Starring:
Date: September 16, 2014
Summary:
In a path far north of Kirigakure, Yuuka is approached by one of the remnants of Yoichi.
"The Company - Yuuka’s Awakening"
Land of Water
The mission had been a short one. Lasting a couple of days. The Mizukage had sent one of his swordsmen out to check on one of the Land of Water's smaller villages, on a rumor that the Silence had taken an interest in it. But that rumor had proven to be just that, speculation. And only that. After a couple of days there, Yuuka travels back home, to the village known as Kirigakure. The small one-person camp had been set up just off of the road, carefully camouflaged and protected on the off change there's unwanted attention.
From her encampment, Yuuka would be able to feel the approach of something familiar yet somehow different. There are thoughts of destruction and searching for purpose, among other things, yet it would seem a purpose has already been found and is simply being sought to be confirmed. Just as that would start to set in, a figure that vaguely resembles Yoichi with silver hair and the same crimson eyes would step out of the surrounding forest toward where she is, adorned in all black with hair reaching down past just jaw a bit and hanging over one eye. "Ah, Yuuka-nee-san. It looks like I've finally found you away from the village."
The sensation teased at the edge of her senses at first, perhaps hinting that it might be some sort of wild animal passing nearby, or even villagers or other shinobi. The nagging feeling however steadily builds upon itself as the being approaches with purpose. Destruction… and purpose. Her shoulders tense subtly, a hand absently reaching out to rest at the hilt of her sword and she waits for whoever is obviously searching her out.
When he emerges, Yuuka blinks her bright eyes at Yoichi, surprised at first, but something was off about him, his demeanor… was it really him? And never once did she ever remember him calling her 'neesan'. There's a long pause before the hand falls to her side again, the weight shifting from the fallen log that is her seat to rise to her feet. In the dusk of growing night, his clothes almost make Yoichi disappear into the surrounding forest. "Yoichi… What are you doing here?"
"Yoichi? I'm afraid Nii-san has gone away for a bit," the black-adorned man says as he approaches the Kaguya woman, stopping a good ten feet from her. "I'm sure you feel that I have the same presence as him, just not quite complete somehow? Nii-san's eyes have been opened, so he split himself into three to try and find out if what he sees is truly what this shinobi world is for." After a brief pause, he says, "I see your still haven't been opened, Nee-san. Perhaps it is time."
Her bright blue green eyes harden and darken several shades as she watches the man she knows to be Yoichi, but… claiming to be someone else entirely. Not good… "Yes." Yuuka murmurs softly, confirming that he does almost feel the same. An almost unnoticeable difference. "'Opened'. What do you mean by opened?" she asks, the hand at her side stretching her fingers as her nails discretely harden and elongate to a deadly sharp point. "Is that why you're here then… You feel the need to open my eyes?"
"Nii-san has seen this world for what it is," Kadaj says with a smirk as he watches her prepare for a possible attack. "It is a spiral of darkness, hate, and destruction. No matter what pretenses people put up, underneath it is all the same no matter where you go. Lives are destroyed in search of better ways to destroy more lives, and those who've been destroyed only turn around to eventually destroy more. Destruction, it seems, the only point of this shinobi world." With that he'd reach back and place a hand on the single one of the Kiba blades he wields, his lips turning in an evil grin as he says, "Maybe I am. Care to contest it?"
Her gaze hardens as she takes a careful step back, away from the campfire that glows between them. "Maybe you're right." Yuuka murmurs. "I've been chained and imprisoned, broken completely to only emerge as a shinobi, a Swordsman. I've destroyed, and loved ones have been taken away from me. But as much bad as there is in the world, there is much more good to live for. To protect the people I cherish. To make every day worth living. To watch my little girl grow up with friends and family like I never did. That's what's important. And Yoichi needs something or someone to cherish too, otherwise he wouldn't have lost his way like this."
"All that is cherished can be taken on a whim in this world," Kadaj says with that same smirk remaining on his face as he drops the hand back to his side, though his eyes remain locked on her. "The same things you cherish can and will be taken by the very village you serve when they feel they can make their next big breakthrough for shinobi art by experimenting on them, destroying them, or simply if they get in the way. Even the outside villages are really no more scared than they normally are, as they're always just waiting for the day a shinobi war happens to cross their homes or the shinobi decide their fate in some way they can do nothing about it. This world is lost, and it will only grow more lost so long as these villages are allowed to continue."
"You think I don't know this?" Yuuka murmurs, keeping her keen eyes narrowed on the man that had been Yoichi at one time. "I've had two husbands taken from me, a teacher and a beloved friend. I know well enough that they can be taken away. But that's all the more reason to cherish what you do have, the people in your life. You're the only one that thinks it's the village's fault that they are taken away in the first place. I have no reason to believe that Kiri would ever purposefully send their shinobi to their deaths. It's only lost if you have no hope in humanity…" Yuuka tightens her jaw subtly, keeping her clawed hand perfectly still at her side. "You're not going to persuade me into thinking otherwise…"
"There is no hope for these villages. There is no hope for the shinobi world," Kadaj says, a tone of amusement in his voice as he approaches Yuuka. "Nii-san has seen this. That is why my brothers and I exist now, but our search is coming to an end soon. Such a pity that I must open your eyes now. I'd hope to have a little fun first." With that he'd stab his sword into the ground and start to move through a set of handseals that were implanted into his mind at the time of his own activation.
He takes a step closer, and Yuuka reflexively takes a step back, keeping the distance between them the same. A low growl curls at her throat in warning as he says 'having a little fun'. He stabs the sword into the ground just as an ivory blade is spat from the flesh of her elbow, hand catching the hilt and holding it out in defensively front of her. This is a fruitless effort however, as his hands flash with several handseals. Pain throbs through her head, her thoughts penetrated with darkness and the orders that were embedded in her long ago. Yuuka screams from the sudden pain piecing her brain, causing her to stagger and fall to her hands and knees.
Watching as the woman feels the effects of that trigger going off in her brain, Kadaj grabs his sword and sheaths it back on his back. "As I said, it's time your eyes were opened," he says as he steps forward to stand only a few feet away from her now. "It's a shame it has to be this way, but this day has been a long time coming. You finally get to wake up, Yuuka-nee-san. Nii-san will return for you soon, and the shinobi world will burn at your feet. Until then my brothers and I are here to help."
Breathing labored, it's several long moments before she feels the ebb of pain pieced through her brain, slowing to a dull throb with a pulse of some unknown energy, a will coursing through her to the beat of her own heart. Swallowing softly, her hands curl into the loose earth, feeling the bloodlust near the surface. "Burn at our feet… and the blood rivers in our wake…" the chuckle that comes from Yuuka is dark and cold, hardly resembling the woman that she was just moments ago. Another chuckle ripples through her pleasantly and she pushes herself to her feet, glancing at her hand curiously as if just now noticing the dormant power of her clan rushing through her veins. It pleased her. "No one will stand in our way…"
Kadaj watches this metamorphosis with a sly grin, folding his arms over his chest as he watches her adjust to this new 'self'. When she rises, he nods and says, "Sorry to have let you sleep for so long, but now we are closer to being ready for the purpose we were made for. Nii-san shall join you soon, and the spiral of this shinobi world will finally be broken as you raze it to the ground."
Yuuka exhales a slower breath and idly lowers her arm to her side, glancing up at the man that had taken over Yoichi. "Mm, I figured they had their reasons… and I don't question them." she murmurs. She knew better. But of course, they all did. Her dark eyes blink slowly as she looks away, towards the distance. "Society… they will pay for discarding me, forgetting my existence… And they will pay with their blood." Growl thunders in her voice. "They will all pay…"
Nodding at that statment, Kadaj emits a 'hmm' of agreement. That grin turns his lips up again as he steps up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They will remember now," he says as he looks out as well. "Your names will be immortalized in their blood and the ashes of their villages." With that he'd drop his hand and turn back. "But for now let's have a little fun, hmm?"
Darkness washes over her expression darkly, and the flames of the campfire glitter in her eyes. There's no need for words, no need to promise out loud yet again at they will have their blood one way or another. Now, it's a given fact. The hand on her shoulder falls away and Yuuka arches a brow, turning her snowy head to glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "Little fun…" she says slowly. "If you're talking about the village I just came from, we better not. The Mizukage knows I just came from there and would find it suspicious if it disappeared off the face of the earth right after I left it peacefully behind."
"Not that one then, but I'm sure we can find something in the other direction that might be worth a bit of entertainment," Kadaj says with a shrug of his shoulders. With that he reaches into a pocket and retrieves a Bingo Book with quite a few names crossed off. "Perhaps a few of these idiots who have people following them… This is how my brothers and I have been occupying our time while we prepare for what's to come. It keeps the village's eyes off thinking of us as enemies until the time comes because we're destroying people they want destroyed too."
Listening with a quirked brow, the smirk slowly pulls at the corner of her lips as Yuuka purrs with approval. "That sounds delicious…" she chuckles, glancing at the Bingo Book in his hand. "Alright. I'm game. Do you know if any of them in there are nearby or do we really have to look for a needle in a haystack?" she narrows her gaze as she asks, dubious.
"I thought you'd like that," Kadaj says as he looks over his shoulder at Yuuka then opens a particular page in the book. "This one should be come through a trail not too far from here with his crew in just a bit. They think they're well-hidden transporting goods to a black market dealer." Looking over at her then, he asks, "Shall we go surprise them?"
