---

503

With time seemingly having passed Lamya quite a bit after her death, the woman was rather surprised at what state the world seemed to be in compared to the last time she had actually been a part of it. Having taken the chance to buy herself some newspaper the very moment she had gotten into Iwagakure itself, the former Ryujin leader was quite astonished with the information she was getting.

It looked like there was actually some sort of a semblance of peace, there were tensions, sure, but nothing as immensely over obvious as it was back when she had her hand in the events leading to her death. Without a doubt, the shinobi world had actually managed to rebalance and reallign itself after having been dealt such a great shock with the Inabayama affair, not to mention the chair shuffle the kages seemed to have been through, with so many people now in charge of the villages who she either did not know about at all or just vaguely. Kimura Takao was the Hokage and apart from the occassional note, she had no recollection of ever meeting this person, nor seeing him in action. The Mizukage was the most surprising though, given the nature of how powerfull Ayabei had been, no longer seeing her name as a kage made Lamya wonder, just what kind of person this Chigetsu had to be, to be her successor. After all, Lamya would have actually made a bet that it would've been at the very least Osada Sero or that Himitsu Nozomi girl that would've taken Ayabei's place, alas, it seemed she would've lost that bet.

Kumogakure seemed to be under the control of Daremo, a man she had meet up with twice and had actually ordered to tutor her lovely little Laïs in the art of the Yin stule Iryojutsu. When noticing that tidbit of information, she couldn't help herself but to smile a bit, given that she thought it would be quite the shock for someone so versed in death to actually see someone having returned from what no doubt would've looked like an irreversible death...though on the other hand, Lamya doubted many people actually were aware she had been dead to begin with.

And then there was the current tsuchikage...on whom she had little thoughts, besides a bit of doubt in his intelligence, though perhaps it wasn't wise to judge a book based on its cover. After all, not all brawny looking people were brainless by default and to be a kage, strength alone never did allow someone to make the cut.

With all that information, the black-haired beauty just couldn't help herself but to traverse the village she'd been brought to, keen to see its nightlife and understand its ways. However, just as she had managed to slip out of the temporary quarters she'd been granted through the window and onto the rooftops in her stealthy Shade outfit, the ouroboros woman noticed something dropping down on her face: a thick, fluffy black feather, noticing more of them dropping out of the sky above and as she turned her face upwards to see what in the sage of the six paths' name was happening, she could see how Laïs seemingly had a similar thought to her own. Just as the girl glided down into the darkness, so did Lamya quietly and softly jump down from the rooftops, keen on having some fun and follow her brave little student.

Following Laïs to where she dropped, Lamya decided to remove her mask and hang it from the side of her waist, combing her hands through her hair to make sure her face was visible when she entered the same place Laïs had, ordering a simple pint of beer and slithering her way to a se&at next to the Jugo girl using the most of her old training as an ANBU to be as stealthily as possible to surprise the youngster a bit. "You know...I know I haven't been as kind as I should've been towards you in the past...but just sitting there with a glass of wine, looking at the ceiling with a dead stare in your eyes makes you look like you might actually have less life than I had...and I was actually dead."

713

Six hours ago.

"What the fu….." Thick eyelids would flicker before slowly unveiling turquoise hued lenses. A body that only five days ago had been in pristine condition was now covered with burnt, wrangled, purple skin. Regardless of the disgustingly huge dose of anaesthetic that was surging through his veins, the boy could still feel the immense pain from the flames his father gifted him. An uncontrollable tremble would shake every fibre of his being as his mind began to fade, slowly succumbing to his wounds and the trauma he had just experienced. The heart rate monitor would sound an alarm as his heart beat began to spike, with doctors and nurses sprinting to his aid, arriving in a timely fashion, chakra was swiftly emitted from surgeon hands. "Stay with us Xigs….. Xigs? A warm sensation would calm his mind as he was soothingly revitalized, with his thick eyelids once again reopening as he remembered the voice. The faces of the medical staff would surround him as he coughed up sparks of spit and blood. Their voices loud as they questioned his sanity. "Xigs, welcome back to the world of the living." A chuckle would follow from the nurses as Xigs looked around the room, noticing the white ceiling, curtains, machine and bright lights. He knew damn well where he was for it was where he worked; the Iwagakure hospital.  "D-doct.. how did-d I.." His throat ached as he question his situation, with the doctor taking a moment to tell everyone to leave the room before piecing the story of how his life was saved.

An eerie silence would fill the air as Xigs stood affront a mirror in the private bathroom of his patient room. Tears that had been gliding down his burnt 'under-eyes' were now beginning to dry as he continued to stare at his reflection, seeing the deformed nature of his once-pale skin which was uncoordinatedly stapled on to his healthy flesh. He had tried using his own medical ninjutsu to reclaim his youth, however he had been found too late; these scars were permanent. Walking back naked into his room, he would remember his kimono from his village had been incinerated during the incident, and thus a box of clothes was given from the lost and found, filled with modern westernised clothing where he would put together an outfit before leaving the hospital. Wandering the street for six full hours, Xigs had been taking his new appearance quite horribly as people passing him by would gasp at his scars. Full grown adults would flea whilst hiding their children's eyes without remorse for his feelings. However Xigs knew this was to be expected, as soon as he saw himself he thought of how other were to see him as. He truly thought of himself a monster. He didn't know what to do at this point, as people throughout the village streets began to thin out as the night got cooler. With nothing to do, Xigs would rather do anything but sleep, as it was all he had done for several days. Maintaining his slow pace whilst lost in his thoughts, his turquoise orbs would gravitate to the air in the distance at the remarkable scene of a black bird transforming into a human, with her features hidden by the darkness of night. Gazing at her as she went into a tavern, Xigs would be curious as to what she looked like, following her lead and making his way into the tavern. However his interest would peak a second time as he noticed another figure drop to where the black bird had landed. The figure would take of a mask of sorts before entering the tavern.

Was the nightlife of Iwagakure always this interesting? Xigs would question his lack of knowledge on the social hotspots of the village. He had always been a bookworm so taverns and bars were simply not usually of interest; until today. Making his way into the tavern Xigs would scout around the large room, with no face being familiar to him whilst not being able to piece the faces to the two figures he had spotted before. Cursing his lack of 'eye to detail' he would make his way to the bar where he would overhear murmurs from a passing table "Yuck look at him." "How disgusting." These comments were indeed worse than the ones he had received for six hours straight. However whilst the whole thing was starting to piss him off, Xigs would finally make it to the bar as he began his order at the glaring bartender who would gulp at his appearance.

"If you could be so kind. Your smoothest whiskey on the rocks."

WC: 791

---

769
Total: 1'272

C rank - Second Sight:

Revamps still happening. Jugo don't need active sage form for Senjutsu techs

Taking a large swig from the pint of beer she'd brought along, something which was rather...unexpectedly inelegant for the former Desert Snake, The woman let out a sigh filled with both the sense of fullfillment coming from the beer and a certain curiosity to what her child prodigy student had been through in her absence. "Not going to lie...sounds tough, even when I did my best to feel nothing...no sadness, no love, no hate...nothing, I still did, wether I wanted to or not," Thinking about it, her life had been either predominantly steered into its direction by the seething hatred towards her own uncle, the sadness of the loss of the only man she had ever loved and the pain of the betrayal towards her by her own village. "However, in your case it's sounding like your physical sense of self has been greatly diminished...to which I as a licensed...*coug* physician, would prescribe plenty of rest and maybe some meditation of sorts to rid yourself of the illusion which seems to plague you and torment you."

A sour laugh escaped the woman's lips, knowing fully well that this wasn't actually what the Jugo girl needed, but her understanding of the more spiritual aspects of the shinobi world were surprisingly limited, though not at all unexpected due to her more scientific approach to every matter which came across her. Alas, she too had experienced a few more spiritual moments that greatly shook her foundation and beliefs along the long path she had taken. "The void, the abyss....Yomi, is like a sea of nothingness, forcing you to repeat the pain, the hatred, the very depths of your own depravity and despair over and over. If one hated to fight, one would be forced to fight eternally, if one was afraid to lose something...they'd feel the sting of loss for an eternity. Perhaps in my own case I was lucky to have withness the darkness of the void once before, being ensnared within its immeassurable grasp."

Waving away any further questions on that subject though, Lamya placed the pint of beer on the table and wondered a bit about the question Laïs had posed in between her explanation. So far she didn't feel off at all, in fact she felt more alive, more youthful than she had ever felt...though she couldn't be so certain from just a single evening's worth of experience in the matter. "Guess we'll see how I fair soon enough." An innocent, yet foreboding remark, given that she'd soon be testing out her old skills anyway, after all she did have a deal with the Tsuchikage, one she was determined to uphold for the sake of what was left of her old reputation.

Looking at Laïs, Lamya noticed that her former student was actually distracted by something else in the tavern. Intrigued to see she was actually looking at someone barely older than herself, littered or better yet painted by scarred tissue, the black haired woman simply had her lips curl upwards a bit into a slight smile. "For someone not to feel pain...it looks like maybe there might be other things you'd still feel. Though I'd only take pity on such a specimen...sure, call him over if you so desire."

541/1254

The clinking of glass would melodically tremor through the ears of the Sencho as the bartenders hands trembled, reaching through an assortment of liquor bottles after finally grasping a cheap bottle of whiskey. As ordered his beverage would sit affront him atop the oak bar counter as he loosely grasped the glass with one hand and tossed change with his other. Raising it to his mouth allowing the cool brown alcohol to glide down his throat, whilst this usually gave off a burning sensation to a human body Xigs was unable to feel it due to his body being unable to feel anything. Looking over his body Xigs would realise if it weren't for this trait he so cursed then he probably wouldn't be casually drinking at a tavern. As the ice within the glass clinked with each movement of his raising arm, Xigs would lean his head backward to his side, gazing at the patrons of the tavern as he remembered why he had come here in the first place. Scanning through the crowd of people, judging their appearances and speech to give aid to his curiosity, his eyes regardless of who he could see would somehow still return back to the two men who had made remarks about him, who were in fact still staring at him slandering insults.

His eyes would roll back as his un-caring nature began to dissolve. It was indeed a new aspect for him, to have less patience than he always had. Things like these never truly got to him, it was as if he was now quite sensitive to his new appearance. Whilst realising this and taming his indulgence for retaliation, he would begin to take deep breaths before noticing two new sets of eyes gazing at him. Whilst he had never seen anyone from this bar before he could easily guess that the two women near the edge of the tavern were indeed people of interest. As for one, they were simply looking at him, whilst for the second he had already realised one of the people he followed into the bar being a female. As turquoise orbs glared at their direction, his body would move off toward the only empty table he could see which was between the assholes and the two ladies. However his slow waltz to the table would be interrupted as a glass bottle would be thrown from the table of the two men, whilst Xigs had realised it was heading for his chest the second it left the mans fingers, he simply couldn't care less about it. The sound of smashing glass would echo throughout the tavern as the bottle obliterated across his chest allowing beer to explode partnered with glass fragments. His white shirt would stain a dark brown as he stopped in his tracks whilst his eyes panned to his shirt to notice the spilt liquor.

However the Sencho would look up at the two men and grin whilst his eyes would widen as he glared upon them. An urge to slaughter them would begin to nudge through his conscious, as he truly wanted to paint these walls red. However the swift sensation of murderous intent would quickly subside as he thought of the consequences from the village. Sure he could make an excuse but there were far too many possible witnesses. Thoroughly calming his patience, he would slowly make his way toward the empty table only to notice little cuts across his arms. Ignoring the two men he would once again tread slowly toward the vacant table as his hands weaved the dog sign whilst taking a deep breath and channelling his chakra. Within this instance the reproductive cells would undergo immense reproduction, thus healing his wounds in an instant. Finally arriving to the vacant table Xigs would sit himself affront it whilst pulling out a book with his right hand and flicking leftover glass with his left. The books contents being off healing wounds and recovering from near death situations, his mind would once again lose itself within the book as he immersed himself, which he was happy to do instead of getting pissed off any further at the two assholes to his side.

WC: 1497

---

1017
Total: 2'289

B rank - Rigor Mortis:

All the while having her discussion with Laïs, the snake-eyed woman calmly looked at the stranger who had caught her student's eye, keen to see what sort of person this weird-looking, scarred man would be. For a moment, her eyes widened when noticing a certain glint of madness, unbridled rage in the stranger's eyes when he was being assaulted by two booring bullies who seemed to lack the common understanding not to judge a person by how they looked, a certain painful reminder for Lamya, who in her own village of Konoha had been called a monster simply for looking differently...and that was before she even had become a true monster in both thought and form. However, wholly unexpected the glint of rage and madness seemed to vanish instantly from the scarred man's eyes, allowing himself to be trampled and trounced by the incessant bullies' continuing harassment. "Tsk...a pacifist?"

It seemed this display of utter impertinence greatly angered the Jugo child, as within the blink of an eye, even Lamya had lost track of her, finding out she was now standing right in front of the two bullies, most likely shocking them with just how big of a difference there was between an untrained slob and an excellent student. However neat it seemed to have the men being beaten up though, it seemed that Lamya's student had a more subtle or at the very least more nasty approach to things like this. The Snake sage could feel the use of chakra, though her senses outside of her sagemode weren't as formidable as the Jugo's, she could at the very least with certainty in her mind say that those two guys really did make a mistake of angering this wonderful student of hers.

Calmly taking a sip from her beer, Lamya noticed how Laïs instantly broke a wooden table in half, showing some impressive growth compared to the time when she couldn't even properly beat a single weak clone of Lamya. However, when she wanted to laugh at the whole thing, the snakelike woman noticed some discoloration in her beer, which now had something red swirl in it. Coughing a bit, Lamya also noticed the droplets of blood on her gloves, wiping those away before approaching the stranger and her student.

"I need some air," The woman would casually exclaim towards Laïs and the scarred stranger. Giving the young Jugo girl a wink and a sly smile. "I'll be back in a few."

412/1666

Seated comfortably in his thin oak chair, the boy who had now embodied patience and forgiveness would constantly think of how his mental state was changing. Was it the fact that his life was practically a lie until now? For he had always had his emotion in check, as if he lacked the ability to harbour such ill intent. If Xigs were not to suppress his urges well then the glass bottle that had been thrown at him would have been fed to one of the two men. Just as he had began to calm down and forget what had happened one of the figures that was looking at him previously was heading past his table before stopping affront the two assholes. Her intent was ever so slightly showing in the look in her eyes, which Xigs had guessed some sort of hero complex was arriving to the scene. A deep sigh would escape his lips as his eyes maintain a visual on the the lady assaulting the two men.

To his surprise it had ended quicker than before, as exceptional skill from her allowed an easier evaluation, she simply took down people and split a table with ease, to the point in which the whole tavern had frozen completely. As Xigs watched her completely nullify two drunken civilians he could only bashfully smile before laughing at the situation. Whilst Xigs had the power to retaliate against them with force, the smooth transition between techniques and habits had truly allowing him to gain respect for the lady affront him. As she sat at the same table as himself, Xigs would hear her words before patiently responding. Thank you for your kind gesture. My occupation hinders my ability to retaliate for my own, so I solemnly thank you." Xigs would allow a brief pause to fill the air as he watched her companion she was sitting next to before act abnormally to how she was for the few minutes before. Watching her as she address them both and left the tavern.

However this was where Xigs had realised that the silhouettes of the two he had seen outside of the tavern were these two affront him. The elegant black bird which had morphed into a human, not to mention the slender lady figure which had soon followed after her. Peaking his curiosity Xigs would raise his glass to his mouth again before speaking to the young lady once again."I believe I saw you arrive, wonderful ability if I do say so myself, may I ask your name? As the last syllable left his lips an idle hand would raise as he signalled the bartender for more drinks. "Order anything you want, it's the least I could do." Already knowing well she had been gorging on bread and soup from the remnants on her old table, however he asked her without assuming she was satisfied.

WC: 1981

---

589
Total: 2'878

Walking outside, Lamya did her best to stay calm as she took refuge in an unlit, dark backalley.Holding her hand in front of her mouth, she started coughing, feeling the warm sensation of blood splattering into the palm of her hand, slowly trickling through her fingers. Something was most certainly off, given that she had no recollection of ever having been cursed with a disease that would follow these symptoms. Slowly removing her hand from her mouth, the shock came even harder to her when what she thought to be blood, was nothing like what she had imagined it to be, as the stain on her hand was black, almost tar-like in substance.

Her eyesight was also troubling her, as it became muddled and shaky, forcing her to close her eyes and lean with her back against the wall behind her, trying to take some deep breaths to calm herself down. "What the hell is happening to me," She hissed to herself, feeling another bout of coughing coming up. Not able to cover her mouth in time, she could personally see how a black liquid splattered out of her mouth, each droplet letting off the stench of burning flesh when it hit the ground. Her eyes widening in shock, Lamya slid a bit to the side while remaining with her back against the wall. What she would not have given for the Sealer to be around in a moment like this, that man had managed to remove the living cursemark from her, so ofcourse she thought perhaps this was something similar.

As she felt her temperature rise up quite quickly, the woman had to do her best not to slump down to her knees, feeling quite miserable when a string of stinging pains seemed to wrack her body internally. While she tried to keep herself together, she could not stop herself from falling to her knees, landing on all fours and vomiting large amounts of the black liquid onto the dusty ground of the backalley. The stench of burning flesh crawled up into her nostrils, inducing yet another harrowing bout of coughs.

As she looked at the black liquid which had poured onto the ground, Lamya's entire body froze in shock when she managed to see her own reflection in it: her skin starting to show signs of major burns, flaking and even peeling off on certain parts. It was worse than she had imagined, as it looked like the body which had been created for her was starting to decay rapidly, taking on the characteristics of how she had come to her end. She clenched her fists and slammed the ground while feeling the pure despair of death crawling over her, both infuriating her that she had not realized the price for her ressurection and affraid of what would happen if she did not find a way to halt this progress. "Damn, damn, damn, damn damn...this can not be happening, it's not supposed to go like this... I'm not going to give up this second life so quickly, I can't accept something like this..."

For a moment, Lamya was distracted by the sound of people nearby, she could hear angry murmurs coming closer to her location...

"I swear; that little bitch just gave me a slap against my face and I don't know what came over me, but I just felt like I was rotting from the inside out or something," A man appeared near the alley, followed by another man, who grumbled when they approached the darkness of the empty backalley. "That bitch, think we got to get a few of our friends together to teach her and that ugly ass scarface a lesson. Whatcha think?"

The other man almost spoke up, when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes, looking at the large amount of black liquid near the wall and finally realizing that there was also the lingering smell of burned flesh. "The hell happened here?" Motioning the other guy to come over, the two of them looked at the black liquid, nearly having their hearts skip a beat when a shuffling sound could be heard coming from within the deepest recesses of the backalley's shadows. "Okay no...let's just get the heck out of here, I'm no longer in the mood for anything."

Just as they turned around and decided to move out of the alley, they could yet again hear a sound coming from the shadows, getting spooked completely when rather anticlimactically, a rat suddenly scurried out of the dark. "Damn, I must've drunk too much to get so spooked like this, let's go...huh?!"

As the man turned around, he could see his friend looking at something behind him, so reacting quickly to this, the man looked up and saw someone standing in front of him: a masked person, dressed entirely in a black outfit with silver and golden touches to it. From what he could see, it was a woman and not one with a bad figure either from the looks of it. "Well well, you gave us quite the scare, but could you just move out of the way, I really need to go home."

As he made his way towards the masked person, the man tried to pass her, only to have the masked figure bar him from leaving. The figure's hands slowly reached for the man's chest, sliding underneath his arms to his back and pressing him close to her. "Wow there, if you really want to have some fun, you just could've asked."

The woman's hands slid upwards to his neck, rustling through his hair and pulling him a bit closer, at which point, his face bumped straight up against the mask she was wearing. "Sheesh, guess this one's even more drunk than we are. You got to remove that damn mask if you want to gimme a friggin kiss," Laughing out loud, the man reached for the woman's mask and slid it upwards, only to have his face turn completely pale and have his eyes widen to the point they'd almost pop out of his skull. "Oh hell n..."

Before he could say anything more, the woman's face closed up to his, his entire body spasming and twitching, while it withered and aged rapidly. dropping to the ground with a silent thud. The mains of the man were cold, dried up like a prune and completely devoid of any life. However, the other man could not move at all, completely frozen in fear, he could only watch helplessly when the figure in black turned towards him and reached for him.

...

Lamya got back into the tavern, smiling from ear to ear when noticing the stranger and Laïs, waving at the bartender to bring them some new refreshments. "So...do tell, what did I miss...also, are you allright?" The snakelike woman reached out for the stranger with the obviously botched treatment, looking at his face while still smiling, surprisingly showing off a certain radiance she hadn't had in quite a while. "Well I'd say good to see you're allright, but I guess from the looks of it, that would be rather distasteful of me."

1196/2.862

Relaxed, with his weight having shifted so far onto the backrest of the chair that an imprint was beginning to develop under his black jacket. Devoid of any actual reason to be here or what to do with his life, Xigs would be at a crossroads in what seemed like an identity crisis. This was truly his first time experiencing a moment of chaos, and another countless time he was saved by the actions of someone else. Sure, the lady affront him didn't actually need to punish the assholes that had ruined his white oversized t-shirt, however he felt a sense of happiness when they were hurt, which was a new feeling for Xigs considering he had never really cared about 'just desserts.' Just what had these burns made him to be? As he was lost in thought, he would find the question he had asked being answered by the lady affront him. Hearing her name was quite unusual, as a shinobi of Iwagakure he had been on duties at the gate checking people into the village so he was well acquainted with names, especially those of in his own village. So whilst he didn't remember every single name, after hearing hers it was easily deducible to declare her a foreigner. However he couldn't help but feel the name was pleasant to pronounce. After she dismissed his offer as he noticed her hand was still clasped to a wine glass he would watch the barmaids hand place delicately against the table after dropping new ice cubes into his empty glass and tipping the whiskey bottle above it.

"Your last name, is quite intriguing..... for I've never heard it before. What brings you here? Oh.. and I'm Xigs." His eyes would look down at the glass as he raised it above him mouth once again, before holding it above the table, twirling the ice around its glass confines. Whilst two drinks was not enough to subdue his alcohol tolerance, he would still seem to find his mind swaying differently than usual, and again he didn't know if it was because of his fresh injuries or the alcohols intent. As his thoughts dangled across his mental they would be interrupted again by her response. It wasn't surprising to him that she would ask about her appearance. For he had truly never seen anyone with so much burnt skin before, and yet here he was, a walking bag of charcoal. However the more he looked at the woman before him, the more he became to feel uneasy. He could smell something off yet he couldn't put his finger to it, it was like 'earth.' There was something with her overall look that he couldn't put a finger on, something unusual.

Whilst his mind conquered over the smell that was subduing his thoughts, he would once again look up at Lais before him. "Ah, it's a bit personal.... but seeing as yo-." He would stop the last sylabble from freeing his lips as he decided to tell her his story. "It's been only a week since it happened, it would seem a seal had been placed on me my entire life without my knowledge. I won't go deep into the details but, the seal broke, infused with my dormant katon nature and exploded through my chest, eyes, wrists, ugh who knows where else I haven't dared to check my asshole." Raising the glass to his mouth once again, his left hand would reach down into the leather confines of his jacket pocket, revealing a pack of cigarettes which he would lift one to his mouth clasping it between his lips and lighting it by a naked flame. He would toss the cigarettes and matches affront him atop the table whilst he exhaled a small wisp of smoke which would slither to the ceiling.

"Funnily enough, I'm studying to be a doctor, however my skin couldn't be healed by normal means, something to do with the type of fire the chakra induced. He mentioned it as a forbidden jutsu but I'm yet to find out mor-" It would seem his words would cease as he watched the woman who had walked out previously to return, however this time in much better shape it would seem. As she came to the table he would allow a pause for Lais to comment as he felt he didn't truly know who both women were before replying to her comment. "I've definately seen better days, but enough about me, who might you be?"

WC: 2758.

---

849
Total: 3'727

With a smile on her face, Lamya sat down on a chair near the pair, calmly crossed her legs and listened to the explanation on what she had missed given to her by her darling little Laïs. For a moment, the woman's gaze was attracted towards the cigarettes, which made her lose her smile a bit, though she could for the love of it, not remember why it would do so, though her self diagnosed stemmed from the fact she'd been burned alive after all, so playing with fire was not exactly something she'd care for at this point.

"Katon based kinjutsu, hmm?" Closing her eyes for a moment, the woman tried to remember exactly what had transpired before her death, clearly remembering that the one who killed her had been extremely proficient in the use of Katon based jutsu. However, what concerned her more, was actually the mention of a seal, which gave her quite the bad taste in the back of her throat. "Well Xiggs...first and foremost, my name's...hmm, well let's say you can just call me Lamya for now. And Laïs, to answer your question, firstly you need to look past the element and denote the structural nature of the technique itself. Was it applied with a seal to be triggered or a simple straightforward technique. Guessing from the serious nature of his burns and obvious poor skill or lack of studying upon the damage itself by whomever treated him...I'd suggest the former. If it was a seal, it had to have had either a trigger or it was remote controlled...there's the third option of it being a living cursed seal like mine was, but we both know only two people in this world who might pull something off like that."

Standing up again, rubbing her chin for a second, Lamya walked up to Xiggs. She smiled at him, all the while looking him straight into his eyes before suddenly grasping him byhis lower jaw, not hard enough to actually hurt more than necessary, but with enough grip he'd need at least the tsuchikage himself to get out of it. "Severe burns, deep scarring, but no infection and no obvious sign of having had any blisters or leasions, turning his face a bit sideways, the woman carefully continued her inspection of Xiggs' peculiar skin. "The burning was instant, so fast and so hot it actually completely killed and burned away part of his top layer of skin and even part of the so-called leatherskin underneath, pretty nasty stuff if you ask me."

The woman let out a soft chuckle, releasing her grip and lightly patting the young man on his shoulder. "There are a muoltitude of ways to get rid of those nasty burns if this was a normal technique that I knew, but a kinjutsu could have lingering after effects and without the proper in depth knowledge of this technique, though it would be my pleasure to dissect you to see what made that kinjutsu do what it did...I reckon you'd rather keep your life. There is an extreme meassure, but apart from me...and my darling student...there are perhaps two people most suited to look into this for you. One of those is Daremo, a powerful practitioner of medical ninjutsu such as myself, though maybe a tad bit inferior in the general field, the other would be the Sealer...if it was indeed triggered by some in or external seal. So Xiggs...was it? You peak my curiosity, which some people would call very dangerous, but I'm not exactly in the mood for...hurting people now. Maybe there is one thing you could tell me though...what was the entire process of the infliction caused by this...kinjutsu, how did everything conspire at the time of your...burning?"

626/3488

As the chatter of his surroundings entailed drunken gossip and bizarre gambles, the one affront him would slowly shift to one of great allure. As he once against raised his glass allowing the chilling whiskey to slide down his throat, he would raise his hand slowly, scratching behind his right ear. Listening to her words, he couldn't help but feel an already existing desire of trust, as her story of where she was born was told. Unknowing if she had given this information to try and sneak past his actual question, he would give her the benefit of the doubt. Land of Demons, alchemists, Yobadashi. These three words would catch his attention, for he knew nothing of them. Where in fact was this land of demons? For Xigs had never travelled, or heard of the land of demons and he had studied an amount where remembering the majority of lands was quite easy. The second word being alchemists, a mostly forgotten and dying art. Where technology was booming and an influx of machinery were created to help the every day human alchemy was taken back and losing its worth. Whilst Xigs and many other intelligent people would no the two go hand in hand, however the world wasn't often led by the intelligent but by the most opportunistic. The last word was of course Yobadashi. What seemed to be like a surname, however she spoke of it in her brief summary of being brought up, meaning the name had some sort of weight he knew nothing about.

Once again inhaling the burning tobacco, he would look to the other lady who Lais seemed to address quite quickly, introducing himself was an act Xigs warmed too as he didn't have to awkwardly do it in the first place. However she would ask if she knew of a katon natured kinjutsu as the one that had hurt him. Xigs truly hadn't thought of actually healing himself until now. It was as if the obvious was just passing him by. Assuming one of the most well-known doctors couldn't save his appearance, Xigs would decide that it was impossible to return back to normal, yet here he was speaking to two outside beings with medical ninjutsu knowledge. After addressing herself as Lamya, Xigs would exhale the cloud of smoke as his pupils maintained the eye contact respectfully. As she threw out the possibilities affront the black haired Sencho, he would remember to keep mental notes, as just hearing her diagnose his situation made him realise how smart these two actually were. Finding two outside medical ninjutsu wielders on the same day? It was obscene, something you wouldn't happen to come across unless you planned weeks in advance for a meeting. As Lamya grasped his jaw and further diagnosed his condition, Xigs would feel awkward, as it was often his job to do what she was doing just now, if anything were different it would be how unapologetic she was, which was a note Xigs would take into consideration into doing further into the future.

Dissect, Student, Daremo, Sealer.

These four words were branded into his skull, as he thought to keep these things within the growing confines of his skull. Dissect? It was truly the last thing he wanted to have done, however if it solved his issue he would be more than happy to. Unfortunately he didn't truly know her and trust was earned not given. Lamya also said her student as if to say it was Lais, which not only surprised him but gave rise to his opinion of them. Regardless of her level of strength in dispatching of an everyday citizen. Daremo he never heard off, and it was the same for this sealer, however after being asked what had actually happened, it would slowly warp Xigs view of the situation. His mind would ponder back to the events, of the house of blue. "Well, my father had his hand at the seal on my chest, he emitted chakra into my skin and in that instant, my skin began to boil, my body is immune to pain, therefore in situations like these whilst I don't feel it I know damn well the severity just on mere inspection. Flames erupted from my skin, excreting from my pores as if sweat, however not red in colour, but in blue."

Xigs would wait a while as he once again raised his cigarette to his lips before speaking out once more. "I've read about all kinds of flames in history, black flames such as Itachi Uchiha's infamous Ameterasu to Pakura of the Sands with her yellow scorch release suns. And whilst there are blue flamed katon techniques in modern society, none could describe the nature of these particular flames. My father who implanted the seal has vanished, however one of my brothers is in the gold country and he is my best lead. Unfortunately I can't really go alone, and there's no reason my orders would be to go to the gold country......." Taking a slow sip of his whiskey till the glass was empty, he would drop it to the wooden table before looking up at the two affront him.

"..Wait, for two such intelligent people to be in Iwagakure, and the hiring of mercenaries..... look I haven't heard much but I'm sure you two must be involved in the Tsuchikages efforts. You two wouldn't happen to know what his plans are?"

WC: 924 + 2758 = 3682.

---

675
Total: 4'402

"That...is interesting, seems we all have some older family member who either tries to get us killed or seeks to control us," The woman let out a gentle sigh, not really wanting to remember the atrocities she had endured at the hands of her own uncle. Xiggs' situation seemed so surprisingly similar in that regard, but the description of what had truly happened to him did pique Lamya's interest. According to his recollection of what he had endured, it seemed that fixating on the application of the jutsu was less important than completely disassembling the very structure of said technique. There was no word of a seal, though the indication of a presence of such a thing remained, the explanation made it less certain that it was fuuinjutsu based in nature.

"Colours of a fire matter not if the outcome is the same, one could scientifically say that blue flames are hotter than white or red flames, but than again comparing natural science with the very nature of chakra is like comparing lemons and apples...a pointless effort," The pale woman tapped with her index finger against her slender chin while looking a bit dazed and deep in thought. Suddenly the corners of her lips curled into a devious looking grin, denoting the diabolical mindset she used to display more often than not during her stay in the land of wind.

"Let me demonstrate the utter futility of colors in a chakra nature." Calmly holding her hand in front of her, Lamya forced a bit of her chakra to pour out, which at first glance simply looked plain blue in color, nothing special to it, yet when she showed said vicious smile, the color turned to pitch black. However, even if the color did change, the nature nor the pressure from the chakra did not. "In most cases color is a denotation of clan, heritage or simply of the jutsu-family in which the technique belongs. There are notable exceptions to certain sensory aspects of certain colors of chakra, but generally there is little to no objective change...though, perhaps if we're lucky...yours might actually be one of those rare cases where colour does imply a difference, those techniques are rarer and thus more easily discerned from others."

Letting out a chuckle, the woman pat the young man on the shoulder. "Well...the Gold Country...seems it might be your lucky break after all...Laïs fill him in will you, while I fill our glasses."

409/3897

Nodding slowly to Lamya's words, he would continue to identify how different the two were to him, yet showing aspects of similiar intelligence. Whilst Lamya seemed to be quite knowledgable, it showcased her experience with medical ninjutsu including the history of flames itself. Hearing her point out a similarity with their families, Xigs would nod and look at the dangling lightbulb above them. "Families are indeed a headache." Shaking is head as he inhaled more burning tobacco, listening to her analysis of blue fire. "Hmmm. Well I guess you're right in a sense that I truly don't know what these flames are yet their not completely hindered by logic. There should be a perfectly understandable answer regarding what they are."

Keeping his mind to tread slowly upon the subject, he would look at Lamya with the intent to learn, as she once again showcased her knowledge on chakra. As a blue wisp of chakra would seep from her hands, Xigs would be infatuated as the blue colour would change by her mood, his skin would begin to crawl as her chakra turned black. He would begin to nod at her description, and to be honest it would feel like he had learnt more about chakra in this moment than he had in the countless lectures from professors and shinobi of Iwagakure. However the whole thing truly intrigued him. Were the blue flames a mere colour change? Or were the flames a kinjutsu with depth, with an effect that could distinguish themselves differently than normal katon? More questions would begin to arise, however this was so be expected when talking of an unknown anomaly.

After hearing her evaluation he would simply nod as he raised his hand before him, whilst looking at the burns across his wrist. "I guess if I want to find out I'll have to go see my father again. However I feel like I want his ability too. It's also weird, as even though I can't feel anything, I feel a warmth within my tenketsu. Reaching a bottleneck, I feel like my training is nearing the state of an evolution." Confident in his abilities he would lower his arm back again before looking toward Lais as she mentioned the gold country. What were the odds..... The biggest clue to finding his brother was at the gold country. It would seem these two were going there, little did he know so was the entire country.

WC: 413 + 3682 = 4095

Family. Lais could talk about a lot but family was one of those topics she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't have people who tried to get her killed the way Xigs had, or to which Lamya alluded to. No, she had caring parents who ended up dead by her own feral bloodline. She couldn't boast a hereditary lineage like them; she was an adopted child. A person with more questions than she could answer, with more problems than she could solve. But Lais was used to that, generally deciding to move on and leave whatever her berserking state had caused behind. There was no point about whining or feeling sorry. The damage she wrought simply couldn't be undone so easily. Perhaps a curse she shared with Xigs. Luckily, the conversation on families died quickly in favour of the future. Gold country. And she had to fill Xigs in.

"The Tsuchikage is an ambitious man. He has plans to visit the Land of Gold with an army of his own.", she started before taking a sip of her glass of wine, watching it with sudden raised interest before continuing her explanation. "He's currently building up an army with men holding allegiance to none but themselves and requested Lamya to be part of his clique. I'm not sure if he expects heavy opposition or is somehow running out of time that his need for such an army be build up... but the plans are there. Soon enough we will be marching forward to turn his ambitions into reality; to turn the Land of Gold into his expectations. If you need a reason or an order to be there, Xigs, why not volunteer and join the fun?"

It'd be an easy way for him to join the army. To move towards the Land of Gold. Whether or not he'd find what he was looking for was a different matter. If he was home within the Land of Gold like Lais was with the Land of Demons, chances were big he'd not take too long to figure out where his father was. A familiar place, knowing how to deal with the residents. Things like that were little benefits few understood until it was too late. But the coming invasion might make all of that a challenge. Lais' eyes would shift to Lamya as she took another sip of her glass. Challenges. Her mistress knew all about them. There was a peculiar way she dealt with them. Like snakes. When stuck, she shed her skin and move on. Left behind what she no longer needed in her life. It made her wonder what Lamya might have left behind in Yomi prior to her return among the living.

"If anything, it should prove an exceptional experience."

---

471
Total: 4'873

Coming back with her now filled pitcher of beer, Lamya couldn't help but overhear her young student's explanation on the matter, taking a full swig of the beer and gulping it down before allowing her own view on the matter to be crystal clear. "Ambitious...maybe, but a fool nonetheless, thinking he can boss me around...ME of all people," Chuckling a bit, she swung her arm around Laïs' shoulder and laughed. "My my aren't you the cruel little lady...you've grown well, throwing out the only option to this young lad as being the fact that he'd need to follow the Tsuchikage into his little war. Alas, I can't exactly find a more suitable and expedient way to get to the Gold Country either...it's probably the best way in this case."

Tapping her chin for a moment with her left hand's indexfinger, the woman suddenly went quiet, seemingly thinking about a few things before showing a rather disturbing grin. "Well...on the bright side, should you manage to survive, you can ask your father what kind of jutsu it was and if you happen to lose your life in this pointless squabble between nations...I'll just have to figure out this mystery from you directly, either way it is truly a win win for me I guess," Taking another swig of her beer, Lamya looked rather pensively towards Xiggs for a moment, wondering really what kind of hack the man had employed to end up with that dead and burned skin just simply stapled to himself. "...You know, I've never seen such pitiful patchwork on a person, it's like the one who has tended to you was either a complete amateur or a fraude. Even this little lady could do a better job in healing you...and her medical ninjutsu kills most of the things she tries to heal... Does it still hurt though, because if you want, I can easily dull out the pain for you, that would not be any issue for me."

349/4246

[sorry for the short post]

Would everything simply work so well? It was pure coincidence that his brother had gone to the gold country, yet here Lais spoke of it being exactly where they intended to go by order of a Tsuchikage. Maikamaru, a man Xigs had never met yet heard so much about, rising through the shinobi ranks to take the highest seat, one of the five shadows that lead one of the five major villages. Of course Sunagakure had been destroyed and thus there were four, however the world always had a way of balancing it's way out. It was something seen across time, whenever something gained to much power most would gather to oppose it. I guess you could call it the yin yang effect. However Xigs would simply call it the full circle, that regardless of what happens one does not gain something without losing it eventually. "Ah. This explains the recruiting missions as well as the influx in mercenary activity.... no wonder there's so much discord among the people." It was entirely true, bandits which had been plaguing the outskirts of the stone country were now welcomed guests? Some of the men were killers, destroying homes for their greed.

Whilst others would usually hate this whole idea Xigs would come to understand it as necessary. War is won on the back of able bodies, it was simple. How can you kill a never ending army? Of course you could say numbers isn't everything, however in the past it truly had, the biggest threat to the world thus far had been the stem of the Atkatsuki where only a group of ten had scourged the lands to have the kage's on their knees. However the ten were bested by the masses. They may have taken out many shinobi but in the end, they were all killed. As his brain began to slither through intricate thoughts of past philosophy, he would remember the two were affront him. Escaping fairy tale land he would look out and reply. "I guess this news must be common knowledge, I guess being in a short coma has left me without knowledge of it at all. However it suits my needs and I'll definately volunteer, but why do you two join the cause? Friend of the Tsuchikage perhaps?"

As he nodded and chuckled to Lamyas suggestions he would raise his glass to his mouth before swigging the rest of the contents. "If I could harness the flame perhaps, I'll figure out a way to dispose of the man myself. I am confident I'll gain some valuable knowledge from gold country, however it is not worth dying for so I'll be extra careful." Chuckling slowly in awkwardness he would narrowly look back at Lamya after her comments on his wound. "You know, looking around here in this bar you'll notice a weird abundance of reflective surfaces, the mirror behind the bar.... the reflections on the glasses.... the varnished shiny tables, and I see myself and realise I want this fixed. But would it be weird to say it's growing on me? The look of a monster. It's quite appealing." He had already began to grow accustomed to it. What was the point of changing something he was getting used to. Like a man balding at his early twenties, the boy really had come to accept something he couldn't control.

"I feel like I need to get stronger, somehow. It's quite easy to see your strength in your stature, well the both of you. May I ask how you both got to the level you are at?"

WC: 611 + 4095 = 4606

---

510
Total: 5'383

Hardly able to contain her laughter when hearing her student talk about her patients dancing joyfully after her treatment on them, The woman raised her hand so that it was straight in front of her face and waved it from side to side. "Don't start using euphemisms, Laïs...they don't dance...well apart from the shuffle maybe," She found it funny how much she'd missed the Jugo's dry wit and humor, though in a sense she didn't really miss it at all, it was just more or less her entire perception of time which had been completely thrown of course with dying and reviving. Still, just like Laïs, she herself was rather enamored by the young man's seemingly dark look on life and his acceptancy of his own flaws. "To use a metaphor which I pressume Laïs likes, birds of a feather, hmm?"

Pointing with her thumb at Laïs' peculiar appearance with herfeathers and markings, making her look less like a shinobi and more like a shaman out of some old fairytale, Lamya laughed again. Her eyes wandering over the man's burned and stapled facial features, before the index finger of her left hand tapped at the horns which crowned her head rather regaly as if it were some sort of inverted, twisted idea of an angelic halo. "To be fair, we're not born as monsters, we just make them ourselves," With a chuckle she took a final swig of her second refill, gulping down the beer like cold water on a hot summer's day, letting out a sigh of relief and sheer bliss when slamming the mug down on the table next to her.

"True power doesn't exist, it's a lie we tell ourselves we'd reach it," A rather unexpectedly cynical look on things escaped Lamya's mouth, most likely influenced by the fact that she herself had been humbled so long ago and not just by one person, but two of them. Then there was the fact she had no idea what her uncle was up to these days, finding it particularly odd to have him be so silent and seemingly absent from the world in a whole. "We make do with what we have and we evolve when we need something more, that's basically the gist of things in this irrational world; However, though I say true power doesn't exist...it doesn't mean we aren't ambitious enough to try and prove the theory wrong, don't you think?"

431/4677

Convert wc to ryo: 4670= 1401 ryo

[exit thread]