The Other in Yellow. (Aiya Ibakuro)

[LunarCataphract]

The Ibakuro estate resides in the heart of a darkened forest, its bushes and canopies strewn with a variety of spiderwebs, home to thousands upon thousands of arachnids. The estate itself, however, is a rather humble compound of a couple dozen buildings, constructed from the dark woods of their forest. It is protected not only by the forest itself but also the shinobi of the clan, not to mention a wooden palisade. However, the clan's relative youth and general lack of extreme wealth has resulted in a rather average nature to the construction, akin to that of a simple citizen rather than a mighty shinobi clan. The sheer number of spiders did not help the shabby and poor seeming nature of the compound either.

Were Ichika under her normal state of mind, she would have issued some smug and condescending remark about the shabby nature of the dwelling or about how it was so utterly beneath her that these Ibakuro clansman should be throwing lavish rewards at her feet for even imagining to visit but of course, Ichika was not in her normal state of mind. The moon was high and she, dressed in yellow and sporting an unadorned white porcelain mask (devoid of details except holes for her eyes) stepped towards the gate. Her fist reached towards it, extending out from beneath the cloak they wore, its hood and many layers obscuring all details of their form. The fist slammed against the gate, paired with an uncharacteristically commanding voice for Ichika...ah but that was a spoiler.

“Hear my voice and open. No barriers will deny me, no doors will block me. I am the Other in Yellow.” But what brought this ‘Other in Yellow’ to the Ibakuro? It was definitely not for their wealth, standing, prestige or power within the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It was a far more specific and exact reason that brought her here: the Spider Queen. Rumours and badmouthing had abounded around the Hidden Leaf and it was these rumours that, once the Other in Yellow came to the fore, inspired them to research the topic. Rare was the clan founded due to the direct machinations of a spirit. Information upon this spirit was exactly what the Other desired.

[TyDie]

It wasn't often that Aiya got stuck monitoring the gates of the compound at night, but everyone drew the short straw now and then. On this particular night, it was the young Ibakuro herself, sitting in a chair under a torch with a book in hand. Between the plethora of spiders in the forest that were naturally attracted to her kind and the smoke of the torch overhead, she didn't have to worry too much about any bothersome insects getting her. But still, the boredom was mounting, and for once she actually wished someone might show up and make her evening a little more interesting. Kureha was asleep, as were her parents, and none of her other friends were anywhere near the compound... It looked to be a simple, boring night for the young weapon master.

Until there was a knock on the gate.

Curious, Aiya closed her book with an audible 'snap' and left it on her chair as she rose to slide open a small peep hole in the gate. It was as she did so, and as her eyes fell on the strange figured cloaked in yellow, that they spoke up and demanded the door be opened for her. While ordinarily Aiya wouldn't have much of a reason to deny an outsider passage, given the time of night and the extremely shady appearance of this figure, she was far more cautious and wary than normal. "Umm... You mind explaining what it is you're searching for? It's kind of the middle of the night, and you're in a dimly lit forest surrounded by spiders and other critters. Is uh... is there something I can help you with?"

Her strange eyes peered through the slot at the yellow figure, awaiting a response before she went about undoing any locks.

[LunarCataphract]

“I search for you and your clan. I desire to speak of your clan’s history, your founding, to unravel the past and build the future.” The distrust and suspicion was to be understood but the Other in Yellow had a good reason behind their secrecy. This flesh…it was a borrowed thing, a body they occasionally got the chance to pilot and as such, they were compelled to keep a certain level of discretion in mind. It would simply not be tolerable to awaken in their host body and find it imprisoned….or worse. The Other in Yellow had spent too long trapped within this material form. They longed to escape the confines of the material, to return to the spiritual, to be free.

“Grant me succour for this eve…and information. I will be gone by dawn’s rise.” Time was limited. The exact confluence of events and circumstances that had given the Other in Yellow this freedom, however limited, would not last forever. They simply could not afford to waste time with bargaining, politicking or other forms of bickering. How did the humans, so constrained to their physical forms and short lives, handle such existences? It was something that, during their rare chances to be in charge of this vessel, the Other was still struggling to come to terms with; in fact they knew in their mind that they would never come to terms with it. A material existence, trapped inside this puppet of flesh and blood was entirely alien.

“I wish to hear of the Spider Queen. Your origin.” They decided to get straight to the point, to cease wasting time or dancing around the matter. Perhaps that would grant them the entry they so craved.

[TyDie]

To say that Aiya was unnerved by this stranger, and their shadiness, was an understatement; the girl wasn't sure she had ever been so suspicious of anyone in her life. The way they talked, the topic of discussion, and the overall nature of the interaction left Aiya feeling like she would need a shower by the end of the night. However, something about the interaction also left Aiya curious, as was her clan's nature - Who on earth was it that wanted to know about the origins of the Ibakuro clan, at this time of night no less? Every instinct in her told her to turn this person away...

And yet her curiosity had to know more.

"Very well... Don't make me regret this." The girl said with a small sigh, knowing full well this could bite her in the ass later. Opening the large wooden gates, Aiya would motion for the shady figure to step into the compound. After they did so, she would shut the gate behind them and motion to another nearby chair, that they might take a seat with Aiya and have this discussion under the torchlight of the front gates. "I can't leave my post unattented obviously, but we can converse here. I'm not supposed to be relieved for another hour or so. What is it exactly you want to know, there's a lot to unpack after all. I'll tell you what I'm allowed to tell."

With that, Aiya would leave the floor open to her mysterious associate, to lead the conversation in whatever direction lead to the answers they sought.

[LunarCataphract]

“ The word of a stranger, unseen by the waking world, this may be but I do promise this will in no way damage your standing among clan and kin.” The gate opened, the wooden construction swung open and the Other in Yellow found themselves granted access. They walked through the gates to the compound, unbothered and unconcerned by them sealing shut behind them. Despite the offered chair, they did not accept and instead simply stood at its side, silently and passively locking eyes upon Aiya.

“An hour is all we have? Then time is of the essence. Who is this Spider Queen? How did your clan’s distant ancestors first make contact with them? What was the exchange they made? The deal they struck?” It was a massive assumption that the Ibakuro’s most distant ancestor had struck some sort of deal with the Spider Queen…no. An assumption was not the correct word. It was a fact. The Other in Yellow was intimately familiar with the denizens of the spiritual world, after all they were one, and that familiarity granted them a great deal of insight.

“What did they gain? What did they lose? And most importantly…how did they come into contact with this ‘Spider Queen’?” Time was a limited thing here. An hour until Aiya was relieved…and only a few hours after that until the Other in Yellow had to give up this vessel for another month. Direct and prudent questions were the best thing in this situation.

[TyDie]

As the yellow cloaked figure stood before Aiya, she tilted her head in confusion at the eerie presence they were emitting. They wouldn't sit, they seemed pressed for time, and their questions were coming at her in rapid succession. "Slow down, an hour will be plenty of time I imagine. If it isn't, you can always find me another time, and I'll be happy to expound further. All of this information is pretty much public access anyway, we've never been an overly secretive clan. Then again, well... we're still rather fresh in the eyes of Konoha. Not many secrets to have as of yet I guess." The girl scratched her head nervously for a moment, but quickly returned to her normal demeanor. Whoever this was, they didn't seem the type for awkward small talk.

"To answer all of those questions, we should start from the beginning - Our clan doesn't have 'distant' ancestors'. At least, not yet. The progenitor of the clan, Ibakuro Yosuke, still lives and serves as the leader of our people. He was the first to be blessed, or cursed rather, with the Spider Blood, and it was he who made first contact with the Spider Queen." The spider queen... merely mentioning it's name brought a chill up Aiya's spine, as she recalled the hybrid mutants she and Minako experienced what seemed like only yesterday... There was something afoot, of that there was no doubt. However, that was information Aiya would keep to herself for the time being - It was an ongoing situation with more questions then answers.

"The Spider Queen was a spirit who lead a colony of spiders. After failing to bring back his criminal ninja teammate, Yosuke was burned and barely alive. It was the Queen who found him and gave him the strength necessary to overcome his former ally, a strength that came in the form of the Spider Blood that all we Ibakuro share. He won't tell us the terms of the arrangement he struck, says it's 'best we not trouble ourselves with the terms of a contract that is null and void.' That said, we can guess it had something to do with Free Will - Yosuke was known for lashing out and losing himself to his alter persona; The Broodfather." The likes of The Broodfather hadn't been seen since the fall of the Queen years ago, but Aiya had to wonder... would this recent resurgence of the Spider Colony's activity bring that persona back? Would their leader fall prey to the contract that he thought he had escaped all those years ago?

[LunarCataphract]

“Hm…I suppose you are correct in that assertion.” There was always another time…hopefully. The Other in Yellow knew that a human’s life was a temporary thing and wondered what would happen to themselves when their prison expired. Would they be free? Would they expire with their prison and simply cease to be? These questions brought the Other in Yellow a level of fear and trepidation they had never once felt before being trapped in this way. At first experiencing a solid and physically difficult to change world had been interesting but, after all these years, the Other in Yellow had begun to chaff under these restrictions, almost suffocating.

The information Aiya gave out was….not what the entity wished to hear. They wanted to know of how the Spider Queen had first made contact with the clan’s progenitor. They wished to know what compelled the Queen to give their blood out to mere mortals. They wished to know the details of this contact. They wished to know the exact terms of this contract. There was so very much they wished to know. So very much indeed but as seemed to be the case, they were being denied that. Unfortunate..but perhaps there was value to be found in asking further questions. Time was a limited resource, let us pray this pays off for it.

“Your founder seems to be keeping things from you. Tell me of this alter ego, of this ‘Broodfather.’ Were they merely an alternative state of mind for your founder?...Or were they being controlled by an entirely different entity?” Perhaps this Broodfather situation was akin to the one suffered by the Other in Yellow themselves? Or maybe not. It seemed to have been far more willing, at least initially, on both the parts of the Spider Queen and Yosuke. The Other in Yellow knew they would need to speak to Yosuke sooner or later…but for now, they were going to cultivate this relationship with Aiya.