Starring:
Kaede, Amuro (as a "Koumorite"), Tessen
Date: February 8, 2011
Summary:
After Kaede is released from Sunagakure, he makes his way to the town of Sukoppu Machi. He is supposed to meet Tessen there, but he has also been directed to go there by the one who bailed him out. What is waiting for Kaede in this small town?
"Hunt For Baasku The Butcher - Falling Through The Fire…"
Sukoppu Machi - Land of Wind
It's late afternoon in the small settlement of Sukoppu Machi. Beneath the ancient dome walks a young man who knows no fear of his unlawful neighboors. Part of him even wondered if they knew who he was? And if they did, would that make him a target even more?
He also wondered idly, if he could use crystal to defend himself, and if that would incurr the wrath of his mysterious benefactor. He didn't want that wrath, for he wanted to meet him. If it wasn't Rain, who was it?
Near the center of the settlement, the young man sits down and sighs, soon, he will have to go, but he had to leave the pain of being disowned and missing his father's funeral behind. And that might take some more time or getting used to.
Suddenly, the sky goes dark. Or at least, something moves over Kaede of sufficient density to darken the spot where he sits for a moment. Then it drops down several feet away, right in front of him. 'It' appears to be a man, but such things are never certain. Wrapped all in scarves and bandages, with a ninja hood and face-wrap, it is clear that this is not a farmer that stands before Kaede. Even more clear is that this may not even be a human. A pair of enormous bat wings rise from the creature's ankles. The wings are made not of flesh but instead of some black energy or… Something. Chakra isn't supposed to be visible to normal eyes. So is this a 'special' Chakra, or something else? Whatever it is, the wings ripple, flex, and move like scraps of darkness torn from the night sky and given physical form.
The man-bat-thing rises from its crouched position and reaches for a courier pouch at his hip, nice and slow. He says nothing. Two glowing, rounded, pale-red eyes glisten from within the narrow, shadowy opening in his hood and mask. A scroll is withdrawn from the pouch and offered to the rogue Seishukuni. The man-bat-thing makes no attempt to come closer. It just stands and holds out the scroll from where it is presently positioned.
Kaede is sitting in the center of the small village when suddenly someone or something lands directly in front of him. Kaede leaps back suddenly, hands clapping together, as he thinks to himself 'Here comes the riot'.
Yet, surprisingly, the bat thing doesn't appear to be hostile, and instead, hands him over a scroll. Kaede watches the creature carefully, looking at the wings, any other visible features, and especially the eyes.
"What the hell are you?" Kaede asks, surprisingly not afraid or intimidated. This lack of fear played so well in making it appear that Kaede is in fact crazy. Because as some people scream, yell and hurriedly desert the location, Kaede stands calmly, reaches out with his hand and takes the scroll.
He takes one more look at the creature and then opens the scroll, wanting to see it's contents.
The bat-thing answers in a surprisingly high-pitched voice, but otherwise human male, "Koumorite. <Bat Hand.>" When the scroll is opened, a black spiral is revealed on the paper, along with some words in Seal Calligraphy. The spiral starts to spin after a few seconds of being looked at, and the light starts to bend and warp inwards, almost as though the paper were trying to draw in everything around. The Koumorite explains in as vague a manner as possible by saying, "Transportation. Use when ready." Then he-she-it turns and prepares to fly away, apparently, because the wings spread to their full breadth.
Tessen happened about this settlement when he first moved towards Sunagakure to deal with Koudo, and found it to be a place to rest outside of Sunagakure's sight. When the bat-man moved over head towards a somewhat distant location inside the dome, he rose to give pursuit. More out of curiousity than aggression. Not every day you see something like that, and rarer still that it is a good omen.
When he caught upto it, and saw Kaede he groaned. Seemed Kuoroke did something he wasn't supposed to, and would have to be dealt with accordingly. Stiffling his aggitation, he gave the bat-man a once over and peered past to Kaede.
His flat voice rang out, "Kaede…didn't expect to see you so soon. Who is your friend?"
Staring at the seal, Kaede couldn't help but feel impressed. The words of the Bat hand almost went ignored until Kaede could summon the will to close the scroll.
"I see." Kaede says to the bat hand. "I will use this when I am ready. Thank your Master in my name." He says as he practically dismisses the bat with a wave of his hand.
It made him feel important, even though he knew that he was the one who was the subject here.
And then Tessen's voice came. Kaede turned to face Tessen and shrugs his shoulders. "A friend." Kaede simply says. "I didn't expect to see you either, Tessen."
The Koumorite does not wait to see what Tessen has to say. He barely even nods in response to Kaede and then goes taking off into the air. It starts off as a leap, but then the energy wings flap to keep him airborne. The Bat Hand simply flies off without a look back, eventually, he makes it to such an altitude where he is able to do… Something that seems to involve swallowing himself up in his wings by wrapping them around his body, and turning into a black sphere. The sphere then takes off at speeds even faster than he was flying at before. Useful. Useful and weird.
Tessen's eyes shifted to keep an eye on the bat as it left. Something about it… He would need to talk to Rain when he could. Perhaps his master knew something of the creature, or whether it was their friend or foe.
Once it left he turned his eyes back down towards Kaede. "Judging by the fact there isn't a trail of courpses from Sunagakure to here…I take it you were released willingly. Anyway, that is of little concern right now. Kami-sama is tied up in another matter, and has left Baasku to my discretion. We will move on him, but we must first make a stop in Kusagakure to try and see if the third candidate for the team is willing to join us. One Kishi Mune."
Kade glanced at Tessen and than the scroll. "I do not like these allegations that I am a murderer, Tessen." Kaede says flatly. "I have never killed a person." He said as he put the scroll into his shirt and looked after the bat and as it turned into a black sphere and picked up in speed. Really wierd and useful.
"This Baasku however needs to be put to justice. Let's leave immediatly, I do not have much time."
Tessen looked to Kaede, "Time…why not?" Those were the only words to leave the man's lips. Something was going on, and if he didn't know there was nothing that could be done. At the least any informatioin he gathered could be given to Rain, should he be willing to listen…and able to be found. Tessen didn't have the heart to say he hadn't been able to contact or find Rain for some time now.
"It's a long story." Kaede answers and he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. In fact, his thoughts stray quickly to the scroll in his shirt. The Bat Hand said 'when he was ready'. Kaede in part hoped that was a indefinite ammount of time, but not over-exagarated. Kaede did want to meet this man, but first, he had to put down this Baasku guy.
"Kishi Mune rings a few bells. I think I know her. Or at least, heard about her." He glances to Tessen, "I thought, however, that we didn't need anyone else but me, you and Rain. Did we receive some new information on Baasku's abilities?"
"Not so much. Kami-sama is busy with other affairs, and will be too preoccupied to help us take down Baasku. He has left me in charge of dealing with Baasku, and without Kami-sama we will need a third. I remember Kishi Mune from a long time ago in the village of twilight. She regarded out master as her own, so she is at the least an ally. She is a very skilled medic, and has made it far in the tournament in Kusagakure. I am going to have you accompany me to find her, and ask her to join us. Should she agree we will be well prepaired for this man…but if she should refuse we will find another. No harm or tests are to come to her. Is that clear Kaede?"
Tessen's voice was firm as he spoke those words. There had been enough unnecessary bloodshed on the path to Baasku, and someone not yet involved should not suffer. Kuoroke, was another story, but as Kaede would not share on about his new friend, Tessen would not share his plans either.
"Don't speak down to me, Tessen." Kaede says, voice icy cold and venomous. "Rain may think you are my superior, but I have no such illusions. Lord Rain may also know that I do not care about the Takokujin's political structure. I serve Lord Rain and no one else." Kaede steps closer to Tessen, "You are gonna have to prove in different ways if you think you can command me or deem me inferior."
He pauses then at Tessen's side and adds, staring in front of himself "Or you will pay dearly for that mistake."
Tessen looked to Kaede with his charcoal eyes and let out a soft breath as he went to move past the man. His back turned and his voice uncaring and unafraid. "Kaede…Rain Sama has put his faith in me to assemble and lead a team to kill Baasku. If you can not or choose not to listen to me…then you can be replaced on this team. That is the authority granted to me by our Lord. In either case I am done for now. Preparations will be ready in a few days, then I am leaving for Kusagakure. You can either follow me, or find your own way back through the desert."
Kaede smirked when Tessen apparently, to him it seemed at least, backed down. "I can listen to you, Tessen. I just didn't like your tone. I won't put up with that, especially after the recent events." Kaede pauses for a moment, "But as I said earlier, I do not have much time, if we are gonna ask this Mune for assistance, than we better leave immediatly." Kaede glances towards Tessen, "Is this acceptable?"
Without turning back to face Kaede he spoke calmly. "My preparations will be ready in a few days time. I can not leave until then, so I will be here still. You may leave now if you desire…it may take some time to find Mune if I am not there, but a head start is not a bad thing." With that he would step into the crowd and be on his way back to whatever it was he was doing beforehand.
Kaede nodded to Tessen, "I understand." Was all he said as he too stepped into the crowd in the opposite direction of Tessen and headed out of the settlement, probably towards Kusagakure, where he would try to find Kishi Mune.
