It had been two weeks since the due had first met, having travelled to Konoha for a brief time and then leaving soon after to return to the solace and grandiose range that was the Iwa mountains. The land here was impeccable, and as Ayabozu coaxed and could not keep his mouth shut over the course of the trip, he assured repeatedly as they climbed the walls of some of the steepest mountains in the country, that they were heading toward something that would be worth both the wait and the effort. The two of them had been through a lot together in the short few weeks that they had known one another, having almost killed each other once already, and having drunken together and made amends, it seemed like this partnership was going to be beneficial for all participants involved.

Ayabozu and Akane, far from the wandering trails of this countries foolish ninja, their ANBU and their Jounin far behind them, and with the company of his new partner, managed to come into one of the secret valleys within the rocky ranges of Iwa, the Valley was no more than 50 hectares of land which was rife with pine trees and waterfalls. It was a beautiful, spiritual place high up within the mountains, hidden from sight from the foot of the ranges. There was something very special about this place, one of the few secrets which Ayabozu had managed to find in his treks as a lowly wandering Cartographer. Though this was one of the few locations he had never sold to the public, and even though it had taken a little bit if time to get to, Ayabozu had ensured that they were not followed.

Entering the forest floor, it was awash with animal life, there were squirrels and other small animals which were often preyed upon safe here, mountain goats grazed off the bark of the trees in lieu of eating the grass while Rabbits burrowed and deer frolicked. Ayabozu thought there would be some sense of peace here for Akane, there was even a Bear and her cub which could be seen in some distance fishing from the waterfall river for the trout who would return to the lake here to breed in this time of year. As they approached a small raised handmade wooden floor, as if the foundation and floor of a house was built but never any more, Ayabozu spread his arms in proclamation and addressed Akane to the area around them.

"Welcome to my humble home, I hope you find it comfortable. This place is so high its basically invisible to the country below, so i use it as a hideaway. My own private land of milk and honey. " he said with a small smile, knowing this time that he had probably out-done himself, looking to Akane for approval, her opinion as his companion meant the world to him, seeking it often to see how well he had done.

Nue upon seeing the flower rich bushes which dotted the area, as well as the local wildlife lit up, no longer having to wander the landscape in search of food, the pup darted off into the recesses of the woods to locate friends, food, and drink. He was probably the only wolf here, few of the animals that lived this high had likely ever seen one, so, they would not know what to expect from the ivory embellished canine... Ayabozu took a single step and leaped on top of the raised floor which stood in the middle of a small cherry field. The flowers were budding, bloom was likely some months away with the turn to spring, He had never seen these trees go into blooming, and a deep seeded part of himself wanted to know if these were the kinds of Cherry which exploded into blossom on one day of the year.

"The land is 50 Acres in odd directions and surrounded by cliff faces on every side, there's a Myth about this place, it is said that this is where a monk came to meditate once, sitting upon the top of the mountain he was beset by Iwa's Tengu... The old monk was a pacifist, and although Tengu hate Amida in every loathsome way, as followers of Bushido, they could not cut down an unarmed man, without having recently procured a new blade. So, they bullied him, beset the mountain with storms and winds to dislodge the monk from meditation... The monk, almost falling to his death as the Tengu continued to harass him spoke as loud as thunder. he said: 'please, leave me be, allow me to stay and I will do anything that you wish.' The Tengu laughed and one of them spoke, 'we shall only leave you be, when the nature of this mountain changes.' With that, they left. But the Monk thought, and he, began, to dig."

Ayabozu smiled knowingly, looking around himself at all the life, the pieces of the puzzle of this story were all there, but he doubted Akane cared enough to learn about the meaning behind this story...

"So, the Tengu came back every day, to harass the monk, calling to him in the voices of his family, mocking him, performing dark shadow puppetry in order to distract him and torment his mind. But the Monk kept digging, and digging with his bare hands, persisting for many, many days. And no matter how cut, or beaten, or anguished the monk was because of the Tengu, he dug, and he dug. Until one night, he stopped, and stood in prayer. Praying to the prophet Amida to aid him. At the prayers the Tengu whipped themselves into a heretical frenzy, baying for blood at their foe's name. They each flocked the Monk, who stood, in this very spot." Ayabozu said standing upon the altar made of wood which sat in the centre of the crater.

" The Monk said 'I have done what you asked me to do, I have changed the nature of the mountain.' Now the Tengu, took offense to this, drawing their blades and threatening the monk with violence, beating the monk to his knees with conjured winds, they scowled in his direction, cursing his name foolishly. 'Foolish mud prophet' they spoke 'this mountain is ours, its nature cannot be changed so long as we soar its skies.' The Monk looked up, with an emotionless expression and raising a single hand to the heavens, he defiantly lowered it back into prayer. Angered, the Tengu drew its blade, and in a single step moved to remove the monks head from his shoulders! It was at that very moment, fire exploded from the mountain top, the ground crackes and fissured and the cries of the Tengu filled the air as a collossal fiery mountain spirit awoke, gripping the Tengu and swallowing them in its magma before overflowing the valley and spilling into the world."

Ayabozu paused dramatically, allowing Akane connect the dots to his story. Smiling enthusiastically as he retold the epic which was told to him by hermits which would travel to this place as a mission, finding peace and praying to the mountain spirit which had saved the life of the monk here.

"See, the hard work and prayer of the monk, had transformed the spirit which was once in league with the Tengu, into a Volcano spirit which was yet to have allegiance. He had changed the nature of the mountain, and when the Tengu had failed to leave him in peace, the Volcano opened its eyes to see dishonesty, and malice, despising it, it destroyed the Tengu, allowing the monk to pray here, until he became Disoujou at the end of his days... While the volcanic soil, allowed this paradise to grow amongst the ashes of the Tengu it devoured... The Monk's remains are still here somewhere, on one of the ledges, we could visit it sometime if you liked... ... ... "

Ayabozu concluded, sitting upon the balconic altar and opening out lunch, placing some of the wild salted lamb they had caught earlier and placing it within the centre of bread, chowing down in the mean time, hoping to hear the feedback from his story, or any questions or confusions she would have about the subject matter. Ayabozu was not sure if he believed in the fanciful story, but, one thing was for certain, the moral of the story held true. everything can change its nature, to this, there was no doubt, even the most stubborn of mountains could, in a heartbeat, became a raging volcano. Ayabozu liked the stories he had been told by the monks over their travels, he had many of them, each of them telling a lesson, a teaching of virtue, and as much as they may be fancified or just simple stories or fables, critical as Ayabozu may be, they lived in a world where impossible things could happen...

So he could not really discount anything.

1505

The thought struck Akane - exactly how far ahead did Ayabozu plan things? The travelling seal master had just pulled a fast one on the matron of the Tengu and now had the perfect hideaway where her spies would not dare intrude. Mountain spirits were a form of major Kami and those that embodied volcanoes were particularly volatile. With a guardian such as that they would be safe from all bar the most persistent of threats.

Akane opened her senses to the unseen and she could feel the earth beneath her contract and expand  in a grand, slow motion as if the valley itself were breathing. That was the spirits power - it's mere breath was enough to make her shudder with the condensed energy. Akane’s thoughts soared high above the ground reaching out to touch the nooks and crannies of the valley. Something was above them not overwhelming like the sheer force of the mountain spirits presence but rather a much more subtle emanation that one could easily miss at first. As Akane probed deeper she began to get the beginnings of a feel on what exactly the implications of this being’s existence detailed.  It was certainly not faint and were it to challenge even something as great as the tide in a battle of wills she was sure that it would be the waves that succeeded to defeat and left for greener pastures before this existence even battered an eyelid.

She was not sure if she was ready to come face to face with something like that quite yet. It was simply too alien for her.  The force of will required to keep such power in check was frightening in its solidarity, something that defied even the nature of the world around it. It was terrifying and yet it offered her hope – in her life she had been but a slave to natures passions and indeed her own feelings. It could be said that this was the entire curse of her people, given immense power but not the disposition required to manage it properly. Add the fragility of the modern world into the account and it was a recipe for disaster.

She needed time to think on such things and thus would put off their visit to the remains of the monk at least for the moment.  Instead she changed the subject to something that while still being relevant was not quite so shattering.

“Your techniques. The ones with the symbols and stuff – Could you tell me a bit more about them.  I get that it has something to do with the way that Chakra flows and suff , but where did you learn them, did you get taught at an academy or was it from a mentor? “

Akane’s nails dug into the palms of her hands. She was not the most eloquent of people and thus it was difficult to articulate some of her thoughts in distinct manner. She tried her best anyways pressing on.

“It’s like there’s a language for using chakra. Whenever I try to do something involving spirits or the unseen world I feel like I am just basically pointing and screaming. It get attention but it takes time to actually get anything done and I feel like an idiot when I do it. It would be stupid to ask you to teach me about the language my ancestors used but perhaps you could teach me about the one that you make use of in a way that I don’t feel like ripping someone to bloody ribbons cause of the self superior attitude those bastards at the academy put in to everything they say.”

Akane was not sure if this would convey all she wished to know. After all what she was asking was no easy feat. She suspected that each civilisation had developed separate ways to commune with the spirit world all or which derived from the pure strain of language that underlay everything. A phonetic or symbolic encompassing of the conceptual nature of an existing entity both within or distinct from material space (For what truly were the Mudra – ninja hand symbols but a language of signs kin to those used by the deaf).  True names and true personas hidden from mortal ken but substituted and equated with words in ancient times which had gained power even through the mere act of association.

 The authority of the true names had rubbed off on their countless derivatives and no doubt with time Akane could synchronise her own crafted system to suit her needs. That would however take a great deal of time and indeed she was sure that her efforts would pale in comparison to the sages of history.  While she wanted little part in civilisation this was a matter of pragmatism and she hoped fervently that Bozu would be gracious enough to open up to her.

815/????? words

Ayabozu listened to her curious words and the wrinkles on her face appear as she attempted to articulate her meaning consciously, like a child trying to speak like an adult, though the attempt was unnecessary, Ayabozu in this mode of thinking was a conduit to his more whimsical nature, though, while they were being philosophical, he supposed he would be able to serious-en up a little actively fight his medication in an act of seriousness to be able to teach her a thing or two about his seals and how they work. Clapping his hands together, he opened them as a seal floated into the air before him, it was a seal which kept changing, moving slowly, its form never remaining the same for long. It was a basic seal, but this particular seal could be any seal he wanted.

The symbols that i use are laced with the most trace forms of chakra, for it to be able to effect the way chakra moves through the air, unlike the symbols that basic ninja use with their hands which cause long strings ans sequences to manipulate chakra in the way they want it to be used, the symbol allows us to use far more intricate uses, many times faster. But, you have to keep the chakra there. So, See this symbol here?

Ayabozu pointed to the centre most symbol of the fuuinjutsu seal, which expanded into the basic outlay of the fuuinjutsu's form, and although the fuuinjutsu moved and warped, its basic fundimental aspects and shape remained largely the same.

Think of this symbol like a dream catcher, it catches the chakra you empower the symbol with to activate it, while the supporting symbols mould the chakra much like hand-seals, making fuuinjutsu unbelievably versatile. The 'language' of the symbols I don't know much about, but, as far as i know, when it comes to creating jutsu, angles, and curves do have meanings, and i think, because the Chi comes from your own body, intent is very important. The symbols are often astrological aspects, very faith based, just going to show how important intent is. Similar to ninjutsu.

He said leaving his symbol there to change and warp as he willed it. Having finished his explanation there was a small break before there was a step from behind them, the breaking of a twig, something which a member of the Iga clan was almost incapable of doing. Then there, standing, with what seemed to be parchment like skin was a man, what looked to be some form of crooked sheath upon his back with black hair, his form covered in stitches with plain white eyes, which seemed to stare blankly ahead, only the highest rank of ninja would be able to see that they still moved and focused on people.

Ayabozu Iga... Looks like you've changed, I didn't realise that you hung around with jugo whores in this day and age, you know... its been a while... are you still the bitch you were in our village? We're cooking up a family reunion, and it would not be the same without you there... But alas, that's not why I'm here... where's grandmother? I know you know where she is, I want you to tell me, now...

The man stood, as he demanded and insulted the duo casually, looking at the two of them with his dead eyes. His flaking skin looked rough and course, his hair was long enough to fall to his shoulders but his frame was many times more masculine than Ayabozu's. Ripped and solid, standing at 6'8" tall and very well armed with basic ninja tools. Ayabozu stood stunned, not knowing what to say, or think, all he could remember was looking back into the black flames which consumed his village, and seeing the silhouette of the person standing before him be consumed by the technique as he screamed in agony...

What's the matter bro? Shocked to see me walking about? You'll get used to it in the coming day's im sure, that is, if you live to see it... now, where is grandmother... and tell your whore to keep her mouth shut while men are talking.

What Ayabozu said confirmed a lot of her suspicions. The symbols were directly connected to the will of the user. Though it was not the way she would perceive it she knew that these things were bound up in the entwined mass of mankind's collective unconscious. It was this that gave spells purpose - chakra on it's own was simply power and thus required a guiding hand. Mankind as well as the other sentient entities through out the universe provided this knowingly or unknowingly.

Then the revenant made it's unwanted appearance. Tall and broad the very presence rose Akane's mental hackles as well as giving her goosebumps. It smelled of barrow earth and gave dirt and the air that came from it's lungs was foul - signalling to the Jugo's keen sense of smell that the particular organs were somewhat 'rusty' from disuse. Not that they living dead were the most social of creatures and indeed when they did tend to mass there was generally the promise of a massacre on the near horizon.

"Tell your whore to keep her mouth shut while men are talking."

Akanes temper began to flare. She wasn't some little girl that would sit back and quiver at the presence of the dead. She was a shaman of the Jugo clan and had seen the lingering deceased since before she could walk. There was no fucking way that she was just going to sit round and take that kind of shit from a glorified husk. The skin around her nails began to tense and break as claws burst their way through her flesh and her gums shredded and reformed in her mouth as she snarled out a response.

"Stupid fucking spook. You just re-dug your own grave - except this time I'm going to rip you head off and shove it up you rotten ass. But hey look on the bright side if any cockroaches crawl on up there you can clean them out with your tongue"

By the time she had finished her sentence the transformation was complete. With her newly grown horns taken into account she now stood at over seven feet and with a wingspan to eclipse even the largest of birds. Clenching a fist she readied the most basic of initial attacks - a direct punch aimed right for the undead ninja's mouth. The force behind the blow was enough to uproot a small tree and if it connected even the supernatural endurance of the creature would not allow it to entirely shrug off the blow.