Four years ago a man and a woman had been murdered while living on the outskirt of the village: a retired Jounin and his seamstress wife who owned a small tailoring shop in the village – one who designed beautiful kimono and other elegant attire. Their daughter, barely twelve years old at the time and a fresh from the Academy Genin, had gone missing – the worst presumed after she didn’t surface again. Their home where the attack had originated had been burned to the ground with the man inside, and his wife had been found further out after having fled with her daughter as her husband tried to hold the attackers at bay – the scene of the woman’s death being where the child’s trail had gone cold.


Running. How long had it been now? An hour, two hours? Her chest stung, her legs felt like they were on fire – which was saying something considering her icy body temperature all to natural for someone of her clan. She was hungry and exhausted, her body not exactly broken but certainly showing the signs of abuse she had suffered and of the beatings she had endured – fresh bruises and cuts mostly, among other scars that had healed with time and left behind nothing more but their memories. She had no idea where she was going, she only knew she couldn’t stop: they were still behind her.

It had taken all of her willpower to pull off what she had: she had become docile over the past two years, and yet those who held her captive had not believed it, not until much recently. She had waited patiently until they had let their guard down, and then she had stolen a scroll she knew to contain weapons and had escaped as quietly and stealthily as possible. She had timed it as well as possible, knowing she had only half an hour or so before someone would come to check on her as she had been put to work with creating a dress for the daughter of the man who had held her: she had subdued the girl and then escaped out the window, timing her exit from her captors property around the patrol that constantly patrolled the building. Of course the dogs had caught her scent immediately, making her window for escape even smaller – she had hoped after all it would take someone a while to notice the subdued girl, but the dogs had all but destroyed that extra twenty minutes she had really needed.

So here she was, the full moons light dancing across her long white hair, silver colored eyes, pale flesh, and the white tank top and pants she wore – torn in small areas from the various brush she had ran through: a black colored bar-code tattooed onto her right arm marking her as ‘property’, as a slave in plain view. While she couldn’t see the people chasing her she could definitely hear them: both the shouts as well as the dogs barking. She had no idea how many there were yet she knew that if they caught her she wouldn’t stand a chance. It was perhaps this, and the sheer utter terror and fear she was feeling, that had her not paying attention to the island which she was nearing…

Wordcount: 553

The night was cold with a thick blanket of mist covering the blank forest floor. Any plant life that still grew was sparse. No creature stirred in the night on the ground or in the tree's as a young girl broke across a frozen body of water and into the new woods so different from the ones she had been in mere moments before. It was as if the world had shifted and nothing breathed here. Silence reigned ahead of her and yet the moment she would cross the tree line if she was paying attention she would feel it. The sensation that something else was watching her now. However her pursuers would not sense as much. They were to intent on catching her before she found any help. Kiri did not hold prisoners like them. Slavers took great risk within the lands ruled by the village hidden in the mist. Only death awaited them. However there was a fatal mistake they had made. Their chase had led them to the far east of the islands. The island where one creature still stirred in his manor. His woods were not empty. The night was young and there was a hunger in the air drawn to the sounds of pursuit.

They would only make it a few dozen meters into the woods when the winds would shift. A cold breeze fell on the lot of them and the dogs would try to stop. Sensing it before the humans could. It was too late even as they fought against their leashes to flee the other way. A shadow would burst through the woods slightly larger than the dogs. A yelp would be heard and then the dog would be gone. Dragged screaming into the woods in its own way before silence fell. The rest of the dogs breaking free and running back across the frozen water as fast as their legs would take them. The men would shout in confusion with weapons drawn. It mattered little though. One torch was snuffed out as a shape the size of a horse with eight legs would lower silently from the tree's and snatch the man up. Another gust of wind would plunge the rest of them into darkness as the first man was dragged to his grave in the tree's. Only the men made noise as they cried out. Now blind in the darkness. Left to fear and the unknown.

Jihi herself wouldn't get much further. Instead she would feel a sensation deep down to her core. There was something more out there. Something beyond human stalking the night. The white moon in the sky slowly seemed to turn a deep red of a blood moon as a man with hair white as snow would step out from behind a tree. The mist danced at his feet like pale hands trying to cling to the dark robes that hung about him. Black fur hanging flat around his shoulders and down to his waist where a single katana rested. His pale skin tainted red by the blood moon as his grey eyes so void of life regarded the girl. His pale hand rising up in a motion for her to stop as he barred her path. The shadows around him seemed to loom over the area and climb the tree's as if trying to break passed him or run was an impossible task. Instead he would speak in a tone like the grave rising up to ask her a question. He saw her slave mark and knew already what kind of men she was escaping. However his voice was quiet just for her to hear.

"Tell me girl, do you wish vengeance upon these men? Do you wish them to pay for their nature? If so you have but to do one thing. Bid me forth as your instrument child, Call out your desire and it shall be done."

659

If it were not for the barely contained panic, her fear and terror at what would happen should she be caught, she probably would have noticed that something was wrong with those chasing after her. As it was she didn’t make it much further herself before a feeling that was so intense it was hard to ignore barreled past the emotions that had been plaguing her and caused her to skid to a halt regardless of her mind begging and screaming at her to keep going. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her heart pounding so hard she could feel the beating in her eardrums, as she looked around with wide eyes: silver hues taking in for the first time how things had so suddenly changed around her. It was then she saw him, the pale man who stepped out from behind a tree, everything from his gaze to his attire seeming to speak to her that he belonged here while she very much did not.

Behind her she could hear the men who had been chasing her crying out, and against her better judgment her head and upper torso shifted as she looked behind her, her silver hues useless against the darkness. She had no idea what was happening to those men and their dogs but she had no intentions of going back to find out. So it was to the front she looked again, her gaze falling upon the man who had arrived. She listened as he spoke, drawn to his question. Did she want vengeance? Yes. Did she wish them to pay for the things that they had done? Yes. It was so simple really, to want these things. She knew not the man in front of her and yet she felt so certain he would do precisely what he said – or whatever was lurking within the darkness would, as she certainly felt like she was being watched. But could she do it? Could she condemn the lives of so many? In an instant.

Her hand clenched around the scroll she had stolen or rather the one she had taken back as it had belonged to her so long ago, the one up until now she had forgotten about in her haste to escape, while her other hand clenched around air. It was with sheer determination that her silver hues would remain upon the man before her, her head nodding even as softly spoken words left her lips, ”I want them to pay. I want them all to pay for what they’ve done to me and my family.” She had no idea what kind of vengeance would occur to the men behind her and she cared not: in that moment she wanted them to hurt, to suffer, to feel the pain and fear that she had lived under and through for the past four years of her existence – and she cared no for whose hand delivered it so long as it was done. The same men behind her had been the same ones who had murdered her father, and her innocent mother, the same ones who had captured her. They deserved whatever was coming to them. Would this stranger do it? And better yet, what price would be expected afterward? She was willing to pay any.

Wordcount: 1,103

Sero would watch her hands clench and feel the anger rising from her. A rage that few could ever know. A rage he had felt as a child that created the darkness within him he now commanded. He felt that connect them on a dark and deep level setting her path next to his for the moment. She clenched a scroll in one hand and her fist in the other. She was angry and he understood it. He knew this was not a fit of anger but justice made by those who had tainted her. Who had wronged her and her heart was painted black for it. She could not simply fade away from this. Her world was forever darkened by this thing they had done. This curse they had placed upon her that had drawn their own gallows. She met his eye and he did not turn away but instead embraced those emotions. As if he fed from them. He listened to her words as they broke the cold and silent air of the night around them only interrupted by the shouts of the doomed men behind her. She wanted them to pay the price for their crimes. This he could do.

He would smile then as a shift would happen. Those grey orbs that her eyes watched would slowly turn a deep blood red. The devil had asked her for her wish and she had spoken it. A crown of mist formed over his head that seemed to seethe with heat. His nails would grow out like claws and turn the color of dried blood. She had unleashed the villages dog of war. There was no leashing it now. His shackles removed he looked passed her and moved. She could not see his feet as it was hidden by his robes and the mist and to her it would appear as if he floated passed her. A menacing sensation filling the air as his right hand rested on the hilt of the katana on his left hip. There was a pressure in the air now as he set his eyes on his prey. The power only the Mizukage commanded. The captain of the seven swords moved across the land he owned. A mass grave these fools had trespassed upon unknowingly. She would know the moment he passed her that her wish had been granted. The men who had done these things to her were already dead.

In the distance the men scrambled as they sought to form ranks with their limited vision. One man hanging back and watching as he grit his teeth. Another man from the crowd turned and called out to him. Feeling fear rising in his throat as he knew in his soul they could not remain there. "Hiromasa! We have to retreat! We have lost the dogs and a man already. The girl isn't worth it!" Hirmoasa would grit his teeth and look into the darkness. She was out there. So something had taken a man...it seemed to be leaving them alone now. She was close by...he could feel it. It was driving him forward. Still he would call back in an angry tone. "Don't you dare Kinzoku. We must find her. If she reaches anyone from the village our entire operation is compromised. Everything we worked for will be over. Push forward!" There was some muttering among the men. Fear of the unknown slowly being overtaken by fear of their boss. It was quelled quickly though as they knew the consequences as well as he did. If she got away the village would come. All of them would die.

The men began to move slowly forward as their eyes slowly began to determine shapes and outlines. Enough to walk anyway. However suddenly one of the men would suddenly be snatched back. His yell cut off as his collar shut off the sound of his scream with his windpipe pulled closed. His back slammed against a tree as an audible sound of bones cracking could be heard. Before he could fall though his form would burst into white hot flames. He screamed a dying scream as the men around him were blinded by the sudden light. He screamed as he burned dropping to his knee's before burning to death. A light provided for her to become a witness. There stood the beast in their center. Crimson eyes watching them as they shied away from the light. With that he began to tear into them. Blade humming in the night as men fell. He would hew through them as a dark blur. Men cut down or with their throats ripped out. Bodies flying through the woods already lifeless as blood splattered across the tree's and ground. Justice had come for them. They screamed as it echoed through the woods until it was silent except two men whimpering. The two men who had spoken to each other where hanging by wire around their wrists. Their faces bruised as they had been struck and stunned but very much alive. Only their toes barely touching the ground. Only notable thing damage wise besides the bruised faces though was their legs were broken in multiple places with bones sticking out. Useless now likely for the rest of their lives. Sero stood before them watching as his red eyes would turn to her. Still lit by the burning corpse as the smell of burning meat filled the air. The other bodies being dragged from the light by large spiders to be fed upon. His eyes found the girl as he beckoned her with a blood stained hand to his side.

"Come child."

1607

Silver hues would watch as a smile crossed the mans face before a shift would take place: eyes changing from gray to blood red, nails growing out like claws, and a crown of mist appearing over his head. Were she in any other situation she would have been utterly terrified of him, likely of the deed she had just asked him to preform too. But here and now she remained steady on her feet and her feet planted firmly in place. There was no more fear within her now than there had been moments ago, only a sort of satisfaction that justice would be dealt this evening to those who had gone years without it. As the male passed her she turned to watch, shifting her form so that she was standing facing the direction her pursuers were in. A dark part of her, a part she hadn’t known existed until that moment made her want to watch, made her want to see their suffering and to hear every last terrified scream. Even from where she stood she could hear two distinct voices calling out to each other, one wishing to turn back and the other wishing to continue on. They knew what would have happened had she reached the village: but they hadn’t counted on the man she had just crossed paths with, and knew not what was about to happen.

And then she heard the yell, one cut off as suddenly as it had begun, and she knew that despite the darkness it was happening – vengeance was being paid upon her captors. It was then her unspoken wish was granted, a burning corpse providing light in which she could see by. The manner in which the men died was brutal to watch and yet she didn’t tear her gaze away: she wanted this, and it was exactly as it should be. The fear they felt she found herself craving and enjoying, the fact that those who fell knew what true and utter terror and fear felt like as they died giving her a kind of dark satisfaction she felt no shame in feeling. To her shameless satisfaction each and every one fell until only two remained: the two who had played such important roles in the darkening of her life: broken and strung up, unable to escape.

As she was beckoned forward she came, each step drawing her nearer as her silvery gaze remained locked not on the man who had saw her vengeance dealt, but those who had caused her so much pain and suffering. Hatred and anger dominated her icy cold gaze as she neared, the bodies being removed not escaping her notice and yet she couldn’t bring herself to focus on that. Even the smell of burning flesh in the air was not enough to dissuade her as she reached them, her head cocking to the left as she contemplated the situation of both Hiromasa and Kinzoku: it brought images to the forefront of her mind, those of her mother and the way she was strung up the last time she had set eyes on her. ”It’s funny, really… the way Justice works. Strung up just like my mother. I don’t even know if anyone ever found her… it’s been four years though… I know someone had to have found my father – a Jounin gone missing, his house set ablaze, is not something to go unnoticed. But my mother was just a seamstress….”, her voice was soft, words spoken more on a whim than anything – the contemplated ramblings of what was for all intents and purposes a curious child.

Wordcount: 1,711

Sero would watch her approach them. Blood stains littered the ground around them and yet she didn't falter at all the death. She hungered for it and he was enjoying it. She was a monster in the making. Still a fledgling but one that was promising. Few overcame their fear of him strictly out of hate. He understood however. He could rationalize how they had tormented her. How she held onto memories of their sins against her and others like her. They could not be redeemed either in his eyes or hers. However there was one thing he would not do. He would not rob her of the chance to finish this herself. She would lay awake at night in the future he was sure. Afraid of being taken again. Afraid of others around her. Her dreams would be forever plagued by these men. Creatures that had tainted their souls out of greed. Not worth the dirt to bury them. Not that his children would leave the bodies to be buried. No, he could feel it longing within her as she approached with her eyes locked on the men. She needed to have the right to do this. Have them at her mercy and judge their fates.

Hiromasa was trembling with fear before but when he saw her step into the light he froze. The other lowered his gaze knowing he was about to die. He would give into the pain and lower his head just waiting for the finishing blow. Hiromasa would watch her as she spoke though. Surprised she still held onto those memories for how often they had tried to break her. How he had thought they had snapped her spirit in half. She had fully tricked them and now...now it was all over. Still as she finished speaking Hiromasa would speak up. His voice breaking in fear as he did. "Please...I have a daughter...we will just pack up and leave. You won't ever see us again...I can pay you...four years wages is a lot girl....You can start a new life with that. Its everything I have just please...I beg you don't kill me. I" He cut off then as Sero turned to him. What appeared to be a crescent moon in his forehead snapped open to reveal a third red eye freezing the man mid speech. Terror gripping him so he could not do more than breath. Still Sero would circle her. Speaking in just above a whisper. Soft words in the air without emotion.

"You have heard his plea child. Heard him beg and seen him broken. Now their fate rests with you. Will you set them free? Allow them to leave in return for wealth? Will you end this now and end their lives? Cut the wires or cut their throats. Their fate, after all they have done, is now in your hands."

He would stop at her side as mist took his katana in his hand. Swirling around it and encompassing it before fading away again. In his hand was a common rapier. A simple sword for beginners. He didn't know what was in the scroll she held but for now he would provide an instrument of justice. It was enough regardless. His chakra channeled into it as the blade would turn black. Drops of acid dripping off of it and sizzling to the ground as the liquid coated it. If she pierced them the acid would eat away everything for an inch in every direction. A single scratch would end them forever. He would pause at her side and lower the blade. Sliding the hilt into her open hand. The blood on his hand was warm but what was more was so was his hand. Almost too hot to touch. Still he would place the blade in her hand as he leaned down and whispered in her ear while all three eyes looked to the two men.

"What fate do you choose for them? This is your power."

2284

Pleading, Hiromasa was pleading for his life and using the life of his daughter as his backbone and reasoning – a daughter that Jihi knew full well would likely follow in the same footsteps as her father if the pair were not separated permenantly. The whole idea made her want to reach out and backhand him right across the face: how many family had he torn apart who pleaded the very same thing – how many children taken away from loving parents to be introduced into a life of hell at his hands. Yet she kept her response under check, though even as she refrained from touching him her right hand, her free hand, twitched as if it didn’t quite agree with her brain stopping the action before it could begin. The offer of money, of four years worth of wages for what she had been put through, only caused her to grow colder still. There was no starting a new life when the boogeyman of her dreams would constantly torment her, when every shadow that moved and every creak in the dark would keep her awake at night as she wondered if someone had come for her again. No, he wasn’t going to leave here with his life, and neither would Kinzoku who seemed to have simply accepted his fate.

Before she could open her mouth to respond, before she could even decide what she wanted to do or rather how she wanted to do it, she listened as the male man spoke while circling her. He questioned what she would do – let them go or kill them for what they had done. Whatever she decided to do was in her hands. Hiromasa had offered her the kind of wealth and money most people would have jumped to take, and yet for her it wasn’t enough. There was no amount that could justify the death of her father and mother: no amount that could justify what had been done to her throughout the past four years of pain and suffering.

It was with a too-hot touch that she felt the hilt of a weapon placed into her open hand, her grip shifting to accept the weapon without hesitation or forethought. There was something almost sinister in the way she was so ready and willing to met out the deaths due to the two men hanging before her. Even as the question of what their fate would be was asked of her she already knew: there was no deviating from the course of action that her mind and body were set upon. Silver hues glanced down at the weapon in her hand, her mind taking note of what it was while the rest of her focus was on how exactly she wished to kill the two men – a satisfying thing to be able to contemplate. Should she drag it out, hurt them and make them suffer more, or should she do it quickly and just get it over and done with? What order would she kill the two men in?

It took her a mere second to decide: Kinzoku would be first, Hiromasa second. While Kinzoku had been the one to met out the death to her family Hiromasa had ordered it in the first place, and she wanted to make sure he knew what was coming for him, she wanted to revel in that fear he would certainly feel if only it were for a few seconds. So it was to Kinzoku she stepped first, no word spoken as she took a moment to regard him one last time. It was almost natural to feel the weight of the weapon in her hand, to extend her arm in a simple gesture, the blade running oh so cleanly across the mans throat – to feel the exact moment his flesh gave way with a satisfactory sort of ‘pop’ to the metal and the substance coating it as she ran it across. It was both easier and harder than she had imagined to commit such an act: her body and mind didn’t recoil from the thought and act of taking a life as her perhaps another would have, and yet slicing through flesh required a bit more effort than she had originally thought – though it happened nonetheless. She watched for a moment as the substance went to work on Kinzoku, her assumption that it was something acidic being made as her head cocked to the side and a kind of twisted smile formed on her lips.

As much as she enjoyed the show though it was to Hiromasa she stepped next. ”No amount of money will make up for the sheer pleasure I know I’ll feel at ending your life… I killed Kinzoku first because I wanted you to know what was coming. I wanted you to know as you take your last few breaths exactly how painfully you would go...”, the words she spoke were whisper soft and the twisted smile remained on her face while her eyes showed nothing but icy coldness and the cold blue flames of revenge burning within them. She was feeding off of the fear, deciding the exact moment she would strike, dragging out for Hiromasa what would ultimately be his end. Her hand would shift, move, but otherwise the blade wouldn’t be raised as she teased him until… with grin on her face she lifted the blade, sending it slicing across Hiromasa’s throat the same as she had done so with Kinzoku, enjoying the ‘pop’ of flesh giving away as she slit his throat wide open. She regarded him as she watched him die, her silvery hues remaining on the mans form – she wanted to see the exact moment death took him, she needed to witness it.

Wordcount: 2,673

Sero would watch her now. Quietly standing to the side as his power still connected him to the blade in her hand. She held in her palm the power he had created when he was her level. He could feel chakra within her and knew she was an Aisu and around genin level. Ayakashi would likely have some interest in this situation. One of her clan members turned slave? He was sure not a single member of the mans supposed family including his daughter would survive. They would all pay the price of such a crime. Still all three red eyes slid over her form as she seemed to relish the time she had now. The power she held now was hers. It was a lot of power handed to her at once. A lot of choices to make. She was allowing herself to be driven by her rage over her fear and he was pleased by it. She was potentially going to be a great slayer. As he himself had been. Her soul bared out around her in his eyes as if it was roaring. His sage mode making it all the more apparent. He could feel its taint and knew she was far too much like himself.

She said nothing as she approached the first man. His head rising just in time for her blade to slash out and cut his throat. Blood splurted out and he gurgled before the gurgling intensified. His eyes rolling back as the suffering began. His last moments of life as he suffocated and bled out were horrible. Chunks of his flesh fell away to the floor until his spine showed as a thick liquid gushed out with each attempt to breath. Coating his front until there were no muscles left to hold his head up. He died with his head barely connected to his body by a flap of burnt flesh and bone. She would speak to the second one as terror filled his eyes more for her than it had been for even Sero. He watched in horror as she played with him and screamed out through the forest as she went for the kill. Only for it to cut off into loud gurgling with eyes rolling back in pain. They were beyond a simple death. There was no medic in the world that could save them now. She had almost beheaded both of them with a flick of her wrist.

With that the man on fire finally burnt out. It would be a moment for their eyes to adjust but Sero would wait. After he could see her perfectly again he would snap his fingers. At the sound she would feel the sword in her hand was gone. Turned to mist that floated to Sero's side and into the empty sheath. Reforming as a sheathed katana. He stood before her now as the beast of the forest. The only two left within the woods. He would wait for her eyes to focus on him again before he would close all three eyes. The crown of mist faded and when his eyes opened again only two did. The dull grey like the eyes of the dead returned. Still the pressure like a beast just outside of her gaze remained. He spoke up to her quietly now. The screams having gone now the forest seemed so quiet. "It appears you are left with a choice." With that his chakra molded behind him with a combined technique. Using illusion clones and transformation technique at the same time. With ease as he didn't move at all as it came about.

From behind him stepped two identical girls in some ways. Very much like Jihi herself but with certain cosmetic differences. The one that stepped from behind him to his right was a happy looking girl in a black T-shirt and running pants with the Kiri headband hanging around her neck. Her hair was tied back and she looked happy. Like the world was a better place for her now. More relaxed and ready to go see her friends after a morning run. On his other side however was an entirely different picture. It was her but different. Her hair was only visible behind a black hood. She was wearing an entire shinobi outfit with a black chunnin vest and a sword on her hip. Her eyes stared cold from behind a half mask with eight jewels on it. The look of a killer hanging about her. His pale hands would reach out to indicate both of them. Coincidentally the happy one was in the direction of the village and the killer was in the direction of the manor.

"Now you can go to the village...tell your story and see the hospital. They will help you and you can be free of all of this madness. You can have friends and feel like a part of something again. The other direction holds no such thing for you however. You can come with me back to the manor and we will continue down the rabbit hole. I will hone you into a weapon. A slayer like myself. You can embrace that darkness they forced into your soul. Embrace it and hunt those like them. Stain the land red with the blood of the villages enemies and free their victims."

3181

She had almost completely beheaded them. It didn’t really hit her until both Kinzoku and Hiromasa were actually dead what she had just done. She had taken a life, not just one life but two. More had died at her wish, cut down or their throats torn open. It was then that she finally took notice of the blood everywhere just as the corpse finally burned out and cast the area in darkness. Even still she could smell it, the distinct odor filling the air being one she wouldn’t forget. No, she would remember this night for the rest of her life, and she felt no regrets about it. She had killed those who had tortured and tormented her for four years and she would sleep better for it.

She heard a snapping sound, like those of fingers, and felt the weight of the weapon in her hand suddenly disappear. She glanced down at her empty hand, still surprised at how easily she had taken a life and how little it bothered her, before turning her silver hues onto the pale man who had both saved her and helped her. She stood in silence as she watched him close all three eyes and then open only two, the coloration from before gone. Despite the quietness of the forest she still felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she continued to hold her ground, refusing to give in to the fear.

As the male spoke she hung on every word, his mentioning of her being left with a choice causing her head to cock to the side like that of a curious child. As the two nearly identical forms stepped out from behind him she took the appearance of each in: one looked happy and relaxed as if she were looking to spend the day with friends after a long run, while on the other hand the other looked like a killer who was willing to spill blood. His hands moved to indicate each choice and she looked between both of them – her gaze coming to linger more on the killer than the more relaxed and happy girl even before the male had finished speaking. These were her choices: she could go to the village and have the hospital take care of her while telling her story where she would then begin to start up some kind of semblance of life with friends and the feeling of being part of something, or she could follow him back to the manor and be honed into a weapon while embracing the darkness he seemed to know that lurked within her heart now. Each decision was as life changing as the other, and yet she knew in her heart and mind what she wanted without having to give it much thought. Those who had died tonight were not the only people like them: she knew many more slavers and others like them still stalked the streets. She knew people such as herself suffered at their hands every moment of every day. She also knew she was currently took weak to do anything about it. It was a life of vengeance and bloodshed, a life of murder and death dealing she sought after, and if this man could prepare her for it than she would gladly follow him into the bowels of Hell itself.

So even as her silvery hues snapped back onto the man, her face one of determination and a cold and calculating deadliness in her eyes, she nodded towards the hooded and masked girl, the killer. ”I wish to come with you. I want to be honed into a weapon: one capable of killing any enemy that crosses my path.”

Wordcount: 3,297

Sero would watch her for a moment longer. His eyes studying her as it seemed to sink in what she had done after the fact. Her eyes were on each version of herself and indecision seemed to hold her for a moment. He waited patiently all the same. After all he could assume her thought process. He was sure maybe for the first year or two of her misery she had simply wished for her old life back. For so long she had held onto what she used to have. A happy childhood. Two parents and likely friends. The shock of being enslaved must have hit her incredibly hard. Especially having watched her parents die in the process. However at some point something else must have happened. At some point she must have grown in hate. She must have realized she couldn't have everything back the way it was. She had accepted her parents would never come back and hate had seethed into her. She had planned her vengeance many times likely. Imagining killing each and every one of them until it was all that filled her thoughts. So it was natural that she would wrestle with the idea. To grasp who she had become to survive...or to cling to what life used to be.

Still it would only last for a little while before she would nod towards the hooded version of herself. Another assassin in the ranks. Ayakashi would have him tone down the training her genin to kill but this one...this one was his now. A bargain had been struck and even as she spoke the words devoting herself Sero knew. He knew he could grasp this soul and mold it into something interesting in his own image. No red tape or moral standards. She would raise a blade and torment her opponents as he had at her age. It was a wonderful thing. Still the innocent version of hers burst into flame and was gone as soon as she finished speaking. As if to signify one path closing to her. The other almost seemed to smile as it stepped. Its form passing through the girl and into her shadow before it was gone. A visual illusion but one to signify it becoming a part of her. Perhaps even her destiny. Still Sero would turn from her. Unconcerned with her at his back and yet it felt like should she so much as intend him harm it would mean death. People had attempted to deceive him before to no avail.

As they walked from the scene the mist would pick up and seem to seal off the outer world as they reached a wide road. Flat for carts but almost abandoned in appearance with barren tree's towering overhead. It was as if they had stepped into a different world. A thick mist keeping them from seeing beyond the first few tree's. Still Sero would walk into the mist. Down the road until they reached an opening. The road leading up through a pair of black gates to a towering manor with lights shining from within. Even in the dark woods with the mist around the manor only seemed to be a haven to the monsters that called it home. Behind them the scene was being picked clean. Only blood stains would remain by morning. No evidence of her new sins. Still he led her passed the black gates and smiled if she followed him. It was going to be interesting having an Aisu in the house. Perhaps in time she would grow potent enough to add another layer to his island. Diving it into a perpetual winter. Yes, A wonderful idea.

Exit thread
3800
S-2 ~> S-3, 2250/2250 Perception

No sooner did it seem that she finished speaking that the innocent version of herself, the one who likely would have lived as normal a life as possible filled with laughter and friends, burst into flames and was gone. It was symbolic in a way: it concreted her choice, burned away the chances of going back from it. There was no exit from the path of life she had just chosen: this was a ride with no stops until it reached the end. It was so easy for her to accept because she herself was no longer normal: she knew the darkness of the world, a darkness that most people only skimmed lightly through she had been shoved face first into and had spent four years drowning in. Now though, she hoped to learn to swim through it, to embrace it, to use it to her advantage. She watched as the other figure of herself seemed to smile before stepping forward and through her before disappearing: another symbol, as if she were embracing the life she had chosen, which was precisely what she was doing. The figure which had stepped through her was what she hoped to become in the future and so much more, and she knew already she was dedicated and willing to go through whatever she had to to get to that place.

As the male turned she followed, not bothering to question the fact that he had his back to her. She had no intentions of betraying him, no reasoning to, and what was more she had seen a glimpse of him tonight she likely would never forget. She was no fool, she had no intentions of screwing this up for herself, nor of attacking the one who had saved her.

As they went it didn’t escape her notice that the mist seemed to pick up, paying attention to her surroundings out of both curiosity and as a means of knowing where she was going. Upon reaching a wide road she glanced about again, though she found it hard to do so with the mist preventing her from seeing more than a few trees away at a time. Yet, she continued to follow the man before her as he walked through the mist, arriving at a road with a set of black iron gates which led to a towering manor with shining lights within. She stared for but a second or two before following after him and towards it, all the while her mind thinking back to the two bodies left strung up: would someone happen across them? Or would they be discarded of too the same as the others had been? Either way she didn’t dwell on it for long as she was eager to embrace her new life: eager to begin whatever training awaited her as she was honed into a deadly weapon capable of vengeance and murder.


Wordcount: 3,782

Learning Sub Spec – Swordsmanship: 3,782 – 1,500 = 2,282

Training Futon D to C: 2,282 – 1,500 = 782

Endurance E0 to E1: 782 – 75 = 707
Endurance E1 to E2: 707 – 150 = 557
Endurance E2 to E3: 557 – 225 = 332
Endurance E3 to D0: 332 – 300 = 32

Discarded: 32 words.