Soraru had remained a few steps behind Axel at the end of everything that happened. As a fairly new genin, he hadn't cared much for relations between villages before. However, that had its own way of changing when he was the one with his life on the line for it. Konoha, huh? Great... He thought to himself, a look of discomfort settling on his features. He'd been in the village once before, having remained there for a few months before continuing on his "journey." It was such a popular village, for obvious reasons. The first place he ran to after escaping home. The first place that the Land of Iron expected when chasing him down. Memories of two aspiring Genin came to mind, two girls. Then blood, a dark night, and the choking fear of having a blade up against his throat. A burst of adrenaline, a sea of blue chakra, and the harsh impact of falling from the top of the village gate. None of his time in Konoha was particularly great. At least not enough that he would bother to gain any kind of loyalty. Although he had to wonder if those two girls were still around. If we end up going to war over this kind of thing, I hope they gave up on becoming Shinboi. He thought rather solemnly, although the bitterness that rose in his heart for that village hadn't ceased because of it.
A group of Konoha shinobi hadn't just kidnapped him. They definitely had a connection with whatever left bodies in the streets of Kumogakure. An evil like that was just something that he couldn't find himself forgiving. There was no working around it either, because above all else, delivering the message to Kaileer was paramount. s**t...I wonder how he's taking all of this. He thought with a small bit of worry. His shinobi were charged with a task, and not everyone had managed to get around to it. To go, help people, keep the villagers safe. While he had tried to do so, he also knew that not everyone did. That genjutsu the creatures could use is largely responsible for that. But...surely there were other ninja. The more he decided to think on it, the more he understood why Kaileer probably wasn't going to be in the best of moods. If he's even still alive. A menacing thought hit him, but surely there were plenty of shinobi around him, willing to put their life on the line. Because while the village was falling apart, he was...useless. Something that probably already stabbed at the man greatly. That, with all the death, much of it from Shinobi not doing what he painstakingly asked them to do...It would take more than a hot cup of coffee to cheer up his morning, Soraru figured.
He only stepped up to the group again when Axel came back with his swords, taking that back for himself. It's what mattered most to him, even their giant of a savior not cutting it close. Keeping it in his hand the entire way back, Soraru Hiraite was finally headed home.
AC/Ryo: 150/101 | Location: Somewhere....stony. Or mountain...y | Chakra: 285 Stamina: 180 | Communicating: Axe, Shul | Rank: Genin | Technique Used: Shadow Clone Jutsu | State-of-Being: Thoughtful. Very thoughtful. Thinking way too much. Combat Equipment: Katana and Wakizashi
C - Rank l Wanderer l Samurai l Failure Chakra - 385/390 l Stamina - 375/375
Day 1
I had left the village gates some twenty minutes ago and walked, and walked, and walked, always looking all around me to make sure that I wasn’t being followed. I know I had told Wan that I would let myself get caught without a fight, and I also know that he had said that whoever was coming after my head would do so after his family issues were resolved, but no one could blame me for being paranoid. My caveat for coming in peacefully was seeing my family, saying goodbye to them and the works. I would not rest until I did so. My spat with Kaileer happened mid-morning, around ten A.M or such, I didn’t remember, I wasn’t good telling time while cocked up in a building, I could just tell that it was close to noon even if it the sun was covered completely by clouds. My time training with my father made sure I was all good when it came to survival, I almost died about a dozen times, and the look my father would give me every time I came close to it hurt. It was a combination of disgust and disappointment. To this day I couldn’t tell if he would have rather I did not make it out alive of his training. Maybe that’s what he had wanted all along. If I would have died in the forest, or in the fire, or anywhere really, he wouldn’t have had any other choice but to accept the fact that my brother had betrayed the family. Maybe he would have been nicer to mom and to Tsuki and Hari. He was always so mad, limping everywhere, refusing to stay put, or to get on a wheelchair. Tsuki always told me not to take it to heart, that our father hadn’t always been like that, but that Shiro had been his pride and joy, to have Shiro betray him the way he had done, to leave with one of the family treasures and to humiliate my father the way he did in open combat changed him to his core. I hated Shiro for that. It was interesting, to put it lightly, how someone could hate an individual they have never met, that genetically is almost identical to you, for actions he did while you were not even alive. I was alive for him, he was the sole reason I was born into this godforsaken place. My father made sure I remembered that. My sole mission in life was to avenge him. To bring glory back to my family’s name, and to redeem my father. His redemption was the reason for my existence. I breathed to make sure that he would die with his honor returned, both to himself and to this family. Tsuki and Hari could have done it themselves without a problem. They were eight years older than me, they were masters of the art of the blade, like my father, and ninjutsu, like my mother. They were the perfect blend. While Hari was a specialist in wind techniques and supplemented them with deadly accuracy on the bow, Tsuki was my father’s daughter, able to wield both Katon and Raiton so masterfully. I was always awestruck with the way lightning cracked, Kaileer reminded me of her in that fight, the way the light gleamed off him and everything, up until the point he tried to kill me; Tsuki would never do that. She would beat me over and over again though, but I learned a lot from her, a prime example was that trick I used against Kaileer near the end of our minute-long fight, if that could even count as a fight, Axle of Rain.
The road through the Storm Mountains was long and winding, filled with spots where it went from dirt road to lush forest. I had reached the center of the forest by noon, the light heat of the winter day had caused some of the moisture in the air to evaporate, causing a thick fog to take hold, lowering visibility to nothing more than a couple of feet. I had heard from Tsuki once that there was a ninjutsu that did this very thing, but I had never experienced it, and I had seen firsthand how the fog had formed in the course of minutes as I went deeper and deeper into the forest, so I knew very well that this fog was one hundred percent natural. But still… Part of me would rather be safe. Before I knew it my hand was resting on the handle of my katana, not the Iron Sand one I had made, but the one in the white sheathe, the one I had created from the core of the Ice Monsters that threatened to destroy Kumogakure, the ones that had been sent to us by Konohagakure. Perhaps I could go to Konohagakure and burn it to the ground for that they did to us, for what they did to my-the village. Kumo wasn’t my village anymore, it never had been, but now that I wasn’t there, it felt like I was connected to it on a deeply personal level. I had kissed my first girl there, I had lost my first friend there, for a moment during the time I was in the village, it felt as if I would live my entire life there. But that was a fantasy. Rin, Hakanai, Toso, even Kaileer and Wan, they all had the opportunity to chart their own destiny, to make their own choices and live for the things they thought were worth living, they had the opportunity to live and die by whatever standards and goals they set themselves, I had no such luxury. While some of those people were my friends, others bitter rivals, and two of them I considered my adversaries in there, deep down, I resented them. They were free to make their own mistakes, these mistakes wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I had no such luxury. All of my actions were put under the microscope, both mine own and my father’s, every mistake I made was another let down to him. Knowing him, he would have rather I never stopped those Iron Spikes, he would have preferred I drove them right through Kaileer’s heard and claim that everything, the kick, the first attack missing, the near death moment, was all part of some grand plan. Of course, it might look that way, the spikes were convenient, to someone that wasn’t looking too keenly on the battle, it might have seemed like I wanted to get behind him, to make him turn his back on the Iron Sand, to kill him, to claim the kageship for myself. But that wasn’t the case. It was a stroke of dumb luck that I did that. If it would have been planned I would have jumped out of the way to make sure that I wasn’t hit by neither him nor my own attack. Who knows though, mayhaps I killed Kaileer in another version of our battle. One of my spikes drove his head clean from his shoulders, and now I sat on his desk. Of course, doing so would have meant I had earned the hate of all of those I had learned to love and respect in the village, but was that hate really any different than I hatred he had won from them now? I am officially a rogue, a wanderer, the scummiest of scum in the world that men like Kaileer and Masahiro had forged. I was the subject of hate and ridicule among all who walk the path of the shinobi, but I of course, as a Samurai, walked a vastly different path. In the end though, that made no difference. I was still, walking back to the Storn Family lands as a failure.
My stomach growled, and naturally so, this was my second day without eating anything. Last time I had eaten anything was when Hakanai demanded it of me during our training session, and before that, back in the hospital, when I fought Wan. I couldn’t stop to hunt though, any time I stopped could be the moment Kaileer’s cutthroats reached me. The thought of someone, or someones, following me while I hunted sent a chill through my spine and I put some speed to my step. From a light walk I broke into an all-out run, weaving and dodging fallen trees and obstacles that got in my way. The forest was oddly silent, which only served to put me on edge. Normally, one would hear birds singing, animal’s footfall on the brush, the breeze caressing the leaves and making the forest feel alive. There was none of that. This hill felt as desolate as the deserts of the Land of Wind. Then again, I had never traveled there, so I wouldn’t know how empty they are, but I could only assume that they were very empty, all there was there was sand, lots and lots of sand. Who knew, maybe I could go and make a home in Sunagakure, I had never been anywhere to hot. That would be an interesting experience. The thought of starting over somewhere, anywhere, brought a pained smile to my face, and despite how hard I fought (and believe me, I fought hard) I began to feel my eyes swelling with tears. By the time I cleared the first of the mountains, night had begun to fall. The fog that had hampered my vision had given way to a violent winter storm. The temperature had dropped suddenly; I wasn’t prepared for this sudden change. It must have gone from a cool sixty degrees to a chilling twenty something in a matter of hours. I could feel the temperature dropping as I moved, but at first I just attributed it to the fact I had picked up my pace, my moving faster would make me sweat, and in turn would make the wind feel colder against my skin. Then, by the time it had dropped some ten degrees, I told myself that it was a combination of my speed and wind, the windchill was making a difference, but by the time it dipped twenty degrees in the mid-afternoon, I knew that I was in for a hard night. I had to do something, as soon as I could. If my memory served, at the base of this first mountain there were a series of cave networks that I could use to hide from the elements, so I decided to get off the path (which was a faded dirt road that appeared and disappeared in tandem through the thicket) and make my way down the mountain. The fog was still heavy at this point, so I wasn’t quite sure I would be going the right way, but I gambled and won. I picked up some stray branches and whatever dead foliage I could find, since it was still winter, it wasn’t hard to come across dead patches of leaves here and there. I collected all of those, and by the time I was at the base of the mountain, when slush began to come down heavily from the sky, I was almost at the entrance of a cave. I got completely soaked though. There was something strange about being out while it was slushing. It was neither snow nor rain, it was this weird mush of white, wet, snow, cold as hell, and it got stuck to your clothes, so it was harder to dry (in reality, it was the same thing, but Axel didn’t know the difference).
Once I found a decently sized cave, that was small enough to harbor me, and only me it was already night out. I hurried inside and put all of my supplies together, the humid branches and dead leaves. Managing to start a fire with these would be near impossible, but I tried anyway. I stacked them nearly in a corner of the cave and draw out his Iron Sand sword. Not Ice Vein, the other one, the one I had neglected to name because there was nothing quite special about it. It had been the first weapon I made, ever, but that alone did not give it enough value to warrant be giving it a name. Then, I drew a kunai and struck it against the sword time and time again trying to get some embers going off. It took me the better part of an hour to get the fire going. I put my hands near it so they would warm. Now that there was light, I looked around and saw that there were some bugs crawling around the place, the biggest of all was a scorpion, about six inches long, with claws that were at least two inches long, and a very small stinger. That meant this particular species hunted with its claws, not poison. All it took was a flick of the wrist to send a single Kunai flying its way and stabbing right through it. Once I made sure it was dead, I cut the stinger off and threw it on the fire, then, while still having the scorpion stuck on the kunai, I let it rest directly on the fire until it was charred. This wasn’t the first time I found myself alone in a cave with a fire, nor the first time I eat scorpion. Once charred, the exoskeleton wasn’t so hard to eat, but the meat on the inside would still be nice and soft. I stuck it in my mouth and waited for the eventual crack of eating the damn thing. Its juices filled my mouth with the taste of shrimp or lobster that was just about to go bad, my tongue had that tingling sensation one felt when the foot wasn’t quite spoiled, but it was about to be, a warning of sorts, that if you don’t eat it all quickly, it might go bad. But this was the only thing I had to eat. After eating, I set both of my swords on the ground, between myself and the fire, then, I removed my shirt and pants and set them as close to the flames as I dared get while it wasn’t strickly necessary. I spread them on the ground so that they would dry with the heat of the fire, then, I retreated to the point where the light was faint, but it wasn’t quite dark yet, with Ice Vein in hand. I put my back against the cold stone and let myself slip into sleep, while the world outside turned to ice and snow.
Ryo: 2523 AC: 6300 OOC:
Technique Used:
Passives:
Formless: Medium Sized Sword [Katana] C Rank Formless: Longbow D Rank Way of the Warrior [Discipline Benefit: Your serene mind allows you to detect genjutsu you are trapped within that are two or more ranks below your own status rank, and your tempered body allows you to wear thick armor that a ninja would otherwise be dragged to their knees by. Weapon Master [Discipline Benefit]: Their depth and devotion to the weapon arts allows their skill to increase with every rank allowing their weapons to cut through defensive bukijutsu techniques of the same rank. Specialization Bonus: - 5 Chakra and Stamina for Buki Techs Mori Strength Bonus: +.2 In Strength Total Bow Draw Strength: 60lbs Satetsu Bonus: Moderate reduction in lightning damage Insight Rain: The user will practice extending themselves into the atmosphere, in a sense. After much dedication, the user develops the ability to sense hostile intent in the immediate area. As to where, however, they cannot be sure. Skill - Multitasking: While the first two stages of the style revolve around the very basics of how to use a bow, the third stage incorporates the use multiple arrows into a more stylish way of battling. Mastery allows the user to simultaneously fire multiple arrows with any technique that does not specifically state otherwise, and allows the Arrow Creation technique to create up to three arrows at once with no increase in cost. Lack of Conviction: Due to breaking the Bushido code [Respect], while actively utilizing this style, their attacks will lack conviction. ( Every attack hits as if it were one rank lower, and complex attacks consume [25] additional chakra.
C - Rank l Wanderer l Samurai l Failure Chakra - 385/390 l Stamina - 375/375
Day 2
For the entirety of the night, I did not dream, or at least I did not remember dreaming. Everything was dark, pitch black nothingness was all my mind’s eye could pick up. Even while asleep, I was aware that the flames had gone out, I could feel the cold touch of the chilly wind that wound up inside of the cave, my subconscious knew that the cave would be dark and effectively I would not be able to see anything, so trough large swaths of time at night I was unsure if I was aware or asleep, for I couldn’t tell which was darker, my dreams or reality. My eyes opened, and now I knew I was awake because I blinked a few times. It was cold inside the cave, I found myself shivering, odds are that shivering was what woke me up. I could barely see, it was still dark outside, my clothes were laid around… somewhere. I gripped my sword tightly and moved to start a fire once more, using the Iron Sand blade and a stone that was laying around just as I had done before. The stone felt cold and damp against my fingers, to the point where the moisture mixed with the cold of the air stung my fingers, but I didn’t stop holding it until after an undisclosed amount of time that felt like fifteen minutes, but I had no way to tell. At the end of the undisclosed amount of time that felt like fifteen minutes, I sighed and almost threw the rock away, but the memory of the cave Soraru, Shukenja and I were stuck in came back unbidden. [1/3]
I held the stone in my hand and remembered how helpless I felt back in that cave, wishing I had a chance to draw Iron Sand then and there to fight those that came close to hurting his friends. Friends. That word… Was Soraru really Axel’s friend? He did not know the guy very well, or for too long, in truth, he had only seem him sparingly around the village, the first time they ever spoke was then and there when he went out of the village to track them. The second time was yesterday, after he had nearly died. ‘Holy s**t. I almost died.’ The thought came almost on its own, he was right of course, he had almost died at the hands of Kaileer. But that wasn’t important right now, for now, his mind remained on Soraru. “I’ll lend you this if Bushido isn’t the path for Axel Storn.” Soraru’s words echoed. If there wasn’t bushido for me, what else was there? Bushido had been my entire life since I was born, I lived and breathed Bushido, Bushido and Jashin. The idea that there was a correct way for me to live my life that did not involve Bushido didn’t just feel wrong or insulting, it felt like an insult to his way of life, to his family, to his lineage and to whatever legacy he could forge. My fist clenched on the stone, anger began to move inside of him, and with that anger, chakra began to bubble up, or rather, out, of my body and began to envelop the stone in my hand. [2/3]
I didn’t realize I was holding on to my breath for this entire time. I felt so angry, but at the same time, deep down, I knew that my anger at Soraru was really anger at myself. I was scapegoating him, using him as an outlet to let my anger flow out at someone other than myself. Why was it that we humans did that? Why were we incapable of acknowledging our mistakes and shortcomings? The only person who was at fault for me being out here was myself. No. That was a lie. Kaileer too shared some of the burden. Perhaps I was just a show of force on Kaileer’s behalf, to show people that from now on, there would be consequences for acting the way I did. That was a nice thought, I guess, the blame didn’t belong solely to me, in a way, and it helped Kaileer run the village more efficiently. Regardless… I did cross lines, and say things to him that I shouldn’t have, some of them before I even knew he was the Raikage. At the end of the day, none of it mattered, at least not anymore. I was jerked back to reality by the sensation of my hand closing. That being the hand that had been holding on to the rock. As it closed, the rock shattered into what could only be described as a thousand small specks of dust, similar to that which happened with Iron Sand whenever I would create it. I swallowed, wondering what had just happened, and that was when I saw that my hand was covered in my chakra, probably a result of my anger from moments, or maybe minutes, earlier. My eyes were locked on the thick cloud of dust, no, sand, not exactly Iron Sand, but not regular sand either. As I flicked my wrists and moved my hands, the Stone Sand moved in unison with me, behaving in such a way that I would have no other choice but to label it Iron Sand, just like the rest of it. With that there, I moved to take advantage of it and forced the specs of stone sand create sparks and light up the wood I had collected and make a fire once more. [3/3]
[Stone to Sand: Learned]
Ryo: 2523 AC: 6300 OOC:
Technique Used:
Passives:
Formless: Medium Sized Sword [Katana] C Rank Formless: Longbow D Rank Way of the Warrior [Discipline Benefit: Your serene mind allows you to detect genjutsu you are trapped within that are two or more ranks below your own status rank, and your tempered body allows you to wear thick armor that a ninja would otherwise be dragged to their knees by. Weapon Master [Discipline Benefit]: Their depth and devotion to the weapon arts allows their skill to increase with every rank allowing their weapons to cut through defensive bukijutsu techniques of the same rank. Specialization Bonus: - 5 Chakra and Stamina for Buki Techs Mori Strength Bonus: +.2 In Strength Total Bow Draw Strength: 60lbs Satetsu Bonus: Moderate reduction in lightning damage Insight Rain: The user will practice extending themselves into the atmosphere, in a sense. After much dedication, the user develops the ability to sense hostile intent in the immediate area. As to where, however, they cannot be sure. Skill - Multitasking: While the first two stages of the style revolve around the very basics of how to use a bow, the third stage incorporates the use multiple arrows into a more stylish way of battling. Mastery allows the user to simultaneously fire multiple arrows with any technique that does not specifically state otherwise, and allows the Arrow Creation technique to create up to three arrows at once with no increase in cost. Lack of Conviction: Due to breaking the Bushido code [Respect], while actively utilizing this style, their attacks will lack conviction. ( Every attack hits as if it were one rank lower, and complex attacks consume [25] additional chakra.
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:20 pm
AxelStorn
C - Rank l Wanderer l Samurai l Failure Chakra - 10/390 l Stamina - 10/375
Day 3 to 10
By the time he was an hour and a half away from his family’s lands it was almost dusk. It had been 36 hours since Axel had left the village, or rather, 36 hours since he had been kicked out Kumogakure. The snow storm from the night before had remained then, and though there were cold and harsh winds all night that whipped at the forest, little snow actually fell. It seemed that with that, winter had breathed its last breath for the year. Despite this, the landscape was still harsh, cold and unforgiving, more importantly, it was desolate, and still full of mist, or rather, clouds. He was high enough at this point for the mountains to touch the lower hanging clouds and cover the mountains. It was moist inside of this cloud, just as it was inside of the rest of them. It took him about an hour just to get out of the cloud cover, and once he did, something wasn’t right. Stones riddled the winding road, portions of this mountain had given way, avalanched into sharp falls. As he went on, the boulders that riddled the road grew larger and less scarce, until it reached the point when the road was completely blocked. Rocks at least three times larger than Wan were stacked all across the mountain road making passage impossible for a normal human, why had no one come and clear this? More importantly, when did this happen? He knew that some of these mountains were prone to sudden avalanches, his family’s home was warded against them, Tsuki and Yari were adept at stopping them with ninjutsu when the warding failed. Axel jumped from one stone to the next, clearing almost fifty feet by the time he was done with his climb. When he reached the top, he was breathless.
He expected to see a large mountain way away, between the one he was currently in and the one that belonged to his family, a beautiful meadow plateau, a sort of Valley in between the peaks, the ancestral seat of his family, the Storn Family, a relatively imposing castle-like home, the only one for miles and miles, and lastly, a lake which fed waterways all over the Land of Lightning and beyond. Instead, what he saw was a mess of rocks, layered all across where his family home had been. He stood there, stunned, on top of the stones. It took him about five minutes before he finally took it all in and moved, not by his own volition, but because he heard someone call out, faintly at first, to the point he couldn’t hear it, but it got progressively louder as the wind picked up and carried the voice to the rock formation he was standing on. Faintly, he was yelling out his name. He heard it only as a faint whisper, but it was enough to pull him out of the shock. He looked down and saw a figure waving him on. Curious to know what happened, he jumped down and made his way. Once down, he saw a man garbed in a black and red cloak. He was bald, one of his eyes were blue, the other gold with a ring within it. He knew who it was; it was his priest. He was laying on the ground, missing a leg. He was skinny, and seemed to be on the brink of death; but his faith and Jashinist powers helped him hold on to life, although he wasn’t sure how much longer the man would last. He needed food, it was clear he had been getting water. “Natsumi.” He called out the priest’s name as he kneeled beside the man. He reached on to his side and procured some of the bird meat he had obtained the day before, offering the man some so he could replenish his strength.
“Axel…” The priest called out almost without strength. “My boy… It is so good to see you. How you have grown. Your father would be so proud.” The words stung him. His father was never proud of him, he would never be proud of him, not after what had happened. “The mountain…” He began telling the story of a battle the had broken out soon after Axel left, and how the mountain had collapsed. Soon after that incident, a roving pack of Giants had come around to survey what had occurred. Natsumi hid. He had no strength to fight them off, but he did the best he could to gather information. Some of them came and went, looking for something, or someone, Axel of course knew about the giants, he just didn’t know they held this much power. They were the ones responsible for what had happened to his family. They would pay. But first, Axel had to restore his family seat to its rightful place. He weaved hand signs and extended his hands, it took him the better part of an hour to turn the stone and iron that was around him into Iron Sand, but once it was done, first, he decided it would be necessary to make a road down to the valley, and so he did, carving a road down from where the stone and gave it a base to hold itself on. Then, He turned to the massive cloud of Iron Sand, and rock, that floated in the sky. He began by taking a clump and putting it below him, then, he elevated himself to get a better vantage point of his work. He began by making a square in the ground, leaving 100 feet of road from the start of the valley as if one was coming from Kumogakure. He arranged the Iron Sand, only the Iron one and made a wall go up to a hundred and fifty feet, for almost four hundred feet. Then, he did the same thing on the sides, only that they went on for almost eight hundred feed, and finally, another 150x400 wall. With that done, he mixed the stone and iron sands inside, building an exact replica of the small shrine that had once been in the home, only that this one would be ten times larger. The most defining feature of Axel’s Temple Citadel was the tower; at the center of the building, where the ritual room would be, he made a spire of pure Iron Sand, at first it was thick, to support the weight, and slowly thinned as it towered over all of the mountains, to the point where from the tip it would be visible from Kumogakure, and Kumogakure was visible from it. The tower would serve as a lightning rod, and on the very top, there was a small 10x10 room, within it, metal would be connected to a bowl, on which, on Axel’s direction, a fire would be lit, and would never go out for at least a thousand years.
Once the temple was finished, Axel made space for at least a thousand rooms. Each would serve a different purpose. That purpose though, was to be given by the priest. “Axel…” The priest said to him once it was done, which was almost a week later. “This is… your father would be so-“ “Proud?” Axel broke in and interrupted Natsumi, but proud was not the word he was looking for, none the less, he would leave it be. “I want you to remain here as the priest of the temple, Natsumi. I know you and my father did not see eye to eye on religion, but you are a great and knowledgeable man when it comes to the word of Jashin. You and my father taught me everything I know. In his honor, would you please spread the word of Jashin as he saw it? In his memory?” Natsumi thought for a while, and finally agreed. “Your father’s, and your family’s view on our great faith was strange, but in my travels I have met many men that cannot reconcile the faith of Jashin with the life they wish to lead. Perhaps the approach of the Storn is just what they need.” Axel only nodded in agreement. “I cannot remain here, Natsumi. Men might come looking for me here, say I went to Takumi. I’m going to find the people responsible for this. I will avenge my family.” His fist clenched and the last thing he did was make a crutch out of Iron Sand for him to move about. “Axel wait.” Natsumi called out as Axel began to move, he turned his head to look at the priest that had a hand in raising him in the faith. “There is something I want you to see. There is something I need you to get. The family pendant. It was stolen, mayhaps you can find it in Takumi. Kodokumaso is here though. In the cellars. Take it. As head of the family it is yours.”
With the death of his entire family, Axel had not considered for a moment that now he was the head of the Storn Family. There were no riches anymore, those had been lost, but he had a legacy. He had a name, and he had a sword. Furthermore, he had the memory of his parents to carry on. Ryu would no longer be a problem for him. He was burdened by that by his father. If it would have been up to him, Ryu would have been left to live his life freely outside, he was no one to force him to do anything. “Natsumi.” Axel’s voice was cold, he had suppressed most of the emotions of the loss, and in fact had taken them out while making the base for what could be a great city within the clouds and mountains. “Lead the way.” Axel broke his silence. Natsumi nodded and lead Axel through the winding ways of the empty citadel, until he reached the center of the temple. “Seems fitting.” Natsumi commented as he stood in the center of the shrine. “Here.” He said, and Axel made a small opening on the metal floor of the temple, followed by stairs which extended for twenty feet and lead to his father’s private quarters, which had been the private quarters of every head of the household had had. Natsumi grabbed Kodokumaso, four foot long katana sheathed in a white sheath, tied with two iron chains. “Only those worthy may open the blade, Axel,” he warned, taking a pause. “If you think you are worthy, open the sword, and prove your worth.”
He handed the young man the blade. Axel took it with shaking hands and looked around him before looking all around him. He had never been in this room before. There were portraits of every single head of the Storn Clan all around him, of them, and their families. But when it came to his father’s, there was a painting of a young him, his mother, Ryuu, Tsuki and Yari. Not of him. That hurt him to the point his eyes watered, but he did not show it to Natsumi. Instead he focused on the blade. He slowly tugged on the blade, but it did not budge. The priest shook his head and instructed Axel that he had to get his chakra on the blade and unsheathed it as if he was using Iaido, that was the way to create the bond between himself and the blade, the only way to bind Kodokumaso to his will, and so he did. In one movement, Axel forced his pitchblack chakra on to the sword and unsheathed it, sending a wave of his chakra on to the chains, causing them to snap and wrap around his arm. He felt a pull to the blade, as if his entire body was to be consumed by it, followed by a powerful force, strength like he had never felt before. His eyes went black only for a moment, and that was when he could finally see. “This blade is not a toy.” He heard the voice of a hundred men in his mind, speaking to him. “This is the blade wielded only by those that seek to bring the world to their feet.” But I don’t want to bring the world to its feet. “But you must. It is your duty as a Storn. This is what it means to be a Storn. Now avenge us. Prove to the blade that you are worthy.” He turned to Natsumi and said nothing until they were above ground and outside of the empty building. “As I said before, Natsumi. If people come looking for me, tell them I am at Takumi.” With that, he turned away from the temple he had built for himself, his family, and the entire world. The blade had let him know that he had one mission in life, and the death of his family that he had another, and he would complete both until the day he died.
Ryo: 2523 AC: 6300 OOC:
Technique Used:
Passives:
Formless: Medium Sized Sword [Katana] C Rank Formless: Longbow D Rank Way of the Warrior [Discipline Benefit: Your serene mind allows you to detect genjutsu you are trapped within that are two or more ranks below your own status rank, and your tempered body allows you to wear thick armor that a ninja would otherwise be dragged to their knees by. Weapon Master [Discipline Benefit]: Their depth and devotion to the weapon arts allows their skill to increase with every rank allowing their weapons to cut through defensive bukijutsu techniques of the same rank. Specialization Bonus: - 5 Chakra and Stamina for Buki Techs Mori Strength Bonus: +.2 In Strength Total Bow Draw Strength: 60lbs Satetsu Bonus: Moderate reduction in lightning damage Insight Rain: The user will practice extending themselves into the atmosphere, in a sense. After much dedication, the user develops the ability to sense hostile intent in the immediate area. As to where, however, they cannot be sure. Skill - Multitasking: While the first two stages of the style revolve around the very basics of how to use a bow, the third stage incorporates the use multiple arrows into a more stylish way of battling. Mastery allows the user to simultaneously fire multiple arrows with any technique that does not specifically state otherwise, and allows the Arrow Creation technique to create up to three arrows at once with no increase in cost. Lack of Conviction: Due to breaking the Bushido code [Respect], while actively utilizing this style, their attacks will lack conviction. ( Every attack hits as if it were one rank lower, and complex attacks consume [25] additional chakra.
Clock took the group of workers into the mountains. From here they would be getting their other two towers completed. A challenge with this cold. Her fingers were going numb. Before they started work she got a fire going with a quick cast of a jutsu into some brush she piled up. Shed need to come back to basicly recharge more than the others. They started with the base of the tower. By the time they had the framework up, clock needed to come warm her body up by the fire. It was giving her a headache to keep changing temperature extremes. She took a few minutes to push the pins and needles from her hands before starting again. Next went up a sturdy flight of stairs. Moronic in her opinion. The shinobi could scale this with zero issue and it would be far more secure without the JESUS IT WAS COLD. She ran for the fire as her teeth were chattering puahing the pins and needles from her hands once more. After putting the roof on the structure she took the group to the summit, freezing her leather clad a** off on the way. She was even ignoring the others even though she could feel the eyes on her. She let her hair shift to a deep auburn on the way up the mountain.
She repeated her steps at the top, setting up a fire pit and starting that b***h. She immediately had to warm herself by the fire. The air was thinner up here and it was deffinetly colder. She was finding that she could work longer though between rests now. They got half of the structure erected this time before she had to get heat into her fingers. From there on it seemed like her chakra warmed her instead. The cold just no longer effected her. She didn't seem to even think about it just forcing steel and wood to position and hammering bolts home to keep it sturdy. This had better get her into the academy. She had a lot to learn. She bid farewell to the anbuis group assigned to this post and made a final adjustment to the tower. She took a took a empty shell from her pack and scratched the words . "Clockwork was here" onto the base of the tower, at eye l3vel. Forever etched into the metal of the structure. She smiled and headed back toward kumo, her job completed.
PASSIVES:: ❶ JUTSU NAME:: x ❷ JUTSU RANK:: x ❸ JUTSU DESCRIP.::
CURRENT JUTSU:: ❶ JUTSU NAME:: x ❷ JUTSU RANK:: x ❸ JUTSU COST:: x❹ JUTSU DESCRIP.::
Hurrak generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
9!
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:36 am
𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐢◦✺◦𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨
It wasn't the most pleasant of situations. Two girls already belittled by a group of bulky miners at the start of a journey out to the wilderness. A new experience for Unki, Shion too probably, and jam packed with potential problems. Landslides. Poor use of dynamite. If it were snowing, avalanches. With luck this company would be out of reach of this 'bloody' war. At least the situation was fairing well and Unki's timely prior naptime had its benefit. In all honesty, Unki was set to follow the mining team's direction. She and Shion were simply escort with bodyguard benefits. After a while of travel it seemed they may have reached their destination...
• Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) • Blood Knight: Your bloodline techniques possess greater power, allowing them to overwhelm techniques of the same rank, and preventing them from succumbing to elemental weaknesses of techniques the same rank. Can cast bloodline techniques through one-handed seals. Bukijutsu Training::: • Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Two-fer-One:: The practitioner is now accustomed to performing techniques they have mastered with either one or two knives. Once per post, the user may use a single D-Rank or lower technique from this Style without paying the cost. •Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Offensive Style: Knife Stances Rank: E :: Training :: - The user becomes more accustomed to upward, downward, and sideways slashing motions. Speed of all Bukijutsu employing small arms is mildly increased.
Combat Activity
Ninjutsu Active: Physical Techniques Active:
Passives Active:
3 Activation: •
Chakra Cost: Stamnia Cost:
Thoroughbred Chakra Refund: • ; "Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used."
[Enter] What a wonderful way to start what was sure to be a great mission. NOT! Just like with the Squids, her team was being heckled from the start. You'd think people wouldn't have such regressive ways of thinking in a world where little kids can spit fireballs the size of cars. Needless to say, it bothered Shion to no end. She could prove the lead miner wrong... it wouldn't even be a challenge for her, but she kept to herself, only letting out the occasional grumble or nag about deja vu or what have you. Battle Info:
Hurrak generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
1!
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:30 pm
𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐢◦✺◦𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨
It was only fair that she had gone to work and try to create a good standing with the miners. She could be a 'little girl' all they want but she would be a 'little girl' who worked her share...without burning up her strength. It seemed Unki wasn't the only 'little girl' pulling her weight around here in rocks....
• Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) • Blood Knight: Your bloodline techniques possess greater power, allowing them to overwhelm techniques of the same rank, and preventing them from succumbing to elemental weaknesses of techniques the same rank. Can cast bloodline techniques through one-handed seals. Bukijutsu Training::: • Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Two-fer-One:: The practitioner is now accustomed to performing techniques they have mastered with either one or two knives. Once per post, the user may use a single D-Rank or lower technique from this Style without paying the cost. •Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Offensive Style: Knife Stances Rank: E :: Training :: - The user becomes more accustomed to upward, downward, and sideways slashing motions. Speed of all Bukijutsu employing small arms is mildly increased.
Combat Activity
Ninjutsu Active: Physical Techniques Active:
Passives Active:
3 Activation: •
Chakra Cost: Stamnia Cost:
Thoroughbred Chakra Refund: • ; "Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used."
So this is what guard duty meant, huh? Lifting rocks and hauling loads of whatever for miners? Just another annoyance to add to the tally. Battle Info:
Hurrak generated a random number between
1 and 22 ...
10!
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 4:48 pm
𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐢◦✺◦𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨
Unki tallied so far an esitmate of 46 pounds of minerals in her collective pile. All the rocks were nothing like the finished products of jewelry being incrusted with dirt. Coal was currently her most prolific find with a whopping 10 pounds conviently broken up in feesable chunks. The beige of her vest and shoes were already wearing the grey, dusty proof of her contribution. This task was filing along smoothly. She pondered on how Shion was doing taking another hack at the sturdy rock face with a pick. .
• Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) • Blood Knight: Your bloodline techniques possess greater power, allowing them to overwhelm techniques of the same rank, and preventing them from succumbing to elemental weaknesses of techniques the same rank. Can cast bloodline techniques through one-handed seals. Bukijutsu Training::: • Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Two-fer-One:: The practitioner is now accustomed to performing techniques they have mastered with either one or two knives. Once per post, the user may use a single D-Rank or lower technique from this Style without paying the cost. •Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Offensive Style: Knife Stances Rank: E :: Training :: - The user becomes more accustomed to upward, downward, and sideways slashing motions. Speed of all Bukijutsu employing small arms is mildly increased.
Combat Activity
Ninjutsu Active: Physical Techniques Active:
Passives Active:
3 Activation: •
Chakra Cost: Stamnia Cost:
Thoroughbred Chakra Refund: • ; "Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used."
Shion had apparently hit the motherload. All sorts of valuable things -- gold, diamonds, and various other minerals. Its too bad she would probably have to give them up at the end of this mission... then again, she could sneak a handful... or a simple transformation jutsu would do. Its not like the miners would see through it... Shion pondered over her options as she carried out another load.
That seemed like it was "it" for the rock gathering. Unki began sorting out her findings. She eyed a glimpse of shion's rocky cache that was looking like a really impressive haul. Maybe the miner's won't nag at us now for all the unearthed goods? Unki was quite happy with her findings
• Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) • Blood Knight: Your bloodline techniques possess greater power, allowing them to overwhelm techniques of the same rank, and preventing them from succumbing to elemental weaknesses of techniques the same rank. Can cast bloodline techniques through one-handed seals. Bukijutsu Training::: • Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Two-fer-One:: The practitioner is now accustomed to performing techniques they have mastered with either one or two knives. Once per post, the user may use a single D-Rank or lower technique from this Style without paying the cost. •Sobagai Deba Sentou:: Offensive Style: Knife Stances Rank: E :: Training :: - The user becomes more accustomed to upward, downward, and sideways slashing motions. Speed of all Bukijutsu employing small arms is mildly increased.
Combat Activity
Ninjutsu Active: Physical Techniques Active:
Passives Active:
3 Activation: •
Chakra Cost: Stamnia Cost:
Thoroughbred Chakra Refund: • ; "Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used."
