Starring:
Date: May 6, 2013
Summary:
Almost a year has passed since Onimitsu first found himself treading down the path of discovering the history behind the Yoshimitsu's possession by the Manji Clan. Since that time he has refused to continue onwards, distracted by his duties as a Kirigakure Shinobi and fearful of what lies ahead. The latter of which along with an unexpected event during the Chuunin Exam left his very soul weak, and by extension, his body in the possession of the Yoshimitsu's previous wielders. An unexpected meeting with another spirit, free (for the most part) of bonds however, has led to equally unexpected results…
"Soul of Iron - Revival"
Cliffside Memorial - Kirigakure
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A strong frigid wind always whips through the air here, clearing it of any mist that might linger. The cliff face extends fifty feet out over the water, at the end of the face is a large obsidian memorial obelisk. A single dirt path heads back westward.
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Gin could not be sure what compelled him to awaken an hour before day breaker, nor did he understand why his body seemed driven to head in one particular direction once his casual clothes were donned. Nevertheless, he did not shirk away from the strange desire; especially not when there was a chance that by following along he might just obtain what he's been after during the passing few weeks. By the time the sun finally rises past the horizon and casts faint rays through Kirigakure's infamous mist, Gin has just reached the well-worn path leading up to the Cliffside Memorial. It is only then that he hesitates in listening to instinct. The compulsion to keep walking however eventually wins out, driving the misfortunate medic further down the path.
Arisu did not often come to Kirigakure… most of the times she had been here in the past had been on business more than anything else… Investigating this, asking about that… Those sorts of things. Today, however, she was here because she had nowhere better to be. She had no reason to stay at home with Ai being gone, and so she had thought that she'd go and investigate a bit more, but had eventually decided that even that was too much of a hassle. Now she stood atop a cliff, looking out over the water with an emotionless expression plastered on her face. She was solid, as solid as any normal person… but to anyone with chakra sensitivity, she would have probably been lit up like a christmas tree that had been lit on fire, thanks to the heavy concentration of chakra that was required to maintain a solid body for any length of time. She didn't seem to really notice Gin, or if she did, she didn't seem to care that he was there.
The blade at his side trembled lightly as he proceeded; and yet, Gin does not even acknowledge its existence. The only thing that mattered was that he wanted to get to the obelisk. No. He -needed- to be there before…. before it is too late? Impossible. Even in life, Gin rarely visited the memorial to develop such a strong tie to the place. So why was it he felt so drawn to it now? Such questions and more quickly faded to the back of his mind upon sighting up a petite figure up ahead. A girl to be exact, and not one he was particular familiar with.
"He-Hello.." He called out warily before shivering and closing his eye as a strong frigid gust whips past him. As soon as the wind passes his eye opens up to narrow slits once more, then widens even further upon noting the girls clothing. "O-oi! You'll catch your death of a c-cold if you don't hurry home!" He called out, only to mentally face palm a second later. She's a Shirayuki, perhaps?
Arisu did look rather similar to a particular Shirayuki within Kirigakure, but was clearly not actually related to Aoitsuki. At the sound of the man calling out to her, she turned and looked over her shoulder, fixing him with an emotionless stare for a moment, before responding. "…Is it really that cold out? I'm afraid I didn't notice." She had the sort of speech that suggested someone of high class… perhaps some wealthy man's daughter. She continued to stare at the man as he proceeded to facepalm, tilting her head to the side quizzically, "I'm afraid that I don't have a home anywhere nearby… and I don't believe that anyone would wish to have me in their home during my stay in Kirigakure… besides, home is only a place to sleep, and I don't sleep." She turned back to look out over the waves again, falling silent once more.
By the way she spoke and from the sound of her voice Gin had concluded with a sagely nod that Arisu was indeed a Shirayuki. Although what followed soon after all but completely shredded his conclusion. "Eh?" Is his oh so intelligent response once Arisu drifted back into a silent state once more. "O.. Oh *headshakes rapidly* I-I mean, even if you have insomnia that.. eto…. well, If you want a place to stay for a while, I'd be happy to open my home to you." He stated vibrantly and pumped his fist at his side. Gin winced almost immediatly after and started to scratch at the side of his cheek. "That… That made me sound kind of creepy… didn't it?"
Arisu doesn't face him, and doesn't answer for a few moments, letting him remain embarassed, before finally… "Yes. It did." She turned back, "Thank you for the offer, but no… I believe that my presence within your home would only cause problems… and since I neither need to sleep, nor do I feel the cold… well, there's really no purpose in staying at your house. I suspect I will be returning home soon anyway… Well, soon-ish. In the next few hours at least." She shrugs, "I'm sorry, I do not believe we've been introduced… I am Aika Arisu, and you are?"
Gin's shoulder sagged as he sighed in regret after she first reply. He is however quick to recover, and would straighten back out with a start just as soon as she continued. What is heard next elicits a frown; but nevertheless, Gin remained respectfully silent as she spoke her piece. The compulsion comes back in full force when the question is asked, dictating that he should walk closer to the girl. Mutely, Gin closes his eye and tries to fight it, but to no avail. Once he stood a meter away from the girl (presumably if she doesn't keep moving away too much) the compulsion begins to fade again. Remnants of it prompts his hand to rise soon after. Thankfully with it being so weak this time Gin manages to subdue the action by grasping his wrist with his other hand.
"What is…. *headshakes solemnly*… I am Gin… Though at the same time, this is not true… *frowns*… Manji-san would probably be better." He emitted huskily and offered a weak eye smile.
Arisu's head tilts to the side. She doesn't back away from Gin at all as he approaches though she does look at him quizically, "…I see…" her brow furrows a bit, "…You're not some sort of pervert, are you? First asking me back to your place, and now you almost look as if you're attempting to restrain your urge to pounce… I must admit it's a little unsettling." She gives a small, though strangely unconcerned frown. "Especially at this time of day, while the sun has not yet risen."
With every point made Gin flinches from as if being stabbed in the chest. Repeatedly. Silently he begs to the heavens to guide him in replying without making things worse! Sadly, no divine wisdom is forthcoming. Thus, for a several long moments he stands there, locked in place and sweating bullets as the tension mounts. It is only when his brain is on the brink of shutting down that an idea begins to form. One that he thoughtless latches on to if only to prolong the inevitable. "I-I-It is d-difficult to explain, b-but I'll try-…" He trails off to take a deep cleansing breath and closed his eye before proceeding; losing in the process the nervous youthful air about him, and replacing it with something that bellies even his host true age. "The price my family paid for power required that we share our beings with those that preceded each bearer of the blade at my side." He stated solemnly, then opened his eye revealing a tinge of green to it now. "Possession some would say, and the worst kind since they are just… fragments. Many fragments, though not as many as there should be." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Gomen. This one… that was probably too much and over the head as you young ones tend to say."
Arisu's tilted head remained that way for a moment as she seemed to process the information without so much as blinking. "…I may understand more than you might expect." She nods, "There are many of you in the blade?" Arisu's eyes seemed to darken briefly, as she looked at the blade, then faded back to a light blue again. "Ghosts? Or… something else?" She seemed to suddenly be quite interested. "They do not act as most ghosts that I have met… Are they sentient? Some aren't… I met one in a lake near Konoha that was not so much human as it was animal… very territorial. Then there was the large collection of spirits in Kadomai… Many of them shared similar traits of being more animal than human, but there were the rare few who retained much of their humanity… The one in Sunagakure was the worst so far…"
The one known as Gin, from personality to physical quirks, all but fades into the background as Arisu speaks. Outwardly the only noteable changes however is the swordsman stance become more rigid, and his iris transforming into chaotic collage of vibrant green, crimson red, silver, and violet as he peered at the ghost, eye narrow. He nods subtly as a change overcomes Arisu as well, but refrains from commenting. Instead, the swordsman merely glances to the blade at his side until he spotted the faint tremors from the blade. Then and only then does he return his gaze back upon the specter before him. "Chakra is composed of both spiritual if not mental energy of the user, and physical energy… By one perspective, we are ghost. By another, we are but chakra phantasm, an imbalance of spiritual energy tied to the blade. They are fragments however. Their experiences, our emotions, such things were absorbed. Completely during the ritual-…" He trailed off, head inclined and grasped by a hand. At some point as he spoke, the swordsman voice became distorted. Almost as if one voice, then four different tone voices were speaking at once from the same body.
He shakes his head in attempt to dispell the rising headache. "Upon death the experiences.. and as I later learned the emotions-*winces*-.. persona that were displayed whenever the blade was wielded was absorbed. Splintering the soul… Half a soul is no soul." He looked up at Arisu through weary eyes. "The weaker were devoured by.. or fused into one. The truly strong stayed away, and hold the most sway."
"That would explain why you have not simply devoured one another then…" She brings a finger to her lower lip for a moment, "…When I was bound to the ring, I ate the spirit inside it…" She nods, apparently not concerned with the fact that she revealed that she was a ghost. "It was a powerful spirit… but I suppose my anger helped me overpower it at the time." She falls silent for a moment. "You possess the wielder of the sword… You do not manifest directly? Are any of you capable of that? Or is it a quirk of the ritual? I admit I am very interested to know these sorts of things… I very rarely get to ask questions of other ghosts. Most have not been especially interested in talking…" She sighs a bit, "Though… it appears that possession is not especially healthy for the possessee…" She frowns slightly, "That is slightly disheartening… I wonder if it is a similar effect to the one I have on the world, except localized into just the host… Did ANY of your predecessors die of old age?"
The swordsman remained respectfully silent as she spoke, but for a brief moment a malevolent, violet aura flickered about the sword, then encompassed the arm closest to it before fading from view. It may seem perhaps there may just be at least one spirit capable of that. But which one it is would remain a mystery still. For now.
He chuckles once more albiet this time with at least some mirth behind act. "Every blade is meant to reap lives. This one — according to the older spirits — was meant for more." A sigh escapes his lips. "To answer your last question, no. This blade is cursed and we by extension. Driven to learn more techniques, hone them, and devour those that possess techniquest that we do not have. Trial be combat. This blade — " He tipped the hilt forward with an index finger. " — teaches us the most through what we devour during combat. Our hosts adapt the fastest the same way… or becomes another resident. In the latter case, this blade does not need to carry out its primary function any longer. It no longer needs to teach its host so that it may learn more." They stated as one once more. A smirk plays at the edge of their lips.
"The answer to the first, we can. One can, but the host burns out. A pointless endeavor. We restrain the ones that can for the sake of carrying primary purpose… and… *eye narrows*… because most are.. attached, to this host. His bloodline makes for the best union." They emitted grudingly. "Good thing too. If the Yoshimitsu had not found this bloodline again another Murasaki might have gotten ahold of it. And that, would be bad for everyone,"Shinkoki droled and smiled dreamily.
The change does not last long.
"Young one mentioned a ring. We wonder what was meant. We wonder… why does young one remain knowing what is now known of us. Arrogance? Or a truly strong spirit?"
Arisu shrugs a little, "I do not know. I suspect that it is a special case, brought about by various circumstances lining up in just the right way." She nods, "I inhabit the Ring of Heromu… Or what was once the Ring of Heromu anyway. Now that I've devoured Heromu's spirit… I suppose it's the Ring of Arisu.. Manifesting required effort to learn. Now I can do it more or less flawlessly. There are other things that I'm slowly learning to do as well… For a long time I wasn't sure if I was the only one who knew how to do them." She shrugs, then looks back to the water, "I'm still, as you implied, young. Dead for perhaps less than a year… If that does not answer your question, perhaps I misunderstood it. I did find that the question itself was a bit confusing… what with the plurals." She nods a little. "I suppose I should be glad that I don't have to worry about sharing a body… I believe it woudl become quite confusing."
"It's not as confusing as you'd think."
"Just annoying mostly. Especially when the others-…"
"-Interrupt you at the wrong, damn time.
With every change of voice — Lax and feminine to rough and manly — the swordsman fingers began to twitch at his sides, dancing rapidly until finally both hands are balled into a fist and his eye is drawn to a close. He sighs. "It is disheartening to re-awaken.. and to hear that such a young one's life was so cruelly stripped away… If only this one…" Onimitsu — the REAL Onimitsu in all his glorious plain… ness? — emitted sadly, and inclined his head. "This one is grateful nevertheless.. bitter of the circumstances, but grateful. And in return for your perhaps unintentional assistance, this one wishes to repay the favor…. Mayhaps this one can even free you from that ring?" He asks almost hopefully.
Arisu frowned, "No." The response came quickly, "If I did not wish to continue to go on living, I would not have learned to manifest." She nods, "I would not have gone from nation to nation hunting down other ghosts, consuming the ones who would harm others." She shakes her head, "I believe that I have more of a purpose in death than I ever had in life… and though it is perhaps sad that my life was stripped away… I've already devoted myself to living a new life. I've found someone that I care for, and who cares for me, and I have no desire to see that torn away now." She nods, "So no. The best thing you can do to repay me, is to leave the ring alone, and let me go on the way I am. It is not a tortured existence, not for me anyway… It is an interesting one, filled with new possibilities and nearly none of the perils of normal life. Perhaps one day, should I grow tired of it, I will ask for your help, but right now it's not something I want."
Onimitsu nodded reluctantly in agreement. To try and force a spirit to rest in peace would be… well, counter-productive; baring perhaps special circumstances. "This one shall abide by thou desires… and to do so more effectively, this one shall depart," Onimitsu said, then parted the front portion of his kimono just wide enough to slip the other hand through. From its depths a featureless mask is produced and examined at chest level. "Though this one would hazard to guess that in life thou was not a swordsman, presence alone is awakening something quite interested nevertheless… Something this one is not strong enough to face just yet," He added and finally drew the mask up to set in place. Thoughtless, a sigh of relief is released. "If this one survives the trials ahead then hopefully this one may indeed repay you. Until then—" He bows fully at the waist. "It has been a pleasure to be acquainted with you, Aika-sama." Unless more is added following this statement, on that note Onimitsu would rise once more and offer Arisu an eye smile before turning to walk away.
Gin and the others might have done a decent job keeping his body intact, but what about his other duties? Those plants in his office won't water themselves!
