A light rain drizzled across the land that Yoshito was walking. Each stride taking him closer and closer to a destination that wasn't known to even himself. His head was lowered as he walked through the land passing over puddles and randomly scattered trash. Despicable, how some could treat the land they called home. Yoshito tried to keep his areas clean that he trecked through but sometimes it couldn't be helped so he understood, maybe the people that were here before him had left in a hurry for some reason. No signs of a struggle, however, led to the boy thinking that whoever had left such trash had no true reason for littering the street. He located a nearby trashcan and began picking up garbage that he could see in his immediate vicinity.

His body was bent picking up some half-empty bag of chips when he noticed a rather large wooden structure, two in fact, that housed a bridge in the middle. The poles were red with a sign at the top that Yoshito didn't bother reading. Instead, he took his first step onto the bridge on his way across the water to some island he hadn't seen before. Xiao was speaking of some island in the outskirts when he did his mission with the boy a few days prior but he didn't ever actually mean to stumble upon this as he did. The bridge was nothing special nor was the gate that led onto it but as Yoshi was walking he couldn't help but notice the water's surface shine on either side of him from the sun's rays and think how lucky he was to have a place called home. These thoughts were cut short, however, as thoughts of his failures with the wolves on his mission with Kaito had gone. A pain pulsed through his arm as he clutched his wrist that was still in slight pain wrapped in bandages. It was healed for the most part but he couldn't help but think back to the pain that was handed to him by the mouth of the beast that attacked the two of them.

Kaito.

The name of his partner rang into his mind, Yoshi's teeth gritted at the thought of not being strong enough and needing protection from those around him. He hated it. The idea of people seeing him as some weakling who needed the help of others before thinking he had skill enough to protect himself. His grip on his wrist became tighter as he looked onto the oceans glistening from the sun, how rare it was to not be pouring within the Land of the Mist.

He continued walking down the bridge with these thoughts of uselessness in his mind. Yoshito's head was hung low until he could see the island that the bridge was leading him to. The island had an ominous feel about it, a low hanging mist encircled the ground that Yoshi could see from the edge of the bridge. Yoshi looked down at it before looking back up at the trees that scattered through the grounds. They appeared to be dead or dying which was odd for an island in Kirigakure, they would obviously get the nutrients they needed through the wet soil the rain would provide. Not only that but Yoshito could hear some faint scuttling around but he wasn't quite sure what could make such a noise with so little volume. His eyes would squint trying to look onward past the trees and light mist that encased the land but couldn't see anything too terrifyingly threatening so he began his trek onto the grounds of the Spider Island.

As he moved forward brushing lazily drooping tree limbs out of his way Yoshi was thankful he wore a full robe today, one that actually covered his torso instead of his usual one that would only cover half of his body. He could feel the crawling of insects on the outermost parts of his robe but he didn't worry much about it, he simply brushed them off his person and continued walking through the rough terrain. Finally making it enough inward he noticed a house. But this wasn't just any house, this house stood a full four stories tall and commanded attention. Before Yoshi could make it to the front door he noticed a garden with fountains scattered about. Real old time feel to it, gargoyles and such seemingly used to fill the now empty fountain with water, when Yoshito admired it he could see just mounds of dead leaves piled at the bottom of the small pit, rings of dirt along the sides of the fountain would be noticed as he looked upon the pit.

Yoshito had his body at attention, standing straight up looking along the mansion encircled with dead or dying trees as he finally spoke for the first time while on this island. "Yo! Is anyone here?" He waited a moment sure that no one was. This place seemed abandoned at the very least or even somewhat cursed. Although he wanted to see if anyone was in fact in the area and so he awaited a response before doing much else.

Sero had been handling his forms with the lack of his left arm. Each slice in the air appeared more rigid than before. His form danced in the main hall as he shifted from stance to stance. Blade dancing in the air. For now he had chosen a lighter weapon. A simple rapier danced as if to a tune that wasn't there. To anyone who might see it the dance seemed to hold no flaw. However for Sero he knew his balance was different. When the medic came to attach the new arm once more he would have to find his alignment but for now his balance needed to be found. He was vulnerable as he was. None had shifted to take advantage of it as for now it wasn't public knowledge but he wanted to be prepared. The rapier shifted once more as he stabbed forward in a powerful thrust. The pressure of it putting out all the torches in the room and plunging it into a dim lit space. Only the light straining in from the painted windows would fill the area now as it spread gold and red colors from the depictions of war. For now this level would have to do. It was only temporary after all.

From within his hall he stood tall. A thin and pale man with long white hair spilling around his shoulders down to his chest and back. Around his body was white robes with silver lined thread dancing through out. A metal breast plate adorned his chest with the Kirigakure shinobi village symbol on the front. His feet were bare beneath his robes. The sleeves wide though on his left side it would hang painfully empty from the shoulder down. Simply left to its own designs as it would dangle there. From his left shoulder to his left waist though was a line of pure snow white fur. He would shift and with a swift motion sheath his rapier into the ornate black scabbard with silver lines engraved into it with a near silent click. Only once he stood still again would he glance up with dead grey eyes to the spider lowering down to him. Gradually his thin, pale hand would rise with dark nails stretching out. Letting the spider clutch onto his fingertips before releasing its web and crawling up his sleeve. For a moment he would stand still as if listening before his dead eyes would shift to the front of the manor as if looking at something through the stone walls.

"So it would seem..."

Outside the garden would seem to be in disrepair. No Gardner would live here or even attempt to make something natural grow. Strange dark vines had appeared to claim everything with large thorns protruding from them to ward off any attacker. For the moment it all seemed simply like an unattended old estate. The two would be given the chance to greet each other before the mist that blanketed the ground would pick up slightly. Shifting and growing thicker from the side of the forest they had come from first as if to suggest running would not be tolerated. Soon it encompassed the two so they could see each other but not outside of twenty meters. Only once the fog had consumed the land did they feel it. The sense that there was something out there that could not be brushed off as paranoia. Something was out there. It was hungry and it was stalking them. The kind of sensation that makes the hair on the back of ones neck stand straight up and alerts even the primal to danger. The lord had come. The man called the father of horrors had found them.

From within the mist it would seem like humanoid shapes would dart here and there. Perhaps it was a trick of the eyes or something worse. Whispers carried on the wind. Faint and difficult to make out unless on strained. To those who did it would be concerned sounds. Wishing they would flee, asking why they did not already run from this doom. Other whispers would cackle in madness and sound joyous that new members would soon be joining the family. However that sense of impending demise would focus on the mist from the direction the manor had been a moment before as the blanket seemed to swirl. The air becoming warmer now as spiders would skitter frantically about the area. Joyous of their brethren. Sero would seem to glide forth and settle on the ground before them. The eyes of the dead switching between the two before he would take a deep breath through his nose. His eyes snapping from one to the other before his thin lips would part into a smile that the rest of his features did not match. Like a mask instead of a human face. His words would seem to echo dully in the air though no emotion came from them.

"One of winter and one of bone. What odd guests visit me today. Though I am curious. What would bring children here? Grown yes, but still children of man and man has grown to know better. Surely you do not tread so lightly upon my home as to come without purpose."

883

The cool air that filled the area suddenly got a little colder as the wind picked up slightly. The noise was almost nonexistent save for a tree branch falling here or a bird chirping there but other than those small distinct noises there was no noise on this island. Suddenly cracking of dead leaves surfaced through the silence and with that burst of noise Yoshito whipped his body around and as he did so he pulled out a kunai so it was at the ready when his body stopped its motion. His eyes focused on where the sound originated from, a blur at first would come to clearer edges and make out Koryu Kaguya, a boy he and Kaito had done a mission with not long ago. A simple mission patrolling the borders of the village until it quickly turned into anything but simple. Yoshito's body shuddered almost unsightly at the thought.

Yoshito snapped out of his combat-ready stance and allowed his hand wielding the kunai to lay lazily at his side. The way he carried his body had entirely changed when the sight of Koryu had graced his presence. "Hey Koryu watsup man." His free hand would shoot up into the sky waving from side to side offering a greeting after he had tried to startle the young boy. He let out a slight chuckle at the Kaguya clan members attempt but still listening to what he had to say. A shinobi that lived here? This place? This place was abandoned for the most part is what Yoshito could say on his findings and observations of the palace that stood tall behind him now. Sure it looked pretty and the architect that made it probably also profited a pretty penny, but with the fountain the way it is, dying flowers in the garden and the entire forest along with it he had just assumed that nothing but rotting corpses or something laid underneath them.

"A shi-"

That would be all that Yoshito could get out when suddenly that slight mist that rolled overtop the two's feet suddenly rose to entrap the two. Yoshito didn't try and escape, everything happened so fast he couldn't even react accordingly even if he wanted to escape. The Koryu that once stood before him became a memorable silhouette encased in the mist. Was someone trying to separate the two for some reason? There was no time to think. Yoshito readied his hands for a couple hand signs to use a jutsu he created not long ago to see through a mist just like this one. Eyes of the Water God. It would allow Yoshito to sense others in the mist using the water molecules in the mist itself so anyone within the mist became present to Yoshito instantaneously. But such a thing was not necessary.

The mist that once cut the two off opened up in the middle but it also accompanied what could only be described as a dark spirit. Yoshito wouldn't see this figure yet, however, he was too distracted by the whispers that echoed inside his ears. The faint whispers from a few that questioned why the boy had come, the others dared him to escape only to see what would happen and welcome him into their exclusive plane of existence. Is this a genjutsu? A Genjutsu would be a suitable explanation for such events that were occurring before the boy's eyes. Otherwise, he couldn't quite explain it. His family had been most places while they were on the run from Takigakure no Sato but something like this is foreign even to the boy who once roamed the lands in search for a place to call home.

Suddenly the gust of wind that was once so powerful as to rush spirits across the mist had vanished in thin air as if it was never there, to begin with. Yoshito could feel the deeply disturbed presence that he could faintly feel before suddenly become more prevalent than ever. Shaking from the scenes that had just occurred Yoshito moved his head in the direction of the force that entered Yoshito's senses. The man spoke. The raspiness of his voice shattered the silence that Yoshito gave off after the terrifying scene that just happened. He was still silent. How did he know I was a Yuki? Thoughts came to his mind that was honestly irrelevant. If this man truly is what his senses told him, then he needed to worry about how to get out of the area safely. His body shuddered, his legs were weak but not noticeably as Yoshito noticed the man's physique. No arm, that could be useful information for the boy if he needed to make a quick escape by force.

"Sir, I didn't know this was your home. I deeply apologize for making myself known without a proper introduction. I'm Yoshito Yuki and I-" He was going to continue but he had to think about his true purpose here. Its true that he was only browsing the many islands that the village had to offer yet this man seemed so powerful to the boy and Yoshito hadn't even seen his abilities yet. Such power to command an audience without even exhibiting a single skill other than stealth. He thought to the other night when Kaito got hurt trying to protect Yoshito from a lowly pack of wolves. A bead of sweat formed and dropped down the side of his face even though the air was crisp and cold. His fist clenched though as he thought back. "I came here to be stronger sir!" Ah there it was, the truth came out of Yoshito's mouth. The fact is that he didn't want to feel like everyone needed to protect him anymore. Although he was young he wanted to be the protector, not the protected.

Sero would stand before them. A silent sentinel that never blinked or shifted. His chest did not seem to rise to breath nor his nostrils flare. He was as still as the statues around him. Their misshaped figures from abuse and neglect like horrors in the mist that partially hid them. Mere shadows of the glory that had been intended. They would each answer, having recognized him and chosen their reason for coming. There it was. The drive that brought shinobi before him. They sought what he had grasped since he was but a boy. A power to add to their own. For some it boiled down to training or even equipment. However he had been born the monster he was. A creation that his own mother had shunned and abandoned. However even that had not been enough to kill the beast. Seclusion, starvation and savagery. Those were his first experiences with the world. His building blocks to create the phantom of the mist. The first in many years with the power to claim and wield the captains position of the seven swords. Born with a darkness that he had to tame to truly progress further. To become less the phantom and more the lord of the island.

Still his eyes would shift to the one who had spoken second. He had confidence Sero rarely knew. He stood there with bravery in his voice and words. Foolish as it was the thought was almost amusing. Still he would speak as those eyes seemed to take in the boy and the quality of his soul. Staring beyond the flesh like a vast emptiness waiting to swallow him whole. However he did not move to attack. Instead he spoke. Dead words on the air. "You are not yet ready to challenge me. At the level you reside at in comparison to my own, all your power may as well be equivalent to that of livestock. Do not test your boundaries beyond your limits too far or it may be the end of you." With that his attention would turn to them both. Studying them in either silence or during the rebuttal that either of them might have. As he studied them he would again begin to speak out. This time as he spoke each sentence would come from a different direction as a duplicate copy of himself would emerge from the mist. Surrounding them. None but the first casting a shadow and yet something crept within each. The same hungry darkness within the original.

"There is a price to be paid for my power. You must first accept that humans by nature are corrupted. Those that would break the law for their own gains must be punished. Kiri has no place for prisoners so when you act as law you act as executioner. If I grant you this power your very soul will never be the same. You will be driven to slay those who have done wrong and in doing so you will feel no guilt or mercy. "With that the first one would reach out his hand with the palm up. Dark nails on pale fingers reaching out to them but still he stood his ground as only he spoke. The others merely silent witnesses. "Touch my hand and my power will slowly become yours as you give into it. Tame it and one day you will be my equal. If you can not, you will be driven to madness. Blood will stain your path as far as the eye can see and one day, I will come for you."

His pale hand would be held out to them. No emotion on his face. No sense of eagerness or threat but there was something hungry there. Some sensation that he offered them truth in his warnings. Still if they took his hand, so much as touched his fingertip black veins would stretch from the point that touched down their arm. Like ice running under the skin before it faded away. Replaced by a hunger. A desire to sate themselves on the blood of the cruel. Hesitation, humanity, all of it just a little more faded in return as their chakra reserves once so pure became a little more tainted.

Koryu spoke with such vigor in his voice, so eager to fight this man that they knew nothing about. A man whose very presence brought forth spirits and an ominous mist. A man who seemingly had nothing to lose and that wouldn't even be the worst of it. This man seemed to be much, much stronger than the two. Yoshi could feel it when he made his presence known. Idiot. Yoshi thought as he heard Koryu speak to the man like he wouldn't kill the two with a flick of the wrist or the bat of an eyelash. The boy's body stood still, the grasps of fear clutched his body tightly as he listened to the man speak. He compared Yoshi and Koryu to livestock, mere cattle to him. Fodder to a man commanding such presence. He couldn't believe it. He knew that he couldn't compare to those who have been in the shinobi life for a long time seeing as he was simply thrust into it not long ago but those who held a higher rank than him were kind and helpful in his progression thus far, never once comparing him to cattle prepared for slaughter.

Yoshi couldn't move, the man's raspy voice poured from his mouth as he spoke. The almost whispy-like voice scratched at Yoshi's ears begging to enter. Yoshi looked intently into the man's essence as he spoke. The man's speech consisted in stating that man is corrupt which is true in a sense. Countless people in history books became stronger to the point of it devouring them for the sheer thrill of becoming someone that people feared. But why? Could they have had the same inhibitions as Yoshi? These people wanted to be the protector of his people so much that they succumbed to the darkness that lay dormant within them? Could Yoshi ever turn into these corrupt people that this man described? Yoshi couldn't act as executioner, he wanted to part in this. The way this man described his power it seemed as though he was wanting to devour the boy's soul in return for this power he wanted to give.

Yoshi shook his head as it lowered, his mind was being pulled in multiple directions as the man's voice would originate from seemingly every direction as well as the original one simultaneously. His head riddled with thoughts of the corrupt people that the man spoke of. But that wasn't all that lay within the confines of his mind. The thoughts of those people who did good in the world crossed his mind as well. Yoshi's mother's smiling face flashed in the forefront of his mind as he did so, he could remember her and his father protecting him when they were on the run from Takigakure hunter-nin and never once seeming tired or frustrated that Yoshi couldn't help. They were glad to keep their baby boy safe if it meant a safe haven on the other side. He wondered if they had been given the same type of offer when they were his age. The thought crossed his mind that if they were given this offer, what would they choose? This man clearly held immense power but it wouldn't really be power if Yoshi decided to take his hand, it would be a boost at the cost of the boy's soul.

The man's arm stretched outward. The images of him scattered throughout the mist became silent. The man's hand wasn't an inviting image; His pale white arm seemingly reaching through Yoshi's physical self and for his soul in its entirety. Yoshi's eyes squinted as he looked upon the man with white hair, one arm, and dead eyes. He hadn't known his name but he had to speak to him.

"No" Yoshi's eyes were filled with determining fire, the violet eyes that normally sat dormant within his sockets became a raging purple. "I can't take this offer. I humbly decline. I cannot give you my soul even if you speak metaphorically. I don't think my family would ever forgive me. Hell, I don't think I'd ever forgive me. You see I've met honorable shinobi, good people. Not everyone is corrupt as you say and I hope one day you can see that." Yoshi finished his outburst with his arms resting at his sides. He finally regained control of his body, the fear that had once frozen his body had lifted as though what the boy said lifted some sort of burden from his shoulders. A sigh of relief escaped his chest and out his mouth. His chest raised and depressed during and after his deep breath as he looked at Koryu for his response. In truth, Yoshito wanted to leave after his speech so to not encounter an awkward situation but he couldn't leave without his friend Koryu.

Sero would look to the first of the two champions before him. One of mind for the human world still kept by his childhood innocence. The other similar in his own way but lusting for power beyond what he knew. One was polite but burned with a passion all his own for his believes and the other was arrogant but wished to gain strength no matter the cost. Of this he would select the arrogant one. There was nothing wrong with the other for his own way, much like Nozomi he would find his path. Along the way he would suffer for those beliefs. The other was more like himself. Not yet of mind to proceed with grace and nobility but he would bring about far more suffering for his enemies than they to him. A new slayer to the flock. Few had accepted the gift but each of them Sero could still feel. Somewhere out there living and slaying those who would cross their sense of justice. Even as one turned him down with his family as his crutch Sero would consider him no more for this. He would not press his power unto one who would not wish it. Something so tainted could only be confronted, contained and controlled by one who sought the power it gave. If it was feared, if it was misused than it would eventually overwhelm until the boy himself would no longer know if his thoughts were his own. If he was truly at the helm of his own actions.

The second boy though would reach out to touch his hand and accept the gift. The curse flooding into his chakra as he too would join the tainted. No longer the sheep but the wolf that had laid claim to them. Sero would regard him with dead eyes as he studied the boy. Now if the Kaguya focused he would feel Sero and others out there somewhere. As well as the entire Unmei clan faintly around the island. He would know he was connected to something now. Sero remained quiet as he spoke to the other. Some sort of philosophy. The boys father had simply taught him to seek out power on his own for the sake of power it seemed. Sero knew little of this though. How both were driven in different directions by this concept. Family. Only now that Sero had through his own raw power created his own horrifying children did he have family. A horde that knew only the laws of nature mostly but his first daughter would soon gain control over. If she had not done so already. Still Sero would not insult either of them for such ideals. If they did not already know to make their own decisions about the world they would learn when it would bare its ugly maw at them. It was not a kind thing but in time it would happen to any shinobi. Death and fear surrounded them. For now though Sero would let his hand fall and speak again. His dead voice carrying once more.

"It is done now. Of two each made a choice. One returned as a man to the world of man and the other as something more. Or in the eyes of man as something less. How you define yourself will be up to you. Young Kaguya, if you wish to learn my ways I will train you here, at my home. You have become a part of me and as such the island will welcome you. Aisu, you have chosen a different path. May it serve you as you hope. However the longer you remain here the more danger you will be found in. The island is not a kind place. It will be up to you if you would still remain but my ways can not be your own."

With that he would shift his hand as the mist would pick up once more. Concealing him from view for but a single moment before he was simply gone. The mist fading to how it had been when they arrived. The monstrous presence barely on the edge of their senses as it had been before. The silence remained where he had once been. The door to the manor remained open as the dark entry way waited. Should they proceed it would welcome them. If one left or both nothing would change for the day. Only awaiting the return of either. Sero awaited the return of the Kaguya personally though.

exit thread

Yoshito made his way out of the area, he didn't know if Koryu would follow or not but he knew he had to get out of there. The deadening man didn't seem to pose much of a threat to the boy but he didn't feel comfortable either. Koryu wanted the cursed gift and that's fine but it wasn't for Yoshito. Selling his soul just isn't something he could let himself live with. Yoshi's head hung low looking onto the passing wooden planks that made the bridge he walked along. The boy stopped for a moment and looked back to the island. Random animals screeching and other anomalies could be heard by the boy as he shivered in fear and pain. His hand began to pulse with pain once more as he thought of his friend in there alone with that man who was clearly superior. Who was he? His mere presence held a certain deathly aura about it even when he wasn't using any jutsu. It was terrifying to see someone that strong but was it real strength? Yoshito couldn't help but feel sorry for the man who was clearly alone on that island. Yoshito turned back to the end of the bridge toward the village, rubbed his hair back and let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess I'll have to go my own way." With that, he made his strides back toward his village away from the demonic island that is the Spider Island. His eyes darted past the large gate that housed the bridge in the middle as he passed it noting what it said this time. Danger; Enter at your Own Risk Mentally reading it aloud in his head he let out a slight chuckle. "Ya got that right."  He continued walking away.

Weapon Style: Kusarigama [Onojutsu] | 1,000 WC
Fuuton from C-Rank to B-Rank | 2,000 WC