Starring:
Rockpath (emitter), Nozomi, Arashi
Date: August 1, 2016
Summary:
Nozomi is accepted as the summoner of the bats
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Origin of Batgirl - Batgirl Begins"
Bat Clan's summon world
It's early evening, and the sun has gone down. Nozomi is out amongst the waterfall outside of Kumo, working on various things while she waits for Arashi to arrive. They were supposed to be working on some training, though whether this training would be to improve her perceptive capabilities or to work on her genjutsu, she wasn't sure which. All she knew is that he chose this place to be far enough away from others training that the likelihood of them being spied upon was relatively low. So for now she is practicing channeling chakra into her eyes as practice for fine-tuning her dojutsu.
Arashi was heading out to meet with Nozomi now. It was a common place for him to choose at least, but it was more isolated than normal. Wouldn't take long for him to personally make it to where she was and pull her a tiny bit to the side. "Hey Nozomi. Training going well? Good. I think we are to wait a bit for more to show up too so until then a bit of training can be done." He states before stretching some himself.
As darkness falls, the bats prepare in their caverns. There was a great deal of discussion, but at last they had decided to welcome someone they felt as worthy into their ranks. A young Yamayuki, even. A Genin of the Hidden Cloud. She had been vouched for by her mentor, and even Ang had said that the girl impressed him. And so the little fruit bat was sent to retrieve the girl. He would arrive, perching on Nozomi's head or shoulder (whichever is more usual for him) and say just as Arashi arrived, "Nozomi, I must steal you away! Arashi is welcome, too."
Nozomi's eyes track up to the top of her head to see the small bat that had been her mentor perched there. "Well, whatever you were planning, Arashi-taicho, just got aborted." She gives her team leader a smile before answering Ang. "I'm ready whenever you both are," she said with a slight bit of nervousness tinging her voice. Okay, so now was the moment of truth. Did she impress the Elder bats enough to become part of the family? Or was she going to be denied? She really, really hoped it was the former.
Arashi frowned, but nods. Guess nothing to be done for this today. Bat stuff much more important right now so he would follow along. He followed along closely so he could speak with Ang a bit if he was allowed. "How long will it be before things are completely decided and handled?" He asked of the bat before looking at Nozomi. "I personally am not very familiar with any of this…. Though I suppose no one should be huh?" He chuckled towards her in an effort to get her to at least smile.
"Good," Ang says approvingly, and then they all suddenly whisk off to bat-land. Skipping the 'how' they got here, let's focus more on the wonderful (dark) scenery of the cave. There were three bats in the cave, each of them fairly large for their species despite actual bats being pretty small. Then again, they're summons… What can one expect?
The first bat, on the right of the cave facing the trio, is known as a common pipistrelle. Her name is Hikaru. The second bat, sitting in the middle, is an evening bat known as Akihito. And the final bat on the left is Kaoru, a mouse-tailed bat. Each of them are supposed to be small, only taking up probably a hand span. Instead, the three bats seem to envelop the cave. Not actually. But they are a few feet long in body rather than a few centimeters. "Greetings~!" Hikaru says cheerfully. "I hope you don't mind the dark?" she asks politely. "Let's get this over with. We should tell her now so that there are no delusions. No false hopes and the like." That was Kaoru speaking in a surprisingly rough voice. The bat in the middle just sits there and sighs at his companions, waiting for them to shut up. Eventually they settle, and Akihito, the apparent leader, says, "Yamayuki Nozomi. You are here to know the results of your trials, yes? And I know Arashi is here as well. He may stay."
Nozomi seems to know where each of bats are, and can 'see' somewhat, thanks to her nejigan being active. As she orients on each bat s they introduce themselves, Nozomi makes quick mental notes in case she needs to know for the future. "I don't mind the dark at all. I am not hindered by a lack of light," she replies to Hikaru, purposefully avoiding 'sight.' Kaoru's words cause an inner spike of anxiety, but she is careful to keep signs away from her face. When Akihito speaks though, she turns her attention to him. "I would be very pleased to know the results of my trials. Thank you for bringing me here to tell me and for allowing Arashi to stay."
Arashi looked over the bats and blinked a bit, and it seemed he wasn't going to get his question answered. "Thanks for allowing me to stay, and hmmm. Yeah don't worry about the light. I can handle the dark." He said before listening to each of them. His opinion was not too needed until addressed, but he was hopeful that Nozomi would get her wish and very much would be happy for her if so. It was a big step for her if she achieved that.
Arashi's question would be answered in short order. No need to give him a verbal response! Akihito would give a nod (sorta), and he says, "It felt best. Nozomi-san, we have deliberated extensively, even speaking with Arashi-san, and we feel-" It is then that Kaoru would butt in. "You got the contract, girl. Okay? You don't get to exchange Ang out, though, so I hope you're happy with him." Hikaru seemed to giggle softly. "Kaoru, you ruined all the fun~. Next time you should just let me and Akihito handle it~" Hikaru's voice seemed to be very sing-songy like Nozomi's speech tends to be.
Nozomi was hopeful, but a bit uncertain as Kaoru seemed to be a bit gruff about her. But she appreciated the diplomacy that Akihito was displaying was both welcome and at the same time stress-inducing. When Kaoru interjects and just blurts it out, she breaks into a wide, cheerful smile and only barely resists dancing where she was. The question raised about Ang was answered in short order though by her saying, "That will be great!" She coughs a moment later, using that to clear her throat before replying in the sing-songy speech she has become accustomed to using, "I feel Ang and I will be able to get along very well. I have no complaints about working with him on a permanent basis."
Arashi smiled quickly for Nozomi and seemed happy for her for sure. "Yay. Good for you Nozomi. I knew you could do it." He smiled a bit for her, and waited for her to speak on it. "Oh and yeah.. I feel Ang is an okay member of our team if he is ever to be brought along." He chuckled though he knew for that specific thing his opinion was pointless. "I am glad we were able to help you and in return her getting this contract." He nods to them in a slight bowing motion.
Akihito sighs a bit as the bats on either side of him begin to bicker once more. "Ahem!" he finally says loudly, getting their attention. "Nozomi-san, there is a scroll outside of this cave. I need you to sign it and put your fingerprints on it… You should do it in your blood. Signing and fingerprints, I mean. And then it will be formed. Easy as a soft pear!" Hikaru would say in her sing-songy voice, "I'm so excited that we have a new summoner~ It feels like it's been quite some time~~" "Good ghul, can you ever stay quiet?!" Huffs Kaoru, the bat clearly grumpy.
Ang would sigh softly and nudge Nozomi. "That way," he whispers to her, showing her the correct path towards the entrance of the cave that would slowly reveal the light of the moon that fell upon a scroll. A large scroll that was at least three feet wide and one foot in diameter when rolled up. "The elders prepared the scroll before I left. Where they keep the scroll is very secret, so you might see some bodyguards around…. Just ignore them."
Having actually tried to research summons, and only got so far as a vague description of the jutsu required to summon one, Nozomi had an inkling that her own blood would be required. So when Akihito informs her of this requirement, she bows her head in thanks. "Then I shall go and do so immediately," she says before starting to follow Ang's directsions.
As she walks out, she listens to Ang's speach and smiles knowingly. "Though I couldn't find much about how these contracts were formed, I would assume that anyone could figure it out if they had an actual contract, thus forcing the clan to bond with someone they didn't want. So I can understand the need for security," she sings. Her mouth gapes as she sees the contract, causing her to momentarily stumble a little, without falling and hopefully without unseating Ang. "That… that is a big scroll…" She approaches the contract, making sure to follow Ang's instructions and begins to unroll it, looking for a place for her to sign.
Nozomi could unfurl it by about two feet. There were distinct lines that were visible even in the moonlight, showing off sections meant for both past and future summoners. Right now, there were five names before Nozomi's, the blood looking as fresh as the day they were written. Who knows how old they really were. "It's been a while since we had a new summoner," Ang would have said as they made their wait out. "The sc-WHOA" he has to flap his wings a bit to keep from falling off Nozomi's head, but he succeeds in maintaining his perch. "Anyway, this is the scroll! Unroll it until you see the section," he had instructed.
When it was revealed, the bat would land on the scroll and hop onto the empty section meant for the Yamayuki. "This one. Just sign your name and put your fingerprints like you see."
Nozomi nods as she puts her right-hand thumb to her mouth and bites down HARD. Blood starts to ooze out of the thumb, which she uses to sign the scroll in large kanji. When she finishes, she rubs her hands together briefly to spread the blood, then shakes her right hand a couple of times to remove the excess blood. That accomplished, she lays her right hand straight down onto the space just belower her name, completing the hand-print. After all that she stands and looks toward Arashi. "Do you have something to clean this up with?" she asks her friend and team captain.
Arashi had followed along and stayed quiet for the most part. He was perfectly used to blood, so seeing her bite down on her thumb was nothing. He didn't wait long before stepping over with some first aid supplies though to bandage up her thumb. "Yeah I got something Nozomi. Just hold your hand there with the thumbs up." He would just rub a tiny bit of disinfectant on it before wrapping a bandage around it. Very simple. "Messy work sighning these huh?" He chuckled and looked to Ang. "So that is… It?"
"Yep, that's it!" Ang says cheerfully. "Well, I need to teach her the handseals for the summoning technique, too. But that can be done later," he says, resettling on Nozomi's head. "Please roll up the scroll and take it to the elders. Then we'll head back to Kumogakure, and all will be right as rain!"
Nozomi nods as Arashi bandages up her hand. "If what little I could find about the procedure is correct, I'm going to have to figure out ways to take care of blood without bandaging up my hands," she says with a smile. After Arashi's done she turns and rolls up the scroll, then starts to make her way back to the elders, as ordered. Ignoring the guards, she holds up the scroll to them and says, "It is done."
Arashi chuckled. "I think you should be fine to learn some medical ninjutsu. Basic bits of it. I could probably convince Amani to teach you if you like." He chuckled a bit and looked between Nozomi and Ang. "Alright. We can can get this to the bats then." Which it didn't take long to do before it was being handed over, and he would simply wait to follow Nozomi's lead back to Kumogakure.
Kaoru, gruff as ever, would say, "Finally! You took your time with that!" Of course, he's quickly hushed by Hikaru as she says in her cheerful voice, "Excellent~ I look forward to seeing you grow with Ang~~" Poor Akihito. It's a wonder that he's survived with them.. "AHEM!!" he says suddenly, shutting them both up. "Thank you very much for signing the contract, Nozomi-san. You may set the scroll down and we will take care of it." That said, once Nozomi set the scroll down, she would be whisked away (Arashi too) by a whirlwind of bats that seemed to carry/teleport them back to Kumogakure. Maybe it was a summoning trick! Maybe they just flew a long distance. Who knows. Point is… They're back in Kumo now.
Nozomi sets the scroll down as instructed and suddenly finds herself whisked away back to Kumo. When she lands she first looks up to see if Ang is still there, then to Arashi. "Wow… I'm actually a summoner now!" she sings, twirling in place. "Uh… Arashi-taicho… can we reschedule practice for tomorrow? That was all I had tonight and I really feel like celebrating…"
Arashi nods to Nozomi and would give her a quick hug. "Yes you are. I knew you could do it. Good job." He smiled and looked at her closely. "We can celebrate. FOr sure reschedule. I am glad you are happy. Lets go eat something yeah?" He said before gesturing for her to head out with him to do celebration stuff! Too bad Michiko wasn't gonna be able to join em…. She would be happy for Nozomi.
