Walks, Talks, and Things [P,IO]

It had been maybe a day or so since Yaju had returned to the village and began his normal day of being a ninja, but given that he had the day off he decided to act upon that. Wearing a black T-shirt, greyish pants and black sandles; Yaju carried a strange scythe on his back through the streets of the city. His mind had been swarming with so many thoughts about past events and even to the new events surrounding the mysterious weapon on his back and the death of a leader. Since then Yaju had shortened the length of his hair, long hair never really suited him in the slightest so it stop just below his neck. At the moment Yaju would walk by a couple of restaurants one of which he looked at for a moment and simply shrugged at before stopping near a bench and sitting down.

His Lavender eyes turned to the villagers that continued to walk around and pass him, waving back to the ones that waved to him while looking back to the weapon on his back. It puzzled him how he exactly obtained it, but pushing that back to the recesses of his mind he would continue to look over the many citizens of the village wondering if he should even bother starting up a new team. It had been a while since his last cell had did anything, with two being M.I.A and the other apparently disappearing from the globe he felt that he needed something to take his mind off of the things that haunted his mind but what.

It was simply another day for Lexia, as she wandered idly through the streets of Kumogakure, wearing at this time her long red and white dress with it's pink skirt underneath and thigh-high stockings, covering most of her legs save for a small section between the end of the stockings and the beginning of the skirt. Her long, bright red hair flowed down her back and stopped half-way down it, somber matching red eyes glinting softly in the sunlight as she occupied her hands by placing them behind her head as she walked. Eventually, she would begin to grow weary of constantly walking through the village streets and approached a bench, sitting down - unbeknownst - next to Yaju, crossing one leg over the other as she muttered to herself while staring at the sky: "Just who is that . . . " and, after this she would shake her head and glance over at the nearby man sitting on the same bench and offer a casual wave, though appearing distracted: "Hey," She would begin, "What's up?" She finished with this question, offering a small smile.

Regardless of the reply, Lexia would take up an apple from a nearby stand - after paying for such, of course - and take a bite, chewing as her eyes seemed to be looking every-so-often in the direction of the Black Forest which lay outside of the village. She did this because of the things which she had seen on occasion during the night, when she would sometimes gaze at the night sky or into the distant landmarks, there was a strange black energy which seemed to haunt this land, almost as if it were a curse. It was one thing that stood out to one, one that she would reveal if prompted, but likely drop if not. She eventually finished the apple and tossed the core into a trash-can before leaning back fully onto the bench once more. "By the way," She would say, "My name's Lexia, yours?" Lexia finished, bright red eyes perhaps seeming eerily similar for Yaju's mind if he chose to make the connection, as she continued with her faint almost undetectable smile which still appeared friendly as she now simply awaited a response.

As she waited, a faint wisp of dark, black mist passed by idly, non-threateningly. Lexia did not take note of it, however, as her eyes remained trained on the man she awaited a reply from. 

[401]

Yaju continued to stare up to the sky until he had been ripped from his train of thought by a voice...this voice rung through his ears softly causing him to blink and look down to her, taking in her appearence and voice before nodding and turning," Hello..and just thinking a bit, how about you?," his eyes continued to watch over her for a moment, an eerie sense of nolstalgia and resemblance to someone he knew which made his eyes flicker for a moment before staring back up to the sky and scratching his head. He listened to her eat the apple for a moment before tuning out the sounds of the area around him and focusing his chakra into the surroundings around him, searching and looking for any trace of her but nothing came up to him.

Once Yaju heard her voice again he would give a faint smile and look into her eyes and speak," Yaju...My name is Yaju," those eyes... those red eyes had shocked a memory back into him of Yuriko...rather Angerona which caused his hands to shake if not for a moment, but the regret and sadness had been ever present on his face as he turned around and noticed the wisp of dark. Instead of speaking about it he would lower his head and look to the ground while speaking," Lexia is it? What is it that you live for?," it was a strange question to ask someone, but his mind had made him replay a memory of him and her trying to piece together why he did what he had did...and why did this girl remind him of her.

Lexia would nod to Yaju's reply and say: "Wandering, that's pretty much it." as he observed her, and after a while he would reply to her second query and state his name, to which she would nod and watch as he seemed to adopt a suddenly solemn expression before turning his gaze from her to the ground, asking her a rather strange question. He had asked what she lived for, to which she would reply: "Live for? Well, I guess you could say I live for adventure, for the Village, and for myself. Not much else to it." There was a long pause from her now as she noticed the wisp of Darkness and gazed at it for a long while before speaking. "Do you - - - Believe in Ghosts? I know it sounds stupid but lately I keep seeing this girl in my dreams, younger than me, and sometimes when I look outside the Village walls I can even see her out there, in the Black Forest. Isn't that place . . . Forbidden?" Lexia would say all of this with a slightly anxious expression, worried that she might make herself seem a bit crazed, or that he would not believe the story of this ghost or apparition within her dreams.

Lexia shook her head, red eyes glancing off toward where the Forest would be, outside of the walls. "She keeps asking me for something, but I can never hear what it is. All I can make out is a loud hissing noise and there's this sword --- a sword that seems . . . alive. - - -" She would pause for a moment before continuing, "Any of that make sense to you? I mean, have you had a dream that felt so real you could almost touch it like that? I can remember it just like it really happened . . . " Lexia would then trail off, frowning as she relived the reoccurring dreams, or rather Nightmares which she often had within the village walls when she slept alone in her home, with all of the lights off and windows closed, so that even the moonlight did not shine through. It was almost like a ritual, for her to enter that dream state, but she voluntarily did so every so often to try and better understand what the ghost wanted from her, or even who or what it was.

Letting out a deep sigh, she would close her eyes. "I guess it's probably a bit weird to talk to someone you just met about your Nightmares, huh? I'm sorry if I came off as a bit crazy." She would apologize, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and opening her eyes to look upon Yaju once more, awaiting his response to all of this and hoping that he would not immediately consider her insane. 

[863]

Yaju gave a brief chuckle at her first statement which had earned a small smile but once she had answered his question he would nod," good answer...all are good things to live for without a doubt," his words trailed off into something along the lines of a mutter but he kept himself composed rather than looking distraught and confused over something he could no longer control. It was once she spoke of the girl that resembled her closely did he give her a weird look and shift his eyes back into the night sky, leaning into the bench as he nodded," I do believe in ghosts..in fact you could say that i am haunted by quite a few of them...ones of regret...and ones that i made.. The black forest however," he paused to remember his last encounter there," is a place where bonds are shattered and fates are twisted, it is forbidden not because of its origin or its reason for existing...simply because of the things that can happen within it," speaking from personal opinion, he didn't realize that he had answered the girls question with such fluid motions.

Once she had spoken of Angerona, he would whistle the tune that she once sung inside of his home...back when the two of them were happy and lived as one. His eyes closed as he continued to whistle it before stopping and slowly saying," A soul for a soul," his eyes looked distant and filled with regret as he continued to speak," The girl you see...isn't much of a ghost...but a remnant of a girl who was once just like you, innocent and with such a strong fire," if Lexia were to ask what made her become what she was he would simply reply," A shattered promise...and a love that could never bloom," in his words she could sense that he made sense of what she told him and knew something about the girl, but when he spoke of her it pained him a little but his face wouldn't show it.

Through his own dribble he would smile and look to the girl," It's nothing new to me so i do not judge when people tell me things...most of the times i go through the same thing as them. but my nightmares are more physical than mental," his eyes would rest on the girl beside him for a moment before going back up to the moon and whistling that same song softly.

Lexia was rather surprised with how much Yaju seemed to know on this subject, of the Ghost which had apparently once been an ordinary girl, and was not even truly a ghost at all. This realization caused Lexia's eyes to widen in surprise as she spoke: "So what you're saying is - - - That girl was real? What does she want from me, then?" She would ask, and as Yaju whistled the tune which at one point Yuriko had sung to Yaju, she would begin to utter quietly: "Dodo . . . L'enfant do. L'enfant dormira bientot" She did this in such a voice that would be nearly inaudible to normal human hearing, but it was possible to hear. She repeated this lullaby phrase due to it being heard within the dream which she had shared with the strange girl, the one with the living sword. She had sung the lullaby and caused Lexia to fall into a deep sleep before she had awoken in a sweat the morning afterwards. 

The dark energy near the two would begin to grow, if only in a subtle fashion, as a faint hissing could be heard along with words that seemed to carry upon the wind as if it were the night itself which spoke harshly into Yaju's ear: "Will you attempt to turn this one against yourself as well? Will you cause her to turn to me, of all things, in order to destroy you? . . . " Lexia would suddenly jolt up, looking around in a frantic motion. "Can - Can you feel that? It's so cold . . . " She would say urgently to Yaju, cursing herself for not having brought her weapon along with er as she begun to back toward her home that lie distantly within the village.  "Maybe it would be best to go . . . " She would say quickly, urging Yaju to follow her, away from this strange Dark Energy which seemed to fill the air around the two, giving Lexia a chill which caused her to shiver. 

Whether or not Yaju would follow, Lexia would quickly begin backing up as her eyes darted around the air, waiting for anything that may home and hoping that she could escape this strange Dark Energy and whatever lie within it, as she would be unable to defend herself. "Are you - Are you the girl from my dream? Where are you? . . . " She would ask into the air, continuing to scan the area as she awaited Yaju's response and hopefully have him help her in any effort to escape if necessary. 

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Yaju nodded for a moment before starting off," Yes she was once an ordinary girl..and quite real but...what she wants with you i do not know," he only had a hunch but he had hoped he was wrong on his assumption and chose to leave it at that. It was once Lexia began to sing the same song Yuriko once did that his eyes shot open before closing, a tear slowly began to form in his eyes and drop slowly before hanging his head in regret for what he had done. The song had caused all of the memories that he had shared with Yuriko play in his head like a movie, showing the good times that the two had briefly before crashing and becoming what it was now.

The sound of the voice echoed in his mind as the energy swirled around them and his voice would be able to be heard even by Lexia," No...i can't live with myself now because of the choices i made with you.. but i refuse to hurt someone else and turn them against me, soon Yuriko...soon we shall have our final dance and maybe then...we can go back to normal," the final part he whispered silently as he forced his emotions back and tried not to fall apart in front of the girl. His head slowly nodded as he didn't show he was shaking, but the feeling of the cold was simply a reminder of what he had caused," i Can..," he stood up absent mindedly following the girl. With a slow expression he would look to her," She's here...somewhere i can feel her close," he looked up at Lexia only for a moment to continue speaking," Yuriko...her name was Yuriko, you see her as a ghost within the darkness because i was too weak to stay with her. The promises i made with her...i couldn't keep...and as i thought she is connecting with you because you have a darkness within you..or maybe you and her are of a similar background and you call to her as she calls to you," he slumped up against a tree and rubbed the mark upon his neck slowly," If only i had....maybe you would still be here with me he thought to himself as he sighed. It was at this moment he would close his eyes," Lexia...the thing she asks you for in your dreams...is something only you can give her," he left it there because the feeling of his old love still lingered in the air which caused him to look back up into the sky," Isn't that what you are calling to her for...Aufero and Angerona.," he didn't expect a response but he would figure it out.

There was a soft, nearly sinister laugh from the shadows which now dampened the night around the two as the hissing and constant moving of the Dark Energy became more agitated, and from a nearby roof-top leaped Angerona, onto the ground before the two. She grinned widely, her deep red eyes seeming tired as well, as if she had not slept for some time - at least properly. This was however, not what she would draw attention to, rather she would slowly draw Aufero from her sheathe and point the tip of the blade toward Lexia. "She has the Light upon her, not my beloved Darkness, thus I have come to - - to purify her, to make her one of my kind so that she may see the Truth, and join me in saving this world." With that, Angerona would look toward Yaju as her grin slowly faded. "I leave the choice to you, Yaju, leave and abandon this one as you had me, or perhaps you may save her as a noble, greed-fueled monster would." She shakes her head at this, lowering Aufero to her side as she would await the actions of the two before her, it would be easy for her to escape within the Night if things came to it, but she was also aided by the Night in the fact that it made her abilities more potent and much stronger than they would be in the daylight.

As she waited, Aufero would begin to speak within Angerona's - and by extension Yaju's - mind, pulsing infrequently with a dark red glow. "The Light must be purged, before she is allowed to harness it's power. We are so close to beginning our Crusade that I can nearly feel it . . . This time, in this world, it shall not lead to your death - to the loss of another Wielder. It will lead to purity of this realm, to peace. Defeat the beast that lies before you, the one who holds no true soul, only malice for our kind, Angerona. Once you are able, we will slay him, for he deserves no salvation." Angerona would simply nod at her Goddess's words, eyes staring now intently into Yaju's as if challenging him to make a move, to attack her, for even the abilities which he held would be impaired within her Darkness if she so cast it's barrier. She would now, however, simply stare, waiting for either of them to make a movement that would allow her to do as she felt that she must.

"Within the Darkness, mercy and truth are distorted, what is true and merciful to one - may seem torturous and false to another. It is the Wielder's decision as to what they believe is merciful and true, they have decided that death is necessary to provide peace, that lies are necessary to accomplish truth. Angerona had discovered, by your aide, that not all apparent truths are merciful, that your truth was much more harmful than any blade which could have clashed with mine, you, Yaju, are the reason for which the shadows are lurked within, the reason why she has not slept, has not eaten, has not even so much as stopped moving, in order to find and stop you. You are her Demon, and she will stop at nothing, not even her own death, to slay you now." Aufero's voice would say firmly into Yaju's mind directly, so that it's Wielder could not hear. But this was not because Aufero wished to lie, it was because she did not wish to stir any hatred that may influence Angerona's decisions with the two before her, for the Goddess within the blade did not wish to kill merely for pleasure, she only did so when absolutely necessary, when her hunger could take it no more, or when her Wielder had no other choice. It was not entirely clear if this was one of those times . . . Not until the next few moments passed.

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" So that's why you want her....to twist her to your side and use her to bring "peace"...Why isn't it surprising that you would try something like this," his eyes turned to the cursed blade that she had wielded and shook his head," So this is your own mind now...or has that blade finally took what was left of you," his eyes did not falter as he stepped in front of Lexia and glanced to her," Unfortunately i have no choice but to protect her from you...I made the mistake in leaving your side and turning you into what you are now, but this girl doesn't need to go down that path. I am not doing this for greed or any of your wild thoughts of me...i am doing this because its the right thing," his eyes showed his seriousness in this situation.

Yaju would shake his head as he smiled," You cannot kill what is already dead...and you will not harm me nor anyone else. No future is certain and even if you attempt it you will always be stopped by someone," for a moment he looked back to Lexia before chuckling," and besides you can't grant someone salvation when their time has already passed for it...nor can you bring yourself salvation," his words were something that he had never told someone openly, but without fail he knew that inside he was already dead.

After listening to Aufero he would shake his head slowly before pointing to the both of them," Do not blame me for the path you two have taken...its no better than blaming a baby for murder. You, Aufero changed her when you took what was precious to her..and you Angerona allowed the change, you can blame me all you want but the truth is clear," if Lexia had stayed behind him she would be able to see that his other hand had been trembling slightly, but not out of fear.

Lexia had intently listened to the conversation of the two shinobi before her, one with the Dark Aura which had - apparently - been the same girl from her dreams, and the other being a man she knew little of other than his name, Yaju. Eventually she would hear of Angerona's plan and her eyes widened in accordance, it was so simply put and without lies to restrain her words, it almost felt compelling to Lexia for a moment, but she shook her head and cleared her mind as the Darkness which had been influencing this thought faded away as quickly as it had come. She would hear Yaju's refusal of the plan and declaration to protect her, she would simply nod at this as she continued to observe for another small while, listening to what seemed to Lexia like wild ranting, but she knew it likely meant something to the two before her. 

She would now, as she saw Yaju's hand trembling, step out from behind him and take up a small pebble from the ground, throwing it at the dark woman known as Angerona. "If you want me, come and get me!--" With that, she would sprint off into the Village, toward her home. She knew that this move was likely not all that wise, but she hoped that it would give Yaju a chance to form a plan of attack, or cause Angerona to leave this place, she only wanted to give him time and that was what she was doing for the time being, if for only a few more moments.

She felt so slow as she ran, as if she were merely a snail compared to the others as she already began to tire as she dashed through the streets, toward her home which she could only hope to reach, it held within it her heirloom weapon which was likely her only method of fighting back, and hopefully helping Yaju against Angerona. She would then call out behind her as she ran: "If I'm the Light, you ... You better stay back, or I'll blind you!" She said desperately, hoping that it would at least cause Angerona to pause as she said inwardly now: "What have I gotten myself in to? I just wanted to relax, and now i'm going to die here! . . . I just hope that he can figure this out, if not . . . " She quickly derailed from that train of thought as she now continued on, the next moments deciding her fate; Life or Death.

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