Having her way with the shadows(p nk)

It would be another long day of preparation, Kira knew all to well. With things finally coming into place she was in the last few bits of preparation for the trip back to the land of rain, the village youka had met her in so long ago. Wow, she though....had it really been that long? Her days in Ame felt like a distant memory, cold and afraid running through the borders on the edge of death. She had changed so much since then. She was a strong an confident shinobi finally, set in her skills and not afraid of much. The Kira she had been would never have accepted this trip, she knew, but she wasn't that girl anymore.

She set up for another tough training day, performing the clone seal to create a single shadow clone as she prepared. "Alright kid....show me what you've got." They both set up in the same stance, preparing to showcase their skills. The name of the game today was shadow manipulation and it was something she considered herself an expert at.

The clone rushed forward, activating the shadow sewing jutsu and as she did four long black tendril of shadow shot out of the ground. Perfect, she thought to herself. This meant that she could train with her newest jutsu. Two shot out at her, and as they flowed towards her at incredibly speed her hands dropped down to stomach height to clap together. She needed to concentrate on the formation of her jutsu, she thought to herself. This would be just like shadow sewing only with the tendrils stretched out. If she could suceed in manipulating the size of her jutsu then she would have an edge in shadow control. Her hands formed the seals quickly as the cloak of shadows jutsu flowed across her body. Rat, boar, rat. As she finished she felt a tendril shoot off from her chest long and sharp. This wasn't her intention. Concentrating on the flow of her chakra ftg at controlled the shadows about her. The shadow sewing jutsu quickly moved towards her, dangerously close to melee range and not seeming to slow for an inch. She needed to act fast or take the force of the jutsu cast by her own shadow clone, an unfortunate possition to be in.

Looking back she supposed it would have been a more intelligent idea to have the clone be on the defensive instead of her. It was of course moot at this point as here they were manipulating shadow jutsu, but either was it would be something to think about for next time. Just as the shadow sewing jutsu's long black tendrils were about to pass her own she was able to get control of her chakra, the tendrils under her control quickly spreading to form a shield large enough to cover the top half of her body long and strait like a wall. The sewing tendril hit it, glancing off to slide to her left and right, parting like the Red Sea. She knew better then to relax. The versatility of her jutsu was in it's ability to loop about and strike in succession, as well as the splitting of tendrils in order to attack in new innovative ways.

She watched the edges of her shield, bringing it back just as the sewing tendrils peeked around the corners. As one withdrew another formed, her concentration on molding the shadows into the desired shape. As the shadow sewing tendrils shot towards her unhindered she formed two more shields, these curved outward just inches from her body and as the shadow sewing tendrils hit they slid along the curved shield to be deflected away from her. Her plan worked thankfully, and as she had hoped the shadow sewing jutsu's four tendrils flowed back towards their user. The things she needed to concentrate on were where the tips of the jutsu would land, the chance for tendril split, and the potential for the jutsu to make it around her body. If it was able to surround her it would only need to wrap around and it was game over. A soft wind blew her hair back behind her to flow in the air as she took a deep breath, concentrating on the task at hand. Thankfully to the girl each attack would seem to be in slow motion, though the same was true for her own. She drew the shields back into the cloak around her body and considered pushing the offensive. It would make sense, she thought to herself. Her heels dug into the frozen ground for traction as she pushed off, letting energy pour into her legs to cause her to pick up speed rapidly. She knew the dangers of getting within melee with the clone. It was just an aweful idea for pretty much anyone, but playing defensive would cause it only to be a matter of time before she was overtaken or misjudged a distance or speed. She would rather lose the fight on her terms, she thought with resolve flowing through her mind and body with each step, then on someone else's and would react accordingly.

Exactly as she expected the sequence of events be fan to unfold. The shadow sewing tendrils flowed only a short distance before turning around to brandish razor sharp points at the real Kira once more. She moved towards the girl quickly, her arms down low just in case with the black cloak wrapping her body seeming to shimmer in the light as the energy shifted about her body like a barely visible cress flowing through a great black blanket that covered almost every inch of her body.

The clones smile could be seen clearly plastered across her face. A large black aura flowed across her body like a sheet being wrapped around an infant as she used her own cloak of the shadows jutsu. This was exactly the situation Kira didn't want to happen. "Hatred rise up with the anger of the world, lash too readily against those who would wrong your master, demon of chance, the dark goddess. "At her call a dark purple energy began to cover her already coal black arm. The strange plasma like substance formed itself into a circle on her wrist, a long rope of the same dark purple substance growing down to touch the ground off to her left side. There was a small almost spear like piece protruding from the top of the circle and as she got into range hatred finish it's shift into reality, coming into being hooked onto her wrist in a flash of dark purple. The chakram shield was safely fastened, and at the top of it, hooked within the small metal scabbard, the sword set. Her free hand drew the sword from it's sheith as she closed the final distance and finally she shifted to the side to bring her weapon down to sever two of the tendrils in a single swing, a move the clone was not expecting.

The shadows were severed on her left side, and as her head turned to catch the other two tendrils on her right another of her own shadows flowed out in a large L shape that pointed back towards her opponent. As they struck the shield twisted, the L pushing the tendrils forward, and as it moved the point of impact forced them away from her once more. She recovered from her attack, her arm which was now fully extended past hip level raising back up to pull in and prepare another strike. The shadow sewing tendrils turned in the air to make a small loop, returning to their path and in response Kira raised the blade of her weapon once more to bring it down on the attack. Hatred sliced through the shadow sewing jutsu like a hot knife
Through butter. At her feet the tips of the four tendrils laid still wriggling and wrything about for several moments before finally they went rigid and dropped down flat against the earth. It amazed her how life like the tendrils of darkness from her shadow sewing jutsu could seem, though knowing herself it was inevitably all for dramatic effect.

She finally closed the last bit of distance between herself and the shadow clone, who shifted back into a defensive stance. Two more tendrils rose to take the place of those severed but too slowly. Kira took a great slash towards her clone's stomach, her muscles straining and tensing with the power of the strike, her full power pouring into it. It was met by a third tendril which shot out from her side to meet the blade, it's tip blunting to strike downward against the tip of the sword around two inches in. The counter measure worked flawlessly, her Horizonte force met with close to equivalent verticals force to knock the weapon downward, the tip dipping past a kill zone as it reached the shadow clones body. She was unable to pull the blade up in time and as it finally rose the strike was clear from her body.

Shit, she thought to herself, this girl is good...I mean she's me but....shit, I'm good." She was more then pleasantly surprised, partially because the counter was well thought out and executed and partially because she knew if it had been her she would have done the same, mostly because it was her. The response to her attack was simple and clean. The two tendril that had finally sprouted upward to stand about five feet tall on either side of the shadow clone struck towards Kira, one aimed for her left shoulder in the small open spot between her collar bone and the koine of her shoulder and the other dipping low towards her thigh, positioned to strike into the tender flesh and open a major artery. Shit, she thought using her shadow jutsu to call out more shields. By the time they formed the tendrils were within an inch of her body, more them too close for comfort. The shoulder tendril met a small circle that faced it head on only to shift like a door opening as they made contact. It's momentum slid off of the shadow shield to flow harmlessly past her shoulder. The tendril at her thigh slid through a circle shield also, this one with a small hole in the center of it. As the tendril slid in it wedged itself into the space and the shadow shield moved quickly to the side of Kira's body where it could be released or cut by Kira's weapon. She drew the weapon up, using the momentum of her set up for another incredibly powerful strike to cause her blade to sever the shadow tendril easily. Then she finally brought the weapon down on the second tendril, her hips turning as she struck to bring her body back into the fight on a grander scale then just assisting in the movement of the weapon. She spun, her back flashing towards her opponent for a split second and her head craning to the side to keep her eyes on her opponent as long as possible before it shifted back around to the other side, allowing her body to roll down the left most tendril before her. The momentum of her movement allowed her to stop her sword down to thigh level, and then bro got up quickly in a strike similar to a back fist only with the blade making the attack instead of a closed fist. The attack was aimed dead center of her shoulder, where it would be most difficult to block and with an incredibly powerful downward force.


Once more, just as the shadow tendrils that had been cut withdrew to their master's shadow another shot out, this one from her shoulder. It rose quickly up to slide against the sword tip, and slowly it pushed the strike to miss, whiffing against her clothing harmlessly.

(Twc 2004)

" you....are pretty good kid" the shadow clone spoke smiling at her doppelgänger for a moment while she caught her breath. The close quarters combat was incredibly high paced, though their eyes made it seem sluggish and almost turn based. She could feel the sweat pouring from her skin to flow down her body, soaking through her clothes and leaving dark rings in the fabric. Her breath came in heavy heaves, deep but labored by the intense fight. She knew she should rest but needed to push to get this technique mastered. It would be her greatest salvation, she was sure.

"I'm you so of course I'm good" the other girl spoke softly, meeting her opponents smile with her own. The drive between them was incredible, two fighters determined to get better, determined to succeed and survive the trip to Amekagure. "We should continue. It's only a short day and a half until we leave for ame Kira.....we need to be ready."

"And we need to prove to maku that we can do this." The real Kira finished her clone counter parts sentence with barely a break between. They were on the same page. It was a terrifying thought that she might need to take on a village by herself. Just entertaining the idea left a lump in her throat that felt the size of a grape fruit and left her mouth sry and in want, but she had to do this. She'd made the biggest mistake of her life in konoha, a mistake she wasn't sure they would ever forgive and it pained her deeply to think that she'd betrayed her team. The rest of the world be damned, her team was what kept her fighting and her team was her reason for life. She slid her hand into the bag at her side, drawing from it the anbu style mask. She had worn this so long ago, though she couldn't remember why, the usefulness in it back then solely in hiding her identity, it was humerus to think back when she had nothing and no one to hide from she was so worried about her identity but now, with her power true and her hands bloodied she stood tall, head held high. Sure she still carried the mask, using it for this or that, and she had made a few alterations with the assistance of a vendor in town with a skill in fuinjutsu, adding some effects she desperately needed on the battle field just in case, but she never found a need to wear the mask outside of it's seal powers. It was like the fear in her, even now when danger and death were so imminent, was gone never to be seen again.

"Welcome to this world m'lady" a voice in her head spoke, it's time calm and inviting though she had no clue who or what it was. Her eyes dances across the training field, searching for who or what had spoken to her but she found nothing living, and in fact at first she found nothing at all. Taking a second glance around the area she did find something. There, laying propped upright against a tree sat her weapon sorrow of humanity. There had been no call to her knowledge, and there had been no great horrifying skeee h to signify it's entrance into the world.

"Wh....who is there?" She called out into the open air, hardly expecting a response. She activated her chakra senses, searching the area once more for any signs of a woman who fit thst voice but found once again she was alone. Defensively she sent two shadow tendrils out, one from each shoulder, to form small shields around her arms to be used in defense if the need would arise,

The answer would come once more almost as a whisper into her mind. "You don't remember but you will......it is simply....fantastic to see you two getting along. It really makes me satisfied to serve you now, you weren't yourself for so long, but now you are back and everything is just simply better. The clone looked up, her eyes shifting differently then usual. It was like there was some new secret held behind those deep blue eyes that so resembled her own. The clone was at the mercy of the spirit of sorrow, it's ability to use or take over her body, generally as a means of protection, coming I to play.

"Kira.....I am the spirit within your weapon. You knew me once but my voice was hidden from you. I bided my time well, manifesting the energy for a second use." As she explained that Kira spoke the word hatred under her breath with a look of understanding in her eyes.

"Listen. Amekagure is not a safe place. The sorrows of the world suggest something horrible will happen. You mustn't go." Her words hit Kira's mind for a second before she dismissed them. Dangerous or not she would do as maku commanded. It was strange that while she had spent more time with maku then anyone else she had never until recently considered him truely her superior. She supposed it had something to do with his time in yuki and his task of overseeing the village. Something had changed within them. She heard a strange voice singing in her head an almost memorable melody.

"Something had changed within me, something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second guesses to late to go back to sleep, it's time to trust my instincts close my eyes and leap. It's time to try defying gravity, that's it I'll try defying gravity and you can't hold me down."

In Time with the strange song that seemed to play in her head the woman before her spoke. "Can't I make you understand you are having delusions"

"Um I think..... You mean dilutions of grandeur?" The music had stopped suddenly with a loud wretching sound like the needle of a record player being scratched across a record. The situation bothered her, partially because of the strange music playing in her head she only vaguely remembered, partially because the shadow shields danced back and forth swaying lightly in time with the mysterious mental music player, and partially because she wasn't sure what a record player was and it worried her thst the sound would be so recognizable given that fact. She shrugged it off, assuming she had better things to do and pay attention to and as she spoke the odd music continued once more. " oh. Well alright. Anyway I'm through accepting limits just because someone tells me so. Some things I cannot chsnge but until I try I'll never know, too long I've been afraid of losing life I guessed I'd lost but if life means fear it comes at much too high a cost, that's it I'll try defying gravity I'm flying high defying gravity and and soon they'll never get me down. "

"Sorrow....listen. Look at what we can do together." She realized slowly that her speaking in time to the strange mental music had quickly become her full blonde singing and quite virtuoso at that. "Uimites. Together were unlimited. Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been sorrow, dreams the way we've planned them....if we work in tandem, there's no fight we cannot wi..... Um so.... I'm not sure but I think you are supposed to jump I'm here and sing with me. That's what the sound in my head is suggesting. This is the part where the two sing in unison......"

"Kira this isn't a game and this isn't a song. This is real danger. There are people there who want to kill you....or worse. And you know youka will attack you for your slights against echo. maku and echo let you off easily but youka is not the type to stay his hand. I wouldn't put it past him to strangle you in your sleep if given the oportunity...."

In time with the seriousness of her statement the shadow shields dropped down, almost looking animated as they frowned, or what would be or could only be assumed to be a frown. It was hard to tell with shadow shields. They are fickle creatures and have no definable facial features with which to actually read so it's all geuss work. "Youka isn't like that sorrow. Youka would never hurt me. He has protected me since the day we met. He took me from ame half dead and saw that I was cared for. Then he trained me to be the powerful ninja I am today. I don't think for a second he would harm a hair on my head." The statement seemed to find emphasis as the hair on her head was highly chakra infused and as such harming her hair would be a vicious debilitating blow. She felt insulted that this woman who she had never met would speak into her mind, take over her shadow clone and then have the nerve to speak down about the man who was in essence the reason she was alive today. Unsulted and a little crazy. Ok maybe a whole lot crazy. This situation didn't make any sense to her and she just wanted it over. "Look I suppose I appreciate the warning but youka would never turn blade against me. We are a team and the team comes before anything." The shadow shields over her shoulders gave a defiant almost mocking nod. She was certain next they were trying to stick out their tongues at the woman before Kira which would have been an amazing show of defiance considering they didn't have a face, or tongue for that matter with. Which to stick out. Kira took a moment to shift the shape of her shields to domes cylanders, sliding them downward to fit over her shoulders, looking like great heaving shoulder pads. Her practice in summoning the shadows had been a great success and likewise her ability to chsnge their shape was quickly on it's way. The most important thing she had been testing however was if she could keep them in existence with just a passing thought. Even as her mind shifted to a hundred different things the shadows stayed exactly as they were waiting for her command. That was an incredibly important piece of information.

"Kira listen to me. You really don't understand. There are people in Amekagure who will kill you if you go. People who have lived their entire life waiting for someone like you to show up once more...." Kira didn't appear to be listening at all. Her shields had shifted once more, spiraling around her neck to form an armor like neck gaurd of dark black shadow jutsu. She thought it was pretty neat and admires her work for a moment before finally answering selene's statement. "I don't care. I know about my past. I know about the men who want to kill me. I know I most likely won't survive this trip. I also know maku is counting on me and as such I don't plan on letting him down and disappointing him again. Once was enough. Live or die I travel to Amekagure to find out if word is still alive. If he isn't then I will do what I have to to take care of the situation exactly how maku told me to. I will take the village of I'm able to and if I'm not I'll retreat to get back up. I don't plan on doing this recklessly of course but I am going to do it and I won't e stopped." As she spoke the two shields nodded their approval. She was small but powerful, determined, persistent, and maybe a little crazy, ok, maybe a lot crazy. Truthfully she was slowly realizing she was full blow bat shit insane, like call the doctors funny farm long white jacket with to super long selves that tie behind you so you can hug yourself, heavy medication, eat your skittles, padded cell rubber room bounce house for psychos loony bin crazy, because that was ok. She was crazy but determined and that would ensure if there was a chance to prove herself and be redeemed of her actions she would find a way.twc 4074)

"I don't care. It doesn't matter. My life is null the moment I betrayed my team. I...I...I cant. " She turned away, though she wasn't terribly sure what she was turing away from as there wasn't actually anyone there before her any more. The clone seemed to have vanished from sight. Now that she thought about it....This wasn't Yuki village anymore. Her eyes glanced about as she drew the shadows back up from her neck to set passively in front of each shoulder just in case. It was warm and slighly humid. THere were trees everywhere, forming a great canopy above that blocked out the sun everywhere asside from the few small open holes that filtered bright light down to the floor below. The trees were old and many seemed in bad shape, though they still managed to stand tall over head, raising up at least twenty feet above her. There was a soft aromatic smell of vegitation and rain in the air, and as she looked down the leaves at her feet were saturated with water.

    "Where...Where Am I? what is going on?!" Nothing about this made sense. There were places like this she supposed, but not any where near the frozen village of the snow. Had she some how teleported back to Konoha? No. that wasn't it. Her eyes shifted about as the shields on her shoulders slid back into the cloak around her body. She was on edge, preparing to defend and strike in the event something came out to attack her but the more she searched, taking two passes before turning on her chakra senses to look again,  the more she noticed she seemed to be completely by herself. SHe called out the shadows, molding her chakra to perform the shadow sewing jutsu also, though only one tendril rose up to wrap around her left leg and spiral up her body. It's head set just to the left of her head, hanging over her left shoulder.

    "You are in the dark forrest Kira....Or should I say Demon of chance amber......" She turned, knowing there was absolutely no way she could have been snuck up on so easilly, and yet....The voice rang out against the quiet sound of the forrest all the same. She turned her head, seeing the girl, the same girl from her dreams, the shadowed girl in her memory. She was tall, much taller then kira was, with soft calm eyes and a gentle voice. Her hair was long and black, running down her back  almost to her andles and pulled back into a low hanging pony tail.

"You...You're..." The girl was so familiar, she thought to herself, unwrapping the tendril of shadow from her body, or more so letting it sink into the cloak of shadows to then raise itself once more from the shadow at her feet. Was this, she thought, Was this the woman? Was this sorrow?

    "I am selene. The spirit of the scythe of sorrow. You do not remember me because of an effect put on your body. I'm here to assist in that. You see Kira something has happened to take away your thoughts once more, to control the way you act and to ensure that you will not realize important things. " As she spoke she began to walk forward, her body shifting to kira's left due to her positioning. Kira followed, slowly traveling across the forest, unsure where they were going, only that they were heading a direction assumably towards something of great importance. "It was my decision to stay silent when this happened initially. You needed time to adjust to the place holder. " THis woman wasn't making any sense. THe shadow tendril chomped at the bit begging to be shot out and end this ridiculous conversation but she held it back. Something about this woman intrigued her just enough to allow her to keep continuing even if it was against her better judgement. "Here. We are here. " She stopped, pointing to their left and as she did kira turned to see what she was talking about.

    "Woah...That....That is....Um....Wow.....Beautiful. "THey had arived at a large clearing in the woods where the ground turned to rocks. In front of them was a large rock facing that towered over the women, and in the center of it an enormous water fall that flowed cold water downward into the pool below, spraying mist about the area that felt cool and fresh on her skin. The place felt so familiar, she thought. Using her shadow shields she formed a small cup like shield that flowed forward to dip into the water, pulling a bit out to draw backwards towards her, bringing itself to her lips to drink. The water was the most delicious she had ever tasted, cool and crisp on her tongue and more refreshing then anything she could remember.

    "Dwell not on the beauty child. Dwell on the meaning. This is all simply an illusion. None of this is really happening, and in fact when you wake up from this barely a second will have passed. " She moved fowards to take a seat on one of the large grey rocks near the waterfall, lifting the edge of her black silk dress to allow her toes to slide slowly into the water below up to the ankle. The water of the falls was so clear her skin could be seen perfectly, up to the point when you could count the small blemishes and freckles across the top of her foot.

   "What is the meaning then?" She dipped the shield in once more, bringing it to her lips to take another deep draw of the crystal clear water. It felt like it wasn't quenching her thirst but making it stronger, though that didn't seem to make much sense.

    "This is where we will repair that problem. THese.." She waved her hands across the falls and as she did a few of the rocks a large distance up the giant water fall began to glow with a soft blue light. "These are that which you need to destroy in order to take care of the problem I have explained to you. If you shatter these rocks then your memories will return. " The task seemed simple enough, she supposed. Go forward, shadow sewing a few rocks, and then she would be done. She nodded to selene, Running forward quickly to shoot out one of the shadow sewing tendrils towards the first rock, an enormous round piece of stone about four meters high. With a great ferocity she struck at it, the sharp tip of the tendril shooting off like a bullet, but it glanced off, not even seeming to scratch the surface.

    "Wha....What happened?" SHe struck the rock again and again but each time it had the same effect. Over and over the shadow tendril glanced off easilly, shifting to the left and right. The faster and harder she struck the more violently the recoil until it was shifting over a meter between attacks, and yet still there was not even a scratch. "How is this possible. My shadows have never failed to pierce what I strike.....This doesn't make sense. "

    "Force will not defeat these barriers Kira. You should know better. We have never been one for direct offense child. Subtlty is our gift. Where blades may glance the power of calm planning and indirect assault will strike true. " As she spoke the rock she had been striking glowed once more, this time with a strange black light. In the center of it Kanji appeared, and she read it alloud.

   "The first sin. " She thought to herself. A scene flashed in her head. A beautifully broken woman. She was standing with the girl held in her arms, a knife poised to strike slowly slipping into her back. The girls body felt light in her arms as the dagger slid in, not drawing blood. Slowly the girl seemed to begin to waste away, her skin once full of life shrinking in on her bones and after a few moments her body shattered into dust blowing away in the wind. "wha..." She turned her head, feeling a warm sensation on her arm. The tatoo that had appeared on her arm after her talk with maku began to glow white, and burned with a searing pain that traced the symbol slowly. "I....I remember. " As the final line of the symbol burned itself back into her body her mind shifted to Iwa. She watched an unexperienced ninja draw the vial of poison. With a wave of her hand she fired the poisoned darts at her mentor Youka. She felt no remourse for the attempt, even as he held her in the air, threatening to remove her heart from her body for the back stab. "The first sin, Remorselessness. " She winced in pain as the power of the mark burned her skin, seeming to melt into her arm to penetrate down to the bone. From the symbol a large tendril of shadows shot out, bee lining for the rock. Unlike the other attacks this one seemed focused with intent and as it struck the rock shattered into a spray of white glitter like light.

    "Good. Next....." Selene turned a hand up at the second stone, this one glowing behind the flowing water. The water seemed to part ways, the entire flow splitting to show the rock beneath, a bit of bright blue kanji glowing on it's surface. "The second sin....."

     Kira thought through her life, trying to decide what this next one meant. Surely, she thought, it would be another situation in her life, though the first scene threw her off. This otherworldly vision felt so familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Just as before the world seemed to change as she turned away from the stone and she watched it reform itself as a reminder of what had happened. A boy stood in front of her, next to the girl Yuki. "Hebi......" she knew his name. She had been the first person she had ever resolved to kill, deciding it a kindness to snuff out his candle for good. She watched as he lifted the boy's body up with her shadows, slicing through large portions of his anatomy. She tore his pockets open, and as she did various bits of money and weaponry dropped out. The girl she watched was so cold. As she dropped him the scene seemed to blow away like sand in a heavy windstorm. The next scene to take over her senses was a large inn. She stood with sorrow in hand, her chain wrapped around the neck of a man who's face still made her blood bloil with rage. She tugged on the chain, her foot on his chest. She could see them speaking back and forth but the great flow of water from the waterfall muted their words so that she couldn't hear what was said. With that the woman pulled at the chain, sending the man flying by his neck across the tavern to crash into the wall. She was certain by the look on his face that something had cracked, probably a rib or a few vertibrae in his back. The convorsation she couldn't hear continued on for quite a while, each speaking back and forth, her face filled with malice as his seemed to plead for his own life.

    "What is this Selene....." She let the question hang in the air for several minutes, not getting an answer. In the strange world she was living in the woman who respresented her greatest weapon, the scythe of sorrow was no where to be seen, however she did gain the answer she saught. The world seemed to freeze as the girl she was certain was her turned her gaze off the boy who was now frozen in time and adressed her.

    "This.....Is my story Kira. You were created to allow my entrance into this world. I was weakened from fear and was not able to assimilate correctly, allowing our minds to not fully merge. I am Amber, the demon of chance. We are one entity, or were meant to be at least. There was an unfortunate situation that caused the merging to not take and I was left to hide within your subconscious. Maku allowed the merge to begin. Our stories, even independently have become one. You have the light I saught, but I have the killing intent needed to protect us. Kira....What is the second sin?"

    She thought through the situations before her. It should have been a simple thing, she was sure, but the memories were so weak in her mind. was it fear? No. She thought through the scenes given to her once more and knew. "Hatred. Our weapon's second unlock represents the second sin. Sorrow, the forgiven first sin for the death of one you loved.....The sin forgiven by maku because of my ignorance. hatred the unforgivable need to punish when mercy and teaching would have done. The sin Youka bears against me, and has....." The words felt strange sliding off of her lips. had it really.....She remembered now. Youka's attempts to kill her. His hatred of her. It was his hatred that caused her to get stronger to be able to one day...No. She would not think any longer of killing him. Forgiveness would forgive her second sin, she thought to herself. She winced in pain as it felt like her spine was being ripped from her body. The long tatoo across her back began to glow, buring into her skin as the light rose from the tip of the base of her spine to wrap around once, just above her lower back to bury itself in her back once more. She winced in the intense burning sensation as it seemed to cut through her insides, curving around to tear out of her back about half way up. The pain dulled as the burning sensation rotated around the sin of her back once more to dip in again just above the bottom of her shoulder blades. Once more she felt the intense buring. It was like the entirety of her body was being torn apart and rearanged. She cried out, squeezing her eyes closed tightly in hopes that it would ease the pain but nothing would ease the torture until it finally slipped from her skin a final time at the base of her neck.

     She felt a final burst of pain as a snake like tendril of shadow seemed to burst from her back, flying quickly towards the second stone. It shifted left and right in midair several times before crashing into the stone and shattering it in a single strike, the same odd white dust like substance flowing into the air to be blown away lightly by the wind. "I....I don't know if I can....." she was silenced by Selene's words once more.

     "There is one more Kira. One more and all of this will be over. " She turned her eyes to a stone on the far side of the waterfall. "This is the last stone. With this you will be able to rest and your mind will be whole once more. If you can destroy this stone The locks put on your mind will shatter. " The stone was enormous. It was easilly the size of a motor vehicle, which was a strange thing to see and realize since she wasn't sure what a motor vehicle was....These words came to her mind so easilly, she assumed from the woman in her head. Either way she needed to concentrate on the situation before her and not the oddities of her mind. A string of kanji appeared as it had with the first and she read it out loud.

   "The third sin, the final sin, the end." she wasn't sure if this was something that important, and that Selene was trying to ensure the message was recieved, or if it was simply a love for mellow drama that brought the kanji to the stone as it was. She turned her eyes across the waterfall's basin, watching the two tendrils that still clung to her tatoos seem to search the ground for something, flowing slowly to and fro independent of her own mind. "What....What is....the third sin. "

    "You know....This is the most greivous, and the only sin not forgiven. Even to this day if you believe it's been forgotten then you are a fool. " her eyes dropped to the ground. She didn't need a visual to know immediately from Selene's words what this had to do with. This was her betrayal of Echo, though accidental. As she looked back up in shame the scene around her had changed. She was in the office of the Hokage, Navi Yamaki. She watched as he seemed to almost blow her off, not really seeming to listen. She couldn't hear the words but she knew what the exchange was about. "I should have been killed for this....But Echo let me live. Maku......... he seemed to understand and then I passed out oddly. When I woke from my fainting spell he was so worried about me that he didn't even care what I had done. Youka was upset...."

     "Youka will kill you for it. I would put money on that fact." The words beside her were harsh but true. She knew her mentor well enough. He had threatened to kill her for less, and almost followed through. The worst part was she couldn't honestly say she could blame him. She had caused an incredibly uncomfortable situation, and potentially could have caused a ninja war that would take the lives of goddess knows how many shinobi, all because she didn't know how to watch what came from her mouth and hadn't at the time the realization that her interaction with Yuki and Iwa was not something of the norm. It had felt so natural.

    As she thought through this the scene changed once more. The world was like a great information center. Around her large glass looking screens played scenes for her to watch, each on repeat. She watched as the girl she knew to be amber gave two people the same tatoo that she bore on her shoulder. She watched as Amber murdred two in quick sucession. The blade of her scythe removed the head of the first in barelly an instant as she slid from the boy's own shadow. he was dead before he finished his step. The second boy thought he had the will to fight but was quicklay disposed of. She watched next a powerful man who looked like one of the samarai wielding dual weapons. The fight this time was intense. They traded blows over and over, each trying to gain the upper hand but in the end he fell as the others. She couldn't even count the number of deaths she watched before her. A hand slid slowly onto her shoulder. She turned her eyes from the screens to see Amber standing beside her.

    "The greatest sin, and the only one not forgiven. That man still hunts me for this. My selfish decision to end things so we could go home cost us our lives once, and cost us the power to survive in the future. I don't regret what i'd learned from it but this cemented the darkness in my soul. Kira we still fight to survive without allowing the darkness to take over. This will be our fight for all of eternity. With Youka and Maku I believe you can with that fight here. Do not fear. Death will happen. The most imprortant thing is to never betray those you trust, Follow your friends to the end and if it kills you be thankful that you died together and comrades. " Her smile was soft and kind but reminiscent of the memories in her mind. She could see that while amber spoke she never actually looked at her. Her eyes stayed glued to the screens before her, shifting from one to the other. She was sure the woman was reliving each in her mind, wondering what she would have changed and how things could have been different. She sympathized.

     "Amber. Do not regret the past, We must look forward into fixing the future insead. Betrayal. The third and final sin is betrayal, and the one unforgiven. " As she spoke A mark appeared on her chest. It was a triangle across the top of her left breast just below the collar bone. From each tip a strait line extended about an inch, breaking from the first shape by barelly half a centimeter, and in the center of the symbol there was an Eye. The symbol began to glow as the others had, but this time it didn't hurt. As the symbol finished, the last bit in the center being traced in the light, a final tendril of shadow shot out towards the large stone. Her shadow sewing tendril pierced into this rock, burying it's tip deep into the stone and for several moments nothing happened. "DId....Did it not work?" Just as she spoke the stone shattered, raining down the glitter like dust upon them. It slipped into the water which began to glow. Everything it touched began to glow as it did, including the three girls.

    "Congradulations Kira. You've done it. Now take A final drink of the water and return to reality. The way home is simple. Use the genjutsu release and it would allow you to return to your body at the moment you left. It will be like all of this was just some crazy bad dream. " She was smiling, not a subtle seemingly fake smile but a genuine smile of great elation. Kira had finally began to understand what she was wand why she needed to do what she needed to do.

    The shadow shield dipped into the water a final time, it's basin becoming larger to accomondate a large volume of the water. It floated slowly carrying it's load towards her, and when it reached her she parted her lips. Slowly the liquid poured into her mouth to hit her tongue cold and refreshing as the first time. it slid down her throat in mighty gulps until the shield was empty, a few stray drops falling down as she moved it away to cascade downward through the air and land on her shoulder and the top of her head. "Alright....I will never forget this. These sins will build who we are....But now I need to go talk to youka. I think......I think it's time I take responsibility. " The two woman gave her a nod as she spoke. She raised her left hand curing her fingers in assude fromt he pointer and middle, her thumb curled over the inward fingers. "Release." She spoke. As she did the world around her went black. There was a strange shattering in her mind like boxes cracking. she wasn't sure what it was but the feeling felt.......freeing. Slowly the world came back into focus. She was standing in the training area, staring at the clone of herself who breathed heavilly from exertion.

    "Wha.......Um... I think maybe that's enough for today. " The clone nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Her shoulders felt heavy. She realized the cloak was still active and the shadow shields still setting about her shoulder just in case something happened. Slowly they slid back into her cloak of shadows jutsu and when they were gone the cloak flowed back across her body. her pale skin began to show as the cloak retracted, finally sliding down her right leg to slip back into the shadow at her feet and disappear. She was tired. She headed back home, considering rest but knowing there was something she must do first.

(TWC 8082 requesting training in shadow shielding(3k) training in strength in shadows skill(4k) and 1k towards shadow shielding mastery +4000 ryo)

Denied for being to long

Approved