. I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."
Kao's CharactersShow
Akari KotaruBanninIwagakure no Sato Team 18 Jousai [color=#1fb8a3]
Komiya ShizuoJounin Iwagakure no Sato [color=#209DD3]
Yanagida Yukino Special Jounin Iwagakure no Sato [color=#a07ac2]
Ishiwara SetsunaChuunin Iwagakure no Sato[color=#E81D1D]
Enkouten Mai Jounin Iwagakure no Sato [color=#CE5412]
Aisu Namie Chuunin Kirigakure no Sato [color=#5bc2d4]
Awai FusaeA-Rank MNKonohagakure no Sato[color=#D95FEA]
Important NPCsShow
Akari Kanehara Akari clan elder [color=#80A0FF]
Sakata KannaIwagakure Councilwoman [color=#3DA43B]
Hazuki Shuran Jinchuuriki researcher [color=#E854C0]
Enkouten Kaizen Iwagakure councilman, clan leader [color=#C65871]
Rock Country Daimyo [color=#AC4A4A]

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Valkier
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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sat Apr 02, 2022 11:46 am

The three genin froze at the sudden appearance of Shizuo and his two companions. The boys, one with a handful of hair and the other mid-way through tripping his friend into a pile of mud, rapidly extricated themselves and gave sloppy salutes—but the three older ninja were already facing away, with eyes only for Kotori. She gaped at them, eyes wide as they loomed towards her. She scrambled to her feet and almost took a fighting stance, perched atop the picnic bench, before coming to her senses. Her eyes flicked across the three grown-ups warily and she took a step backwards; the two brutes on either side could probably break her like a twig. Just as she was deciding whether her size would give her enough of a speed advantage to slip away, the man in the middle addressed her. Seemed like he was their leader, despite his bookish looks.

Her unease softened as he called her out by name, and she finally began to think straight. As if I'd be able to get away! These are real ninja, not kids like us! The wariness gave way to curiosity.

"I'm her." She forced herself not to step backwards again, and projected her voice clearly. Behind the three men she could see her two friends share a worried glance, so she stood a little straighter and puffed out her chest. She could handle whatever this was. Perhaps someone had finally noticed her raw talent, and come to headhunt her for an elite team? Yeah, that was probably it. She waited for a moment longer, but nothing more seemed to be forthcoming.

"Well? Let's go, then. What's this about, anyway?" She hopped down from the bench and stepped closer to the white-haired man in the middle. Something about him looked... familiar? She tilted her head in thought, but then shrugged. She was certain she'd never met him before. She leaned to the side and peered over to Nobuki and Joichiro.
"You guys better head home. I'll see you tomorrow." She looked up and met the white-haired man's eyes. Damn, he was tall. She nodded to him. Her friends would almost surely try and follow, no matter what she told them, but at least this way they'd think she was in control of the situation and not get themselves into too much trouble for her sake.
Last edited by Valkier on Sun May 22, 2022 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Valkier
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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sun May 08, 2022 5:16 pm

Shizuo's two looming companions untensed a little once Kotori agreed to come along without a fuss. There hadn't been any time to brief about their quarry, and thus no way of knowing what to expect—even Shizuo's knowledge of the girl was scant enough: she was young, untested, and a relative newcomer to the village who'd been rushed through the academy on their wartime regimen. But they hadn't missed her hesitation, nor her initial gut reaction—a flight response, sizing them up and searching for an opportunity to get away. They waited only for Shizuo's nod before stepping forward, flanking the girl and ushering her to begin walking with them.

"No. Too slow. Come." One grunted from behind his mask, then reached down and grabbed a handful of Kotori's top, the thin fabric straining as she was hoisted bodily from her feet.

"Hey! Whaddaya— Get offa me!" She squirmed, batting ineffectually at the giant hand as the man tucked her easily under one arm, as if she were a sack of potatoes and not a qualified ninja. She tried to wriggle free before realising that the world around her had become a blur: the ground rose and fell beneath the feet of the two leaping jounin, wind tore at her face and hair, and when she yelled—insisting that she could run herself, that she'd already agreed to come with them anyway, and a brief suggestion about what the man holding her could go do with his mother—her voice was lost in the rush of air...

A second of the eight men kneeling in a circle around the bound Jinchuuriki collapsed, consciousness departed even before his form slumped to the floor, every shred of his focus and chakra spent. A third let loose with a gutteral yell, sweat pouring down his face as the increased burden fell across him and the other remaining gaolers. Where the hell was the relief team?! He stared unblinking at the wretched husk of the girl in their midst, tunnel-visioned to such an extent that the rest of the room was a blur. For a moment he thought he heard the door swinging open, before realising it was a whimpering coming from the comrade to his right.

"Just... a little... longer..." He wheezed. Another tendril, alien and grotesque, erupted from the Jinchuuriki as another ring of tenkujutsu seals around her quivered and broke. "...Just... keep... HOLDING!" The last word a desperate rallying cry to the others. It was their only hope to leave this place alive, and to spare the village another disaster.
OOCShow
Hey mods/graders, I learned the other day that Kao has unfortunately left the site for the time being, so in her absence and with no other interested storytellers, I'll just be continuing this solo from hereon.
Last edited by Valkier on Sun May 22, 2022 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sun May 15, 2022 2:47 pm

Kenitsuna Kiyoshi, Life incarnate, drifted on the eddies of a dead sea. She lay on her back, motionless, wide-eyed but unseeing, as the current pulled her first one way then another. Not so very long ago a quiet temple stood like a monolith atop the mountain now submerged somewhere beneath her, before the rising tides had claimed it along with everything else here in her inner world. She twitched once, neck twisting suddenly to one side as her other self—a husk of a body bound in a buried room somewhere in another realm—convulsed and broke under the stresses of a Genma unchained. Only the smallest fragment of Kiyoshi remained now, lost somewhere between the two realities. Aware of both, sometimes, but in control now of neither. That small part of her dreamt of the peace she'd once found in this place; it'd been her sanctuary, the mental escape in her heart and mind taught to her long ago by the erudite monks of the Tsuin Sangaku to bear the stresses of reality. And so when she'd found Nolosha, it was here that the confluence between herself and the Ukiyogenma was made manifest. But no longer. That connection was as dead as the rest of this world. Slowly she became aware of a screaming, a soul-piercing wail, and the dream began to crumble around her for perhaps the last time. She woke to pain.

Oh, mother of mercy above, the pain. Her vision was red when she opened her eyes, though whether from the blood dripping from her face or from the maroon hue of the bindings, she couldn't tell. Couldn't think clearly enough to care. She lay twisted, spine bent back and around into a horrendous and unnatural angle, and every motion sent wracking waves of agony through her body as if the blood in her veins was itself afire. She felt one of her arms thrash and its binding, a crimson chain of spiritual energy, shattered into mist. Her arm—no, she saw now it was the purple tendril of a Genma—broke free and in an instant tore through a man who knelt ten paces away. It pierced him without a hint of resistance and lifted him three meters into the air, then quivered, pulsing as it sucked the life from his body, before it split apart while inside him and diced the man into quarters. When the various parts of his body hit the floor they crumbled into dust.

A conflicting torrent of emotions hit her like a wall as she watched the dust scatter into the air. He did this to her! He deserved pain, deserved death! Sending him into oblivion was at once thrilling and satisfying, and the welling of power as his binding jutsu died was nothing short of euphoric... But this wasn't right. Kiyoshi's mouth stretched wide and her howls took on a sorrowful cast, lamenting the pain, the death, and the chaos. Even Nolosha, legendary phantom beast or no, did not abase herself to such impulses. She'd always been caring and protective of Kiyoshi and mankind... If only... If only they hadn't made her snap...

The sheer power of the genma, unbottled for the first time in centuries, overtook all other impulses as it rushed out of the girl-turned-monster in the centre of a thinning circle of shinobi. The power was ecstasy, a rush of pure energy demanding to be used. Kiyoshi-Nolosha dragged her head around to stare at a young woman to her left. Their eyes met, both just as afraid as the other. Then Kiyoshi's breath caught, and she blinked. When her eyes refocused the same young woman was replaced by an aging husk, her hair stretching and fading to white before her eyes before falling out entirely, and a moment later the corpse toppled backwards to the ground. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

But in the next moment two new figures stepped forward from the shadows and into the woman's place, bodies alight with maroon energy. Kiyoshi dragged her head around inch by torturous inch, watching with a mixture of despair and relief as the chamber began swarming with newcomers. Help, arriving at the eleventh hour, relieved the few remaining members of the original Jinchuuriki containment team, doubling then quadrupling their original numbers. She tried to seek out their weakest link, her body glowing with a golden radiance as she sought to sense and measure their life energy—but as soon as she grasped for that power, it vanished. The golden glow was extinguished like a snuffed candle and suddenly the room fell very dark, and very quiet. The only sounds were the soft, wet slapping of her bare and bloodied feet slipping helplessly across the stone floor as she writhed against new bindings. Tears leaked from her eyes, and her mouth stretched wide to scream, but even that freedom was now denied her. Before long she couldn't move at all, and could only feel the desperate thumping of her heart in her chest. Her heart and something else that pulsed with its own syncronised rhythm, somewhere deeper inside.

A spear of red light slammed into her, then a dozen more from all directions. The burning returned. The ocean in her mind boiled, raged, vaporised in an instant. Kiyoshi's own awareness returned with the strength of a sledgehammer into her skull, her senses overwhelmed with extreme sensitivity. She smelt the blood in the air, the sweat. Dust, faeces and vomit. Her eyes burned with the visages of the dozens of onlookers, staring at her with the utmost intensity. Her skin crawled with the oily slickness of her own blood, and beyond that the harsh roughness of stone. She gasped, throat burning, and everything turned white, a roar of white noise filling her ears.
And then that deep pulsing rhythm that had accompanied her own heartbeat these last few years wasn't so deeply buried anymore.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sun May 22, 2022 5:55 pm

The pair of black-clad jounin made quick progress sprinting, jumping, and flying across the surface of Iwagakure. Not one did their face slacken, even when one spotted Kotori's two genin friends make a futile attempt to pursue them. Kotori, gripped tightly by her waist and slung under the vicelike arm of one of the jounin, watched in dismay as her friends were rapidly left behind. At some point in their flight, Shizuo conferred with her "escorts" and diverted off to one side, vanishing just as quickly.
Not long after, the two men landed outside a well-manned bunker of a building and set her back on her own two feet before hurrying her up to the building's entrance - a thick, featureless shell of stone and steel. A guard at the door evidently recognised the two shrouded figures, or knew their business, and stepped forward to welcome them.

"Where's Komiya Shizuo?" He asked briskly, gazing up and past the two jounin. "His team just arrived. They're already below."

"Took a detour to get ahead and prepare. If he's not already here then he will be soon." The man who'd carried her growled back, and pushed Kotori forward towards the door. "His orders are to proceed immediately. Let's go." The guard at the door stood aside, saluted, and let them pass beyond. Inside, Kotori was ushered past some sort of checkpoint, down a grey corridor lined with closed, secure-looking steel doors, and through one into a small dead-end chamber. Her escorts crowded in behind her and fiddled with a mechanism on the wall, and the whole room shuddered and began to move downwards.

"..What is this place?" She asked, and her voice sounded deadened to her own ears. Muffled, as if the building disapproved of her noise. One of the guards glanced at her for a moment, but she received no answer. A few tense minutes passed until the room juddered to a halt, a mechanism of some sort screeching overhead. The jounin opened the same door they'd entered from and led her down another blank corridor—this one far more rugged and cold than those above—and into a steeply descending shaft with bare rock visible on its walls. A third man waited for them, wearing a long dark lab coat that made him look like some kind of doctor.

"Is this her?" He hurried up to the group when he saw them, eyes fixed on her. She decided immediately that she didn't like the way he was looking at her. She stared back in defiance, the hair on the back of her neck tingling. This is getting a little too much... What the hell is going on? One of her escorts nodded, and the doctor fell into a quick step at their side. Every time she glanced in his direction the man was watching her.

"Has she been briefed?" He finally asked the two jounin. His voice betrayed some unease.
"No time."
"Oh, for crying out loud! No!" The doctor threw his hands up, obviously frustrated. "She can't go in blind!"
"We've just—"
"I know, I know," he waved the excuse aside, "it's not your fault. It's the bloody council. Haven't they learned by now? How long have they had to prepare for a contingency like this? And are we prepared?" He sighed, letting the rhetorical question hang. "She's going to need every advantage. Even a moment of preparation could be the difference. Could be essential." He shot her another look, and suddenly she couldn't bear it all any longer. Her fists clenched tight around handfuls of her trousers, and her face was growing hot.

"I'm right here!!" She shouted the words, stopping abruptly and letting one of the jounin stumble into her. She held her ground. "You've all been talking about me, over me, this entire trip. Will one of you just tell me what in the hell is going on?!"
Silence filled the corridor, broken only by a nervous rustle as the three men regarded her. The jounin in front reached forward to place a hand on her, but the doctor stopped him even before she could try to swat the hand away. It was the doctor who stepped forward slowly, leaning down a little to look her in the eyes.

"All right, little one. Let's talk."
"We don't have time for—" one of the jounin interjected.
"Enough. I decide what we have time for from here on out. Give us some space." He waited until the two guards stepped a few paces away, one on either side of Kotori in case she tried to bolt either direction down the corridor. How quickly they'd learned her instincts.

The doctor turned back to Kotori and tried to offer her a smile, but his eyes spoke of pity.
"It's alright," he started, but she cut him off.
"Stop treating me like a fucking child!" She took a firm hold on his lab coat with both hands and pulled him slightly closer. She stared him dead in the eye, trying her best to ignore the frantic urge to let go and run as fast and as far as she could. She was far too deep to get away now. Surprisngly the man just stared back at her, despite the fact he was twice her size and could likely overpower or escape her with ease. Instead, he raised his hands to the side, putting himself at her mercy.

"All right, all right. I'm sorry. It's Kotori, right? You deserve the truth."
"No bullshit?"
"No bullshit."
"Why am I here?"
"You're to be a Jinchuriki."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Next question. What's a jin-choo-rick-ee?"

He hesitated, eyes still locked to her own, deadly serious gaze. She uncurled her fists and gave him room to breathe. He threw a glance over his shoulder to the leading guard, pinched the ridge of his nose, and wrinkled up his face, then took a deep breath and looked back down at her.
"All right, then. Jinchuuriki." He said the word carefully, slowly. "It's the name given to the famous ninja who serve as hosts for the ten legendary phantom beasts." He gave her a moment, letting that sink in. "Do you know about them? The mythical Genma?"
Now it was her turn to think, and she furrowed her brow. "Uhh... Maybe?" Did she? It sounded vaguely familiar. Perhaps there had been a history class about it in the academy. He waved her uncertainly aside all the same.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Suffice to say that they are beings of supreme power. So great that they once ruled over the world as we know it. It took hundreds of years of desperate warfare before humanity eventually conquered and captured them. They were too strong to be killed, you see." He paused, and that pitying look returned. "...Too useful."

"Okay. I get that," and she realised it did sound familiar, "but what's it all got to do with me? Isn't this all a bit... You know, above the likes of me?" That was the baffling part. She was a nobody in this village, despite her every effort to proclaim otherwise. An unknown child, overlooked and unmissed. Poor and untrained. Then the obvious answer struck. "...I'm a test subject, aren't I?" And suddenly all the false confidence was gone from her voice. It sounded as small and weak as she felt on the inside. Because who would miss her? Nobody. She was wholly and thoroughly expendable.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:01 pm

The doctor didn't reply for a long few seconds, and the conflict was visible on his face. Kotori began to doubt her first impression of him; he was creepy, yes, but he also seemed honest. Or at least more honest than anyone else she'd been in contact with today. Painfully so. The anguish in the man's expression was all the convincing she needed to know that everything he'd said so far was true. No bullshit.

"It's... Not quite like that." He eventually replied, his tone sincere. He stood back to his full height and shook his head at one of the two jounin, who was evidently trying to motion him into silence. "As I said, these beasts were captured a long time ago and at the cost of many, many lives. Containing them is difficult, to say the least."

"We learned in the early years that adult hosts were more-or-less doomed to fail, for one reason or another. They seem unable to resist the will and power of the genma, and are rejected by the bond quickly. Brutally. A proper symbiosis requires someone young and adaptable. Someone... malleable, but strong-willed and ambitious. It takes a child.


Kotori stood in silence as she processed the rush of new information. Despite her surroundings and company it was difficult to believe, as if the village had suddenly decided to orchestrate it all as an elaborate hazing prank for new genin. She... wasn't ready for this. Any of this. She'd never even been on a real mission, how could they possibly think her suitable? It sounded like a death sentence.

"What if I say no?" She ventured, quietly. By now the two jounin were growing openly anxious, stepping closer to her and the doctor and trying to catch the man's eye. The doctor ignored them, fixing his sad gaze only on her. He said nothing.
"...There is no saying no, is there?"
A quiet shake of his head.
"You must understand, Kotori: This was not anyone's first plan of action. Subj—... Candidates like you are the last resort, hence the urgency and secrecy with which you came to me. In a perfect world you'd be fully vetted, tested, monitored, briefed... You'd be chosen for a unique skill or exceptional quality, and your willingness may have been a crucial part of it all. But let me be clear here. We're facing disaster." He spared a look for the two jounin, and they stepped to his side and nodded a confirmation. "Without you, Kotori, thousands of people could die. Today. The Genma rages as we speak, and the village faces devastation."

Kotori began to feel the weight of the situation pressing down upon her. And to think that less than an hour ago she'd naively dreamt of being headhunted for something great. But something of this magnitude hadn't ever crossed her mind. It felt so unreal, and yet her shoulders sagged and her legs grew leaden with resignation. There was no way out.

"I wish it were not so. I am sorry." The doctor whispered, "but we're out of time. We can talk more later. After. For now, we must hurry." The two jounin began moving immediately, one running ahead and the other taking ahold of Kotori's jacket and pulling her into motion. She staggered along by his side, too numb with the shock of it all to even try and resist.

A short time and several more corridors and steep staircases later they reached a set of thick metal doors, well-guarded with numerous black-clad shinobi. A fresh red stain marked the floor outside, but before she could think about it the doors were shoved open and she was dragged into the chamber within. It was a vast space, domed and imposing, but dwarfed by the chaos and power at its heart. The reek of blood in the air hit her like a hammerblow the moment she stepped inside, and as her eyes adjusted they were met with sights from a nightmare; twisted corpses, shredded and severed, littered the floor amid pools and streaks of slick, still-spreading blood. Shouts and screams almost drowned out the supernatural howls from the broken mess of a body in the centre of it all. That body—she thought it might once have been a woman, short and bald—twitched violently, straining so hard against the glowing maroon chains that wrapped around it that the bones in her arms snapped. Then reformed, healing and splintering again and again.

Kotori felt herself slip out of the jounin's grip and slip to the floor. Why wouldn't her legs work? She rocked to one side and retched, throwing up tendrils of white vomit onto the redstained floor. She turned hollow eyes back to the wretched thing in the middle of the chamber.

Is that going to be me?
Last edited by Valkier on Sun Nov 05, 2023 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aisu NaohiroJouninKirigakure no Sato[Unit 12] [HHD] [#BAE0E2] [#70CEE2]
Hachiya KotoriGeninIwagakure no Sato[Ukiyogenma Jinchuuriki] [H.N.K.][Gold] [#BF8040][Thread Tracker]

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Valkier
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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:20 am

Kotori felt strong arms hook beneath her own and half lift, half carry her further into the room. She turned fearful eyes upwards and met those of the doctor, and his expression was determined. He dug a hand into a pocket and pulled out a syringe and cartridge, filled it, checked it for air, then bent down and sank the tip into her arm before she could think to pull away—as if that would do any good anyway. The shot took effect and some of the tension bled away as a portion of her strength returned. Numb, too, but that helped her mind to clear a little. She struggled and grunted before he let go, and she found herself able to stand again. But still held firmly from behind by one of the black-cloaked jounin.

"Easy, now. You can do this." She lip-read the words more than heard them over the chaotic din of the room. "Stay strong, Kotori!" She couldn't guess whether the encouragement was empty or genuine, but she had little choice but to take it anyway as she was pushed forward, step by dreadful step, to the middle of the room.
By now the chained woman at its middle had stopped convulsing. She sat now, cross legged and hunched forward, held to that position by an intricate web of maroon. Through the sheen of sweat, blood, and scars across her naked body Kotori could see a purple tint to her skin, and something about her limbs seemed off—her arms were just slightly too long, too thin, too rounded. Like tendrils. Kotori was pushed down to kneel, then sit, with her back to the other woman, and a flurry of movement around the edges of the room coalesced into another group of newly arrived men and woman thickening the circle of ninja.

She felt her back touch that of the other woman, though it felt as tough and rigid as a concrete wall. A jolt of adrenaline ran through her, and despite whatever drug she'd been injected with she felt the hairs on her neck rise and quiver. She turned her head around and leaned to the side in an attempt to better see the husk of the person at her back–and froze as the other woman tilted her head just slightly and opened an eye. A radiant, golden eye, full of fury, pain, and power. The woman's skin flared to a similar gold and she shuddered against her bindings, mouse slowly opening with tremendous effort as she stared at Kotori. No noise emerged, but the young genin caught the meaning anyway: "No."
And suddenly the eyes were human. Still gold, but where before there had been the pupils of a trapped and tortured wild beast, now there was human emotion. The filled with horror, brows raising in realisation, then the eyes turned to pity. Then sorrow, deep and vast. The woman tried to speak again, and her jawbone cracked against its maroon chainlike bindings.

"Now!"
The chamber erupted with bright white light and the circle of sealing ninja flared with channeled energy. Kotori turned her head downwards and squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden glare, and could feel the heat of chakra imbuing the air all around her. Around them both. She thought she heard a mumbling and groaning at her back, but it quickly began to fade. As did all other noise, followed by the lights, then the weight of her own body and all its tension and worry.

She opened her eyes to a black void, featureless and endless. The chamber and its occupants were gone, and looking down she saw no floor beneath her feet. She just hung there, devoid of all sensation except for a tiny mote of pressure and warmth in the small of her back, where her real body slumped against that of the former Jinchuuriki. She turned in the dark space to look behind her and the sensation moved with her, transiting around her body until it fluttered over her chest. And there, hanging the space before her, stood the same woman from the chamber, surrounded by a gentle golden glow.
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Nascence

Post by Valkier » Sun Jun 12, 2022 1:39 pm

"So... It's to be you?" The woman stared at Kotori, face calm but voice laced with sadness. Resignation. "I wondered who they'd send. I thought it almost too late..." Her voice seemed to echo and fill the air around them, layering upon itself despite the lack of any visible walls or other nearby surfaces to reflect the sound. Kotori just hung there in the air, speechless; the whole ordeal was so sudden and so surreal she hardly knew what to think, let alone say. The woman gave her a sad smile.
"It's okay. What happens here is not the curse that everyone would have you believe. Not entirely." She shook her head, then floated towards Kotori and stretched out her hands, moving without any apparent effort through the dark space. She stopped in front of Kotori and gently took the young genin's hands in her own.

"Wh— Who are you?" Kotori finally asked, her own voice coming as a whisper. It seemed appropriate, here in a place of utter silence. The former Jinchuuriki's hands were comfortingly warm, but the skin was hard to the touch, with calloused fingers and scarred palms.

"Kenitsuna Kiyoshi," the woman answered, and her grip tightened. Emotions flitted across her face at some apparent onrush of memory. "And... I failed. I am sorry. It will be your time, now. Who are you, who follows after?"

The golden light shrouding the woman flared and engulfed her as she spoke, as if in embrace, then flickered and quickly faded. It dimmed to the light of a dying candle, then vanished. A moment later it emerged from her chest as a shimmering golden orb of light, drawn out by an unseen power to hang in the small void between the two women.

"I.." Kotori couldn't tear her eyes away from the orb of energy. She felt drawn to it, even moreso than to the woman standing so close and staring at her. "I..." Finally she looked up and met Kiyoshi's eyes. Something passed between them, and Kotori felt a warm energy building in her own chest. Hope flooded into her. Confidence, pride, and resolve. Her fingers tensed and returned the strength of Kiyoshi's grip.

"Hachiya Kotori!" She shouted it, to Kiyoshi, to the void, to the building light between them. The feeling in her chest continued to build, hotter and hotter until it began to burn. The light inched closer and closer on its path out of Kiyoshi and towards herself, and the burning became an intense pain. But Kiyoshi held her gaze, steady and unwavering, so Kotori stuck out her chin, pulled her shoulders back, and bore it without breaking eye contact. Kiyoshi nodded, giving her the faintest of satisfied smiles.

"Hachiya Kotori. This is the power of Nolosha no Ukiyogenma, the Phantom Beast of Life. A primal, fundamental force given sentience. And with Her comes what remains of myself, too, for Nolosha and I are more intertwined now than ever before. The tiniest sliver of my Life has bled back and is held by the Genma. I am just a drop in the ocean of Her power, but I will be there when you need me. I give you my strength and my love, in the hope that you will succeed where I failed."

The orb made contact with Kotori's chest, searing into and through her skin in a burst of excruciating pain. Water gathered at the corners of Kotori's eyes, but she gritted her teeth and held fast.

"I will always be watching over you. But do not fear Nolosha. She is more ancient and powerful than you can imagine—but She is also kind, Kotori. She is protective, and loving. She will care for you. But while you must not fear, nor should you ever forget that She is a manifestation of a raw force of nature, Life itself, and should never, ever, be underestimated. You'd be shattered and consumed by Her in a moment."

The light disappeared entirely into Kotori's chest, dipping beneath her skin and leaving no visible trace despite the mind-bending heat and pain of its motion. Every nerve in her body felt aflame, and Kiyoshi's words were beginning to fade from her awareness. A similar golden radiance began to leak from her own skin now, rising like thin wisps of mist over the surface of a lake.

"Stay strong, Kotori! Never relent! You are in control!"

Kotori felt a powerful pulling sensation drawing her up and backwards, and the dark void faded. She caught Kiyoshi's gaze one last time—deep brown eyes, determined, unwavering—before the strange dark place shattered and she was thrust back to reality. She fell forwards immediately as gravity took hold, and found herself embracing Kiyoshi's real body, broken and bloodied as it was. Her brown eyes were open and still staring into Kotori's, but the spark of life in them was no more. Her corpse, cradled in Kotori's arms against the power of the sealing ninja all around them, felt surprisingly frail and light. She looked down towards the burning pain in her chest and, exactly where she'd felt the glow sink into her during whatever sort of vision that had been, her clothes were torn, blackened, and crisp. The raw flesh beneath was red and puckered, but emblazoned for a moment with a radiant golden sigil. That began to fade immediately, sinking deeper into her body and the burned flesh re-knit, healing before her very eyes until the area was replaced by fresh pink skin.

She gently lay Kiyoshi's body down on to the floor before finally looking up. The rest of the chamber was in a state of utter carnage. Various new bodies littered the floor, and large sections of the stone walls looked burned and broken. A flurry of movement in the shadows at the back reaches of the room turned out to be medical teams, rushing in to help the survivors and remove the fallen–and the latter, covered by sheets and being hauled away on stretchers—far outweighed the former. The empathetic doctor she'd met earlier during her descent to this chamber lay several strides away, as if he'd run in towards them at the heart of the chamber at some point. Now his head and legs were torn from the burned smear of his body. She'd never even learned his name.

She tightened her grip on Kiyoshi and looked down again, fighting back another wave of nausea and fear. But something in the closeness of the former Jinchuuriki allayed those emotions, and she felt a momentary reassurance in the back of her mind, as if Kiyoshi's resolve was reaching out to her from the woman's body. She reached down, intending to shift her grip to put her hands underneath the body so she could lift it out of the pool of blood and gore and... and the blood quivered at her touch. In a pattern that rippled outwards for a few inches,the blood simmered like water in a pot on a stove from where her finger broke its surface. A faint impression dawned in her mind, vague remnants of lives lost and lifeforce spent. And a voice blossomed from the depths of her soul.

"Hello, daughter."

 Fin.
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