Starring:
Tessen, Odo, Senryoku
Date: November 19, 2011
Summary:
None given.
WARNING: Contains foul language.
"What If? Dead Rising - All That Remains"
The utter void that was once Higakure
The consequence of great fame, power, influence, and the promise of change is displayed within the area that was the seat of power for this change, as far as was known by all but a very few individuals. A distinct lack of anything at all, pure nothingness, a void by direct meaning exists where there once stood change and perhaps even revolution. The actions of one Uchiha who had discovered secrets of the past far beyond those understood by all but one other had caused such nothingness to exist as a true, physical manifestation within reality. It was a testiment to the true meaning of darkness as none other would ever realize in this age, and yet it was born of sacrifice, not greed or hunger for power.
Uchiha Yau. Lord Rain. The leader of the Takokujin's Administrative branch. The ruler of the Land of Rivers. The overseer of the Twilight Village, Higure. The shadow of Madara himself. This was his resting place. He would have died a villain, a betrayer of the current ways of the Uchiha, a world reknown criminal, and amongst the strongest Uchiha to ever exist. He would have went rogue, even to his own organization and trusted people, and died irrationally for reasons never explained to anyone at all. In the end, he did not leave behind nothing at all. He had left questions, and likely many of them. There was no one left to answer thme however, simply the mysterious vortex that used to be home to so many trying to find a path through this existence. The only clues to what may have been the cause were likely there amongst the utter void.
Tessen was here. He came periodically to check on things as if they would one day change and he would find something here. A part of him knew better, but a larger part wanted to be wrong. He wanted to find rubble, a corpse, sign of something…something more than this complete and utter nothingness that existed here now. He could remember his master, he could remember the village, he could remember the comrades that resided withing walls that stood just a stone's throw from the spot he stood, but he could find nothing. Looking into that void he was blind, even his Sharingan showed him nothingness when he dared to look into the void. How he hated it, how he hated it all…that his leader was gone in that void and that the leaf took him there.
There was another present today near the edge of never within that cyclone of non-existance. Reizei Ogosokamaru. Odo, as he was known to just about everyone in the world save a select couple family members. He had just finished visiting them for the last time, and passed by here every time he was moving through the Village that took his comrade.
Odo saw there was another here, and stepped up with Tessen between himself and the void. "Tessen," is all the greeting he would give to the other with whom he had worked before.
Nothing remained in silence as the two would be circumstantially reunited at this point in time; at this place. The irony of Rain's belief that everything was darkness and darkness was everything was pronounced by both the area in which he and many other called home, and the mood that eminated from those who would come near in rememberance. A man of his word to the very end in that regard at least. His son had been incubating withi nthe Master Seal chamber, awaiting the proper time to emerge. Awaiting for the world to be ready for his purpose. Was Rain able to prepare the world for him as he had sought to?
Tessen raised his head. Vermilion eyes showing towards Odo as his chakra levels surged reflexively. It was obvious for once the emotion that showed on this stoic man's face. It was grief and pain. He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that resided within him for failing his master when he was needed most. For letting him be taken over and killed in such a fashion as this. It was his duty to protect Rain…and he had failed.
Eyes the color of blood peered to Odo. "What is it now Odo? Have you too come to pay respecets, or are you here to make certain it is true that he won't come back to ruin your dreams of usurping his ideals and power?" The words dripped venom. Tessen was unstable at this moment and his emotions whirled together clashing, it was all too possible that he would attaack Odo if the wrong word was uttered.
Odo stepped up next to the red-eyed Uchiha. His own amber-colored eyes staring at the vortex before them, like he as well was waiting for Rain to just walk out in his nonchalant way and start giving orders again. It made Odo sick. "If only you knew how much I wish I didn't have to do anything. Fighting is easy. And we are good at it," 'we', not 'I' or 'you', he actually complimented Tessen today, "but putting together those for an entire organization takes.. a passion I hardly have." His eyes raise up from the swirling abyss up to the sky. The calmly distressed look on his face looked like he was silently begging for something to the stars.
A single point of light would be shown in the middle of the collosal void. It would seem to sparkle and blink a dark, muted red. Though very very rapidly, it would fill the vast majority of the void, apeparing to be an eye that had a very specific marking in place of the pupil: The Darkness Mark of the Eye. Coincidence? Rain had never dabbled in coincidence before… so at the very best the was a trick. It had to be. It defied all reason and logic. However… "Ogosokamaru… Tessen…" would beheard in a rather calm, though echoing, warbling voice that didn't seem to have an origin. The marks that they recieved would glow faintly for a moment before all three sets of marks would brightly flash prior to extinguishing themselves. The eye within the void would be gone, but warped, partially phased being that seemed to be made of barely held together shadows stood before the vortex, almost indistinguishable aside from one aspect which was his darkly glowing, fully developed sharingan. "…It is good to see you again, after eternity." The being would step forward slowly, and as it gained distance from the void, it would coelesce in to a more complete state. The features would become more and more clear, the dark purple armor with three tomoe along the neck guard, the long, some what wild hair. The pale, gaunt features. And of course, the look of untouchable confidence, perhaps even the assumption of clairvoyance would define the demeanor of what appeared to be Rain himself. "Perhaps it is not as long as is assumed by mortality."
Tessen's hand instantly flew to his sword as he heard his name. His instincts making his emotions retreat deep within himself for another time as his sharingan burned into the void and the image taking shape. His mark of loyalty flashed in his peripheral vision and he glanced down for only the briefest second as he again locked eyes on the image before them. His sharingan showing no trace of genjutsu.
His voice was stern but flat as he spoke. "Odo…this isn't a genjutsu. Not from what my Sharingan is showing me…you have any idea what the fuck is going on here? Lord Rain is dead…in that void of nothingness. Consumed by the spirit of the spirit of the Eldest Son…he can not be here! It is not possible…not even for a man as great as Rain-sama…it can't be…"
The words kept breaking up. Despite his battle ready stance, despite his willingness to kill, this hardened man was crying. No sobs or heaving breaths came from him, but it was obvious that tears were streaming down his face as if waterfalls were hidden behind his eyes of blood. Not even he could tell the emotion that sprang them, but all of him hoped that this was reality and not an illusion too strong for him to break.
Odo's reaction was quite like Tessens. Though no tears flowed, but his hand was shaking when he drew his sword and held it sideways a bit defensively. "Was it… was it all faked? Is this whole thing a toy of yours, Rainos? Did you plan this when you were atop the cliff a decade ago, watching me and my men almost die?" Odo was now babbling. This was far too much for him to take in, and Tessen's question wouldn't go unanswered. "I don't know.." His eyes tried to take in everything about the form in front of them, to see if something might be off enough for him to know it was a trick, maybe a trap concieved by Konoha nin for the last year to bring in all of Rain's followers by playing on their devotion.
Rain would smirk easily as he looked between the two men. "Certain steps had to be taken. Time is not linear… and neither is fate. There is much that you should know and come to understand, I am but a footnote to those things of such importance." Rain would state before briefly considering Natsumi and Fudo while he coould, closing his eyes for only a moment before opening them again. "The third child of the Sage of the Six Paths had to be stopped. He could not simply be defeated, he had to be… destroyed by that which he is. That which consumed Higure. If I did not allow for my body to be taken by the ancestor… someone far more inept or perhaps even more clever than I may have tried to utilize him. This was unacceptable. The future has no place for the sons of the Sage. I am here because of one reason alone… our chakra was linked by the Master Seal. My time is limited by your chakra reserves. This is not permanent."
Rain would then stare forward largely, as if seeing everything in his field of vision all at once, no need to focus on anything in particular. It may have even seemed similair to how Byakugan might be utilized, but it was in no other way similair. "Ah… It is also good to see you… Cousin." Rain would state to… Tessen? No… it had to be someone else. A familiar poof of smoke would be heard a good distance behind both Tessen and Odo, Though with a gesture, a shodowed figure would be yanked from midair it seemed back through the smoke bombs to crash in to the ground, sheath first. It seemed at least for the moment, that the small amount of magnetic ability Rain possed was starkly increased. Senryoku would roll on to his stomache, facing the group with his hands pressed to the ground, ready to spring up, but not making sudden movements. He remained silent, and still largely masked and unseen physically throughout due to his almost completely black attire. Still ,the tension could be easily recognized in his form. He was witnessing something entirely otherwordly, and he was not taking it for granted. It seemed like an easy place to die. Even though he was made aware that Tessen disliked it, he was the type to discover truths on his own and use them to his own advantage. Unlike most of his clan however, clandestine practices were not beneath him or dishonorable.
"A family… of strangers." Rain would state as he kept a certain proximity with the nothingness behind him. "Something man has forgotten is the very foundation of civilization. Something we have forgotten as clans, villages, nations. It matters not from what blood you draw breath… but how we struggle together through mortality." Looking towards Odo and tessen for a brief moment, he would state once again, "How we struggle together… for those that choose to struggle against each other cause the rifts of war, destruction, and the man made unfairness of the world. Peace as is desired by most, will never occur… but peace in the sense of understanding is not out of reach." Rain would now look towards Senryoku as he would say, "Blood does not define everything. Thought defines reason, action defines result. The Uchiha… are the manifestations of thought. The visionary few.. often blinded by the attachments of our reality. Do you understand… Senju?"
Tessen stood still as a statue as Rain spoke. His hand frozen on the hilt as he watched his master and friend. For the first time he noticed the pull on chakra as it left him. It seemed so small in his shocked state, but his mind knew better. Even with the large reserves he and Odo had…this meeting would last only moments, when he wished for hours and days. With a soft breath he spoke before the Senju met earth. "Odo…focus as much chakra as you can stand. If one of us runs out it doesn't matter how much the other has up and pumping Rain-sama will probably fade back into the abyss."
Turning slowly Tessen had to will his muscles to move. He felt like he was fighting against his master's submition technique magnified tenfold. The shock needed to pass. When he saw the familiar figure from a few days before a smirk formed. This kid would be issues and he knew it. A part of him wanted to end him now so that he wouldn't interfere further, but he wouldn't risk disturbing the link with Rain.
Turning back slowly, he let his head fall to look at the ground. "Master…I am sorry that I failed to protect you. I am sorry that I allowed Kaede to escape my eye and die like a dog in the land of mist. I am sorry that we are almost all that remains of the Takokujin. The rest were either killed, or fled and forgot they were ever a part of your vision. Odo, myself, and Ryoji are the only ones who still acknowledge it all…I have failed you countless times now. Though I did manage to complete the last mission you gave me. Baasku the butcher is dead…I managed that much."
He choked down a deep breath as he raised his head towards Rain. "I can not accept this peace and understanding that they seek. They have vilified you, and the Takokujin. The Senju like that boy still hold our clan under their heels. There is too much falsity of it all…too many eyes closed in this false peace Master. I must open them…and I must restore all of us to our rightful places in this world. We can not be kicked dogs that lap for our oppressors scraps…I won't allow it Master…please…let me show them this pain and truth…let me show them what it is to be as we are and were…please…"
Tessen's ordering made Odo twitch in the eye, and he looked over at the oUchiha. It was easy to hate Tessen to Odo. But today he would just ignore, and let Rain's memory… ghost, whatever this thing is, take whatever it needed from him till he passed out. And to the senju at their feet for a moment, Odo would extend his sword at him. "Who's this?"
Within a moment his eyes raise up to look at the figure of Rain, listening to Tessen talk about duties, then he would have his turn to ask a question. "Rainos. Tessen and I don't get along. And I have Ryoji with me now. Also," looking down at the senju in front of them, but knowing this moment wouldn't last too much longer, "A Hyuuga as well." And eyes narrow at Senryoku hoping he would understand Odo didn't want that getting past this meeting for now.
Looking for praise was a habit of people, but for Odo it was more of an update. Odo's eyes started getting a little misty as he spoke again, "You were a very good friend." Now he's attempting to say what he never got the chance to.
Senryoku deeply furrowed his brow at all of this. Was this some fanatical cult attempting to ressurect their "master" some how? Was this some strange genjutsu trick of the Uchiha to catch him entirely off guard? What ever it was… it was truly facinating either way. From nothingness, comes the darknes of the uchiha… almost poetic to his mind. Rain would shake his head slightly towards Tessen. "You did not fail me Tessen. I simply chose to protect you instead." That seemed to be his overly simplistic reply to Tessen's words, but it still held all of the meaning. "Suffering is not beyond any of us. Let them make their assumptions and draw their conclusions. Allow them to see only what is before their eyes and not beyond it. Endure the hard ship and come out far stronger. Both of you. That is and has always been my advice. If this life were made easy, you would never reach your true potential. You would have never defeated Baasku without during the life you have, Tessen. You would have never gained the strength and the wisdom and patience to begin to take back what is rightfully yours, Ogosokamaru. And you… Senju… do not believe your exploits during the clan wars were not witnessed by me. The War Potential of the Senju… is that not what they called you after the defeat of our famous assassination squad? What is surprising is how weak you truly are… and how well you apparently thrive with that weakness. Just like a Senju… defined completely by action. You are like a flickering candle that wants to face a raging inferno with no consideration to losing. I will never understand the way that Senju think… but i do understand that in this world… you have the potential to make things happen."
Senryoku would suddenly spring to his feet, a hand on his sword, but he other wise had a casual stance. "It appears the Uchiha ghosts are far wiser and well informed that the living variety. I don't really understand all of what you are talking about, it is very hard to follow you know. Still, they believe that you are real, and I have no idea as to whether they are right or wrong.. so i'm going to go with what I see for now. This.. Tessen fellow, it seems he is far more interesting than I realized before. I guess i'll have to see what he had in mind after all. And this… how do you say his name? That guy… i still dont' know anything about him, but there does seem to be some sort of bond here. Maybe i won't have to sneak around in order to find out the secrets of this little conversation."
Rain didn't confirm or deny or explain anything to Senryoku as he would speak with Odo. "You never have… in fact, most of you never got along. How you worked together at all is a mystery that I cannot truly explain in the end. You attatched your loyalties to something other than yourselves, and did not allow other things to get in the way of that. Odo… there has never been a time when you could not rally people. However… can you guide them? Your strength is irrelivant to that, entirely. It means nothing, and neither does your ability to lead them in tasks. Can you guide them? And if so… what excuse do you have for being unable to also guide Tessen? Not getting along? Is that as best an excuse you can create to blame aware your inability to do something? I do not know what your goal is Odo… but if you wish to continue in the direction i laid out, then turning an enemy in to an ally is a skill you will have to find in yourself… or a skill that the Takokujin requires once again. If you wish to continue the Takokujin… you must become the brush… and no longer be the sword, or find someone who can be the brush."
Finally, he would get to the heart of Tessen's own matter. "A rogue shinobi without purpose… that is how i found you. It is not how i want to leave you. However… purpose is found in only two ways, both stemming from the same root. Dedication from either yourself, or for another. You must find someone who is able to guide that immense strength and potential… you must find a sheath to be drawn from Tessen. Just as Odo must find or become the brush to stroke all that comes after and before blood shed."
The tears couldn't stop streaming from Tessen's eyes as he listened to Rain. His master had chosen to sacrifice himself to save Tessen rather than letting Tessen die to save him. It hit him like a lead weight upsides the head. When he tried to breath it felt like someone was pouring hot sand down his throat that weighed his stomach down. He felt sick. The kind that made a man crumple from the inside to lie helplessly as he watched his own body wither into nothingness.
A few chocked breaths escaped him. He hated these feelings. Hated that they could not be choked down deep inside of him and forgotten like so many others. The stone face he wore was crumbled to dust as he continued to listen. These were his masters words, and as such were law absolute. They would not be questioned, they would not be forgotten, and they would remain unchallengd within him until he was gone from this world. He forever will be Rain-sama's sword.
He looked to Odo for a moment and then back to Rain. The Senju would wait for another time as his time now was limited. "Rain-sama…thank you…for everything. I don't know where I would be now without you, or what I would have become. No matter who I find to weild me now…they will never be the true scabbard for the blade that I am. That honor and place are reserved for you and you alone. My true master. Do you have any final orders or wishes for me to carry out? Anything at all Kami-sama?" His head low and his hand free of his blade. Tessen stood at attention as he had so many times before infront of Rain.
The Reizei listens, and he can't help but feel like he was a child. To be told that your whole reasoning and ability is just as good as Rain's own was maybe too much for Odo to bear. Now he clenched a fist. Need to find a brush. Need to be a brush. Then Odo thought for a moment. Looking to Tessen next to him. "I'll be your sheath. And the brush which paints the picture. No, not as Rain was, but better than nothing. I do not lead you. You don't follow me. I will guide you. Just as Rain guided me." He looks up to Rain, and gives a slight bow. Just as he always did, never more, never less. "Why can't we bring you back?" Odo was hiding his face with the bow. Though one might see he was frowning and might even have a couple tears rolling down his face.
"There is nothing to bring back. I chose to rid the future of the past… thus i can no longer exist in the present. It was… the price." Rain would turn around then and begin to head back towards the void. "Tessen… make sure that Fudo is not disturbed until the world is ready for him. That day may never come… but all i can do now is leave it in your hands. Odo, you were not around for this, but i hope you will assist Tessen in that task." Stopping for just a moment, he would glance back behind himself. "Senju no Senryoku, this is not a matter for you. Should they choose to share it with you, that is their own decision. Do not pry, is my warning to you." The obscure young man would slowly nod at all of this. He had witnessed many things in his life, but nothing quite like this. A spirit dependant upon others to even exist for a brief time causing such a reaction. Such loyalty that came from mere words… something the Senju had a bit of trouble understanding himself. The power of words and ideas over actions and effect. Rain would say one last thing before he would move back in to the void, "Remember that our blood is the same… Senju. We are simply fragments of something greater. As the Uchiha tend to be ignorant of the world around them as they look past it, the Senju must learn… to… act…… beyond………… perception……………….." And with that, Rain would lose his coherence, becoming nothing more but the fading glow of his eyes. Senryoku would stare at these eyes that stood very dangerously inside of the void, considering deeply what was asked of him. Beyond perception? Is that how he truly saw the world? Was that really what it meant to be an uchiha in the end… to be isolated and full of hatred, revenge, or confusion because you simply do not see the same world as everyone else? If that was the case… then what that man was really saying was far more profound than simply the differences and compensating for them. Slightly awed by that possability, Senryoku would murmur, "Even as nothing at all… that man has a plan for the entire world…"
Tessen would nod to Rain in understanding of his words. He would guard the child or hte location he last knew for the child. It was his masters final wish, and one he would gladly fulfill. A part of him wanted to reach out to Rain and join him in that oblivion. To join his master as he should, but he could not bring himself to do it. He couldn't throw himself into that nothingness, for he knew it would not be so kind to him.
Turning to Odo he whiped his eyes and tried to restore the stoic expression upon his face as best he could. The drain of sustaining Rain was heavy, but he could still go on, and would have given more to keep him just a few more minutes. His voice was shaky as he spoke a sign of the continued stress he was under. "We will no longer be strangers Odo…No longer the Takokujin of time past. We can not be as Rain-sama can no longer be. We are now but remnants of his will, and remnants of his ideals and ourselves. We are now Hampa. A fitting name for us, and homage to our leader…so that we…we will not tarnish his legacy and reputation. With that name we can unite and grow. Gather the other fragments and remnants to carry on into this world and try to live up to him."
A smirk crossed his lips as he looked to Senryoku, "That man always had a plan for the world, and all of us who crossed his path. That is why he is now and always will be our true master. None shall ever measure up to him…in all of time."
Turning to Odo he spoke again. "We should go now…there is much to do and little time to do it."
ooc Extremely tentative long term goals… As dictated in this RP, i don't plan to state Fudo has died… i plan to wait and earn.. and see if it is not possible to use him in the future. I plan to use and develope Senryoku towards helping the Takokujin take and establish themselves in Kyuusen, which needs to be re-engaged with this time line any how. He is designed to be a master strategist and tactician, though he won't be truly strong until later as far as pure rolls. If Fudo is ever allowed to hit the grid, it wil lbe after many things have been established around the events that happened today, and Senryoku will likely sacrifice himself entirely, or a piece of himself to "complete" Fudo. Make this whole thing as epic as possible should it last that long or even go this route. I can do… many… many things if in about a year or two things are in that stage and allowable. As long as ihave time to develope. And you guys would have likely mastered these characters by then as well.
Odo doesn't come up from his bow for several moments, and straightens up, resheathing his sword and looking at Senryoku with little regard to whoever he was. "Go run on home, child. Maybe you can sleep well for another few years." Then Tessen speaks of them working together.
Odo smiles, "Hampa. Good name," he says as he starts to turn around away from the vortex and back towards Fuuma, through the better portion of the neutral countries. "So, would you be the fan, and greaten the flame that I paint?" A joking reference to the Uchiha.
Senryoku would shake his head. "I refuse simple rest. I intend to pursue what was suggested to me by that spirit. However… i do not think I can truly understand it unless I find out more about who and what that was. So, I will be joining this… Hampa as you have called it. It is as fitting a name for you, as it is apparently me, from what that man called Rain said just now." Senryoku would state, following after the two. "Though… i guess if you are going to take care of what ever task he left you with, I will wait in… probably the Land of Wind or the Land of Fire for you two to return. I expect… that is what you will do in the end." The shoruded young man would declare.
