The smoke. The wonderful, beautiful smoke rising high into the air. It was angelic go see as it could only mean civilization. So hungry. So thirsty. Kamakura needed this, he couldn't bear the thought it all being just a-  

splash  

Salty sea water smacked into the drifting refugee's face, causing him to choke desperately, coughing the disgusting liquid up and out, and gagging over the side of the boat. The only solace he could find at the moment was within the fact that the sun wasn't beating down on him at all. In fact. He as almost completely surrounded by a very thick and blanketing mist.   It has all been a dream. The smell of smoke was permeating his nostrils, which in turn must have motivated his dream to fill him with falsified hopes.  

There was an unsettling crack and give as his raft snapped on rocks at the shoreline of an island with very dense jungle all around. Kamakura crawled over the rocks and onto a very limited, gritty stretch of beach. He stood just at the line which separated the jungle from the sands.  His first impressions were not great. Even from this small glimpse of the densely layered tree line he could see thick spiders webs, crawling with the nasty little things.   He pulled his axe out and used it as a mere tool for clearing pests from his path. He swatted away spiders, and continued on a straightforward wandering expedition, stumbling upon the first horror of his journey.

The body of what had likely been a lost venturer like him. The body was drained of blood and as pale as could be. The biggest problem with the whole scene was the fact that the body couldn't have arrived there by the spiders alone. It was strung up by the neck. Hung. And then there were more. Dozens and dozens more.

Spiders would occasionally land on Kamakura's shoulder and he would smash them as quickly as possible. At that point, the first sound of thunder hit. The slow and seemingly endless progression of Kamakura through this jungle brought more and more stormy weather per second, or at least it seemed as such. The rain hit hard and when the wind would peak, the rain was driven directly into the side of his face, as if the rain fell not from the sky, but from the direction he was walking toward. It was as though nature itself wanted to tell him to go back. The lightning which struck always felt so close, but occurred out in the ocean, more likely than not. This place was becoming worse than the sea had been.  He leaned down to a collecting puddle of rain and drank deep. It was not good, but his parched mouth needed it. As he slumped against the nearest dead looking tree to regain himself, he was quickly reminded that the number of spiders throughout these woods was outrageous. One would wander into his shoulder or the top of his head every few seconds until he became so frustrated that he kicked the rotted deadwood he had been leaning against and broke straight through it's hollow core. Roughly two hundred spiders of all shape and size came rushing out of the core and climbed up the leg of his cargo pants, sending him into a frustrated panic.   After much patting and smashing, he had cleared the contents of his trousers. The storm raged on, the only solace at this point was the forests which seemed to rain down spiders, although with less frequency. Kamakura stared up at the sky, wondering what he had done to be here.  

Kamakura stood in place for some time. He was absolutely sealed away in deep contemplation. These trees were too dead to make a seaworthy raft. The spiders here could be highly venomous for all he knew, and he had several bites from the crawling pests. He had walked for what seemed like a mile inland at this point and nothing had changed about the scenery except the number of spiders and the number of dead bodies littered about. An odd phenomenon which Kamakura had picked up by now was that a vast majority of these bodies wore metal forehead protectors with all sorts of different designs on them. And some had weapons such as Katanas and shuriken sticking out of them. But the tech was nothing like back home.
 
"Hmph. Must be be some kind of primitive islanders inhabiting this place. In which case.."  

He kept his hand hovering over his pistol carefully, prepared to pull it on anyone necessary.  

WC: 772

Sero sat in the hard wooden chair almost like a dark throne in the dim lit main room of the fourth floor. The thin light coming in from between the wooden planks over the windows like rays spreading out. The mist itself licking just inside like little tendrils. Ever reaching forward only to be whisped away like some unseen force was refusing to allow them passage. Still his hand rested on the arm of the chair while his other elbow rested on the other arm. His hand from that second arm resting under his chin like a pedistal as he boredly studied the scene before him. A large spider was swaying back and forth in the darkest part of the room easily twice his size. It's eyes gazing at him and everything else without ever blinking. The source of his teachings in sage mode and the creature it mimicked. Her name was Momma and she was aptly named as she was a chakra creature with human level intelligence. Before the spiders had thought themselves the apex predators of any area but now they had met something more and made it a part of them. The Sero child in their midst was watching them with a dead grey gaze and never seemed to waver. Nothing they did snuck past him even when the little ones would try and see if they could sneak onto his back. He knew their intentions well before they reached him.

His current attentions on her and her reason for swaying back and forth were because of how anxious she was about the storm rolling in. A great many of her children had found their way out of the manor and enjoyed the massive expanse of the woods surrounding it. However as they continued to expand outwards fewer of them actually listened to their mother and now when she demanded they come back as she knew what the storm would bring Such small fragile children could not survive the storm and the majority would die. Sero however was of the opinion that if they would not return willingly he had no way to bring them all back. Regardless of her repeated demands to do so. She had conceded its impossibility finally and now was just swaying back and forth in an almost pouting manner. It was fairly unbecoming of her usual cooing self over her little ones of which Sero understood little of. All she wished to do at any point was to create more like her and so she self reproduced constantly. It was perhaps her only real ability outside of the natural thus far. Still Sero sat there in his combat boots and baggy white pants tied on with a belt and a grey tank top. He was comfortable in anything since he couldn't feel much. Not a weapon could be seen on him.

Still an echo of whispers seemed to fill the room which roused his attention as she stopped swaying. He sat forward to listen better as the tiny ones spoke so low that he had issues hearing them even at his level. Still it only took a moment before Momma spoke up "There is a new arrival...he arrived from the wet place away from the danger land. " She spoke in a way that seemed like riddles but to be honest she was still learning simple things like ocean and mainland. To her the world basically ended on the island. Still he understood someone had arrived via the sea and not from the mainland. He cared little for the lands out that way and had never visited them but for now he would assume an air of caution. Perhaps it was an enemy scout looking for something...a landing beach perhaps? He wouldn't know until the person made their intentions known. He would simply sit back and let the spiders handle it for now. His presence was too noticable and there was little to no reason not to let the far less noticable creatures few would susect as reporting eyes do the watching. For a time there was little to know other than he was making his way inland as the storm began. However after a minute momma suddenly reared up and gave out a deafening scream that would echo across the entire island. When her rage scream stopped she turned to Sero and shouted "He is killing them! My babies! I demand you stop this!"

Sero frowned and stood with a low growl. For a moment she stood her ground as their eyes locked however quickly she backed down and skittered away. She knew better than to demand anything more of Sero beyond what she had. Still he turned his attention to the outside and sighed. So there was an intruder out there killing spiders. Likely they had attacked the man first out of gluttony but he didn't really care the reason. The man had intruded on his land and killed what was his. So Sero would respond accordingly. However he couldn't take his time with this one. The storm was rolling in so he would need to herd him to the manor for questioning. The manor would shield them both from the brunt of the storm and Sero could ask his questions there. So he rolled his neck as his dark chakra surged and a black mist formed at his feet and rose upwards. Gradually it revealed black boots with black pants and a black zipped up coat with fur lining around the neck and finally a black mask with a pointed nose. In the center of the mask and where both eyes should be the eyes opened and revealed three red eyes. Two where they normally would be and one in the center of his forehead that looked around as the others did. With that he jetted outside with incredible speed that kicked up dust and sent some small ones skittering.

It took him a time to follow the way the spiders directed him but as he drew closer he began to move to the tree tops away from the webs and ground. Here he moved around the location of the mystery trespasser and was careful to move well behind him. With that Sero dropped to the ground and took a slow breath followed by a series of the same. Once he was ready Sero moved into a rapid blur back and forth so he was little more then a shadow and began to proceed at a civilians jogging pace forward. Soon the intruder would feel something dangerous drawing closer. From the way he came he would feel a monster coming for him and at a moderate speed. A shadow and the mist surging more and more back that way was like a massive thing was coming now. If he ran he would break out of the treeline in a matter of minutes and see a courtyard with cracked stones with grass overgrowing it and bodies in three burnt piles. Seemingly dragged there and burned but not to ashes yet. Statues of gargoyels and such were mostly grown over or cracked and broken but they scattered the area. A fountain gurgled a red color and was far to thick to run properly while towering over it all was a broken down four story manor that hadn't been attended to in almost two decades. The weather and storms on the island having taken their toll and peeled the paint with most of the windows broken and no light within. The front door was just a melted piece of wood on some hinges that was stopping no one.

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If he weren't extremely worried, he'd not have his hand hovering over kanashimi. The weapon itself brought on enough pain, so the fear had to at least outweigh that pain. And it did. The spiders had stopped dropping on him, in some kind of odd turn of events. Things were getting odd, and a slight sense of unease began to rise within Kamakura.

  His pace quickened as tension started to climb up his spine. This tension was something like the feeling of ones intuition informing them of impending doom. A gut feeling in which escape was the only option. He went from a brisk walk to a half-run. The feeling came from behind. A large shadow and a surge of rampant mist could be seen behind him as he finally decided this was getting out of hand..whatever it was. He burst into a dead spring, colliding with the occasional thicket of brush, and fallen limbs. The storm was picking up as well.

This was a mess, and the feeling of fear which continuously built was one that felt like life or death.   It was with a desperate thud that Kamakura would trip and slam into the ground, but he quickly realized he had escaped the woods and was now staring down an expansive courtyard. At the center, a large, dilapidated manor, in a state of disrepair.

The courtyard itself was unkempt. Surely the place was abandoned.   It wasn't until his eyes found themselves upon 3 smoldering piles of bodies. Human carcasses burnt to a crisp. The smell of death lingered in the air. It was a bit nauseating. The problem with the discovery, however, wasn't that there was a pile of bodies. It was that the pile had been ablaze very very recently.  

The feeling of being followed had not subsided, and with that Kamakura decided to risk the manor over whatever it was which pursued him. He dashed between the piles of bodies and passed a fountain, previously one which would have been grand and beautiful, but now was stained with a dark, red tint. The front door of the ruined structure was nothing more than a melted wooden plank at this point, and Kamakura was able to easily burst through it. He continued through the halls at high speeds feeling no relief from his fear as he turned one final corner and came upon a room full of weaponry and armor. A thick layer of dust covered it all, and it was...all so primitive. Not a tinge of chakra-tech. All basic crafting components of Ushinatta weapons.  

What the hell was going on here?

 He turned to face the only entrance to the room and pointed his pistol, allowing it tap into his chakra stream. He groaned loudly as the needle penetrated his palm and blood dropped to the ground. He was prepared to fire at the first sight of whatever beast it was that had been stalking him all this way. He could only hope one shot would do the trick.  

Post: 505 words
Total WC: 1277

Sero continued his steady pursuit of the one he now could definetly call a male. He was careful not to increase his pace but at this distance he couldn't see the usual identifying markers of who he aligned himself with. No bandit badge or mark and certainly no headband. He would of considered the individual a civilian but the man had weapons which most civilians didn't carry. One of which was in appearance a similar design to the kunai launcher final goodbyes he had given to another. He decided against the idea of civilian and considered the individual a ronin instead. A traveling individual with some skills. Still unless the male was hiding his potential abilities then his speed suggested he was around the ability of a freshly graduated academy student to genin. There was some chance he was stronger but based on his running patterns and how he charged straight ahead through brush and mist in a near panic Sero doubted he was being played. Even if he was the acting was on such a level that he would allow himself to be played into this particular trap. If the individual continued on his particular path he was heading where Sero wanted him anyway. His home.

As they cleared the treeline the individual tripped on the first overturned stone there. Honestly had this been a hunt it would of been one of his more boring ones. He typically didn't hunt freshies from the academy though. Little sport in that. Chunnin were as low as he would hunt for fun. Still the person paused to take in the scene before him and Sero made the beast stop at the treeline as he raced back and forth to keep the shadow up without really breaking a sweat. It would appear as if the beast wasn't willing to go into the courtyard either. As if the beast itself hesitated there. Though had he really tried to sell it he supposed he should of knocked over some tree's on the way to instill the idea of mass. Luckily this male hadn't seemed to notice the lack of it and had given in to fear. Sero could only smile as the man picked himself up and raced for the house once more. Rain had begun to pour down like a sheet now and only chakra pressure was keeping Sero dry for the time being. He could hear the boys heart racing. A heavy beat that only sounded between thunder cracks. It was time to follow as the man burst through what was left of the door.

Still he kept his senses up with sage mode as the man raced through the house. Convenient and yet not. Sero had wanted to catch him in the lobby but for once the man kept running without stopping. Still Sero managed to step into the lobby over the broken bits of door just as the man rushed down a hall on an upper floor. He was lucky or perhaps not so much. If he continued along that path he was going straight for Sero's favorite room. His armory. Sero only hoped the man wasn't foolish enough to steal anything or break any seals in there. Still it was an issue for the man that worked partially in Sero's favor. Only one way in and one way out. Still Sero simply launched up floor by floor until he reached the right floor and proceeded down the hall stopping outside the doorway. So, it appeared based on his senjutsu sensory the man was pointing an object at the door. Likely that item he had seen before. Interesting enough but predictable. Still Sero leaned his back against the wall. He lifted his right hand and focuses two fingers worth of chakra strings with a chunk of chakra and shifted his fingers. As he did so two green chakra strings would race around the corner at blinding speeds and attach the ends to both the mans weapons before yanking with A rank strength. Even if the man tried to hold on it would be pointless. Still assuming it worked both weapons would go clattering down the hallway. Sero then focused a barely noticable amount of chakra in his form and his feet and quickly five identical Sero's filled the hall. Two positioned themselves on either side of the door seeming to block the hallway while one walked in in front of Sero and stepped to the side Letting Sero in before blocking the doorway. Sero's red eyes took the man in and looked to his bleeding hand with disdain before Walking passed him and turning to walk along the wall like it was normal as his hands brushed the hilts of his precious weapons. His voice cold like an echo of the grave as he paced sideways walking on the wall.

"I wondered to myself when I was informed of an intruder on my island just whom you might be. Often others cross onto my island hunting for death but not as often do they come from the side you arrived on. I was going to leave you be but I was unable to ignore the battle you had with the little ones in the forest. No doubt they started it but the fact remains you intruded on my sanctuary and killed what was mine. Tell me, male. Why shouldn't your blood decorate my walls?"

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A few brisk moments passed before Kamakura started to feel more at ease, but did not lower his weapon. This luxury of ease lasted only seconds, as strange whispy green stands of thread flew with outrageous speed into the room and seized his weapons.

The pain and horror that filled him were almost equivalent as the syringe was ripped from his palm and blood splattered as his axe and pistol were whipped out of the room and down the hallway. In a panic as the weapon was jerked, Kamakura pulled the trigger a loud gunshot would ring out, a Fūton bullet would hit the wall opposite the door and leave a hole in the weakened drywall.  

Now disarmed and rather convinced his end was nigh, Kamakura picked up a small bladed item, looked to be a knife but with a loop at the base. Perhaps some sort of thrown weapon. He couldn't be sure. He held it in his throbbing left hand, and watched with those blank eyes of one who may have accepted death had it walked through the door and greeted him. His fear almost vanished as he was lost in emotion unlike anything he had experienced up to this point in his long perilous journey.  

A handful of mirror images of the same man shuffled about outside the room in the hall before, then one to block the door, and then a final one which came in speaking. Kamakura looked at him, a strange figure indeed, wearing a cloak, all black clothing, and even a black mask. Three red eyes glared at Kamakura as the man's word seemed to fall from his mouth.  He spoke of the island as his possession, of the spiders as some sort of sentimental beings, and of the fact that Kamakura had arrived from a rarely traveled side of the island. He then asked Kamakura why he shouldn't be killed.  

All of this information really flooded his mind, so much had happened today. So little had been explained. Kamakura looked blankly at the man before him and simply stated, without much emotion at all  

"Do you collect ancient weaponry? I haven't seen this sort of tech outside of bargain shops and history books."

 Kamakura trailed off in a bit of hysteria from lack of food and water.  

"If you kill me now, I'll never be able to tell you how I arrived here. How I wound up in this situation. You'll never know. I suppose then Id just be another of the burning bodies, spider food. At this point im so tired, perhaps that'd be best. Take me out, then I don't have to explain anything and I can just sail off to the happy place. Never have to worry about forging another of those painful fucking monstrosities of a weapon with the pitiful materials of.. Wherever the hell I am now."

This was the last of his words at this point, as Kamakura slumped against the wall and passed into unconsciousness.  

Post: 500 words
Total WC: 1777

Sero turned his gaze to the hole in the drywall and examined it breifly. From where he was he didn't see any fragments of a bolt or projectile. He could be mistaken but the visual appearance of the damage suggested that ammunition was never used. To narrow it down he noted the lack of moisture which removed Suiton from the mix. Had there been a water bullet there would of been residue of liquids there. Nor were there any burn marks on the wall. Had it been katon or Raiton there would of been singed marks left in its wake. Along with the same concept as the lack of ammunition there was no doton element either as there was no rocks imbedded there. To his experience and knowledge that left two options. Raw chakra without nature or the futon element. Either was dangerous to him as he wasn't exactly strong against them. Futon actually had a boost in potency against a form of his jutsu. Mist did not easily remain in the presence of wind. He would have to avoid using those specific techniques around this person to be safe. After all he wasn't one for giving his opponent an advantage if he knew what to look out for.

The noise had been alarming but the damage was minimal. He could assume for the time being that if the jutsu used had been intended to take down whatever was persuing the individual it was probably the best they had at the moment. Still it could be useful to intimidate opponents of the same level. Maybe even make an opponent flinch. Tactically speaking being able to intimidate with loud noises was not an ability to scoff at. Noise was a very disorienting thing. The more confused the enemy became the more likely they were to make mistakes. However as much as he liked the weapon he had seen demonstrated in an effort to handle him he was not happy that it had been intended for him. Had it actually made contact and he had been forced to bleed his own blood he probably would of taken it out on the man in a way that left very little skin. To be exact...his gaze flicked back to the man with the center eye moving seperately for a moment in a way that made it seem disconnected. That kunai likely would of been the tool he used for the deed. It wasn't the sharpest tool in there but if he was going to take his time with it he may as well use a duller knife. Just sharp enough to actually cut flesh with barely any force applied.

Still he tilted his head as the response was odd. He chose to start off his reasoning with asking about Sero's collection? Ancient weaponry? Oh well that was an interesting concept for someone to see so many weapons common around the village and speak of them as if they were primitive. Still the person spoke up again and this time appealing to Sero's curiosity. For a moment Sero admitted it would keep the man alive that Sero wanted information but the individual would wish he was dead. However the man mentioned something about never making another monstrosity like that weapon Sero had taken again and Sero rose an eyebrow. This individual was the inventor of that weapon? Even as the man slumped back and passed out Sero smiled a little. He always needed an edge in battle and having access to a new age of weapons could suit him well. For now Sero turned as his illusions faded away. From under the drywall and faded wallpaper dozens upon dozens of spiders of varying size emerged and the mans form shifted as it was carried by them all after Sero. Down the hall they seemed to float into the kitchen. Sero prepared a jug of water and then filled a pale of ice water and finally set a paper bag of mystery peppered jerky on the table with the rest of it. Idly he rolled his neck before stepping forward and as he did so his form shrank and shifted into a black cat of average size which plopped onto the table and sat down. The mans form was set in the chair in front of the table for now. Sero was still excuding his presence which meant he was nearby but it wasn't clearly coming from the cat on the table. Still he tipped the pale of ice water into the mans lap with a paw and sat back next to the pitcher of water and jerky. He wanted to see how this man acted if he wasn't in the room. It would be interesting to observe probably.

3000

Consciousness flickered like an epileptic nightmare. One moment he was being gazed at by the strange center eye of a crazed Spider man who was not one, but four or five of the same man. The next he was gliding across the ground, staring at what looked like hundreds if not thousands of spiders. Next he was upright at a table.

He looked around as an odd sensation spread across his lap. It was ice, chilling his already intensely distressed body. He saw a cat, some water, and a bag with what he examined to be some sort of jerky. This wasn't much of a time for choices. Kamakura felt like he was dying. So he poured almost half of  the water straight down his throat and reached into the sack, throwing down several pieces of jerky. The cat sat before him staring. It was a rather odd thing to have a cat surviving in a place like this. Kamakura thought to himself it must have to hunt everything it eats here. So he laid down a chunk of the jerky and stood from the chair, looking around.  

He made his way toward the hall he had been previously in, finding his pistol laying, but not his axe. He took it and loaded it, accepting the pain odor what it was worth, and making his way back down the hall, passing the car and heading into what appeared to be a library. Books decorated the walls, everywhere one would look, they would find a new chunk of material to he absorbed. It was impressive, but dusty and old. This was turning out to be something of a horror story.

total WC: 2056

Sero would watch with those eyes of his still red within the cats transformation. It seemed almost normal in comparison to before when Sero had been standing before him in all his monstrosity. Still the cat seemed to follow his gaze and meet it as it tilted its head and watched the boy. He seemed to slowly realize he was still alive and thirsty. It quickly became obvious the youngling cared nothing about poison and was intelligent enough to figure that if he was wanted dead poison would be the least of his worries. So the young man seemed to drink as much water as he could hold before digging into the meat. Sero wondered to himself if the man could taste the difference from nomal meat. If he could tell he was eating his own kind that had dared to cross Sero before. It was a sick pleasure that Sero took in feeding a starving man a dead man. The cat would smile in a nearly twisted way as jerky was placed in front of it and it watched the boy rise from his seat. Still so fragile in appearance but curious as he may be his new found calories gave him energy to burn it seemed.

Still the cat would hop down from the table as the boy rose from his seat and moved back into the hall. He was alive still but seemed less concerned with why than he was with where. The cat would stop just within the room the boy had left and sit down. It's tail swishing back and forth as if lazily entertained as slowly it's forehead would split apart like flesh ripping away to reveal that third eye. Once more Sero watched the man through the walls as he picked up his equipment from where it had been left. Sero rose one cat eyebrow as he watched the weapon seem to come to life in his hand and surge something within him connecting their chakra pathways and giving the gun its own chakra connected to the boy. How unique of a weapon for it to act as a parasite and give it's user combat capabilities. However the smell of blood reached Sero as the young man passed by him again and he wasn't noticed yet for having a third eye. He watched as the young man retreated to the library and shifted around the corner to follow. Always interested to know where the new one was going.

Still he paused at the edge of the library as his eyes shifted across the room to the decayed portrait of his parents. He tried not to kill people in front of them before he had undergone his transformation but now he wondered if they even noticed. How much he suffered and bled while they were resting peacefully. Or rather his father was. His mother was simply missing in action. He would find her one day though. However his attention returned to the matter at hand. The young man was moving amongst the large library with rising shelves and an old ladder that was obviously not safe to stand on attached to one of the book cases on a rusted track that kept it in place. Still the cat would hop up onto a table across the room before looking across at the oddity that happened in the house. A nearly transperant white form like a child moved around the boy suddenly with a giggle. A spirit by the look of it before it ran into one of the book cases and was gone. At that point the cat spoke in Sero's cold voice. Talking calmly without emotion behind it.

"Ignore that for now. He only bothers others for moments at a time. You said something interesting before....called my weapons ancient, and at the same time yours seems to be alive. How can this be traveler?"

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